#st helena and god's will

[seekingtheosis]

Reflections on the Feast of Exaltation of the Holy Cross - September 14

Delve into the profound significance of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Orthodox Christianity. Explore its historical context, theological implications, and relevance in modern times.

In the name of God the Father, Christ Jesus His Son and the Holy Spirit, One True God. Amen. But God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I to the world. Galatians 6:14 Dear brothers and sisters in Christ On September 14 of every year, the Church as a whole celebrates the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.…

[capseycartwright]

oh what a terrible honor it's been (to learn that my blessings are things you call sins)

Hey God, it's me, Eddie. I hope you don’t mind that I’m sitting in your house thinking gay thoughts.

Eddie couldn’t help but giggle to himself as he thought the words. If he couldn’t be a bit silly while having a sexuality crisis in a Catholic church – when could he? 

Christopher leaves for Texas, Eddie goes back to therapy, unearths an emotional lockbox he had been fourteen years old when he buried, and has a lot of thoughts about how Buck is sunshine incarnate. In hindsight, it probably should have been obvious he wasn't straight.

ao3 link

t’s been a long time since Eddie Diaz had set foot in a church – of his own accord, at least. He’d been to the christenings and communions and confirmations of all of his various nieces, nephews, and cousins, he’d sat stiff in the pew as he’d watched friends, and family get married, trying his best not to remember how own wedding day, the way Shannon’s hands had shaken in his grip as they promised to love each other until death do them part, both of them young, too young to understand the covenant they were signing up to. Eddie had been there, for all those occasions, but he hadn’t gone to mass, or even sat in a church, just because he wanted to in a very long time. 

He wasn’t even really sure if he wanted to be there today, but it was a Thursday, and Christopher was in Texas, and Eddie wasn’t working, and he’d been having an extended mental breakdown for the last few weeks, and before he knew it, he was sitting in the pew of St Brendan’s Catholic Church, listening to a softly spoken priest with an Irish lilt to his accent – faded, after years in America, Eddie presumed, but still there, noticeable in the inflection of certain words – recite the Our Father. 

Eddie had never been to St Brendan’s before, but it felt like every other church he’d been to in his life. They didn’t all look the same, necessarily, though they followed the same format, rows of uncomfortable wooden pews and an altar decorated in gold, as opulent as it was suffocating. Eddie had thought it beautiful, before, the way Catholic churches were decorated in gold and jewels, believing for so much of his life that the wealth honoured God – but living life had made him learn the grandeur and displays of wealth were nothing more than indicative of the wealth the Catholic church had hoarded while their devout followers starved, all in the name of faith and of God. True faith didn’t need to be gilded in gold to be sincere, he’d decided.

Eddie had never been to St Brendan’s before, but mass was the same. It didn’t change – though the wording of some of the prayers did. He’d sort of been checked out of being a regular churchgoer by time they had changed some of the prayers, only discovering the difference when he confidently started to recite it wrong at his youngest niece’s communion, his mother fixing him with a glare so icy hell might have frozen over under the power of Helena Diaz’s gaze alone. He’d never learned the new ones, not really, and so Eddie just recited the one’s he’d learned for his own confirmation, the words falling from his lips, muscle memory more than it was faith now. 

Our father, who art in heaven – hallowed be thy name . 

Eddie couldn’t help but laugh, a little, as he murmured the prayer. Hallowed be thy name. He knew the prayer talked about God, their holy father, but the prayer had always made him think of his own father, of the way Ramon Diaz was a hallowed man in his own right, how he parented with an iron fist and expected to be obeyed. 

Things were getting better now, with his dad. Maybe – maybe that was part of the fear. Eddie had always been afraid of letting people down, but more than anyone, he was afraid of letting his father down – of seeing that look of disappointment set into every crease of his father’s face, an expression he’d been on the receiving end of for more of his childhood than he’d like to admit. Eddie had tried so hard to make sure he was never on the receiving end of that look again, but nothing he had ever done was good enough – not marrying Shannon, not the way he had tried to take responsibility for his young family, not the army, not the man he had been when he’d come home from Afghanistan. 

Distance had lessened the number of disappointed looks, but Eddie knew that was because he was simply not seeing them anymore; he was sure his father sometimes frowned at the phone when they’d finally call, silted conversation about Christopher and life at the firehouse the best either of them could muster. 

It wasn’t perfect, but it was getting better. 

At least it had been, until his parents had taken Christopher with them to Texas. It hadn’t helped their relationship – but it hadn’t hindered it as much as Eddie had expected either. He was never going to thank them, for the way they had swooped in, ready to take Christopher at a moment’s notice, but he could thank them for giving his son the space that he needed to process. Eddie couldn’t give him that space, right now, but he was grateful someone could. Still – he would be ready to drive to Texas at the drop of a hat when Christopher decided he was ready to come home.

Things were getting better, that was the thing. His dad called, every night, to update Eddie on Christopher’s day. Eddie could hear the familiar sounds of the Diaz backyard as his dad softly spoke, telling Eddie about how Christopher had been to the lake, with his cousins, and how he’d finished another book, and how he was helping Helena to make dinner, right then. It had filled the gap until Christopher had started to call Eddie himself, his voice tinny as he mumbled over the phone, things not quite back to normal, Christopher not willing to talk to him about anything except Marvel and Minecraft and how abuela’s tamales were better than Eddie’s, but better than they were, at least. 

Every time they were on the phone, Eddie reassured his parents that he was working on himself. He was back seeing Frank, every week, and at Frank’s encouragement, he’d joined a veteran’s support group. Eddie wasn’t exactly the picture-perfect military veteran he assumed he needed to be, to join a veteran support group, but the rag-tag group that met at his community hall every month weren’t exactly the flag-wearing, gun-toting veterans he’d expected them to be. James was a 63-year-old man from Massachusetts who ran the group – he had moved out to LA to live with his daughter after he retired and referred to himself delightedly as a stay-at-home grandfather. Luisa was a vet around Eddie’s own age, and she’d gone back to university after she got out of the army and got a fine arts degree. She liked to paint, and talked about her wife with a reverence and openness that Eddie could only admire. 

He hadn’t said a word the first time he went, and Buck had sat in the Jeep in the carpark, a ready-made escape plan for Eddie in case he decided it was all too much. Eddie had sat quietly as the group had chatted, drinking tea and coffee out of flimsy paper cups, and eating homemade biscuits – made by James, who, as it turned out, was quite the prolific baker – and he’d watched. He’d watched as the group had talked about their bad days, and their good days, and how they were coping with life after the military, and not a single glorious war-story was exchanged. 

That was when Eddie knew it was safe to keep going. He was never going to be a man who was proud of his service, and he didn’t want to have to attend a support group of people who’d talk about their time in the military like it was the good old days. He had spoken a little more, the second time he went – Buck doing his groceries, two streets away, rather than sitting in the carpark – and he’d introduced himself, his voice gruff as he tried to figure out what version of Eddie he wanted to present to the world. 

Eddie was still figuring that part out – the version of himself he wanted to be, that is. 

He was figuring himself out. That was the point. He was trying, he was really trying – and people could see that, Eddie was sure. His parents said they could, at least.

