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sprawa-przybyszewskiej · 3 years ago

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Gnostic inspirations in Przybyszewska’s works

At the highest point of her intellectual life, Stanisława Przybyszewska spent over 12 hours each day simply on writing her own works, continously, and with maniacal care, educating herself on absolutely everything (she was constantly looking for fields in which she might be a natural genius) and she rarely did anything else at all, which included things like earning a wage or sweeping her own floors. The effect of such existence was of course that she was severely depressed, but also thoroughly educated. It means that traces of whatever matter from history or philosophy can be spotted in her works, are most likely intentional and put there exactly with the hopes of showing her erudice.

One of such matters was gnosticism. Gnosticism is a set of beliefs which put emphasis on obtaining liberation from this life through gnosis (knowledge) and cast aside all that is not of the mind – so not only the flesh, but also the spirit. Without going into details of some specific gnostic rite it is simpler to say that gnostics value gnosis higher than any of their base beliefs and teachings (in Europe gnostics are mostly mentioned in relation to early christianity, Cathars are an example of this). Then the contrast one can find within religion (for example sin and liberation from it) is replaced with earthly illusion and gnosis, which frees one from the illusion and guarantees a higher level of life, of sorts (in gnostic beliefs, our presence on Earth is not linear, leading from birth, through life and death to afterlife, but resembles more of a ladder, with each rung leading closer to obtaining total knowledge, and simultenously losing all that tethers one to earthly illusions.

In literature, strong contrasts are a good indication we can look into it to spot gnostic inspirations or at the very least make a strong case they could be there, even if unintentional. In Przybyszewska's case, however, they are all the more probable, for I vaguely recall she was well aware of the presence of these beliefs and everything she wrote on the nature of genius points in the same direction, too. She held these beliefs in her own, private set of core values, and there isn't any better place for her to show them to us but through her works. She presented us with an utopian vision of mental progress in her plays, while in her prose works, she focused on the darker side of the same things.

The axis of conflict in gnosticism is between the mind and the spirit. Robespierre is without a doubt a man of the mind much more so than of the spirit, and all the important figures surrouding him are more on the spiritual side of things (with Camille being the most prominent in this regard). Maxime has achieved the gnosis, the crown that will burn [his] brains right through.Before it happens, though, he is elevated onto another plane of understanding, a place where no other person can reach him, or even understand him:

Danton, of course, is lying.

(There is, sadly, no French translation of Thermidor; on another note, it took me this long to realize the French decided to change the person's tag from Camille to Desmoulines, which is suprising in the best sense of the word).

Robspierre is clearly constructed to be a genius, standing above everybody else and thus bearing greater responsibility, something which demands of him more than it does of others. Madness which he suspects within himself at the end is only a threat because it potentially leads to commiting mistakes, and a mistake is an unforgivable offence when it is committed by the one who ought to know better. Mistakes by a hand of another – for example Camille – are a different story altogether, for the majority of people not only don't achieve gnosis, but even cannot achieve it, their mental state isn't developed enough for them to grasp at the higher concepts. I think this is one of the reasons why Saint-Just's words: It is not madness, it's despair, are actually calming Robespierre down. Despair is simply a sign of being weary, something to be expected.

Maxime's knowledge and better judgement of everything is of course still a curse, leading to his death. In gnosticism, death isn't meant in a macabre sense, since it leads to yet another, higher rung of the metaphorical ladder we're standing on, but the gnosis obtained beforehand makes a death a good one instead of a waste. When Robespierre is going through his moment of despair at the end of The Danton Case, he betrays the gnosis he has in favour of admiting that the future will turn out differently than what could be expected: his death won't be a natural progression, but a failure, his depaire sets him back into the crowd of the sad, grey mass of the people who are not – like him – predestined to understand more.

From the linguistic point of view, I find it interesting that in the original and in the French version, he is using somewhat esoteric language (the future is under the sign of Danton – to my eyes, it is a clear refereance to the Zodiac signs, something which is supposed to predestine our futures, and which is also esoteric and ritualistic; given all the hints that she was abused by her satanist father, it makes a really sad, hopeless final note on the grand scheme of things for the humanity, that we, as humans, are incapable of running away from the brute forces which will continue to rule us simply because the world is built like this – not to mention the inability to change the future or even just the fate of one's life is a staple of gnostic beliefs).

No matter what he says about it, the inability to escape from one's fate is something which we rarely associate with Robespierre, because – as much as Przybyszewska makes it clear, thet he is a genius and thus everything he does he is not only allowed to do, but must do it for the greater good – he seems a bit like a self-made man, perhaps because we see him all the time in situations which are hard and difficult, but not impossible. A much more tragic situtation of the lack of escape from his own poor choices is being presented to us through Camille.

Camille has had a chance to be continously tethered to Maxime, securing for himself relevant safety in the public life, and calmess or even happiness in his private one. Yet he breaks with Robespierre over and over again, starting even before the plot of the play. Maxime reaches out to him against his better judgement, and Camille – also against his better judgement – decides to stay loyal to Danton. He is as if glued to his leader, even though he sees him clearly for what he is. Camille is an apotheosis of a spiritual being, someone ruled by impulses, perhaps even with the best of intentions, but whose mind will never achieve gnosis, the clear vision of what is right and true. When Robespierre argues with the Committee by demanding they leave Danton (and Camille by proxy) alone, he plots against Maxime in his newspaper; when Robespierre goes to him under the cover of night, he doesn't want to see him and then throws him out; when Robespierre tries to either break him free from the prison or at the very least console him by admitting his love (I never actually knew what was his plan here), he follows the advice of his bad influences and doesn't admit him. It's as if a strange force kept him by Danton's side, and I don't think it was any normal feeling (of shame or guilt) keeping him away from Maxime. In The Last Nights of Ventose he makes it quite clear being a stronger person's lap dog would never bring him shame, but honour, thus I don't think he'd have any problem with returning to Robespierre after a long while of abuse and slander.

