#i didn't even get started on the religious imagery i have so much to say about that

[jamiemaybeme]

i took that as a challenge, apparently. have my 1am brain dump that unnecessarily deeply analysises random lines. this is the result of two hours of english revision earlier. (mandatory. at school. we had to sit in the hall for two hours in the same seats we have for exams. i'm not anywhere near any of my friends. the only good thing is i'm at the back.) anyway enjoy! (or don't, idrc.)

i love the chorus, but consider (with reasons/my interpretations):

"i am prone to fits of fright

moments of intense neuroticism

but when i'm good, good God, i'm great"

this bit really describes my anxiety. "fits of fright" and "moments of intense neuroticism" are such a great ways to put it, and show how while it's fleeting, it is INTENSE. and "when i'm good[...], i'm great". i feel much better. i wonder how i ever felt bad. and then when i feel bad i wonder how i ever felt good. it's a great line.

"but you've heard all this before

so i will try and elaborate"

using fictional characters to explain how you feel is the most relatable thing ever. when i was really struggling, i told people i related HEAVILY to charlie spring (from heartstopper). no one ever picked up on it, but i was too scared to say anything outright. i felt if people really cared they would ask. (this was absolute rubbish btw. the hints i was dropping were so subtle no one apart from me would have been able to pick them up. plus, it was a difficult year for everyone, and i never asked about them. we're all much better at communicating now though.)

"i am everyone and everything

all of the time

oh God, i'll be..."

gonna split this into two parts to start with. "i am everyone and everything all of the time" honestly just describes me perfectly. not only do i feel so overwhelmed with all the pressure from school, friends, extracurriculars etc, i feel like i need to be there for everyone. i also feel like i'm an amalgamation of fifteen different people, and i only show certain ones to certain others. i'm getting better at this. for a while, i was the only therapist friend in my group. i felt like i had to be there for everyone, yet no one was there for me. (again, utter nonsense. i just didn't want to 'burden' anyone because of previous ✨ trauma ✨.) i feel like these lines also link to 'all you get is confetti' (my favourite song on the album probably): "you can't be everything for everyone but you can be everything to someone", showing the process of unlearning. this makes sense, considering 'aygic' immediately follows 'icsaidlay'. bears in trees songs and albums/eps often tell stories of journeys (i want to feel chaotic, keep me safe, doing this again etc), which further backs this up.

"oh God i'll be..." reminds me SO MUCH of 'doing this again'. "oh my God we're doing this again". the whole premise of the song is to describe how doing the same thing everyday feels. the repetition throughout the song helps to emphasise this. the elipsis in this section of 'icsaidlay' creates the same effect. it feels like the singer/writer is starting to spiral, thinking about all the things they have to do/be. it reminds me of how i feel when i'm simultaneously burnt out and overwhelmed.

"playing games about our names"

as a genderqueer person who changed their name (countless times. maybe 5?) i just find this really funny. i love it.

"when my friends would all go swimming

i would drown within the shallow end"

another line that feels like such a good explanation for my brain. this one sounds like when you're the 'gifted kid' so you've done really well in primary school but now you're in a highly academic secondary school and are struggling, whilst all your peers are fine. they've learned to cope, they've always had to. you never learned to, you never needed to. turns out you've had undiagnosed adhd this whole time.

"and the kids were all relentless

with their teases and their tempers"

i love being bullied 😎

seriously though, hearing songs about people being bullied and seeing them now grown up really helps me to be able to visualise my future. i've never been bullied TOO badly - i've always been able to (mostly) handle it - but it's still impacted me significantly. this song and 'aygic' (yes, again, these two songs are so intertwined) really help. "better give the kids something to shout back as the books fall out of my rucksack".

"i sleep better on the sofa

please do not take me to the bedroom"

someone else said this already but i agree and i did think of it before i saw their post i promise :']

this line is so ace coded. i scream this line at the top of my lungs when no one is home. i beat jumping height records when i can't shout. i love these lines. i will never shut up about them. they are literally the epitome of this emoji: 🤌. they're awesome.

bonus: parallels

also rq: the parallels between this song and 'aygic' are great. i love them. 'aygic' being a more apathetic view about the whole life thing, whereas this one is definitely a feeling too much view is honestly genius. the contrasts and yet the similarities. they work really well together.

that was literally a whole essay i am so sorry. hope you enjoyed!!

p.s. i am doing much better mentally now than i was when i first heard this song. i know it wasn't that long ago, but sun and a concert can do a lot to a person. i've written this mainly from the pov of me first hearing this. but just in case anyone's worried, i'm okay now.

double p.s. nick, if you're reading this (i'm pretty sure it was you who wrote this. it sounds like a nick song.), i'm glad we've been able to give you what you've given us. a sense of belonging and community. to some extent at the very least. thank you for putting this song out despite being scared. we appreciate it so much <3

(okay i'm going to bed /ref)

so you're telling me bears in trees referenced over the garden wall, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, scott pilgrim vs the world, and my hero academia...all in the SAME song? and you're expecting me to be NORMAL about this? ...pathetic

[fictionadventurer]

the animation style isn't for everyone, but my family typically watches the 2009 Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey - if you're up to try another adaptation I wonder what you'd think of it! It does include both the scene of the ghosts and of Ignorance and Want, and iirc a pretty big percentage of the dialogue is straight out of the original book.

I'm actually watching it right now, and I've been checking patches of the dialogue against Gutenberg. Aside from cutting out some lines from conversations, the dialogue is pretty much word-for-word from the book. In the scene with Marley, Scrooge even says, "Thank'ee," where it would have been easy to substitute, "Thank you." Unfortunately, some of the lines they've cut are the religious ones, but I guess we can't have everything.

I was going to wait to give thoughts until I could give a full review, but I'm actually watching this version because I was so impressed by the patches of it I caught on TV, and this gives me a chance to talk about some of the things I've liked.

Jim Carrey as Scrooge works shockingly well. He really throws himself into the part. All the weird little gremliny body language makes him this loathsome creature, but in a comic way that feels very Dickens.

Starting with Scrooge signing Marley's death certificate was such a smart choice. They managed to work in the "dead as a doornail" line without narration!

I had been hoping for Scrooge to steal something from Marley's body during his death scene in the Sim version, and was disappointed they didn't go that route. But this version does! It's such a good choice.

This might be the first Bob Crachit I haven't loved--he looks too ratlike and henchman-y. But he's growing on me a bit, and I love that they include the scene of him sliding on the ice with the boys.

This version seems to overexaggerate the horror and nightmare elements of the story. Not a huge fan of that, but it could be worse.

I adore how they capture Scrooge's joy in the Christmas Past scenes. I was disappointed we didn't get him going into raptures over his childhood reading, but I've liked everything else I've seen so far of that portion.

Seeing young Jim Carrey in Victorian garb as young Scrooge was...an odd experience.

This version's Belle absolutely blew me away. Every other version of her I've seen makes her just Scrooge's girlfriend. She's there to be a sweet and sentimental lost love. But this Belle is a mature, responsible woman, who knows her own mind and heart and can make good choices for her life. This is a woman who could have captured Scrooge's heart and would have made an excellent wife. Astounding performance on every level.

Want and Ignorance were the only parts of the Christmas Present scene I've caught so far. Loved that they were included, didn't like the expansion into much weirder nightmare imagery.

I'm obsessed with how Carrey keeps Scrooge's gremliny body language even after he reforms. So it plays as "Mwahaha, I've trapped you in my evil plan to...give your family a comfortable life!" Not how I would have envisioned his post-reform behavior, but a believable and very fun choice.

[mdhwrites]

Can a Wittebane special ever air on Disney Channel? I wonder how they will tackle the religious themes and murder of Caleb while keeping it Child friendly.

HAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH Oh, wait, you actually think it'd focus on Philip?

Sorry for the mocking statements but that is the long and short of it. To keep it child friendly, for what is most compelling, and for what would be most in line with TOH, the way a Wittebane special would go is actually pretty easy to map out, at least with the moments that we know about:

You start with a teenage boy looking gaunt and exhausted as he prepares for a day in the woods to forage for things that he can get and wood to chop. He needs to make money for him and his little brother, Philip, after all. He hasn't really gotten to eat much more than scraps for the past couple days but hey, that's okay. Philip gets to eat and that's all the nourishment Caleb needs. He wants his little brother to have a proper childhood and he'll give up anything for that.

