#zossimas

[seaweedisnothere]

Happy Birthday Fyodor Dostoevsky!!! ^^

[mohinidelphina]

Reading Fyodor Pavlovitch rant and rave at dinner with Father Zossima like no wonder they murdered your ass you’re so fucking embarrassing

[pavelsmerdyakov]

If I hung out with Alyosha enough he could probably convert me. I don’t necessarily like what this says about my personality but it’s true

[anthonyopal]

When Father Zossima was young, his dying brother asked forgiveness of the birds: “Though I can’t explain it to you, I like to humble myself before them, because I don’t know how to love them enough.”

These words became a cornerstone in Zossima’s existential theology, embracing love and absurdity - even love as absurdity.

Speaking with visitors before his own death, Zossima recalls his brother’s words: “My brother asked the birds to forgive him - that sounds senseless, but it is right - for all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending - a touch in one place sets up movement at the other end of the earth.”

In Father Zossima, Dostoevsky embodies an honest, human response to the question of theodicy, marking a major development in early existentialist thought.

TO ASK FORGIVENESS OF THE BIRDS is available from The Economy Press.

[nevsky]

Every time I revisit The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky has yet more profound yet melancholy teachings to impart. It is dramatic but he is very eloquent in his ‘stiff’ writing. This monk is so verbose even when he is at death’s door.

[electricmeatorchestra]

orchestra of electric meat plays medley of greatest hits during last ever live jam

[perfectwitchcrown]

Allusions in Make the Exorcist Fall in Love

So far in Make the Exorcist Fall in Love there’s been a lot of allusions to various texts. I thought it might be fun to compile all the ones people have noticed so far as far as I've seen. Some of these are more speculative than others and I will update as I go along. Also, I read Ekuoto as free first read chapters on Mangaplus so unfortunately I can’t go back and check much so this is largely through memory, so if anyone has anything else to add I would greatly appreciate it! All I’ve got is a few screenshots and a dream. If I get anything wrong feel free to correct me! I’ve organized this in order of allusions I’m confident about to allusions I’m less so confident about.

CW: reference to sexual violence

Dante's Divine Comedy and Vita Nuova: Dante Alighieri

This one is pretty obvious since there are characters directly named after the characters figured in Dante’s Inferno. It’s been a long time since I read it, but other details are also taken from the text, such as the frozen center of hell where Satan is located.

Lmao Leah from the Bible (who is probably Leah’s namesake) also shows up in Dante’s Divine Comedy apparently in Purgatorio.

Ok also super important to Dante retellings r Beatrice, who’s used as a symbol of divine love and is instrumental to Dante's journey through hell, purgatory, and paradise, so of course Ekuoto Dante advises Priest to fall in love lmao. So far though there hasn’t been a direct Beatrice in narrative (which there might never be one since the text has already made the Dante-Virgil connection an active choice of Virgilius's to reference the Divine Comedy rather than just an allusion by the author).

To be so real though I figure that Vergilius is probably also intended to be the Beatrice in this narrative.

The points I would draw attention in support of this would be these: 1. Beatrice is the woman who Dante has been in love with since early childhood but unable to ever be with because they both married others. Ekuoto Virgilius and Dante have known each other since childhood, and have something going on. 2. Beatrice is, like Virgil, one of Dante’s guides (through part of purgatorio and paradiso) 3. We still don’t know what Virgilius’s name was before he took that one on. Beatrice does not have a masculine form in current use and I tried finding some sort of nickname that would work and was unable to do so. However. Beatrice’s name is rendered in Japanese as ベアトリーチェ, and Beato is at least a surname. Then again, I’m not sure anyone has both a first name and last name except for Imuri so far???

