#taking suggestions for judas' last name

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Damn it I forgot again. To make up for it here's a brand new mysterious stranger and a Justus Plush that my cousin crocheted for me. Exit pillows in Green, Blue, Red, Pink, and Rainbow will be in stores soon 😂

Also here is Julius and Emmett wearing shirts with some of my other original art OCs on them and a really snazzy color-blocked Emmett

[reginalusus]

I don't know if this has been asked before but what are your headcanons for Harvey and two-face? Wholesome and not so wholesome 🔞 lol

Anything they have in common, for example are they both super organized/need things a certain way? Different love languages?

🩷

Oh, boy, do I...

By the way, I ramble a lot...

So this is gonna be long post.

It's just a thing with me. Only super-cool people relate. /j

I also tend to base *some* headcanons on what is already canon, or blend them in some way, so some of this might be old news.

Oh, and I'll put a cut before the suggestive ones just so people who don't want to see that sort of stuff can safely scroll by.

EDIT: The cut does not seem to be working because Tumblr hates me so, um, WARNING FOR SUGGESTIVE STUFF.

He's 6'5". His height has fluctuated in his appearances, but I much prefer when he's taller than Bruce, such as in Telltale and BTAS. BuT a DisTRIct AtTornEY dOesN't NeE- lalalalalala, I don't careeeeeee. I like the image of him being physically imposing, not just for villainous purposes, but also to juxtapose how much of a sweetheart he is, or was. There is also another reason.

He stims with his coin. Months back I talked in length about how I think Harvey might view his coin as a way to reclaim his abuse against his father, but I also see him using it as a comfort item, as sick as it may be (considering its past), and that the constant twirling and flipping is a way for him to stim.

He loves 50s/60s music. Namely the likes of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Sam Cooke, Lesley Gore, Dean Martin, Roy Orbinson...

He sings! I know this is kind of canon, but that MF can sing. His Harvey voice is smooth and articulate, very vintage, meanwhile Two-Face's is, of course, raspier and almost more of a rocker's voice.

Two-Face names his guns. I've drawn some of these before, but Harvey doesn't bother with such nonsense. Harvey views weapons as a last resort; their mere existence throws justice into question. Why can someone wield such a thing that sets the odds in their favour immediately? But Two-Face knows they get the job done quickly. They're like the broom of Gotham; a quick way to be rid of the scum. So he names them, for they are beloved, much like how legendary weapons have been named in the past for what they have slain.

He dissociates/has derealization episodes. Yes, he has DID, and dissociation is in the name, but during really intense symptoms, such as his depression, paranoia and personalities all practically screaming in his head, he ends up having a bad derealization episode, much like how you would see someone have after they suffer a panic attack. His coin helps ground him.

He has definitely done that fucking pottery scene from Ghost with Gilda while she's sculpting. You know the one.

He's an elegant shooter but a brutish fighter. Not only is he a God with guns, he's also precise and elegant. But with physical combat? Brutal, much like a street fighter. I suppose both Batman and Deathstroke's training gets muddled in some ways...

His henchmen give him gifts now and then. They just do, and he doesn't understand it. Silly stuff, like bi-coloured mugs or shirts. Perhaps to keep his short-temperedness at some sort of bay. Doesn't work half the time, however.

He takes depression naps. Because of course he does. Having mental health issues is also physically taxing. I imagine he sleeps a lot, but also struggles to sleep at the same time because everything is so damn loud in his head.

He's bisexual. Gotta love both. Harvey has a preference for women, Two-Face has a preference for men.

Fussy with his suits and clothes. In The Judas Coin, we see Harvey's kind of a suit-nerd. Enough said. That MF loves to look good. Harvey loves stuff that's timeless and classic, very reminiscent of 40s/50s mafia wear, while Two-Face loves gaudy, striking stuff. They have to compromise, hence the split suits in the first place.

He doesn't like himself very much but just puts up with it. He's a walking contradiction, a hypocrite to himself. He claims to uphold the law but also bastardizes it. Also, he avoids mirrors and reflections if possible (that was something that was mentioned in his older issues, but they never brought it back, I don't think). He's smashed a mirror before, or two, or three.

He's a hopeless romantic. I've talked a little about this before, but he crushes hard, falls harder, and ever since being widowed, he pines for validation but seldom receives such because of his reputation.

He's a vintage lighter collector. He's got those S.T. Duponts and those 1970 electric Ronson's, I just know it.

Harvey constantly makes courtroom puns. Nobody laughs except Gilda.

He's an embarrassing dancer. He loves singing older tunes, but when it comes to dancing, he loves those cheesy 80 tunes. Get him drunk enough and he'll kill the dancefloor... with second-hand embarrassment.

So, I also have a lot of thoughts about The Judge too, but they're very scattershot and I'd rather compile them at another time, plus this post doesn't need to be any longer than what it is, lmao.

I also have more HCs around what he'd be like with the Batkids and Bruce, but again, this post is already long.

Ok, suggestive stuff now, and I'm going to kick it off with a hot take:

Harvey and Two-Face are monogamous. A really popular HC I've seen for Harvey is that he loves having multiple partners - two partners, of course, for each side of him. Well... I DISAGREE. /lh Personally, I think he prefers the one. He likes to purely focus on that one person and treat them like they're the only person that exists, in hope they'll do the same for him. To make him feel like he's whole; that, for once, he's not split.

Two-Face is protective and jealous. If you're out with him and he sees someone eyeing you up, out come the knuckle dusters.

He's dominant. And rough. But he'll always ask what you want; do you want to be praised or degraded while he's using you?

The coin can be fun. Sometimes he gets extremely impassioned and heated, and he just doesn't know what to do with his partner next. Good thing he has an item that helps him decide. The ambiguity of which side will turn up can add to the excitement!

Scar worship makes him melt. It just does. He hates that side of him, but seeing someone stroke or caress his scars, telling him how handsome he looks, that's a sure-fire way to send him over the edge. He'll probably fall in love.

Harvey shows love through words and actions, Two-Face shows it through gifts. Harvey will reassure his partner through words and keeping those words upheld. Meanwhile, Two-Face will corrupt his partners with gifts.

Two-Face is a bit clingy. He'll text a lot, call a lot, ask where his partner is, how they are, if they're ok. Harvey is more relaxed.

Aftercare King. He knows how strong he is and how violent (for lack of a better word) he can be. So he'll always check in with his partner to make sure they're fine.

Harvey is vocal and sappy, Two-Face isn't. Not just during the act, but afterwards. Harvey will want to cuddle, he'll want to talk over a cigarette, he wants to get to know his partner on a deeper level. Two-Face generally needs some room first. He might be a bit cold, but he'll come around.

Again, I have more in this regard, but that's what AO3 is for!

Oh, also, I saw your ask about Gerard Butler and his doggo... I agree, hehe, maybe Harvey can walk Dick's dog at some point, lol.

[fuctacles]

For @batboysxprompts Secret Steddie event. My prompt:

Quote: "You've never been touched like this before?" Song: 'Raw Deal', by Judas Priest Optional:  a leather bar AU/place, +18 content, set in fall Don’ts: Pregancy/breeding kink, choking/breathplay, vomit, scat, watersports

E | 2365 | cw: drugs | loose Cruising AU, leather bars, bicurious Steve, going undercover | tape dividers by @cafekitsune heart dividers by me

The door slammed closed behind him, leaving Steve alone in the empty hall outside the Captain’s office. In his hands, he was holding the turning point of his career, a special assignment he was dreaming of, handed him by the captain himself. A leather jacket. With his new address and keys in its inside pocket.

He was still buzzing with anger at his colleagues, at the hateful words they used and their unwillingness to take this on. It was mostly that, which pushed him to bite back and offer himself.

By the looks from his peers, it seemed it was their plan all along. To send the gay sympathizer in as one of their last straws. But will he be a short or a long one?

It’s not what he dreamed of when joining the force, certainly not something he felt comfortable with. But he was too pissed to back out, and the whole case was hitting a dead end.

A strip of paper with a crude map and a name led him through alleys until he passed the first leather-clad guy, then another, then groups of them. He kept catching stares that were both the same and completely different from the ones women would send him. He knew he was in the right place.

The bar itself was suffocating with its loud music and weird smells. But most of all, the mass of bodies, glistening with sweat and smattered with hair.

So much hair on so much bare skin.

The beer was lukewarm, giving no relief from the heat around him and he knew he was on his way to a bad headache. It was like stepping into a hazy dream. He was pretty sure there was a threesome happening in the right corner of his vision. There was also a real possibility he was getting intoxicated on the fumes hanging in the air alone.

A guy, clad in a dark tank top and sweat, leans on the bar beside him, his dark eyes flitting up and down appraisingly over his body.

“You look new here.”

“I am new,” Steve admits.

“New here or new-new?” The man raises his eyebrow, intrigued.

“New-new.” 

He lights up at that.

“I could show you the ropes,” he offers with a smile suggesting a joke Steve’s missing. He lets him pull them into the pulsing mass of bodies on the dancefloor anyway.

It takes him a couple of minutes to figure out the rhythm, let the music and the crowd seep into him, and guide his movements. While everything here was different, he’d been to bars before. He knows how to dance, knows how to flirt.

“What’s your name?” he asks loudly over the music.

The man’s smirk moved his trimmed mustache. He leans in, closer than any man ever has before.

“You can call me Spike.”

Steve nods.

“Sven.”

The man doesn’t move away, stays close and so does his lopsided mustache. 

“You look like Sugar to me.”

Steve smiles, surprised and flustered.

“Then Sugar it is.”

They dance, now closer but not uncomfortably so. Two guys beside them are grinding against each other, and the sight lights a fire under his skin. It’s a dangerous feeling, considering he’s on a job. Ah, and there’s a killer on the loose. It’s not the best moment to give in to his homoerotic fantasies.

So he plays the part of Sven, a shy, closeted bisexual who doesn’t make first moves, afraid of where it might lead him.

The last part distinguished him from Steve, who was insanely curious about what could happen.

Some making out, hopefully, wouldn’t foil his plans.

He doesn’t put Spike’s hands on his hips like he wants to, but steps a bit closer, and sways his hips in a certain way. 

A hand does land on him, but instead of pulling him in, it’s dragging him away.

“Back off, we’re dancing!” Spike pushes between him and the owner of the hand. Steve looks back, ready to snark at whoever is groping him, but he finds a familiar face.

He’s frozen for a second too long, but Edward Munson, the man still considered a main suspect by many, takes it in stride.

“Relax, Spike, we’ve met before. Haven’t we?”

Steve nods, earning himself a glare from Spike.

“The Freak? You said you were new to the scene.”

“Never said we’ve met here,” Munson clarifies, voice growing sharper with a warning. “Go find a different virgin, you perv.”

Spike grumbles something before leaving, and Steve is pulled into Munson’s chest. He huffs when their ribcages collide painfully. Everything is hot and sticky, and he wants to go home. Or rather, the temporary flat he’s renting while undercover.

“So Spike likes inexperienced men, huh?” he asks conversationally. 

