Alright I'm slightly losing my mind over having no one to talk to about Saint's campaign while I wait for friends to finish Rain World so...

These are the main interpretations I've seen online. Please feel free to elaborate/ramble in the tags, especially if you pick the "other" option. I'm curious

Might make some other polls. I have a lot of thoughts if you can't tell

My top ten favorite moments of big drama/climax in classical music

I've run into some "top ten" -style YouTube videos about classical music lately and felt inspired to compose a list somewhat in this vein. These are passages in classical works that get "big and dramatic" in a way I really, really enjoy. I chose these among some pieces I've accumulated over the years as favorites of mine (I've played in many of them, at least as a violinist in the orchestra), and so the list is biased towards the forms of classical music I've been most exposed to, which are heavily skewed towards works centered on the violin or piano. In particular, I have very little knowledge of opera and so didn't consider that, even though there's a special kind of drama and grandiosity that comes with most opera.

I feel a little regret at the idea of "spoiling" the most exciting moments of certain great works for those who might not be familiar with them, and in fact most of these feel more deeply moving in the context of the whole piece. But on the other hand, maybe someone who didn't know about a particular piece will get interested in it from hearing one of its most powerful moments (this is essentially what happened to me in the past few weeks with #2 below).

Honorable mention for solo pieces, the first two of which I played: penultimate and final variation in Bach's partita no. 2, Chaconne, every single entrance of the initial theme of Beethoven's "Pathetique Sonata" first movement, and ending sequence of Chopin's Ballade no. 1, Op. 23 (8:11-9:37 in video) 10) climax of "Jupiter" from Holst's The Planets (7:25-8:01 in video): at the time I first learned it in the youth orchestra, it was the most overwhelming moment in orchestral music I knew both in terms of technical requirements and emotions, so it holds a special place for me although now it feels dwarfed next to these others 9) middle of Sibelius' violin concerto, first movement (11:53 to 13:03 in video): I'm not sure how many would find this passage as memorable as I do, but it makes the entire concerto for me 8) middle of Shostakovich's Symphony no. 5, first movement (10:28-12:48 in video): some moments where everything is happening all at once before falling into place in a unified a powerful statement; Shostakovich tends to leave me a bit cold so I can't feel much emotion for this one but I feel a hot heaviness and I respect the hell out of it 7) cadenza (ossia version) of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto no. 3, first movement (11:07-14:07 in video), first movement: in which the primary theme manifests in full force from the soloist and reaches a new climax 6) climax of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings (5:12-6:30 in video): this one just speaks for itself; when I played this in orchestra, I debated with my friend whether lower tones should have been added at this climax as in some choral adaptations, and my position is still firmly that it is most powerful when left to shrill tones only 5) beginning (29:59-32:27 of video, begun a few lines before the start for contrasting effect) and ending (37:49-38:49 in video) of Saint Saëns' Organ Symphony, fourth movement (I couldn't decide which so cheated and chose both): the entrance of the organ at the beginning is actually quite shocking in context; the ending is an absolutely epic group effort of massive sound from an enhanced orchestra, and by the way I think it goes into 3/1 time signature by the end or something? 4) middle of Bruch's violin concerto, 2nd movement (14:40-15:47 in video), a cathartic peak that I find deeply moving, both to listen to and to play 3) main part of cadenza of Grieg's piano concerto, 1st movement (10:40-12:42 in video): possibly my favorite passage of classical music ever (but I will put two others above it specifically in terms of overwhelming/glorious climax), I don't really have the words to describe this 2) final passages of the (very long) cadenza followed by orchestra re-entrance in Prokofiev's piano concerto no. 2, first movement (8:17-10:17 in video): this is the only piece on this list that I've only just discovered in the last few weeks; the cadenza is so intense and technically extreme that no human with only two hands should be able to play it, and the orchestra roaring back in as the cadenza ends is one of the most dramatic things I've ever heard 1) climax of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade symphonic suite, fourth movement (44:29-47:19 in video), after the later stages of a very long buildup (the human voice roaring thing is something I've only heard from this particular rendition), the theme that distinguished the first movement appears in overwhelmingly grand, dramatic fashion (listen for all the counterpoints and pirouettes from different parts of the woodwinds!) that I find energetically satisfying in a way that tops the rest of these

I might find a way to edit these excerpts into a long sound clip one day (that way they will end automatically and could be played almost back to back without being interspersed with the sound of YouTube ads), but this will do for now.

im not very sure if you're doing abcs for the trio but if u do could u pls maybe do C N O and S for vlad? <3

No worries! I don't see why not, my knowledge is just a little more limited for them is all~

Hope you enjoy these, lovely! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Aight y’all it’s time for me to put on my clown shoes as god intended

Though man, what a delightfully rainy day today to write =v=

Fluff ABCs Template here

Cuddling -- How does he like to cuddle?

He is a simple man, with simple needs.

That being said, I think he’s one for a lot of gentle affection. Despite appearances–I mean hell, he literally wears a necklace of thorns–he’s actually a very tender lover. Loves hand-holding, scooting close under umbrellas, making shapes out of the little beauty marks that dot her skin. He will take any excuse to hold her and run with it.

Ideally, I think he prefers privacy above all else, most typically in his room in the castle. This side of him, so soft with his love for her, belongs to her and her alone. He refuses to let anyone else kill his immersion the moment (cue Charles dragging Faust away from doing something disruptive and stupid), or indulge in the sight of her so rosy-cheeked and loving. Loves dropping little kisses to the crown of her head, her shoulders, the backs of her hands. He’s waited so many long years to be able to hold her close like this, to feel the heat of her blush and the tinkle of sweet giggles when he nips and pecks at her pretty skin. All of this, every single second, is beyond value to him…he cherishes each memory close to his heart, crystallized fragments of joy in a life so bereft of it.

His favorite position for cuddling tends to be a kind of side lean. Usually she’ll be lying down (or turned towards him, sometimes) while he’s on his side beside her (usually against a wall or the back of a sofa). He loves that he can gaze at her as much as he likes this way, he really can’t get enough. The person he was searching for all this time, right here, no sign of leaving…

Nightmare -- What is his worst fear?

Oh boyo boy. Oh boy...

Honestly, I really don’t see anything horrifying him as much as losing MC. I don’t think he’s a man above fear. He hates being abandoned, he’s afraid of the world being torn apart by humanity’s indifference.

But nothing compares to the shattering fear of losing MC.

I think he has a very particular intense fear about losing loved ones because of the nature of his life history. He is still deeply affected by his entire clan being wiped out by hunters, leaving him alone to carry the weight of that legacy and loss. While he couldn’t help but give his heart to the woman who saved him, the reality of his terror is undeniable. After so many centuries of searching, after so many years of feeling hollow and alone…Even now, he has never come to terms with the way his family was ripped away from him. To know the gentleness of love again, to finally have a hand to hold only to lose it…

Well, I really can’t imagine the terrifying result of that. I imagine he would be far beyond reason.

Whenever he has bad dreams of the very same fear, he is nigh inconsolable. He holds her very tightly without saying a word (which is unlike him) and she'll know not to let him go for a while. She murmurs calming things, promises of things they'll do together in the future, strokes his hair and rubs his back. They only leave the bed when he's feeling somewhat stabilized again, but even so he'll hold her hand for longer than usual days after. Embraces her more, finds any excuse to hide away.

Oddity -- What is one quirk he has?

I think one part of him that is overlooked is that he is a man very interested in the nature of contradiction, the duality that resides in all things–himself included. Some parts of his preoccupation are more obvious than others. For instance, he loves flowers due to the nature of their ephemeral beauty, but also enjoys trying to preserve them to let their appeal survive. There’s also the fact that flowers can look or smell lovely, but can harbor poisons strong enough to kill grown human beings. (Not unlike him.)

He is a vampire in which the front-end of his operations is a cathedral, and I imagine that was a purposeful move as well. There are so many angles to consider here, namely two obvious ones that come to mind. There is the non-threatening concept of the cathedral: in which people assume it is a safe haven, a place to seek care/assistance/prayer (not entirely so in this case, even if Faust plays priest.) There’s the possibility that vampire hunters are typically supplied by/supported by the church (not sure if this is the case here, but it is a common trope). That would mean Vlad would be using the face of the very human institution that ruined his life to enact revenge, to say nothing of the potential risk of hunters seeking sanctuary only to run into a den of vampires.

There is also wondering whether or not he purposely wears that necklace of thorns ;;;;; (For anyone unaware, there was the whole Jesus wearing a crown of thorns specifically as an extension of humiliation, branding him the “fake king" of the Jewish people.) My contention here would be that he is basically saying “lmao, I’m your suffering saint now.” Or maybe he’s just really into masochistic jewelry, I have no idea.

He appears to have a kind of obsession with subverting norms/conventional expectations, and I have to wonder if it runs with his general underdog theme…

Secrets -- How open is he with her?

Despite his generally guarded nature, with MC he is entirely transparent when they’re in a relationship. Unless he doesn’t want to scare her or simply feels something would be best shared at a later time, he makes no real attempt to hide anything from her. If she asks and he knows the answer, he’ll spill.

(Okay but sometimes it gets hilarious, because say Faust has been trying for years to get info out of him about some stupidly specific thing. And Vlad is always very evasive, dances out of reach, plain ignores him. MC asks and he’s just like “oh yeah, in 1582 I remember–” It’s a wonder Faust never throws hands about it, pisses him off so much LMFAO)

Before their relationship was established he hesitated more, largely because the nature of his existence and his ties to her were a lot to take in at the time. I think he prefers not to overwhelm her whenever possible. It’s very much a kind of “I won’t info drop on you thoughtlessly, but if you ask me a question I’ll do my best to answer with the truth.”

Review of Oniisama E (Dear brother)

So I've watched «Oniisama e» recently, and it was an amazing experience - the anime gave to me an extraordinary range of feelings.

It suddenly became popular last year (many creators use shots from it in their videos, like «*song's name* slowed and reverb». You know.) I found it by watching a video with piano melody, which was kind of an edit/AMV. Here it is, if you're interested:

In general, this anime is about teenage school years of Nanako (main character), her friends, rivals, also about her family and etc. It's mostly narrated via letters that Nanako sends to her "brother". It takes place in 70s btw. And in a prestigious academy for girls only. Manga was made in 70s, anime in 90s. And it's sort of a shoujo ai.

First of all, this anime unexpectedly reminded me of my primary school years because back then I used to like reading old books (belonging to 20th century) about finishing schools for girls. Those schools were usually focused on etiquette, literature, arts, music. And this anime just resembles that perfectly, but with a more modern attitude. I guess, that's why it was especially interesting for me to watch this, as seemingly no one (apart from me) liked such literature, and here I can see an anime that is suddenly getting popular and is literally equal in terms of atmosphere to those books.

---------

Let's get down to characters. (No major spoilers)

I'd like to start with the "Magnificent Three" - three students that are loved by everyone in this academy.

Fan's favourite is Rei Asaka (or as they say «Saint-Juste-Sama»).

I didn't really like her at first sight, as she seemed as someone who's feigning her coolness and recklessness (I'm too used to such stereotypical characters in anime). But actually, when they started telling us more about her story, showing her problems with mental health (an unusual thing for manga from 70s), her values and ideas, she started becoming more and more interesting as a person. She's probably not my favourite, but after watching the whole thing, I can say that her problems and her relationship with Miya were the main and the only thing that made me watch the whole anime. At some point I started emphasising with her and "cheering her on" through the screen whenever she was about to do something.

