#i would love to get pegged by You Sister Esther.

[wellntruly]

THE YOUNG POPE - 1x05

@memory-for-trifles has caught up with The Young Pope and I just need to share some of her own live-blogging with you because I lost it:

“I’ve always been good at taking notes” God is up there like “wut, my son”

“What is the Cardinal Secretary of State doing?” “HIS BEST,” I say aloud to my TV

“homely girl” orphans are never young

Men love it when women are bad at roller skating

Me @ the Pope: girl, whatever, Jesus wept

Is the kangaroo like......God......

Noooo don’t send gentle Father Aesop out to the wolves, he can’t fit all those stuffed animals into a carry-on

And with that, we continue!!!! With The Young Pope!!!!!!!1!!! A gift show.

Young Pope Bloggin’ No. 5

I straight-up can’t get over these Hippie Parents looks. look at them. they’re like if a Renaissance religious painting met Wes Anderson making a Woodstock movie.

omg the song over the credits is different this time! man this show owes nobody nothin’, they will do what they please

anyway speaking of looks! still not over this either or at all

I’ve looked it up and this actress is French—I have decided Esther is also French! it would explain why all the Italian and Spanish cardinals speak English to her, that apparently being the Vatican lingua franca. it would not explain why I had not pegged her accent as French until now

lord love Esther “Tits Out For God”

wonderful that these nerds think they’re subtle while they gather in open sight taking photos with a completely unmuffled shutter

wow are you getting all this Father Chuckles because this is a gr8 monologue

whoooo’s house is this, wow, what is going on I’m delighted!

Cardinal Marc Evan Jackson: “You were just a jerk, and now you’ve become the Pope.” Lenny: [laughs, loves him]

the Papal Butler staring at Mary’s scandalous sleep shirt I am dying

hah they broke out together, her boys

Voiello, the Cardinal Secretary of State, has three cellphones. they all have a case featuring a soccer player.

does Cardinal Voiello suddenly, or perhaps not suddenly, have a crush on Sister Mary!

I…cannot believe Lenny is unknowingly playing the Cyrano to Voiello right now

ohhh my god he just tells her he got all this from Lenny! goddamnit Voiello I love you, you always keep me on my toes

did they walk into a hotel and ask to buy cigarettes? you cloistered idiots!

“We’re not priests. Have you ever seen two priests wearing tracksuits?” well I’ve seen sumthin

Escort: “Did you know I have clients who insist I’m proof of the existence of God? But they’re wrong. They see me, because they can’t see far.” Lenny: “..do u need a job”

okay, sincerely, half the scenes of this show seem like they’re going to be one of those things you know, and then they’ll just do ENTIRELY another thing and I’m grinning like delighted child

if that’s the kind of house orphanage custodians live in, I have a career path change I need to work out

for y’all’s bffl use

talking about childhood secrets on this old bridge in the middle of the night, look at this ~romantic friendship~

Cardinal Dussolier’s tracksuit is Lacoste

would Andrew also have lost his parents, since he too was at the orphanage?

aw, this is cute. Sister Ma and her saintly no-good sons, come home again.

amazing. just love nun intramurals.

omg, peace be on your heart, Father Aesop, let him not stress you Father!

I have zero questions about the Vatican-branded wooden crates that get regularly air dropped in to this helicopter pad, this just seems fine to me

we all know the other secret is that he just has PILES and piles of stuffed animals

IRL SCREAM. I was so unprepared for the camera angle reveal that Lenny is literally walking SEVERAL FEET ABOVE Voiello for this take-down!!!! #HIGH GROUND

imagine being like I need to have a meeting with my coworkers, and booking the Sistine Chapel like a conference room

------- “Sexy And I Know It” is playing. I had forgotten that I knew this. I...caNNOT

oh next level pageantry, look at this bitch

wow I didn’t know the sides of the Sistine Chapel were trompe l’oeil curtains, that’s kinda…huh ...tacky? [is struck down by the ghost of pissed Michaelangelo]

amazing that Lenny has predicated his entire papacy on how neat he thinks it is that no one knows who that asshole Banksy is

look at this fucking decked out Catholic imp, rolling down his EXCLUSIVITY DECREES. he’s like a faerie king setting his Facebook event as INVITE ONLY.