“Yeah, but he also lives with two roommates who've known him for the past five years.” Munson rolls his eyes. “An unlikely suspect.”

“Thought you weren’t going to help us?” Steve raises an eyebrow. 

“Maybe I’m not helping you. Maybe I’m just keeping my eyes open because someone is killing gays in the area.”

Steve humms at that.

“So what’s your name, stranger?” he asks mockingly but Steve already knows he likes pushing buttons. Especially with cops, suspect or not. 

“Sven. But Spike seems to think Sugar works better for me.”

The man snorts, giving him a quick once over. 

“It does,” he decided. “Well, if you hear about the Freak or Popper, that might be me.”

“Popper?”

“Care for a hit?” He reaches into his leather jacket, bringing Steve’s attention to his bare chest. There were a couple of tattoos on his pecks and a fine dusting of hair.

From an inside pocket, he brings out a tiny bottle. It looks like a nasal spray with two cones instead of one.

“What is it?”

“Poppers,” he answers shortly before putting the thing in his nose and inhaling. “Probably my most popular ware. Great for anal, relaxes your muscles and stuff.”

He shakes the bottle in an offer and Steve takes it. Plunges into the sweaty world of leather and testosterone, as were his instructions.

They keep dancing and take a couple more hits. Munson tells him about all the regulars, the dos and don’ts of this world. His hand is under Steve’s shirt and his mouth is on his ear to keep their conversation private.

There is so much to take in.

“Where do I get pants like that?”

Munson follows his line of sight and sees a hairy ass peeking from a cut-out in leather pants. He grins back at him.

“I can show you a place.”

Two weeks in and Steve is barely focused on his assignment. The breeze on his ass is all he can think of. The stares he attracts, the fact that he’s almost offering himself on a silver platter. He could just lean a bit more forward on the bar, bend his spine, anyone could just stand behind him, grind against him, and…

His cock gets heavy just at the thought and he does lean in. Can’t help himself.

He almost sighs when a hand scopes the globe of his ass.

“You’re blending in quite nicely,” he hears Munson, Eddie, in his ear. Of course it’s him. “Just another slut begging to be touched by a random pervert.”

Turns out he’s into dirty talk now as well. Who would have thought?

“You have a really nice ass, too. I think the pants were a good choice,” he says, squeezing. “How do you feel in them?”

Frozen between pressing into the touch and squirming away, Steve weighs his words.

“Like candy on display. An offering.”

Eddie humms, suddenly closer.

“Yeah? What are you offering?”

He doesn’t know. The idea of gay sex had never really crossed his mind but for the past week, it’s all he can think about. He keeps wondering how far he is willing to go with the charade. If his curiosity will turn into exploration.

The palm presses on his tailbone and slides down, a single finger tracing his crack, but not pushing between the cheeks. It’s still tantalizingly close to his hole. Steve’s fingers scrape on the bartop in front of him.

“What? You’ve never been touched like this before?” Eddie asks teasingly. “Of course not,” he answers himself. “This is not your scene. You shouldn’t be here.”

Steve straightens up. He doesn’t want to turn around for some reason, so just presses against him, back to chest.

“I’m doing my job.”

“I could do it.”

“You’re not trained,” Steve reminds him, angry at the turn in the conversation. Places Eddie’s free hand on his middle. His fingers flinch at the skin-to-skin contact and Steve feels pride in his choice not to wear anything under his jacket today. Eddie traces the hair on his chest.

“Well, we have the same chances against a gun to the head.”

“He uses a knife.”

“And now you’re spilling confidential details. Not very professional.”

“Everyone knows that,” Steve argues but he’s already irked by Eddie’s prodding.

Speaking of prodding…

There’s still a finger, lazily tracing his ass.

He likes it. He can admit this much.

“Maybe it could be my scene,” he says quietly, turned enough for the other man to catch. Eddie makes an inquiring sound, to which Steve puts his palms against his, making him press harder against his skin. The finger on his ass slides between his cheeks.

“You could show me the ropes?”

Eddie lets out a husky, surprised laugh.

“Pun intended?” 

“Pun very much intended.”

He’s making a mistake. None of this is worth it and he’s risking his assignment, failing his precinct. Letting a murderer run around, knife in hand, killing innocent men.

These are his thoughts when Eddie slips his fingers in and out of his ass. It’s weird but not unpleasant, the drugs are doing their job of helping him relax. But the appeal is lost on him and it’s a pity because he really warmed up to Eddie, hoped they could be friends, solve the case together. But now it’s gonna be awkward, because-

All his doubts are cut short when Eddie finds his prostate, nearly making him choke on his spit.

“Holy shit,” he gasps. “Okay.”

Eddie chuckles from between his legs.

“Okay?”

Steve nods, blinking at the cracking ceiling.

“Yeah, I’m starting to get it. Do it again?”

“Of course, Sugar.” He leans in to plant a kiss on his leather-clad thigh before going to town on his prostate.

Steve arches off the bed in a silent scream and with a little help of a hand on his dick, comes all over himself and the pants he’s still wearing. His head is too heavy to lift properly and the gasps of breath aren’t helping but he looks down Eddie’s body with a frown. This was so much easier with a woman. He licks his lips and tries to get an elbow under himself. 

“Do you want to…”

Eddie looks up at him from where he’s wiping cum off the leather.

“Want to what?”

Steve scrunches his nose.

“Fuck me.”

He stops what he’s doing and sits up. He lost his pants before so his dick stands hard and proud between his legs.

“I do,” he shrugs matter-of-factly. “But I’ll be fine.”

Steve’s shaking his head before he’s even finished talking.

“No. Do it.” He uses what little is left of his strength to flip on his stomach and raise his ass. He moves it in a way he hopes is inviting. “I’m still curious.”

Eddie’s silent for alarmingly long and he’s starting to feel he said something wrong, but then the man lets out a choked sound. The mattress dips under his weight when he moves closer. 

“Are you sure?”

Steve considers the ugly pattern of Eddie’s wallpaper.

“No,” he decides. “But I want to know. Just use a fucking condom.”

Eddie scoffs and grabs his ass in both hands, kneading his cheeks.

“Of course.”

When he enters him, it’s like nothing else Steve’s ever felt. His dick goes so much deeper than the fingers and the stimulation on his prostate is twice as prominent. Especially now that he’s already come. He didn’t think he was gonna do it again any time soon but Eddie’s dick might just prove him wrong. 

And it’s not just the stimulation doing him in. There’s so much more to take in now.

There’s a man behind him, pounding into him with big hands holding his hips. He’s under him, bent with his ass up, face in the sheets, and rubbing against them as his whole body rocks for another man’s pleasure. He likes being used, likes being on the receiving end, he realizes. Already knows it’s not going to be a one-time experiment.

Eddie grunts behind him, low and deep, and his hips snap harder against his ass, fingers digging painfully into his skin. He can feel him twitch inside as he climaxes and Steve follows, stuffing his face in the sheets to hide his pathetic whine. He hasn’t been this drained after sex for a long time, and he wasn’t even the one doing the fucking.

Eddie probably felt the same, because he collapsed on him, all heavy limbs and itchy stubble against his back.

“You were so tight, so hot and perfect,” he mumbles against his skin, leaving tiny kisses in his wake. Steve didn’t know what to do, because he never thought what he would do after the sex. What they would do.

Thankfully, Eddie’s hazy blissed-out brain has an idea.

“Can we cuddle?” he asks, almost inaudible with his face pressed into Steve’s shoulder.

“Sure,” he answers in a hoarse voice because the idea sounds heavenly. “Lemme just…” he shimmies out from under Eddie who makes a displeased sound but Steve has to get out of the leather pants before he falls asleep. He does so as quickly as possible and falls back on the bed.

It takes a moment for their boneless limbs to align comfortably but it happens and Steve finds himself being the little spoon for the first time in his life. He quite likes it, he decides. 

[single-malt-scotch]

Bdubs' speech patterns & quirks

i made a post a while back about Bdubs' typing habits and ya know what. ill be a little stupid obsessed and unhinged again and do this one. might be useful for fics.

been watching this man from day one and im trying to throw together everything i can in my head. he really hasnt changed that much if we arent considering a shift of humor and energy-- but i will regard it at certain points for clarity of how his speech is handled.

General speech pattern

Through time Bdubs has gained more energy in his voice, and more confidence in how he speaks as a person presenting in his videos. But he still has his quirks, quirks that have remained forever.

biggest one. There is a big habit of stuttering in some sense. Either on the same words with the intended phrase:

Example: "You-- you don't- you don't understand!"

or a phrase that is altered during the stutter:

Example: "Yeah but-- you-- I don't think you get it..."

They aren't the stutters people default to in most cases (no "y-yes" "i th-thought.." etc-- in *some* cases you can throw this in but i suggest the bigger ones and never make it too frequent).

Theyre long and very obviously, and make him take longer to get his words out. sometimes it cuts his train of thought and he stops his sentences, maybe even starts over entirely.

in addition to that, bdubs also cuts words in a way i think most people will- goin', gonna, thinkin' etc. however at times he will enunciate the whole word for effect (plays into his "exaggeration" described below)

With his awkward pacing and stumbling, there are times where he fumbles and might say something in a "weird" way. sometimes, it becomes purposeful! he'll keep doing it when its funny, but you can tell its more of a slip than on purpose at first. there are far too many examples of this, but its obvious that he picked up the funny way of saying 'hermitcraft' on purpose at a certain point, for example. this may be hard to get across in writing however and its not as important.

bdubs loves to exaggerate. personality wise, hes like this obviously. and it plays into how he talks. boisterous is the best word. dont be afraid to go hard on the exclamation points or question marks! "!!" and "??" may describe what you want when you need to imply more of his noise.

Exclamations, regarding swearing

Bdubs doesnt swear anymore, but its worth addressing it, in context to what... replaces it, in a sense. or if youre writing something based in the years when he did swear.

Lets get one thing straight. bdubs does not say fuck. like, even back when he swore. there may have been some very light instances of words slipping (the old video where he completely bleeped out his words may have likely had that) but it is not how he spoke on the regular.

bdubs' most used 'bad' words were "damn", not as often "ass". he used a lot of 'safe' words-- shoot, crap (crapper, directed at someone/thing), frick (fricker, directed at someone/thing), dang ('dang man'), freaking (this is exclaimed very strong when it comes up, as if he was saying "fucking". comment phrase "very freaking funny!")....

these are the most frequent choices. id say bdubs has the capability of more swears, but it would be a last resort/under extreme duress.

Other notable phrases

Some of these fall under 'exclamations' at times, but i wanted to address the phrases he says in response to things, one subject is what people like him say in place of things like "oh god". you can see this in some hermits too, but bdubs does not say "oh (my) god". there is no exclamation of "god" when he needs to say something like this.

some are more or less frequent in the overall timeline, but you will likely hear...

"judas priest!" "oh goodness!" "oh jeez/jeezer!" if there is any phrase regarding god its a sorta "dont use the lord's name in vain" situation. none of the "oh god" stuff.

in terms of other frequent phrases,

"Trying my heart out/off" pops up a lot, and it means that he is trying hard at something whilst also saying he is 'putting his whole heart into it'.