P. S. Rei's also a talented musician, can play different musical instruments. That's great!

And I can't omit the fact that she's the meaning of the word AESTHETICS

Miya-sama or Fukiko Ichinomiya. She's the leader of "Sorority", which is a club for elite. I don't have much to say about her apart from that she's undoubtedly a rather bad person, who's quite cruel, yet I couldn't really start hating Miya for that because I emphasised with her too, especially at the end of the series. But that's just probably me because seemingly everyone hates her :D

And Kaoru, or Kaoru-no-Kimi. My favorite :')

She's straightforward, has different ideas about life than others in this school, she also solves everyone's problems (I literally started calling her problem-solver at some point) and fights stereotypes. A good friend, a good student, an awesome athlete...

Nanako is a really kind person, a good friend as well, and incredibly empathetic. She's a good main character, as she's not here just "for the record", but definitely has a personality (and I found her backstory to be very interesting). The fact that she's a narrator also makes her unusual. Her family and relationship with them is superb too :')

Mariko is the one who most of us would understand the most, as she's not a perfect friend or a perfect person, even though she's on "good side" and is Nanako's friend, but she's quite realistic and has lots of negative traits. That doesn't make her bad, though. I'd call her morally neutral, as, opposite to Nanako, she doesn't really care about others and says phrases like "Why do you care about her? You should think about yourself only".

(P.S. can someone explain what polish on her fingernails mean. I'm sure that her having only her thumb varnished should mean something)

I also want to mention that even minor rivals of Nanako turn out to be humane. This anime attempts to show grey morality, which is praiseworthy.

My personal applause for portraying Rei and Kaoru as well-educated, talented and clever students who love reading. You know, it's unusual for new animes, as in them "bad guys" that are "cool" are usually the ones that everyone in schools like, but not the ones like these girls. That makes me sad(

What can I say about plot? Well, obviously, it's not very complicated, as it's a drama about school, but the anime certainly has some HUGE plot twists. (For some people the first one was that Rei was not a guy :D) Oniisama e generally has that nostalgic, soft and breezy atmosphere, but don't get mistaken: it brings up many serious subjects. This anime makes you want to analyse and try to understand characters' feelings, to understand why they make particular decisions or what led them to behaving that way.

I also love the music in the show. Creators pay a lot of attention to it. Some melodies are super emotional, some set the mood. M-8 which Rei always plays is cool, but my favourite one is M-10, Miya's theme. Incredibly intense.

And the reason why many decided to watch it is that Oniisama e is so aesthetically pleasing!

The ending may be a bit disappointing. Personally, I started missing everything that had happened throughout the series at the end of the last episode. Not sure it was the thing that creators intended to do, but here we are. The rest of the anime was cool, especially its middle part. It will seem boring for those who prefer action-oriented anime (well, that's probably obvious).

To sum up, I recommend that anime to those who like old art style and vibes of old animes, those who, like me, used to read something similar and those who want to see some intense drama with shoujo ai elements and maybe cry a bit (or cry your eyes out if you're rather sensitive). Nevertheless, it's going to be an interesting experience for everyone.

P. S. I'm going to make another post with spoilers describing my thoughts on this anime and then a set of icons. Because it's literally full of mesmerising shots.

I really admire so many things about your writing - the introspection and deep meaning, the realistic and sensitive way that you handle topics. Do you have any recs for fav media/books/tv shows/fanfics ? I guess I'm curious if there are any you think might have similar qualities/themes?

This is a tough one because basically everything I consume gets picked apart and reused in some way. However, I’ll give it a shot:

The Book Thief and I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. There’s quite a lot I like about Zusak’s use of language and have since 2007 when I read The Book Thief for the first time, and there’s something very cinematic and magical about I Am the Messenger (particularly in the chapter with the young track runner).

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell. He’s most commonly known for Cloud Atlas, but he has an ongoing theme of vampires and cannibalism reappearing in his work (I just read Slade House for the first time while I was in quarantine) and there’s something deeply satisfying about the way that all of the disparate pieces come to fruition at the climax of The Bone Clocks. Not a perfect book, but deeply satisfying.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver. Again, she’s most commonly known for The Poisonwood Bible, but I liked that well enough to read The Lacuna in 2013, and I completely hated it for the first half of the book until finally something clicked in my brain and I activated the literary critic within, who doesn’t care so much about whether they enjoy something and more cares about how well something is done. The description of US American rationing during World War II really got me onto the novel’s side, if that makes sense; and I do love a good family epic, and while this only focuses on one protagonist instead of generations of them, it’s interesting in a similar way to The Bone Clocks where you see everything start to snowball together.

Literally anything by Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher. I particularly recommend The Raven and The Reindeer, which I read shortly after being diagnosed with my chronic illness and really helped me to understand the irrelevance of shame. There’s something very satisfying about saying “a reindeer doesn’t care if it smells bad, so I’m going to lean into that particular apathy and not allow a bully to take me down over it.” Something comforting about taking shelter in the animal and in survival, when you and your body are in one place and working on the same side, and it’s your brain that’s ready to give up first but your body will keep dragging you through because that’s what it does. Certain lines in Indelicate were inspired by her adaptation of Tam Lin in Jackalope Wives and other Stories (https://www.amazon.com/Jackalope-Wives-Other-Stories-Kingfisher-ebook/dp/B071946RLN). Lots of her short stories are available at this link for free: http://www.redwombatstudio.com/portfolio/writing/short-stories/

TV’s a little harder to unpack, since I don’t always think in terms of visual media, I tend to default to words first. Recently I’ve been enjoying New Amsterdam on NBC--it’s nice to see the radical socialist doctor doing his damnedest to secure the right thing--and Call the Midwife--similar reasons. There’s a lot about meeting someone where they are in both shows that I appreciate.

There’s also a lot of music that inspires my writing so I’ll have to dedicate a post specifically to that in my methods and materials.

Fanfic, though! Lots of my favorites, lots of genres. Here we go:

we are all stardust by synergenic (Losseflame) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/5682496) Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, pairing Finn/Poe Dameron. Sexually explicit, but also leans a lot into physicality. You can probably see the influence on the very first chapter of Indelicate when Eddie’s waking up in pain and Richie’s at his bedside. It’s very much inspired by a similar sickbed scene here.

If They Haven’t Learned Your Name by silentwalrus (https://archiveofourown.org/works/6329503) Captain America/Marvel Cinematic Universe Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes. The holy grail of Steve/Bucky fanfiction. If you want independent character exploration, this is the place to go. Natasha shaving her head? Yes. Sam pleading with Steve to keep his shit together while thirty Koren grandmothers assume they are American celebrities? Yes. Bucky defiantly hunting down his sense of self while bingeing romance novels in a space ship? Yes. Pay particular attention to the Sam chapters, because they’re a beautiful way of defining Steve’s characterization from an outside perspective, and I’m trying to do the same with Eddie looking at Richie in Indelicate.

An Ever-Fixed Mark by AMarguerite (https://archiveofourown.org/works/8523001) Pride & Prejudice (Jane Austen) Elizabeth Bennet/Colonel Fitzwilliam, Elizabeth Bennet/Fitzwilliam Darcy. Soulmark AU. This is one of my longtime favorite fanfictions and what it taught me was cause and effect. The characters move the plot forward based on their assumptions and decisions. Definitely very helpful when I was writing TTHAEL by the seat of my pants.

You Can Keep Holding On by NorthernSparrow (https://archiveofourown.org/works/7233709) Supernatural Dean Winchester/Castiel. Sexually explicit. A lot of the summary I can give here is spoilers, but if you read this one through, you’ll be able to see the inspiration for the “Can you tell me where I can get another Eddie Kaspbrak?” scene in Indelicate.

Work of All Saints by antistar_e (kaikamahine) (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006644) Coco (2017) Imelda Rivera/Héctor Rivera/Ernesto de la Cruz. Sexually mature. Oh my GOD this is a beautiful coming-of-age story set in turn-of-the-century Oaxaca, this is the best complete expansion of canon that I’ve ever seen; the author takes the pieces and runs with them and it is WONDERFUL.

Lycanthropic Studies by Eiiri (https://archiveofourown.org/series/575263) Harry Potter, Remus Lupin/Sirius Black canon-divergence AU. I very much enjoy the meditation on lycanthropy as a chronic illness and I sometimes reread this for comfort. Particularly early on Remus has a rant about how he’s sick and he’s always sick and his life doesn’t stop for it, despite holidays and birthdays he still has to deal with the consequences of his illness and take the devastating medication, and there’s a lot about that that speaks to me. I haven’t kept up with the series for some time, though.

Careful Truths by SassySnowperson (https://archiveofourown.org/works/12111966) Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Bodhi Rook/Luke Skywalker canon-divergence AU. Sexually explicit. Honestly identity p!rn fics are a good inspiration for that third-person limited perspective I’ve been working on in Indelicate. Also I love love LOVE Bodhi Rook. It’s fun watching him run in circles trying to conceal his identity from Luke while completely oblivious to Luke doing exactly the same thing.

Stammtisch by chaya (https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060152) Critical Role: Season 2, Caleb Widogast/Mollymauk Tealeaf, AU. Sexually explicit. Long before Caleb actually leveled up enough to cast Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion, chaya speculated about what kind of spaces he might create for each of his friends. I think it’s a very good resource for really condensing characterization down into lots of images and concepts and deciding what other characters know about them. The idea of making space for someone else is something that I lean into a lot when I write Ben, who’s the kind of man who will set himself on fire to keep those he loves warm, and even though Critical Role has far more material than even IT for determining characterization, and even though this particular moment has already occurred in canon--it’s just a wonderful homey story, and has the kind of found family vibes I like for the Losers as well.

I know that’s a lot to unpack there, but all of those fics are very good and I recommend reading any assortment that appeals to you. (Work of All Saints in particular you don’t have to be familiar with the source material beyond the basic premise; it stands on its own.) Thank you for asking, and thank you for reading!

fic writer tag game, tagged by @mithrilwren​!

Name: the-littlest-goblin

Fandom(s): Only Critical Role as of now. I’ve had ideas for other fandoms in the past but never got the motivation to actually write them.

Where you post: Ao3 primarily, with some shorter fics posted here on tumblr.

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos) this year: the lone wolf dies (also my shortest fic on ao3), a post-97 reaction. Can’t say this is the work I’m most proud of, but I can understand why it was popular; we of the Essek stans were all ravenous for more context after that whirlwind of an episode.

Most Popular One Shot (by kudos) overall: the risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math, my first serious foray into fic (only preceded on my ao3 account by a short, fluffy test of the cr fandom waters). I have sort of mixed feelings on this one - I’m certainly proud of it, but I’ve vastly improved as a writer since then. Still, I’m thrilled people liked it, and I’ll never top it in terms of title.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos) this year: I’ve only written one multi-chapter... so it’s if all the shadows disappeared by default! My attempt to rehabilitate the high school au into something marginally less cringey. Did I succeed? That’s up to you, I guess, but either way I had a blast working on it. I hope I get the right combination of inspiration and motivation to do another multi-chap soon.

Most Popular Multi-Chapter (by kudos) overall: ^

Favourite story you’ve written so far: Definitely my most recent, rational animals: speculative shadowgast fic exploring Liam’s idea of a future where Caleb and Essek are enemy spies with a long-standing sexual tension. Not to plug it or anything, but it’s imo the most ambitious, polished, and poignant thing I’ve written by far.

Fic you were nervous to post: hmmmm that’s tricky. It could go to if all the shadows disappeared or legacy (not so lucky). Both had what I perceived to be major detractors baked in: who likes hs au’s anymore, and I as a reader generally avoid oc-centric fics. I feared a lackluster or outright critical audience response.The former’s popularity was a pleasant surprise, the latter’s lack thereof was less of a blow to my self-esteem than I feared. Both were learning experiences in dealing with nerves and external validation. 