“There is nothing outside your obedience to Pius XIII. Nothing except Hell. A Hell you may know nothing about. But I do. Because I built it.” haha holy shit!

wow he looked so young for a moment there, when Cardinal Spencer kneeled to kiss his foot

Dussolier cannot but walk with this casual leonine ease even in the most weighted and strained environments, what the heck my guy

[laughing] it’s such a delight how homoerotic this relaysh has become, especially like, right now, in this of all moments

slipper kink

blessed balls oh what the fuck, I am cryying

is he gonna have the stigmata goatherd taken out or

NO ONE EXPECTS THE PAPAL IMPOSITION

also do u see: they’re inside a small door

Pope Notes

[jeffgoldblumsmulletinthe90s]

Fic Writers Week: Day 4, Part 1

If the devil’s in the details, there’s an entire Divine Comedy of devils in The Truth of Masks, which was suggested for me to go through.

Speaking of Dante, I’ll start with Beatrice Grimsditch. The Grimsditch name is one of the Original Twelve American wizards who founded the Magical Congress of the United States of America. The surname is derived from manmade structures the Anglo-Saxons made all over England and these, in turn, are named likely for not the Grim Reaper but the big bad dude who gave that grim all his uh... grimness: Ol’ one-eye himself, Woden. His Anglo-Saxon name was Grimr! (You might know him by his Norse name, Odin.) Woden means “the masked one” and he appears (or rather doesn’t!) as the subject of the magical painting of “the one-eyed man and his raven” which acts as the security guard for Grims Book Shop in Chapter 2. 

Another term for a grim’s ditch would be “grim’s dyke,” which is apt because, if it wasn’t clear as a married woman with a name that’s not Worme who is still Auguste Worme’s sister-in-law, Beatrice was married to Auguste’s sister. Mrs. Grimsditch sadly is a widow in this story, but clearly she’s on fond terms with Auguste and happy to therefore adopt some weird 20-something wizard and fully introduce him to American magic.

And there’s more! Under the read more!

Queenie, of course, is Juliet because she can’t help but relate to a tragic love story where two people are divided by Dumb Old Stuff That Happened Like Forever Ago. I picked her name because I felt like a family that would name a baby girl “Porpentina Esther Goldstein” was not gonna slack off on the second baby. Quintessence is according to MW:

1: the fifth and highest element in ancient and medieval philosophy that permeates all nature and is the substance composing the celestial bodies; 2: the essence of a thing in its purest and most concentrated form; 3: the most typical example or representative - the quintessence of calm

And Deborah is the only female Judge of the Book of Judges as well as a prophet. Also she killed a man by driving a tent-peg through his head and I love her. I wrote a paper on her when I was like... 10. Therefore: Quintessence Deborah Goldstein.

Tina’s costume while being COOL AS FUCK is inspired by her big crush on Newt Scamander, obviously, the man who worked with Ukrainian Ironbellies in The War. He would have liked to be her date I guess, but he can’t get into the country. Thankfully Tina has Tatiane Rodriguez, which is the name I gave the unnamed Auror played by Dominique Tipper.

Tina and Tatiane discuss the fact that Percival Graves is at the party before Credence knows he’s the Red Death:

“You can come with us,” Rodriguez says. “I mean, people get all intimidated around the president, but she’s gotta be totally blotto by now. It’s our old boss who’s actually scary.”

Tina whirls around in Rodriguez’s arms.

“He’s here?” she asks.

“Yeah, doll, Picquery brought him as her date again this year — though who knows why,” Rodriguez says. “But I haven’t seen him for like an hour, so maybe he left already.”

Which is WILDLY funny to me, because obviously Credence sees and notices the Red Death. But Rodriguez is way too invested in trying to get her mack on with Tina. Everyone at this party is Too Gay To Function, basically.