While out in the woods that day though, he catches a smell. An absolutely divine smell. He follows it to its source and finds a woman in a cloak feeding the animals of the area. The bread she has smells like heaven but how she speaks to the animals reeks of the devil. His stomach gives him away though and she turns with a wry grin. She isn't afraid of him but intrigued because he didn't immediately attack, something she calls out when he won't eat her bread because of his suspicions. They strike a deal that Evelyn will tell him a truth in return for the bread. That way he knows his soul isn't the price of it. "Are you a witch?" "Yes." And that moment of pure honesty makes Caleb pause. Then he runs. He runs fast and hard, racing back to town to be sure that he can tell everyone and potentially get his brother away. To keep him safe from that which threatens them all. However, he is stopped by the fact that his little brother is sobbing and soaked. One of the other kids tricked him into the river and said they shouldn't have bother to be washed up onto the shore. They should have just drowned in the ocean because if God wanted them, they would still have... have... Caleb holds him tight before looking at the sole remaining photo he has of all four of them. The next day he is in mass, his leg shaking as he listens to the fire and brimstone the preacher speaks of. He can't focus on the words though. Not as he looks at how the kids that hurt Philip are at the front of the pews while they sit in the back because no one wants them near them. There's anger and hate in this room and it gnaws at his gut just as badly as his hunger does.

And so now we get some time of Philip and Evelyn bonding, romancing and we see the seasons pass in a sweet, effective montage to speedrun their romance, especially if this is just a 44 minute special or the like, let alone if it's 22. This montage could easily also show how the two growing older and contrast Caleb's joys of embracing the other with Philip's growing anger as he spends time in town and is indoctrinated, all without having to say what he is being indoctrinated for besides imagery of burning fires.

Then finally, we have Evelyn asking when Caleb plans to tell his brother. Caleb doesn't know. At first it was to make sure Evelyn was actually safe. Then never finding the right time because of fear of someone in town hearing. Now... Now Philip is so converted to witch hunting that he doesn't know what to do. They're even considering making his little brother witch hunter general because of just how committed he is. Caleb feels defeated and tired and all he really feels like he has left is Evelyn.

"Well... Maybe it's time to find your own path then. Your brother will be fine at your home and... And maybe you'll be fine at mine. With the rest of the witches."

It then cuts to Philip, furious, slamming open the door to the house. He has a ritual dagger in his hand... Because he has been named a lead hunter while one of those brats from when they were younger is Witch Hunter General. Just another time where the town decided to choose the people over parents than him. Over the one with the purest soul in town. At least, he thinks as he picks up the family photo and tries to calm himself, one of them. He needs his brother. He's gone again. He wishes Caleb would let him take care of him now. He makes enough money through the church to support them after all. He doesn't have to keep risking his life in the woods anymore.

"With the rest of the witches."

Philip's heart sinks. What? Who is this woman? He's never seen her? Wait, if she's with the witches, his brother is in danger! But the rest of them? If he waits for them to go he can find all of them and they'll HAVE to make him witch hunter general! But that means risking Caleb's life. He can't allow that, even for his own-

"You're right. Philip will just be happier here and... And maybe just best that I vanish. He'll just blame a witch for it anyways and trying to say goodbye would only put as all in danger." Tears come down Philip's face and his knuckles turn white as rain begins. A familiar door opens up next to Evelyn and she turns the key we all know in it. The shine of the portal illuminates Philip's face before a bolt of lightning has it change to Belos' mask and the special ends.

And that's it. It isn't a fun version of it but there's literally no version of the Wittebanes, without major retcons, that can be told in a fun way. They are orphans from a super conservative colony who majored in witch hunting before then having a schism between them be formed due to that witch hunting. This potentially, because it's up to interpretation, led to Philip killing Caleb. Bare minimum, something happens to Caleb that leads to him being dead and haunting his brother while Philip is left stranded on the Isles with no way of going back without finding his own way. The only part of that story that could be fun or comedic is the romance plotline with Evelyn and Caleb. It's also the one that allows the most to be left in obscurity about Belos, thus enabling the show not to contradict its own lore that way. Worse yet, it's also just the best story to tell there besides the rise of witch hunter Belos but those themes are indeed incredibly dark and SUPER not fun to tackle directly so it's better that it happens mostly off screen. Also, you know, it makes sure that the show doesn't glorify bigotry and hate by having us see the rise of Philip into bigoted witch hunter from his perspective. Instead, the story focuses on being critical of such things and accepting the other, which is theoretically in line with TOH in general.

It could be an effective special but I don't think it'd end up being what Belos fans want and for people who don't like Belos, the most they'll get out of it is ANOTHER quirky romance from TOH that mirrors Huntlow too much to feel unique or special. In other words, it's mostly a lose lose situation, especially since none of these elements will make the base story any deeper. It'll just add to the confusion some feel for the fact that they believe Belos is a victim and a product of his society who has a sympathetic reason for his anger but then is just a one note, pure evil villain in the main show.

This is honestly the problem with almost anything that addresses anything we saw in the show. The contradictory nature of the base product's writing, and how it slaughtered concepts at the root, means that expanding on these concepts can only make the contradictions worse. It can only make the base work worse or have MORE people screaming "WHY WASN'T THIS INCLUDED!?"

It's like how me and my Discord finally settled on one option for a lore book that could actually work for TOH if they wanted to release one for the show: One that tells us all about the Isles we didn't see. We see so little of it after all that just telling us about all these neat towns, the ways they operate, or expanding on the forms of magic that never got to do anything, could be neat. It doesn't fix the base show's lack of creativity or consistency but it doesn't inherently conflict with it either. It would just be there as harmless lore that also would have a bad hook for any readers because unlike the journals for Gravity Falls or Amphibia, they wouldn't expand on a character or the like.

The best route for TOH to go is to pull a Harry Potter, again (I hate how often this show forces me to bring up that stupid series) and make Fantastical Beasts and Where to Find Them. Either the movie or the book as either are at best tangentially related to the series but mostly just have the name of the series on them for brand recognition because the authors of both works didn't make a good enough world to actually tell anything more compelling within it after the story was done. Not without making the base product look worse.

And that includes the story of the Wittebanes.

======+++++======

What sucks is that I actually do like the plot I wrote up for the Wittebanes. Like this could genuinely be a really interesting story to make. However A: I wouldn't do fanfiction for it because of the requirement of one killing the other eventually that effectively demands no nuance between Caleb and Philip, forcing their dynamic to be very basic and B: it still suffers from having to be basic because Belos is a basic bitch evil guy while all signs from the show point to Caleb having been an absolute paragon. I made him about as gray as I could in my write up and it's still not much.

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[vampirepersay]

The afterlife of Pip Pirrip: old fic that I wrote back in 2022 it was finished but after I deleted the fic I lost the ending

CW: canon character death,religious imagery but it's the south park version of religion.

WC:1009

My name is Pip and I'd like it if you'd stop smashing our little town to bits".

That

was the last thing he said before he felt his body being crushed by mecha Streisand.

It felt like a

bad dream, like something that couldn't have happened.

But it wasn't a dream Pip was dead.

But if he had died why did he feel himself starting to wake up?

So it was just a bad dream Pip

thought to himself while rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes but when the young

British boy opened his eyes he was not greeted by the familiar walls of his bedroom, but

instead, by blinding white light and calling out from that light pip heard an unfamiliar voice

despite having never heard the voice before for some strange reason he found it comforting but

before he even had a chance to hear what the voice said he felt himself starting to fall, it felt like

he was falling for an eternity, time seemed to be going slower if this was a dream then why did it

feel so real he thought. After what felt like a lifetime Pip stopped falling. And what he saw

confirmed what Pip was so terrified of not only was he dead but he was in hell.

There were no

other explanations for this;

everything as far as Pip could see was on fire, but Pip wasn't afraid.

A voice he would have recognized from anywhere could be heard Damien Thorn the one person

who was at least somewhat kind to him was standing in the flames unfazed by it all Like this

was something he saw every day before pip could take everything in or even ask for some kind

explanation a red figure appeared from what seemed out of nowhere.

"Damien, are you scaring the newcomers again?" said what pip could only assume was satan

himself, "Father, I know this person, why is he here?" asked

the young demon, the larger and much More intimidating demon replied with

clear sarcasm in his voice "for a nice vacation, he's dead, why else would he be here!

"you don't have to yell, I know that already what I meant was why is he here? he never struck

me as the type to end up here". "Look, Damien, you know I'm not the one who

decides who ends up where. If your little friend is here then he's here for A Reason". Before the

father-son conversation could continue Pip decided he was going to get the answers he so

desperately needed.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but where am I?, also hello

Damien I thought I'd never see you again.