How do you choose your titles?: Google search “quotes about *insert theme/motif here*”. Picking out titles is one of my favorite parts of writing fic and I highly recommend this method if you find it a struggle or a slog. Exceptions exist when I think of a title before I’m finished, as with the risk I took was calculated, but man am I bad at math (we all know the troubled birds meme) and rational animals (lyrics from “Eat Your Heart Out” by Saint Motel).

Do you outline?: When need be, as with longer or more complicated plots. You can probably assume >10k words had an outline, <10k I just started typing and fixed it up later.

Complete: 10! A nice, humble, round number. More to come in time, I’m sure. Also more like 15ish if you count the tumblr-only fics floating around.

In-Progress: Not a whole lot at the moment. I have a document for a shadowgast pride & prejudice au, but don’t get too excited, it’s the farthest thing from finished and I haven’t touched it in months.

Coming soon/not yet started: "Coming soon” implies I have any notion or control over when I complete projects. For “not yet started” I don’t have any concrete ideas rn, but I would like to add a least one other fandom to my repertoire eventually.

Prompts?: I still have one outstanding from when I asked for them... a month ago? two months? I probably won’t be opening up another invitation anytime soon. If you want to send one unsolicited I don’t really mind, but I offer no guarantee whatsoever that it will be completed.

Upcoming work you’re most excited about: I think we’ve established that I don’t have much in the works at the moment. 

Mazouni - A Dandy In Exile - 1969/1982

1958, in the middle of the liberation war. While the rattle of machine guns could be heard in the maquis, in the city, the population listened at low volume to Algerian patriotic songs broadcast by the powerful Egyptian radio: "The Voice of the Arabs". These artists all belonged to a troupe created by the self-proclaimed management of the National Liberation Front (FLN), based in Tunis and claiming to gather a "representative" sample of the Algerian musical movement of the time.

1960, cafe terraces were crowded and glasses of anisette kept coming with metronomic regularity, despite the alarming music of police sirens heard at intervals and the silhouettes of soldiers marching in the streets. The mood was good, united by a tune escaping from everywhere: balconies, where laundry was finishing drying, windows wide open from apartments or restaurants serving the famous Algiers shrimps along with copious rosé wine. Couples spontaneously joined the party upon hearing "Ya Mustafa", punctuated by improvised choirs screaming "Chérie je t’aime, chérie je t’adore". The song, as played by Sétif-born Alberto Staïffi, was a phenomenal success, to the point that even FLN fighters adopted it unanimously. Hence an unfortunate misunderstanding that would trick colonial authorities into believing Mustafa was an ode to the glory of Fellaghas. 

1961, Cheikh Raymond Leyris, a Jewish grand master of ma’luf (one of Algeria’s three Andalusian waves) who was Enrico Macias’ professor, was killed in Constantine, making him the first victim of a terrorist wave that would catch up with Algeria at the dawn of the 1990s by attacking anything that thought, wrote or sang.

Mohamed Mazouni, born January 4, 1940 in Blida – “The City of Roses" both known for its beautiful ‘Blueberry Square’ (saht ettout) in the middle of which a majestic bandstand took center stage, and its brothels – had just turned twenty. He was rather handsome and his memory dragged around a lot of catchy refrains by Rabah Driassa and Abderrahmane Aziz, also natives of Blida, or by 'asri (modern music) masters Bentir or Lamari. He would make good use of all these influences and many others stemming from the Algerian heritage. The young Mohamed was certainly aware of his vocal limits, as he used to underline them: "I had a small voice, I came to terms with it!". But it didn’t lack charm nor authenticity, and it was to improve with age. He began his singing career in those years, chosing bedoui as a style (a Saharan genre popularized among others by the great Khelifi Ahmed). 

1962, the last French soldiers were preparing their pack. A jubilant crowd was proclaiming its joy of an independent Algeria. Remembering the impact of popular music to galvanize the "working classes", the new authorities in office rewarded the former members of the FLN troupe by appointing them at the head of national orchestras. In widespread euphoria, the government encouraged odes to the recovered independence, and refrains to the glory of "restored dignity" sprung from everywhere. Abderrahmane Aziz, a star of 'asri (Algiers’ yé-yé) was a favorite with Mabrouk Alik ("Congratulations, Mohamed / Algeria came back to you"); Blaoui Houari, a precursor of Raï music, praised the courage of Zabana the hero; Kamel Hamadi recalled in Kabyle the experience of Amirouche the chahid (martyr), and even the venerable Remitti had her own song for the Children of Algeria. All this under the benevolent eye (and ear) of the regime led by Ahmed Ben Bella, the herald of the single party and vigilant guardian of the "Arab-Islamic values" established as a code of conduct. Singers were praised the Egyptian model, as well as Andalusian art intended for a nascent petty bourgeoisie and decreed a "national classic"; some did not hesitate to sell out. These Khobzists – an Algerian humorous term mocking those who put “putting-food-on-the-table” reasons forward to justify their allegiance to the system – were to monopolize all programs and stages, while on the fringes, popular music settled for animating wedding or circumcision celebrations. Its absence in the media further strengthened its regionalization: each genre (chaâbi, chaouï, Kabyle, Oranian...) stayed confined within its local boundaries, and its "national representatives" were those whose tunes didn’t bother anyone. The first criticisms would emanate from France, where many Algerian artists went to tackle other styles. During the Kabyle-expression time slot on Radio Paris, Slimane Azem – once accused of "collaboration" – sang, evoking animals, the first political lines denouncing the dictatorship and preconceived thinking prevailing in his country. The reaction was swift: under pressure from the Algerian government, the Kabyle minute was cancelled. Even in Algeria, Ahmed Baghdadi aka Saber, an idol for fans of Raï music (still called "Oranian folklore"), was imprisoned for denouncing the bureaucracy of El Khedma (work).

For his part, Mazouni was to be noticed through a very committed song: Rebtouh Fel Mechnak (“They tied him to the guillotine”). But above all, the general public discovered him through a performance at the Ibn Khaldoun Theater (formerly Pierre Bordes Theater, in the heart of Algiers), broadcast by the Algerian Radio Broadcasting, later renamed ENTV. This would enable him to integrate the Algerian National Theater’s artistic troupe. Then, to pay tribute to independence, he sang “Farewell France, Hello Algeria”. 1965: Boumediene's coup only made matters worse. Algeria adopted a Soviet-style profile where everything was planned, even music. Associations devoted to Arab-Andalusian music proliferated and some sycophantic music movement emerged, in charge of spreading the message about "fundamental options". Not so far from the real-fake lyricism epitomized by Djamel Amrani, the poet who evoked a “woman as beautiful as a self-managed farm". The power glorified itself through cultural weeks abroad or official events, summoning troubadours rallied to its cause. On the other hand, popular music kept surviving through wedding, banquets and 45s recorded for private companies, undergoing censorship and increased surveillance from the military.

As for Mazouni, he followed his path, recording a few popular tunes, but he also was in the mood for traveling beyond the Mediterranean: "In 1969 I left Algeria to settle in France. I wanted to get a change of air, to discover new artistic worlds". He, then, had no idea that he was about to become an idolized star within the immigrant community. During the 1950s and 1960s, when parents were hugging the walls, almost apologizing for existing, a few Maghrebi artists assumed Western names to hide their origins. This was the case of Laïd Hamani, an Algerian from Kabylia, better known as Victor Leed, a rocker from the Golf Drouot’s heyday, or of Moroccan Berber Abdelghafour Mociane, the self-proclaimed “Vigon”, a hack of a r&b voice. Others, far more numerous, made careers in the shadow of cafes run by their compatriots, performing on makeshift stages: a few chairs around a table with two or three microphones on it, with terrible feedback occasionally interfering. Their names were Ahmed Wahby or Dahmane El Harrachi. Between the Bastille, Nation, Saint-Michel, Belleville and Barbès districts, an exclusively communitarian, generally male audience previously informed by a few words written on a slate, came to applaud the announced singers. It happened on Friday and Saturday nights, plus on extra Sunday afternoons.

In a nostalgia-clouded atmosphere heated by draft beers, customers – from this isolated population, a part of the French people nevertheless – hung on the words of these musicians who resembled them so much. Like many of them, they worked hard all week, impatiently waiting for the weekend to get intoxicated with some tunes from the village. Sometimes, they spent Saturday afternoons at movie theaters such as the Delta or the Louxor, with extra mini-concerts during intermissions, dreaming, eyes open, to the sound of Abdel Halim Hafez’ voice whispering melancholic songs or Indian laments made in Bombay on full screen. And the radio or records were also there for people to be touched to the rhythm of Oum Kalsoum’s songs, and scopitones as well to watch one’s favorite star’s videos again and again.

Dumbfounded, Mohamed received this atmosphere of culture of exile and much more in the face. Fully immersed in it, he soaked up the songs of Dahmane El Harrachi (the creator of Ya Rayah), Slimane Azem, Akli Yahiaten or Cheikh El Hasnaoui, but also those from the crazy years of twist and rock’n’roll as embodied by Johnny Hallyday, Les Chaussettes Noires or Les Chats Sauvages, not to mention Elvis Presley and the triumphant beginnings of Anglo-Saxon pop music. Between 1970 and 1990, he had a series of hits such bearing such titles as “Miniskirt”, “Darling Lady”, “20 years in France”, “Faded Blue”, Clichy, Daag Dagui, “Comrade”, “Tell me it’s not true” or “I’m the Chaoui”, some kind of unifying anthem for all regions of Algeria, as he explained: "I sang for people who, like me, experienced exile. I was and have always remained very attached to my country, Algeria. To me, it’s not about people from Constantine, Oran or Algiers, it’s just about Algerians. I sing in classical or dialectal Arabic as much as in French and Kabyle”.

Mazouni, a dandy shattered by his century and always all spruced up who barely performed on stage, had greatly benefited from the impact of scopitones, the ancestors of music videos – those image and sound machines inevitably found in many bars held by immigrants. His strength lay in Arabic lyrics all his compatriots could understand, and catchy melodies accompanied by violin, goblet drum, qanun, tar (a small tambourine with jingles), lute, and sometimes electric guitar on yé-yé compositions. Like a politician, Mazouni drew on all themes knowing that he would nail it each time. This earned him the nickname "Polaroid singer" – let’s add "kaleidoscope" to it. Both a conformist (his lectures on infidelity or mixed-race marriage) and disturbing singer (his lyrics about the agitation upon seeing a mini-skirt or being on the make in high school…), Mohamed Mazouni crossed the 1960s and 1970s with his dark humor and unifying mix of local styles. Besides his trivial topics, he also denounced racism and the appalling condition of immigrant workers. However, his way of telling of high school girls, cars and pleasure places earned him the favors of France’s young migrant zazous.

But by casting his net too wide, he made a mistake in 1991, during the interactive Gulf War, supporting Saddam Hussein’s position through his provocative title Zadam Ya Saddam (“Go Saddam”). He was banned from residing in France for five years, only returning in 2013 for a concert at the Arab World Institute where he appeared dressed as the Bedouin of his beginnings.

At the end of the 1990s, the very wide distribution of Michèle Collery and Anaïs Prosaïc's documentary on Arabic and Berber scopitones, highlighted Mazouni’s important role, giving new impetus to his career.  