The relationship Camille has with Danton is another aspect of gnosticism, namely its duality. Danton is a stand-in for Maxime, which doesn't work because Danton is anti-Robespierre, his negative double (much like in some gnostic beliefs world was created and being conducted by two gods, one good and one evil). It is unclear whether Camille had any real, true potential to serve "good" Robespierre, but even if he didn't, if his friableness kept him from serving a greater purpose (which I don't know if I believe, in The Last Nights of Ventose we are presented with a very different portrayal of Camille, one who could achieve something much greater than he did if only he was by Robespierre's side at all times), serving the "evil" Danton couldn't possibly have a good outcome.

He even does return to Robespierre, for a short while, steered by emotions rather than anything else. But in this dualistic, gnostic reality, emotions have little to do, they aren't worth very much. What's more, if we focus solely on Camille, we have to admit that – as in every story, revolving around a single character – a person is in a way stuck in time. He can go about in the space his life takes, but time is more like a deity, untouchable and something you cannot pact with. For Camille, it doesn't matter how many times and at what point in time (before their fallout, during the crisis or at the last hour) Maxime asks him to break with Danton and go back to him, because time and predestined fate hold all the power of what is happening, while individuals hold none (and the aforementioned last statement of Robespierre explains right away that it is so even for the "great" individuals, who in other aspects are being held to different standards, but against time and fate they are just as powerless).

I like to think, though, that Przybyszewska has left a small postern for Camille to achieve gnosis or its more humane equivalent by drawing a symbolic parallel between two scenes, which are only made significat by their possible relating to each other, but mean next to nothing on heir own:

In the first scene, the key could have been a completely incidental choice of words/tools, after all it's a logical conclusion of the scene. There is, however, a more symbolic reading of it, as a key is of course a symbol, and a pretty easy one at that. If Camille gave Robespierre the key himself, this could be read as an end to their relationship, Camille returning the power that Maxime holds over him to Maxime's own hands. But since we only see Lucille relay the key, and we know that Lucille is also capable of influencing her husband and directing his steps (even if she says she can't; Robespierre's words, seeing as he's the genius here, are the final judgement of this), this could mean she is giving her portion of power to Maxime, whom she trusts to save her husband. And Maxime uses this one more time, when he tries to visit Camille in prison. That he fails miserably is against Camille's wishes, because Camille even in his demise only succumbs to wishes of others.

But we know he regrets this step mightily and we know it precisely because he dreams (or rather has a nightmare) about the very key he was supposed to convey to Robespierre earlier. He regrets the desire to give Maxime his power back, he regrets that by doing so in any way, shape or form he has finally given up his life. Choosing a beautiful death over an ugly, humiliating life only sounded good in his head, but in truth, he is beyond terrified and would love nothing more but to Maxime to come in again and if not save him, then at the very least – forgive him. But for that, they'd have to meet again, and he couldn't throw Maxime out. I also don't understand why both the English and French translation added the word "effortlessly" when describing his last moment with Robespierre, because make no mistake, it is very much an unnecessary addition, going against everything that he has been portrayed like so far. Their last conversation is just as much a tragic one for Camille as it is for Maxime.

Przybyszewska took great pains to paint Camille in front of our eyes as someone so weak that we find him as more of a comic relief than anything else, but in reality he is just a differing portrayal of powerlessness when faced with fate. Camille is not a comical character, but a tragic one, he is just the same as Robespierre, his other half: they both believe in their own agency, they both believe they are the ones making choices and pushing their lives forward, but it is not a coincidence that they both end up in he very same place, in a span of mere weeks.

This post would not have been born if it weren't for @patricidefan.

#@patricidefan thank you so much for talking with me about it #as i said you opened my third eye #patricidefan #Stanisława Przybyszewska #stanislawa przybyszewska #the danton case #sprawa dantona #thermidor #Maximilien Robespierre #maksymilian robespierre #Camille Desmoulins #Kamil desmoulins #gnosis #literary analysis #philosophy

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phoenixrisesoncemore · 4 years ago

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Request for Asks

So, here’s the deal: I have almost 100 in-progress posts in my drafts. These have slowly stacked up since I started posting in July of 2019. I need to finish some, but I think at this point I need some guidance on where to go next once I finish project 1 and write 3 more prompt ficlets. This is where you come in! I’d like to open my ask box up to reader suggestions on what to work on next.

Below I have included a list of some of these posts. Crossed out items are reserved for later as I will need to do additional research and/or significant rereading to produce them (or just...be in the right emotional state). However, everything else is fair game! Please let me know what you’d like to see! I’ll be counting “votes.” Note that two (as listed) are definitely next up, but after that anything goes. As with my new INDEX POST (check it out if you want to see some completed posts), these are grouped into three main categories: Tolkien, The Untamed/MDZS, and Other (film, art, books, games, life, etc.)

