#i chose the church scene for 1 for the fact that it's one of the lowest points for jane (and lisbon too arguably)

[enbyjane]

the truth is (a perspective on love)

context: edit based off a personal conversation with @onlineproblems about parental love, unconditional love and the love we deserve bonus: her wise perspective:

more bonus:

[inkskinned]

which is fine, because love is love, and you're getting gay-married, so it would be kind of ironic if love was only sometimes love.

except The King Of Demons (his is Edmund) is always late, to everything, always. which is fair, because time doesn't work in hell, and it's not like he can just catch a bus. except that you specifically asked him not to do this, didn't you, because he's always doing things like this.

He splays out his hands, the light catching on long, ivory claw tips. god, doesn't he know not to wear white to a wedding?

so many people are screaming right now.

it's not that he's the golden child. you guys had normal parents, middle-class. your mom was kind of an "almond mom," according to your fiancée, who pursed their lips when they found out about how your mom used to wrinkle her nose any time you asked for an extra snack in your lunchbox.

you close your eyes for a moment. think of your beautiful almost-spouse. ashe. their name like a bloom inside you. how the dress looks on ashe's body, their shy little smile. how they'd walked down the aisle, and you'd both been half-laughing, half-crying. your hands had trembled when you saw them. like the whole world was pouring down your throat, golden. like you were catching a moment and casting it in amber.

ashe'd been the one to help you when your parents were pushing for you to invite edmund. god, the amount of fights you'd gotten in with your parents - the same six sentiments, over and over again.

you'd been sitting on your bed, biting your lip, your fingers hovering over the little button send. ashe'd nuzzled your neck. you used to be close, and i think that's important. but you know your relationship to him the most. i'm willing to make the effort, and i love you no matter what you choose, they'd said. we don't have to if you don't want to, though, no matter what your parents say about him.

you'd thrown yourself down, supine, arm over the eyes. he's just... we are just.... you tried to phrase that-which-is-love-and-rage.

you're the normal twin. your "big thing" was only "being a lesbian." in high school, edmund started being able to make birds die by looking at them. you came home, trying to tell your parents i kissed a girl. i think i'm - and they just kind of nodded at you. edmund was eating the bible in front of them, like a goat.

on the bed, you'd held your hands out vaguely to ashe. edmund is a just always a lot.

ashe had shrugged. don't invite him then. and it was that - that they were okay with either of your decisions - that is why he even got an invite, in the end.

and now here he is, like how you wanted (?), and your hands are red, clenched hard around your bouquet. the officiant is crying. some people are on their knees, praying. some are trying to touch your brother, like he could impart a blessing.

"i made it!" he's triumphant. "i know i'm late, i'm sorry, there was - do you know anything about right-wing politicians?"

"i'm going to fucking kill him," you say, although you're not actually sure who you're talking to, or if he can be killed.

ashe is blinking, their face in a tiny oh of surprise. you take their hand, drop their hand, take their hand again. they blink at your brother. their voice is low but steady. "there's, um. is there a dark halo around him?"

you duck your head to meet their eyes. "fuck, ashe. i'm sorry. he wasn't supposed to -"

"did i miss it?" Edmund is swinging his head around far-too-wide. his 2 sets of horns leave little red mist any time they scour through the air. "I didn't miss the kiss, right?"

the town clerk is in the audience, and she's frowning. you send her an apologetic look. she shakes her head. "as we've discussed," she manages to throw her gentle voice over the din, "the wedding isn't official if someone objects. that is the legal statute. which people tend to be understanding of." she sends a dirty look to edmund, and that makes you love her. she seems completely calm, which makes sense, because she works in the town hall, and this probably isn't even her first demon-showing-up-at-a-wedding.

he somehow hears her, holds his hands up. "i'm not objecting!" the back of the event hall catches on fire. of-fucking-course. "i'm not - don't mind me, uh, please continue." edmund sends a look to the back-of-the-room fire and it whimpers and gutters out. he flashes you a winning smile, and then puts his hand to his king's-garb chest and mouths sorry! and then cartwheels his glittering talons to say go ahead.

"i think i'm going to throw up." the officiant's voice is barely a whisper.

you watch in horror as edmund tries to awkwardly slide into a waiting line of chairs. the sound of begging follows him, people on their knees at hell's king. he pats a few of them on the head, holding up his finger in a sheepish shh! while his touch leaves a bleeding rune on their skin. his hooves click, and his footprints leave ruby-bright fireroses in his wake.

he tries to sit down, but the wooden chairs are made for people and not the lord king of demons, so he has to span his furred hindquarters over two seats. he smiles again, offers you a little wave.

the room is dead silent, minus the weeping. you look back to ashe. you ruined this. you shouldn't have invited him. you spent so much money on this event, and ashe looks so fucking handsome, and you haven't even gotten to kiss them. to make it official.

ashe looks up at you, manages a little smile. "could be worse?"

you feel yourself start to smile too, but then edmund's chairs give out, and he falls directly on the floor, and with his startled yelp, everything around him bursts into the cold whip-crease of hellflame, disintegrating everything that isn't-a-person, including the flowers and the decorations and the cake and the tables. everything you saved for months to be able to afford. the venue that you both agonized over choosing. you picked this place because it was significant to both of you and was equidistant from both your parents and had a deal with the local hotel for people coming out of town. two years of planning, literally burning down around your ears.

edmund manages to stop the fire pretty much immediately, but it's too late. the officiant faints clear away. the town clerk gives you a sympathetic look and mouths see you soon and steps neatly out of the room, taking ashe's parents with her, chatting gently. an arched flower frame collapses into dust with a loud whoomp. pretty much nobody is left in the building, and you're standing at the top of the steps, at the fucking hour of your marriage, and there is nothing left but blue-cold embers, the lights blown out in favor of the eerie hellfire glow.

you sit down, hard. after a few seconds, you feel ashe sit down next to you. you put your head between your knees so you don't puke with rage, which would be somehow more humiliating than everything else happening at the moment.

"okay, it's definitely too soon," they whisper in your ear, "but i have to admit there is something that's going to be so funny later about my name being ashe and my wedding going up in flames." they wrap their hand in yours. "i can't believe we worried about candles. we should have just gone with them instead of worrying about safety. are you okay?"

you send them a look. "am i - am i okay? this absolute bitch -" you gesture with your free hand out to where edmund is trying to piece together the cinders of his chair, "ruined my fucking wedding."

your mom is standing awkwardly in what used to be the "family" row of chairs. your father is absent, of course. she makes a noise at you. "don't call your brother a bitch."

"oh my fucking god." you have to put your head between your knees again, fighting that stupid fucking rage-puke urge. your blood pressure has obviously reached "skyrocket".

"he's here, isn't he? you're not being particularly grateful," your mother says, because of course she does.

"oh my god! ohmygod. ohmygod." you feel yourself hyperventilating, and then you start laughing, and you hate the hyena hysteria of it, the way it pitches dangerously close to a sob. "this is just - this is just like you! this is the fucking - you blow out the candles on the birthday cake! you curse the kids i'm trying to babysit! you get straight-A's on every test without studying, and get all the friends, and everyone is obsessed with you! and then when i graduate from art school, do i fucking get a party? nope! but hey, let's throw edmund a party for his 300,000th tortured soul! and his 300,001st! and fucking everything else. and fuck me, i guess! edmund gets hurt on the playground, let's burn down the playground. i got fucking bullied, and our parents don't even notice. i am fucking struggling, but we need to pay attention to edmund. he gets fucking everything. while we're at it, why don't we let him fucking ruin my wedding!"

you are dimly aware of ashe wrapping one arm around you and then the other, and then you are sobbing into their shoulder.

"oh, come on. stop with the hysterics," your mother chides you. "you had a perfectly fine childhood. all kids fight. you should have gotten the ceremony done faster. and you know i didn't approve of you spending all this money when you have student loans to -"

"respectfully," ashe's voice is cold and cutting while they rub circles on your shaking back, "and i know you're about to be my mother-in-law, but -" you hear them force a smile, "maybe you could choose this moment to leave your daughter the fuck alone?"

you are so fucking in love with ashe at that moment that it stops your weeping like you got hit by a truck. you look up at them, and want to go back to crying, just overwhelmed by the sheer fucking amount you care about them, but then you look over at your mother, and her shocked expression, and you burst out laughing.

your mother makes a few almost fish-like motions with her mouth, and then turns on her heel, stomping over cinders on her way out. and then it is just you and ashe and edmund and how you are half-crying half-laughing quietly to yourself, like a tap that won't stop dripping.

edmund has put the chair down. he is staring at his hands. he is at least 500 pounds and over 7 feet tall (he doesn't use metric, he's the devil). and somehow, right now, he just looks... small. crestfallen.

"yeah, i mean." his voice cracks. there's no boom of thunder or hellhound echo. he sounds like he did as a kid, before the strange powers and the levitating and the souls of the damned. he sounds like he did the night he accidentally melted most of the pieces in your first glass art show. he sounds - like your brother. he puts the heel of his palm against his eye. "i ruined my sister's wedding."

ashe offers him a little half-grin. "i do just want to say i love the aesthetic, by the way. but you did very much ruin my wedding too."

he points at them, finger-guns. "....ruined their wedding too." something in the attempt at humor - how his voice breaks on the words, how lonely he sounds. it makes you have to close your eyes against the sound. "....you seem cool," he says. "it's... it was nice to meet you."

you hear him come over, his hooves clacking slowly on the floor. when you open your eyes, he's sitting closer to you.

he opens his hand. inside are two little ceramic figures. wedding cake toppers. "i... i made them for you two. i figured i would try - how you make art, without magic. i... i took a class, and i made - i made them." he looks down at the little white-dressed people in his wide, calloused palm. "it's... i wanted to be ... good. i..." he looks at you, and then at ashe. "i tried, you know?"

ashe reaches up, lets him roll the figures into their palm.

he stands up. folds his hands in front of himself. "i don't. know how to be good. i know it doesn't come naturally to you, either. i saw you... choose. to be kind. you could have treated me different, too. like everybody? i was weird, and everyone knew. if you'd been ... mean? it would have been okay. but you." he shrugs. "one time you tried to kill me in the bathroom."

you don't know why you're crying. you look up at him through the cracks between your fingers. "twice," you croak. "but the second time i had a knife." you tuck your hair behind your ears. "but that was only after you pushed me down the stairs at grandma's and i broke my leg before a dance performance. you fuckin' deserved that one."

"i pushed you because you were being a wretched bitch."

"hey now," ashe says, a little edge to their voice, "that's my wife."

you squeeze their hand. "no, he's right. i had deleted his pokemon gold save file right before the elite four."

ashe drops your hand like you scalded them, showing the only horror you've seen this whole time. "you - girl, what the fuck?"

you shrug a little. "i was being a wretched bitch. and he did break my leg about it."

edmund shifts a little. "i just - you are...." his voice dies.

in your family, you don't say i love you. in your family, you don't touch each other or show affection. in your family, you just show up for each other, quietly. neither of you knows how to speak or process what needs to be said. you can see that lacking flashing over his face, literally playing out in shades of crimson. you get that weird twin-sense of something unsaid.

ashe sets the little ceramic people to the side. "she treated you like a person when everyone else treated you like a prophet."

you cut your eyes to them, and then edmund, who gives you one very short, sharp nod. "i, uh. i can. never try." he clears his throat. "i can never try hard enough. for that. i can - what you gave me. by. doing that. by ... just. i made. one thousand. wedding toppers. so it could be perfect. because - i ... it needed to be perfect." he appears to be dying of embarrassment, which does imply he might be capable of dying. oh good. in case i need to try to kill him a third time.

the thought makes a weird, wet laugh bubble out of you. "remember that one time i failed my math test and you set mr. fog's car on fire about it?"

edmund looks shyly at you, and a very small grin spreads across his face. not the dark lord - just a 30-something year old man who has just upset his one-and-only twin.

"you're throwing us the most ostentatious, egregiously expensive wedding," you tell him. "above land."

he frowns a little. "okay, but i'm not doing anything in miami. the vibes there give me the heebie jeebies."

ashe holds up their hand. "and you'll be repaying the deposit on literally everything. oh, and replacing the cake."

you kiss their cheek and then point to him. "and you'll be on time for it."

he shrugs a little. "okay, i literally can't perform miracles, so like. set the bar lower. i can't promise i'll-"

you look down at your feet. "i'd like you to be my man of honor this time. like. by my side. so. you can't be late this time. okay? we do it the right way. finally."