Living in Algeria, Mohamed Mazouni did not stop singing and even had a few local hits, always driven by a “wide targeting” ambition. This compilation, the first one dedicated to him, includes all of his never-reissued “hits” with, as a bonus, unobtainable songs such as L’amour Maâk, Bleu Délavé or Daag Dagui.

share the love con panels

thought i’d write down some interesting answers from the cast (there were many more, but i have a bad memory and i took only a few notes)

first of all, before the panels even started the staff told us not to ask questions about season four, we know they are filming it, but they can’t talk about it. so yeah, our hopes and dreams of an announcement or besse making a surprise appearance (🤡) didn’t come true. they never talked about it, when you mentioned it to them they raised their hands or zipped their mouths or were like “idk what u’re talking about 👀😇😬” so obviously they contractually have to keep their mouths shut. but it’s happening y’all!

the only one who slipped, at the very last panel, was rocco and i was the culprit lol. i asked them if they’d imagined the fandom would support them and fight so hard during the cancellation months and bea said no, seeing our hashtags trending almost every day and receiving so much love was touching and incredible. she made rocco talk (mentioned how “he became saint rocco”) and rocco also said he couldn’t imagine the amount of support, and that “the power is all in your hands, and it was worth it-“ and then realized he spoke too much dhshdhfvk the others side-eyed him and he was like “ops” but we all laughed and moved on.

pietro had a lgbtq+ themed panel with an italian youtuber called shanti. they talked a lot about representation, how it changed for the better in the last 20 years or so, how for example right now there’s attention being given to trans* storylines too, and pietro made some really good points about how a show like skam italia should give hope and a positive representation to a young audience, without unnecessary violence or struggles inserted just for tragedy’s sake. how it may seem that martino lives an “easy” and relatively painless experience coming out and being gay, at least in his season, but young queer people should hope and know that that’s possible for them too. he said that he and filippo are different, and it’s good and precious that they are. we don’t know if filippo is an activist, like pietro is, but sometimes sharing one’s personal experience is enough to help. even if filo is not shown as an activist, he is so aware of his identity, he shares his own experience and point of view with marti and it gives marti courage. and that’s enough. finally, i asked what his favorite lgbtq+ tv shows are and he said queer as folk (he realized he was gay thanks to qaf), he absolutely loved euphoria, and thinks sense8 is a masterpiece (but he didn’t finish it smh). he said elite is just cute (😤) and he also told another fan he finished and loved fleabag!!

i also asked pietro what he, besse, rocco and fede were doing in the carrefour parking lot that night in august and he said that supermarket is open 24h and close to his house and he had to go buy groceries so he caught two birds with one stone, called them up and they drank and ate tramezzini (cold sandwiches, besse got a burrito he said) in the parking lot... and yes, they were organizing the revolution.

fede said what he likes the most about martino is his devotion to the people he loves. what he doesn’t like is how sometimes he shuts out the rest of the world, but it’s a problem he has learned to solve.

rocco said he’s thankful that skam italia has given him more awareness on some topics he used to treat superficially. he also talked about how much he relied on ludo and his research to portray bpd respectfully, and he’s glad that people found themselves represented in nico and that he could help them. it’s the greatest compliment. his eyes shine when he talks about nico, he loves his character so much.

a fan asked what was their favorite line to say. rocco’s is “non è figo il mio tipo?”, greta’s is “gli dei sono immortali”, nicholas’s is “sei frocio?”, pietro’s is “l’acqua solo se mi prende fuoco camera” from season 3, fede said “does it have to be my line? cause i like no zì sbagliato” but for his own it’s “minuto per minuto”. i can’t remember bea’s 😭

greta said the girls tend to stick to the script a lot more than the boys, she said ludovico tersigni literally never says a line how it’s written. nicholas confirmed that the boys (contrabbandieri) tend to improvise more and use the script sort of as a base, and that they piss besse off because he says it looks like they go on set just to goof around and gossip and not to do their jobs lol

i asked nicholas if they ate luchino’s pizza crusts. he said he had like 7 kilos of them because they had to retake that scene many many times, cause they wouldn’t stop laughing, as we can see in the bloopers (he also said it was the most fun scene to shoot) and bessegato would just keep adding mustard, ketchup and mayo on them. he felt sick the day after and “tasted mustard for a week”. fyi, nicholas and luchino are literally the same person. there’s no line between the character and the person, i love him so much. he also said he was having the time of his life in bracciano, with the light summer breeze, while the others were dying in their clothes and blankets.

marti’s spirit animal is the fox, fede’s is a golden retriever (debatable but okay). i think rocco said a cat, greta said besse once told her silvia is a goldfish, bea feels like a tiger but thinks sana is an eagle and i didn’t get the rest cause it was all very confusing lol

federico’s panel on sunday was actually very interesting, he is actually quite eloquent and deep when he wants to. he talked about how he really took the “minuto per minuto” philosophy to heart. how he doesn’t set long-term goals for himself, because he wants the freedom to change. how he chose to study medicine because after high school he knew he wanted to keep studying, and a bit like acting, there’s a fundamental human aspect to it that he’s always been interested in.

a fan reminded him it was marti and nico’s anniversary and he said “how are they celebrating? patatine e marmellata or sushi? in nicco’s new house? have our heroes moved there?” and we were all like Bitch u tell us... ofc he didn’t. but he said he imagines marti and nico celebrating their anniversary at a sushi restaurant in porto fluviale, in ostiense (rome). also, fede says their anniversary is bracciano (dec 1st) and rocco says it’s nel mio letto (nov 1st), i’m afraid we have to go with fede on this one.

i think the best question out of every panel was about marti’s interest in gio: was it real, or was it just a fixation? he said it was real interest, that stayed over the summer too. he and ludo had to find a way to show the shift in martino, and it was hard because they switched seasons and so there was no time for it to be gradually shown. however, where they imagined that shift to happen, is in ep1 when gio sleeps in marti’s bed. marti feels uneasy because of his feelings for him, but at the same time, he is uneasy because of the guilt. when he talks with eva on the phone and sees how giovanni reacts to that, how he’s still so clearly into her, he decides he has to move on from him, and gives up any hope or idea to have a relationship with him.

at rocco and fede’s sunday panel, rocco said he admires federico’s dedication to his work and his professionalism. fede and him bantered and bickered a lot, it was adorable, especially when rocco said some nonsense metaphor and fede was like “basta!” and fede kept asking for more compliments. but the question was about what marti and nico liked the most about each other, and federico said “it’s the kind of love where you like someone so much and you don’t even know why” as in, because you like everything about them, so that was beautiful.

a fan asked if there was any embarrassment between them, they said of course initially there was a lil bit of awkwardness, but they warmed up to each other immediately. one of the very first scenes they shot was an intimate one, rocco said the first kiss they shot was nel mio letto and they’d never rehearsed kissing before. amazing.

fede’s favorite color is blue (nicholas’ too).

rocco and nicholas sat in the crowd at the end of fede’s panel and rocco was like “tell us the story of bambi” and fede called him “er lucertola” and said it all started because of a tossico (junkie/drunk), i love them. nicholas made fun of him for his role in “i cesaroni” but fede said he’s only jealous cause they auditioned for the same role but fede got it, and nicholas has him saved as “andy dei cesaroni” in his phone. 

some anecdotes from other moments (m&g, dinners) i found on twitter: federico said when they shot la grotta, there was this whole solemn atmosphere, and then he broke it cause when they finished shooting he realized he had rocco’s snot on his face and he was like “MA CHE CAZZO È, CHE SCHIFO (what the fuck, gross)” and said rocco was always crying on him (i guess referring to the martino e niccolò clip) and rocco was like yes there was a significant exchange of bodily fluids. okay rocchì.

apparently fede likes his beard so much he said he doesn’t recognize himself without it. 

some fans adopted two giraffes in the bioparco di roma in their name as a gift!

rocco cried on the phone with bessegato when skam italia was cancelled. we been knew but it hurts to get the confirmation.

maxence and lukas are two rays of sunshine. not an anecdote, but i felt like saying it.

last but not least, rocco, nicholas and fede went absolutely batshit over @crazybee‘s “alt er besse” shirt. their reactions were priceless. rocco and nicholas took pics of them, nicholas was the one who sent them to besse and he reposted it on ig. forever blessed.

Possible Precure Concept # 4

Phantom Thieves

As promised, here it is.

The idea popped into my head a few months ago. Can’t remember whether or not Yuni made her first appearance at that point yet but whatever.

So! Picture it. A Precure team completely composed of kaitou who go about purifying corrupted artwork/valuable treasure and fighting villains aiming to “taint” the world in desolate colors or something like that (is that too Smile-like? that’s too much like Smile, isn’t it?).

No, you are not wrong. It takes inspiration straight from Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, Saint Tail and maybe even a little bit of Persona 5 even though I’ve only watched like the first 6 episodes of the adaptation and never played the game (I can see why it’s so popular, though).

Anyways, I just thought it’d be cool to see Precure’s take on this concept. I wasn’t even deterred when StarPre brought out Blue Cat because it’s not like Toei doesn’t recycle stuff from past seasons.

However, there are several things I believe that can keep it off the consideration table. Like...

1) The one or two people who think it might suggest to kids to become criminals.

......Honestly? Honestly, if you steal only from the dirty rich, then I am absolutely FINE with that. Seriously, have your fun and EAT THE RICH!!

Ok, j/k, j/k except not really but the thing with phantom thieves (besides the fact that they are largely fictional) is that...there’s a sense of romanticism that sets them apart from other types of outlaws. At least the ones I came across, they mostly use trickery and cunning (and their charm) but rarely do they ever resort to violence or worse to get the job done.

And in some cases, the thief may have a noble motive for committing the crimes (like how Yuni did it to reclaim the resources for her home planet but donated everything else to the poor). I think that’s why phantom thieves are so compatible with the magical girl genre.

Because you know the MC is actually a good person performing a heroic deed but at the same time they’re operating well outside of what’s legal. And that’s what makes the story all the more thrilling to follow.

You want them to escape the police. You want them to steal the target. You want them to succeed because at the end of the day, they are not the villain.

That’s exciting, isn’t it? :D

...but hey, y’know...if the writers are afraid of the wrath of a few individuals who take a children’s anime way too seriously then that’s their call. :P

Pretty sure there’s no one that paranoid though...maybe... I dunno.

In any case, we can all agree it’s an interesting pitch, yea?

Yea. Next concern then.

2) It’s already been done.

On top of that, old favorites like KKJ and Saint Tail have the edge of nostalgia supporting them which will inevitably lead to the silly argument of “who did it better”.

Not that that’s ever stopped us before. I mean, look at KiraPre. At the start of its run, it drew tons of comparison with Tokyo Mew Mew but still became a very successful and beloved season among Precure fans.

So really, there is no issue there (in fact, the more magical phantom thieves, the merrier) because the story is likely always going to be different.

Which brings me to my next point...

3) Narrative

Among the majority (or perhaps, the more traditional?) of magical girl series, the plot is usually “normal girl obtains magical powers to fight evil and save the world”.

The plot is simple. The story isn’t.

The story is how you tell the plot.

Which makes comparisons between different series almost kinda pointless because no story progresses the same way as another does nor would they have details that are exactly alike.

Especially if Toei one day decides that it wants to take a shot at this idea for their cash cow franchise, then they already have a striking appeal the two aforementioned titles don’t: a team of phantom thieves.

Granted, that’s easier said than done.

Even though I’m proposing it, I can’t deny it might be hard to pull off well.

I dunno. I’m always under the impression that phantom thieves work better alone (their non-action accomplices aside). Less things to worry about on their end, less things to trip them up.

But why not take on the challenge? If you can manage to get a bunch of colorful personalities and/or headstrong egos to cooperate on big “heists” together, that would be pretty impressive.

Plus, let’s not forget that Toei has 16+ years of trumpeting the magic of “friendship and teamwork” under their belt with 50-so episodes spanning each year-long season to boot. Planning and writing fleshed-out character arcs and group development should be their forte by now.

Admittedly, they’re not always perfect at it but the point is, this is not unfamiliar territory for them.