List is below the cut.

Tolkien

Kocher’s Master of Middle-earth (thoughts on one of the earliest critical Tolkien works) [NEXT UP]

The Nameless Enemy (Sauron and names) [NEXT NEXT UP]

Ring Questions (a series of questions about the metaphysical and practical nature of the One Ring in canon)

Why Eru Didn’t Push Gollum (why that one interpretation of the “Author’s Intervention” really gets my goat; also includes ranting about the power of pity and Jackson’s Return of the King)

Lucifer By Proxy (thoughts on despair and Sauron’s origins in the Secondary World)

A Wizard, a Demon, a Cat; a Reformer, a Satanist, and a Bureaucrat (thoughts on Sauron’s origins in the Primary World)

The Endless Variety of God (Sauron and evolution vs creationism in Tolkien’s theology of creativity)

Ishness (thoughts on Mabel Tolkien and Ronald’s earliest drawings)

The Tolkien Biopic: A Not So Jaded Review

Ring Making and Forging (thoughts on depictions of the forging of the Rings of Power in Tolkien art)

What Bombadil Saw (what did Bombadil see when he looked through the Ring?)

Satan Wants Your Art (On how Melkor views the creations and creative potential of others)

Is it Myth or is it History? (on the tension between Tolkien’s two Primary World catalysts for The Silmarillion)

Wherein I Disagree with W. H. Auden

Wherein I Disagree with Tom Shippey

Echoes Across the Ages (further thoughts on the 1996 Christopher Interview)

The Untamed

On CQL/MDZS Themes: Image; Boundaries; Mothers and Sons; Epistemology and Deontology; Resentment and Transaction

Wei Wuxian Is Not a Good Actor, but Xiao Zhan Is (why XZ and WYB are awesome)

Falling In Love (various thoughts on why each of the leads fell in love)

CQL vs MDZS (thoughts on how changes in story structure affect reader experience)

Other

Sex, Death, Chaos, and a Single Candle Flame (Tom Stoppard’s Arcadia)

Music in the Deep Dark: A Fantasia on My Childhood (or why I dream about sunless Labyrinths)

This Post Is About Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love, but Above All Things, Stories (why Moulin Rogue is my favorite film)

Why Final Fantasy Was Better With “Bad” Graphics (thoughts on interactive narratives as novel vs interactive narratives as film)

All the Glitter You Will Ever Need (Story and Production Design in Ridley Scot’s Legend)

Sagan’s Cosmos (a look at my favorite science communicator/non-fiction author whose love for the human experiment is infectious)

A 16 Bit Nature (how farmland and rpgs altered my sense of the natural world)

The Marriage of Content and Medium in The Magnus Archives

Air et Danse Bacchanale (personal thoughts on perfectionism, insecurity, and control)

“Further Up and Further In” in Xenogears (a possibly blasphemous look at tone and scope shift in my favorite video game)

My Ancestor Was a Fictional Character (thoughts on my Welsh ancestry)

The Book [Has] Killed the Building: Or Claude Frollo’s Thoughts on Modern Life

27 Years Later (Thoughts on Stephen King’s IT and the end of childhood)

The Morning Routine of a High-Pressure Tea Salesman (or what happened during that one trip to Teavana)

It’s All Fanfiction (thoughts on why the “legitimate writing”/“fanfiction” distinction is meaningless)

On the Magic and Horror of Collaborative Art Making

So You’ve Married a Poet (a guidebook from experience)

Friends With The Author (thoughts on the intersection of theology and epistemology)

The Architecture of Horror (thoughts on House of Leaves)

Suffering and The Neverending Story

Silent Hill and the Art of Emptiness in Japanese Horror

Doctor Who as Primary Mythology (an examination of the amazing flexibility of the basic premise to generate narratives in any and all genres)

Consciousness (thoughts on Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid)

The Girl With Blonde Hair: On Having (and Losing) the Other Half of You

#upcoming posts #request for asks #tolkien #the untamed #mo dao zu shi

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the-unholy-sovereign · 10 months ago

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[{]¤| Hail Satan |¤[}] 💀Shivah "Shiva" [I.Warrior] Cherokees "I.Redcrow" The Cherokee-Indian (Indians), Tomahawk-weapon. . .

(England) "Great Britain" I.Parliament (Parliament): Henceforth mitigating the signing of an proxy is a act of treason. Thus punishable by execution due to the abolishment of slavery in West-Africa, "Declaration" (Addendum). The Congo-Basin II.Tribunal "Brahmas; Brahmas" I.Tribal-order [(Im-pu-pu)] Pigmy; Pigmy "Tribal-Ordinance" Pigmies (PU). Therefore; the (Colonial) United States of America & Great Britain (Europe), The Slavery Act "Abolishment" (Proxy)." I.Courtship 'Magistrate' (Grand) The Drayton. .

♾NUBIAN CREED: SATANIST: THE DARK GOD OF VOODOO. . . .

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aanti-christ · 5 years ago

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As Anton LaVey explained in his classic work The Satanic Bible, Man - using his brain - invented all Gods, doing so because many of our species cannot accept or control their personal egos, feeling compelled to conjure one or a multiplicity. of characters who can act without hindrance or guilt about whims and desires. All Gods are thus externalized forms, enlarged projections of the true nature of their creators, personifying aspects of the universe or personal temperaments that many of their followers find troubling. To worship any God is thus to worship, by proxy, those who invented that God. Since the Satanist understands that all Gods are fiction rather than bending a knee in worship to — or seeking friendship or unity with — such mythical entities, he places himself at the center of his own subjective universe as his own most worth. high.

