#mark velasquez

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Erin O’Hara by Mark Velasquez

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Alina Lee by Mark Velasquez

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[eyesforgrace]

by Mark Velasquez

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Things I wanted to see in Sense8

1. Riley overcoming her trauma and experience motherhood with Will

2. Kala Rajan and Wolfgang living their best lives in India

3. Will getting his job and life back

4. Lito’s debut in Hollywood

5. Why was he making heart eyes at Hernando? (Blake)

6. More of Dani, Lito and Hernando overall

7. Nomi and Amanita living in Paris

8. What happened to Nomi and the organization that gave her the key to disappear? Did they never bother her again?

9. Coppheaus being an honest politician

10. Sun cleaning her name, sending her brother to jail

11. Sun and Mun training together

12. Sun reunion with her friends from jail

13. What really happened to Raul? Was he lobotomized? If he was, why was he able to move around and destroy Angelica’s investigation?

14. Lito giving clausure to Raul’s father and the rest of Raul’s family

15. More about Angelica

16. The Lacuna and Bhoddie

17. Whisper’s claustro, who were they? My personal theory is that whispers started to experiment on them

18. Someone from the Claustro giving both to a new claustro

19. Raul’s story being published, exposing the BPO and everybody involved

So please please please Netflix go bankrupt so another streaming service can buy the rights of this amazing story and the Wachowski sisters can give us more season, ten at least

[aleswiftgron]

I just finished rewatching Sense8 and I had forgotten how MUCH I love this show, and honestly the bts at the end of the show with the song Rather Be by Clean Bandit and Jess Glynne it's just so perfect I have been listening to the song on loop for 20 mins now.

I am broken.

This is me right now

[madebysimblr]

instead of working on the legacy today I did this. that counts right? (i'll be sharing these poses on my main tomorrow C: )

inspo

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Alina Lee by Mark Velasquez

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[margareturtle]

If we don’t get to see the dynamic between Mark, Cristina, Lily, and Maia in TWP then what’s the point??

Bc I can just imagine,,

Lily always flirting with Cristina (and Emma of the come-and-stare family when she and Julian visit them)

Lily hesitant towards Mark at first (bc how dare he take Alec’s place) but he earns her respect after they figure out a faerie/vampire situation together and then they become besties

They have meetings at Maia and Bat’s place

Cristina and Bat start a latin cooking class for shadowhunters/downworlders (Mark learns to cook)

Cristina gets an excuse to show Mark Mexico City when they have a mission there to help Cristina’s mom with a downworlder situation

Just Mark and Cristina in the Downworlder-Shadowhunter alliance shenanigans

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model: juno ltk

These two create some seriously wonderful photos together.

photo by Mark Velasquez

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Today's Beauty-Marked Beauty is: Cynthia Veladquez from Silent Hill 4: The Room

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secret thoughts (2006) ph. mark velasquez

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Virgin Mary, Galadriel and Sauron x Galadriel in “Rings of Power”

Understanding the connection between Galadriel and the Virgin Mary in Tolkien lore

The “Virgin Mary = Galadriel” headcanon is around for a very long time in the Tolkien fandom. But this is not what Tolkien wrote nor intended, as he made that distinction in his letters, very clear:

I was particularly interested in your remarks about Galadriel… I think it’s true that I owe much of this character to Christian and Catholic teachings and imagination of Mary, but actually Galadriel was a penitent, in her youth, a leader in the rebellion against the Valar (the angelic guardians). At the end of the First Age she proudly refused forgiveness or permission to return. She was pardoned because of her resistance to the final and overwhelming temptation to take the [One] Ring for herself.

Tolkien, Letter 320

Why are folks missing the mark here? Most likely because they aren’t familiar with the Catholic faith, Tolkien’s faith, nor its complexities. There is no direct Virgin Mary equivalent in Tolkien legendarium. Varda, the “Queen of the Valar”, comes close but not quite; there’s a clear inspiration there, but not a “copy-paste” situation like Eru (Christian God) and Morgoth (Christian Devil).

The mere mention of the Virgin Mary as a “repentant sinner” is not only unthinkable to Catholics, but blasphemous; it goes against everything the Catholics believe, against their religious doctrine. Although, I doubt other branches of Christianity accept this, either.