Of course, there’s a lot more to a story than just its main cast and what razzle dazzle effects they can do. You also need good supporting characters, antagonists worth our attention, interesting (and in this case, clever) one-shot fillers, the usual one or two unexpected twists and perhaps most importantly, a solid narrative theme to work with.

“Phantom thieves” are a motif, not a narrative theme.

A motif is something that helps explains the theme (or message) the show wants to convey.

Like “hope versus despair”, loneliness, love (this one’s been broadly overused but yea, it is one), etc. Those are all themes.

Unfortunately, I can’t think of a theme that would correspond well to “phantom thieves” as motif at the moment.

Hmmm…maybe “justice”?

But what the heck, I’m not part of the writing staff. This is their job to think up, not mine! xP

…still, I think it’ll require a good amount of brainstorming if you really want it to turn out good.

Um…what else?

I guess, just smaller things like whether to use “Cure ______” or “Kaitou _____” because a stock trait of phantom thieves series is that they like to announce themselves as “Phantom Thief so-and-so”…so I’m wondering if the Cure title will even matter?

It feels less like a Precure show if the girls don’t actually call themselves “Cures”, doesn’t it?

Uuuuuuhhhhh…oh yea!

For every phantom thief, there is usually always a detective chasing after them and maybe even a rival thief that comes in later during the story.

I think it’d be a fascinating twist if the detective was a girl in the same class as the starter Cure(s) who ends up befriending said Cure(s) not knowing she’s (they’re) the same as the thief(s) she’s trying to catch. Then the reveal happens at the worse timing (ep 30ish) but she makes the decision to protect the Cure(s)…by becoming a Cure herself…and you can guess at what happens next but it’s pretty predictable. She comes to terms with it and drops her day job to become a magical girl and steal for the sake of good.

..Yea.

As for the rival part, I’m still really pushing for opposing Precure teams. Ideally, a two-against-two scenario where they (maybe one-sidedly) compete to see who can purify the most monsters until circumstances push them to see they’re better working together.

…lol, I dunno. It may not work with the principles of Precure in general but I’m just having a lot of fun right now thinking all this up. xD;

So yea, that’s another big one to add to my Precure wishlist.

If it becomes reality someday, I’ll…well, I’ll definitely not stop screaming for the next five years, that’s for sure. xDD;;;

Tale as old as time [teaser section]

AN: well, not so much as a teaser as part of the “we’re finally in Greece after spending an ungodly amount of time in southern England trying to figure our next step (that and unpacking who’s who and who’s dating who)” plot.  Very much in progress as I’m constantly adding or reworking sections because I’m fussy with my writing. And yes, there is a reference to a particular Disney cartoon involving hockey-playing ducks. (Because, I like murdering canon like that)

“Everyone in one piece?" Lise called out to the girls as they finally found themselves in Sanctuary. The travel there had been brutal - Hera's Cosmos had altered it just enough that it had been sheer torture just trying to get in. Various calls of confirmation settled her nerves, but only just managed to do so. She still had to fight down the queasy, uneasy feeling of the wrongness that had settled into this holy place. (It was currently making Death Queen Island feel like a charming little vacation spot - of course, she planned on *never* saying that within Ikki's presence. That was something that would have the others wondering if she had a bit of a death wish). Alala glanced about before spying what she thought was a Saint in the distance, her eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "So, think Hera's been watching Isle of Lost Souls again?" she asked, turning her gaze to Ciri, a look of something swimming in their depths as she thought about what she would love to do to Hera. "Isle of.." Ciri started, her voice trailing off as she tried to recall why that movie title sounded so damn familiar. She promptly shot a stink eye at Alala once she recalled the movie in question - not one of her favorites. "Really? And if you must name the movie, it was Island of Lost Souls, Alala." "Are we really discussing horror classics from the nineteen thirties right now?" Eira asked as she peered around, trying to find something to get her bearings so she could go find the Temple of the Golden Ram. (And here she groaned - she really hated the cutesy names the temples of the Golden Saints had. What was wrong with just a simple "Temple of Aries" or "Temple of Virgo"? But no, Athena had to have titles like "Temple of the Virgin" and "Temple of the Golden Crab".) "I'll take the old horror classics over the more modern blood, sex and gore trite crap," Ciri answered. "I'll take horror tropes for two hundred, Alex," she teased Lise, knowing the other's fondness for that particular trivia show - and she knew enough not to even try to play against her when they were watching it. If Lise knew the category, she'd answer every question on the board. "This trope is commonly used by the cast to their complete detriment because bad things tend to happen to the heroes when they do this," Lise said absently, trying to send a pulse of her Cosmos to alert her lover, her soulmate to her being there. "What is splitting up?" Ciri asked, earning a slight but strained chuckle from the rest of the girls. "Please tell me you really aren't suggesting that we do just that," Rhosyn opined. She paused a moment when she saw Ciri's face and let out wearied and fully exasperated sigh at that. "You are," she said as she pinched the bridge of her nose, a pained expression crossing her features. Why was she getting the feeling that this was going to be a bad move to end all bad moves? "Quickest way to find the boys," Ciri said. "Send a pulse of Cosmos out to let us know once you found them," she continued. "Sounds like a viable plan." "A viable plan would be sticking together because we have no idea what the temperament of the Saints would be right now," Althaia countered, trying to act as a voice of reason - even if she knew she probably wouldn't be entirely successful at doing so. "I mean, for pity's sake, Shiryū's probably a dragon if Hera used their Cloths as the basis for her curse. Which means some of them are probably generic beasties because they don't have a specified animal, like Saga and Kanon for example." "Actually," Lise said, slanting her gaze towards Althaia, a thoughtful expression crossing her features, "because Kanon did a stint as the Sea Dragon Mariner, and since Saga is the Golden Saint of Gemini, ergo twins, so it's possible that it impacted the curse in such a way so that both twins are probably cursed to be sea dragons. But, this is just a guess, mind you." "Okay," Ciri said, holding up her hand in the shape of a t, capturing everyone's attention. "Before we go much further, let's try and figure out what we're looking at. If we go with the aforementioned theory that the curse pulls on their Cloths, that means Hyōga's a swan, Mū's a ram, Saga and Kanon are probably sea dragons if we go with Persephone's theory, Aphrodite's a fish and titans know what the curse has done to Shun." She slanted a Look at Eira. "Don't you even dare to start humming any music from Swan Lake." Eira just smiled, her pale emerald eyes twinkling with sheer mischief. "Nope, I was going to hum the theme from that one Disney cartoon Hyōga got me hooked on." Ciri gave her a flat stare as she quickly recalled which cartoon that had been. "Those were *ducks*," she said slowly, not quite believing that she was even having this particular conversation. "Ducks, Eira, quack quack, not honk." "Anthropomorphic alien ducks that played hockey and fought alien lizards," Eira said, chuckling. "Oh, to have been a fly on that wall during the pitch for that series." "Getting back on track," Lise said, crossing her arms over her chest, glancing between the small group. "As much as I hate the idea of splitting up to look for the boys,  Ciri did raise a good point. We can cover more ground if we split up. There's six of us and twelve temples, that means we cover two temples a piece." She took a small steadying breath. "All right, Eira, you'll take the temples for Aries and Taurus. Rhosyn, you'll take the temples for Pisces and Aquarius. Althaia, you'll take the temples for Sagittarius and Capricorn. Alala, you'll take the temples for Gemini and Cancer. Ciri, you'll take the temples for Libra and Scorpio. I'll take the temples for Leo and Virgo. Sound good?" The girls silently looked amongst each other and as one nodded. "Good luck and Godspeed," Lise said as she began the slow trek to where the temple of the Holy Lion or whatever the hell of a fancy title Athena gave it was - after this, she was never going to complain about her husband's realm again, at least that didn't require her to climb a gods be damned mountain! Leo came before Virgo in the zodiac so she was hopefully bound to run into the Gold saint, Aiolia, first. A minor wince crossed her features as she realized that meant he was probably half lion and half man due to the nature of Hera's curse. Well, hopefully more man than lion but her luck was never that good.. Of course, she just had to jinx herself as a raging cosmos was fast approaching. She barely had time to call on her sacred cloth in defense before it was upon her. She raised her staff in a defensive pose, barely keeping the being from landing on her before it leapt backwards, landing in a crouch, looking all the world to be getting ready to pounce again. She took a steadying breath, keeping her staff grasped tightly in her hands, her knuckles turning bone-white with the strength of her grip. She swallowed harshly as she studied the being before her - both lion and man in some unholy mixture. Well, at least she had found one of Athena's eighty-eight Saints, or rather one found her in this case. "Leo Aiolia," she said, her voice calm and steady despite herself, "stand down." The beast cocked his head as he stared at her before he slowly settled down. "You're not Hera," he said, his voice rough, raspy. "I'm not sure if I should be insulted at being thought of as my aunt," Lise muttered under her breath. "No, not Hera. Lise DeAvaon," she said, "or Persephone. I'll answer to either." She shrugged slightly, her eyes watching him to see what he would do next. She sent a small pulse of Cosmos to Ciri, alerting her to the fact that she found one of the Saints but not to come just yet. She needed more information before she'd drag the other girls to her location. "You came by yourself?" Aiolia asked, tilting his head in the other direction. "No, I'm not that insane to think I could handle however many Saints that have been afflicted by Hera's curse on my own. There's five others with me," she said, giving a small huff. "Which others?" Aiolia asked, still studying her - unused to seeing Athena's sister in her Holy Cloth, or rather, unused to seeing Athena's sister period. It was rare that she ever ventured into public like this, preferring to operate behind the scenes - which was probably one reason that Shun (or Hades, whichever, it was still hard to wrap his brain around that little fact - some year, he was going to have to have Mu sit down and explain it to him in terms that he could clearly understand) adored her. "Oh for the love of grandmother Rhea," she groaned softly. "My older sister Artemis, Rhosyn, Eira, Alala and Althaia." Aiolia gave her the flattest look he could manage given his new facial structure. "Eira. You brought Eira with you." "Well, she is Mū's girlfriend, which is something we still wonder how the bloody hell happened," Lise answered with a mild shrug. "And she's bonded so she felt his Cosmos change so you really think she wouldn't be coming?" Aiolia just stared at her. "Woman," he began slowly. "Think about her sense of humor for a moment. Now, look at me. Need I say anything else." Lise blinked a moment, her mind running over what he just said and what she knew about Eira. "Oh no," she groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I am so, so sorry, Aiolia." He reached over and patted her head. "I'm surprised she hasn't already started with the jokes." "Well.." Lise said, her voice trailing off for a moment. "She did threaten to hum the theme to the Mighty Ducks cartoon." "The what?" Aiolia blinked, confusion in his gaze. "You never watched Disney cartoons?" Lise answered, arching an eyebrow ever so slightly. Aiolia blinked a moment, trying to wrap his brain around what Lise was getting at and immediately groaned when he remembered catching an episode when he was visiting Hyōga during one of the rare quiet moments before another Holy War would begin. "Hyōga's a fucking swan. He go honk not quack." "Wow, that is frighteningly similar to what Arty said," Lise said, amusement lacing her words. Aiolia cast his gaze heavenward. "Lovely," he said. "So, moving on. The girls all right?" he asked, tensing a moment as he felt something approach. "As all right as one can get when your bonded one is currently appearing to be a petting zoo person," Lise answered, her pale gaze drifting about, trying to figure out where the new pulse of Cosmos was coming from. "I make no promises of not swatting at Eira if she makes one Lion King joke," Aiolia said, stepping slightly in front of Lise in an attempt to protect the young goddess from the impending threat - he couldn't quite get a good read on the Cosmos with his condition fouling things up. "What about Kimba, the white lion then?" she asked innocently, batting pale blue eyes. "We do not talk about Kimba," he snarked. He let out a minor relieved sigh when he saw who it was. "Well hello, lunch," he said, his voice full of innocent teasing. Aphrodite merely raised one hand and then one finger in response to the teasing. He peered around Aiolia to spot the young goddess that was being hidden behind him. "That's not Athena." "Her younger sister, which you should have remembered," Lise huffed, sticking her tongue out at the Pisces saint. "I only helped hook you up with Rhosyn. She's here by the way." Aphrodite was grateful that his changed appearance meant she couldn't tell how badly he paled at that pronouncement. "Here? As in here in Greece or as in she's actually in Sanctuary?" "Well, she's supposed to be checking out whatever fancy name 'Thena gave the temples of Pieces and Aquarius," she said, shrugging slightly. "And I know, I know, I already got lectured from Aiolia about bringing Eira with me." Aphrodite felt his left eye twitch. "That woman is a menace to one's sanity." "That woman's dating Mū, and she's worried about him." "I still want to know how the hell that happened," Aphrodite muttered. He had always thought Mū was married to his job as both Gold Saint to Athena and as the Cloth Blacksmith - but well, that theory had been all shot to hell when he accidentally (well, maybe not so accidentally - he had planned on dragging Mū with him and the others to lunch) entered Mū's temple and found him with Eira. There was not enough alcohol in the world to have dealt with those scarring mental images. "You and just about everyone else," Lise said, idly shrugging. "But that's neither here nor there at the moment." Aphrodite's expression softened as best it could and he made his way over, placing a hand on the young mortal goddess's shoulder. "Truth now, how you holding up?" he asked gently, concern welling up for the young woman. Lise swallowed harshly, the tears finally streaking down her cheeks as she finally broke - something she hadn't been allowing herself to do because she knew she had to be strong for the others. "Barely." Aiolia glanced at Aphrodite and the two shared a silent conversation, ending with Aiolia nodding and sending a small burst of his Cosmos towards where he knew a particular Bronze was hiding.