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isabelle-c-r · 6 years ago

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Inescapable

Author’s Note: Okay, I’m a tiny (extremely) bit obesessed with Cody Fern (and by proxy Michael Langdon) right now, so I need to get this story out of my head so I can be less obsessed.

Michael x Original Character

This is a bit of a prequel, and introduction to the new character. Not smutty (yet), but a bit of fluff, just wanted to do some building.

“You okay kid?” a voice asked as Michael slouched down in the back pew. He looked, surprised to see a woman not much older than his “current” age looking back. Long, messy dark blonde curls hanging around her face.

“Um, I guess,” he said, feeling the pit in his stomach growing, the one he thought would never go away.

“Ah, so it’s that kind of day. Looks like life took a giant shit on you.”

“I’m fine,” Michael spit crossing his arms over his chest, wanting to disappear.

“You’re not a very good liar either,” she said sliding closer, he could hear the smirk on her face.

He glared to the side quickly, “Why do you care?”

“I’m a Satanist, not an asshole. Plus, look at you,” she said brushing a matted curl off his temple without thought. The motion scared Michael, but he didn’t stop her.

“It’s been a rough few days...” Michael started to brush away a tear as he shifted in his seat, thinking of his Ms. Mead.

“No shit,” the girl said reflexively, immediately regretting it as she saw the solemn look dragging down his beautiful features. She leaned down in the pew, trying to meet Michael’s blue gaze. “Hey, I don’t normally do this, but my house is near by. If you want you could come over, shower, eat, rest. I could clean you’re clothes for you.”

“Really?” he said blinking through teary eyes. “Thanks, that’s actually really nice.”

“Well you look like you could use a break.”

After the service, the woman and Michael got into her car, and she was right about her house being close, just five minutes away from the church. Neither of them spoke the whole way, only listened to the radio. The woman thought it was best to leave the boy alone, as he looked so defeated. Michael was too weak and weary to make idle conversation, but knew that he’d have to eventually, though he wondered how long he could keep it together before it all poured out.

“My name’s Michael by the way,” he finally said as they got to the steps of her house.

“Adrasteia,” she said as she theatrically swung open the door and gestured for Michael to get inside. “Come on.”

“Adrasteia? What is that?” he asked, stepping in cautiously, grazing past her body, face to face, his heart beating a bit faster at her proximity.

“It’s Greek actually, but you can just call me Ada. I don’t really have a preference.”

Ada led Michael into her kitchen and placed him at the island counter before immediately heating up a big bowl of leftover pasta.

Looking around the room Michael began to wonder how someone as young as her had a house this nice. “So how did you... how did-” he began.

“How did I get into Satanism?” she said looking back at him with lively ocean eyes before dealing with the microwaved pasta. “Lucifer’s an old friend of mine.”

“Is he how you got this house? Sign your name on a contract in blood, that sort of deal?” he smiled weakly, a light chuckle on his lips, responding to what he thought was a joke.

“There’s always blood involved where the devil’s involved, but this house was all me. I worship, but my soul’s still very much mine, and I plan to keep it that way,” Ada said as she slid the bowl of pasta infront of Michael.

Michael smiled weakly again as he picked up the fork. “I wish I was as certain about things as you. I had some sort of direction once, but now...”

Ada sighed not wanting to see the beautiful boys face be so sad. “Kid, what happened to you?” she asked leaning up against the island directly across from him.

“Why do you keep calling me kid? We’re pretty much the same age.” Michael was frustrated, not wanting to be a child anymore, needing to be a man.

Reiterating, she said, “What happened?”

For a moment Michael considered not saying, that he might sound crazy, but before the thought could run through his brain fully his mouth was moving.

“Well, my father abandoned me, my mother tried to kill me, the woman who raised me committed suicide, and my Ms. Mead was murdered, that was four days ago,” he said taking a bite and pausing to appreciate that he could actually taste food, grateful to not be numb anymore.

“What the fuck. Is that true? How are you- well on second thought, look at you,” Ada said as she looked at his dust coated, sweat soaked clothes. “What have you been doing since... four days ago?”

“Mostly just sitting in a circle and threatening to die if my father didn’t give me some sort of sign.”

Ada tapped her nails on the counter, trying to understand. “Okay... who’s your father?”

“The one you worship.”

“Excuse me?”

Michael took a deep breath. “This anti-christ gig is not all you guys hype it up to be,” he said pointing his fork at her.

“Can’t be that bad,” Ada said with crossed arms, not as warm as she was moments before, her ocean eyes turning stormy.

“Look at me,” he said with no hint of amusement as he met her unwaivering gaze. He saw the realization rise in Ada’s eyes as the doubt and skepticism began to fade away.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she said looking him dead in the eye.

Michael didn’t say anything, he just lifted up his hair to reveal the mark. Ada rushed to his side, her cold hands making Michael vibrate as she lightly touched his devil’s mark.

He could hear her trying to form words or think of something clever to say, the shock coursing through her. All he could think of was the trace of her touch on his skin. He wanted to look at her, see the surprise. Ada backed away, taking him in, seeing the beauty underneath all that grime.