Which was why he was here – in a church not dissimilar to the one he’d attended every Sunday in El Paso growing up – on his knees, praying to a God he wasn’t sure he actually believed in for guidance. 

read the rest on ao3

[hug-me-hard-so-i-dont-forget-you]

Plot points I hope to see in season 8b/9

(this is long because the writers have a lot to make up for)

• Airport scene

• Eddie gives Buck his St. Christopher necklace

• Buck's coping mechanism of briefly turning into slutty Buck 1.0 after Eddie leaves. Only this time it's with guys that resemble Eddie but he doesn't notice. Maddie does. And she wishes desperately that she wasn't pregnant so she could drink

• Buck actually uses the word bisexual or bi to describe himself

• Finally getting to see Eddie's sisters. And maybe while he's in Texas he facetimes Buck and they come into frame. And in true little sister fashion, they embarrass him: "Oh, Edmundo! Is this the Buck we keep hearing about? He IS cute!"

"I never said that!"

Buck: "...you don't think I'm cute? 🥺"

• Maddie, Sofia, and Adrianna meeting and bonding over their dumbass brothers

• Everyone else finds out that Buck is in Eddie's will and they all just stand there, mouths agape cuz how THE FUCK do they not know they're in love?? Everyone else can see it!

• Buck tells literally everyone at the 118 about his feelings for Eddie because he needs advice. And Chim makes a joke like,

"He already has everyone crushing on him! Why can't someone have a crush on me for once??"

"...dude, you're my brother-in-law."

"So?? We don't have to tell Maddie!"

• Buck admits his feelings but Eddie ends up not leaving so Buck avoids him out of embarrassment like jk pranked ya!

• Buck NDE because I NEED to see Eddie lose his shit

• Or they both have a close call and later have a serious 'spousal' discussion about what would happen to Chris if they both died. And then they share a moment of comradery, trash talking Helena & Ramon and hoping they never get custody again

• Speaking of Shitty Parents 2.0 (Shitty Parents 1.0 being the Buckley's) we need more screen time hating on Helena. Ramon got multiple scenes showing how awful he is and Eddie calling him out on it. But Helena is a selfish woman that keeps trying to manipulate Eddie into giving her Chris. And even when Eddie tries to keep in contact with his son while he's in Texas she just brushes him off and doesn't try to get Chris to talk to him. All because she got her way so she doesn't care, pushing Eddie further into his pit of self-hatred. And for that she must be punished

• Eddie talking to Bobby about his Catholic guilt in relation to his sexuality. And then going to Michael for advice about the transition of believing he's straight and having a heterosexual marriage and family to where he is now. The 3 of them need to go on a fishing trip or something. They'd have it all sorted out within the weekend

• Eddie and Maddie having ANY kind of interaction on screen. The writers know that if they teamed up they'd be besties instantly and they're keeping that from us!

• Chris needing dating advice but as soon as his dad tries to help he cuts him off like: "Not from you, you're obviously gay and all of your straight relationships sunk like the Titanic. But thanks anyway. Hey Buck!"

"Wtf? His relationships weren't great either!"

• Eddie having more discussions with Hot Priest™️ about his guilt and he just smiles fondly at Eddie, "I don't know about you, but my god doesn't judge. Not when someone lives their truth. I think you're more afraid of your family's judgement. If I were you, I'd go back and think of every time I thought God was judging me and consider the possibility that I was putting Him in place of my parental figures." and Eddie just blue screens for many minutes as Hot Priest™️ patiently waits for him to catch up as if he hadn't just changed his entire fucking life

• A scene where either Hot Priest™️ or Bobby or Buck asks him: "Would you judge Christopher if he questioned his sexuality?" "What? No." "Would you tell him to go to confessional or try to pray it away?" "Of course not!" "Would you ever discourage him to be anything less than who he truly is? Or stop him from doing something that makes him happy?" "No!" "Then why do it to yourself? Why set that example? Even if it turns out your parents or Abuela aren't comfortable with you exploring your sexuality, you can always do better than them. Break the cycle for the one person who matters most to you. Be happy, be yourself, be what you want to be, not what others expect from you. And I know you, you won't do it for you. So do it for Christopher. Show him that it's okay, great even, to be you."

• Josh getting all giddy while talking to Eddie like he did when Buck asked for gay dating advice

• Eddie talking to Hen and Karen about how they coped with their foster kids leaving. Like, how do wake up every morning to a quieter house and empty bedrooms, knowing the breakfast table is going to be lonely? They exchange bittersweet looks and hug him

I will accept no less than 80% of this becoming canon. Thank you and good night.

[conceptofjoy]

[The doorbell rings and Dirk warps on to the transportalizer right next to the front door because walking is for chumps, and also because he lives in a fuck off massive mansion that he and Jake decided it was a swell idea to live in at the tender age of 16.]

[He sees a glimpse of bleached blond hair and purple and instinctively goes to close the door despite knowing who the fuck it is because this is Dirk Strider, of course he's got the best home security of all the other Gods of Earth C. A foot comes between his half-hearted attempt and he lets up just as fast.] [Rose and Dirk stare at each other appraisingly for a moment. His gaze flits over to the shoddy bindle she's holding, then to car parked directly on top of the mailbox out front. It wasn't seeing any use due to the fact he lives in the middle of fucking nowhere, an ironic gesture more than anything, but because of that same fact, it would seem that Rose had uncaptchalogued the car there on purpose and just flew here.] DIRK: Who's car is that? ROSE: My wife kicked me out. DIRK: Okay. ROSE: You don't think I have a car? DIRK: I respect the fact you alchemized a car just for the banished husband shtick. ROSE: The seats came pre-stained with cigarette residue and burns all over. I thought about camping there for the night parked at a motel, but the energy was too depressing. ROSE: Thought maybe a drastic change of natural scenery be more fitting of an crisis. DIRK: Isn't the point of exile as a punitive measure that you are supposed to reflect on your actions? ROSE: They put Napoleon on ST. Helena, did they not? DIRK: Are you comparing my house to a remote island right now? ROSE: I wasn't, but perhaps there is a point to be made here about your choice in local. DIRK: Not a great way to ask someone for a favor. ROSE: ROSE: I- [He steps away from the door and turns around, expecting her to follow in. She does, hesitantly.] DIRK: Call her tomorrow, it's best to clear the air as soon as you can. ROSE: I wasn't expecting a therapy camp. [He shrugs, points down a hall when she's close enough.] DIRK: Take a left then the fourth door down should have a clean room. ROSE: What's in all the other doors? DIRK: Stuff. ROSE: Oh, I see. DIRK: I'm coming by tomorrow morning. ROSE: Highly unnecessary, I'll be leaving by noon. DIRK: Where to? ROSE: I fail to see how that is any of your concern. DIRK: Perhaps. [He doesn't say anything more, and she takes it as a cue for her to leave. Her steps stutter when he speaks again.] DIRK: Don't immediately expect people to not want you around as soon as they show frustration. ROSE: Wonderful, well I'll be sure to pass that fortune cookie tidbit to the next person... [She turns around to find he isn't there anymore, peeved that she wasn't able to get the last word in.] [The walk there is stuffed with random objects, like if a geek store barfed all it's merchandise stock into an 8 foot wide hallway. She has to shimmy past a bust of Spiderman's head on the way, but she makes it to a plain room and a bed with orange sheets.] [She tosses the stick to the ground, and unties the cloth to fetch the small photo book she didn't have an opportunity to use as a prop for. She pointedly does not flip through the pictures she has of Kanaya and captchalogues it for safe keeping.] [Against her better judgement, she checks her phone messages and it opens to her last text with Kanaya saying she's going out to cool off, her text responded to with a single thumbs up. She contemplates jumping out of the window before opening the new texts from Dirk.] TT: http:/goo.gl/WjfJ2 TT: Marked everything you would need on the floor plan. TT: What's the large obstructed section on the bottom right? TT: Horse statue. TT: Naturally. TT: I'll be at your room by 9 AM. TT: Le sign.