Older/less frequent these days:

the good ol 'pet names'. it is/was never a super frequent thing (that bdubs/etho ooge video was surprisingly frequent...) "sweetheart" is most likely, "baby" but not always in a 'pet name' way, just a casual word to throw out at nothing. might get a "darlin'" in there too. the instance of calling someone specific those things is not super common, but still important to note.

a final notable one is "boy", directed at others in a more like. jokingly stern way. "What are you doin' boy?" a direct aim at a person, perhaps in a (joking) accusatory way at times? (wanted to comment there was an early ooge instance where etho picked it up as well lol). and imo i saw this way more in the early days, less so now.

Conclusion

bdubs has a variety of expressions in his speech. generally very relaxed and sometimes even careless, hes not tryin to focus too hard on every word he speaks. which is only natural! imo i think his personality is what affects this more than anything. hes silly, extroverted, and acts first.

his 'loudness' and stutter is important and it can be hard to express through words. outside of the way you describe the way he tackled talking in fics, seriously dont be afraid to double those punctuation marks imo. definitely dont be afraid of those big 'stutters'!! its probably the most defining part of his voice imo. i hope this is useful and feel free to add on or ask about it!

[a-god-in-crime-alley]

How I would retcon Slade’s relationship to Terra if I worked at DC and had the authority to do so.

I would make it so that while Terra thought their relationship was going in the direction of being a romantic and sexual one, Slade was under the impression that he was fulfilling all the requirements to be an over indulgent Father Figure.

Letting her wear revealing cloths and far too much makeup for a girl her age. Letting her be suggestive and flirty. All in order to manipulate her to be obedient.

And They would never have sex!!!! He would never Fuck Her because she’s a girl the same age or younger than his own daughter.

He’s still a manipulative asshole using her for her powers, but it no longer has the context of sexual grooming.

She would be under the delusion that he’s her “Prince Charming”. That she’s going to become his wife once this mission is over. She’s already signed paperwork to take his last name! But she didn’t read it like he thought she would, and it was adoption papers. They couldn’t submit the paperwork until After the mission of course, because the Titans would link her back to him if they had.

When he betrays her and leaves her for dead is when her delusions shatter. He throws out a line like “Well, I suppose it’s a good thing I never submitted that paperwork. I can’t imagine having to disappoint my other kids about not getting that new sister after all. Oh well, that’s just business. It was fun playing at being a dad again, but this is the end of it. So long kid.” Or something to that effect.

She says somthing about how she thought that was marriage paperwork but he’s already gone.

That’s the direction I Thought and Hoped they were going to go when that Judas Contract movie came out.

They had Terra perfectly primed to be looking for a good father figure. Salde could have done the bare minimum at being a good dad. He could still be a total scumbag using her past abuse to manipulate her into trusting him. He could have used him missing his own kids to make her think she’s filling a void in his life. Maybe make her think that all his kids are dead!

It was the perfect setup. And DC squandered their chance to go that route.

They could have still kept Slade being an absolute bastard and not had him be a sexual predator! It would have made it easier for them to make him a somewhat sympathetic character in the comics (you know, like they’ve been trying to do) if they would just retcon this shit with Terra. Like they retconed the ending on Red Hood: Lost Days. That’s a great retcon! More of that please!

[troybeecham]

Monday in Holy Week

The Gospel reading and a reflection:

John 12:1-11 (NRSV)

“Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There they gave a dinner for him. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at the table with him. Mary took a pound of costly perfume made of pure nard, anointed Jesus’ feet, and wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief; he kept the common purse and used to steal what was put into it.) Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She bought it so that she might keep it for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.”

As in my Palm Sunday sermon yesterday, the location and the identity of its inhabitants in the Gospel text are necessary for a fuller, deeper understanding of the importance and impact they carry for us.

Yesterday was Bethphage, a village for the special use of Temple priests when they were on duty. Today, it’s Bethany. Bethany is mentioned multiple times in the Gospels, notably as the home of siblings Martha, Mary, and Lazarus – and the with of the resurrection of Lazarus – as well as of Simon the Leper, who once hosted Jesus and which was the occasion of Mary Magdalene anoints the head of Jesus with costly aromatic oil.

So what’s special and important about Bethany? There is some disagreement about the meaning of the town’s name, but there is wide agreement that it means “House of Affliction”. Bethany was the site of an almshouse for the poor and a place of care for the sick. The Gospels bear this out: Mark tells of Simon the Leper’s house there (Mark 14:3–10); Jesus receives urgent word of Lazarus’ illness from Bethany (John 11:1–12:11). Perhaps that’s why Lazarus lives there.

It has also been suggested, based on the names found carved on thousands of ossuaries at the site, that Bethany in the time of Jesus had a large community of people from Galilee who had come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This would explain why Jesus and the disciples, as Galileans, would find it convenient to stay here when visiting Jerusalem.

It is often mentioned how both Jesus and John the Baptist ministered on the eastern side of the Jordan. It makes sense when you come to understand that Galilean pilgrims avoided potential conflict with Samaritans by travelling south on the eastern side of the Jordan. Bethany was the last village before Jerusalem after crossing the Jordan river and taking the road through Jericho up into the highlands.

As a frequent pilgrim, I know how easy walking such long distances to become injured or ill. Bethany was the one place where wounded or ill travelers and pilgrims could convalesce before they were allowed into the Temple. Located at a respectful distance from the city and Temple, and on the pilgrim route, Bethany was a most suitable location for a charitable institution. It is not surprising that an Essene hospice had been established at Bethany to intercept and care for pilgrims at the end of the long and potentially arduous journey from Galilee. The house combined this work with care for the sick and destitute of the Jerusalem area. Thus Bethany received its name because it was the Essene poorhouse par excellence, the poorhouse which alleviated poverty closest to the holy city.

According to the Temple Scroll from Qumran, three places for the care of the sick, including one for lepers, were situate just east of Jerusalem. The passage also defines a (minimum) radius of three thousand cubits (circa 1,800 yards) around the city within which nothing unclean was allowed to be visible from the Temple. Since Bethany was, according to John, fifteen stadia (about 1.72 miles) from the holy city, care for the sick there corresponded with the requirements of the Temple Scroll (the stadion being ideally 600 feet (180 m) or 400 cubits). Whereas Bethphage was on the peak of the Mount of Olives with a magnificent view of Jerusalem and the Temple, Bethany lay below to the southeast, out of view of the Temple Mount, which may have made its location suitable as a place for care of the sick, “out of view” of the Temple.

It is only in the context of an almshouse at Bethany, where the poor, wounded, and sick were received and assisted, that Jesus’ remark that “The poor you will always have with you” (Mark 14:7; Matthew 26:11) doesn’t sound deterministic and callous, but rather is a way of encouraging and praising the people of the town for their vocation of caring for the sick.

It is interesting to note that only in Bethany do we find mention of the poor on the lips of the disciples, who object that the expensive perfumed oil poured over Jesus there might have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor (Mark 14:5; Matthew 26:8–9; John 12:4–6, where the objection is made only by Judas, and which was explained as his avarice speaking rather than concern for the poor). Perhaps this objection may have been made in embarrassment that so many sick people could have been cared for with the money. Being still so blind to Jesus telling them of his approaching death, they cannot see the utter necessity of Jesus being anointed, and that it was done in the midst of the sick, the outcast, and the poor of the world.

Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first he suffered pain, and entered not into glory before he was crucified: Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

12th May >> Mass Readings (Except USA)

Friday, Fifth Week of Eastertide 

or

Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs

  or

Saint Pancras, Martyr. 

Friday, Fifth Week of Eastertide 

(Liturgical Colour: White: A(1))

First Reading Acts of the Apostles 15:22-31 It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by us not to burden you beyond these essentials.

The apostles and elders decided to choose delegates to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; the whole church concurred with this. They chose Judas known as Barsabbas and Silas, both leading men in the brotherhood, and gave them this letter to take with them: ‘The apostles and elders, your brothers, send greetings to the brothers of pagan birth in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia. We hear that some of our members have disturbed you with their demands and have unsettled your minds. They acted without any authority from us; and so we have decided unanimously to elect delegates and to send them to you with Barnabas and Paul, men we highly respect who have dedicated their lives to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accordingly we are sending you Judas and Silas, who will confirm by word of mouth what we have written in this letter. It has been decided by the Holy Spirit and by ourselves not to saddle you with any burden beyond these essentials: you are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols; from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication. Avoid these, and you will do what is right. Farewell.’

The party left and went down to Antioch, where they summoned the whole community and delivered the letter. The community read it and were delighted with the encouragement it gave them.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 56(57):8-12

R/ I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples. or R/ Alleluia!

My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready. I will sing, I will sing your praise. Awake, my soul, awake, lyre and harp, I will awake the dawn.

R/ I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples. or R/ Alleluia!

I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples, among the nations I will praise you for your love reaches to the heavens and your truth to the skies. O God, arise above the heavens; may your glory shine on earth!

R/ I will thank you, Lord, among the peoples. or R/ Alleluia!

Gospel Acclamation John 10:27

Alleluia, alleluia! The sheep that belong to me listen to my voice, says the Lord, I know them and they follow me. Alleluia!

Or: John 15:15

Alleluia, alleluia! I call you friends, says the Lord, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. Alleluia!

Gospel John 15:12-17 What I command you is to love one another.

Jesus said to his disciples:

‘This is my commandment: love one another, as I have loved you. A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because a servant does not know his master’s business; I call you friends, because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from my Father. You did not choose me: no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit, fruit that will last; and then the Father will give you anything you ask him in my name. What I command you is to love one another.’

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

----------------------------

Saints Nereus and Achilleus, Martyrs 

Liturgical Colour: Red.

Readings for the memorial

There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise.

First reading Apocalypse 7:9-17 These martyrs have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb

I, John, saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted aloud, ‘Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four animals, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God with these words, ‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’ One of the elders then spoke, and asked me, ‘Do you know who these people are, dressed in white robes, and where they have come from?’ I answered him, ‘You can tell me, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and because they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb, they now stand in front of God’s throne and serve him day and night in his sanctuary; and the One who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. They will never hunger or thirst again; neither the sun nor scorching wind will ever plague them, because the Lamb who is at the throne will be their shepherd and will lead them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.’

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 123(124):2-5,7-8

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

If the Lord had not been on our side when men rose up against us, then would they have swallowed us alive when their anger was kindled.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Then would the waters have engulfed us, the torrent gone over us; over our head would have swept the raging waters.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Indeed the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Our life, like a bird, has escaped from the snare of the fowler.

Gospel Acclamation Mt5:10

Alleluia, alleluia! Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 10:17-22 The Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Beware of men: they will hand you over to sanhedrins and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the pagans. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how to speak or what to say; what you are to say will be given to you when the time comes; because it is not you who will be speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking in you. ‘Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all men on account of my name; but the man who stands firm to the end will be saved.’

-----------------------------------

Saint Pancras, Martyr 

Liturgical Colour: Red.