"oh yeah I should probably explain,

thanks a lot Damien for getting me distracted so as you've probably already guessed your dead

crushed to death by a giant robot to be exact, and as for where you are if it wasn't obvious

you're in hell.

If you have any other questions feel

free to ask me. I'm not busy, also this whole hell thing is kinda my whole job".

Said satan who

was surprisingly nice. After his speech to pip, a loud buzz could be heard "ugh that better not be tom" after pulling his

phone out from who knows where the demon looked at his phone before saying "sorry pip I got

to take this Damien should be able to answer whatever questions you have".

"umm what just happened now I'm just more confused" said the British boy.

"don't worry he's always like that you'll get used to it". Said the raven-haired demon.

"thanks Damien there's something I must ask you if that's alright?"

"what is it?" replied Damien.

"when you asked why I was here you seemed surprised, why is that?"

"come on pip you know

why you're not a bad person". Said Damien with his usually fiery eyes with a hint of sorrow in

them.

"I'm sorry what, Damien do you actually think

I'm a good person, or are you just saying that to make me feel better".

said pip who was

shocked that someone would say something so kind to him

"Look pip I've come to realize that

you didn't deserve anything that happened to you, and I want to apologize because of me

wanting so desperately to be cool I hurt you, and that wasn't okay".

"You're apologizing, thanks no ones ever actually said sorry to me before," said pip.

"That's horrible but at the same time I'm not surprised",

Damien replied, who seemed to be the

first person to like pip.

"thank you Damien's That exactly what I needed to hear".

The British boy responded. "Damien, can I ask you a question?

it's a rather stupid one

but I just need to know" "sure I don't have anything else to do, and if I don't help you i'll definitely

get in trouble.

The demon replied. "I warned you it's dumb but you know how you went

to earth,

"yeah what about it"?.

"well that's the dumb part of the question is there any way for me

to do that". Said the blonde boy feeling like an idiot for even asking the question.

"No, I'm sorry

there is no way for a human, who has gone to hell to go back to earth.

Said the young demon

with sorrow in his voice.

Just as Damien finished his oddly sweet speech to pip a fall could be

heard and an oddly familiar muffled voice could be heard saying something pip couldn't make

out.

That was Until the source of the voice was in Pip's Vision, it was Pip's classmate Kenny

McCormick.

Pip was shocked to see one of his fellow classmates in hell, deciding to make

conversation with him Pip called out his name "KENNY!".

The young hooded boy looked Pips way

with disgust in his eyes before flipping him off, what happened next Pip could only describe as

some cruel joke from the Universe kenny's body began to glow with white light before he

teleported out of hell.

AN: I'm aware Damian is super ooc in this and I apologize, I wrote this fic back in 2022 so that's why so many things are out of character or just not accurate to canon Im not going to finish this because it had an ending originally and it's been so long since I wrote this I don't want to change the original ending.

[museofpangolins]

sooo here's my top 10 most Good Omens-coded Hozier songs

10) Jackie and Wilson

this one isn't super deep, I think it just gives off that vibe of fun adventures together that mostly the first season had. also, this line

9) Swan upon Leda

this is a song that through religious metaphors captures the brutality of human nature in a way that's so beautiful and poetic. this one isn't so specific, but in my opinion it conveys some of the feeling of the story as a whole

8) Eat your young

I find it insane how it's possible for someone to sing about the exploitation of the innocent in such an incredible way. in this case it can be read about how the authorities (heaven and hell) are only driven by their personal goals and are using humans as a way to achieve them. it's even more literal in Job's story, with angels having no clue on how much his children mean to him and being completely uninterested on the matter, because they're too busy following God's plan.

7) Work Song

here things are starting to get a bit more specific. Work Song talks about a love that goes beyond the grave, but also a love that's so unconditional it goes beyond every human or religious imposition

6) Francesca

Hozier takes inspiration for this song from the tale told by Dante about two lovers condemned to damnation in hell, but the main aspect he uses for this song is the idea of it being worth it in order to be with the loved one, even at the cost of giving up a place of comfort and security. which is also what I hope will happen in season 3.

5) All Things End

I'm so sorry for this one. I'm really sorry. but I swear it's the only thing that could come to my mind when I saw this scene

I won't elaborate more because otherwise I'm going to cry.

4) Unknown/nth

i can't believe this song isn't officially about the two of them. I mean:

you mean mr Hozier didn't intentionally release it last month in honor of Aziraphale and Crowley?? sounds fake but ok

3) Take me to Church

religious trauma. questioning Christian values at its FINEST. love for humanity and for what being human means. all while discussing love and how religion ties it to the concept of sin.

2) Like Real People Do

absolute season two anthem. I think the whole point of Aziraphale and Crowley's characters is finding humanity in themselves, going beyond their angelic/demonic nature and whatever is expected from it. they're neither heaven nor hell's side, but on a completely different one that allows them to live in their own personal identity while often aligning with the interest of humans. that's why even their love for each other is an expression of how close to real people they've become.

1) From Eden

what can I say? it's just so perfect. just one song to summarize every important aspect of the story.

the familiarity derives from the previous angelic nature of Crowley. the destruction of idealism, chivalry and innocence symbolizes the disillusionment with heaven and hell, and the final line how the only hope can be found in the human world, but also, much like Francesca, the idea of giving up safety to be with the loved one. in this case though this is depicted with the use of religious imagery, specifically the garden of Eden. Therefore my hope is that this could be interpreted even more literally once in season three Aziraphale will give up heaven for Crowley. there are many other things that could be said about this song, and I really really hope it will be included in the soundtrack of the show.

if you read all of this, thank you so much, and please let me know if there are songs I didn't include

[evolutionsbedingt]

Which language is the most beautiful and which one has odd, arresting glory?

Oh wow, what a question dear friend! Your time was impeccable too because I had just had four hours of language classes when I read your question and my brain basically went into overdrive. Thank you for rolling this particular apple of discord into my hands, I hope I did it justice! 💚💚💚

My immediate response was that Chinese indubitably is the most beautiful language and odd, arresting glory should belong to Old English.

But then I questioned my own assessment, because of course I would. I tried not to get lost in the 'well, it's not like you speak all languages, so how can you really say which one is the most beautiful - you know but a fraction of them!' But it also made me think about the languages I do know and whether they can even stand up to comparison.

You see, I know at least two languages only by their bible translations (Gothic and Old Church Slavonic), three only by short inscriptions and religious texts (Hittite, Old Persian and Avestan) and they, together with a number of others, are languages I speak only through the definitions offered to me by the dictionary. This also includes Chinese and Old English.

Then again, Chinese and Old English are the ones I've gotten most up close and personal with outside of English and German. I have translated a chunk of the Beowulf epos and read books translated from Chinese in a way that preserved the original language as much as possible, as well as trying my hand at translating a few of the Tang dynasty poems myself. Old English feels familiar because it's very closely related to German; something that is definitely reflected in my translation of it as well because sometimes I didn't bother translating at all - just adjusted the spelling or conjugation a little and we were good to go.

And Chinese despite it's often purported title of the most difficult language to learn is a language that makes terrible amounts of sense in my brain - so much so that I started picking it up simply by watching series and reading books and translation commentary. It has no declension of nouns or adjectives, it has no conjugation and tense and aspect are simply expressed through classifiers. Does one have to learn at minimum one thousand characters to be reasonably fluent? Yes. But how many words do you think I had to learn to be reasonably fluent in English and French? The only thing that differentiates characters from words in the grand scheme of things is that we are not familiar with a writing system like this. If I can learn to read and write Ancient Greek well enough to get a Graecum in 1.5yrs (with considerable effort) the same will be true for Chinese.

And yet I wouldn't be able to actually, fully understand either language because that would only come with practice, with seeing it used in real life and learning the many, many ways it can be and is used - both colloquially and in elevated contexts.

So how can I dare to declare it a beautiful language if - at the moment - the only access I have to it is through translation? How can I compare any language that I'm not fully (or at least almost) fluent in? How can I compare languages that I only know from translated, religious texts (and we know they chose to translate closely to the original, making it an imperfect reflection of the language) with a languages I know mostly from poetry and fantasy novels?

I can't. But I can say that, knowing as many languages as I do, not one does poetry quite like Classical Chinese and Old English. They are similar in their economy of words and simultaneously strong imagery. There's a playfulness to both languages that makes them incredibly well-suited for the type of poetry I like and which thus makes them my choices for 'most beautiful language'.