"huh," ashe says, looking between the two of you. "you guys have the same smile."

edmund's grin becomes a little wider, a little easier. he raises an eyebrow at them. "okay, i get that you're cool, but you're like, very cool about this whole thing."

ashe lifts a shoulder. "used to work for the monster under the bed."

"oh shit, simon? fuck." he points to them. "remind me not to mess around with you."

you want to tell edmund i love you and i missed you, but you can't. instead, you pick up the figurines. they're not perfect, but you can tell hours of his life went into each. his hands are so big - it must have taken him so much work to make these things so small. you picture him with his back bent over a workbench, trying to get a face into a tiny clay figure. the ceramic version of you is smiling. he's given you little fangs and a unibrow. he gave ashe a tiny yellow crown. you make the two figures kiss.

snow is falling indoors, little icicles of hellfire. ashe reaches out and take edmund's hand, and then, very awkwardly, he reaches out and takes yours too.

for a moment, it's just the three of you, and the beautiful quiet of the room.

You’re standing at the altar, about to get married to your beautiful fiancée. When suddenly the king of demons bursts through the door of the room, which naturally causes panic. You tried to warn everyone that inviting your sibling to the wedding would mean trouble, but they kept insisting.

[farahtissaiamyloves]

Arrange marriage, yknow the lady leonora lesso one can u do a part two of that. If not then could u do a lady lesso x female reader in the tub, playing around splashing each other cause it's be a boring sad day.

Arranged Marriage - part 2

Hi Anon, thanks a lot for the request, and I hope your days get better. So, in order to achieve that, you can have both.

Also, thanks for submitting a request with an idea and not just " write smth for Lady Lesso, please "

Part 1 Part 3

Everybody knew that Leonora was behind it. Yet, nobody could prove that the dean was even near the crime scene.

She had the perfect alibi, as she was enjoying the perfect taste of her tea alongside her wive at the time of the incident.

Nobody needed to know that you actually drank your tea alone that day.

Even so, you couldn't not go at Philip's funeral.

After what happened at the ball last year, Leonora never once did she forget about the man who must have been infatuated with you.

After all, nobody - except her - could now see her pregnant wife sexually.

You were five months pregnant already, and the never thought that the prince's death could no longer be postponed. He needed to go for you to focus totally on your baby and the family you would build together.

It was quick. She told you it would.

Just one slice.

Down his throat.

Leonora's coat didn't even get dirty as she avoided efficiently the river of blood, which followed the huge cut.

You didn't try to stop her, like she thought you would. Fact, which angered her even more.

What could have done that bastard to you for your ever-always willing to save everyone ass to say nothing ?

However, she came to the conclusion that that didn't matter anymore.

You were married now and waiting for your pretty daughter to come to this world.

Philip was playing with the fire and led himself to this.

So, that's how you ended up wearing a black dress and leaning against your wive's arm while she was wearing her usual coat, smiling at the dead body inside the coffin.

You waited patiently for the funeral to come to end suddenly wishing to eat pizza with chocolate.

You brought Leonora's hand to your growing tummy as you pressed your head against her arm.

The dean immediately understood that you were once again hungry.

Leonora kissed the top of your head and whispered to you that you would leave the moment this was to end.

Soon enough, the priest finished, and you were the first to give your condolences to his family.

Of course, Leonora chose to honor her evil side and tease his parents and sister instead.

" I'm curious. How does it feel to be an only child ? " She inquired to Philip's sister.

The girl shook her head, ignoring the evil dean as she turned her attention to you. " I'm so sorry for your unfortunate marriage. Unlike her, my brother had at least manners. "

You froze. One hand on top of your belly and the other snaked around Leonora's.

Leonora raised an eyebrow at the girl. " You know that I'm over here, and I can hear you, right ? "

She continued purposely ignoring her, focusing on you. " Philip could have provided you with everything you wish... We both know that a never and their insensitivity will never be capable of that. "

You couldn't believe what you were listening. Someone talking shit about Leonora in front of her. You would have felt so bad if you were in her shoes.

" I guess we will never know. Anyway, we need to go now, even the slightest of things tire me with my whole pregnancy ordeal. " You excuse yourself.

The girl couldn't say anything against that and watched as Lesso dragged you outside of the church. But she didn't leave before sending to Philip's family her signature smirk.

When you returned to your quarters, you were starving. You didn't bother undressing before eating.

Leonora, after helping you to the kitchen table and making sure you had everything you needed, went to the bathroom to prepare the bath.

It was a pity you were unable to drink wine while laying in the bath together, but Leonora did not mind.

She was willing to sacrifice everything for the health of her baby.

When you were finished, you were pleasantly surprised with Leonora.

" You deserve a kiss. " You said with your most serious face, stepping on your tiptoes to kiss her cheek.

Leonora chuckled at your antics and led you to the bathroom.

The woman helped you undress and step into the tub.

After disregarding her own clothes and, of course, folding your dress, she joined you in the tub.

You sighed happily when your head rested against Leonora's shoulder. The woman wrapped her hands around you, pulling you closer to her.

You stayed like that for several moments until a crazy idea came to you.

You looked up at Leonora, who had her eyes closed and head resting on top of yours.

Perfect.

She wouldn't even see it coming.

With a quick move, you slightly pull away from her grasp. Leonora's eyes opened, not realizing what was happening until some water fell on her face.

The evil dean raised an eyebrow at you. " What was that for ? "

You shrugged. " Nothing. But I always wanted to do that. "

Lady Lesso hummed at your reply, faking deep thought. You returned to your previous position, thinking that she probably won't do it back due to your pregnancy.

She proved you wrong, though.

You turned your head to look at her, offended. " Hey ! "

She smirked at you. " What ? I thought that this was what the princess wanted. "

You shook your head. " You splashed more water to my face than I did to yours. "

Leonora chuckled. " Is that so ? "

" Yes. " Was your response alongside a splash aiming for her face.

" I see. The princess chose war. " She said said splashing water back at you.

And War it was.

The walls around the tub were wet from the water missing your faces, and whatever had remained from your makeup was long gone.

After what felt like hours, you grew tired.

However, Leonora didn't seem ever near to it.

You closed your eyes, covering them with your hands. " Okay, Okay. That's enough, Leo. I wanna go to bed. "

Leonora gave a triumpant hum before standing up to get the towel and help you dry.

As the Dean of Evil was drying your belly, she couldn't resist kissing it.

" Goodnight, baby. Hope you gonna avenge your mother's loss one day. "

[i-got-the-feels]

25-21

@chaeyoojung 1

The transition from yellow to blue to show how his one quality he adored also became something that hurt him

My Demon

@dingyuxi 1

My salvation!!!! And his determination and selflessness to save her

Vigilante

@chaeyoojung 1

I already told you and will tell you again and again that I adore this set. His entire character arc. How he chooses to be vigilante is seen sooo well here.

Castaway Diva

@khaoray 1

This is beautiful!!! Their dreams are fulfilled. This is such a happy edit AAAH my heart

See You In My 19th Life

@dingyuxi 1

Something about her selflessness to die for him. Something about how he fiercely remembers and protects her memory. I love how that is shown so well in this set.

@liveasbutterflies 1

I cried in the scene. I cried after seeing this set. She was loved so loved by her mom.

Daily Dose Of Sunshine

@moonlightsdream 1

I adore how your chose their beach and bustop for this dialogue set.

Extraordinary Attorney Woo

@kdramaladies 1

Everytime I hear this dialogue and see this set I cry. The color combination of b/w and golden is so beautiful.

@sjoongki 1

This is one of those edits that will forever affect me. Their shilloutes! Amazing job love ittt.

Alchemy of Souls

@kdramaladies 1

This was the set that made me watch the show. It's beauty, yes. Also it manged to make me feel curious about her.

@kalena-henden 1

The journey! The symbolism! Beautiful set.

@seawherethesunsets 1

The gif of him gently kissing her eyes! Beautiful!!

@liveasbutterflies 1

I love how this set has shown naksus journey.

Little Women

@deokmis 1

A show edit. A show based on a book. And the said books quotes are combined with tv show adaption characters. My nerdy heart is swinging. And beautiful quotes are choose with characters.

Flower of Evil

@deokmis 1

Will I reach a drama where this quote doesn't wreck me? No. The gif with "makes my demons go away" Insaneeeeeee

The Eighth Sense

@dramaism 1

The journey!!! I am a Sucker for these edits. And seeing them get together at the beach casually without any grand declarations was soooo them. And of course the consequences later. That's when the grand declarations come in. Something about how things are simple when it's just the without the involvement of the world.

The Glory

@deokmis 1 2 3

1) Take me to church + them?? The way he knew she intended to use him and he let her!!! Perfect choice for them and perfect selection of scenes!

2) The fact that Jae joon died not knowing who his killer is because he is color blind. But we know!! We know how he killed him so that ye seol will be safe. Uff. Isolating the red to bring out the detail? Amazing

3) Death is my hand + the tattoo gif!! No thoughts. Head empty.

@smittenskitten 1

Isolating the green color!! The talent. They way it celebrates an important arc of the show

Beyond Evil

@khaotunqs 1

The yellow with blank and white!! Beautiful. I didn't like to be touched because I craved it too much!!

@magicaldreamfox1 1

The scene he arrests him, always makes me cry. And the words being "how often will you repent" uffff

@l-tyrell 1

He did everything because of his love, his guilt, his regret. It's gorgeous set. Also gotta listen every hozier song now because I believe it goes perfectly with the tone of this show

@ladyverdance 1

Lee dongsik was a ghost after all the deaths he survived. He was only kept alive by his grief, guilt and love for people he lost. His purpose to avenge them. Beautiful set

Summer Strike

@chinzillas 1

The words+ scene you have chosen so well about how she felt trapped in the daily drudgery of life. And how he chooses to break free. Beautiful!!

The Devil Judge

@gusucloud 1

The motif of fallen angel. Something something devil was an angel before he fell. Love the coloring with golden hues

@natahjikio 1

Was she evil? Yes. Was she a surviour and a badass? Yes. Adore how you did justice to all sides of her in this set

@yilinglaozu 1 2 3

1) he knows gaon is righteous and idealistic. Having him in his life will only hurt them both. He knows Yohan is too hurt and disillusioned to believe in a fair world. He knows they will only hurt each other. Yet they simultaneously hurt and heal each other

2) shut up. Yohan was all alone until he had gaon. Good lord no words.

3) gaon getting to see the real Yohan. Beneath the confident indifferent Yohan. Him willing to change himself and his world views because what is world without Yohan? Beautifully bought out in this set

@spicyvampire 1

The he loves you too words with them saying goodbye!! Tan give me a break

Things to note

These include edits that I found in 2023.

These include edits that gave me the feels.

Thank you for your art. They make the experience of watching the show all the more fun. It helps in appreciating the characters. It helps me see them in new light.

Looking forward to see more of art from amazing artists on here.

To, people I didn't tag - tumblr tagging limit sucks. Your art is beautiful simply because it's made. You made it with a feeling and that in itself is beautiful.

Also, the tag is #becauseigtf in case yall wanna tag me in future :)

[kafukaselect-blog]

The Truth Behind Famine, Fakesaw, and the Falling Devil

Welp, I promised that I would make a full post about my opinions on Fakesaw, but the only way to do so is a full analysis of the previous arc. Ever since the Falling Devil arc, it seems that the pervasive belief about Fakesaw Man is that he is working against Fami, but I completely disagree, in fact I believe that Fakesaw saving Asa and Denji in Hell was all a part of Fami's plan.

Super quick recap, while Falling is attempting to serve Asa to the residents of Hell, Denji attempts to fight her but is defeated, then a mysterious person appears and uses their blood to revive him. Later on while Denji is trying to escape Hell with Asa, Fakesaw Man shows up and carves up Falling, saving Asa and Denji.

First off, who is the mystery man who feeds Denji blood? Well this one is pretty straight-forward, it is most likely the Church's resident Sword Hybrid: Miri Sugo. Not only do his shoes match the mystery man but they have been a consistent aspect of his design even in part 1 (None of the other hybrids were even given detailed shoes but for some reason Fujimoto chose to specifically give detail to Miri's).

The motive for Miri to help Denji in this way is obvious, he likes Denji and feels indebted to him after being saved from Makima's control. But one thing that isn't obvious is the question of opportunity, Miri happened to be in exactly the right place to save Denji from Falling, even though the entirety of the Falling Devil's attack took so little time that Public Safety was unable to effectively send a real response other than nearby devil hunters.