[deangirlsstuff67]

Luck of the Irish

Beau Arlen x Reader

Authors note: Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Just a little Beau fluff before some smutty goodness. This man would be so much fun to have arrest me. Hope you enjoy your day and be safe ♡

Masterlist | Patreon

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St. Patrick's Day. It's almost as bad as Halloween for anyone in law enforcement. The one day a year everyone believes their Irish, and everyone gets drunk disorderly charges.

This was Beau Arlen's first one as acting sheriff in Helena, Montana. So far, nothing was too serious. Kids partying in the country, couple drunks started early today and were already in the holding cells. Nothing he couldn't handle.

Jenny Hoyt comes into his office, "hey Beau, we got a domestic in progress."

Great. Well, his easy day just ended. Grabbing his cowboy hat off his desk he follows the blonde out to her truck.

"What we looking at Hoyt?"

"Nothing that can't be defused. I know the woman, y/n, she's a local bartender. Sounds like her jerk of an ex has shown up drunk out of his mind, and she's got him standing at the end of her rifle."

Good grief. Some guys need to learn to take a hint. Jenny gives him the low down on their very messy and public breakup. Typical story, he couldn't keep his dick in his pants, and she found out. Now he's back begging for another second chance.

Got to admit, knowing y/n isn't letting him get away with what he did to her shows she's strong.

It's as you'd expect when Beau and Jenny get on scene. A tall blonde, obviously drunk, man is swaying back and forth as he talks with his hands. Trying desperately to get back into her pants.

The woman, who he assumes is y/n, is a beautiful brunette. She's hyper focus on her ex boyfriend. The rifle point straight at the guys genitals.

Beau shakes his head with a smirk when he realizes she's not pulling any punches today.

"Jenny this isn't any of your concern. I've got it handled." Y/N says without breaking eye contact with the blonde man.

"That I have no doubt Darling." Beau's deep voice breaks the brunette out of her focus. Drawing her blue eyes to his green ones. God damn she's beautiful.

Apparently, her ex has finally figured out there are more people here. He whips around to face the two officers, "I don't know who you are, but stop hitting on my girl before I knock your lights out."

Looks like blondy has some balls.

"Hello. Names Beau Arlen. I'm the new acting sheriff at the moment." Beau extends his hand out to shake.

Drunken and disorderly glares at it before speaking, "I don't give a shit who you are, get your fucking eyes off my woman asshole."

Y/N is the first to speak, "Jeremy shut the fuck up you idiot." She shakes her head before addresses Jenny and I, "you have to excuse him, he's apparently left his brain cell at home today."

"Baby don't be like that. I swear I didn't mean it, it was an accident."

"Oh yes, you accidentally slipped and your dick just fell into her vagina right?"

Beau couldn't help but laugh. It honestly had to be the best thing he's ever heard from a woman. Of course, Beau laughing pissed off the man standing in front of him. So much so that he made the mistake of trying to swing at the sheriff.

It took Beau two well practiced moves to have the drunk idiot on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Jenny took the man to her truck, leaving Beau and y/n alone.

"I had it handled." Y/N sassed while lowering her weapon. Beau couldn't while the smile off his face.

"I have no doubt. But what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't help a pretty lady such as yourself?"

"Pretty lady hey?"

Beau nodded and bit his lower lip. He knows he should be the attracted to someone he is dealing with in a professional capacity. Something about the fierce brunette has him rock hard in his blue jeans.

No other words are spoken between the two as she walks up to him. Rising on her tip toes to bring her lips to his. The kiss is hot, desperate, and passionate. When she breaks away, he's left craving more.

"Must be luck of the Irish that you were here to help me then, sheriff."

With that she walks back into her house. Leaving Beau wanting more and her drunken ex swearing in the backseat.

[zahri-melitor]

Okay a loose Recent Reads roundup:

Birds of Prey: Sirens of Justice: so I was lured (tricked) into reading this as Gail Simone wrote one of the stories, even though it, sigh, contains far too much Harley Quinn due to movie synergy. The Dinah and Helena banter is decent, but otherwise this felt...aggressively fine. The Helena story is very pat in terms of how people tend to write Huntress shorts, though I guess it wasn't 'Helena worries about a student' this time.

The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage: very much in conversation with O'Neil's run, of course, and also clearly reacting to contemporaneous US racial discussions. Shifting Myra to be the Mayor's sister not wife definitely alters her position in the narrative, particularly in terms of her obligations and response to situations. It is incredibly bleak in places, but that simply reflects the run it is based on and is a tribute to.

Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen: This is definitely for the Silver Age fan. Matt Fraction manages to string together solving a complex assassination plot over 12 issues by telling the story in short, 2-4 page sections that wildly jump around the timeline and are framed by 'the many ridiculous things that have happened to Jimmy Olsen'. I have absolutely no handle on the canonicity of some of this, particularly the extended Olsen family, and not knowing probably makes this read more easily. Looking at it as a whole, I'm impressed how well Fraction stitched what was effectively episodic 2 page fills into a complete narrative. The energy of the story is relentless. Best read in small doses.

Batman: Pennyworth R.I.P: god this comic could have been so much better than it was. It’s fine and accomplishes exactly what it was intended to do - tell a story of how Alfred influenced and looked out for each of Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian and Barbara - and sets everyone up to be mildly pissed at Bruce. But just for one example, it would have been HUGELY more powerful if they’d been able to use Dick, with his memories just restored, facing the fact he wasn’t there when Alfred needed him and his last interactions were so impersonal and spent pushing Alfred away.

Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular: again, underwhelming. Tom King played shipper and wrote his version of how the Helena Wayne story should work; the Dixon story felt 90s appropriate but the art was dire; Brubaker’s felt like a missing scene to his run; Dini’s honestly wasn’t up to the standard I’d hope for from Dini. The art pieces were great though; a lot of good commissions.

Robin 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular: I cannot work out who chose the covers used in the issue, which swing between 'iconic' and 'reminding everyone ASBAR exists was unnecessary, DC'.

Generally: they did manage to round up fairly iconic lineups for most of the stories, with some chopping and changing for a few.

Wolfman got another run at trying to frame the 'Dick quits v Bruce fires him' debate; Dixon and Grayson both submitted literal fills (Dixon's is a scene immediately after Nightwing #19 1996 and before #20; Grayson's is at least just an extra story that fits into #1-12 of her Titans 1999 run on a day all the second stringers didn't come to work). I don't actually have a problem with any of these - they're nice additional material, but mostly more of the same. Seeley & King's suffers from the usual Seeley problem for me where it would be vastly improved by having a different focus; but it does feel straight out of his Grayson run, with everything that implies (down to the St Hadrian's student I wish was not present). All of the Dick stories are basically "we got the team back together" creative line ups.

Jason, in contrast, makes it really obvious that nobody can define a definitive Jason run, and so gets the tiniest story with Winick and Dustin Nguyen. I checked, and Nguyen did draw part of UTRH, but I wouldn't have associated him as a character-defining artist for Jason. The story's cute. Winick sidestepped having to commit to anything about his opinions on post-Flashpoint Jason direction.

Tim got Adam Beechen (which honestly makes me happy, I don't care about anyone else's opinion) and luxuriates in Tim having to play civilian; Tynion gets a Rebirth story that I can't quite work out his timing on (it's supposed to be a prequel, but Dick is already back in costume as Nightwing and talking to Tim, suggesting that several issues of the Rebirth Nightwing take place significantly before 'Tec #934) that is a classic 'Tim tells everyone how he feels about his brothers' story. I realise everyone boring has complained about Tim calling Damian a 'horrible gremlin' but the thing is you see I can only read nicknames like that as full of affection. The back and forth is an important part of their relationship, as shown by Damian snapping 'you're only listening to the insults'.