“I thought you’d be-”

“Taller,” Michael finished with a closed lip smile, making her chuckle ever so briefly.

“If I’d known... I would’ve made you something... I made you microwaved pasta,” she said with slight panic.

“Honestly, it’s not a big deal. I’ve gotten over it, my father seems to have forgotten about it. And the food’s delicious, but what I could really use is a shower.” Michael attempted to run an elegantly fingered hand through his dark golden locks.

“Yeah, yeah, of course, you can finish this later, follow me,” Ada grabbed his upper arm before letting go, realizing whose arm it was, though Michael wished she had left it there. She lead him upstairs to the main bathroom.

Ada grabbed a t-shirt and sweat pants from the dresser in the master bedroom, leaving Michael to his business.

Michael had been grateful for the food and the warm shower as he scrubbed the four days of dirt and sweat off his body. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to do anything. He felt helpless and alone, and no matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t change that feeling. He went through all the shit he had been through in his short life. Everytime he lost faith in humanity, everytime something confirmed his beliefs, someone came along to contradict them. Someone like Grandma Constance. Someone like Ms.Mead. Someone like Ada.

When he got out, Michael looked at himself in the mirror. He had been a child not long ago, but now, he was something else. He looked like a man, but he wasn’t sure what he was.

“Hello? Michael? I have some clothes for you to change into...” Ada said as she stepped in with a pile of neatly folded clothes in her hands.

She paused when she came in, taking in his lean, golden body, towel wrapped around his hips.

Walking over, Michael took the clothes from her, lingering on her cool hands. He watched her eyes flicker between his own eyes and his lips. Tentatively he leaned down, eye focused on one thing.

Their lips barely touched when she put a hand up to lightly push him away. A ripple of goosebumps rising in her wake.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought...”

“It’s okay, no need to apologize. I just... you’re... you’re too young for me,” she said bending down and picking up his dirty clothes. “Come finish eating when you’re dressed.”

Michael looked down at the clothes in his hands. ‘How can I be too young?’ he thought. They were practically the same age, in a manner of speaking of course.

When he arrived back in the kitchen feeling warm and clean, he was surprised to find that Ada wasn’t there. Michael still ate his food diligently, trying to fill the pit, always starving in some way. He ate in silence and he didn’t enjoy it. He wanted her watching him, marvelling at him.

When he was done he went looking for her.

“Hello? Adrasteia?” he called out as he wandered up the stairs, looking for any signs of life.

“In here!” she called out.

As he stepped in Ada finished up what he assumed was a letter. “Hey, sorry about that.”

“No problem,” he said, and re-adjusting his posture, straightening his back feeling more himself. “Is this where I’ll be sleeping.”

Ada looked at him with some surprise. “Uh, sure, just let me go get a fresh change of sheets,” she said rushing out of the room.

Michael walked up to the bed. Sitting down he forgot how good a bed could feel and without thinking he laid down. His eyes got extremely heavy as if with every bat of his lashes a layer of clue was adding to the resistance. He wasn’t fully aware of Ada coming back into the room, but he felt her.

She laid down beside him, chest to back, and wrapped her arm around Michael. He turned over instinctually, nuzzling into her chest.

“Do you think I can do it?” he whispered in a light child-like voice.

She craddled him to her as you would a child, petting his hair.

“Do what?”

“Whatever it is I’m supposed to do. What everyone thinks I should do,” he said with a fading voice.

Ada breathed deeply, taking in his scent as she hugged him closer. “You can do whatever you want, as long as it’s what you want, not what anyone else wants. The worse life is the one lived for other people. Be yourself, beautiful boy,” she said and lightly kissed him on the forehead as his breathing slipped into the steady rhythm of sleep.

Looking down at his golden head, Ada smiled. She thought of all the things she’d done to get him -every choice and deal made, all the little details that led to his creation- and how easily he had almost thrown it all away. But she would always forgive him. He was hers more than anyone elses.

“My beautiful boy,” she whispered to herself.

***

Adrasteia was at the black mass,watching Michael as he made the sacrifice. He’d woken up after that night feeling rejuvinated, more sure of himself though he knew he still needed direction. When he slit the throats of the man and woman he looked to Ada who stared back with a slight smile. He decided instantly that he wanted her with him, in anyway he could get. She had brought him comfort when he thought he would never feel again. He was grateful.

The others landed on him like vultures, hoping he’d give them some piece of the world’s carcass.

“Everybody fuck off,” she said when the group kept asking questions. She could see the annoyance on his face. “I’m sure Mr. Anti-christ will answer all your questions when he’s done eating.”

They all backed away as her gaze cut through them.

“Can I ask you something?” Michael said between slow mouthfuls.

“Sure,” she said brushing away a stray strand of gold from his face, Michael’s eyes following each movement with intense concentration.

“Would you... would you be able to stay with me?”

“Stay with you?”

“I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do, it’s a bit terrifiying, but I feel comfortable with you. No matter what I do, I think I want you to be there with me.” Michael lower his face as he could feel himself blush at the thought of her arms around him and his head on her chest.

“Michael...”

“You don’t have to answer now.”

“Is there anyone else that you felt comfortable around? Someone that loves you?” she asked with nervous eyes.

Michael looked at her, a bit hurt that she was asking, that she was trying to pawn him off.

“Someone that will always be there,” She said with a sigh before looking up at him with smile. “Someone you haven’t known for a day.”