Readings for the memorial

There is a choice today between the readings for the ferial day (Friday) and those for the memorial. The ferial readings are recommended unless pastoral reasons suggest otherwise.

First reading Apocalypse 19:1,5-9 Let us give praise to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb.

I, John, seemed to hear the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing, ‘Alleluia! Victory and glory and power to our God!’ Then a voice came from the throne; it said, ‘Praise our God, you servants of his and all who, great or small, revere him’. And I seemed to hear the voices of a huge crowd, like the sound of the ocean or the great roar of thunder, answering, ‘Alleluia! The reign of the Lord our God Almighty has begun; let us be glad and joyful and give praise to God, because this is the time for the marriage of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of the good deeds of the saints.’ The angel said, ‘Write this: Happy are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.’

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 102(103):1-4,8-9,13-14,17-18

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord all my being, bless his holy name. My soul, give thanks to the Lord and never forget all his blessings.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

It is he who forgives all your guilt, who heals every one of your ills, who redeems your life from the grave, who crowns you with love and compassion.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

The Lord is compassion and love, slow to anger and rich in mercy. His wrath will come to an end; he will not be angry for ever.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

As a father has compassion on his sons, the Lord has pity on those who fear him; for he knows of what we are made, he remembers that we are dust.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

But the love of the Lord is everlasting upon those who hold him in fear; his justice reaches out to children’s children when they keep his covenant in truth, when they keep his will in their mind.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord.

Gospel Acclamation Mt11:25

Alleluia, alleluia! Blessed are you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for revealing the mysteries of the kingdom to mere children. Alleluia!

Gospel Matthew 11:25-30 You have hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to little children

Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and of earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children. Yes, Father, for that is what it pleased you to do. Everything has been entrusted to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, just as no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ‘Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.’

[locustheologicus]

The Chosen: Season 4 Official Trailer

In my last post I mention the concern that I, as a Catholic Christian, have with the emergence of Christian Nationalism. I urged readers to view that documentary and be aware of the political danger that this ideology poses to both the Christian faith and the American political system. In that post I mentioned a thought by one of the doumentary's presenters who suggest that now is the best time for Christians to do a careful reassesment of scripture and the tradition (independent from the ideology of Christian nationalist preachers) and "to read those with fresh eyes and see what God’s teachings are, to look at the life of Christ."

I want to invite readers to do this by watching an Amazon Prime series that I found absolutely riveting and quite frankly, life giving. "The Chosen" is perhaps the greatest and most historically accurate depiction of the Jesus narrative. It has finally unseated the famous 1977 "Jesus of Nazareth" movie that up to now has been the only Jesus movie that did credit to the teachings, mission and foundation of the Jesus movement.

Fr. Casey will have some good comments of his own about the show and a critique that I share below. What I want to raise now is how powerful the depiction of Jesus and his disciples is as you see them take on human challenges and emotional struggles that many of us can identify with. You will see Simon Peter, Thomas, and Judas face the challenge of trying to make sense of Jesus and be a faithful disciple while having to accept pain, grief, and loss along the way. In season four you will find Jesus himself struggling with the disciples complete lack of understanding.

In Season 3 episode 8, "Sustenance", I was brought to tears with the struggle of Simon Peter in the famous moment where he tries to walk on water to encounter Jesus. Simon (not yet officially Peter) has much pent up anger in him as he reconciles with a very personal loss in the face of a miracle that Jesus performs for others. When you see the encounter as Jesus rescues him from drowning (simultaneously his wife, who is also struggling with the same loss, is going through her own purification ritual), you begin to see this biblical story as a moment of intense purification and forgiveness. Forgiveness is one of the most challenging precepts of Christianity and most of us will never understand the relational depth of what Jesus invites us to do for one another. In season 4 episode 4, "Calm Before", you also see Thomas struggling with his own loss while Peter (as he is now officially named) attempts to offer comfort and meaning. But what is equally powerful is seeing Jesus himself try to understand how his mission will have any relevance if his own disciples can't understand neither him, nor the mission. He reckons with the fact that his own disciples are culturally conditioned and limited in their vision. In episode 5 you see Judas struggling with the messianic mission and role as he idenitifes with both political power and economic profitability. Christians in America today can learn much from the Gospel narration offered in this series.

Let me share what Jesus says to Thomas who just witnessed the raising of Lazarus in Season 4, Episode 7 "The Last Sign", but had to recently endure the death of his own fiance.

Thomas: Why him, and not Ramah? Why not your own cousin, John? This is sick. Jesus: Thomas, I don't expect you to understand now, I don't. What the Father allows, what I allow, in order to bring about my Father's will and the faith and growth of His Church. It can be crushing for you... and yes even for me. Thomas: It's too much. It's too much. I don't understand. Jesus: I know... and that hurts my heart. But please, please stay with me Thomas. You'll understand in time.

The story of Jesus and his disciples closely follow the Gospel of Mark, the struggles of a very human Jesus, what theologians call a low Christology. It is in this type of Christology, a Christology where Jesus suffers with us and for us, where we see Jesus as both a wounded healer and a servant leader. The difficult questions of what it means to follow Jesus are offered in this narration and these are the questions that Christian Nationalist so desperately need to reflect on.

Fr. Casey offers further insights below.

If I did not admire Fr. Casey before I most certainly do now. He caught on the one annoyance that has bothered me about this otherwise amazing show. The two source hypothesis continues to be the best academic theory of how the Gospels were developed. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians is considered the first written document, written around 51 AD. Mark's gospel comes to us around 69 AD and then you have Matthew and Luke who both borrowed from Mark's Gospel and a missing document that we continue to call Q (quella). Those two Gospels are thought to have been written around 75 to 85 AD. John's Gospel is a seperate account that comes to us after 95 AD. What we see from Paul and Acts of the Apostles is that the Jesus story was passed on through an oral tradition, stories were told, Paul heard the story from Peter and that was how he was taught about Jesus. This seems to be how the movement initially grew until more learned individuals, starting with Paul, began to write down what they had heard. Based on what we know, It is more accurate to say that the Gospel of Matthew and John emerged from an oral tradition that claims to originate from a Matean and Johannine community (a community founded on Matthew and John's oral story).

Fr. Casey tells us why this is important for good Catholic theology.

Having pointed out this one shortcoming I invite everyone to please watch this series. It will help bring awareness of what the Christian message is all about. You will see that it has nothing to do with political power, economic profit, and cultural dominance. It has everything to do with being a wounded healer, a servant leader, and providing reconciliation to those who are hurt and charity to those in need.

[treesofgreen]

Couple of things from memory because I am buzzing:

- Con has a backstory for the ring but he got it as the last part of his costume when his mother had just died and he asked them to switch the stone from what was in it to an emerald, for his mother, and they did. So the ring has great importance to Con in that way and he says in a different way for Izzy though we'll never hear it (like we won't hear Nathan's harrowing backstory for Lucius - I think neither want to conflict with possible eventual canon)

- Con knows it comes from a good place but doesn't like the "only human in a Muppet movie" bit because he thinks it diminishes and takes away from the very human and important stories/characters/loves of other characters aboard the Revenge

- their first day in person Taika told him he thought of Izzy and Ed as Judas and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar and I think everyone sang but i couldn't hear for a moment with the way my brain melted.

- Con said (twice I think) that it was very important and special that none of the abuse or violence in the show was directed at queer people for being queer (i was dreading a 'how do you feel about playing a homophobe' question but there weren't any and I thought this addressed it well in an indirect way).

- Izzy would want a snake as a pet and Lucius would want a chinchilla (they're both still getting cats in my head, sorry)

- Lucius' drag name would be Miss Ingfinger. Izzy wouldn't have the capacity to properly chose a name and would go with "Rapier Wit" and Nathan suggested Iz He. con said to ask him again in Seattle and he'll have a better answer.

- Izzy's Starbucks drink is a double espresso with a shot of whiskey. Lucius is a pink drink.

- Con said the show landed so well because it is kind and kindness is so important and needed.

- Con and Nathan are just as flirty and insane and funny together as you would think.

- they told Con Izzy was "the best fencer in the world" lol

- Izzy doesn't feel incomplete because his work is everything (I see some people have interpreted this as ace Izzy which I love. Taken with the other comments about how Izzy doesn't understand his emotions and can't put them into words I think it could go either way, either way I'll be pleased).

[neapologist873]

Road (to) Camelot

Let's talk about Road Camelot.

In an ask, I mentioned that it seemed likely that Road and Sheril's last name--that being Camelot--is a reference to the legends of King Arthur, king of Camelot. Further proof of this is the very fact that King Arthur was based on Jesus, hence the reason why in many of the stories he has 12 knights to his round table, the very number of apostles to have followed Jesus. Nea and Mana as the Earl also fight with swords, with the power to purify and devour souls. What's more, one of the knights (Arthur's bastard son or nephew, depending on the story), was also a traitor like Judas.

Nea is already a clear traitor, but there is a lot of evidence to suggest that Joyd will also become a traitor, such as the parallels between him and Nea and the scene in which you see Road cradling the sleeping head of what appears to be Mana from a looming figure whose head is cut off. Based on context, it would make most sense for this to be Joyd and would also explain Road's actions with how she very clearly is afraid of him and is trying to keep Tykki grounded so that Joyd can't take over.

But what is the significance in all of this? Well, that's because you could liken the Heart of Innocence to the Holy Grail in the stories of King Arthur. To paraphrase its importance, it is thought to be an object infused with Jesus's blood from the last supper and is something God himself ordered King Arthur to retrieve, much like how it is both the exorcists' and Noahs' goals to find the Heart. It is thought to give eternal life and have healing properties, which aligns with how innocence can cure someone from akuma poison. Whether or not Road has a clue to the Heart is uncertain, but it has definitely been hinted that she holds many answers to the plot. That can even be seen with her name being Road Camelot. And remember the door Road created on the Ark.

Genesis 9 has passages about rainbows, said to Noah himself after the flood. The flood which has meant to rid the Earth of Cain's evil lineage, by the way, which is interesting when apparently the Earl was the one who destroyed their old universe. Genesis 37 also has a passage about a sun, a moon, and eleven stars revolving around Joseph, the King of Dreams. Nea has some panels with the Sun (kind of hinting that he is a morning star), and the moon has always been the Earl's and Allen/Nea's symbol, so we could easily see the stars as the rest of the Noah. Joseph also had dreams of a golden wheat field and Cain also killed Abel in such a field. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Camelot is where the Holy Grail became stored, and we have seen Road be strangely attached to Mana and Nea both, even Allen. Cross even seems to hold some pity for her, despite her being the enemy. So I just have to wonder if Road could quite literally be a road, especially with her using her Dreams to lure Allen to the Campbell manor where many of the answers will be waiting for him.

[jerichogender]

Someone requested it, so here it is. This is the afterword George Pérez wrote for the New Teen Titans TBP that includes the Judas Contract (It says at the end that he wrote this in 1998, but I’m pretty sure they meant 1988 since the Judas Contract came out in 1984 and he talks about planning out the storyline five years ago):

[ID: A two-page afterword written by George Pérez. The first page has art on the left side from The New Teen Titans (NTT) of Joseph Wilson, Dick Grayson, Donna Troy, Victor Stone, and Koriand’r dressed in their superheroes costumes and charging towards an enemy. The second page has art on the right side also from NTT, just of Joey in his Jericho costume. The background of both pages has a repeating pattern of the Titans “T” logo in the shape of a T inside a circle. The text is as follows:

AFTERWORD

Ah, memories.