The “teachings of Mary” is the Marian devotion, the devotion of Virgin Mary; the ultimate Catholic devotion, which separates this Christian branch from all the others. Protestants, Eastern or Oriental Orthodoxy, and others, don’t share this devotion.

In Catholicism (and Tolkien was a very devoted Catholic), Jesus Christ is God, and Mary, being the mother of Jesus, is considered “mother of God”. Mary is considered a “virgin” because she was saved from the Original sin of Adam and Eve. Because, to Catholics, she’s the woman who carried God in her womb, after all. When Jesus died on the cross, Mary, as a mother, suffered alongside him; and from then on, she acts as a advocate for Catholics next to God (Catholics pray to Mary for her to intervene on their behalf next to God). That’s why she’s a saint (and this is the role of all Catholic saints).

Michelangelo, “Pietà” (“Madonna della pietà”), 1498–1499 | Mary, the Lady of Pity | Masaccio, “The Madonna of Humility” (detail), c. 1424

Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Glory Be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

Catholic prayer “Hail Mary”

Side note: every facet of Mary is devotional to Catholics, and that’s why you’ll find several saints connected to all stages of Mary’s life (the “Madonnas”). Even pregnant Mary is object of devotion (this was very popular in the Middle-ages, then changed after the Council of Trent, in 1545 - 1563, because the Vatican felt it could be heretical, and strip Mary of her divinity).

Indeed, Tolkien took obvious inspiration from Mary’s “Queen of Heaven” facet to create Varda, “Queen of the Stars”, and she’s also the Eldar highest devotion, as Mary is to Catholics. However, the role of “mother of God” is missing from Varda’s character, hence her not being the “stand-in character” for the Virgin Mary in the lore. And Tolkien, being a devoted Catholic would never do this.

Diego Velasquez, “The coronation of the Virgin”, 1599-1660

The “Catholic teachings of Mary” are humility, selflessness, charity and compassion; she teaches her devotees to renounce their pride and selfish ways. Because Mary had the extraordinary role of being Mother of God, and yet remained humble in her ways, and continued to serve the Lord with devotion.

And this is how she’s connected to Galadriel. Her character is not the “Virgin Mary”, but that of a devotee of the Virgin Mary. Which makes sense, because the Marian devotion is very dear to Catholic women, in particular.

Galadriel Sins

We know that Galadriel character arc in Tolkien legendarium is that of a sinner in repentance, and her actions are motivated by her wish to return to Valinor, because the Valar banished her. That’s why she becomes the “Lady of Light” and fights Sauron. But what are her sins, exactly?

Galadriel, in both the lore and in “Rings of Power”, is proud, greedy and lustful (she doesn’t wait to be married to have sex with Celeborn, which goes against the Eldar ways).

In “Rings of Power”, in particular, she’s obsessed and consumed with personal vendetta, she’s selfish, arrogant, power-hungry, and wants to be worshipped as the savior of Middle-earth by destroying Sauron, all by herself (selfishness). She’s also lustful for Sauron himself, as I talked about in these posts: here and here.

The catch is: in Tolkien legendarium, a “sin” isn’t truly a “sin” (a crime against Eru’s law) if it’s not acted upon. We’ve seen Galadriel acting on her pride, and greed, but not on her lust.

In order for her to sin, she will have to succumb to Sauron. And for this she’ll get banished from Valinor.

“A Penitent”

After having sinned, and facing the consequences for her sins (banishment from literal Heaven), Galadriel will start her penitence arc by following the example of the Virgin Mary, and her teachings, embracing the Marian devotion.

Galadriel will use the Virgin Mary as a guide for her actions, her beacon and role model of behavior, in order to repent for her past sins.

This is why Galadriel is a Elven-queen (like Mary is the “Queen of Heaven”) and has to learn the lessons of humility, charity and compassion, to let go of pride and her greed (power-hungry), and wield her power with grace and kindness.

Then there’s the “virgin” aspect, which is not at all appealing to our modern sensibilities of female sexuality, but it is what it is. Tolkien was a man of his time, and extremely religious. What does this mean? Galadriel will have to repress her sexual desires, and embrace temperance and chastity in her repentance. No more sexy times for Galadriel if she wants to be allowed to return to heaven.

[whatthepublicthink]

Photo by Mark Velasquez

Model: Alina Phillips

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Zöe Rose by Mark Velasquez