“There was... My Ms.Mead, but she’s gone now,” he said with a sombre tone.

“Oh, the one that was murdered?”

He nodded slowly.

“Hmmm, in that case, I have an idea. Let science succeed where magic has failed.”

Michael had no idea what to expect when Ada shuffled him in the car the next morning. He knew that he was disappointed. He’d dreamt of her that night. He dreamt of just being with her, feeling her next to him, knowing she was a warm constant that made him feel not alone anymore. He’d woken up with tears in his eyes.

“Where are we going?” Michael asked as they drove down the coast in her red convertible.

“To someone that can help you figure out what to do next, and who might be able to bring back your Ms.Mead,” Ada said, her wild hair blowing like a rabid animal in the wind.

“Are you gonna come with?” he asked looking over at her. He wished he could see those ocean eyes through the sunglasses. He couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, and it frustrated him beyond belief that he couldn’t even see through a crack into her thoughts.

Ada reached over and took Michael’s hand, thumb lightly carressing the back of his hand. “I think it’s best if I stay behind for this part, the fewer disctractions the better.”

“But you wouldn’t be a distraction,” he almost pleaded.

Ada looked over at him, noting his inability to hide anything he was feeling. She didn’t let go of his hand, just squeezed it tighter.

“You care so much don’t you? You want to feel love just like the rest of us, but you need to save that for later. As you’ve already seen it can be a terrible weapon that your enemies will use against you. If I’m not a distraction, then I’ll be a weakness.”

Michael didn’t say anything else. He just thought over her words. She would be a weakness. The witches had so easily taken away his Ms. Mead, they would do the same to her if they learned of her existence, if they found out he had any connection to her. He didn’t want another charred corpse in the place of someone he cared for. The only way he could have her was to complete his mission. He needed to end the world. He needed to kill the witches. He needed to win.

He held her hand till the end.

“Will I ever see you again?” he asked kneeling down on the drivers side of her car.

The building they were infront of looked like a spaceship, one made entirely of glass. But it was silicon valley and it seemed to almost be a competition between companies to see who could make the most “futuristic” building.

“I hope so,” she said taking his hands in hers, kissing them ever so lightly.

Michael went to stand up, but Ada hadn’t let go of his hands. She wouldn’t let go.

“Ada?”

Ada reached for his upper arm and pulled him down to her, taking his face in her hands and kissing him without though. Michael breathed into it, his own long fingers lacing into her soft hair. Ada moved her lips slowly against his, guiding him through his first kiss, his first rush. His body flooded with heat and energy. There was something incredibly perfect about the feeling of being with her. Michael felt Ada’s thumb ever so delicately brush over his mark, as if it were some precious thing, as if he were.

They didn’t want it to end, but Ada knew any longer and he might never leave. He might forget his purpose and take her away, seal her away from anyone else so that it could just be the two of them, alone forever.

“Be what you are, not what they make you. Goodbye, beautiful boy,” she whispered in his ear before pushing him away and driving off.

Ada didn’t look back.

Michael did.

#ahs #ahs coven #ahs8 #michael langdon #ahs apocalypse #american horror story #ahs imagine #michael langdon imagine #ahs fanfic #fanfic

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arcticdementor · 5 years ago

Quote

Hollywood hates, hates, hates Americans, and hates American Christians in particular because Hollywood is owned and run by Paper American satanists. If you still can't understand this, if you still can't accept this, you're probably not going to get it until you are actually being hunted by them and their proxies.

Vox Day

#quote #vox day #hollywood #the hunt #nbc universal

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mini-mnm-blog · 6 years ago

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Satanism

Hello! This subject may seem a bit scary for some, but I wanted to shed some light on some misconceptions! Modern day Satanism is LaVey Satanism, whereas the worship of Satan is literally called Satan worship. A lot of people confuse the two. Within this essay I will be clearing up many false ideas about Satanism such as rituals, Satan worship, the lack of morals, 'evil' and more.

If I may take a bit of your time, I would like to share a bit of knowledge on this subject so that you too can educate those around you!

To begin, modern Satanism was founded on April 30, 1966 by Anton Szandor LaVey. " [Satanists are] the first above-ground organization in history openly dedicated to the acceptance of Man’s true nature—that of a carnal beast, living in a cosmos that is indifferent to our existence. To us, Satan* is the symbol that best suits the nature of we who are carnal by birth..." (Church of Satan)

*"...nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. " (The Satanic Temple)

This should clear up one of the biggest misconceptions of all time, that Satanists worship Satan //hint: we don't!//

Satan is only a figure, a symbol if you will, within the ideology of Satanism. As said in previous writing, Satan is a symbol used to depict how natural humans, without religion, are set, without guilt or internal turmoil caused by natural functions, desires, thought etc. Think of it, a lot of people who follow religions find naturally occurring behaviour to be sinful and thus tear themselves apart for it without considering that maybe that behaviour occurred because it is, in fact, natural.

"As Anton LaVey explained in his classic work The Satanic Bible, Man—using his brain—invented all the Gods....worshipping any God is thus worshipping by proxy those who invented that God. Since the Satanist understands that all Gods are fiction, instead of bending a knee in worship to—or seeking friendship or unity with—such mythical entities, he places himself at the center of his own subjective universe as his own highest value."*

Does this mean that Satanists do not have morals?Again, wide misconception, and the answer is no!