Steph gets her 71 days as Robin slightly padded out and Amy Wolfram manages to pick up Willingham's tone pretty well; I suspect she liaised with Damion Scott quite a bit on this piece.

Damian has a Super Sons piece from Tomasi, because it's the most lighthearted option available and it sells very well (it's sickly sweet). Which was probably the right call as the other piece is clearly written by Robbie Thompson to accompany his Teen Titans run and for the downward spiral going on there. Which is honestly a bit of a pity for Damian, given everyone else got feature pieces from favourite runs, and he got the 'this slots into your current story' piece.

[oflights]

Hi! I’m actually going to Montreal for the first time next week for a wedding, but am staying a few extra days to explore. I’d love any recommendations if you feel so inclined to share any! I also love tearooms and books if you feel comfortable sharing your faves!

god i have been so excited to answer this lol, very pleased to be home and comfy and have the time!!

i'm probably going to give you too many and this is high recency bias but here we go:

drawn and quarterly (bookstore in the mile end, a very cool neighborhood; for coffee/pastries in a beautiful spot, try pastel rita on boul. st. laurent a few streets away!!)

the word (bookstore on rue milton; this is right near mcgill's main campus and it's cash only!!)

mccord stewart museum (my fave museum right across from mcgill; the current exhibits are absolutely stunning, cannot recommend enough; the gift shop also has great stickers and postcards)

notre dame basilica (skip the light show, it's not really worth the money, but go during the day and make sure to see the wedding chapel if it's open! it's absolutely beautiful)

old montreal (it's great to just walk around here and pop into little shops, plus some of the best restaurants in the city. right by notre dame)

high tea at gryphon d'or (this is a bit out of the way in monkland village/ndg, which is where i used to live, but it's worth a trip. the tea selections are incredible [highly rec the cherry almond] and the sandwiches/desserts/scones are great. they give you a bunch of spreads for the scones, including the best caramel i've ever had in my life. bring cash here too, and make a reservation)

for restaurants, i'm going to rec mostly old montreal ones because that's where i was just staying and they're fresh in my mind!

gaspar brasserie (classic yummy french food, the duck is so good)

helena (portuguese food, great if you like seafood, and get the pastel de nata and the churros for dessert)

brasserie 701 (good for brunch/lunch; the 701 burger is stunning and so are their oatmilk lattes)

dinette marcella (really good italian food)

la banquise (for every kind of poutine you can imagine; this in the plateau, which is another great neighborhood to walk around in)

chifa (fun peruvian tapas!)

okay i could go on and on lol i'm sorry, i hope this is helpful!!

[wizardofvamp]

Hi! Imma go for it.

21/46/47/48 For Ana and Mihal (I have a weakness for codependent Tzim child/sire duos, what can I say). 

And 14/26 for Eliza but about her being a ghoul. 

hELL YEAH BUDDY.

Apologies ahead of time this is gonna be a Lot Of Text because I ramble hard. I tried to keep it brief but... it is clearly impossible for me to keep things brief. Also spoilers for future Limits of an Invitation/Project Cadmus stuff-ahoy! Nothing earth-shattering, but if that's a concern I wanted to flag that right off the bat in case there's anyone who wants to go into the fic blind. But with all that being said, let's dive under the fold and chat some tzims and their very "fortunate" ghouls!

21 Mihal/Ana - Predator Type This has changed/evolved for both of them over time based on what was available. Words from ST Roan on Mihal: “Word of god says predator type is a game term that is great for creating newer vamps but not narratively necessary or universally applicable to elder npcs… That said, since coming to America Mihal’s go to types are Osiris and Siren. Especially Osiris in Hollywood era. Before was often, but not always Montero, when utilizing ghouls since that’s common for old school tzims.” Valeriy would've been Mihal's main guy for netting dinner-- he's been doing it his entire life as a Grimaldi, he (was) a turbo-pro, 10/10 would doordash again. The NY->Hollywood scene was a constant churn of cult creation/destruction around whatever vanity project the two were making/beefing over at the given moment. Now in Fairhaven, he's a lot more lowkey so def more of a Siren than Osiris these days. Ana is a Blood Leech through and through. While he can settle for human blood, it has never slaked him unless it's a Rev or another kindred. His early days he remained bound to Mihal and supplemented his diet by tapping the schlacta/ghouls on the estate, as well as whatever poor sucker he could rip into traveling through their domain.

When Helena arrived and the pack was formed/as it grew, Ana would cleave more and more from his packmates. Also, obviously, if there was a Cammie lick that needed dusting he always had first dibs.

Now that he has been separated from the pack and Hermia is def not as down to be tapped on a whim as Mihal... Ana may have had to cut some deals with the Fairhaven branch of the Circulatory System to keep his meal plan buttoned-up and to his standards.

46 - Mihal/Ana, What are their Ambitions? 47 - Mihal/Ana, What are their Desires? Popping these two together bc they go hand in hand. Mihal and Ana were both 'freed' from their sires/sabbat expectations in the space of a couple of months. So weirdly, they're at almost identical turning points. Always mirrors, these two! Mihal: FIRSTLIGHT knocked down their doors and dusted their Ductus, as well as gave him a window to torpor their Bishop/his sire Vratislav. For the first time in centuries, he's beholden to no one. 900 years in counting and he's finally earned this 'moment' and he isn't going spend it rashly. Right now he has what remains of the pack, a precarious position hugging the Tower, and an prodigal childe who isn't coming home as quickly as he would like.

He desires stability, but as method of securing his own agency and control. He never wants to be subject to another's whims again after being bound to Vrat--to the point of faking partaking in the vaulderie unbeknownst to the rest of his pack. His ambition is securing a legacy that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder if not entirely surpass the true Elders of his bloodline. Which is a tall order when your Grandsire is Vykos, but Mihal isn't known for his humility. So, why not get his childe that city he always dreamed of? Ana: Mihal saw fit to 'cut him off' for a few reasons. First is political-- the FIRSTLIGHT operation left every kindred faction in Fairhaven scrambling. True-Cam heads pissed that the Cam is now mostly made up by ex-sabbat opportunists/anarch dregs. Anarch heads pissed that their leaders sold them out to the Cam when they were so close to taking it down. The two Sabbat packs that rolled over and renounced the Sword of Caine for protection are regarded to only slightly better than the few thinbloods that managed to make themselves useful enough not to get purged-it's a shit time for everyone in Fairhaven rn. Ana was the only one in the pack that Mihal trusted could make it out the other side of a bond while still being in his pocket. Cynically assumes if the remorse doesn't pull him back, the addiction will. Simultaneously, this is also to continue their escalating game of spite. Shortly before the raid, the two had a more-major-than-usual falling out over Mihal's treatment of Roman-- yeah surprise Roman is still alive and kicking as Ana's husbandish ghoul to this day. Yes it's a full can of worms but long story short Ana sticking up for Roman/at times putting Roman *above* Mihal has been the Issue Of The Past Century. Playing second fiddle to a Chisel? Kindly fuck off with that, Darling. Ana shares Mihal's desire for stability, but inverted. Bonds, Pleasure, Love, All Which Keeps The Beast At Bay-- its rooting the self deep into those you serve and who serve you. It's dedication, it's till death do you fucking part. Part of woodworking as a vampire is accepting that you are incredibly vulnerable to the thing you are shaping, that it could destroy you in a blink. He carries that attitude into not just his fleshcrafting but his day-to-day. Sure giving himself over, allowing that vulnerability, is a kind of oblivion, but it's an oblivion he can navigate, that he knows intimately and can maybe even thrive in/manipulate to his own ends.