Queen Oito and Her Thematic Resonance

So one of my favorite characters introduced in the current arc of HxH--perhaps one of my favorite side characters in the entire series--is Queen Oito Hui Guo Rou. She’s a really interesting character to me, notably in how she foils several characters with long-running arcs, and through that foiling she carries great potential for thematic resonance not just for this arc, but for the arcs of Chrollo, Kurapika, and even Ging and the Zoldycks. I’m very excited to see what Togashi will do with her.

Oito, Kurapika, Chrollo, and Neon: Changing Fate

To start with, I want to mention that the Succession Contest Arc has a lot of blatant similarities to the Yorknew Arc in terms of set up. Oito is, after all, not the first woman Kurapika has been hired to protect in an arc that also focuses on Chrollo, the Phantom Troupe, and their inevitable interactions with Kurapika. Back in Yorknew, we meet Neon Nostrade, a girl who, just like Oito, is treated like a pawn by all the men in her life and who Kurapika and Chrollo don’t treat any differently: both of them, despite Kurapika being a protagonist and Chrollo an antagonist, treat her as a means to an end.

For Chrollo, that end is to steal her power, for Kurapika, it’s to collect the eyes. Clearly Kurapika is more sympathetic and did not intend to harm Neon, but the reality is he was still aiming to use her (and no, Neon was not a saint; collecting body parts is creepy). But, Oito is similarly treated like a pawn in a game by a King Man Child who marries her as his eighth wife and wants his offspring to kill each other. (It’s worth noting that there’s a faint parallel there between Nasubi and Neon’s father as well, in that both of them view their children as valuable by what they can do.)

Neither Chrollo nor Kurapika are willing to look deeper at Neon, to notice what she potentially had to teach them as @aspoonofsugar writes in her brilliant meta on Neon here. As a result, they both suffered for it and went down paths that led to their current predicaments, and to Neon’s own death, because she was treated as a pawn. Neon’s death is probably on both Chrollo and Kurapika because of the stealing of her powers and the thereafter ruination of her family finances to hire protection, regardless of whether it was Hisoka or a mafia enemy who killed her.

Oito herself describes her past as, well, exactly like Neon:

But Neon was not a pawn, and neither is Oito, as she’s making it clear. If the lesson Neon could offer Kurapika and Chrollo (both fatalists) is that life is not written, that fate can be changed, that choices do matter and that those choices affect other people as well (and that people are more than just their worst qualities) then it stands to reason that perhaps that is the lesson Oito offers as well. Of course, we haven’t seen Oito and Chrollo interact, but honestly I expect them to at some point.

Oito herself changed--she is essentially Neon changed--obviously, as she expresses. She also expresses remorse for her past actions, realizing that they’ve led to her daughter being in extreme danger--yet at the same time, she has her precious daughter. She has the capability to offer the same lesson Chrollo and Kurapika missed from Neon: people can change. The future isn’t written.

And Oito is changing her future specifically to protect the one she loves. It mirrors Kurapika’s decision back in the Yorknew Arc, because he chose to save Killua and Gon above revenge and as a result the future Neon predicted changed.

I do think it’s entirely possible that both Chrollo and Kurapika this arc will have to choose whether to protect someone they care about, or to continue their selfish path. Chrollo is the one most directly at risk, as I do suspect he’ll have to choose between his Spiders and revenge on Hisoka/Tserriednich/s treasure, but I can see Kurapika having to choose between saving Oito and Woble like he promised and Tserriednich’s treasure/the eyes as well. (Which is what @aspoonofsugar theorized the other day in her own Oito meta!)

Oito and Tserriednich: Human Value

Neon’s body collecting also has a parallel in this arc, and this character also foils Oito: Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou. Interestingly, look at the description of the women he says he hates (and presumably kills after sexually abusing):

He dehumanizes them and says their humanity comes down to what they know. Tserriednich doesn’t even seem to think change is part of the equation; all that matters is if a person can satisfy him and if they can’t, they are worthless. He’s an even darker reflection of his father.

But back to Oito. Unlike both Tserriednich and Neon, Oito is not prodigiously talented in nen.

In this sense she is also unlike Kurapika, and unlike Chrollo--both of whom are noted to be talents for their ages. Again, this returns to the idea that the lesson Oito has to offer is not in nen or her abilities, but in her ideals and her ability to change, which is necessary to keep living (something Neon originally pointed out).

If Oito is symbolic of life, as a mother, Tserriednich is symbolic of  death--he’s the fourth prince and four is associated with death in Japanese culture, collecting the dead’s eyes, murdering women, the water turning into some kind of putrid mixture during the nen type test, etc. I’d also expect this foiling to continue.

Which leads me to my next foiling/theme I want to discuss, about how Oito’s influence could spread beyond just this arc and beyond just Chrollo and Kurapika’s long running arcs.

Oito: A Good Mom.

Besides Mito Freecss (who while lovely isn’t fleshed out), she’s like, the only good parent we see in HxH. She’s willing to do whatever it takes for her child, which sets her up as a sharp contrast to Ging, who abandoned his son (and will presumably have a role on the Dark Continent), as well as Kikyo and Silva Zoldyck, and of course Nasubi.

Nasubi,  Light Nostrade, Kikyo and Silva, and Ging as well, seem to value their children and their relationship with them solely by what they can do. Can they gather the wits and strength to kill their siblings? Are they talented enough to propel the Zoldyck name forward? Are they good enough at being a hunter to find their father?

Woble can do nothing at all. She’s a prince, yes, but a baby. She’s helpless in a Succession War. She’s helpless in the world as a whole. And Oito loves her daughter and will risk anything for her anyways.

If the Succession War continues to be a deconstruction (which every arc in HxH has been and which it already is so far in Kurapika’s abilities being revealed to be killing him, etc) I’m going to venture a guess that however this ends (and I do expect Oito to make it out alive), it won’t be through abilities or powers or even shrewd strategy, but through connections, through the things Oito identifies as being “what really matters”: friendship, family, love, all those good things HxH likes exploring the limits of, but also the beauty of. Oito is symbolic of the beauty and good in the world that makes it so exciting. The journey matters, but it’s the people you love along the way, the relationships you cultivate, that make it worthwhile, not the power struggles and fights. That’s at the very core, I think, of what makes Hunter x Hunter such a great story.

RWBY Rewrite: The Schnee Family

Hello there everybody! Welcome to the third post in this undetermined number of RWBY Rewrites posts because at this point anyone who is watching RWBY for the story clearly needs to get their head checked. I debated the topic for this one for a while and have now settled on getting to one of our most prominent families in Remnant: the Schnees.

Being the ones in charge of the Schnee Dust Company, which supplies the majority of Remnant’s Dust, as well as being Weiss’ family, it makes sense that the show would give them focus. Unfortunately, the Schnee family as well as many other elements in the show have fallen victim to the time crunch of the writers juggling too many things at a time. It’s honestly a miracle that Weiss’ character is written as well as it is. In fact, it is the best written of the four girls (though not without its issues) and part of that is due to her collection of songs. Though in my opinion, you could argue that the soundtrack does a better job of telling the story than the actual show. 

In this post, I’m going to be going over Weiss’ immediate family as well as her grandfather. As of now, I’ve been thinking of rewriting RWBY in five main arcs: Vale, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, and the Final Showdown. The family would be set up in the first two arcs with them getting most of their conclusions in the Atlas Arc, mostly regulated to cameos or mentioned in passing afterwards.

Nicholas Schnee

The founder of the Schnee Dust Company, outside of that WOR video, we honestly don’t know much about him and that makes sense considering that Nicholas most likely died before the beginning of the series. Considering my Rewrite series would throw out those videos, I would keep Nicholas regulated to mentions of Schnee Dust Company past and potential flashbacks in Atlas.

However, I would add one thing to his characterization that I think would tie into Weiss’ journey pretty well. Weiss, especially at the beginning of the series, strives for perfection in all that she does. Above all, she definitely looks up to her grandfather’s example. During a time in Atlas when she’s at her lowest, with her father’s icy words piercing her mind, the hateful looks of the Faunus directed at her, she despairs at ever living up to her grandfather’s legacy. Only to talk with someone (currently I’m thinking Professor Polendina) who personally knew her grandfather who would tell her that Nicholas was by no means perfect. He was a very warm, good hearted, jolly man, but he would occasionally let out a rather racist remark and had a rather explosive temper. Contrary to the SDC image, he wasn’t a saint. That said, his views were actually pretty progressive for his day in terms of his business practices and his treatment towards the Faunus. Ultimately, Weiss would learn that while her grandfather was by no means perfect, he never stopped trying to better himself.

Jacques Schnee 

You know, I have to give credit where credit is due: Jacques is actually pretty well written. Okay, he’s not the pinnacle of how to write an parental antagonist, but his role in the story and his at least emotionally abusive relationship with Weiss is actually pretty well done. It helps that he’s not completely talk, his actions also do reflect on this such as cutting Weiss off, forcibly carting her home after the fall of Beacon, his grip on Weiss at the party as well as his smacking of her afterwards, and even disinheriting her and keeping her under house arrest until she gives into his demands. Yet above all, he is a cut throat businessman who will use anything to benefit him. It’s a good example of how just because someone in a story is not a good person does not necessarily mean that they are a bad character.

Honestly, the most I’d change with him is make it more apparent in the show of how he uses everyone beneath him for his benefit (going back to the Atlas Corruption theme I had last post). Show people protesting outside SDC Headquarters or better yet show the dust mines and how dangerous they are to the workers especially without the necessary safety measures which Jacques is cutting back on in order to make as much profit as possible.