Satanists actually have a tight set of 'rules' and beliefs we follow, such as Seven tenets, as follows:

"We believe in reason, empathy, the pursuit of knowledge and our Seven Tenets:

· 1-One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason.

· 2-The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.

· 3-One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.

· 4-The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo one's own.

· 5-Beliefs should conform to one's best scientific understanding of the world. One should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit one's beliefs.

· 6-People are fallible. If one makes a mistake, one should do one's best to rectify it and resolve any harm that might have been caused.

· 7-Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word" (The Satanic Temple)

This too may cause a bit of confusion or lead some to jump to conclusions but not so fast! The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth should clear up everything further:

· 1-Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.

· 2-Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.

· 3-When in another's lair, show them respect or else do not go there.

· 4-If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat them cruelly and without mercy.

· 5-Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.

· 6-Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and they cry out to be relieved.

· 7-Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.

· 8-Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.

· 9-Do not harm little children.

· 10-Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.

· 11-When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask them to stop. If they do not stop, destroy them

These sets of beliefs advocate for equal treatment, a basis of respect, no abuse, animal or human, do not rape or moleste or harass. Satanism is a very open ideology that acknowledges religious freedom, the belief of science, and even magick as well as the importance of education. *There are different forms of Satanism, I personally follow a form that borders on paganism which focusses on the worship of body, mind, and nature. This goes hand in hand with my beginning practice of witchcraft, which I'll talk about later on.

One last falsity I need to address is that of rituals.

"[Satanists do] not have any required rituals, but some members choose to participate in rituals that they find personally meaningful. "

The only reason that Satanic rituals are linked to Satanism is because Anton LaVey personally performed rituals, but has said, and as previously mentioned, there are no rituals directly linked to Satanism itself, and is up to the individual as to whether or not they wish to partake in such activities.

With that, I wrap up my essay and hope that you will find it very informative and that you will help to spread this to others and educate more people on the subject! Thank you very much for your time, and if you would like to look into this subject yourself, here are my sources!

The Official Church of Satan

The Satanic Temple

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sieben9 · 6 years ago

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“only you”/“an untold story” impressions

{Quick request to anyone reading: I’m watching OUaT for the first time, and I want to avoid spoilers. So, if you want to discuss something spoilery, I’d be grateful if you could start a new post for that. Thank you!}

Yes, both in one post. Mostly because I watched them in one go. And because they’re really just one long story, anyways.

please feel free to insert your own episode-relevant pun here

Before I get into anything else: NO MORE UNDERWORLD LIGHTING! I’d almost forgotten how much that stupid red filter bothered me, until I didn’t have to stare at it while going through my screenshots. Dobby is freeeee~

Anyways, to my intense surprise, especially after the mess that was “Last Rites”, I really liked this finale! Not as a season-finale, because it wasn’t, but it was a very solid, fun two-parter that feels like it should have aired halfway through the hiatus between seasons. (I have Opinions™ on the “season finale followed by a mostly-unrelated epilogue/setup for the next season” format, and not one of them is positive.) The setup for the next season did get me cautiously excited, though. Not quite the “holy crap, I have to watch that!” of the s4 finale, but still good.

Just for clarity’s sake: I will be referring to this two-parter as one episode, just for ease of conversation. I have not slept this weekend, and I refuse to juggle grammar.

OK, just so I have it out of my system:

Gay roadtrip!

“i know we spent the last ten episodes getting my boyfriend back from the dead, but there isn’t room for four in the bug, so bye!” — emma swan, apparently

My joyful little shipper heart aside, the Emma/Regina bits in this episode were just fantastic. From their little heart-to-heart about Regina missing Robin (and Emma actually properly empathising this time) to the oddly even more personal topic of Regina’s constant battle with her “evil” side, it was all that I might have wanted and more.

The scene also left me with a weird feeling, because on the one hand, sure, it’s hard to constantly have to censor a part of yourself in order to be accepted in the company of the people you love (and who love you), but on the other hand… if that part of yourself has “kill it with fire” as the first response to any and all annoyances, maybe, just maybe, that’s something that you should censor. That said, Regina, you should definitely make an appointment with Archie. That sounds like his cup of preferred beverage.

And now to maybe my least favourite part of the episode, so we get it over with… the actual “main” plot. Or the excuse plot, as I will call it, because, really, the whole “Henry destroys magic” thing never really felt like a credible threat. It was more something to get everyone into motion so they could do the actually interesting stuff.

Don’t get me wrong, Henry snapping after losing yet another person—even by proxy through his mother—is perfectly understandable and realistic. That he’d turn his anger on magic as a whole isn’t exactly out of left field, either. He’s done this before, after all. At least this time, he didn’t try to blow up the magic well. I like that well, recent drama notwithstanding.

instead, we get the reverse-cornucopia of magic, apparently

But the plotline itself seemed far too rushed and low-energy to really grab my attention. And the resolution was… ::sigh:: there’s a dilemma for me, here, because I unabashedly love cheesy “The Power Is In You” moments, and the scene at the well did hit that button. It just felt unearned, which is why I couldn’t really enjoy it. (Also, I don’t know what New Yorkers are like, but I know how people from around here would have reacted to a performance act like that. Ah, well. Never Mind All That.)

the real magic was convincing so many people to throw away their spare change

I don’t even know what to say about the Dragon cameo. Nice to see he’s not dead, after all, but everything else in that scene... Nick, if you’d be so kind?