So, Graves’ costume: It’s based on the original silent film of “The Phantom of the Opera” starring Lon Chaney. Here’s a colored version of Lon Chaney’s Red Death. But it’s uh... way more bespoke. Anyway, Chaney’s Phantom crashes a masquerade dressed as the Red Death and is a HUGE FUCKING DOWNER because he’s not getting his way and it’s the Most Extra Thing ever. You can watch it here. 

In the film, the Phantom is an expert in “The Black Arts” and tricks Christine with a lever shaped like a scorpion, so I imagine that Percy does genuinely love both the book and this film and he’s genuinely a Lon Chaney fan. This fic also references “London After Midnight” a lost film which frankly sounds WEIRD AS FUCK and also great. Lon wasn’t a witch (OR WAS HE?) but the thing he was famous for even in the 20s was his ability to transform himself for his roles, which I think fits in with the character of Percival Graves and y’know Who Is Percival Graves? And the idea of a man stealing another man’s face and therefore his life. 

But when Credence talks about The Phantom of the Opera and most of the things Credence references are the BOOK ADAPTATIONS. In the book, Erik is a little more sympathetic and certainly would be sympathetic in the eyes of someone who has also been cast out of TWO societies because of what he was born as. Plus Erik has serious mommy issues. Therefore Credence’s impassioned speech:

“I mean,” Credence says. “I don’t think Erik is a villain.”

That isn’t what Credence meant. Percival Graves probably knows that. But it’s not untrue.

“Not really,” Credence continues. Percival Graves stands up and looks at him. He leaves the sort of watchful silence that once made Credence talk about the way people treated him, the way —

“After all,” Credence says, “he just wants to be loved and he cannot imagine being loved for what he is.”

He chews on his lower lip after he speaks, which certainly isn’t what Don Diego would do. He lifts his drink and takes a sip.

“Because what he is,” Graves says, as though it’s a question, “is a monster.”

“That’s not,” Credence tries to say. He stops for another sip of water, his throat feeling tight and hot.

“Yes,” Credence says. “Yes, he is a monster. He looks and acts like a monster, but… he is also a man. How he acts is shaped by the way he has been treated. It isn’t so simple to say that one knows the truth of a man by looking at him.”

is Percival talking about himself (and maybe GG) and Credence ALSO talking about himself.

Oh, yeah, and while Percival is wearing a mask to conceal himself because of that Phantom-brand bitchiness and Drama, Credence dresses as a character who is ONLY his true, best, heroic self when he dons a mask. Don Diego is the Bruce Wayne to Zorro’s Batman as it were, and Percival intentionally refers to Credence as “Don Diego” repeatedly despite knowing that he’s dressed as ZORRO because Percival knows that it’s Credence under the mask and he thinks he’s being clever. Credence just thinks he’s a nerd like him. This sweet summer child.

OK. Break from all that...

Cranberry soda: Because Ilvermorny’s colors are cranberry and navy (WHY)

Pumpkin soda: Actually pumpkin SPICE. Rest in peace Credence Barebone’s tastebuds. They got cinnamon bombed. Graves is a basic bitch who loves pumpkin spice and the Phantom of the Opera and wearing leggings in the fall.

Tienlim’s name is Vietnamese — Tien Lim or Lam. Tien for... fairy or divinity? Magic, but good magic? And the Lin/Lim/Lam name derives from the Zhou Dynasty in China and from the Chinese for “forest.” Goblins get a bad rap!! In the part of the world I’m from, there’s not really a line between “goblins” and “fairies” and they’re all magical (divine!) creatures that can do good or ill but... they only do ill as RETRIBUTION. Also both European and Asian takes on goblins live in the forest.

Also lots of 1920s costumes were hella racist and I needed to vent about that in the fic, okay? Okay.

Anyway, the second chapter practically opens with a Ru Paul’s Drag Race reference:

“I’d like to keep it on,” Credence says. “Please.”

Hi, thanks, I’m hilarious.

And then my reference to Burgundians’ you're in my blood like holy wine

“When I came back, I didn’t even have eyebrows,” Credence says.