Another change I would make is in the Atlas Arc is that Jacques tries to get Weiss back under his thumb, but can’t. By this point, Weiss would be legally an adult and therefore can’t be forced into anything. In fact, his disinheriting her ironically freed her as there’s nothing he can hold over her to make her fall back in line. His part of the plot would culminate in Jacques being in mortal peril, left alone by everyone (even Whitley, his favorite child) to die only for Weiss to step in. It would end with Weiss saving his life, but not saving him from the law and jail. He needs to pay for his crimes, not just his actions against her.

Winter Schnee

Much like Jacques, I don’t think Winter was written all that badly. I guess the only complaint is that I wish we could have gotten more mentions to their relationship before Volume 3. Personally, I also would have liked her to have been at the Argus base inspecting Cordovin and briefing her on the situation in Atlas, only to run into her sister and her friends and therefore avoiding one of the most poorly thought out plans in the show.

In this Rewrite, I would have Winter shoulder more responsibility in leadership and rise to the occasion. In regards to that, I would also have Qrow apologize for his actions to her. Much like Weiss has to prove her resolve to others, Winter eventually gets Qrow to realize he’s been judging her by associations and not her as an actual person. On the flipside, Winter would realize that Qrow’s problems and concerns with Ironwood aren’t entirely unfounded.

In the ending of the Atlas Arc, Ironwood will resign his positions as General and Headmaster, as will many others due to an inquiry of the Atlesian military as the deep routed corruption is being brought to task. And given his abuse of power, his council positions would be separated so as to prevent this situation from repeating. This, along with other events, would go to show that our heroes’ actions have consequences, for better or for worse. Ironwood’s general position would pass to a Rudolph Vermillion, a male reindeer Faunus who after the inquiry would be the person with the most military experience with a clean record(and partially for diversity) that the group would be interreacting with during the Atlas Arc. His headmaster title, however, would go to Winter as I feel she would actually do well in a teaching environment. And let’s face it, we only had three women in positions of power in the show: Glynda was treated as the clean up maid, Sienna got stabbed, and Cordovin is definitely not what I would call leadership material. Winter would continue to a pillar of support and offer the group her well wishes (as well as threaten Qrow to make sure her sister comes back in one piece.

Willow Schnee

I think that her name hasn’t been confirmed in the show, but I like it and I need something to call her so I will address Mama Schnee as Willow.

You know, I’m not really fond of the dead parent cliché, but this is one case that I honestly wouldn’t have minded if they had killed her off. She had never been mentioned prior to Volume 4 (much like my next entry) and with Winter seeming very parental in her treatment of Weiss, I’m pretty sure most of the FNDM assumed she was dead. Then it turned out that she was alive, with her making no physical appearance in the show and is basically made out to be an uncaring drunk. And such a thing wouldn’t necessarily be a bad idea if not for the fact that almost every mother in the show is either dead or terrible. We only have three good moms in the show and two thirds of them are a lesbian couple that was introduced after the halfway point last Volume.

Personally, I would keep her much more apparent in her children's lives. Being rather sad, maybe still have a little bit of too much alcohol from time to time, but make it clear that she does try to connect and be there for her children. This would lead to her kids viewing her in very different ways: Winter views her with scorn that she stays with Jacques while Whitley alters between ignoring her and seeking her comfort. Weiss would be the middle ground as she seeks to understand why Willow married Jacques and make her realize that she can leave him and there are people she can count on to help with that.

Which does lead to the reasons as to why Willow didn’t just divorce Jacques: half emotional abuse and half for her father and the company’s sake. As anyone who has been in an abusive relationship knows, it is very hard to leave when you get into it, especially if it feels like you don’t have anyone to help or support you. That is especially compounded when you consider that Jacques is the reason the SDC has managed to thrive and that a divorce of this kind might permanently damage the company. In fact, it would have been one of the main reasons she married Jacques and finding out how badly he took advantage of that power would be an utter shock to her. Her arc would be about her taking steps to get back to her old self and using her skills to aid others. She and Klein would watch over the company for Weiss (she never really had the skills or desire to take over the business, but realizes someone needs to watch over things for now) until she returns to take her place as the head of the SDC.

Whitley Schnee

If there is one character that has a significant divide in people’s opinion of them, it’s Whitley. Some people think of him as a potential victim of Jacques’ abuse while others think of him as a little shit. Personally, I lean towards the later as it seems Jacques does value Whitley (having a picture of him on his desk and none of his daughters and the family portrait has him smiling while everyone else looks very uncomfortable). Though to be honest, Jacques’ treatment of his children may be likely to get compliance to a degree, but unlikely to foster any genuine love and loyalty. So I get the impression that Whitley is not so much loyal to Jacques as loyal to his own interests and that is what I would play up.

Have him very much fall in line between Jacques in public and disparage his sisters, but show little hints of his true emotions when no one else is watching (either flashes of anger or impressed looks). A change I would have made in Volume 4 is him being there in the library as Weiss is leaving. Weiss would immediately assume he is there to stop her, but he is actually okay with her going. At this point, there’s no disadvantage to himself in letting her leave thus making him similar to Jacques in that he cares about his own interests first, but he’s not as controlling and is willing to let others do as they wish so long as they don’t interfere with his goals.

The Atlas Arc would involve him getting some snipes in at Weiss and her friends before getting a dose of reality in seeing exactly what a huntsman/huntress can do as well as watching the things he was sure would protect him fail and leave him vulnerable (like say, a White Fang assassination attempt). As such, he will abandon his father when things are at their most dire. After Weiss takes her heiress title back and takes over the company, that leaves the two with a very uncomfortable talk. Weiss does not like or trust her brother, but he is family and she would rather not have him as an enemy. So learning from her father’s strict control, she offers to pay for his education as well as a monthly stipend in exchange for signing a legal contract that he will not enter the SDC or join a competing dust company. Otherwise, he can do whatever he wants. There’s a bit of back and forth between the two of them ending with Whitley expressing genuine respect for his sister and wishing her well on her journey.

As for Klein, he is great as he is and I honestly wouldn’t change anything.

Those are my general thoughts on it. If you have anything to add, don’t hesitate to comment. Next time, I think I’ll be touching on a character that will be much more morally gray in this rewrite.

RP: Alus Beauregard

yo im just writin down some messy unorganized info i wanna put shortened on my wikia page l8tr but if you care here’s like. all the info youll ever want 4 alus & RPing with him if ya ever wanna (im on balmung)

RP Style

-The closest term I could relate to is ‘Rapid Fire’, but in truth I just type as if I am talking in real-time. -I am capable of typing at around 95 words per minute. I mostly use preset emotes descriptions, rarely my own descriptions. I don’t wait for turns, so if this speed intimidates you, you should look elsewhere for RP. (*im rly sry but my anxiety makes slow rp a living hell) -I love comic relief! I also adore serious philosophical and moral discussions. These themes are what my character is all about! -Sorry, not interested in ERP!  -Addressing mature themes like drugs, violence, swearing, prostitutes, mass murder, etc. are fine but please understand my character is essentially a lawful good cinnamon roll cop. he’s got the patience and understanding of a saint but don’t be surprised if he reacts poorly to that shit happening right in front of him. -Sorry! I am not interested in killing off my character or roleplaying with people who will kill off their characters. it’s an actual trigger for me....... sorry.... -Never did RP fighting before but might get into it if you’re cool keeping it PG. Not interested in my character getting severe lifelong injuries like loss of limbs or eyes or what-have-you. Big ass scars though? Hell yeah

Who is Alus?

A dandy looking man; always wearing fancy pressed cheerfully colored pastel suits, glittering with gold jewelry sewn delicately into the every segment, pretty fresh flowers adorning his long golden hair and his lapel - a true image of a faerie tale prince. He always seems to be smiling, the warmth and kindness he offers to even his villains is often unparalleled. He speaks carefully and delicately in a form of loose poetics inspired by his mentor Urianger, rarely ever making a contraction and never swearing except in extreme anger. Much less a Miqo’te and more a proper Elezen in stereotype.

He is a pacifist in a time of war, one who journeys out into the battlefield knowing his duty must be done, knowing that he is ultimately a hypocrite. He truly believes that everyone is fundamentally a good person and he wishes he could save even his greatest foes from their own destruction upon themselves and others, despite the constant arguing of his fellow allies over his over-trusting personality.

It could be argued that he is even mad; his fast-moving voice chatterboxes that of innocent and carefree topics like pretty flowers and princesses onto the ideas of sentient coins that scream whilst dancing wildly to the absence of music. He is ultimately kind, but unpredictable, and yet far too predictable. Everything he is is based off a stereotype, yet skewed and twisted into a reality incompatible with those ideas, gone nonsensical. Those who know him - his brother, the militia, the merchants and beggars he speaks to daily in the markets - they will all tell you that he is not all there, and yet completely a good person without doubt. A Paladin that rarely arrests, but chooses to sit down and talk just to hear a villain laugh.

RP Hooks

-RPing an open-minded villain or neutral alignment character? Alus will literally do anything for you if he thinks he can sway you to come to the good side. (I’m cool with your character even purposely leading him on to take advantage of him, but please tell me beforehand that that will be your intention and if it’s possible your character would ever change their mind. Alus having actual enemies would be really fun to RP as well.) -Like flowers? He’ll hand you one out of nowhere. Cute little gourmet cakes? Here’s a sample! Tea? Alus will offer any of those things to you as you’re simply wandering the street. He even has his own cutesy pink cafe he’ll aggressively advertise to you! -Part of the military? Alus is a minor commander in the Maelstorm and a known Warrior of Light. You may have worked besides him on one of your missions, or even temporarily underneath his command. He works besides all allies as a field healer, never commanding from behind. -Are you a follower of Nald’thal? Alus often walks to the Thanalan statues of Nald and Thal during the very early bells of nearly every morning. -Ever been a street beggar, or known any before? Alus has probably generously donated to you or your known one before.

Details, details..

Age: Roughly 23 Height: 5′8″ (173cm) Gender: Male Nationality: Eorzean Family: Arc Beauregard (twin brother; works with him in the militia, also a Warrior of Light), Gwenneg Beauregard (adoptive father; an Elezen merchant. Deceased) Occupation: Café proprietor, battlefield medic Character Inspirations: Vash (Trigun), X (Megaman X), Firion (Dissidia) Themesong: [Tears of Sorrow - Masashi Hamauzu] Aesthetics: fairy tale knights, princes & princesses / quiet windy flower meadows on a sunny day / zen buddhism / flower crowns / hard work equals beauty / bright colors / plucky comic relief / lace & frills / girls in long dresses / teatime Anti-aesthetics: bitter alcohol / romanticized harm to the self or others / grittiness / swamplands / cold steel / vulgar speech / cold rain / death / hopelessness / Likes: Elegance, Spunkiness, Honor Dislikes: Apathy, Crudeness, Betrayal of Trust Favorite foods: La Noscean Orange, La Noscean Toast Nameday: All Saint’s Wake Romance: Asexual Panromantic

Tattoos and Tiramisu Playlist

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/user/22cp3xuocmvlx7uqh7zok5r4a/playlist/1pzXVV0oDdjQXiGnx5simB?si=fXi73MbHTvi_m6_od-uA4A

Want to know what the songs have to do with the story? I’ve basically written an essay. Enjoy.

1.Geronimo by Sheppard

This song is super upbeat and fun to listen to. I feel like it is a relatively accurate depiction of James and Brooke’s relationship, but put into really simple terms. Things happen faster than either of them is used to (although not so quickly that it makes either of them uncomfortable. They both just accept that this is what they’re feeling and dive head first into it, although Brooke tends to have her doubts. This is usually the first song that plays when I start my playlist and it’s the one that gets me pumped to write.