His ambition? He'd love to know, he's taking suggestions. In the past he'd say cutting his own skyline-- something that he had begun to do when they first migrated to Fairhaven. Two downtown residential towers were drafted by his hand, but he's nowhere near amassing the resources to get another project off the ground in the current political climate. So he's taken in some goddamn pupils to keep the drafting hand limber. Maybe that'll be something. 48 - Something that I spent a lot of time on! Damn! Well, easy answer is the fic. But I think if I wanted to dig in, it'd be the bloodline/character arc timeline that I made that starts with the eldest and ends with Eliza. I spent a weekend reading clanbooks/supplements across editions as well as marinating in the vtm wiki to nail down what themes/trends I liked and wanted to play with as well as general history skimming because I, Mr. Podunk Midwestern Man, got most of my education about 1800's Russia from Chekov plays. Then I just went hog wild on a google doc and peppered my ST with too many questions so I could build out some of my own loresheets. Now I can not only tell you what Ana and Eliza were up to at any given point but also what their parents and grandparents were generally up to. Generational Narratives! I like em! I like the big sprawling tangled up casts even if the majority of them only exist offscreen/in the lore notes.

A fun fact which arose from this: Ana has a cousin who is his age, still breathing, leading an Obertus research initiative on the East Coast. She's wheeling and dealing with multiple Farm teams, funding Renditions in exchange of getting first dibs on any ghouls or suspected tzim that get bagged.

14 - Eliza, How did they initially feel after being ghould? Did they like being reborn into something new or did it take them a while to cope with their new reality? Eliza's first reaction was to compartmentalize the shit out of the situation and move on. It took a day or two for it to start to fully sink in, but overall she adapted well at first. This is mostly thanks to Ana taking a more hands-off approach, so outside of the basics (the blood bond situation and the masquerade of the living dead situation) what she learned and when was in her hands. It's a luxury of having a robust collection of kindred writing a keycard away at the University. Though the first time seeing Ana's 'Garden' definitely had a negative impact on her, throwing the whole arrangement back into question. Especially after learning that the 'Poppy' was Ana's last protégé, as well as the source of her current arm-- it launches her into an existential spiral.

Thankfully Roman turns out to be solid support, he steps into paternal role and helps guide her through it. He tells her that he's spent his time in the garden, that it was terrible and unforgivable, and yet he's sitting here with her today. The situation isn't ideal but it isn't unsalvageable, is his belief. He's seen the full scope of degeneration and growth, and he's convinced that the scales are tipped toward growth. Eliza isn't but also understands that, right now, this is what she has to work with. 26 - Eliza, Do they want to become human again or are they fine as a ghoul?

Eliza goes back and forth. In her darker moments she sometimes wishes Ana hadn't saved her. It's easy to see her life as an unnatural extension when her ghouling was that traumatic, and she is aware that she's complicit to some nasty shit. At the same time, the more she works with Ana and Roman the more desensitized she becomes.

Another major factor is her mother, Alana. She leads a Farm team in eastern Iowa, seasoned to the point where most FIRSTLIGHT hawks know of/have worked with her in the past.

Needless to say Alana Locks In the second she discovers Eliza's been ghoul'd. Full blown Rendition/Conversion team. It's ugly, and almost identical to the Garden/Circulatory System operations she was pissed at Ana about.

She gets out the other side with the general notion of "Its Complicated And I Don't Fucking Know, Dude." But she isn't one to romanticize humanity, not anymore. ... Whew. I think I need a nap.

Thank you @hlozt for the ask! As you can see I was chomping at the bit to ramble about these terrible lads. Hopefully it made some amount of sense!!

To everyone else-- if you made it this far/read all that, damn! Thanks! Have a draft Ana Zulo drawn by Roan for your efforts!

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT HELENA OF CONSTANTINOPLE Feast Day: August 18

St. Helena was the mother of Constantine the Great, and according to the sixth-century historian Procopius, she was born around AD 248 in Drepanum, which today is located in modern Turkey. Her full name became Flavia Julia Helena Augusta.

She married Constantius Chlorus, who would later become co-Regent of the Western part of the Roman Empire, but in order for that to happen, he had to divorce Helena after twenty-two years of marriage and marry Theodora, the step-daughter of the Emperor Maximinianus.

After the divorce, Helena and her son were dispatched to the court of Emperor Diocletian at Nicomedia where Constantine grew to be a member of the inner circle. Her son remained faithful to her, and following the death of Constantius Chlorus, Constantine succeeded him.

After he became emperor, he summoned his mother to the imperial court and conferred on her the title of Augusta, a Roman imperial honorific title given to empresses and honored women of the imperial families. Augustae could issue their own coinage, wear imperial regalia, and rule their own courts.

Constantine ordered that all honor should be paid to her as the mother of the sovereign, and he had coins struck bearing her effigy. Some of the earliest coins were minted in Nicomedia.

She embraced Christianity following her son’s victory over Maxentius, and, according to Eusebius, she 'became a devout servant of God,' and her influence helped Christianity spread throughout the empire.

She had churches built over the sacred spots in Palestine, and at an advanced age, she undertook a journey to Palestine in the year AD 324, once her son had become the sole emperor of the Roman Empire.

During this journey, she had two special churches constructed, one in Bethlehem, near the Grotto of the Nativity, and the other on the Mount of the Ascension. She had great concern for the poor, financially assisting both individuals and entire communities. It was during this time that a legend, first recorded by Rufinus, began circulating about how she had 'found' the true cross.

There are several versions concerning how the cross was found. In some, Helena has a dream telling her where the cross is buried. In another tradition, the Ethiopian Coptic tradition still celebrated as Mesquel, she followed smoke from a bonfire to the site.

However, in the version that received the most circulation and became popular in the Middle Ages, she asks the people of Jerusalem to tell her the location. When the Jewish leaders of the city are silent, she places one of them, a man named Judas, in a well until he agrees to show her the site. After seven days, he prays to God for guidance and is told to reveal the location to her. Afterwards, Judas converts to Christianity and takes the name Kyriakis, 'he who belongs to the Lord.'

Helena finds three crosses, nails, and the titulus (title) under a pagan temple. To determine which is the right cross, a deathly sick girl was brought to the site. She was touched by all three crosses, but upon being touched by the True Cross, she was restored to health.

St. Helena lived in a lavish house near the Lateran, and a pious tradition associates her with the founding of what would become the Vatican Gardens because, on that site, she spread earth brought from Golgotha to symbolically unite the blood of Jesus with that shed by thousands of early Christians who died under Nero. After her death, her residence was demolished, and the Church of the Holy Cross was built on that site. On November 8, 324, she received the title Augusta, and in AD 327, Constantine changed the name of his mother’s hometown to Helanopolis. She was about eighty-two when she died on August 18, 330, with her son at her side, and her body was brought to Constantinople and laid to rest in the imperial vault of the Church of the Apostles.

She was buried in the Mausoleum of Helena, outside Rome on the Via Labicana. Her sarcophagus is on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum. Next to her is the sarcophagus of her granddaughter Saint Constantina (Saint Constance).

Her skull is displayed in the Cathedral of Trier, in Germany. As the Muslims began advancing, her body was transferred to the Abbey of Hautvillers in Reims, France in AD 849.

St. Helena is the patron saint of difficult marriages, divorced people, converts, and archaeologists.