"Book of Tobit"

I wasn’t familiar w this one so I didn’t notice it until I saw posts pointing it out, but the Asmodeus flashback was a retelling of the book of Tobit. Other people have already done analysis of this so I’d recommend checking other’s out. Unfortunately I failed to save the link to any of them so I can’t pass any along :’) Belfagor arcidiavolo: Machiavelli

Another one that I wasn’t familiar with but have seen people referencing. As above, I recommend checking out other’s analysis. "Those Who Walk Away from Omelas": Ursula K. Le Guin

The Brothers Karamazov: Fyodor Dostoevsky

Ok major spoilers and I also highly recommend this book, but also, its super long so I don’t blame anyone who chooses not to read. This book is about the most disgusting father alive and his three, maybe four, sons: Dimitri, Ivan, Alyosha, and maybe Smerdyakov (rumored to be an illegitimate son). Most of the action follows Alyosha, who is the youngest and probably the most idealistic character in the novel, at least in the beginning. Alyosha starts out as a novice in the local Russian Orthodox monastery under the purview of Father Zossima, an elder who really emphasizes love in religious practice. There's a series of chapters that cover a theological debate between Ivan and Alyosha.

In this theological debate, Ivan is arguing not that God doesn’t exist, but that the foundation of the world as understood by Christianity is something he fundamentally rejects.

Quotations from the Signet Classics edition:

“I don’t accept this world of God’s. Although I know it exists, I don’t accept it at all. It’s not that I don’t accept God, you must understand, it’s the world created by Him I don’t and cannot accept” (Dostoevsky 266) - “If all must suffer to pay for eternal harmony, what have children to do with it?....I understand solidarity in sin among men. I understand solidarity in retribution too; but there can be no such solidarity with children. And if it is really true that they must share responsibility for all their father’s crimes, such a truth is not of this world and is beyond my comprehension” (Dostoevsky 276)

“Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last. Imagine you are doing this but that it is essential and inevitable to torture to death only one tiny creature—that child beating its breast with its fist, for instance—in order to found that edifice on its unavenged tears. Would you consent to be the architect on those conditions?” (This quotation, although from a different translation, is the one that inspired Omelas - I think the bowling alley theological discussion between Virgilius and Priest bears some similarities to this conversation. Its not a debate about the existence of god, but rather a debate whether or not the world envisioned by Christianity is inherently unjust or not. Demian: Hermann Hesse

“The bird fights its way out of the egg. The egg is the world. Who would be born must first destroy a world. The bird flies to God. That God's name is Abraxas”

Potential references but tbh they’re a bit of a stretch:

“Book of Martha”: Octavia Butler

"Book of Martha" is an Octavia Butler short story in the Bloodchild collection about an ordinary woman who is visited by god one day who tells her to choose one thing to change about people to try and make the world a better place. It’s a very short read and I’d recommend reading it before you read the next sentence where I’ll spoil the end.

She eventually decides that the thing to focus on is people’s dreams. Specifically, to give them the things they desire most within their dreams, in the hope that people will be less violent to each other in real life. A stretch, but Octavia Butler comes from similar recommendation circles as Ursula K. Le Guin (feminist science fiction authors with overlapping periods of activity) so I don’t think it’s impossible for the most recent chapters' use of dreams to hold some sort of inspiration from this short story. Again, this one is a pretty big stretch, as the idea of dreams to escape reality is pretty common.

The Monk: Matthew Lewis

Ok! So! Demon seduces a person is like not at all an original story (The Daemon Lover, Cazotte’s The Devil in Love, etc etc). BUT! The Monk is specifically a story that’s like. What if there was this extremely virtuous young man who has never lived in the outside world ever because he was raised in the church as an orphan and then the devil sent a demon girl to seduce him.

I have not finished the book yet so I can’t comment in depth on it other than to say the concept is similar but the execution so far is very different (It's a fairly misogynistic text. Ambrosio turns evil in ways that I doubt Priest will because thematically they’d go completely against the story. Also, The Monk is veryyy lurid in terms of Lust is Evil!!! And will turn you into a murdering maniac!!!! Because evil women are out there seducing you!!! Whereas so far sexual desire in Ekuoto has been handled as a perfectly natural thing, but complicated by religion, patriarchy, trauma, etc.)

This is all I have so far but I'd be interested to see if anyone else has any other ideas!