The fact that the Falling Devil was about to be unleashed on earth was completely unknown to Public Safety right up until the moment it happened, and Fami isn't exactly just going to tell random members of the church that she is responsible for the biggest devil attack on Japan since the Gun Devil. The only way that Miri could have been on the scene in time is if he was ordered to be there by Fami.

This directly contradicts Fami's stated plan of starving Yoru, and it isn't the only contradiction. The hard-cut to Nayuta in school does a good job of hiding it, but the chapter where Fami explains her plan to Nayuta actually hides a vital clue towards Fami's REAL goal. Asa is unconscious during this chapter, and she wakes up next chapter lying on a couch in a hospital. So here's a question, how did she get there?

Denji didn't take her there, he was unconscious. So it must have been either Nayuta or Fami, but Nayuta doesn't even like Asa. Plus she doesn't seem to have any qualms about Fami turning War into a pawn, considering that once Fami explains the plan her only problem with it is that she is busy with school. So Nayuta would have left Fami alone with Asa. Fami then - instead of taking advantage of Asa being unconscious to try and starve her - brought Asa to a hospital. Why?

Because taking Asa to the hospital while she is unconscious creates a very important misconception in Asa's mind, it makes her believe that she was saved by Chainsaw Man, and what does Famine immediately do after the events of the Falling devil arc?

Put simply, the entire Falling Devil attack was nothing more than a performance, Miri saving Denji, Fakesaw attacking Falling, it was all part of the plan. Fami never intended to harm Asa in any way, she instead wanted Denji to save Asa in order to make her indebted to Chainsaw Man. Fami then immediately uses that sense of gratitude and responsibility, combined with a photo prepared in advance, to achieve what this entire arc was about…

Getting Asa and Yoru to join the church.

[porcelain-pines]

I hope you're okay with questions about your ocs! If not feel free to ignore.

I think you said that rosie's ghost hates what her brother became. What makes it any different if she lives? Would she eventually start disliking Quentin? And can her followers/anyone see that spiky orb? Cause that would do a lot for her claim she's connected to god.

...not completely serious but I want to know who did that window art. Giant naked stained glass versions of the cult leader and her brother is something I don't think you can buy. Maybe she recruited the blacksmith first haha

Ooo yay thank you i can talk about this au

1- yes thats true, in canon rosie despises what Quentin ended up like because rather than going down the path he did by her own guidance, he chose it himself (and she definitely saw him get into relationships with men which she deeply did not approve of, in fact she had suspected that he was gay since he was a child and it was one reason for her abuse). In the au however, even though he ends up similar (probably a bit more repressed sexuality wise) he did so under Rosie’s guidance via her evolving beliefs throughout the years, so ironically she sees no issue with his murderous behavior then.

2- no, her followers cannot see the spiky orb, it usually doesnt show itself anyways, but Rosie does believe that the orb is God’s form on earth and that he is directly advising her through it so it basically directs the whole cult behind the scenes.

3- i actually really want to redo the church design because i had the same thought loll😭 i did make that drawing about a year ago just forgot to post it. But i do want to keep the stained glass window just scale it down a bit. Emmett’s in this au and hes a pretty crafty guy so im pretty sure he made it.

[malinaa]

TOP 9 BOOKS

tagged : @hmsharmony ty jennifer this was SOOO hard oh my god like. genuinely agonized me for days to think about what to choose but it was SOOO fun tho <3 tagging : @rosesau | @evcndiaz | @pendrgcn | @gayarthur | @the-tenth-arcanum | @oretsev | @wherepoetsdie | @bellamyblakru | @ryekat & anyone else who wants to do it !!! rules : list your top 9 books obviously. i cheated a little and put series as as one option because that's just who i am as a person. most of these i chose at random from my 5 star reads from the past few years btw

1. percy jackson and the olympians (series) by rick riordan

i was never a big reader in elementary school—or at least not to the extent that my classmates had been. my sixth grade english class required us to bring a personal book from home for silent reading and i stole my brother's spine-cracked copies of pjo and brought them to class. i finished the whole series in less than a school week (i had to scramble to the library to pick up another series because the single novel should have lasted me at least three weeks). pjo literally kickstarted my love for reading as a hobby and i truly don't know how to state the importance it had on my little ten-year-old brain fr

2. on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong

i have never read a book more beautiful in prose and so uncommonly human than this. there's just something so incredibly heartbreaking knowing this whole book is the narrator's letter to his mother who can't read! like what the fuck

3. alone with you in the ether by olivie blake

this came as a surprise to Me when i first read it. i meandered through the first quarter, loving the writing style but feeling disconnected from the characters until the Church Hand Scene™ and it was hook, line, and sinker at that point (i have since come to love the disconnectedness in subsequent rereads, knowing that the feeling was the Point). i have read this book four (4) times since i read it first last year. LAST YEAR!!! olivie has like... fundamentally altered my brain chemistry or something because i feel like everything i have written since having read this book has been somewhat influenced by it.

4. much ado about nothing by william shakespeare

what can i say! this is theeeeeee romcom ever. i have watched so many adaptations of this play, read it countless of times and can recite some iconic lines, and still the banter between benedick and beatrice is sooo elite. cannot be topped!!

5. a place for us by fatima farheen mirza

fun fact: seed rec'd this book to me and has been reccing it to anybody who would listen. the prose is so lush and melancholic. it's one of those books where nothing Really happens, but you feel Every Emotion Under The Sun and you're just like. altered by reading it

6. the song of achilles by madeline miller

obviously.... OBVIOUSLYYYYYYY this had to go here. if i had two nickels for every greek myth retelling i read during school that fundamentally changed me etc etc u get it. i read this as a junior in high school when we, yet again, had to bring a personal book to read durin class. i think at that point of my life, i've never read something that tragic yet so beautiful at the same time and now i am always looking at the beautiful and tragic in media. so! there u go! brain cells rewired and whatnot!

7. the grisha trilogy by leigh bardugo

this is funny because i . technically did not rate any of these books 5 stars i'm sobbing. but like, considering the fact that my url is what it is and the way i always have them in the back of my mind, it's no wonder that i put them here. i have such an odd attachment to these books and these characters. i had copies of these books since their release but didn't touch them until ... before the sab tv release which is so fucking funny. like i don't know what i would be like if i read this as a t(w)een. i would've been so fucking insufferable ngl

8. when my brother was an aztec by natalie diaz

i actually read this for an assignment and had to write a report on it and i had SO much fun doing it. diaz plays a lot with hunger and her imagery is literally unmatched. i think about the way she contructs sentences and am filled with such envy. my beginning sentence for my paper was a nod to her style (though i failed miserably). it was: "in a paradoxical sleight of hand, hunger feeds in natalie diaz's debut." she is just. so fucking good at words i need to CHOMP on it

9. sharp objects by gillian flynn

you know the thing where you see a really popular author for a really long time and they have their work adapted to the screen and it's so good but you still haven't read their actual writing? yeah, that was me with gillian flynn (specifically about gone girl). i read gone girl, i read sharp objects, i read her short story the grownup, i'm currently reading the last novel of hers that i haven't read, dark places, and flynn is just so... incredibly good at constructing harrowing stories. it's no wonder why all three of her novels got adapted to the screen! her prose is so grounded. vivid. there's this ease to her writing that, whenever i concurrently read another novel, i always find the other piece to be lacking. i slink back to flynn's prose and immerse myself in her awful, human worlds.

[orphancookie69]

4/2023: Redmond, OR!

I recently had my Great Grandfather on my (biological) dad’s side of the family pass away. In life, he chose to make Oregon his home. If you have seen any of my previous Oregon trip posts, they were to see him. While it is a sad reason as a family to gather, gather we must. 

4/14 Day 1: 

Flying compared to driving is so much shorter, but for me I just don’t like flying. We flew out of Burbank Airport on Avelo. Decent flight. Picked up a rental car, what better test drive right? Had lunch locally at Mo’s Egg House in Redmond, really good. The local hole in the walls when you leave town tend to have the best people too. Then we checked into Shilo Inns Hotel in Bend. We have stayed here before, but this time was the worst experience and it will be the last. We went to the viewing for my great grandfather. The day before a burial, the funeral parlor will place the body in a room so you can see them one last time. Some people do casket open, some closed. In some ways, it is good to see him one more time but...to think that cleaned up corpse is the last visual you have on the person is a little rough. We all went back to the hotel, and needed a meal and a drink. We went to Blacksteer Steakhouse & Saloon in Bend. Kind of a hipster place, but not bad. Came back and prepared for a long day to come. 

4/15 Day 2:

Everyone woke up at different times, by the time I was awake-I had breakfast waiting for me. There was a local donut shop, and they made a jelly donut but it was like a normal round donut with jelly in the center. Wonderful. We went to the ceremony and burial. The church service was terrible. Behind the scenes, there was debate about what not to say-what to say-who says it. Death brings out the worst in families. But man, no one was happy with that service. One of our party spoke, and it was beautiful. No one else spoke though. Someone else had arranged for a medal he earned in life to be pinned on him in death by the navy. We walked to the grave site. There was a military salute, a masonic send off, and it was an honorable service. We all gathered at a local family members home for reception. Those kind of events are odd-on one hand you want to see people you most likely are never going to see again. The other, you have a man who in death his two families collided. We came back to the hotel, and swam a bit in the pool. There is a local diner there, Shari’s, and it is so good. We got dinner and a pie. We came back, with plans to visit some beloved local things we usually hit when up here. 

4/16 Day 3:

The next day we stopped by the local McDonalds for breakfast. Then hit the road for Sisters, OR. There is so much cute shopping up there! I may have forgotten I only have a carry on to bring all the items back with me, but I made it work. We had lunch at Sister’s Saloon. We came back to the hotel, and unfortunately had issues with the degenerating hotel experience and someone walked in on one of our party while they were in the room. We had no cooperation from the hotel in resolving the matter, and filed a police report. We went to bed, preparing to fly out early in the morning. 

4/17 Day 4:

Woke up early, and gassed up the car. Did you know that Oregon is still one of those states that you can’t fill up your own gas? We dropped the rental car off, and boarded the plane. We took Alaska Airlines to LAX. Decent flight. Came back, and had to get ready for another trip. 

What did I learn from this trip? A lot. From the fact that I saw the family when I was little but have no recollection of it? That my family problems are not as bad as others? That funerals suck? That I want to be a mason? To always be safe rather than sorry, and lock your luggage? Am I glad I went? Yeah, but man-I could use a vacation. 

[pastortomsteers]

The Baptism of Our Lord

January 7, 2024

Pastor Tom Steers

Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto

Divine Service III – Pages 184-202

Lutheran Service Book

Hymn of Praise:  601 “All Who Believe and Are Baptized”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i97isfeih0

The Invocation

                                                                                                     Confession and Absolution  Page 184-185

 

Opening Versicles   

P: This is the day which the Lord has made.

C: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

P: From the rising of the sun to its setting.

C: The name of the Lord is to be praised.

P: Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.

C: I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

P: Make me to know Your ways, O Lord.

C: Teach me Your paths.

P: Sanctify us in Your truth.

C: Your Word is truth.

P: From the rising of the sun to its setting.

C: The name of the Lord is to be praised.

(All)  Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.                                                                                                                                                                                          Our Collect Prayer:

Father in heaven, at the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River You proclaimed Him Your beloved Son and anointed Him with the Holy Spirit. Make all who are baptized in His name faithful in their calling as Your children and inheritors with Him of everlasting life; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Our Bible Readings –

First Reading  Genesis 1:1-9                                                                                                                                Psalm 29                                                                                                                                                      Epistle Reading    Romans 6: 1-9

Gospel Reading     Matthew 1:4-11

THE NICENE CREED  Page 191

HYMN OF THE DAY:  406  “To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord” 

THE SERMON

Brothers and sisters, peace, grace and mercy be to you through God our Father, and our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

It’s been a difficult few weeks as we’ve watched events unfold in the Middle East and Ukraine.

A far lesser known but deeply tragic situation occurred in Nigeria during Christmas, when Muslim extremist groups attacked some 20 Christian communities.

According to journalists more than 200 people, men, women, and children were killed Christmas Eve and Christmas day, many of them while attending Church services.

In our time, Christians around the world continue to suffer for the faith, and evil does not take a holiday.