You will notice that this leaves the category of 'odd, arresting glory' open again (and I promise it won't take me another- let's not check how many paragraphs -to answer this). The description of odd and arresting glory made me first think of Old English, because to me as a German speaker Old English certainly odd and having translated a bit of Beowulf it's certainly glorious.

But I think the language most likely to leave me to stop and stare (at least in translation) is Russian in 19th century prose. It's the very opposite of the minimalistic Old English and Classical Chinese, with its long and elaborate descriptions but closer to German prose (and even poetry) of the time and I really admire the imagery wrought there - it's one of the reasons why I still would rather like to learn modern Russian instead of 'just' Old Church Slavonic which is often bound by the Ancient Greek and biblical writing conventions. I want to be able to see that beauty for myself, instead of through the thick lense of others' translations.

Phew.

That became a very long answer and I'll definitely have to put a read more but I thank you very much for making me think about this and subsequently put my thoughts into words! A delightful way to spend my time while cooking the stew for tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed reading this 💚

[anachronistic-falsehood]

SHIP BINGO FOR THE GUYS U WANNA TALK ABOUT. CELLTW I THINK . gimme the cannibalism rundown king

MAC. looking u dead in the eyes. getting into celltw has almost convinced me to start watching hannibal i guess i just really like gay cannibalism and i need more of it. ANYWAY listen listen listennnn. ok. qcellbit and qpac are my little fucking guys alright. my favourite boys. i'm gonna give you their whole fucking backstory here ok. ok. infodump time. i apologize in advance

so cellbit was a child soldier who didn't even have a NAME. resorted to cannibalism to survive. badboyhalo was there. both stuck in a war. killed thousands of people. AWFUL TIMES!!! goes from child soldier to domestic terrorist somehow. he gets arrested and thrown in FUCKING ALCATRAZ. HE'S STILL A CANNIBAL. somehow manages to sneak a cell phone in and uses it to threaten prisoners and people start calling him cell because he literally didn't have a name before. right. ENTER PAC E MIKE. they're robbers for a living. the sillies <3 they robbed a top security museum and got caught and thrown in alcatraz. cell has gone bonkers and fucking yonkers. weird habit of licking his lips. i'm in love with him. protects pac e mike from other prisoners. they are wary of him (understandable). pac e mike make a friend named jv who tries to help them escape. cell kills him right in front of them and tries to escape himself. gets thrown in solitary. pac e mike go to the solitary cells just to mock him. lots of lowkey gay tension in that scene???? eventually pac e mike escape with the help of another friend but cell tags along because he threatens them with a gun he got from a security guard he killed. THIS MAN IS UNHINGED!!!

they end up on a deserted island. the boat they used to sail there needs repairs and four people can't fit on it at all anymore. cell decides one of them needs to die and tells the others they can decide which one has to be killed. cell is the only one who manages to find food on the island, which happens to be apples. he hoards it from the others and I SHIT YOU NOT THERE IS SOME WEIRD FUCKING RELIGIOUS IMAGERY GOING ON HERE. OK. pac seeks out cell, and CELL, WHO IS SITTING IN A TREE, OFFERS PAC AN APPLE IF HE KILLS ONE OF THE OTHERS. PAC SAYS HE'LL THINK ABOUT IT AND CELL GIVES HIM AN APPLE. I'M GOING TO EAT DRYWALL. I DON'T KNOW IF THEY DID THAT ON PURPOSE BUT THEY SURE FUCKIN DID IT ALRIGHT. at some point cell eats pac's leg but we have no idea when that canonically happens bc it was only canonized in qsmp and wasn't shown in Fuga Impossível where he and mike met cell, but IT'S STILL FUCKING CANON AND I LIKE TO THINK IT HAPPENED SOMEWHERE ON THAT FUCKING ISLAND. ALRIGHT. IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED IN PRISON BUT IT HAPPENING ON THE ISLAND JUST MAKES SO MUCH MORE SENSE 2 ME.

they trick cell and trap him, telling him to use the last bullet in his gun for himself. the three of them leave the island and hear a single gunshot. they think he's dead. SIKE!!! somehow years and years later, pac, mike, and cell, plus two others are all on the same ship together and end up on a new island. cell now goes by cellbit??? and really likes mysteries and is a pretty chill person in comparison to how he used to be??? he went through copious amounts of therapy and is actually somewhat well adjusted. he's a pretty cool guy.

he's changed. mike has changed. pac has changed. they're all so different. he and cellbit get stuck in a cave and they kiss. it's weird. they don't do it again after that. cellbit starts talking to another guy, roier. they get married. pac is disappointed but he doesn't talk about it too much. why is he disappointed? he doesn't really know. pac has changed but every time he looks at cellbit he's back in that prison. one day, everyone's furniture goes missing, including cellbit's. pac's first instinct is to grab his son by the shoulders and tell him to pack his things because when cellbit sees that someone has robbed him he will go on a rampage the likes of which no one has ever seen. that doesn't happen. cellbit snaps and demands public execution of the culprit so they can drink his blood. he's holding a knife. he's easily placated and puts the knife away. cell is clearly somewhere in there. this is the first glimpse pac has gotten of him in the five months they've been here. pac licks his lips the same way cell used to. it's a habit.

their son goes missing. the president is put on drugs by the federation. pac has lost everything. he takes the fed's medication so he can try finding a cure. he sits in cellbit's castle panicking for a solid five minutes, debating with himself over whether he should leave some of the medication for cellbit to find in hopes he can help them. he tries to find a cure on his own while still hopped up on pills. there's blood on the floor. he leaves notes for his loved ones. he knows cellbit well enough to know he will come looking and find this. the thought is as terrifying as it is relieving. cellbit develops a cure with pac's notes. cellbit yells at the president, the fellow father of their son. pac only hears cell. he takes the antidote he helped develop. cellbit guides him home and tells him he's not alone anymore and never will be again. they hug. it's terrifying. it's comforting. it's weird.

cellbit clearly left that prison behind. pac never has. he probably never will.

[swearyshera]

Dear Gods, they're both desaturated... Way to hurt us. If I didn't know how it ended... oh dear... Anyway, I'm dropping in just to... offer you an egg in this trying time, or something... I really do think that some of your ask-ers lately are asking things of you above your pay-grade. Perhaps I am one of them? There's the usual fandom-fighting about the redeemability of Hordak that I thought was resolved ages ago with people just hanging out on their respective sides of the fandom. There's religion-rankling of the type that feels to me like it would be better discussed on people's on blogs and/or on various reblog chains by people familiar with the culture / subcultures and imagery rather than coming to the part funny / part pain abridged series blog that was trying to go for a more generalized approach and stay out of controversy. And I am glad that you took a more generalized approach with Prime, too. You could have easily played up the (canonical) Evangeli-speak and did a straight-up "Religion Bad!" thing with him which would have felt very tired to those of us who've seen it in many shows and stories before.. It also would have been alienating to the few (all one?) of us in this fandom who deconstructed their previous Christian religion thoroughly and ditched all organization and dogma but somehow didn't land on atheism as their personal answer? Your version of Prime feels much more like a generalized patriarchy, the general social expectations of the binaries and hierarchies. (In other words, I didn't even know who Andrew Tate was before the fight with Greta Thunberg or Ben Shapiro until he started setting Barbies on fire and your take on Prime gives me those kind of vibes - the vibe of the insecure, pathetic "manly-man" who must control the narrative but never will. Something like that. It really makes me feel like diversity of thought and life will win in the end.

I just like to add that little extra bit of hurt!

And I'm always happy to discuss my interpretations and what I have or haven't done, but sometimes there's things that I just have to stand up and say "I didn't know enough about this to do it right, so I didn't".

You've pretty much got my reasons spot on for not going full-on 'Prime as a preacher' - and i very much considered it. When it comes to religion, it's not always 'anti-religious atheism' vs 'super controlling oppressive religion' - there's a great majority of people for whom religion is a driver for good things in their life, and I don't want them to feel like their faith is collateral damage in my attacking a particular type of religion.

I think having Prime as a massive homophobe was a better choice narratively anyway. With the central story revolving around a couple of lesbians, it makes sense that he would be the antithesis to that. There's also an element of misogyny and general assholery that comes into it as well, but for the most part, Prime is someone who's hellbent on getting rid of queer people. And that is something that, horrifyingly, seems to be seeping into the real world too - some of the stuff I've had Prime see seemed so far-fetched at the time, but then you start seeing the same kind of rhetoric happening for real. It's terrifying, but I want to keep those parallels because, just like Adora, we will not be defeated by that. We won't be erased, because we are going to win out against hatred, just as Etheria will!