The book that Colette sent Credence is “Story of the Eye” and it’s a story that involves a lot of DEATH and SEX and things going in vaginas that should not go in vaginas.

She sent him a whole novel of obscenity, but Credence thankfully cannot read French much at all. Something about an eye?

Colette, tbf, lives in the catacombs of Paris and is a little Weird if that wasn’t clear. She usually just sends Credence photos of naked statues. She was repurposed from a story idea I had where Credence goes to France and finds a prostitute in Nantes who calls herself a witch, but who doesn’t actually have magic and together they con and swindle and seduce their way through Europe and back to New York. The Colette of “Masks” is much calmer. She is obviously named after the French author, who among other things wrote a novel “Cherí” about a wealthy older courtesan and her much younger lover. It does not end as happily as this fic does.

The whole fic has a lot of recurring images including SKULLS, THE MOON, powerful slightly gay lady witches, heroes and villains, non-alcoholic drinks. There’s probably more things but that’s a lot of things, folks. This was an ESSAY. I apologize.

[thistleandthorn-rpg]

Congrats Lo on your third character, Esther Fabray! Please send us her blog within 48 hours!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias: Lo Preferred pronoun: She/Hers Age: 25 Timezone/Country: GMT, England RP Experience: Lots :) Activity Level: 6/10

IC INFORMATION:

Name: Esther ‘Essie’ Amelia Fabray Designation (Dom, Switch, sub): Domme Age: 21 Faceclaim: Dianna Agron Birthday: June 12th Orientation: Pansexual Kinks: Pegging, Humiliation, Orgasm Control, Feminisation Anti-Kinks: Watersports, Infantalism, Pet Play

BIO:

Esther Fabray, arguably, was the classic middle child. She was soft-spoken, intelligent but often overlooked by her Father. Unlike her sisters, she was never driven to capture his attention – she was much happier quietly getting along with her own life and following her own plan. She was closest to Sinclair, who passed on her love for reading and the two could often be found reading together in silence – simply enjoying one another’s company.

After graduating high school, Esther knew she wanted to go to college first; she loved school and truthfully, felt so much more comfortable pursuing that than going to an institution. She’d never given much thought as to what mark she would receive until it became apparent the time to receive it was always there; and like a coward, she opted to put it off. She attended Yale, studying History, and found she loved every moment of it. As much as she loved home, she felt happier being out on her own, making her own way in the world.

More recently, her Father’s attention has turned to her; he was furious about Ryan’s decision to claim as a submissive and so out of nowhere, he decided Esther would be her replacement. It wasn’t a role she relished in. She had little say in which institute she was to attend; Russell made it very clear she was to go to Ohio to keep an eye on her sister. She’s still not sure what he wants her to report back, only that he does.

What is your biggest fear and why?

Being alone. I think that’s my greatest fear. Obviously being alone has more serious connotations in this day and age. I imagine most people reference not wanting to be a slave when answering this question. That’s very true for me.

What 3 objects/places mean the most to you and why?

Mobile, Alabama - This one is an obvious choice right? It’s home. Always will be in some sense of the word. It’s an incredibly beautiful place and I was so lucky to grow up there.

Dancing Goat Coffee Shop - It’s this cute coffee shop; super close to where I went to college so I spent a lot of time holed up in there, caffeinating and studying. The baristas ended up knowing my name and my usual order really quite quickly.

My Passport - I love to travel; I always have. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to explore a lot of the world and none of that would have been possible without the lovely little blue book.

Who is the one person you’d most like to meet (dead or alive)?

It’s perhaps a little cliche, but probably Winston Church. Arguably it’s just the History major in me but I’d find his take on World War Two quite fascinating. Honestly, I’d be happy to talk to anyone who was up close and personal.

What is the one moment you would describe as your happiest/most excited?

Oh, I don’t know if I’ve reached peak happiness yet but I think so far, it was probably when I graduated college. It took so much work but it was such a fun experience, and the relief you feel when all the hard work pays off is second to none.