One of the key beliefs of Islam, in fact, the key tenet, is the denial of Jesus Christ as the Saviour sent by God, the Messiah who is both true God and true man, and that Christ died on the cross for our sins, and rose for our justification.

This morning in our Gospel passage from Mark we find a very important text –for we see Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, and God the Father, together in one scene, at the Baptism of Jesus.

And this is important, because it shows us a key concept of the Christian faith, the Trinity:  

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We see God as the one who is acting and sending the Holy Spirit down upon His only Som.

In our Baptism it’s the same; God is the one who is acting through the Holy Spirit, and the means of grace: God’s Word, and the Sacraments of Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

Sacraments instituted, and commanded, by Christ Himself.

There are some today, Martin Luther called them the ‘enthusiasts,’ later known as Anabaptists or simply Baptists, who say that Baptism is just a human act, where we ‘choose’ God.

Jesus Himself disabused the disciples of that notion when He said in John 15:16:  you didn’t choose me, I chose you.”

It is God in human flesh, Christ, who came down to earth and lived the perfect life, who did the seeking and the choosing.

As God’s children, we can only accept His free gift, or refuse it.

But we see something that may strike us as unusual in today’s passage from Mark.

We see Jesus being baptized by John.

The Bible tells us that John’s was a Baptism of repentance for sins.

It wasn’t the same kind of Baptism as that of the disciples of Jesus, or the later Christian Church.

We learn of this in the Book of Acts, Chapter 19, when Paul is in Ephesus.

Paul asked a group of men: “Into what then were you baptized?”

They said, “Into John's baptism.” 

Paul replied, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.”

On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 

The Bible text tells us that, “when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them . . . . ”

God, through the power of the Holy Spirit was the actor, in the name of Jesus Christ.

But here in Mark we have Jesus repenting of sins in the Baptism of John and we could ask, “why.”

The Bible tells us, and as Christians we believe, that Christ was without sin, the unblemished Lamb of God.

Who is Jesus really repenting for?

He’s repenting for us.

It is hard for human beings to admit we have a problem – sin.

Jesus, in His Baptism, identifies with us, with His beloved and broken humanity, and He takes our sins upon Himself.

Why does he do that?

So He could make payment for them on the cross.

Humankind has a terrible problem.

Our newspapers and televisions help remind us of that.

At its core, humanity has a God problem.

We like to think we’re largely OK, that our life may need some cleaning up around the edges, but that it’s relatively sound. 

Other religions, outside of Christianity say it’s possible to save ourselves by ‘good behaviour’ and following certain rituals. 

But here is Jesus acting as a repentant sinner in the waters of the Jordan River.

And He is there out of love because we cannot get this repentance thing right.

There’s always the Old Adam, within us, the sinful nature, regretting our penitent words even as we speak them.

And so, Jesus must bear that for us too.

The effect of our condition inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve so serious that God’s solution has to be pure, and complete.

There is no part of our lives that doesn’t need Christ’s redemption.

That is why He stands in the waters of repentance in our place, and why He bore that cross and suffered the crucifixion in our place on Good Friday.

But there’s more to the story.

The Jesus who stood on behalf of sinners, who descended and rose in the waters of His Baptism, has died and risen to new life with us as well.

He has empowered our life with His goodness.

In our Baptism He has given us what He won and paid for on the cross.

The old Adam in us would taint even our best deeds – but Jesus has redeemed them all.

Now, Christians stand before God as truly forgiven children, and when God looks at us, as believers, He sees not our sins but the perfection of His only Son, Jesus.

And because Baptism is God’s way of bringing us salvation, infants and children need this Sacrament as well.

The Apostle Peter told people on the Day of Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

For the promise is for you and for your children . . . everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

The Devil can hurl his accusations at us, but they won’t stick.

Evil can destroy our bodies through disease, or accident, or even terrorism, but we will not die eternally.

The world can point to the sin which still clings to us, but they will miss the real solution which is at work in our lives.                                    

Yet, all this did not start with a ‘decision’ on my part or yours, or some act of our will . . . but started when water and God’s Word introduced us to the solution, when we were helpless sinners.

That was the day Christ took hold of you to work His solution to our problems

with His love, and purity.

A work of redemption completed on the cross.

A work of sanctification, of making us more like Him that’s in progress even today, and that the Apostle Paul told us Christ will finish on the day He returns again.

As Christians we’ve been given a precious gift.   

The gift of Christ’s love and salvation.

May that gift lighten the darkness of this world, and fill you with the peace and reassurance of our resurrected Saviour, and the hope of eternal life through Him. 

Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH    

                                                                                                                               SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT  Page 194                                  Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column)    Page 201 

CLOSING HYMN  398   “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”

[jdgo51]

Thank God That I Am Not God

Today's inspiration comes from:

Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don't Want to Talk About

by Ryan Casey Waller

"'Do you remember the scene in the movie Rudy when he’s trying to get accepted into Notre Dame but it's not looking good so he goes to a priest for some advice? The priest says that in thirty-five years of religious studies he’s only come up with two hard, incontrovertible facts: “There is a God. And I'm not Him.”

When I first saw the movie I thought that was the most pathetic answer ever. You're a priest and that's all you got? Come on, man.  Over the years, however, the priest’s answer has grown on me, because as I’ve grown in both years and spirit, I've discovered that one of the more challenging and comforting aspects of faith is the realization that I am not God.

Confessing I’m not God is challenging  because while I say I believe in God I mostly live as though I were God. I am the expert, I know what to do, I am the one upon whose shoulders rests success or failure. I choose what it is right and what is wrong based upon my education, my experience, and my gut.

My words say there is a God. My actions say that God is me.

Setting aside my ego to actually trust in God’s sovereignty is a daily struggle.

On the other hand, confessing I’m not God is wildly comforting each time my depression and anxiety rears its ugly head to torment my body and soul.

You see, I count myself among the 1 in 4 Americans who struggle with their mental health each and every year. There are days when I wake in the morning only to be met by an immediate and unprovoked ocean of anxiety flooding my brain.

Other days I wake and discover I have neither the desire or strength to get myself out of bed.  I did not choose to suffer these maladies nor did I do anything to bring them upon me. Rather, they are simply aspects to the reality that is my life.

We have a God who chooses to rescue us in our bodies with His own body.

Why do these harsh realities help me find comfort in the declaration that I am not God? Because in this admittance comes the realization that

I need not — nor can I — save myself.  So I thank God that I am not God.

But what, exactly, does that mean?

Can I pray the depression away? Can I attend enough church services to convince God to heal me? Can I increase my faith to the point where I’m so filled with the Holy Spirit that I transcend my suffering?

No.

No.

And… no.

That’s not to say I don’t bring my depression to God in prayer or beg God for healing in my moments of pain. I do! What I don’t do is ignore the resources that God — the Ultimate Healer — has provided for healing.

For me, and many others who battle their mental health, that means availing myself to therapy, medication, and a strong support network of a trusted community.  For too long Christians have hyper-spiritualized mental illness by marginalizing these healing tools. As a result, countless children of God have suffered in ways that could have otherwise been otherwise.

We would never ask a believer to forgo chemotherapy for cancer or a diabetic to skip out on their daily injections of insulin. Likewise, we must avoid the temptation to characterize issues of mental health as wholly spiritual issues. Instead, we need to acknowledge depression, anxiety, and other forms of psychological distress are every bit as bodily as any other form of disease.

Fortunately, we have a God who chooses to rescue us in our bodies with His own body. When God decided it was time for humanity to more fully understand His very nature, He chose to come in a body. It was in this body that He taught us, loved us, died for us, and rose again in power to redeem us. Of all people, Christians should be the first to embrace the idea that our deepest suffering need not wait to be relieved in the life to come but in the life that is here and now with the tools given to us by the here and now.

Gone are the days when mental illness was seen as a mysterious force that could only be treated by mysterious means. These days we know a great deal about how to help people think, feel, and act better.

We go to therapy. If appropriate, we take medication prescribed by trained physicians. We allow people we love to hear us, us love us, and normalize our pain.  If the body of Christ is to be truly serious about treating all the bodies that belong to Christ then we must not be afraid of the means by which these bodies find their healing.

Encouraging Christians to seek out the resources offered by the mental health community is not of minor importance but in many cases, quite literally, a matter of life and death. All of which brings me back to the wise old priest Rudy went to see.

I am not God, for which I say, “Thanks be to the God all healing!”'

Written for Devotionals by Ryan Casey Waller, author of Depression, Anxiety, and Other Things We Don’t Want to Talk About.

[mintedwitcher]

So I watched it.

Honestly, this plot could've been done with just about any other alien or creature, they absolutely did NOT need to go with goblins, and the fact that they did that at Christmas, makes me feel really..... Uncomfortable. And not in the "oh your views should be challenged!" way, but in the skin crawling, this is not right kind of way.

For those who haven't watched it yet - or for those who refuse to but want to know details - spoilers are below the cut.

The "Goblin Song" that the DW official youtube channel promoted is almost the entire scene, but then there are two additional verses sung by the Doctor and Ruby. So, y'know, the accusations of "Disney-fying" Doctor Who were right on the money there. There was no real reason for it, other than, I suppose, to cause a distraction? But, honestly, it just felt cheesy and not in the good way. (Ncuti does have a very pretty voice though, props to him for being multitalented I guess.) There's no attempt to talk to the goblins or try and reason with them - an argument could be made that the Doctor might've done this before the events of this episode but there's no acknowledgement of that, no mention of having given them a chance or anything.

Ncuti is incredible, but there are moments where the Doctor feels off-beat. Like, he has to be reminded that "hey, eating babies isn't awesome, actually." Which, yes, there have been times where the Doctor has had unsympathetic or awkward reactions to things happening, but I feel like he wouldn't (or shouldn't) lose himself like that when there's a child in danger.

The Doctor doesn't try to talk to the goblins at all, and really we don't actually see him interacting with them much at all outside of the ship. He witnesses several 'accidents' that they cause, and yet, he doesn't actually intervene until the baby is taken. Even then, it doesn't feel like he's getting involved because of the baby, but rather because Ruby jumped on the ladder of the ship.

(Also side note, apparently now the sonic can do wood, if there are screws. If there's no screws, it doesn't work. Because yep that makes sense?)

Speaking of Ruby, we're introduced to her by way of an interview for one of those DNA researcher TV shows that are supposed to trace your heritage or whatever, basically 5 or so minutes of straight exposition, during which they draw a very blatant and obvious parallel between her and the Doctor, by immediately referring to her as a foundling, discussing how she was left on the doorstep of a church, fostered and then adopted by Carla Sunday. Later in the episode, Ruby gets a phone call saying that they couldn't find any matches for her DNA - so to deepen the parallel, she's a foundling, abandoned, adopted, with no known genetic parents or family members. (Then later still we have the Doctor tell Ruby that he was adopted too, keeping in line with the Timeless Child arc - successfully not retconned, sorry to the Chib haters in the chat - just in case the parallel isn't obvious enough yet.)

Though, this leads into the apparent crux of the episode, which is all about coincidence. Yep, that's how the goblins pick their victims: coincidence and luck. And when stealing baby #1 didn't work, they go back in time - because they can do that too apparently - and steal Ruby from the church steps instead. This leads to a... sort of underwhelming scene wherein Ruby's adopted family have no memory of her, her mother never became a regular fosterer and instead only chose to foster when she needed the money, doesn't remember the children she fostered, etc. Carla here is cold and unfeeling, and rather angry at having to foster baby #1 in the first place over Christmas - a direct contradiction to how she was with Ruby in her life, where she was excited to foster the new baby, having fostered 33 children. So naturally, the Doctor has to go back in time and save baby Ruby.

Which leads to the big climax of the episode which is.......... a tug-of-war between him and the goblin ship. With the help of some enhanced gloves (nod to the continued mavity thing), he pulls the ship down onto the spire of the church and impales the goblin king. Yes, you read that right, he impales the goblin king on the church spire. Now you're probably thinking "oh now that's a mess to clean up!" NOPE! The ship just magically disintegrates into thin air!

Yeah.

There have been a lot of wild and fantastical things happening in Doctor Who for decades, I am well aware. But this feels off-beat in a way it shouldn't for this show. There's no underlying message here - even if you go with the fan interpretation of the Goblin Song which is that the song is a protest about how one baby could sustain the entire crew for three days at least but the Goblin King is the only one who gets to eat it, basically an allegory of capitalism and how those at the top get to reap the rewards sown by the working class (great theory, pity the episode doesn't take that lane, or any lane, actually) - it's just "Goblins eat babies, merry Christmas!" There's no commentary there, there's nothing to really pick apart and investigate.