Source: Church of St. Helena's - The Bronx, New York

[malcolmiswright]

open thread. // @classcursestarters

god, that was weird. malcolm can't get over the fact that he was somehow made to do that speech. he also can't get over the fact that someone, somehow, slipped a clip of himself and helena into a wilder home video. what the hell was that? the video was innocent enough, but he's paranoid now. does someone know something? he knows of only one person other than helena herself, and it's got him a bit on edge. that on top of seeing chris' parents and kai of all fucking people... well, he's in need of a drink in his hand to accompany his bloodshot eyes.

he sighs to himself, trying to subtly release a puff of smoke from his lips before he crosses over to the refreshment table. "please tell me someone spiked the punch in true st. mary's - i mean, new horizons - fashion. i'm clearly dying for that old 2014 feel to life," the words drip from his tongue, coated in sarcasm. always making the jokes.

[classcursehq]

"i  can't  believe  how  many  of  them  actually  came  back  after  all  these  years.  i  heard  that  the  wilders  are  coming...  isn't  malcolm  wright  giving  the  opening  speech?" 

it  might  have  a  new name  and  a  new  brand  but  you  know  that  you  are  still  breathing  the  same  air  the  moment  you  step  inside  of  new  horizons.  you  are  ushered  as  a  group  to  the  new  grand  hall  by  your  previous  headmistress,  tight  lipped  smile  and  an  impatient  air.  the  guests  aren't  there  yet...  you  thought  you  were  speaking  to  future  students  but  instead  you  are  talking  to  their  parents.  it  becomes  clear  as  you  are  handed  the  programmes  that  you  are  being  used  as  show  ponies,  not  inspirations  to  a  new  generation  but  to  encourage  their  parents  to  empty  their  pockets  for  a  new  lease  of  life  at  new  horizons.  some  of  you  have  suspicions  it's  to  fund  a  new  stained  glass  window  but  you  decide  not  to  comment. 

looking  around,  it  seems  to  most  of  you  that  the  looming  threat  of  the  online  messages  has  disappeared...  just  another  stupid  class  of  2014  prank.  seats  seem  to  fill,  snacks  lined  up  at  the  side  that  you  are  looking  forwards  to  getting  to  when  this  part  is  over.  and  then  you  see  them...  god,  is  that  the  wilders?  why  are  they  wearing  vip  banners  that  look  like  they  came  from  from  party  city.  there's  no  time  to  think  about  it  because  the  first  speaker  is  already  up  and  most  of  you  are  thanking  the  lord  it  wasn't  you.  take  the  stage,  malcolm...  wait,  this  isn't  the  slideshow  that  was  prepared  for  you.  is  this  one  of  chris'  home  videos?  is  that  malcolm  and  helena  together?  did  that  seem  weird  to  anybody  else?   

somebody  yanks  out  the  projector  cable...  the  headmistress  is  waving  to  hurry  up  and  just  like  that...  the  speeches  continue  rolling  on  just  like  life  at  st  marys  always  did. 

out of character guidance:

the dash  event  that  will  take  place  from  friday  26th  until  sunday  5th  (this  can  be  extended  if  we  need  to!).    the  most  important  aspect  of  this  event  is  that  it  will  be  split  into  two  sections,  before  9pm  and  after  9pm.  this  post  will  hold  all  the  details  for  the  start  of  the  event  and  the  second  plot  drop  will  be  shared  on  monday  -  this  will  affect  what  all  characters  are  doing  after  9pm.  from  the  morning  of  the  26th,  you  can post  event  starters. 

timeline.

5:30pm: alumni arrive.

6:00pm: guests/parents arrive.

6:15pm: speeches begin opened by malcolm wright, you can choose whether your character self-elected to do a speech to the guests about their successes and time at st marys/new horizons.

7:30pm: 5 minute short video about the successes of previous st marys alumni and where are you nows then a q&a session.

8:00pm: mingling, refreshments and opportunities to catch up with your fellow students and parents who decide to stay on.

if you are ever confused about where we are up to in our story, you can click here for a summary!

[idvconfessions]

I think they did a really good job with most of the hunters lore, but I seriously cannot wrap my head around Galateas?

Like, dwarfism, legs don't work, insane, killed woman, escaped?

how did she escape? How is she connected to Ada and Emil? I mean, I'd assume its because of the game.

another thing I don't understand is galagrace and how they're "canon" (Yes, I ship them!) I just don't see how netease could make the canon. They're cute, but theyve never interacted.

I also think she should of been a survivor because how the FUCK did she die??? (As shown with other hunters, usually they die, examples; naiad, axe boy, Mary, Leo) (Other people who aren't alive; Feaster and Yidhra are gods of some sort, geisha and wu chang r spirits and the robot dude is well...a robot)

Didn't Leo also die? Soul weaver, Bane, Lizard dude was transformed from a human to a well...evil lizard, Weepy..

but....how the fuck did Galatea die.

than again each hunters just some hallucination...if that's the case netease should make them all available as survivors..right??

Moth Anon!

Hiya moth anon! I’ll try to answer some of your questions.

She escaped from the asylum by killing the nurse that was looking after her.

Galatea is connected to Ada and Emil through their canon game they had together (along with Helena, and Orpheus if you want to count him). Also their backstories all involved the White Sand Street Asylum.

Galagrace aren’t canon, this is just something people say because it’s a decently popular ship & super cute. Yep it’s true they’ve never interacted, but same goes for a lot of idv ships so it’s not that unusual really.

The whole “all hunters are dead and they’re hallucinations of survivors” is a bit tricky to understand for me really. From what I understood after reading Galatea’s lore is that she’s not actually dead. She survived her game and was alive throughout it.

I’ve linked her wiki page if you want to read up on it yourself.

[marine-indie-gal]

Greek/Roman Pantheon Headcanon Voices

Ok, so after having much retconning headcanon thoughts, I’ve decided to make up a new and improve list of some headcanon voices that I had in mind for each of the Gods from both the Greek and Roman Pantheon if they were to appear in SpongeBob SquarePants.

Greek Pantheon

King Cronus - Gerald Butler (Stoick The Vast from "How To Train Your Dragon")

Queen Rhea - Angelina Jolie (Maleficent)

Salacia - Anya Taylor-Joy (Princess Peach from "The Super Mario Bros. Movie")

Emperor Zeus - Tom Ellis (Lucifer Morningstar from "Lucifer")

Lord Hades - Alan Cumming (Bog King from "Strange Magic")

Empress Hera - Cissy Jones (Lilith Clawthorne from "The Owl House")

Demeter - Helena Bonham Carter (Mayrin from "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance")

Hestia - Deedee Magno (Pearl from "Steven Universe")

Lady Persephone -  Amy Adams (Giselle from "Enchanted")

Hermes - Ashton Kutcher (Elliot from "Open Season")

Ares - Ansel Elgort (Tommy Ross from "Carrie")

Hephaestus - Herman Tømmeraas

Aphrodite - Sydney Sweeney

Dionysus - Rhys Darby (Hypno-Potamus from "Rise of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles")

Apollo - Robert Sheehan (Klaus Hargreeves from "The Umbrella Academy")

Artemis - Hailee Steinfeld (Vi from "Arcane")

Athena - Toks Olagundoye (Mel Medarda from "Arcane")

Eris - Kristin Chenoweth (Maleficent from "Descendants")

Hecate - Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson from "Hocus Pocus")

Hebe - Kyla Kowalewski (Anais Watterson from "The Amazing World of Gumball")

Eileithyia - Tati Gabrielle (Willow Park from "The Owl House")