[sandandlightning]

The St Peters Cross

So honestly I want to share knowledge as much as start a discussion with this one.

For those who don't know, the ‘inverted’ cross commonly associated with Satanic imagery is actually the St Peters Cross. It's not traditionally a Satanic symbol.

I say ‘traditionally’ because the question I want to pose is: at what point does common societal reassociation outweigh the original meaning, if at all?

This question occurred to me when I was watching a tacky ghost hunter show for fun and the guy was like ‘omg!!! An inverted cross on this rock!!!! The ghost was a witch!!!!’ which like, obviously there are twenty things wrong with this, and I found myself snapping ‘thats the st peters cross you ignorant fuck’ on instinct, but it did get me thinking. Because you know, if the ghost was ‘modern’ enough and was being fed the same misinformation as Cheesy Host Guy? Maybe the ghost did identify as some kind of Satanist and that symbol was there with that intent, I don't know their life. (You know assuming like, something just didn't fall on the rock in a coincidental way. I believe in ghosts, but ghost shows are, you know, like that, haha.)

In linguistics, the meanings of words change over time as social associations with them change. This is brought up a lot when people try to point out slurs are words that ‘just mean x’ or ‘its just a color in another language'. But in this case, the cultural association from centuries of built up implications change the meaning of the word to something very specific in English. Less unfortunate examples would include the etymology of how American and British English have different meanings for some words (think cookies, crisps, chips, and biscuits).

Ergo, one might argue that, despite the initial association of the inverted cross with satanic themes originating from Some Guy that just went ‘upside down cross edgy’ in the 1800s, it is so divorced from its original meaning that the new, socially common meaning would be more accurate.

Of course, the difference here is that a religious symbol is very different than a word or normal colloquialism. One could also argue that by its nature there should be far more weight put on the original intent of its original users than something that is purely used for human to human communication. After all- am upside down cross might communicate to some guy in line behind me at Walmart ‘satanic’ but using it for the purpose of communicating with divinity or some kind of force- the point of a lot of religious symbols- it might cause a lot of mixed signals.

Like, obviously, I don't think Lucifer or whatever entity is so unaware of modern going ons that they wouldlook at someone trying to pray with a misapropriate symbol and just ignore them or go ‘what the fuck’. There would probably be a big helping of ‘hes a little confused, but he's got the spirit' I would think.

But at the same time I would feel that in ritual, using the traditional symbols might be stronger or more effective. But that also, in and of itself, is a question of debate. Because a new sigil made with the intent of communicating to an Entity that has a lot of personal meaning to the user I think is very powerful. But that is something new and it's original association is how it is being used. In kemetic practice I would write out things in poorly phoneticized hieroglyphics. This is definitely in the same category as ‘confused but got the spirit'- it's a far cry from the original Egyptian. But the difference here is it's the closest to ‘original’ symbolism as I could arguably get within some reason, whereas the inverted cross doesn't even have etymological roots in left hand practice. It's a Christian symbol being borrowed and used out of context. It's closer in spirit to say, using mjolnir imagery for Set ‘because storm god’, but also still a bit far from that because at least those are two similar things and not something that once meant the opposite, though arguably the left hand view of these entities does not put them so directly opposite to certain ideals than a Christian view. I suppose in that regard it might be closer to when Anpu is painted as Scary Death God Who's Angry And Mean Like Devil, which would explain the compulsive urge to correct or reject the St Peters Cross in left hand practice.

But at the same time, does all of that invalidate the very real fact that, in human to human communication it currently very clearly communicates ‘hello I am left hand friend'? Perhaps part of the problem is because there isn't a doubled effort to reclaim (or… just claim, technically) it as far as I have seen in actual left hand circles, so it doesn't work as coding. It's sort of the opposite of coding. Like a queer person might have hair dyed A Color and you just know ‘oh that's a friend'. With the inverted cross you are more likely to get negative attention from aggressive conservatives, you don't know if the person wearing it is doing so religiously or secularly. I mean, even if they're ‘just’ a metal fan they are far less likely to judge my beliefs and are advertising that in a way, but it is still not quite the same. It has not been reclaimed, so it can feel more like a brand of shame than a mark of pride.

Anyway, when I started this I was in a more neutral headspace, but I feel like I've accidentally reasoned out a bit too much in favor of not (re)adopting. Really I do feel like if people really wanted to they could, but again it is something that requires a community on at least something of a similar page. And there are still questions about periods of time where people might have tried their hardest with what they had, but what they had was just the wrong information to start with, and how that's shaped things.

What are people's thoughts on the inverted/St Peters Cross? If you see someone wearing it do you think friend? If you see it in media do you just feel the rage of a disgruntled anthropologist? I didn't even get into the phenomena of it being used with intent as ‘not actually something Satanic bc that being Too Real makes Producers and Publishers uncomfortable but it gets the point across for my story' phenomena.

Let me know what you think!

[nicosraf]

hi i have a bit of a personal ask, feel free to ignore. i developed a theology hyperfixation this year. it started with just being into the imagery and then specifically angels and then i read your book which made me start reading the bible (as well as start learning about other religions). im personally not religious, i was even raised christian but it never stuck to me, as soon as i was away from my christian school it felt right and free. i never doubted how i felt. but now that im engaging with all these religious texts and keep hearing how if i dont believe in this god or that god then im going to suffer for eternity it... has made me feel very anxious haha. i dont believe these gods exist but ive been having "what if what if what if what if" stuck in my brain and its making going about my usual life difficult. (i have ocd which doesnt help). anyway... you seem knowledgable and full of wisdom im just wondering if you happen to have advice for my situation. maybe the answer is just to stop indulging this interest but i do genuinely find it interesting lol. thanks so much for your time!

Hello! I think it's difficult to answer this without getting personal myself but I want to answer because I really get it! I go through some phases of obsessive-compulsive (+ I can really struggle with reality sometimes), and religion is a huge one for me. When I got into theology, I think I was partly motivated by the idea that if i delved deep enough, I would find something that would make me stop feeling bound by what the Bible says. As in, I would find something that would make me go, "Ah! It's all fake!" or "Ah! This god is so evil that I'm better off burning in hell!"

Well, I did do my deep dive, and it didn't really turn out that way. The canon Bible is interestingly nuanced and so is theology. So here is what helped me not feel terrified of the "What if" :

Frame theology in a way that brings you comfort, instead of just taking its warnings at face value. Interpret liberally. If it is real, then you will be okay. The Bible is pretty wishy washy about the suffering of non-believers and god is supposed to be forgiving/understanding. Maybe he'll get it. Maybe he likes you. If it's not real, then you'll be fine; you were for a long time, after all. If it is real, you'll be fine too.

On the point above — if hell scares you, then read about hell. Most theologians can't agree on it at all! When I read the theory that hell might be empty, it brought me comfort.

Read on other religions. I can't emphasize this one enough!!! Expand your horizons. Read about every religion in the world, especially smaller and indigenous ones. Read about how Abrahamic religions have split off and what motivated the splits. I think remembering the human role in what eventually gets to the final doctrines really helps. The Christian elite would want you to get the most fear-mongering version of the text; they don't want to lose you!

You can definitely take a break. My therapist recommended me to stop indulging, but that's easier said than done. And it might be the healthiest option, but I wanted to provide this advice in case you think it might help... I'm not full of wisdom!!! I make nothing but mistakes and I am still learning... but I hope I can reassure you that you're not alone! We struggle together

[sea-adhesiveness537]

humbly requesting that you tell me more about this mickey cult in your paracosm! >:0

I'm very glad you asked!

Tw: Religious imagery, mention of cults and abuse, and death

You see, the Walt Disney cult (called the Club by the cultists, and dubbed as the Waltian Cult by outsiders) is the main antagonistic organization of the Screen Universe's (name of the paracosm) main saga. Their leader is Mickey Mouse, he runs or leads the cult.

However, he didn't found or start the cult however. In fact, it was started by another Disney character.

You see, five years after Walt Disney's death, Doc, one of seven dwarves, gets a "vision" (which is actually just a dream) that the world will come to an end Revelations style. And the only way to save everyone is to have Mickey "reawaken Walt Disney from his slumber", Walt Disney saves those who trust in him and are within the religion, and will make a paradise for those who kept their faith in both him and his son.

And so, a small cult is born.

This so called prophecy fell into the ears of the Disney Folk and the some people even spread the word.