Overall, it's a fun enough special, if you can ignore the antisemitic tropes, which I honestly couldn't. Ncuti plays the Doctor well, but I don't feel like this episode really gave him the boost he needs into the role. Millie Gibson as Ruby is fun, but that's really all I can say about her. There were some really great character interactions between the Doctor and the main supporting cast (Ruby's family), and it was nice to see the new companion living her life for a little while before getting tangled up with the Doctor. (Although really, running out on her family on Christmas with a newborn in the house probably wasn't the smartest idea, even if she had already figured out about the time-travel part.)

It's fine for a bit of mindless TV, but really, the Disney influence is pretty obvious - even if, yes I know, Disney doesn't have any real production insight, only streaming rights, it still feels like the show has been tempered for the platform - and in the end it's just sort of... there. I can tell already that this is going to be one of those specials that I just sort of... forget about, like Doctor Mysterio or The Snowmen (whose episode titles I literally just had to look up because I don't remember them).

I suppose for a brand new audience it's fine - again, if you can overlook antisemitism - but for a long-time fan of modern Who, it's sort of a let down.

Still thinking about the upcoming Christmas special and how it really puts fans in a shitty position. On the one hand, it reeks of antisemitism with the involvement of goblin pirates singing about eating babies. On the other hand, if the special flops, they will 100% pin the blame on having a black queer Doctor and use it as "proof" as to why they need to stick to the status quo of having white cishet men play the Doctor, just like they did to Jodie.

I don't want to sit through a Christmas episode featuring blood libel, but I also don't want the first Black queer Doctor to fall flat because of bad writing choices.

(I also really don't like how seemingly the entire fandom is just... ignoring the antisemitism because the song is "boppy" like??? That's... uncomfortable.)

[pumpkinpaix]

Hello! Feel free not to answer this question if it is in any way too much, but I've been wondering about something concerning the "western" mdzs fandom. Lately, i have seen multiple pieces of fanart that use what is clearly Christian symbolism and sometimes downright iconography in depicting the characters. I'm a european fan, but it still makes me vaguely uneasy. I know that these things are rarely easy to judge. I'm definitely not qualified to do so and was wondering if you have an opinion

Hi there! thank you for your patience and for the interesting question! I’ve been thinking about this since i received this ask because it?? idk, it’s difficult to answer, but it also touches on a a few things that I find really interesting.

the short answer: it’s complicated, and I also don’t know what I feel!

the longer answer:

i think that this question is particularly difficult to answer because of how deeply christianity is tied to the western art and literary canon. so much of what is considered great european art is christian art! If you just take a quick glance at wiki’s page on european art, you can see how inextricable christianity is, and how integral christian iconography has been in the history of european art. If you study western art history, you must study christian imagery and christian canon because it’s just impossible to engage with a lot of the work in a meaningful way without it. that’s just the reality of it.

Christianity, of course, also has a strong presence in european colonial and imperialist history and has been used as a tool of oppression against many peoples and nations, including China. I would be lying if I said I had a good relationship with Christianity--I have always faced it with a deep suspicion because I think it did some very, very real damage, not just to chinese people, but to many cultures and peoples around the world, and that’s not a trauma that can be easily brushed aside or reconciled with.

here is what is also true: my maternal grandmother was devoutly christian. my aunt is devoutly christian. my uncle’s family is devoutly christian. my favorite cousin is devoutly christian. when I attended my cousin’s wedding, he had both a traditional chinese ceremony (tea-serving, bride-fetching, ABSURDLY long reception), and also a christian ceremony in a church. christianity is a really important part of his life, just as it’s important to my uncle’s family, and as it was important to my grandmother. I don’t think it’s my right or place to label them as simply victims of a colonialist past--they’re real people with real agency and choice and beliefs. I think it would be disrespectful to act otherwise.

that doesn’t negate the harm that christianity has done--but it does complicate things. is it inherently a bad thing that they’re christian, due to the political history of the religion and their heritage? that’s... not a question I’m really interested in debating. the fact remains that they are christian, that they are chinese, and that they chose their religion.

so! now here we are with mdzs, a chinese piece of media that is clearly Not christian, but is quickly gaining popularity in euroamerican spaces. people are making fanart! people are making A LOT of fanart! and art is, by nature, intertextual. a lot of the most interesting art (imo) makes deliberate use of that! for example (cyan art nerdery time let’s go), Nikolai Ge’s What is Truth?

I love this painting! it’s notable for its unusual depiction of christ: shabby, unkempt, slouched, in shadow. if you look for other paintings of this scene, christ is usually dignified, elegant, beautiful, melancholy -- there’s something very humanizing and humbling about this depiction, specifically because of the way it contrasts the standard. it’s powerful because we as the audience are expected to be familiar with the iconography of this scene, the story behind it, and its place in the christian canon.

you can make similar comments about Gentileschi’s Judith vs Caravaggio’s, or Manet’s Olympia vs Ingres’ Grande Odalisque -- all of these paintings exist in relation to one another and also to the larger canon (i’m simplifying: you can’t just compare one to another directly in isolation etc etc.) Gauguin’s Jacob Wrestling the Angel is also especially interesting because of how its portrayal of its content contrasts to its predecessors!

or! because i’m really In It now, one of my favorite paintings in the world, Joan of Arc by Bastien-Lepage:

I just!!! gosh, idk, what’s most interesting to me in this painting is the way it seems to hover between movements: the hyperrealistic, neoclassical-esque take on the figure, but the impressionistic brushstrokes of the background AAA gosh i love it so much. it’s really beautiful if you ever get a chance to see it in person at the Met. i’m putting this here both because i personally just really like it and also as an example of how intertextuality isn’t just about content, but also about visual elements.

anyways, sorry most of this is 19thc, that was what i studied the most lol.

(a final note: if you want to read about a really interesting painting that sits in the midst of just a Lot of different works, check out the wiki page on Géricault’s Raft of the Medusa, specifically under “Interpretation and Legacy”)

this is all a really long-winded way of getting to this point: if you want to make allusory fanart of mdzs with regards to western art canon, you kind of have to go out of your way to avoid christian imagery/iconography, especially when that’s the lens through which a lot of really intensely emotional art was created. many of my favorite paintings are christian: Vrubel’s Demon, Seated, Perov’s Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Ge’s Conscience, Judas, Bastien-Lepage’s Joan of Arc, as shown above. that’s not to say there ISN’T plenty of non-christian art -- but christian art is very prominent and impossible to ignore.

so here are a few pieces of fanwork that I’ve seen that are very clearly making allusions to christian imagery:

1. this beautiful pietà nielan by tinynarwhals on twitter

2. a lovely jiang yanli as our lady of tears by @satuwilhelmiina

3. my second gif in this set here, which I will also show below:

i’m only going to talk about mine in depth because well, i know exactly what i was thinking when I put this gif together while I can’t speak for anyone else.

first: the two lines of the song that I wanted to use for lan xichen were “baby, I’m a fighter//in the robes of a saint” because i felt that they fit him very well. of course, just the word “saint” evokes catholicism, even if it’s become so entwined in the english language that it’s taken on a secular meaning as well.

second: when I saw this scene, my immediate thought was just “PIETÀ!!” because LOOK at that composition! lan xichen’s lap! nie mingjue lying perpendicular to it! the light blue/white/silver of lan xichen in contrast to the darker robes of both nie mingjue and meng yao! not just that, but the very cool triangular structure of the image is intensely striking, and Yes, i Do love that it simultaneously ALSO evokes deposition of christ vibes. (baxia as the cross.... god..... is that not the Tightest Shit) does this make meng yao joseph of arimathea? does it make him john the evangelist? both options are equally interesting, I think when viewed in relation to his roles in the story: as a spy in qishan and as nmj’s deputy. maybe he’s both.

anyways, did I do this intentionally? yes, though a lot of it is happy accident/discovered after the fact since I’m relying on CQL to have provided the image. i wanted to draw attention to all of that by superimposing that line over that image! (to be clear: I didn’t expect it to all come through because like. that’s ridiculous. the layers you’d have to go through to get from “pretty lxc gifset” --> “if we cast nie mingjue as a christ figure, what is the interesting commentary we could do on meng yao by casting him as either joseph of arimathea or john the evangelist” are like. ok ur gonna need to work a little harder than slapping a song lyric over an image to achieve an effect like that.)

the point of this is: yes, it’s intentionally christian, yes I did this, yes I am casting these very much non-christian characters into christian roles for this specific visual work -- is this okay?

I obviously thought it was because I made it. but would I feel the same about a work that was written doing something similar? probably not. I think that would make me quite uncomfortable in most situations. but there’s something about visual art that makes it slightly different that I have trouble articulating -- something about how the visual often seeks to illustrate parallels or ideas, whereas writing characters as a different religion can fundamentally change who those characters are, the world they inhabit, etc. in a more... invasive?? way. that’s still not quite right, but I genuinely am not sure how to explain what i mean! I hope the general idea comes across. ><

something else to think about is like, what are pieces I find acceptable and why?

what makes the pieces above that reference christian imagery different than this stunning nieyao piece by @cyandemise after klimt’s kiss? (warnings for like, dead bodies and vague body horror) like i ADORE this piece (PLEASE click for fullview it’s worth it for the quality). it’s incredibly beautiful and evocative and very obviously references a piece of european art. I have no problem with it. why? because it isn’t explicitly christian? it’s still deeply entrenched in western canon. klimt certainly made other pieces that were explicit christian references.

another piece I’d like to invite you all to consider is this incredible naruto fanart of sakura and ino beheading sasuke after caravaggio’s judith. (warnings for beheading, blood, etc. you know.) i also adore this piece! i think it’s very good both technically and conceptually. the reference that it makes has a real power when viewed in relation to the roles of the characters in their original story -- seeing the women that sasuke fucked over and treated so disrespectfully collaborating in his demise Says Something. this is also!! an explicitly christian reference made with non-christian japanese characters. is this okay? does it evoke the same discomfort as seeing mdzs characters being drawn with christian iconography? why or why not?

the point is, I don’t think there’s a neat answer, but I do think there are a lot of interesting issues surrounding cultural erasure/hegemony that are raised by this question. i don’t think there are easy resolutions to any of them either, but I think that it’s a good opportunity to reexamine our own discomfort and try and see where it comes from. all emotions are valid but not all are justified etc. so I try to ask, is it fair? do i apply my criticisms and standards equally? why or why not? does it do real harm, or do i just not like it? what makes one work okay and another not?

i’ve felt that there’s a real danger with the kind of like, deep moral scrutiny of recent years in quashing interesting work in the name of fear. this morality tends to be expressed in black and white, good and bad dichotomies that i really do think stymies meaningful conversation and progress. you’ll often see angry takes that boil down to things like, “POC good, queer people good, white people bad, christianity bad” etc. without a serious critical examination of the actual issues at hand. I feel that these are extraordinarily harmful simplifications that can lead to an increased insularity that isn’t necessarily good for anyone. there’s a fine line between asking people to stay in their lane and cultural gatekeeping sometimes, and I think that it’s something we should be mindful of when we’re engaging in conversations about cultural erasure, appropriation etc.

PERHAPS IT IS OBVIOUS that I have no idea where that line falls LMAO since after all that rambling I have given you basically nothing. but! I hope that you found it interesting at least, and that it gives you a bit more material to think on while you figure out where you stand ahaha.

was this just an excuse to show off cool (fan)art i like? maybe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(ko-fi)

[erin-gilberts]

Do you have any favorite scenes from the original Ghostbusters films?

I definitely need to rewatch Ghostbusters 2 to remember what all happens in it, but -

1) Undoubtedly the courtroom scene from the second film is one of the most entertaining scenes from all four films. It's just a fucking delight. The guys look so excited to be back, and the sound of them switching on their proton packs after a long absence while they do that oh-so-very-autistic "do re Egon" thing is like a crescendo without music. It builds and you hold your breath while it does. Makes the audience feel like kids again. SO good. And the judge just hollering like a jackass until the ghost attacks him is very funny to me.