Enyo - Jessica Darrow (Luisa Madrigal from "Encanto")

Zagreus - Rider Strong (Tom Lucitor from "Star vs. The Forces of Evil")

Melinoe - Claire Corlette (Sweetie Belle from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic")

Pan - David Tennant (Crowley from "Good Omens")

Roman Pantheon

Lord Saturn - Idris Elba (Shere Khan from "The Jungle Book")

Lady Ops - Tilda Swinton (Alithea from "Three Thousand Years of Longing")

Emperor Jupiter - Kerry Shale (Harold Wilson from "The Amazing World of Gumball)

Lord Pluto - Brian Stokes Mitchell (Elktaur from "Centaurworld")

Empress Juno - Georgina Leahy (Stella Goetia from "Helluva Boss")

Ceres -  Anne Hathaway (Queen Mirana from "Alice in Wonderland")

Vesta - Ella Kenion (Delilah from "101 Dalmatian Street")

Lady Proserpina - Mia Wasikowska (Alice from "Alice in Wonderland")

Mercury - Alex Hirsch (King from "The Owl House")

Mars - Michael Kovach (Niles from "SMG4")

Vulcan - Daniel Sharman (Troy Otto from "Fear The Walking Dead")

Venus - Natasia Demetriou (Cala Maria from "The Cuphead Show")

Bacchus - Dana Snyder (Gazpacho from "Chowder")

Phoebus - Marcus Scribner (Bow from "She-Ra and The Princess of Power")

Diana - Zendaya

Minerva - Tabitha St. Germain (Princess Luna from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic")

Discordia - Zoe Moss (Baroness Von Bon Bon from "The Cuphead Show")

Trivia - Miranda Richardson (Lady Van Tassel from "Sleepy Hollow")

Juventas - Andrea Libman (Fluttershy from "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic")

Lucina - Erica Lindbeck (Emira Blight from "The Owl House")

Bellona - Elizabeth Banks (Lucy "Wyldstyle" from "The Lego Movie")

Plutus - Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy from the "Harry Potter" film series)

Macaria - Lilly Bartlam (Skye from "Paw Patrol")

Faunus - Kayvan Novak (Nandor from "What We Do In The Shadows")

Sea Heirs

Proteus - Jack Dylan Grazer (Alberto Scorfano from "Luca")

Benthesikyme - Elle Fanning (Aurora from "Maleficent")

Kymopoleia - Sophia Lillis (Beverly Marsh from "IT")

Rhode - Dakota Fanning (Coraline Jones from "Coraline")

Isabelle - Anna Kendrick (Poppy from "Trolls")

Ruby - Sofia Carson (Pipp Petals from "My Little Pony: A New Generation")

[randomestfandoms-ocs]

Ash's Gilmore Girls OC Masterlist

Gilmore Girls OC Masterlist for @the-witching-ash (none of these ocs are mine, I only organized the list)

Name: Andrew Cartwright*

Story: Everything Changes

Faceclaim: Logan Lerman

Love Interest: Kirsty Gilmore (@randomestfandoms-ocs)

Pinterest: x

*a variation of the standard To Being An Us Verse but combined with the Gilmore Girls Delicate crossover

Name: Addie Hisenburg

Faceclaim: Rachel Hilson

Story: So Much Better

Love Interest Paris Geller

Pinterest: x

Name: Alice Hawthorn

Faceclaim: Olivia Colman

Story: Multi

Love Interest: Rupert Hawthorn

Name: Callum Zang

Faceclaim: Harry Shum Jr.

Story: Royals

Love Interest: Hana Ryu, endgame Jess Mariano

Pinterest: x

Name: Clemency Campbell

Faceclaim: Helena Boham Carter

Story: Multi

Name: Daisy Gilmore

Faceclaim: Zoe Colletti

Story: Where Do You Belong

Love Interest: Dave Rygalski & Lane Kim

Pinterest: x

Name: Eileen Bloom

Faceclaim: Maya Hawke

Story: Hazy Shades of Winter

Love Interest: TBD

Pinterest: x

Name: Everett West

Faceclaim: Jesse L. Martin

Story: Multi

Name: Evie Charleston

Faceclaim: Lucy Fry

Story: It’s Nice To Have A Friend

Love Interest: Rory Gilmore & Logan Huntzberger

Pinterest: x

Name: Floyd Bach

Faceclaim: Cole Sprouse

Story: Things You Can’t Speak About / Piece By Piece*

Love Interest: Lane Kim

Pinterest: x

*a crossover with @randomestfandoms-ocs' Kirsty Gilmore / Piece By Piece universe

Name: Floyd Bach*

Faceclaim: Cole Sprouse

Story: Delicate

Love Interest: Vicki St James

Pinterest: x

*A second variation of Floyd who exists in the Delicate crossover verse with @randomestfandoms-ocs' Kirsty, Troy, Harry, Vicki, and Lottie, sometimes combined with other crossovers

Name: Grace Kim

Faceclaim: Lana Condor

Story: How Girls Should Behave

Love Interest: Regina Gilmore

Pinterest: x

Name: Hana Ryu

Faceclaim: Jenna Ushkowitz

Story: Royals

Love Interest: Callum Zang, endgame Lindsay Lister

Pinterest: x

Name: Harriet Stiles

Faceclaim: Caroline Goodall

Story: Mean

Name: Imogen Flemming

Faceclaim: Anne Hathaway

Story: Mean

Love Interest: Jess Mariano

Pinterest: x

Name: Liberty Danes

Faceclaim: Jennifer Love Hewitt

Story: There She Goes

Pinterest: x

Name: Lily Lister

Faceclaim: Lili Reinhart

Story: Fearless

Love Interest: Rory Gilmore

Pinterest: x

Name: Lydia Danes

Faceclaim: Ginnifer Goodwin

Story: My Little Corner Of The World, Multi

Love Interest: Lulu Kuschner

Pinterest: x

Name: Mario Medina

Faceclaim: John Barrowman

Story: May God Have Mercy, Multi

Name: Mercy Medina

Faceclaim: Michelle Trachtenberg

Story: May God Have Mercy

Love Interest: Logan Huntzberger

Pinterest: x

Name: Richie Gilmore

Faceclaim: Grant Gustin

Story: Things You Can’t Speak About

Love Interest: N/A

Pinterest: x

Name: Richie Gilmore*

Story: Piece By Piece/Multi

Love interest: Multi

*a variant of Richie that exists in multiple crossovers, always with @randomestfandoms-ocs' Kirsty Gilmore

Name: Richie Gilmore / Richie Donahue-Callisto*

Story: Delicate

Love Interest: Troy Donahue-Callisto & Harry Bechtel ( @randomestfandoms-ocs )

*A second variation of Richie who exists in the Delicate crossover verse with @randomestfandoms-ocs' Kirsty, Troy, Harry, Vicki, and Lottie, sometimes combined with other crossovers

Name: Regina Gilmore

Story: How Girls Should Behave

Faceclaim: Leighton Meester

Love Interests: Vance Hawthorn, Grace Kim

Pinterest: x

Name: Rupert Hawthorn

Faceclaim: Tom Cavanagh

Story: Multi

Love Interest: Alice Hawthorn

Name: Vance Hawthorn

Faceclaim: Ed Westwick

Story: Multi

Love Interest: Regina Gilmore, Colin McCrae & Finn

Pinterest: x

[justforbooks]

With his shrewd eyes and his forks of corn-yellow hair, Julian Sands was a natural choice to play the valiant, romantic George Emerson, who snatches a kiss from Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) in a Tuscan poppy field in A Room With a View (1985). “I wanted him to be real, not a two-dimensional minor screen god,” he said. “I liked him in his lighter, sexier moments, less so when he was brooding.”