You could say that it gained a cult following, heh.

When the news finally reached to the castle, Doc tried to talk to the king in person about the prophecy and how Mickey is the chosen one. The first Mickey eldritch bearer back then doesn't believe in Doc's dream or prophecy. This angered the dwarf a lot. The chosen one!? Throwing away his duties and letting the world to rot from an impending death!? This won't do, this Mickey doesn't deserve to lead the Realm to a better world.

So Doc uses a member of the proto cult to assassinate the first Mickey Mouse with atonecen, the forever death juice, in his drink. Since then, Doc officially founds the cult as a big thing, and appoints himself as a mentor for the new Mickey replacements from here on.

Yes, if a Fictional perma dies despite their series being ongoing, they'll be replaced by another Fictional to play the character the previous actor played. This will be important.

Yeah, Doc also gone on a replacement spree against other characters within the castle if they don't comply or take his word just like the first Mickey. Only a few Disney characters from Mickey's show survived the replacement spree and stayed around as original actors playing the part.

Whenever a Mickey defies Doc and his indoctrination, or isn't deemed as good enough by Doc's, he'll be killed permanently shortly after and a replacement takes his place. This has gone on for a long time.

However, the 8th Mickey bearer somehow turned out different. He meets all the standards and expectations Doc had for him and follow his indoctrinations and everything. He survives Doc's wrath and abuse, but at the expense of being or becoming an abuser himself...

Despite the Waltian Cult being a huge, significant organisation, only a handful of members play a role in the story and they're all higher ups. And there are 2 people who are ex members who tried to get out but couldn't.

Here are the Cult MFs

Mickey VIII = The main villain of the paracosm and the leader of the cult. He's responsible for a lot of shit he started against most of the cast. The narcissist, genocidal, blood thirsty lunatic who takes too much pride in playing the hero. He believes that he's Walt's perfect son and that he can do no harm, but is actually none of those things. He's calculative and will do anything to get what he wants and achieve his goals, even though he's digging deeper into his delusions. While I confirmed that he has ASPD and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, I honestly don't know where his delusions and psychosis are coming from. He definitely doesn't have schizophrenia (serious).

Clarabelle II (I'm considering making her the 8th or 9th replacement though) = Goofy's girlfriend and Horace Horsecollar's ex. She's not what she seems. In other members' eyes, she's the incarnation, reincarnation, or avatar of the mythical Mary Sue (yes, I made up an urban legend that a flawless character just like that might possibly exist, but it's just a myth/folk lore told in their world). But in reality, she's a narcissistic asshole who has perfectionist issues and takes out her stress at her partner with a whip and/or her words. Unlike Mickey, Clarabelle thinks she's not perfect enough and that she must strive for such standards if she wants to be worthy for their kingdom of god. She's the last straw that made Horsecollar want to leave the cult.

Goofy = One of the survivors of the replacement spree, simply because he lived far from the cast when it happened. Clarabelle recruited him into their group not too long after Horace Horsecollar left. Before the recruitment, he was a medieval plumber of some sort (yeah, Disney Kingdom is a medieval English themed place. They're one of the least technologically advanced territories and are far behind other places in terms of tech). Now, he's the general and the person who does the dirty work for those who want to keep their hands clean. Though, while he isn't willing to do the work, he's forced to do it because otherwise, they will hurt him and he really doesn't want.

Donald III = A victim to the replacement spree. He assists Goofy whenever to go on missions and do the dirty work. At some point, he got experimented on with potions and can now replicate a Webling's abilities and stuff. A force to reckon with in the battle field.

Doc = The Founder of the Cult and the one who has the most control over it. Ironic enough, he doesn't have much power over government stuff as in he isn't the one who handles it. I'm planning a new story element or piece for him. He also doesn't show up as much in the main story line. He's one of those paras who have huge significance to the lore before the storyline, but doesn't have a lot of screen time when the main saga comes around.

There's Minnie and Daisy too, but I haven't put much thought about them

There are also other members too, but I'm only listing the high ranking ones.

[swordofazrael1992]

Jpv 2, 7, 14, 27!! Shatterstar 1, 20, 23, 28 >:) go autism on me!!!!!

AUTISM TIME FORREAL!1

okay okay so

jpv 2) probably after reading sword of azrael '92. i had a mutual who was posting a lot of jpv stuff and i had previously read tynion's writing of her in tec 2016, and then my lcs had a trade collecting soa 92 + the first seven issues of azrael '95 so i went "fuck it" and bought it. i can't remember if i read what was available of watters' stuff at the time before or after soa 92 but that was definitely where i started to really love jp/az and it's stuck with me (as you can tell by the url)

jpv 7) FOREVER AND EVER the "perhaps this azrael does both" quote from sword of azrael (1992) #3. technically it is alfred talking ABOUT jp/az in response to nomoz saying that azrael punishes, and doesn't/shouldn't think. and then there's also the soa '92 #4 of azrael straight up telling nomoz "no" when nomoz says they need to leave, because azrael only avenges, not rescue. either way i think those are really interesting and have Stuck With Me

jpv 14) i know i'm an soa 92 type boy but....this one is definitely a hard one and i don't think soa is in my top two choices. i'd have to say his no man's land arc, i'm a huge fan of it and his dynamics with other bat charas (esp babs and cass!). my second choice pick would probably be soa '22--i just love it so much and it's so beautiful. so while soa '92 might be my favorite, i don't think it's his absolute best. but it's top 3 for sure

jpv 27) the most fun, for me particularly? i think castiel from supernatural. i have no idea what the fuck would go down, but it would be entertaining. other than that, probably vash or knives (or livio/razlo) from trimax specifically, or sister lilith from warrior nun. lets just get all those religious imagery bitches in a room together and see what goes down

star 1) so i THINK my first impression of star was in young avengers: children's crusade, WAY back when i first started reading comics. like young avengers '05 was my first comic, and ya:cc my second. i think i just looked at him and rictor on panel together and, knowing nothing about them, was like okay yeah they are DEFINITELy gay. i probably thought he was a little weirdo (affectionate) but i didn't become a fan of him and rictor for another year or two i think

star 20) star is the only person in the world who actually MEANS it when he says "i listen to a little of everything" about his music taste. he really genuinely listens to everything, and everyone who knows him HATES when he's on aux because listening to his playlists gives them whiplash. seriously, he goes from mid 1800s orchestral music to hyperpop to 90s hip hop to 00s top 40 to 1960s bluegrass to music you're not even sure is from this dimension and that you're pretty sure is from some future timeline. star sees no problem with it, though. also i think he takes really long showers and uses up ALL of the hot water + has a really extensive hair/skin routine. so you go into the bathroom of his and ric's apartment and you see the shower and sink counter practically overflowing with all these extravagant and fancy products and then in the corner there are like 4 or 5 things that belong to rictor and it's just shampoo/conditioner/body wash/other essentials

star 23) i want him to live happily ever after with ric in a cozy house with weekly therapy appointments and dinner with his parents every month + an actually good/existent relationship with them where they aren't just kinda coworkers and maybe a dog or a couple cats and a garden in the backyard and a giant tv in the living room and a good relationship with life and maybe a couple college degrees or maybe he just learns so much about the things that interest him and everything else without feeling the need to have a degree to show for it and andand. but i don't think that will ever happen because marvel hates me personally

star 28) stabbing himself in the stomach that one time. and the other time. and the next time.

and being his own grandfather. that was really unnecessary of him

(+ i know you didn't ask but songs i've been associating with them recently:

jp/az -

https://open.spotify.com/track/4zlRCThoy7Wops9GF11kQX?si=0494cd4331cc411b

star -

https://open.spotify.com/track/6EqCxnulMcawu0qN8B8Y5W?si=2f23a62fe7bf4d8c

w/ jp/az's being about how they are pretty impulsive and need to get from point a to point b as fast as possible and star's being about the entire "raised as an arena slave to fight to the death for other's entertainment" thing. also on second thought i might put nothing lasts forever on my shatterstar playlist)

[jittyjames]

⭐

ok let me talk about john 11:35 for a moment— or jesus wept

this fic is actually more recently written. it originally started as a Valentine's Day fic for the jcs discord server (sun/moon dynamics with jesus/mary/judas) but then it twisted into this big ole fic. you can still see the whispers of the fluff piece it once was, like when jesus compares mary to light and warmth and stares at the stars with judas. so i didn't get to actually join that challenge, but there was an effort!