2) I think time has made us misremember the team from the first film as these badass heroes, but really? In GB1, they were just some guys. Doing their best. Often failing stupendously at it. Very average guys even if they were very smart. When they roll up to the Shandor to a crowd of New Yorkers and reporters cheering them on and hoping they succeed, they're immediately swallowed up by a sinkhole like, oh sorry, these guys you were counting on to save the world were instantly, immediately killed. They don't die, of course - and then they have to take dozens and dozens of flights of stairs up to where the action is even happening. They're not heroes who know everything is going to work out for them because they're the main characters of the story, they're just Some Guys doing their best because it's the right thing to do. I find this super endearing about them.

3) "When someone asks if you're a god, you say YES!" - Winston Zeddemore

4) The whole scene where Gozer tells them to choose the form of the destroyer. The fact that Venkman technically chose J. Edgar Hoover. The way they all turn on Ray and he sputters that it just popped in there; he tried to think of something that could never hurt them - the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

5) "I lOvE tHiS pLaN! I'm excited to be a part of it!" - actual leadership behavior from Peter Venkman! Him encouraging his team about a plan he's not enthusiastic about one bit because it needs to be done.

6) Walter Peck is a goddamn delight in every scene. I love when Janine basically tells him to get a warrant, follows him down the stairs shouting "I tried to stop him!" and joins Egon in defending the power thing from Peck. I love when Stay Puft steps on the church and the person on the ground having a real bad day looking at this is Walter Peck. I love when the marshmallow fluff starts falling from the sky and he just lets out the most frustrated scream you've ever heard in your life. He's having a bad day by his own design.

7) The citizens celebrating them at the end of GB1. Answer the Call holds my favorite "we believe you" response from the citizens because it's so subtle and so powerful - the lights on the buildings demonstrating how the impact you have on the people who matter the most can far outweigh the official recognition or gratitude you deserve but may never receive, can far outweigh that they might call you crazy for doing the right thing. We know, those lights whisper, we always will, and our knowledge of what you did for us can't be censored away, as much as others may try. The crowd response in GB1 strikes a different tone; it's much more openly celebratory and relieved, but it's all-in-all pure and wholesome af. I love seeing the city come together to validate and celebrate them. I love how they cheer for the Ghostbusters and they seem crushed when they think the team has been sucked into the sinkhole.

[maccreadysimp]

breaking down this anti-ian article bc it bothers me ( from the child of a bipolar mother and a male teen with same sex attraction ) while also providing valid reasons ian sucks ( from someone who likes ian )

ive had this drafted for a while so i dont think i cover anything from season 11

tw for i^cest and r^pe

he was with a married man

in this point it points out that he was with kash and he continued his relationship with kash even after linda put cameras in the store

“Ian didn't seem to care about how wrong his affair with Kash was or how much it could hurt Kash's wife Linda, whom he saw at the store regularly. “

that is a quote from that part.

ian gallagher was fifteen in season one, kash was an older man who bought him gifts and payed attention to ian ,, that was not on ian , none of that was ian fault because he was a child

ian wasnt open with lip

“ Ian didn't tell Lip about his preferences and forced Lip to figure it out on his own. Lip was instantly accepting of his brother's truth and even offered to help him figure out any confusion he might be harboring, so it's really strange that Ian wasn't just upfront with his closest confidant from the start.”

no , lip wasnt forced to figure it out on his own and he also wasn’t instantly accepting.

in this point it mentions that ‘they’re extremely close ( bestfriends and brothers ) so its strange ian didnt tell him’

like point 1 , ian is a fifteen year old boy, growing up on the southside , and thoughout the show it has mentioned multiple times that the southside isnt that accepting

back to lip -- lip wasnt accepting, sure he was fine but ‘helping your younger brother figure it out’ by having a (female) classmate give him a blowjob isnt helping

he secretly dated his best friends brother

“Most friends have an unspoken rule about not dating each other's siblings, but Ian broke this rule by secretly entering into a relationship with Mandy's closeted brother Mickey.”

the only thing i have to say about this is , he was still with kash and mickey was a boy in his age group who was gay , growing up in the southside ian probably thought he was the token gay so of course hes going to chase after mickey

he stood by as kash attacked mickey

“Ian didn't do anything to stop Kash from shooting his new lover, and didn't even tell the police about his boss' over-the-top display of jealous action so proper justice could be served.”

okay. because two men he had fallen for had gotten into a fight, there was a gun involved and he panicked, in the end after mickey got shot he went to him

now to address the quote, he didnt say anything to the police because he probably knew that that would bring shame onto kash and his family, along with mickey and his family who are very homophobic

oh yeah and it was like 2011 and cops suck and THEY LIVE ON THE SOUTHSIDE

he and lip tried framing terry milkovich

oh the homophobic and racist dad of his boyfriend and bestfriend who tried to kill him and r*ped his daughter ?

yeah , shit man , that was real bad they shouldn’t have done that /s

he dated jimmy-steves married father

“Ian didn't bother telling Jimmy the truth about his father and didn't end his relationship with Lloyd upon finding out that he had a secret wife and family, either.”

at this point ian is probably sixteen but that doesnt matter bc i wont even address that

he met him at a club and then used his relationship with ned to make mickey jealous which was one of the reasons he kept seeing him, he didnt tell jimmy-steve about the relationship or his father bc he shouldnt find out from him he should find out from his father , again like kash, ned was an older man who payed attention to ian and ned later did develop feelings feelings for ian

he stole lips identity to enlist in the army

he enlisted because he didnt know what to do with himself, its implied/stated that the army timeline was the start of his bipolar

“While impersonating Lip, Ian had tried to steal a helicopter and then proceeded to go AWOL.”

this is because of the bipolar he suffers from, it is referenced later in the series after he gets back and hes manic

ian refused to accept being bipolar

of course he didnt accept it, it is made very clear that his family thinks lowly of monica so of course if hes the lucky duck to get what his siblings demonize her for, of course he’ll not want to be it

“He refused to take medications that could alter his personality or mood.”

okay. this is why im making this whole post, this goes along with part 15 ( or so idk ) ,,

my mother , my dear mother, who is bipolar and doesnt take her meds because they are mood altering , my mom doesnt take med because she told me once that they make her feel like shit, she told me that a little after i was born she started taking them but realized she felt nothing, she felt nothing for my dad or for i ( making her numb )

she told me anti deppresents dont help either because when shes on them and manic it pushes her past productive and into angry

my dad told me that when my mom was on bi polar medication she would seem angry most of the time

he wasnt faitful to mickey

“Ian's bipolar disorder made him very reckless and impulsive and led him to be unfaithful.”

lets break that down.

ians. bipolar. disorder.

this plot point i actually didnt like, mainly bc ian never addresses it so ill give the article a point. but then i take away 2 because they have more of a problem with his bipolar messing with him rather than the fact he never apologized and they never worked it out

ian stole yevgeny

before i start quoting i should mention because his boyfriend, who has supported and helped him is suddenly telling him he needs help, he was helping raise yev so he’ll see yev as his own

“Ian failed to recognize just how crazy he was acting...”

cuting you off right there , he was in a bipolar state, he wasnt ‘crazy’ and isnt ‘crazy’

he cant even keep count of his number of partners

just slutshaming i see

he helped throw frank off a bridge

“His relationship with Frank was understandably never the same after that, as Frank struggled to get over this act of betrayal and cruelty.”

‘was never the same after that’ frank never liked ian, ian was probably his least favorite and that point is very apparent

also , it wasnt just ian , his siblings and his boyfriend caleb

he left a healthy relationship to be with mickey

he fell in love with mickey at 15 , mickey was a comfort and always someone to fall back on, when mickey was taken away and no longer in the picture his heart still obviously was with mickey and when mickey came back he didnt know what to do

he told mickey he had a boyfriend but because mickey has been such a constant in his life he finally has back of course he couldnt resist

he liked trevor, i could tell he did but trevor wasnt the one he watched get r^ped by a russian prostitute, he wasnt the one ian was secretly dating bc it would be a death wish other wise, he wasnt the one there when ian was manic or depressive ( at the start )

he tried blackmailing an old client for money

“Instead of raising the money in an honest manner, Ian chose to visit an old client from his time working at the Fairy Tail and blackmail him into funding the shelter.”

because he felt indebted to trevor and wanted to make it up to him, it would have taken longer to do it in ‘an honest manner’ when his sister would have gotten it instead, he knew how much gay youths like he once was needed a safe place

“He grew up wanting to be nothing like his father, but this whole money-making scheme was straight out of the Frank playbook”

because thats all he knows, he grew up with that ‘playbook’ so of course hes going to take a page out of it, he is nothing like frank , franks money making schemes are selfish and for his own greed while ian wanted the money to help build a safe space for lgbt youth

he let fame inflate his ego

of course he did, hes a southside kid who was destined to fail

also it is very apparent that during the gay jesus era he went off his medication which didnt help

“Before long, he just completely forgot about his ex and focused solely on being a deity”

as much as yes, he did let it mess with his head, he was trying to still help lgbt youth and was going against anti gay churchs , in the end it didnt work out for him because he was off his meds and went over board

he stopped taking his meds

see previous point and ‘ian refused to accept being bipolar’

he actually wanted to stay in prison

because he was doing good in there

ian was helping others and was spreading awareness about lgbt with in the prison , and as him and jail scenes go , we can see people were listening to him and he was trying to make it safe sane and consensual

he let down his army of followers

“Ian admitted that most of his actions were completely irrational and the mere results of his bipolar disorder.”

he didnt want to, we can see this, because he knew he would let down everyone, his family were the only ones to ever ground him and they knew it would be the best option for his own mental health

during the gallavich wedding we can see that a lot of his supporters still have his back because they must know how hard it was for him to put all of that success on something he can’t control

he constantly wasted his potential

this is actually the only point in this article i actually agree with , so only 1/20 i agree with

his relationship with mickey wasn’t actually great

“Mickey spent the first several years of their relationship denying his feelings for Ian.”

he was raised by a homophobic and racist father who he knew would react the way he did when terry had caught the two that one day

“Even after he finally embraced his true self, Ian's bipolar disorder kept them from becoming truly happy together.”

yes but mickey was there for him the entire time and helped him through it, he told him he loved him which was really big for him and did his best to care for him

“They couldn't seem to remain faithful to each other for more than a few weeks.”

back to the point about ians bipolar but for mickey he wanted monogamy , now that scene in s11 may say otherwise but it is very clear that he wants a monogamous relationship with ian and ian ( after getting help ) wants one too, and in the later seasons they are monogamous

“When Mickey asked Ian to run away to Mexico with him, Ian refused.”

he wanted to, it’s obvious, but ian has his family and didnt want to abandon them again, i think part of him knew he would see mickey again because they always find eachother, he gave mickey all of his money and wanted mickey to have a good life

“Their relationship was simply never healthy.”

no it wasnt, but thats why the ship is great in its own way, the gay closet kid raised by a homophobic man is obviously going to have a lot of baggage , and ian who is bipolar and struggling with himself will also have a lot of baggage , but in the end they love eachother and that really shows in season five and season seven specifically

that is all lol ,,, this is long sorry

now, i am not a ian apologist , i love ian but hes a dumbass sometimes

actual valid reasons ian sucks

genuinely believes frank is worse than terry

yes frank was definitely abusive but terry is definitely worse ,,

mentally/physically/sexually abusive , the whole nine yards

terry hired a prostitute to r^pe his son , threatened to kill him and ian on multiple occasions , r^ped his daughter who ended up pregnant and is actively racist

frank on the other hand will make gay jokes but in the end doesnt give enough of a shit , he has attacked his children on multiple occasions but not to the brutality that terry has ( this isnt me excusing it )

sorry ian , terry is worse

never apologized

he never apologized for all the shit he put mickey and his family through, never apologized to mickey for cheating on him , never apologized for all the manic and depressive episodes mickey endured with him

never apologized for walking away when he couldn’t handle it, in hall of shame mickey actually acknowledges this saying ‘its youre whole MO’

debbies sexuality

he has constantly made statements saying debbie isnt gay and that bothers me because , why does it care ? as a gay man and as a gay man who soent time with a lot of lgbt youth wouldnt he support his sister even if shes just ‘experimenting’?

in the recent season he doesnt seem to care and doesn’t say anything but it still bothers me

mickey only getting like 80% of his heart

okay look , i get what ian means when he says this , everyones hes been with has made him who he is but fucking hell dude ,, shut up , thats your husband , thats the love of your life you shouldnt be saying shit like that , especially to him

and then this man had the audacity to say mickey probably feels the same about past flings when he knows that ian is the only one hes probably ever been with/serious about

obviously there is probably more but those are the main ones that come to mind

—

before anyone brings up the trans or bi thing im going to explain my thought process for him

like ive probably mentioned multiple times he grew up southside and obviously only ever grew up with lgb and not t ,, trevor did inform him a lot and ian became supre accepting of everyone,, sexual preference isnt transphobic but i do think he approached the matter badly

now the bi thing , legit all i think is that he doesnt hate bisexual people its just that the man he really liked slept with a woman and never expressed any heterosexual attraction so it probably just suprised him and pissed him off because caleb did cheat on ian

—

if you read this far HOLY SHIT THANKS LOL ,, im not adding things that i think are pro about ian this was just me breaking down that article and giving my two cents :)

feel free to message me and talk to me or send me articles like this about any other character/relationship and i will totally break that one down too lol

thanks for letting me rant

[cloud9in]

The Half of It

A Mc x Poppy fic inspired by the film 

Summary: Bea, the town’s outcast is recruited by the school jock to win Poppy’s heart. But what happens when she starts falling for her as well?