[elsalouisa]

"[He] chose to read... the chapter in The Brothers Karamazov where Father Zossima receives the poor peasant women who have come on pilgrimage. . . . It was his own sorrow which Dostoevsky painted in this chapter. He too could not forget his little Alyosha. ... The Crown Princess Maria Fyodorovna, the future Empress of Russia, was present at one of these evenings. She too had lost a little son and could not forget it. As she listened to my father’s reading, the Crown Princess cried bitterly. When the reading was over, she turned to the ladies who had organized the evening and told them she would like to have a word with my father. The ladies hastened to carry out her wish, but evidently they were not too bright. Knowing Dostoevsky’s rather suspicious disposition, they feared he might refuse to obey the Crown Princess’ command, and decided to oblige him to do it through a stratagem. They approached my father and, with mysterious  expressions on their faces, said that “‘a certain very, very interesting personality” would like to have a talk with him about the reading he had given.

“What interesting personality?” Dostoevsky asked, surprised.

“You will see for yourself! She is extremely interesting. . .. Please come with us right away!” the young women answered, taking possession of my father. Laughing, they pushed him into a little boudoir and closed the door behind him.

Dostoevsky was astonished by this mysterious behavior. The little room where he was standing was dimly lit by a shaded lamp; a young woman was seated modestly at a small table. At that period of his life, my father no longer looked at young women. He bowed to the stranger as one bows to a lady one meets in a friend’s drawing room; and, since he assumed that the two young pranksters were playing a joke on him, he simply left the room by the opposite door.

Dostoevsky doubtless knew that the Crown Princess had attended the evening, but either thought she had already left or, perhaps, had already forgotten her presence, due to his habitual absentmindedness. He returned to the main drawing room, was immediately surrounded, became involved in an interesting discussion and completely forgot about the “joke.”

A quarter of an hour later, the young women who had led him into the little boudoir rushed up to him.

“What did she say to you? What did she say to you?” they asked eagerly.

“Who?” asked my father in amazement.

“Who? The Crown Princess, of course!”

“The Crown Princess? But where is she? I never saw her!"

Aimée Dostoevsky (Dostoevskaia, L. F. (Liubov Fedorovna) "Fyodor Dostoevsky: A Study"

[katerinakhokhlakova]

I like to go to services at the monastery but as soon as I get there it’s all.. chanting.. and not everyone is paying attention to me and Lise and I would rather them just give us a blessing and go but you have to sit there the whole time *yawn* well am I a horrible person for thinking this? Does Zossima have a blog.

[haly-reads]

Part II Book IV: Woolf compared Dostoevsky’s novels to ‘seething whirlpools’. This one is no exception. As I get acquainted with the Dostoyevskian abyss of the human soul for the second time (the first one being Crime and Punishment), I can only marvel at the sheer brilliance of the writer to have come up with such leviathan as well as soulful characters.

I have profound respect for Alyosha. He's someone that I can just aspire to be. Bring the embodiment of patience and compassion in a world torn with turmoil, Alyosha emerges as a beacon of peace amidst chaos. I don't know if his extreme selflessness is to be condemned but guided by the teachings of his mentor, Father Zossima, he struggles from one end to the other to bring peace and resolve to everyone's mind.

Reading Dostoyevsky is an experience in its own right!

[mohinidelphina]

everyone just keeps asking poor Alyosha for all these favors like damn his elder is dying any minute now and his brothers and father are in some fucked up love hexagon and asking him to relay messages to everyone and their mama like ENOUGH!!!

[pavelsmerdyakov]

Do these Brothers Karamazov characters smoke weed?

Fyodor: it’s happened. But not habitually.

Grigory: Thinks weed is from the devil and if you smoke you will not see the gates of heaven.

Marfa: Tried it once or twice as a young woman but doesn’t partake anymore, in part due to Grigory. #FreeHer

Ivan: tried it once and got so so so so scared. Hit the cart, saw the devil, and started having a panic attack at the sesh. Ohh poor thang. He can’t hang.