i think it's quite clear the disciples in this fic were actually a commentary on most modern day religious spaces. like blatantly ignoring the words of jesus to focus on their hate instead? searching for power? having no forgiveness of empathy for even the man they call savior? yeahhhhh. i think the disciples are still sympathetic characters honestly, and they're more traumatized than anything. their perceptions of death are so scattered at the moment. so much so they can't even grasp what it means to die anymore. because jesus came back. he came back after the horrors. he suffered, but yet he's still here. so how bad can death truly be? and they want to ensure their legacies are intact. they want to become legends, just like they always did. but now, two of their own just died at once. they have to scramble to make sure they're leaving something behind. so now, let's talk about the misogyny. we can see it begin to mold. we all know jesus accepted women perfectly well into the group, that it was the apostles and paul who started with the whole "women should sit down and shut up" type thing. but we can see that with mary's treatment. peter is the first person to disregard her when it comes to picking the next apostle. yeah he says it's because she's traumatized, but truly it's because he doesn't think he can handle sharing the spotlight with someone who jesus loves more than him again. (we all know i headcanon judas and peter as jesus' right and left hand). it's not necessarily that he's in love with jesus or anything like that, but he knows how he feels. he thinks he knows what's best at the moment. mary and judas? even jesus to an extent? ruled by their emotions for each other. he sees judas' betrayal as the result of some petty relationship drama. he won't have it coming in again to ruin everything he has planned. but peter is also viewing mary as weak. how can she grieve the man who killed jesus? why is she crying all the time when she should be spitting on his grave like the rest of them? it makes Peter not trust her. and then you just have the period-typical misogyny, too mixing with that. then, we also have matthias not even acknowledging her, even as she stands by jesus' side. she's not important to him or to the story, even if she's jesus' heart. she's already being erased by the narrative. and john making the choice of leaving their relationship as a whole out of his book? rooted in homophobia and misogyny. their version on jesus should be above the likes of mary and judas. i have a lot of disciples thoughts. they're not perfect, but they're not simply evil here either. they have their reasons. like can you imagine watching your friend die bc their boyfriend sold them out to the police, and no one really gives you a good explanation for it? you'd be pissed, too. you'd be hurt.

ONE OF THE THINGS IDK IF ANYONE HAS MENTIONED YET. He had caught sight of him one night, sitting amongst a field of poppies, the darkness encasing the deep red of them, the pale blue of Judas.- POPPIES ARE A SYMBOL OF DEATH. JUDAS WAS SITTING IN A FIELD OF POPPIES NIGHTLY. idk if anyone caught onto it, but i most definitely wrote that with an intention. ALSO i had never utilized feet washing scenes bc i don't want people to think i have a foot fetish but like. there's so much angst potential there, and gerohugerh.

also i tried to sprinkle as much judas imagery as I could (or at least what i find to be imagery) but the more obvious ones like the blue coat and peaches, and the judas tree as the hanging tree. but also birds, spring, and stars. hehe. very sell-indulgent.

my roman empire is mary and jesus moving to kerioth to feel close to judas. i love this idea. i love the picture of it. i headcanon kerioth as just the typical, small southern town. orchards and fields, farms and small schools, everyone knows everyone. i mean is this me projecting my own small town life? yeahhhh.

but something i didn't get to talk about is the issue of simon iscariot. but I think I'll save that one 👀

there's a part of me that want to add to this bc @pinkishflowersilverycoin and i hatched a plot in dms. like judas isn't in hell in this world. he's in heaven. jesus didn't go back, so it's just judas alone up there for the time being. he'll be the one to welcome all the disciples, mary, jesus when they die. (will jesus die?? who is to say?? is it some weird supernatural thing?? maybe.) but we felt like maybe judas would take on peter's supposed role at heaven's gate. he's the first one to get there. they'll all have to deal with him again, so even if the apostles think that he's just rotting somewhere, his will be the first face they see when they die.

also we didn't even get started on jesus and mary's kids (sara and elias of kerioth, respectively). we decided they would be the ones to write some gnostic gospels, wanting to set the record straight about their third hypothetical parent, and tell the actual story of their mourning parents.

and I think this is everything for now!

[intheholler]

Im really interested in Appalachia and I’m fairly new to the gothic Americana aesthetic, needless to say I love what you’re doing here, what draws you to this blog and what are your favorite sources for images?

hi! i'm really so glad you like the blog. thank you for the thoughtful question.

novella incoming…

well, i grew up poor in southern appalachia. for most of my life, i rejected myself because i was so busy rejecting a lot of what the region tried to force on me--racism, christ-centrism, and queerphobia, predominantly. i wanted so badly to prove to myself i wasn't like "them."

it traumatized me, so i worked hard to get rid of my accent even as a child; i forced myself to stop using all dialectal slang that would pin me as from the south. i didn't offer that information freely to people i met, and i didn't like to talk about home.

just by virtue of living there and being alive, it basically made me hate myself and feel ashamed of myself for absolutely no reason. it seeped in even though i grew up gay with a rather progressive, albeit religious, family and we never (consciously) subscribed to any of those teachings.

when i realized what i had let it do to me, i decided it didn't have to be this way. especially when there is so much charm in appalachia that often gets overlooked in favor of stereotypes, whether true or false.

and i realized that the hollers of appalachia have so much more to offer--beautiful art, a self-contained, community-driven culture, a linguistically interesting dialect and a unique way of life that shaped the good parts of me, too. i want to love those parts of the region and myself, because for better or for worse, it made me who i am.

so, for the past few years i've been embracing my dialect. i've been telling the story of blair mountain and loudly correcting people when they dole out stereotypical, harmful rhetoric. i've been, without shyness, sharing the folk music and art i grew up loving, and so on.

in so doing, i've also been unpacking that trauma, mostly as an ex-christian queer who is (now unashamedly) from the appalachian mountains.

i started this blog as another vehicle for that. the imagery i post helps me keep in touch with and remember those good parts that i want to embrace while processing what i want to get free of, intermixed with nostalgia.

as for sources, i spend a lot of time on various photo sites like flickr. i also like to read articles about appalachia, especially from an outsider's perspective as they explore the region and see that it has so much more to offer than what people mock us for, so i get images from those sometimes. like most curated blogs, i am also guilty of spending a lot of time on pinterest, too, lol. basically i just creep around the internet and source when and where i can.

anyway. thank you again for the thoughtful question and your interest in appalachia <3

[italwayshadtobeyou]

@fratricidesam Starting this as a separate thread, not because I don't like your thread, but because the details of Biblical angels are tangential to your original point, and also I suck at long threads.

it's interesting that the writers didn't actually depict the Christian apocalypse. i understand taking some liberty, though. what you said about the Christ is interesting because - insane theory alert - in 3x03 Kubrick, a Christian hunter, says, "Sam Winchester is... the adversary," and in 3x07, gordon walker says, "Sam Winchester's the Antichrist," and i've wondered since then if that makes dean a type of Second Coming. it's dumb, i know, especially considering gordon didn't know about the angels or the apocalypse, but it lingers at the back of my mind.

First, regarding the appearance of Biblical angels: Angels appear in different forms in the Bible. They can appear as humans, although it isn't their true form. The Book of Hebrews warns against failing to show hospitality by strangers, since they might be angels in disguise.

As for not-disguised angels, the Book of Ezekiel describes seeing cherubim (singular: cherub) as accompanied by, rather than resembling, sparkly wheels, which, along with the cherubim's bodies, are covered in eyes. Each cherub has four faces: Of a cherub (doesn't help much), a man, an eagle, and a lion. I'd say that Zachariah's "four faces, and one of them is a lion" boast was something of a self-own for such a supposedly high-ranking angel, but I doubt that the writers looked into it that deeply.

The Book of Isaiah mentions a different kind of angel, the seraph(im), each of whom has six wings. Christians have, for a long time, interpreted them as higher-ranking than cherubim, although I'm not aware of any basis for this, other than the number of wings.

The widely-accepted canonical Bible gives us very little detail on archangels' appearance. (IDK about the Apocrypha.) They do, however, appear as powerful warriors and messengers. Virtually all Christian denominations accept Michael and Gabriel as archangels; Catholics accept Raphael as well. I grew up assuming that Satan was an archangel, even though I can't recall any verse which states it, so it's probably a common interpretation. I think that some of the smaller Christian denominations, in North and East Africa and Asia, believe there are more archangels, but I don't know the details.

Second, regarding Dean as the Second Coming: I've got to say, I did not see this one coming.

Christians differ widely on what they consider to be the details of the apocalypse, including the basic order of events. However, a few points stand out.