Author’s Note: So this will be a multiple part series that includes scenes heavily inspired from the movie “The Half of It”. I certainly recommend watching it. My version will have different twists and a different ending, and definitely more angst. It will include mature themes as the story progresses.

Warnings for this chapter: Swearing. This is a good thing for now.

Chapter 1- 

“Love is simply the name for desire and pursuit of the whole.”

                                                   - Plato, The Symposium

It is said that when one half finds its other, there’s an unspoken understanding. A unity. And each would know no greater joy....than this. 

 ...Except this is highschool. And in my opinion, there is no other half. Maybe the other half is a paper on Greek God philosophy due at midnight. But make that four papers, including mine. 

 My name is Bea Hughes and let’s just say...this is not a very happy story. Well maybe some parts are, but you’ll have to read to find out. I come from a small town called Farmsville, and when I mean small, I mean really small. Except the highschool seems fucking huge, with never ending hallways and when you do somehow find the end, there’s usually two inbreds eating each others mouths off. Lucky for me I am the epitome of antisocial, reserved, an introvert, or whatever the inferior beings, aka every other senior, calls me when they think I can’t hear. But I hear everything, including that one time Bradley Denbrough, upcoming hotshot actor, or so he claims, found out about a crush a poor unsuspecting freshman had on him. Everybody knew what Bradley and his goons did to that boy, even the adults, but no charges were pressed. This town is as conservative as it gets, but no one knows of my secret. I carry this school on my back when it comes to having everyone graduate, but that’s all I am to them, a pawn. And that’s all I wanted to be, nothing more and nothing less. I preferred to be in the shadows. 

 ***

 ...Except the mandatory Senior Talent Show forced Bea out of her hibernation hole. The thought haunted her as she sat in the dance studio, the last fucking place she wanted to be. Dance was so not a Bea kinda thing, but the blonde knew exactly why she granted herself the misery of picking the class. Poppy Min Sinclair, the golden girl of Farmsville High, the preacher’s daughter on a more serious note. She is...the most fascinating girl Bea ever laid her eyes on even if her boyfriend was a complete asshole who sermonized his duties as her future husband. Like seriously? Poppy has got to have some screws loose to date such a fake loser who plagiarizes all of his speeches at sunday church, and once literally begged Bea to write an apology letter to his father for him after completely upending their summer cabin. Except the blonde wrote the opposite of an apology, it went something like this…

 Dear beloved donkey, I mean dad,

 I am terribly sorry for inviting 20 hookers to the summer cabin. I have these strange impulses and you should at least be grateful I didn’t invite the big boss as well. His wife came though, in many, many ways. You should get the carpet changed. 

 Sincerely, your STD free son

 It was safe to say that Mr. Denbrough had a near heart attack after reading it, and Bea did kinda feel bad, kinda. He never mentioned the letter to Bradley though, instead silently calling up the owner of Teopoli Catholic Summer Camp and essentially deporting the boy to Canada for the summer. No son of his would end up in hell was what the old man preached everyday from then on. It was the quietest summer Bea had ever experienced. 

 Being the towns outcast, Bea could have her fun when she so chooses to, but that didn’t pay the bills. In fact, the multiple essays that people paid her to write was her way of surviving and taking care of her mother. They weren’t very rich but Bea worked with what she had, helping her mother manage the farm, which included getting on her knees and wrestling the pigs. And that’s how she was gifted the name “pig girl”, stupid Bradley and his fake friends just had to wander too far and catch Bea in the act. She swore a remixed video of her hog calling surfaced the web at one point and that gave the blonde her five minutes of fame. Boy was it an awful time in her life. 

 Bea worked her mother’s previous job as station master or signalman for the trains that passed through, even if it barely paid her shit. The secluded feeling of sitting in that booth and having a moment with her thoughts was enough to give her purpose. Bea was fond of poetry and it usually helped her come up with song lyrics.

 Song lyrics…

 That she would have to sing at the talent show. A huge sigh escaped her lips as she slumped further into the ground, maybe hoping she could bury herself six feet under. It wasn’t that Bea hated singing, no she absolutely loved it. Playing her guitar at night and belting out lyrics that only resulted in her mother banging on the ceiling below in efforts to shut the blonde up. But the mere fact that she’d have to sing in front of the ruthless seniors rubbed her the wrong way. Something would go wrong, it always did. Bea was shaken out of her thoughts when Poppy crossed the center of the room, moving her hips slowly to the sound of Rihanna’s voice. The class chose a slow r&b song to choreograph today and of course all eyes were on Poppy.

 If i’m your girl say my name boy

let me know i'm in control

 Her silky blonde locks swayed as she danced to the beat, hands thrusting sensually along her sides. Bea stared in awe, almost like Poppy was the only one in the room and a spotlight illuminated every movement, every curve. Except she definitely wasn’t the only one picturing Poppy in that way. Carter, the school quarterback leaned against the railing, arms crossed and eyes trailing the rise and fall of her chest. 

 Got me wondering, I’m wondering if i'm on your mind

 Bea sat up straighter but nearly lost her bodily functions when Poppy locked eyes with her before spinning away. It was simple eye contact Bea, don’t let it get to your head. You already have multiple lyrics inspired by Poppy offering the bare minimum in human interaction. She doesn’t actually like you. Poppy is popular and has the perfect life...and boyfriend, even if Bea heavily disagrees. Poppy was a bitch of course, but not a bitch bitch. Unlike the other wannabe mean girls, the blonde didn’t give Bea hell, well that was because the girl paid her zero attention. She seemed distant, off in her own world, or well in her parents world learning the strategies of business. Poppy was expected to follow in her parents footsteps and keep up with her reputation of being the richest in town, and of course a faithful future wife. So fun. But the blonde had other prosperous dreams of travelling and following her passion of music and dance. Highschool was her only outlet and she took advantage of it any chance she’d get. Bea knew this because she would ride her bike every friday night to the school and watch Poppy dance from outside the glass window. Maybe Bea realized it was kinda creepy, but she’s dumb enough to not realize her obvious growing attraction. I mean who pedals miles just to watch someone trip on their feet? 

 ***

 The sound of the bell caught everyone's attention and the teacher slowly lowered the music. Bea watched as Bradley approached Poppy and smothered her with kisses and praises. She rolled her eyes painfully, this kind of PDA definitely wasn’t it, she could have gone her whole life without seeing that. She walked silently through the crowd of kids in the hall, everyone was laughing and talking to their friends. All Bea could allow her mind to focus on was the very intimidating billboard of names a few feet across from her. 

 Winter Talent Show Sign-Ups (Mandatory For Seniors)

 Bea glared at it quietly before signing her name on the sheet, sealing her inevitable fate. Through the hustle of students, Carter watched the blonde with a yearning look from afar. This should be great…

 The next few classes were a blur and Bea eventually found herself getting up to hand Ms. Kingsley her paper. The older woman looked at her with a knowing glance as she took a generous sip of her coffee, which was 75% tequila.

 “6 different interpretations on Plato? Colour me impressed Miss Hughes.” 

 Bea shrugs nonchalant, “yeah well would you rather read their actual essays?”

 “Oh hell no.” Kingsley feigns shock as she looks at the stack of papers with a comical expression. She takes another sip, watching her younger, prodigy of a student carefully. “You know there are places outside of this godforsaken town where you can put your talents to use... Real use. I teach at Belvoire University occasionally.” Ina winks and slides Bea an application, studying her initial reaction. “It’s...in New York.”

“Damn right! The Big Apple.”

 “Kingsley you know I have to stay here. It’ll be easier for me to manage the farm and be close to home”, Bea says confidently even though her body language displays otherwise. She predicted the big sigh filling her ears before it actually happened and it still managed to faze her. “Who ever said you had to do anything? What about what you want to do?” Bea doesn’t make eye contact with Ina, that woman could convince you to do just about anything with a certain look. “No we are not doing this. You can take your reverse psychology and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine. I’m outta here.” The blonde stomps out of the classroom, the sound of Ina’s chuckles still ringing in her ears.

 “Hey! Everyone in this town fears God, but you know what God fears? My ability to hide a bottle of Don Julio in my left boot.” Ina pulls out the newly bought bottle and cradles it. “Come to mama.”

 ***

 Bea rode her bike alongside the dirt road, Kingsley’s words on replay the entire ride. Maybe she did deserve to experience something more than what this town had to offer. But would her mother manage without her? Sacrifices, sacrifices. Bea was used to making those for her mother after her father’s death. What would her dad think of all of this?

 “Hey!”

 He’d surely smack Bea upside the head for the little antics she pulled occasionally. And then he’d buy her vanilla coconut ice cream and ask for every single detail of what happened as they sat and laughed together. That’s the kind of relationship Bea would have had with her father, she liked to assume so. She also liked to assume that she’d get home safely everyday without a scratch, but then there’s Carter.

 “Hey wait up!” 

 The jock seemed to be running ridiculously fast and crashed right into the rear end of Bea’s bicycle, sending her face first into a mount of dirt. The initial impact was enough to boost the blonde straight back up like nothing happened and into a fighting stance, fists out and eyes wild. Very scary Bea. When she realized it was him...well it only pissed her off even more. “What the fuck Carter! You asshole!”

 “I’m sorry Bea! Here let me help-”

 “No! Move away! You- my bike- I…” Bea groans frustratingly, stepping away from the wreck as she tries to catch her breath. Carter watches her sheepishly, rubbing an envelope between his fingers awkwardly. After a few minutes of painfully uneasy silence he speaks up, “Okay...I didn’t want to ask you this way but I was wonder-”

“Oh, so you practically break my ass and now you want me to do you a favour? Real nice way of communication you have there Mr. Quarterback. What is with you and those freakishly large muscles anyways? Maybe it’s my fault I didn’t hear your avalanche built ass coming from behind.”

 “Hey! They are not freakishly large!”

 “I hate to break it to you Jackson but mine are significantly more appealing to look at.” Bea smirks widely, flexing her arm as best as she could. It’s a work in progress… just bare with her.

 It didn’t take much effort for Carter to break out into a smile and look at her fondly. Maybe there was more to this girl than just being a human dictionary. Well that’s what people called her, and he maybe believed it at first.

 Bea noticed the lack of response and shifted awkwardly, clearing her throat. “Listen, its $10 for three pages, $20 for three to ten, I'm not in the over-ten-page biz.”

 “No..no I’m not here to cheat!” Carter blurts out. “But I’ll let you know if I do plan on- anyways. I uh..” He hesitates before handing her the envelope. “What’s this?

 “Well you see it’s a letter..”

 “Yeah but who writes letters these days?”

 “I thought it seemed romantic..”

 “And I thought women writing Jeffrey Dahmer letters in jail seemed romantic”, Bea says sarcastically, her smile dropping instantly after catching a glimpse of Poppy’s name at the top of the paper. It was like the blood stopped flowing through her body for a few seconds as her mouth went dry. This had to be the work of the so-called God everyone praised in this town, or it was one cruel coincidence. Bea wasn’t sure why seeing her name made her heart beat ten times harder, but it also wasn’t a necessarily uncomfortable feeling…

 “I- I can’t help you.”

 “But if you just add a few more words-”

 “I’m not writing a letter to Poppy Min Sincla- to..to some girl for you. Letters are supposed to be authentic, from the heart, your own words, your...feelings.” Bea hurriedly turns to grab her bike, suddenly losing all interest in being social. 