Dmitry: Not really a fan, but not a prude about it. Will partake occasionally. Prefers alcohol.

Grushenka: She’s rolling FAT girl blunts with lavender and rose. She has an adorable and extravagant stash box.

Katerina Ivanovna: No and she looks down on people who do. But she smokes Virginia slims when she’s stressing.

Alyosha: Controversially, has tried it.

Father Zossima: level 10000 oldhead wizard stoner. Starts and ends every single day with a bowl in the monastery garden. Has not had a tolerance break since he was like 20. It’s a plant, a natural medicine, and one of God’s creations.

Smerdyakov: Yes, alone in his room at night. And he is NOT fucking sharing.

Marya Kondratyevna: Prefers gummies. It makes her cough :(

Rakitin: Every single day. He reeks of it. And he does NOT clean his bong.

Kolya Krassotkin: who do you think is selling to Rakitin

Madame Kholakova: yes and it’s a secret from Lise

Lise: yes and it’s a secret from Madame Kholakhova

[anthonyopal]

TO ASK FORGIVENESS OF THE BIRDS: The Words of Father Zossima

When Father Zossima was young, his dying brother asked forgiveness of the birds: “Though I can’t explain it to you, I like to humble myself before them, because I don’t know how to love them enough.”

These words became a cornerstone in Zossima’s existential theology, embracing love and absurdity - even love as absurdity.

Speaking with visitors before his own death, Zossima recalls his brother’s words: “My brother asked the birds to forgive him - that sounds senseless, but it is right - for all is like an ocean, all is flowing and blending - a touch in one place sets up movement at the other end of the earth.”

In Father Zossima, Dostoevsky embodies an honest, human response to the question of theodicy, marking a major development in early existentialist thought.

Available from The Economy Press

[eternal--returned]

Alyosha did not wonder why thy loved him so, why they fell down before him and wept with emotion merely at seeing his face. Oh! he understood that for the humble soul of the Russian peasant, worn out by grief and toil, and still more by the everlasting injustice and everlasting sin, his own and the world's, it was the greatest need and comfort to find some one or something holy to fall down before and worship. "Among us there is sin, injustice, and temptation, but yet, somewhere on earth there is some one holy and exalted. He has the truth; he knows the truth; so it is not dead upon the earth; so it will come one day to us, too, and rule over all the earth according to the promise." Alyosha knew that this was just how the people felt and even reasoned. He understood it, but that the elder Zossima was this saint and custodian of God's truth—of that he had no more doubt than the weeping peasants and the sick women who held out their children to the elder. The conviction that after his death the elder would bring extraordinary glory to the monastery was even stronger in Alyosha than in any on there, and, of late a kind of deep flame of inner ecstasy burnt more and more strongly in his heart. He was not at all troubled at this elder's standing as a solitary example before him. "No matter. He is holy. He carries in his heart the secret of renewal for all: that power which will, at last, establish truth on the earth, and all men will be holy and love one another, and there will be no more rich nor poor, no exalted nor humbled, but all will be as the children of God, and the true Kingdom of Christ will come." That was the dream in Alyosha's heart.

Fyodor Dostoevsky ֍ The Brothers Karamazov (1880)

[kafkaespsps]

"Indeed, precious memories may remain even of a bad home, if only the heart knows how to find what is precious" - father zossima, the brothers karamazov, fyodor dostoyevsky (translated by constance garnett).

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

Something that I love is in a novel where so many of the main characters idealize/gravitate towards self-sacrifice, guilt + martyrdom, it is Alyosha the saintly one who never seems to desire that, or who has problems accepting his own happiness. When he sees the desire to self-flagellate in his brothers he speaks out against it. He's got no problem taking pleasure from his life + doing things to please himself. I know he says in the text "I want to suffer" but he doesn't say so after Zossima's death and his promise to love all mankind.

Alyosha does suffer in that he tries to help others always and thus is troubled with the problems of others ... But it's like there's this realization that it's not about suffering at all that's not what is required.