Has it really been five years since Marv Wolfman and I sat down in a small restaurant and gleefully plotted the birth and death of a cute little teenage girl? Has it been that long since that fateful meeting in Dick Giordano’s office when it was decided that a famous caped crusader’s sidekick was going to hang up his mask and at last be his own master and that we would also retire a certain teenage speedster? And was it so along ago that Marv and I racked our respective skulls trying to come up with a concept for a new hero for whom we only had a name and a parental history? Has it really been five years since “The Judas Contract”? I’ve always liked the name “The Judas Contract.” When Marv came up with it, I thought that it hand a certain grandeur, a certain significance to it. And when I learned that DC Comics was reprinting the multi-issue saga, my mind flooded with waves of nostalgia, pleasant memories which seem to arise when I think of my original tenure as co-creator, co-plotter, and artist on THE NEW TEEN TITANS.

So it is that I recall how, after two years of establishing TITANS as a bona-fide hit for DC, Marv and I sat across from one another in that diner booth and he told me about this new character he had just invented: a 15-year-old name Terra. She was to be the first new Titan to join the team since the inception of the series, but she would also be the first to die. Thus was “The Judas Contract” born, although it would be over a year before that actual storyline would take place. Other changes were in the offing.

Since the creation of the New Teen Titans, Marv and I had sworn not to make it a junior version of the Justice League of America, which is what the Titans were in the 1960s (I used to call it the Justice Little League). The idea of a group of kid sidekicks banded together to fight crime always invites comparisons between them and their adult mentors. Also, the freedom of using a character fully is compromised when he is being used concurrently in his guardian’s own series. Thankfully, Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire were all-knew heroes created specifically for TITANS (I can still remember the words of artist/editor Joe Orlando when he saw the original design for Starfire: “I think you should make her hair longer.” Boy, did I take that suggestion to heart!) Wonder Girl was never really a sidekick to Wonder Woman and Changeling’s roots to the then-defunct Doom Patrol series were non-hampering. That left Kid Flash and Robin.

Kid Flash was easy. Robin was the tricky one. For over forty years he had been the popular swashbuckling partner to the mysterious Batman. In fact, Batman without Robin was considered as unthinkable as Holmes without Watson, Robin Hood without Little John, Minneapolis without St. Paul! Yet Robin was the team leader, the linchpin of the Titans. When Marv Wolfman, then-Batman writer Doug Moench and I sauntered into Executive Editor Dick Giordano’s office to discuss Robin’s fate, I actually thought we’d lose the rights to use the Titans’ leader. Was I wrong. Goodbye Robin/Dick Grayson—hello Robin/Jason Todd!

Then there was Jericho. Marv wanted to introduce a new member to the Titans to replace the departed Kid Flash. However, he had the character’s name (an unused character who was to have appeared in the original 1960s TITANS series) and the notion that he would be an offspring of the villainous Terminator, but nothing more. After weeks of pounding our heads against the walls, we had all but given up. We couldn’t think of anything for Jericho. Then it hit me. Overnight, I came up with a concept, personality and design for Joseph William Wilson, the newest Teen Titan. Joseph, or Jericho, was the first Titan I ever designed solely and as such he was more of an artist’s character than a writer’s character. By making him mute (and forbidding poor Marv the use of thought balloons for the character), I was forced to convey Jericho’s personality through body language and facial expressions. Such subtle nuances would be been unthinkable for me when I first started the series in 1980, but Marv was so confident in my improved abilities that he accepted my version of Jericho, who was a lot tougher for him to write and was added to the Titans’ roster.

That still left us with Dick Grayson. Dick has an incredibly vocal fan following, particularly among females. There was no way we could keep that character out of the group indefinitely. So, during the run of “The Judas Contract,” Dick Grayson’s new crimefighting identity was established. Nightwing was born. Though neither Marv nor I were originally crazy about his new name, in the long run it seems to have won the fans’ hearts. Those who considered themselves Robin Rooters have proudly followed Dick’s new career as avid Wingnuts.

So here I am, hunched over my word processor, reliving the glorious yesterdays which went into the tales unfolded for you in the following pages. It was a time of growth for me. My maturation as an artist can be traced back to these stories. My new career as a writer was born from many brainstorming plotting sessions through which Marv and I sweated during those days. I am grateful to the Titans and to Marv and to all those who supported the effort.

Thanks for the memories.

- GEORGE PÉREZ

1998

End ID.]

[brimbrimbrimbrim]

You watch Eddie self-soothe his nerves with weed, looking through the slow-motion haze of heated curiosity at the calluses on his fingertips.

"You play guitar, don't you?"

Eddie blinks rapidly like he never expected you to talk to him again. Those heavy lids gradually widen until they're saucer-shaped. He straightens his spine against the sofa, looking like he's got a spotlight on him, and gulps aloud. " Uh , yeah. Yeah, it's umm… kinda my passion."

He gulps audibly and starts picking a rough patch on the edge of his thumb, suddenly looking attractively shy.

"What kind of music do you play? I mean , I assume judging by the unruly hair and leather jacket, it's synthpop or house jazz ." It's poker-faced, something you've watched in movies and reruns. Sarcasm has always been your mechanism of emotional expression; however, stunted as Rick said it was. But instead of scoffing, Eddie grins until it hits his eyes, drawing your gaze inside murky, dark browns that almost sparkle in the low lamp light.

You take a steady breath and gawk, the joint smoldering slowly between your thumb and forefinger. It's obvious now that Eddie wasn't trying to kiss you last night because this… this is the veritable face. He looks like he wants to do it now, and this realization—flattering and new—makes your heart race. There's no anxiety here, however… just the cuddle of skunk and Eddie's suggestive smile.

"Suppose you're pretty into the glitter shit too, huh ? Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest… real sinful music. Who in their right mind would be into that?"

"Good thing I'm no saint in a right mind then," you murmur, gingerly removing the long-forgotten spliff from his fingers as Eddie's glassy eyes skim yours; short, darting passes that dip down to your lips a couple times. You lick them subconsciously, wondering how you made it to nineteen without craving this wild pitter-patter of adrenaline in such juxtaposition to the jittery horror of the world here and below.

Eddie leans in an inch, looking for something in your eyes.

Is he asking permission? Does it happen naturally? Do you want him—his lips and tongue and whatever else?

"Yes," you sigh.

Is that so bad?

"You sure?"

A low hum comes from the fixture filaments, swimming over the crickets chirping outside. The moon's out, shining in the window behind Eddie, framing him against the dark night sky as his lashes lower, and you find yourself falling slowly into him. Heated, rough palms slide along the sides of your neck, ringed-fingers splayed out through your hair, gripping softly, drawing you in until the lamps flare and your lips finally touch.

A weak moan leaves you, another consumed quickly by a slanted, open-mouthed kiss that draws blades of desire down your stomach; poisoned with a toxic mixture that sends heat between your thighs. You wanna squeal and push Eddie into the cushions… ride him until he's sweaty and red-faced and exploding inside you.

Eddie cups the back of your head and snakes an arm around your waist, helping you settle easily into his lap. You don't recall trying to crawl into it until the second you sink down over his thigh; that familiar ache deep within starts to throb anew.

You pull back, just enough to take in a sip of air, to taste the heat of his gasping breath—weed, Frosted Flakes, and hops.

"Tell me your name," Eddie says against your lower lip and sighs out his nostrils as your fingers reach up to tug on the ends of his frizzy curls, brushing your lips together in a barely-there press that's somehow just as hot as the heavy latch before.

Read the rest HERE <3

[earthbovndmisfit]

What song do you think fits best jonawagon?

Hi, nonny! In all honesty, I can't pick just one, not even if I had to, so I'm going to be mean and give you all the songs that I can remember that fit them instead >:D Warning: it's gonna be long, but i hope that’s okay!

Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon. This one's a given and I'm convinced Araki drew a lot of inspiration from it to create Robert and the relationship between him and Jonathan.

Side mention to Keep On Lovin' You, also by REO. The song as a whole is not actually a love song but these lines "And I meant Every word I said When I said that I loved you I meant that I loved you forever And I'm gonna keep on lovin' you 'Cause it's the only thing I want to do I don't want to sleep, I just want to keep on lovin' you"? 100000% jonawagon energy. Same can be said about a lot other REO songs btw (hence why I'm convinced that Araki took a lot of inspo for the character and his relationship with Jonathan from this band and their music). Speaking of yet another REO song that fits them so so so good...

All Heaven Broke Loose - REO Speedwagon. "It hit me like a shot right out of the blue All heaven broke loose I was shaken by the power of love Taken by the power of you". There’s a jonawagon fanfic named after this song and my life has never been the same since ;v;

Can't Take My Eyes Off You - Boys Town Gang. Listen to the whole song and tell me it doesn't fit them.

Last Rose Of Summer - Judas Priest. "I give you this, the last rose of summer. A token of my unyielding love. So when the winter's mantle stills the earth And all around seems dead and cold This rose reminds you of a time when all was warm and living". Those lines always make me think of them. The fact that Judas' singer is some gay british gentleman named Robert is just a little bonus lol.

Baby, I love you - Ramones. The Ronettes' original version also works but I feel the "punks in love" touch the Ramones gave it fits Speedwagon better since that's pretty much what he is in PB, lol.

I'm Affected - Ramones. I feel this one fits better from Jonathan's perspective due to the "When I look into your big brown eyes" line.

Safe Home - Anthrax. This song. I have so many jonawagon feels about it. The acoustic version is amazing and fits them like a glove.

Digital Love - Daft Punk. I feel this one fits them during their pining/yearning stage.

Something About Us - Daft Punk. I feel like it hits right in the feels for these two during their pining/yearning stage too but just right when the time to confess their feelings comes. The song leaves it a little open since its not precisely a sad song, so the feelings can be totally requited on both ends. It's that uncertainty and self-consciousness from both sides (bc yeah, after all the abuse and overly difficult life at home Jonathan had to endure, there is no way he doesn't suffer from any side effects to it).

Kiss From A Rose - Seal. An anon brought this one up time ago and yesss. All of the yessssss.

To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens. Another kind anon suggested this one and I feel like it hits right for them

Amor Eterno - Juan Gabriel. This is a song in Spanish. The author/singer of this song was a gay man and there are countless rumours that this song was written and dedicated to a man he was in love with. The man died a tragic death, with the event leaving the singer so affected, because he loved him so much. This is basically the song you rip your entire heart out with when the love of your life has died. So, yeah. 10000% jonawagon feels right there. (i will try to post a translation of the lyrics of this song so y'all get the full image and extent of this). Speaking of Juan Gabriel, there is at least another one of his songs I feel fits the ship:

Te Lo Pido Por Favor - Juan Gabriel. A translated snippet of it goes more or less like: "How can I repay you for everything you do for me, all this happiness, all this immense love? Only with my life. Well, here's my life. I'm giving it to you."

Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow - Freddie Mercury. Lots of feels. So many of them.

Yell! - Amano Yuri. "No matter when, my warm hands should surely heal your wounds." The song comes from Yu Yu Hakusho and is performed by the main character's love interest who, much like Speedwagon, is forced to remain on the sidelines, watching as the man she loves fights for his life.

Laguna Sunrise - Black Sabbath. I feel like the vibe fits them very well.

Planet Caravan - Black Sabbath. Same as the previous one. Also, composer of the song, Geezer Butler, said: "the song is about floating through the universe with one's lover." So, yeah~

Love Talkin' - Tatsuro Yamashita. Just change pronouns accordingly and voilá~

Mr. DejaVu - Naja. "You showed me true kindness for the first time What I withheld cannot be given now; the moonlight frosts me over I couldn't even say goodbye Don't let me be alone Even if there is no eternity I'll believe in the red thread"

Endless Love - Megumi Ogata. "I kiss those eyelids that will never open again. Tonight, you are going on a journey into eternity. It isn’t too cruel, even if you live on a different star, beyond hundreds of billions of hours. Love Forever I’m sure I will find you because I will never forget you. My love for you will last forever. Love Forever"

Turn On Your Light - Judas Priest. The song is so sweet. One of the few ballads Judas has ever done and it hits the mighty jonawagon feels just right~

Sayonara Wa Iwanai - PERSONZ. "Sepia colored memories, decorations that wipe away my tears. Those are words from the bottom of my heart. I won’t see you again. I don’t want to think about that, that’s why I decided not to do it. No matter what, ¡never forget! No matter what, I won’t say goodbye now. Never say goodbye, because we will see each other again one day, smiling."

500 Miles - The Proclaimers. "And when I'm dreaming, well I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you"

Do You Want To Know A Secret - The Beatles. "Let me whisper in your ear Say the words you long to hear I'm in love with you~"

An Angel Is Missing - Ronnie Dio And The Red Caps. Change pronouns and etc accordingly and it totally fits them~

Hand In Glove - The Smiths. Basically, requited but doomed (gay) love the way only The Smiths can do it. Bittersweet and with that Gay British touch to it.

My Love Life - Morrissey. This would be in Robert's POV. I've said it before, but this song could work great as the prequel to the next one...

I Can Have Both - Morrissey. Which would be about Jonathan finding out that he is in love with both Erina and Speedwagon. Basically, Jonathan coming to terms with being bi and polyam.

Hazme Sentir - Austin TV. Instrumental song. The title translates as "Make me feel". Despite the obvious title, give it a listen and you'll understand why it's here c:

There are a lot more that are escaping me right now along with some others that are 100% pining/yearning material and All Of The Sad Feels, but I decided to leave most of the sad ones out for now because Jonathan and Speedwagon deserve to be happy. Give me a few minutes and I'll put links to all the songs in a reblog of this post for everyone who wants to check any of the songs listed here! can't add external links or tumgle will do The Thing to the post.

Also!! and this goes to everyone reading this: by all means, please feel free to drop more song recs for the ship either here or in my ask box anytime!!

[agoraphobiclapine]

I know I've not properly introduced the stardew boys yet, but seeing as at midnight we will be reaching the lunar new year, I figured I could introduce you to their pet rabbits. Also, look how cozy they all look, I'd die for some cozy vibes like those......(although Fletcher is my self insert character......I'd die to be laid out on a big belly like the little one on the left. Speaking of Judas is @girthleng 's boy!) Please let me know what you guys think! I've really felt creative lately thanks to these characters and the antics I expect them to get up to, but I've not drawn in years, and even then, I don't have much experience. I should really start using references so things make a bit more sense, but for now, enjoy my messy art!

The little one is a Belgian Hare cross. Belgian hares are naturally short haired, slender, and more nervous than many rabbits. They are rabbits rather than true hares and tend to be a bit sickly (especially when purebred), so that's why he's crossed out with another breed. He can frequently be found curled up on his favorite human's big belly, finding comfort in the warmth and softness that calms him down. (sounds just like a certain feeder!), snuggled up next to his best friend for warmth and security, or having zoomies to get rid of some of his nervous energy. Super nervous around strangers and severe changes to his routine or environment will cause stress and make him ill.

The rabbit on the right is a flemmish giant/english lop cross. This cross was made to create a bun with a steady temperament that was also a really fluffy, supersized, absolute unit of a rabbit that is always ready for cuddles. He can often be found being used like a space heater for his much more slender and nervous friend or absolutely loafed out on his human, Fletcher. Making him look like an even bigger rabbit compared to his human's slender frame. He makes a great hot water bottle/weighted heat source and frequently comes in handy to help deal with grounding from sensory overload and help ease Fletcher's chronic pain. This bunny is so relaxed and calm and is just very steady. He loves attention and cuddles and is super trusting.

This will be the last post of my doodles before I finally take the time to introduce the boys. But I couldn't pass up a lunar new year post. The Buns don't have names yet, but im open to suggestions.

Aka its the year of the rabbit. It's literally my year, hope you're ready to bite off more than you can chew again and again 😘😘

[sideblog-666-thousand]

A long bitch of an interview with Euronymous, from Orcustus zine in early ‘92.

What is Orcustus? Orcustus was an early 90’s black metal ‘zine run by none other than Bård “Faust*” Eithun— murderous pretty-boy, and o.g Euronymous simp. I think he might have also played drums in a band called Emperor... but I’m not sure! Its full name is actually “Orcustus— The Shadow of The Golden Fire”, and no, I’m not making this up.

This particular issue here opens up with a quote from a short story called ‘The Doom That Came To Thomas Parkes*’.

Assuming the reader hasn’t read the story, Faust explains that the quote is in reference to what happened to the titular ‘Thomas Parkes’ when he tried to raise spirits. Faust then admits that he’s unsure of his own ability to ‘raise spirits’, but says he hopes that he’ll raise some fists in agreement that there’s something wrong with the underground scene. Ironically (you’ll see why this is ironic very soon), he doesn’t like that certain bands, namely Entombed, are selling so many copies of their LPs.

After a brief diatribe on just that, he goes on to explain that he was in a rush to get this mag out because of problems with the printer. Then, he tells anyone who doesn’t like the fact that this ‘zine only features black metal that they can fuck off, with three exclamation points.

Finally, we get to the end of the opening page, where Faust pulls what can only be called an early form of the Twitter exposed thread. It reads as follows, with absolutely no changes to the text:

“I would suggest you to not do any business with that sucker Evil Ludo from France. He have riped me and several others off, by not return what we ordered. I suppose he’s a medical sensation, as I didn’t know it was physical or psychical possible to live without a brain”

Why am I telling you all of this, when this is only meant to be a transcript of an interview with Euronymous, you may be asking? Because I find it funny, that’s why.

Anyhow, the Euronymous here acts and feels very differently from the Euronymous of the last interview I posted. However, I hope you’ll still enjoy it, and I hope you’re able to appreciate the tiny glimpses of humanity talking to a close friend allowed him, even though they both behave like complete asses. Even though it’s hard to sympathize with him at points.

Like last time, any (sparse) commentary will be between (parenthesis) and in bold. Without further ado, let’s get into it.

.

F: Well, how in hell shall one be able to come up with an intro worthy enough for this band? The words I wanna describe Mayhem’s music with, is not yet created, and it won’t be created either, because no one has really experienced the real darkness and pure brutality with lays behind Mayhem’s hellish sound, but I suppose you all are familiar with this band anyway. Well, in the first place, I hadn’t really thought to enclose this band in this issue, because if we look away from rereleases of old demos (“Pure Fucking Armageddon”) and live tapes, it’s a pretty long time since their last release (in ‘87 that was). I thought I rather should interview them when they released their forthcoming album “Dee Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, but due to the circumstances, I realised the time was right for an interview now. I won’t bother you with any history shit, but I could tell a bit about what has happened last year. You all know that their vocalist Dead comited suicude in April ‘91, that was a bigg loss for the underground, and I suppose I don’t need to say that this mag is dedicated to the memory of that infernal man. Anyway, Dead was replaced by Cultòcùlus (back then called Occultus), but due to different problems within the band, he left the band in January ‘92, but let’s not say more about that, as Euronymous didn’t want me to say anything about it at all (but Euronymous, you must admit that it has sounded pretty artificial if I hadn’t mentioned it at all). So now, the band consists of Hellhammer (drums) and Euronymous (guitar (and probably bass too)). I know the singer of Tormentor (rip) from Hungary (Esihar Attila) is interested in singing on the album, and also even moving to Norway, so it seems like Mayhem got some sort of predilection to foreign vocalists, but this Hungarian guy happend to be a good one as well, so never mind that. But I don’t think this is official, so don’t tell anyone you read it here, ok? Well then, it’s an honour for me to dedicate the next following pages to one of today’s most legendary and infamous bands......... THE TRUE MAYHEM!!!!!!!

F: First of all Euronymous, I know you and Dead live/lived totally for the old black metal attitude. Is your hate now total to young and trendy bands after Dead’s suicide?

Euro: YES, we have declared WAR. Dead died because the trend people have destroyed everything from the old black metal/death metal scene, today “death” metal is something normal, accepted and FUNNY (argh) and we HATE it. It used to be spikes, nites, chains, leather and black clothes, and this was the only thing Dead lived for as he hated this world and everything which lives on it. If we had the economic possibility to do it, we should meet up at concerts and beat up ALL trend people ALL the time untill they would be too scared to go to concerts at all, now we need to suck their money instead. It’s impossible to stop the trend no matter how much we want, we have to do the best out of it and sell lots of trend shit to them. (I don’t need to tell you that that’s totally not why Dead killed himself, right?)

F: In the spring of ‘91 you started up a shop in Oslo which sells all sorts of music within metal. Is there anything you can tell us about the shop (ideas? plans?)?

Euro: Well, the original idea was to make a specialist shop for metal in general, but that’s a long time ago. Normal metal isn’t very popular anymore, all the children are listening to “death” metal now, I’d rather be selling Judas Priest than Napalm Death, but at least now we can be specialized within “death” metal and make a shop where all the trend people know that they will find all the trend music, this will help us earning money so that we can order more EVIL records to the evil people. But no matter how shitty music we have to sell, we’ll make a BLACK METAL look on the shop, we’ve had a couple of “actions” in churches lately, and the shop is going to look like a black church in the future. We’ve also thought about having total darkness inside, so that would would have to carry torches to be able to see the records.

F: Well, how is the situation all in all in the Mayhem camp right now?

Euro: Difficult as usual, but we’re closer than ever to record the Mayhem lp. Almost all the material is completed, then I and Hellhammer will record the whole thing with 3 guitars, 2 basses and so on. It will be very massive. Who’s to sing on the lp is not yet decided, we’ll wait and see what happens. We have several people who can do the job very well.

F: As Metalion of Slayer mag* said: “it seems like you at certain times lives on the edge of starvation”. Have you ever been on the thought to just give up the whole band and become a normal 9 to 5 person, or is this a completely stupid question to ask?