 Carter was afraid this would happen. But he was stubborn. “But I can pay more for authentic!” 

 Too bad Bea was stubborn as well. “Just get a thesaurus...Good luck, Romeo.”

***

 Bea sat in her room, strumming away softly at the strings of her guitar. Some of the keys were off but the old thing still worked, and that was good enough for her. She could hear the tv blasting downstairs, her mother most likely watching the news. There’s something about old people and news, were they secretly ogling the news anchors? Just like Bea ogled Poppy any chance she could. The blonde frowned to herself, her eyebrows crunching together in question. What so hard about writing a letter to Poppy? It’s not like it's coming from her. Well it technically is, but Carter is taking the credit and Bea never had a problem with people taking credit for her words. So why did this very thought prove to be such an inconvenience? Lucky for Bea, her mind drifted elsewhere when she heard a painful snap. Even if it wasn’t physically connected to her body, she felt a horrible ache. Slowly peering down at the guitar in her hand, Bea found that the neck of the guitar had miraculously split almost clean off, a splinter of wood just holding it intact. She wanted to scream but nothing really came out, except air of course. Much to her disapproval, this was definitely a result of her strength. Stupid muscles couldn’t contain themselves at the thought of Carter being with Poppy. Now how could that be? 

 But now she had no guitar. And no guitar means no strings to strum, and no lyrics to sing, and no talent to show at the talent show. Now she was in trouble. Probably because she knew that the only way to get the money to replace the guitar would be through sealing the deal with Carter. Oh fuck it!

 ***

 “One letter. And enough money to buy a new guitar.”

 “Deal!”

 Bea turns away with a sigh, completely ignoring Carter’s high five. Now all she had to do was write this letter, and pray that Poppy wouldn’t completely consume every fiber of her being in the process.

                                 -------------------------------------------

End note: So how we feelin’? Carter and Bea Brotp??

Tags: @samanthadalton @somewillwin @clowneryme @baexpoppy @zigxryanz @uselesslesbianfr @aleiramacaii @thedaft1 @alexlabhont @iamsimpforpoppy

[bigskydreaming]

Couldn't the thing with Jason thinking Dick is infallible from Truth and Justice story come from how he is compared to his brother from Bruce. Even when he was Robin with Dick and Bruce fighting, he was told that Dick was better by Bruce. Then he comes back and is a cautionary tale of what not to and how not to be while Dick and Bruce are now getting along.

I mean yeah, you could go with that take, but I’m always gonna argue that even that is more fanon based than anything else, at least before this issue. We’ve seen a lot of that take in the past already, but truth is, there really isn’t that much basis in older stories for Bruce comparing Jason to Dick. And like I’ve expanded on in the past, younger Jason looked UP to Dick, he certainly didn’t resent him. 

With this being true even when he first came back - Dick was the only one he didn’t target at ALL during Under the Red Hood, and when he did finally meet up with Dick a year later, during the Brothers in Blood arc, it was more to fuck with him than any attempt to take things out on him. Like, that arc gets a lot of shit and deservedly so, but I really do wish more people would at least takeaway from it the fact that in it, JASON referenced still thinking of Dick as family. Which just doesn’t mesh up with all the ‘they barely knew each other/they resented each other’ takes.

Pretty much all the times I can think of when Jason was compared to Dick pre ADITF, it was actually not at all what its usually represented as by most fandom takes, such as the time Jason teamed up with the Titans. For pretty much Jason’s entire tenure as Robin up until the Felipe Garzonas arc, Jason was actually portrayed as perfectly secure in his position of Robin and wasn’t threatened by anyone else’s perception of him at all. Even the arc where he loses it on Two-Face has been kinda amplified to make more of it than it was, like.....Bruce was worried about the anger he expressed there, but that was more out of concern FOR Jason and it wasn’t the “Jason was on the verge of getting fired as Robin all along” kinda narrative we tend to see referenced. 

Jason was only made out to be the angry Robin or the less competent Robin or whatever AFTER his death, which is all kinds of shitty, but like......there’s no real basis for any kind of extended history where Jason resentfully suffered under his big brother’s shadow while Robin. The angry/less competent Robin stuff was all DC retroactively railroading him after the fact to justify their choice to kill him off (which was still their choice no matter the existence of a poll), and its the narrative most people have run with because it amplifies Jason’s existence as the misunderstood and unfairly judged underdog of the family.

Now to be 100% clear, as I’ve said in the past.....there is absolutely no reason you CAN’T go with this take if you don’t want to. Nobody has to abide by canon, or a particular canon and I’ll never argue otherwise. My main point has always just been that the thing about fanfic is that its a transformative process, it enables fans to take canon and transform it into something else.....but here’s the thing....those transformations ALWAYS happen with INTENT. People are deliberate in how and in what ways they transform canon, even if they’re not always CONSCIOUS of that deliberation.....it still exists. None of these transformations just happen, they happen for a reason. Because fans want an end result that’s different from what we saw in canon.

So my thing is always just.....yes, transform canon as you like, for whatever reason. But don’t pretend that those reasons don’t exist, and understand that when people look at a canon to fanon transformation that really only results in one major difference.......they’re gonna assume that this difference, achieving this difference, was for whatever reason, the POINT of the transformation.

And here’s where I also want to express something else: my take has never been that most of fandom just hates Dick Grayson. That they’re consciously, deliberately out to smear him or make him look bad. I think there’s a lot of elements in play with how I perceive fandom’s interactions with him compared to other characters, but more often than not, I think one of the bigger issues with how his character is TRANSFORMED from canon to fanon, is just.......he’s collateral damage. I don’t think in most cases the point is even to make actual transformations of his character or characterization......its to apply these things to people he’s in scene WITH......and he just ends up transformed as well, by proximity.

Take a look at some examples:

1) Dick firing Tim

Except as we’ve gone over multiple times, Dick didn’t actually FIRE Tim. He didn’t neglect him, he didn’t turn his back on him, he could have handled that situation differently, sure, but he had none of the ill intent people assign to him when they typically ramp up how bad this period was for Tim. Dick actually called him his equal, begged him to stay, said he was too GOOD to be Dick’s junior partner........but this is not at all how this moment in canon is generally viewed by a lot of fandom. He comes off looking a TON worse, like he just chose Damian over Tim and discarded Tim first chance he got, he didn’t care how Tim was affected, he kicked Tim out of the manor and out of Gotham.

But the thing is.....I’d argue that none of this TRANSFORMATION from canon really had anything to do with Dick. I don’t actually think that tons of fans were just waiting in the wings for the perfect opportunity to make a villain out of Dick and just seized upon this moment as the perfect opportunity. I think it was just all about Tim. It was about accentuating his misery, his aloneness, heightening the whump factor of his character and amplifying the feelings of insecurity, rejection and alienation he was feeling and that people related to.

What happened to Dick’s character in most peoples’ eyes as a result of this transformation, was the symptom, not the point. It was the collateral damage, not the aim.

2) Bruce firing Dick

In contrast, we have more than one canon interpretation of Bruce firing Dick as Robin, with this leading directly into Dick leaving the manor at a fairly young age, keeping his distance from Bruce until he finds out about Jason, Bruce giving Robin to Jason without acknowledging or apologizing for the fact that he was giving away the identity that someone else had crafted and poured their heart and soul into, not him.......but this isn’t how a lot of fandom outside of Dick stans and people who are specifically predisposed towards Bad Dad Bruce like to treat that part of canon.

Here, the transformation is the reverse from what happened with Tim and Dick. Here, the feelings of rejection and alienation and insecurity Dick realistically would have felt during that time are overlooked and even outright invalidated by TRANSFORMING the canon so that actually, this period of extended estrangement is completely disconnected from any version of events where Bruce fired Dick, which he did not do here. And in fact, Dick gave up Robin, he and Bruce had a falling out, and this was mutual and two-sided and thus Dick’s refusal to come home earlier and reconcile with Bruce was not actually him standing up for himself and refusing to settle for being taken for granted and dismissed when convenient but rather just Dick being immature, stubborn and a little spoiled.

But again.....I don’t think that’s the aim so much as a byproduct of the intended end result. Once more, I think that had very little to do with Dick himself, wasn’t about making him look bad specifically....but rather, it was about making Bruce look better. It was transforming the thing he had done in canon which was so hard to defend, ie ignore all of Dick’s feelings on the matter much in the way people accuse Dick of ignoring Tim’s later, and passively rejecting him and refusing to be the first to reach out unlike Dick who actively sought after Tim when he left. Those moments in canon definitively make Bruce look pretty bad, and are hard to reconcile with Good Parent Bruce Wayne, so that is what people are trying to transform. Once again, the way it makes Dick look in contrast is just a symptom.

The further examples are honestly pretty endless.

The aftermath of Forever Evil and Spyral is ignored, transforming Dick into the true villain of that period not because people just want an excuse to hate him, but because they don’t want to or can’t reconcile what Bruce actually did in order to get Dick to act so out of character, or they want to justify Jason and Tim and others’ anger at Dick later rather than have them appear to be inconsiderate assholes just piling on a guy who just had the worst year of his life to date.

The instances of Bruce outright abusing Dick after Jason’s death and at other times like Night of the Owls are ignored, transforming Dick into an impetuous, overly aggressive asshole who isn’t reacting to Bruce’s initial aggression, but rather just popping off the handle because he isn’t being received or treated just the way he likes.

Dick reaching out to Jason and making an offer to be there for him as Robin and later times they interact in Titans as well as any actual bond they build, even if mostly just hinted at off the page....all ignored in favor of transforming Dick into this bitter, jealous jerk who can’t see past his own feelings long enough to realize he’s taking things out on an innocent kid who doesn’t deserve this, even though that’s exactly what he realized and motivated his actual actions towards Jason in canon. And again, its not so much about making Dick worse, its about overlooking the WHYS of Dick’s hurt, turning the focus from what was done to him that justifies him being upset in the first place, to some greater mistreatment he enacts on Jason and thus drowns out any sympathy that people might otherwise have for Dick.

Dick’s periods of brainwashing like under the Church of Blood being overwritten or ignored in order to transform his deliberately out of character attitudes towards his friends and teammates there into just normal outbursts that were part of his characterization rather than signs that something was abnormally wrong with him. Thus turning everyone else’s treatment of him during that time period into again just their part of a two-way street and nothing they had to feel bad about rather than acknowledge that he’d literally not been in full control of himself while they had no such excuse for their behavior.

To be clear.....this kind of thing is NOT limited to just Dick. It tends to happen any time people want to transform a canon event into something more one-sided, to accentuate a particular character’s position as the victim or the misunderstood or neglected party.....or to turn a one-way street into a mutual antagonism, to lessen a particular character’s culpability in some argument or feud. You can absolutely find examples of this same effect applying to every other character in the Batfam as well.

But the reason it happens so often with Dick, and thus every instance of it happening tends to be amplified by the sheer volume of similar situations......is because of convenience. Because ironically, the reason Dick so often looks so bad in fanon’s eyes when it comes to his treatment of his family....is BECAUSE of how Dick is so much more integrated into every one of his family’s lives (and his friends’) than pretty much any other character. He’s the collateral damage to other characters being deliberately transformed in some way purely because he’s the one who almost always is THERE to some degree. Because there’s no one else in the scene that’s being transformed.

And so to bring it all back to your question......I think you absolutely can go with that take. There’s an argument to be made for it, especially now given that this canon issue has actually established a precedent for Jason feeling that way rather than fanon just running with the idea because it makes Jason more maligned. Its still not something that’s ever going to interest me though, even if I can see the reasoning for it, because its not just the fact that this particular dynamic between Dick and Jason has played out thousands of times before in fic, as I said yesterday. Its also because like I laid out here......my bigger issue is that take has absolutely NOTHING to do with Dick himself, says nothing about his character, but his character is inevitably the one who will suffer fallout from that particular take. That dynamic, as you described it, makes sense.....but its entirely, 100% on Bruce or others for raising those comparisons, not because of anything Dick did to Jason himself.....and thus it makes Jason’s dynamic towards Dick MORE a product of other peoples’ reactions and attitudes towards him and his brother respectively.

And that dynamic IS perfectly understandable and valid. But even if its slightly different this time because of more of a canon basis, it still for me falls into the same pattern of Dick being collateral damage to something that’s largely focused on another character entirely, with him and how he’s impacted by extension being kinda an afterthought. 

*Shrugs* And that’s just......a story I’ve read so many many times before, I’m just never gonna be all that engaged by it.