No major denominations subscribe to the idea of reincarnation, or believe that Jesus will return as a human. He had to live a human life to perfection in order to take away humans' sins; he doesn't have to be human to judge the dead and resurrect his true followers.

2. If Jesus did return as a human, he would have to be without sin. This doesn't apply to Dean, who is pure only in that he lacks demon blood.

3. Most of the series' obvious messianic imagery is attached to Sam, who ends the Kripke era by sacrificing himself at Stull. The religious parallels and imagery that do attach to Dean associate him with Michael. Michael is a powerful angel-- and, if you're working with Millennialism, it makes sense for him to be the one who enforces Satan's thousand-year timeout--, but he isn't God. Conflating him with Jesus would be as idolatrous as worshipping Lucifer.

4. The Antichrist and Jesus aren't equal and opposite forces in balance. To make a much-debated topic simple, ancient Christian texts exist which support the idea of a corrupted or animalistic man with some powers who uses miracles to set himself up as a ruler, pretends to be a messiah, persecutes people who refuse to worship him, and gets taken out by Jesus's light. But he's an Antichrist in the sense of being literally against God and of being a fake Christ, not being the other side of God's coin (although High and Late Medieval writers portrayed him as such in every way except his power level; e.g., they theorized that, since Jesus was born to a virgin, the Antichrist would be born to a prostitute). There's no reason for Jesus to be his brother, or even have a more personal relationship with him than he does with any other evildoer.

EDIT: I should have clarified that some smaller denominations (like the Jehovah's Witnesses) think "archangel" should be translated as something along the lines of "chief over angels" rather than "highest-ranking angel." Since the highest authority in Heaven is God, they believe that "archangel" doesn't mean a kind of angel, it refers to God in his capacity as lord of the Heavenly host. So, there are people who believe that "Michael" is another name for God. What nobody believes is that he is both an angel (which SPN and most denominations present him as) and God.

[berryunho]

This is gonna be a very random message and it's another unnecessarily long ass ask, I'm so sorry for always sending those :,) feel free to ignore it! It's just me rambling about your fic (as usual) because I was listening to a song and it actually fits The Answer so well in my mind, I have been stuck with this in my thoughts for 5 hours now and wanted to share just because.

I don't know if you've ever heard of the band "I don't know how but they found me", but they recently released a single called "What Love?". It ties some cult/religious imagery to a toxic/crumbling relationship (so i guess it's not too surprising that I ended up connecting some parts of it to The Answer lmao).

To start off, the crumbling relationship lyrics reminds me of Mingi and mc. The singer expresses that the relationship between him and the other person is falling apart, yet the other person keeps coming back to him even with this rift between them growing, and he himself can't help but welcome them back, almost as if it's something inevitable that he can't fight, literally singing "I can't fight this feeling". With that, the relationship becomes or continues to be unhealthy, and so he asks "What love could get this vicious?", later on the lyrics saying "I think you've got a hold on me, so don't let me go and I'll never set you free".

I know that, before the cult, Mingi and mc's relationship wasn't toxic, but their inability to communicate their actual feelings seems to have led them into this limbo, where they couldn't stay apart yet couldn't be together, at least not in the way they really wanted to. That unsatisfied connection being what drives both of them to the cult: Mingi leaves because of the hold that his feelings for her have over him, and mc caring for him so much as to being unable of letting him go, not setting him free to make his own choice (as bad of a choice as it is) and chasing after him despite all the red flags. Like the singer getting back to his partner, mc getting to the cult, and by proxy Mingi, also seems like an inevitability (if HJ had any say in it anyways).

The lyrics go on to say "you only come around when I've got somebody new" which reminds me of HJ and SH taunting mc about how Mingi joined the cult because of her, and how he was perfectly fine with them while away from her. That is followed by "you only sacrifice the things I never ask you to" which, in turn, matches mc's side of the story, she never wanted him to get into such a dangerous situation just to be away from her, she never asked for the mess that their relationship and feelings have led them to. The last phrase on the verse before the chorus is "I guess I met you at the wrong time" which explains itself :,D

Then there's this entire verse that goes:

"I promised you things I didn't mean, pushed you to the edge of insanity.

I shook all the wrong hands, at all the right times.

Who did you expect me to be?"

AND IT MATCHES THE ANSWER!MINGI SO MUCH PLEASE ! HEAR ME OUT

The fact that mc came to the cult looking for him, now she is suffering in HJ's hands and we all know how that's gonna go for her sanity, AND to top it all off: Mingi blames himself for that. Then the thing about shaking hands with the wrong people at the right time? Literally shaking hands with the cult leader during their first meeting amidst an emotionally vulnerable time lol. The "who did you expect me to be?" really ties it all together for me, I picture those moments when mc is shocked about how her sweet best friend became just another follower tangled in the cult's web, became someone who won't hesitate to do as he is told even if it means hurting someone else or even her (aka letting her get stabbed for a ceremony), plus his angry outbursts. Its like "did you expect me to be the same person you knew before my time in a cult?"

I think the rest of the song matches more the general situation the mc is in, for example another verse that says "is this the night where we go too far? Where we get untethered and we learn our lesson", it makes me think of her on-going "its complicated" situationships with the cult leaders lmao. The singer asking himself if this night will be the one where they cross the point of no return, in my opinion really resonates with mc getting more and more vulnerable to the leaders, until she eventually reaches her limits and succumbs to HJ's beliefs. Tying into that, a part of the symbolism in the song expresses that some of the remaining attachment the singer has to the relationship is somewhat sexually oriented, so yknow, mc hating the main culprits of her suffering, but still kinda finding them attractive just enough to consider sleeping with them anyways (specially San, but her questioning interactions with HJ and SH just keep pilling up too, my poor girl).

The phrase I mentioned earlier, "What love could get this vicious?", can also match HJ and SH's relationship, as well as HJ and mc's developing dynamic. SH's love for HJ leads not only to his unyielding loyalty towards the guy but also enables all the horrible things we see happening in the story, plus HJ ends up hurting him through it all by being unable to actually reciprocate (and being the controlling petty little shit we see in the story). HJ and mc's dynamic of him being seemingly-kind of in love with her (??? in his own twisted way) and her growing inevitably more attached and open to him until he finally wins. It's like, he clearly treats her with some semblance of "care" that he doesn't show anyone else, and it seems to be, at least partially, based on genuine affection(??) from some of the glimpses we get of his true intentions and personality (where said "affection" for her came from still being a mystery, so yknow, questionable unclear feelings being questionable and unclear), yet we also know what those supposed feelings of his will lead to: mc will suffer because of it.

To end this insane rant, the one line of the song that started all this and reminded me of The Answer to begin with is: "This blood sometimes holiness brings you", I think this one also speaks for itself LMAO.

This was so fucking long, again I'm sorry for taking so much space but the brainrot was too strong and I thought it could at least be somewhat fun for the author of the story to see my dumb (and crazy) ramblings about her story.

- 👁👁

the way this ask has me in its clutches omg

FIRST OF ALL. LETS NOT APOLOGIZE. I LITERALLY AM IN LOVE W YOU. I LOVE YOUR ASKS ASLKADJSFLAKSDJF like the way you put more thought and effort into this ask than i do into half of my school assignments like im not even exaggerating this is a full analysis of so many things im like levitating in the air reading this

ANYWAYS. at the risk of sounding like a reply to a discussion post i really have to commend your attention to detail and say that i agree w you on all of this its crazy LKSJFAKLSF LIKE SERIOUSLY THIS IS SO INSIGHTFUL PLEASLJFLASJDLFJ

The "who did you expect me to be?" really ties it all together for me, I picture those moments when mc is shocked about how her sweet best friend became just another follower tangled in the cult's web, became someone who won't hesitate to do as he is told even if it means hurting someone else or even her (aka letting her get stabbed for a ceremony), plus his angry outbursts. Its like "did you expect me to be the same person you knew before my time in a cult?"

THIS BIT IN PARTICULAR HAS ME BITING MY FISTS YELLING SCREAMING LIKE OH MY GOOOOODDDDD ITS SO GOOD AND SO TRUE LIKE I CANT EVEN ADD ANYTHING ALJAKDLFS

like this is all just so good and top tier like. im yelling. i cant even believe this. thank you so much. AS ALWAYS. LIKE THIS IS SO LAIJFDLKASDJF I CANT EVEN ADD ANYTHING LIKE I SAID IM JUST LIKE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LJ;LAJS;DFKJSDFA THANK YOU MWAH KISSES