OK, that’s over with. Luke-warm excuse plot with some nice elements to it. I’m not sure if Violet needed to be in this, but I guess Henry needed someone to talk to.

Just as a pick-me-up, I want to give a shoutout to one of the best-executed bits of comedy on this show so far:

“Guy on the third floor is involved in some kind of satanistic ritual and dumped his food on the floor. Pretty polite and tips well, though. 8/10”

Just… very good performance and comedic timing on both parts. I liked it.

Aaaaand over to the “they got sucked through a portal. Again.” part of the episode.

ah, zeppelins; the easiest shorthand for “alternate universe” there ever was

I do kind of like the sound of the Land of Untold Stories and I really, really hope this gets a little more fleshed out in the coming season. How do people end up there when they’re not sucked through Yet Another Portal Accident? Is this what happens to all stories that haven’t been written down by an Author, yet? Is Harry Potter in there somewhere?

So many questions, so little screentime… I’m not sure if I would have liked 8 episodes of stumbling around in this new world, but I would have liked to find out if I did. …listen, it made sense in my head.

This plotline included what is probably my biggest complaint about the writing this episode: Snow selling out Belle. Just… with little to no hesitation. Which is why blaming the writing and not her. If this was supposed to be some kind of big, dramatic moral dilemma, I expect we’d have seen at least some semblance of guilt on her part. Instead, she just told this clearly violent individual about the defenceless, sleeping-cursed pregnant woman within nanoseconds of him threatening Hook. I know Snow’s characterisation has been a bit inconsistent recently, but come on. This isn’t her, and I am disappointed that the show even tried to sell this to me.

And I think I would have believed the version where Snow just blurts out the information about Belle and later feels awful, because holy crap, how could she? (There’s… some precedent for poor judgment on Snow’s part when it comes to sharing information, after all.) But this wasn’t even a Thing for her. I just… ::frustrated noises:: why, show?

So, yeah, the Bad Guy kidnaps Belle. Well done, there. By the way, wasn’t it incredibly difficult at some point to make portals to the Land Without Magic? I get why portalling to Storybrooke would be easier—it’s got magic, after all. But hotel room 318, New York? I guess you could argue that the crystal brought the magic along, but still.

i giggled at this bit, i’m afraid. fellow cat owners will understand.

So, I’m not sure what the “intended” reading here is, but I find it interesting that Rumple seems to understand himself so much less than Hyde apparently does (prediction: they totally know each other; mostly because Rumple knows everyone—guy gets around…) So he went to protect the magic crystal, because what else would the thundering teleport-vortex of doom have come to steal? As has been noted before, Rumple doesn’t really go after people through their loved ones, with one very recent exception, and he had to ask his dad for help to come up with that one. The idea that someone would kidnap Belle to get whatever the hell they want from him, doesn’t seem to occur, even though it has happened multiple times, already. Just… maybe you should have kept that box in your coat pocket, my friend.

Yeah… this is sure going to be fun, I can already tell. What does Hyde want with Storybrooke, anyway? It’s been established that it has one of the least-fun-to-rule populations, and everyone and their dog has magic. Seems like a bad pick, overall.

You do you, though.

And from Jekyll and Hyde, we finally come to this…

that still looks so very unpleasant.

I’m… ambivalent about the personality split, and I really want to wait and see how it turns out. Clearly, this is a good way to have the Evil Queen around again without also having to sacrifice Regina’s redemption arc, which I’m grateful for, believe me. It’s bad enough to have one of my faves on a redemption-yoyo—no need to add a second one.

is it bad that i missed her?

OK, look I’ve seen this Star Trek episode. Ten bucks that it turns out the Evil Queen isn’t “just” Regina’s evil side, she also got many of her more forceful, but overall positive character traits, and both are less without the other, leading to them re-fusing or something. (Yes, wrong fandom. So sue me.)

…obviously, I’m willing to be surprised, but I like this version a lot more than the idea that you can just siphon out the “evil” parts of yourself. (Even Hyde wasn’t really Jekyll’s “evil” side—just the collection of his socially unacceptable traits made flesh. I only read an abridged version of that book, and that a while ago, but Jekyll still seemed like a bit of an ass to me.)

While we’re here: shoutout to Snow and her flask of cocoa-fortifier. That got a surprised (and amused) laugh out of me.

Also, do we want to talk about whether or not it’s healthy to be so at odds with a part of yourself that you think killing it is the best way to deal with it or…? ‘cause, honestly, I would like to talk about that. Seems like Regina is a lot less OK than she’d like others and herself to think…

yeah, that’s not a “finally i’m free!” face

So, cautiously optimistic about s6 so far. The villains definitely seem interesting, and this episode was a good reminder of what I liked about the character dynamic in the first place.

An addendum about 5B:

Goddamn, but this season dragged. There seems to be simultaneously too much plot for too little time and not enough plot to fill ten episodes. This is probably based in my personal biases for and against certain characters (and the fact that I was insanely busy and couldn’t watch the season all in one go), but… yeah, I’m kind of relieved it’s over, to be honest.

#ouat #once upon a time #ouat only you #an untold story #sieben watches ouat #sieben talks #ouat writing critical #not much though #anti cs #in a subclause #otherwise i was pretty happy #just extremely tired #turns out the human body needs sleep #who'd have thunk

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