Sands, who has died aged 65 while hiking in mountains in California, was dashing in that film, but he could also project a dandyish, effete or sinister quality. He was blessed with a mellifluous voice and a lean, youthful, fine-boned face, even if, as a child, his brothers insisted he resembled a horse. (He agreed.) In James Ivory’s film of EM Forster’s novel, he was pure heart-throb material. His participation in the notorious nude bathing scene was no impediment to the picture’s success.

Prior to that, he had played the journalist Jon Swain in The Killing Fields (1984), Roland Joffé’s drama about the bloody rise of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The picture marked the beginning of his friendship with his co-star John Malkovich. “I’d been cautioned by Roland to keep my distance from John because he was an unstable character,” Sands recalled. “And John had been told by Roland to stay away from me, because I was a refined, sensible person who didn’t want to be distracted. In fact, we bonded instantly.”

Malkovich directed Sands in a one-man show in which he read Harold Pinter’s poetry. First staged in 2011, the production had its origins in an occasion six years earlier when Pinter, suffering from oesophageal cancer, had asked Sands to read in his stead at a benefit event in St Stephen Walbrook church in the City of London. The writer “sat in the front row with his stone basilisk stare”, Sands recalled.

Not all his work was so highfalutin, and a good deal of it fell into the category of boisterous, campy fun. In Ken Russell’s Gothic (1986), he played the poet Shelley, who indulges in sex, drugs and séances with Lord Byron (Gabriel Byrne) and the future Mary Shelley (Natasha Richardson), and is prone to recite verse naked in thunderstorms.

In a similar vein but far less deranged was Impromptu (1991), which brought together other notable 19th-century figures including George Sand (Judy Davis) and Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant). Sands, who played Franz Liszt, described it as “Carry On Composer”.

Born in Otley, West Yorkshire, he was raised in Leeds and Gargrave, near Skipton; he later described his childhood as “part conservative and part Huckleberry Finn”. His mother, Brenda, was a Tory councillor and leading light of the local amateur dramatic society, while his father, William, who left when Julian was three, was a soil analyst. Julian made his acting debut in a local pantomime at the age of eight.

At 13, he won a scholarship to Lord Wandsworth college, Hampshire. He moved to London to study at Central School of Speech and Drama, and while there became friends with Derek Jarman. He played the Devil in an extended promotional video that Jarman directed in 1979 for Marianne Faithfull’s album Broken English. The role had been intended for David Bowie, who dropped out at the eleventh hour. “You’re devilish,” Jarman told Sands. “You can play it.”

The actor’s first film appearance came in an adaptation of Peter Nichols’s stage comedy Privates on Parade (1983), starring John Cleese and Denis Quilley, from which his one line of dialogue was cut. There was more rotten luck when he won the lead in a new Tarzan movie, only for the financing to fall through. It was eventually filmed as Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984), with Christopher Lambert donning the hallowed loin-cloth.

On television, he starred with Anthony Hopkins in the miniseries A Married Man (1983). In Oxford Blues (1984), he was a rower butting heads with a Las Vegas parking attendant (Rob Lowe) who has tricked his way into a place at Oriel College. He was in The Doctor and the Devils (1985), inspired by the Burke and Hare case. “I had a roll in the hay with Twiggy which took about 15 takes,” he said.

Following A Room With a View, he agreed to play the lead in Ivory’s next Forster adaptation, Maurice (1987), before abruptly dropping out and fleeing to the US. In the process, he left behind his wife, the journalist Sarah Sands (nee Harvey), who described him as “restless” and “dramatic”, and their son, Henry. “I’m not the first person to create stability and security and then dismantle it even more effectively than I created it,” the actor said.

Once in America he took on an array of film parts. In Warlock (1989), he played the son of Satan, wreaking havoc in modern-day Los Angeles. Investing this pantomime villain with lip-smacking brio, he was likened by the Washington Post to a “hell-bent Peter Pan” and nominated for best actor in the Fangoria Chainsaw awards. He reprised the role in Warlock: The Armageddon (1993).

As an entomologist in Arachnophobia (1990), he was called upon to have as many as a hundred spiders crawling all over his face. Alternating these mainstream projects with arthouse ones, he played a diplomat in pre-war Poland in Krzysztof Zanussi’s Wherever You Are … (1988) and a monk in Night Sun (1990), the Taviani brothers’ adaptation of Tolstoy’s short story Father Sergius.

For the Canadian horror director David Cronenberg, he starred in the warped and witty Naked Lunch (1991), which disproved those who had declared William S Burroughs’s original novel unfilmable. Just as outré but less accomplished was Boxing Helena (1993), directed by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David. Sands played a surgeon who keeps a woman captive by making her a quadruple amputee.

After starring as a young classics teacher in his friend Mike Figgis’s film of Terence Rattigan’s The Browning Version (1994), Sands worked a further six times with that director, appearing in his movies even when he was an unorthodox choice for the job in hand. One example was the part of a menacing Latvian pimp in Leaving Las Vegas (1996).

Later roles include a mysteriously unblemished Phantom in Dario Argento’s version of The Phantom of the Opera (1998), Louis XIV (whom Sands described as “the first supermodel”) in Joffé’s Vatel (2000), a crime kingpin named Snakehead in the Jackie Chan vehicle The Medallion (2003), a computer security wizard in the comic caper Ocean’s Thirteen (2007), a younger version of the businessman played by Christopher Plummer in David Fincher’s take on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and a sadistic paedophile in the gruelling wartime odyssey The Painted Bird (2019).

On television, he was a Russian entrepreneur in the fifth season of 24 (2006) and the hero’s father, Jor-El, in two episodes of the Superman spin-off Smallville (2009). For the BBC, he played two very different actors in factually based one-off specials: first Laurence Olivier in Kenneth Tynan: In Praise of Hardcore (2005), then John Le Mesurier in We’re Doomed! The Dad’s Army Story (2015).

His recent work includes Benediction, Terence Davies’s haunting study of Siegfried Sassoon, and the thriller The Survivalist (both 2021), which found him back in the company of Malkovich. One of several titles still awaiting release is the drama Double Soul (2023) starring F Murray Abraham and Paz Vega.

Sands never stopped wandering, walking, running and climbing. “I am on a perpetual Grand Tour,” he said in 2000. Asked in 2018 about his eclectic career, he explained: “I was looking for something exotic, things that took me out of myself. I think I found myself a little boring.”

He was reported missing while out in the San Gabriel mountains, north of Los Angeles, in mid-January 2023. His remains were found in June.

In 1990 he married Evgenia Citkowitz. She survives him, along with their two daughters, Imogen and Natalya, and his son.

🔔 Julian Richard Morley Sands, actor, born 4 January 1958; died circa 13 January 2023

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(Jacques-Louis David: Portrait of Pope Pius VII, 1805)

One of the interesting details of Napoleon’s exile is that, inspite of everything, Pope Pius VII made a formal intervention to the allies in 1817 on behalf of Napoleon’s family.

“The Emperor’s family. . . has informed us that the rock of St. Helena is deadly and that the poor exile is visibly wasting away. We have been extremely grieved by the receipt of such news, and you will no doubt judge the matter as we do, for we must remember that, after God, it is mainly he who was zealous in re-establishing religion in the truly great realm of France.”

The Pope did not receive a reply.

I think the Pope wrote this more out of respect and loyalty to Napoleon’s mother, who was a pious follower of the religion.

Source: Alain Decaux, Napoleon’s mother