Euro: It has been very hard at times, but I am not a normal person anyway so it would just not be possible to do that. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about why things are as they are (this answer will be long) (that’s okay for me/Ed). The reason why we don’t have any money, is because of hardcore. We have for too long been following the “underground” rules, which say that you must hate money, you must not think you are anything, you must be open-minded, you might have a lot of attitudes and so on. Extremely stupid. But the situation has been that if you don’t follow these rules which are made by hardcore pigs, you are not accepted as a death metal or black metal band! Then you MUST be signed by some big label to be able to make some money, and we’ve never wanted to do that. Then you would anyway be labelled as “commercial” by the HC pigs. This has caused that after 8 years, we are still as broke as ever, while the HC pigs themselves are controlling all labels, and they sign only the bands which fit into their own idiotic world, that means “death” metal bands with society lyrics and jogging suits, and this is what the people see when they grow up. They don’t see any EVIL bands with spikes, as we did. Well, I’m tired about being broke, just to be “underground”. I’m tired of not having money to eat for just because tons of people will call you a “rip-off” if you don’t write 20 letters each day. It’s time to say fuck off to the whole system, which is built to strangle the evil bands in the birth. We must start taking inspirations from the ancient ones, from Venom and their likes. They did their thing BIG, and they never had to think about any idiotic underground rules. They did it big and so must we, but it must never become a trend, it must become a CULT. This is why we have started on a brand new policy with the band and the record label. It’s about time that someone makes a label for black metal and other grim music, and STRIKE BACK. There is NO reason why DSP shouldn’t be as big as Peaceville or Nuclear Blast, if we can just get the business on its feet again and get good distribution. That’s the only way to compete with the HC labels. It’s about time we start taking control over our own scene. We must spread the EVIL bands and pervert people’s souls.

F: What about the Norwegian scene then? Don’t you think that something is terribly wrong when it have gone so far that we have a christian “death metal” band here (Crush Evil)? Advices on how we should kill them?

Euro: First of all— the Norwegian scene is the BEST. There are a lot of GREAT bands (yet with no album out) and of course some shitty trend bands, but nothing as in Sweden. There you have 2-3 good bands out of 100, while here we have a few shit bands who hardly have made even a demo, while all the great bands will make records in the near future. Such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Thorns (I’m flattered/ED*), Arcturus, Enslaved and newer bands like Malfeitor and others which I have not yet heard. BUT— when it comes to bands like Crush Evil, we must take serious action. It’s bad enough to have a couple of society bands, but a CHRISTIAN band is too much. But don’t worry, we have plans. They will not continue for a very long time.

F: And now over to something more humouristic....yes.... snuff movies. Who had been the perfect actor for a snuff movie, and why the hell aren’t they legalized? Don’t you think that every video-store should have its own section with snuff-movies?

Euro: Actually I think it’s great that movies like that are forbidden. If they were legal and easily accessible, all the small trend children would be watching them, and then it would not be something extreme anymore (I’m not sure if I agree with you here Euronymous. Snuff movies are usually too raw and brutal for the people with their “peace and life” infected minds. Remember the HC rules/ED) (shut the fuck up, Faust*) It’s just the same what happened to death metal— it became something everyone could buy in every store, something normal and accessible for everyone. All the mystic and evil atmosphere is GONE. I do not think snuff-movies are funny, I think they are DARK. I’ve seen people laugh at them, but that’s probably because they will not be mentally able to take the PAIN and EVIL on over themselves. That is the best way to watch such a movie, to try to FEEL the actual pain of the victims. It becomes much more gruesome then, and that’s great. One must be alone in the darkness and suffer with the victims, if you watch it with other people, they will often talk, laugh and so on, and then you get more distanced from it, it’s not supposed to be funny (death to fun), it’s much better when it’s depressive.

F: Through the years you have been talking about releasing bands like Samael, Rotting Christ, Master’s Hammer, Tormentor, Matricide, Imperator, Massacre etc. on Deathlike Silence Prod., but now some of these bands have released lp’s on labels which only have money in their eyes and know that black metal sells. Doesn’t that frustrate you, and don’t you feel it like the time is running out for you?

Euro: It’s a bit frustrating, but it is also a result of trying to be “underground” which is a suicide policy. Anyway, the main thing is that these evil records get released at all, and not who’s releasing them. We will probably release a record with Tormentor, they’re split up, but they still want to make their Anno Domini demo on vinyl, and we’ll try to fix it within the summer. The time is not running out, because there are a lot of really evil bands around. — most of the Norwegian bands which other labels haven’t heard about. Burzum is ten times better than all the bands on Earache together, and so are Thorns and Arcturus. So there is no problem, really. As for bands like Rotting Christ and Master’s Hammer, we might do something in the future instead. I’ve never been talking with Samael about any deal, but I wish I had as their album is FUCKING GREAT.

F: Almost all bands in the underground today says that they think they got their own style and originality, but the fact is that 95% of the bands sounds totally the same. What is an original death metal band today?

Euro: There exists no death metal bands today. There are only a handful of (mostly great) bands (in case someone hadn’t got it right— black metal has nothing to do with the music itself, both Blasphemy and Mercyful Fate are black metal. It’s the LYRICS, and they must be SATANIC. If not, it is NOT black metal) and what we choose to call LIFE METAL bands. Take a band like Therion. Their music is quite ok, it’s actually one of the best Swedish bands (even though that doesn’t say much) but their lyrics STINK. They are about society and pollution, what the fuck has that got to do with DEATH? If a band cultivates and worships death, then it’s death metal, no matter what KIND of metal it is. If a band cultivates and worships Satan, it’s black metal. And by saying “cultivates death”, I don’t think about thinking it’s funny, or being into gore, I’m thinking about being able to KILL just because they HATE LIFE. it’s people who enjoy to see wars because a lot of people get killed. How many bands think that way? Not many. I can’t think of one.

F: You’re maybe not the most active band when it comes to gigs, but at least you’ve managed to tour Germany and Turkey. What can you tell us from the tour, and is there any new gigs planed?

Euro: That tour was a big mess, we’ll NEVER take the train again! We lost quite some money, but still it was great to get to East-Germany and Turkey. The memories of the tour consist mostly of the starvation and idiotic custom officers, but still I wouldn’t like to have missed the opportunity. We don’t have any concrete plans, we’ll see happens in the future. We don’t like to play for a lot of trendies in jogging suits, so we prefer to leave it be.

F: What do you think of the fact that death metal has been on MTV?

Euro: It sucks. But it isn’t death metal anyway, so....

F: I know that you will soon release the debut album of Abruptum on DSP, so, what can you tell us about it?

Euro: It’s EVIL. It’s PURE EVIL, they were torturing each other in studio DURING the recording and you can HEAR on the music how they SUFFER. It will be the most demented record EVER, and it’s NOT for normal people. This is music which NEVER can become trendy, because normal people won’t be able to understand it. And that’s great. The price for the album it’ll be the same as for the BURZUM lp, which should be somewhere else in this ‘zine*. It’s called “Obscuriratem Advoco Amplèctere Me”, and stay away from it if you don’t like pure DARKNESS.

F: Don’t you think that people in the underground should respect others ideas and views more? I mean, it’s not accepted to spread unpopular thoughts. It seems like there is some sort of guardians of morality and most people keep in mind not to say or do anything which is not accepted by the public.

Euro: I don’t think people should respect each other. I don’t want to see trend people respecting me, I want them to HATE and FEAR. If people don’t accept our ideas as their own, they can fuck off because then they belong to a musical scene which has NOTHING to do with ours. They could just as well be Madonna fans. There is an ABYSS between us and the rest. Remember— one of the HC rules is that you must be open-minded (except for themselves), so we must be careful and avoid being open-minded ourselves. The HC pigs have correctly made themselves guardians of morality, but we must kick them in the face and become guardians of anti-morality.

F: You say you want your riffs to have a dark mood and really sound evil, but what if you came up with a riff which just sounded good, but not evil. Would you use it then?

Euro: Well, if a riff sounds good to me, it mostly means that it sounds evil too. At least when I make the music myself. Haven’t really thought about this about this before.

F: Do you think you’ve been playing this sort of music today if it weren’t for those old bands like Mercyful Fate, Venom and Hellhammer?

Euro: It’s impossible to say. Venom and the other ancient ones have been fundamental influences on Mayhem, and also the direct reason of the band’s existence. We like to think that if they hadn’t started up this, we would have, but who knows? Doesn’t really matter anyway, we hail ancient Venom as the CREATORS.

F: Ok, no more questions at the moment. End the interview in what way you want......

Euro: Perhaps it should be mentioned that well re-release the MAYHEM mini-lp “Deathcrush” VERY soon. We also have t-shirts available now. People should write for prices on things. Be EVIL, not open-minded.

Ok, I suppose some of you already know that Euronymous started up a shop in Oslo in the spring of ‘91. The shop is called “HELVETE” (which is Norwegian and means “HELL”) and are specialized within underground stuff and death metal in general (though he also have some other styles of music there). As he said in the MAYHEM interview, the shop really have a black metal look, so if you ever visit Oslo, I really recommend you to visit “HELVETE” as well. I think it’s good that people take the initiative to start up with such things, because if everyone were just passive, we would all get ruined by poser-shops like Hot Records where they take 140 NKR for the Earache albums (which you in “HELVETE” can get a CD for the same price). Euronymous also sells though mail, so write and ask for a list or something: HELVETE, Schweigaardsgt. 56, 0656 Oslo. NORWAY.”

That’s all! :)

And now for the things I put in asterisks, in order of their appearances.

*If for some reason you actually don’t know who Faust is, he was the drummer on the Emperor LP and “In The Nightside Eclipse” but you might also know him from other great hits such as “threatening to kill Mortiis from prison whilst simultaneously attempting to plead murder of the secondth degree”, “I’m glad the people Euronymous ripped off won’t get their money back because he’s dead hA hA!”, “I got fourteen years for murder because I’m a socially inept virgin— oops” and “bad... bad lyrics who’s quality somehow don’t improve with the passing of time”. All jokes are done in good humour— if it seems like I dislike him, it’s not that at all. I just find him easy to make fun of.

Here is another short bio, this one less sarcastic: he was born in Trondheim, lived around Kvikne, and Lillehammer, worked at Helvete, was a close friend of Euro’s, and has his sun in Taurus.

He also beefed with Glen Benton for dissing the Party City cape (Note: of course I’m being extremely reductive) he and Euronymous seemed to share. Here are a few pictures of Faust:

Here is the infamous Party City cape:

*This was surprisingly hard to find. I think he read it in a mag or something. Here’s a link to where you can find it: https://issuu.com/davidgamble/docs/paranormal37/3 page 64-65.

*Slayer mag was another zine, this one by a bloke named Metalion, who was Euro’s best friend.

*Faust (who felt the strange need to make a distinction between himself, the editor, and himself, the interviewer) also played in Thorns (well, Stigma Diabolicum), under the hilarious moniker: Fetophagia✨

*He’s being a fucking idiot, what was I supposed to say? It should be noted that Faust actually went down for the snuff films too.....

*In case you’re interested, for whatever reason, the prices for the Burzum LP were as follows:

Norge— 130 NKR

Norden— 100 K

Finland— 60 FN

Island— 1000 IK

Europe— 15$

Outside Europe,

Overseas— 15 $

Air— 22$

East Europe— 10$

By ‘norden’ he presumably meant ‘northern Norway’, and “Island” is the Norwegian word for Iceland. Notice the way he doesn’t include Sweden! (Edit: Originally I thought he didn’t include Finland because there was a black metal war with them as well, but it seems as though that feud came a bit later or had already passed)

That’s all, for real this time!

Legal disclaimer: I am absolutely, in no way shape or form, claiming that the stupid cape you see them wearing is literally from Party City. From my limited research, I’ve gathered that the Party City chain hasn’t yet opened its doors in the beautiful and glorious country we know as Norway— Norge. However, I am saying that the cheap, dinky piece of cloth covering their backs and shoulders are of the same kind of shitty quality you’d expect from a Party City Count Dracula costume and that maybe Glen had a point about how stupid Euronymous (and Faust) must’ve looked.......

[tittytania]

Finding ChristBorg: A TED talk about what happened during the Coldharbour Compact.

Reposted from my tes reddit bc I want to see what y’all think.

I can't tell if I'm a genius, completely insane, or if I'm just late to the lore-party. Time to find out I guess. TL;DR at the bottom.

So it has never been explained what Sotha Sil did during the Coldharbour Compact to convince the daedric princes to not manifest on Nirn without an intermediary, and it probably never will be since the mystery of it all is far too cool. But that doesn't mean I can't read into it like literature and look for meaning in the other texts I can compare it to.

To start, Vivec is based off of the Shakta variation of the half female/half male Ardhanarishvara, where the gold-skinned female half is the right side. Both Vivec and Ardhanarishvara represent unity and duality, and looking at some images of Ardhanarishvara, it's kinda hard to argue that Vivec wasn't based off of them. Kirkbride even confirmed that Ardhanarishvara was the inspiration for Vivec in an AMA. Now, Vivec is part of the god trio the Almsivi Tribunal, along with Almalexia and Sotha Sil. Shiva, who Ardhanarishvara is the avatar of, is also part of a god trio, called the Trimurti in Hinduism. So it would make sense if the other members of the tribunal are also based off of one member of a real world religious triad. I have a shaky idea of who Almalexia could be, but my theory for her god-inspiration is nowhere near as solid as my theory for Sotha Sil, who I believe is based on Jesus Christ.

To start, their characterizations have multiple similarities. Both are one branch of a god-triad, with Sotha Sil as part of the Tribunal, and Jesus as The Son in the Holy Trinity. Both serve as a teacher, with Jesus being referred to as Teacher several times in the Bible, and Sotha Sil giving lessons on magic and Mysticism to the Psijic Monks. Also, both are characterized as wise, patient, and celibate. They both talk about moral and philosophical concepts with their followers, neither Jesus nor Sotha Sil are shown as having a temper or raising their voices, and neither of them are shown with a spouse or partner. Sotha Sil is specifically shown as not caring about the Night Mother's attempts to sexually manipulate him in book seven of 2920, The Last Year of the First Era. Now I know that 2920 is considered a work of historical fiction in-universe, but I don't think that matters in this situation since I'm approaching this as a person reading a text, not as a person living inside the lore world.

In terms of specific scenes that connect Sotha Sil and Jesus, the first I will mention is that they both use a makeshift whip to beat intruding wrongdoers and drive them away, while yelling about fathers. In the Truth in Sequence vol. 8 book, it says that "[t]hrough His will alone, Mighty Seht wound the veins (of metal ore) into god-bronze whips, and lashed the Prince pitilessly," saying "[b]ehold the wrath of lost Ald Sotha! Know death at my hands, false-son of a false-father!" In the Bible, Jesus found people doing sales in a place of worship, and then He "made a whip of cords, (and) He drove them all out of the temple," saying “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (John 2 15-16).

Also, Jesus had close friends and followers who were called his apostles, and Sotha Sil has his own Clockwork Apostles. Sil's apostles reside in the Clockwork Basilica, and while basilica isn't an exclusively Christian term, it is frequently used to describe a type of church architecture, and is a term the pope uses to recognize distinguished churches.

Another similarity that I found was in the plot of Morrowind, where Sotha Sil's death was caused at the hands of Almalexia, who was someone he had once loved and trusted, much like with Jesus and Judas.

The most notable life similarity as it relates to the Coldharbour Compact is that both leave the earthly world in order to make a deal for the benefit of the souls on earth, and then return to the earthly world. This parallel is given extra weight with the descriptions of the scene in the book 2920, The Last Year of the First Era. Sotha Sil returns from Coldharbour by way of someone "rolling aside the great boulder that blocked the entrance to the Dreaming Cavern. This sounds a lot like the scene in the bible of the discovery that Jesus had risen from the dead, where "an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door" (Matthew 28:2). In addition, Jesus said "after He is killed, He will rise [on] the third day," (Matthew 17:23) and after Sotha Sil returned from Coldharbour, he "felt he had been away for months, years, but only a few days had transpired." Perhaps it had been 3?

In addition to the life and behavior similarities, there are similarities in dress. In the 2920 book, Sotha Sil is always described as wearing a white robe or cloak. In ESO, Sotha Sil is shown as barefoot, and wearing a blue sash over his long white robe. In medieval and renaissance art, Jesus is most always depicted as barefoot, and is frequently shown with a blue cloth over his shoulder. In most resurrection art, as well as in almost all 20th/21st century art, Jesus is depicted as dressed in white. While Jesus usually isn't usually shown wearing both the blue sash and the white robe at once like Sotha Sil is, I found one modern interpretation of Jesus that does dress him this way, and several depictions of him in Chinese art that also portray him like this.

I'm feeling almost conspiratorial here, but these similarities are far too many for me to think it's accidental, and therefore I have to think that all of this is meant to suggest that Sotha Sil serves a Christ-figure role in his story, i.e. in sacrificing own life like Jesus did in order to make his deal in the Coldharbour Compact. However I don't think Sil's sacrifice was quite so simple. After he is asked what he offered the Daedra in return for the deal, he states: "The deals we make with Daedra... [s]hould not be discussed with the innocent." This implies that in contrast to the Christ mythos, Sil's sacrifice was not blameless; he did not come out of the deal with his hands clean.

So, a Christ-like sacrifice that isn't quite as pure and selfless as it is in Christianity. What could that be?

My theory is that in order to make the Coldharbour Compact, he sold the lives of Vivec and Almalexia along with his own. Perhaps he told the princes that he knew the tribunal's godhood would end, and in exchange for their cooperation he promised not to tell the other tribunes or make any attempt to prevent his and his companions' demise. (After all, as far as I know he made the mechanical heart for keeping his city functional, not for recreating the divinity the heart of Lorkhan provided.) Or, maybe he offered to do something to assist in bringing the Tribunal down, and losing Sunder and Keening, the tools that helped them maintain their divinity, was intentional on his part. Sil deliberately sacrificing his own life appears to be reflected in Azura's statement after his death. She said "he shed his mortality long ago, and I am certain his death was no small relief to him." Of course she'd know that he let go of his life ages ago if he had willingly sold it to her. Of course she would be certain that he found his death to be a relief, if she'd heard him say so himself when he was explaining why a god would ever offer such a deal.

It would also make sense with Sotha Sil's character, since he allegedly loved the people on Nirn more than Almalexia or Vivec did, and the destruction of Gilverdale could have definitely been a traumatic enough reminder of the destruction of Ald Sotha for him to do something dramatic to prevent it ever happening again. And guilt over sacrificing his friends could have definitely been a contributing factor to the worsening self-isolation and intense depression in his later life. It would also be a definite explanation for why he apparently never met another soul in the 10 years between losing the tools and his death. Not only had he become extremely disillusioned with the imperfections of the world, he had now finalized the deal he made so long ago, and saw no point in continuing to interact with a deeply flawed world he was essentially finished with.

However, I do see some issues with this and how it would work in-universe. Namely the fact that Hermaeus Mora's seekers said the prince received something from every individual on Nirn as part of the deal, which is quite different from what I'm suggesting. A different deal for each prince would also explain why Sil was able to include Clavicus Vile and Mephala in the compact at a much later date. There would be no reason for Vile and Mephala to submit to a collective deal whose terms had already been decided. So if he offered the tribunal's lives as part of the deal, he would have needed to offer other things as well. But for me the most significant in-universe issue I struggled with was that using his death as a bargaining tool would create a massive problem for his ability to enforce the deal in the future. This could explain why both Molag Bal and Mehrunes Dagon manifested on Nirn after Sotha Sil's death, but since I think they were summoned by qualified mortals that could have been a loophole. Either way, making a deal that is meant to last forever by promising something that can never be taken back in the case of a breach of contract seems extremely short-sighted for someone who claims to be cursed with certainty. Especially considering how many of the princes there were known to be cheats and liars.

Unless, that is, you believe this theory I read about the reason why Sil was completely silent as he was killed. My original belief was that he was silent because he'd seen it coming long ago, and knew that nothing he could have said would have changed Almalexia's mind. And while that would be in character for him, now I'm starting to think that it was because he had already uploaded his consciousness elsewhere. This would fit in with the Christ-figure parallels, due to the Christian belief that Jesus is risen from the dead and very much alive. While Jesus returned to life at the same time he emerged from the cave, the completion of Sotha Sil's death sacrifice didn't happen until long after his return via the cave. While I have found no explicit evidence that he's still around, when you find his body in Morrowind he is shown hanging, with his arms outstretched at his sides, in a sort of crucifixion pose. And after the crucifixion comes the resurrection. Perhaps Sotha Sil is still around somewhere in the gears of his city, and he promised the princes he'd never be present or have any influence on Nirn so long as they kept up their end of the deal. Additionally, the 37th sermon of Vivec mentions Sotha Sil as holding "his swollen belly," carrying "[his] daughter." While Vivec's sermons are hardly ever literal, Kirkbride's comments suggest that maybe Vivec was being somewhat literal in this instance. Regarding this concept art, Kirkbride said "note the cosmic baby growing inside Sotha Sil. While Sotha Sil is dead as we saw in the add-on pack “Tribunal”, the child survived." Perhaps one of Sotha Sil's many body modifications made him able to carry and birth a child, and then he created a daughter through self-cloning or some other method that allows him to have enough influence to enforce the compact.

TL;DR - Sotha Sil has a lot of similarities with Jesus, so he's a Christ figure and therefore his sacrifice in the Coldharbour Compact was himself, and Almalexia and Vivec too, and that also means that he may still be around.

Anyways, thanks for reading and sorry if this sounds like I'm putting red strings on a wall as my application essay to the r/SothaSimps fan club. Also, lmk if I'm missing anything obvious. For me right now Reading Lore On The Bedroom Floor is a bit more manageable than playing the games, and there may be something I've just completely looked over.