2.  Be Somebody by Thousand Foot Krutch

This song is like James’ theme song. Whenever I write a scene that is particularly James heavy, I play this song to get me into the right mindset to portray him properly. I feel like it explains a lot of how he feels about Brooke as well. She brings out the best in him, and he wants nothing but to bring out the best in her as well. He feels a little bit trapped by his reputation, but also holds it close to him. It’s his natural defense from keeping people from getting too close or learning too much about him. He likes keeping his life private when possible.

3. Secrets by OneRepublic

I actually have a couple of songs from OneRepublic on the playlist for this novel. I love their music and a lot of their songs seem to fit different parts of the story. Secrets, in particular, fits the fact that Brooke and James both have things that they tend to keep to themselves. In fact, the only people outside of their families who really know about those things are each other. They begin to trust each other a lot throughout the course of the book and eventually they allow each other to see those parts of themselves that no one else gets to see.

4. Your Love Song by TJ Kingston

This is probably one of the only songs where the lyrics don’t necessarily fit the book (aside from the chorus). However, the general vibe of the song is very relaxing and has a very sincere sound to it. I imagine that it is how James sounds when he is trying to comfort Brooke. I love it.

5. The Night We Met by Lord Huron

This song is less about the main story and more about one that isn’t fully told within the pages of the book. This is the story of Brooke’s father and her mother, as told from her father’s point of view. They were young and their romance was passionate but short-lived. He thinks back to the early days of their relationship often and misses her. He never stopped being in love with her.

6. Song 6 by George Ezra

This is another one where the lyrics don’t necessarily fit the novel, or even one of the characters specifically. It just gives me such a romantic notion of dreaming about that one person you are missing more than anyone else.

7. I’m Yours by Jason Mraz

Brooke has a hard time believing that James could have feelings for her, but he does, and he’s willing to show her that he does. This song is him, convincing Brooke.

8. Something Just Like This by The Chainsmokers

James is kind and courteous. He understands Brooke’s eccentricities and her anxieties. He’s perfectly happy with their ordinary relationship. He’s not looking for something crazy and over the top romantic. Brooke feels unbelievably lucky to have someone like James be willing to learn about her and help her in any way he can. She’s happy with what they’ve got going on, and so pleased that James doesn’t ask for more out of her, and that he doesn’t try to be her hero or try to make her better.

9. Closer by The Chainsmokers

James and Brooke each have a reputation that precedes them around the school. While this song doesn’t necessarily get both of them right, it does give the right impression. Plus, by the time the two of them get together, things just seem to… happen. It’s their last year of high school after all, and they might not have time after this.

10. Shape of You by Ed Sheeran

In all honesty, this doesn’t really fit the relationship in this book at all. What it does do, however, is get me in the mood to write. This song was a lot of my motivation while writing/revising this book, and I never had the heart to take it off the playlist. It’s a bop, and both James and Brooke would have fun listening to it and dancing around.

11. Wish I Knew You by The Revivalists

If James and Brooke had been pushed together at a younger age, their lives would have been very different and they would have been very different people. They help each other in a lot of ways, and this song just captures that idea of wishing that they could have become these people sooner.

12. Heavy by Linkin Park

This song is Brooke. This is her anxiety and how it can take over her life. Her OCD being a monster in the back of her head. Most of the time, it’s not so bad, but when it takes over, it really takes over. It consumes her in a way that she hates and wishes that she could change, even though she knows that can’t ever really happen. This song is the embodiment of that feeling when your heart feels heavy in your chest because everything is going wrong.

13. When They Come for Me by Linkin Park

James has an ongoing battle with his reputation. He holds it close to his chest and tends to use it as a defense mechanism. The first verse of this song really captures that feeling.

14. Good Intent by Kimbra

I have a lot of songs that make me think about reputations for this book (ironically, none of them are from Taylor Swift’s Reputation album). James has friends who get into a lot of trouble, and he doesn’t do anything to stop them. He just helps them out of their tough spots when he needs to.

15. She’s Always a Woman by Billy Joel

Back when I was just starting to write this book, I went to my friends and asked them for songs that they think are super romantic. A good friend of mine brought this up as the song he thinks is genuinely one of the most romantic songs in existence. It stuck around while I was writing, and slowly became a bit of an anthem for how James thinks about Brooke. She has a lot of problems, but she’s always a woman.

16. My Type by Saint Motel

James famously hooked up with someone at a party once, and the reputation as a player has followed him around ever since. This song perfectly shows how everyone else sees his romantic endeavors.

17. Puzzle Pieces by Saint Motel

We’re puzzle pieces that don’t fit together. Brooke and James come from very different walks of life. They shouldn’t fit together, but they do.

18. My Silver Lining by First Aid Kit

Brooke has one thing that she’s been working towards for her entire life. Anything that can take that away from her scares her. However, the important thing that she knows about working towards goals is that there’s only one thing you can really do: keep on keeping on.

19. Hooked on a Feeling by Blue Swede

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. It’s fun and happy. James and Brooke are hooked on the feeling of having someone understand them. Plus this song is so fun it’s practically impossible to sit still while it’s playing.

20. Middle Fingers by MISSIO

Brooke and James don’t necessarily fall into the idea of a “normal person” that is set forth by society, but neither of them really care. Stick your middle fingers to the world and keep living your best life.

21. Fuckin’ Perfect by P!nk

I remember when this song came out and crying while watching the music video. It’s an incredibly sad song with an important message. You don’t have to be perfect for the world. Brooke’s ultimate downfall is that she wants to be perfect. She wants to live her version of the perfect life, and that’s just too stressful.

22. Romantic by Stanaj

Brooke and James are not typically romantic people. They don’t go out of their way to make grand romantic gestures for people. But when they’re together, something changes. They want to be romantic for each other. They want to have that Hollywood notion of love that seems so impossible.

23. Invisible by Linkin Park

This song has been on this playlist since the beginning. The first time I heard it, I knew that it needed to be baked into the story I was telling. Brooke has always felt invisible, beyond her reputation of being bossy and annoying. James doesn’t want her to ever feel that way again.

24. Starving by Hailee Steinfeld

I didn’t know that I was starving until I tasted you. Brooke didn’t know exactly how much she wanted to be noticed. How much she craved someone else’s attention and affection. Then James gave it to her and she became a bit addicted.

25. Moonlight by Grace Vanderwaal

The feeling of first love.

26. Sweat by All American Rejects

Honestly this song makes it seem like things are going to get a lot raunchier than they are. But James and Brooke have an effect on each other that they can’t seem to shake. They have the ability to make each other’s hearts race.

27. Rain by The Script

When you’re gone, all it does is rain. Heart break and grief. The seemingly impossible need to get back together.

28. Something I Need by OneRepublic

If you only live once, I want to live with you. The last line of this song is everything.

29. BLK CLD by XYLØ

This song was a much later addition to the playlist, but it made me think about the characters SO MUCH. This entire thing could be Brooke just… talking. Listening to this will give you a very good idea of who she is as a person.

 30 Day Monster Challenge 2 - Day #4: Favorite Mummy

1.) Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo)

There’s something to be said for loss of Boris Karloff’s tragedy and nuance with the 1999 Imhotep, but you know what else Boris Karloff’s mummy didn’t have? Style, baby. And reboot Imhotep had style for days. Summon the plagues of the Old Testament, raise more mummies from the dead, shape the very elements to his will; Imhotep was a force. Could that same character have been done with more subtlety and a deeper backstory? Yes, of course. But the real question is; would it have been as fun?

Also, let’s talk about character design here. Mummies don’t really offer a broad range of options in terms of character design. No matter how much jewelry or old robes you put on them, they’re always going to be covered in bandages. But the reboot, like Karloff, got around that by offering different designs and costumes for different states of regeneration. Starting with a desiccated corpse and evolving to a full-blown high priest, with each stage having its own personality. My personal favorite is probably the second form, with the mask. Masked undead are always a little bit extra creepy. The ability to fit that much creativity into the character design ties to the spectacle of Imhotep as a villain, and that, more than anything, is the character’s strength.

2.) Imhotep (Boris Karloff)

Karloff’s mummy is the mature one, the sympathetic one. If the mummy as a monster can be said to have tragedy or deeper meaning, than Karloff embodies that in his character. His Imhotep is a man lost in time, desperate to reconnect to the world he is lost. But at the same time, he is very much a monster; he is a punishment for disturbing the past. Mummies are ultimately rooted in Gothic horror, and, similar to ghosts, remind us of the horror of history and the sins of our ancestors. In addition, mummies, like Frankenstein’s monster, are born from man attempting to meddle with things that humanity simply is not meant to know, whether that’s knowledge or literally just going into somewhere with a big ‘keep out’ sign. Karloff’s mummy conveys both aspects of the mummy creature as an archetype. It’s just, y’know, he doesn’t breathe locusts or summon sandstorms.

3.) Tomb Kings (Warhammer)

This might be kind of cheating since the Tomb Kings are as much skeletons as they are mummies, but they’re all generally ancient Egyptian themed. While they lack that certain punch that their 40k equivalent the Necrons have, the Tomb Kings make up for it in aesthetic. Even the most basic soldiers are dressed up in bronze and gold. On top of that, Tomb Kings aren’t just human mummies either; horses, scorpions, and even sphinxes are all part of the Tomb Kings’ forces. The Tomb Kings are a demonstration of just what can be done with the idea of mummies when you put your imagination into it.

4.) The Arisen (Mummy: The Curse)

The late child of the New World of Darkness, the Arisen are the preserved mages of an ancient magical empire that existed in Earth’s prehistory. The Arisen are a blend of Karloff and Vosloo, mixing spectacular magical powers with the somber reality of the passing of time. Each Arisen can rise from their slumber for only brief periods of time, and each time they lose a little more of their memories. They are some of the most powerful, indestructible entities in the World of Darkness, but they have to operate on a time limit. It’s the idea of how unfathomably ancient the Arisen are that gets me; predating humanity, watching all civilization rise and fall. It takes the idea of mummies as guardians to an entirely new level.

5. ) The God of the Valley (Discworld)

It’s kind of hard to talk about this one for spoilery reasons. Pyramids has mummies galore in it, but there are a few that stand out. But this one makes us think about how mummies can reflect aspects of even modern culture. He makes us question things like duty, responsibility, and tradition. The borderline between ritual, respect, and insanity isn’t always as clear as we would like it to be, and it’s even more complicated when that ambiguity is simultaneously toxic and necessary. Also, for aforementioned spoilery reasons and just a general lack of fan art for the Pyramids Discworld novel, no pic unfortunately.

6.) The Boneguard (Tailchaser’s Song)

Cat mummies! Tailchaser’s Song is a cat-focused fantasy, complete with an evil cat Sauron figure. Said evil cat overlord has a variety of minions, and his most disturbing are a group of apparently undead cats with psychic powers. While described more skeletal than desiccated, they’re given Egyptian names like ‘Bast-Imret’ which gives a pretty obvious nod to their inspiration. It’s well known the ancient Egyptians mummified cats as sacred animals, and I’m glad I was able to see something interesting and kind of creepy actually done with the idea.

7.) Saint Hakushin (Inuyasha)

Our first non-Egyptian mummy is a monster-of-the-week that I only even know about by chance from a random episode of Inuyasha. Hakushin is a sokushinbutsu, the mummified remains of a Buddhist priest who entered a state of mummification while still alive and then died from asceticism. Hundreds of monks have tried this process, but only a few have ever actually succeeded. Hakushin demonstrates that the idea of the mummy is not exclusive to Egypt, both as a death ritual and as usage for a monster. Mummies are universally uncanny in whatever culture they appear in, while at the same time evoking reverence and fascination.

8.) The Dead Ones (The Halloween Tree)

These mummies come to us from the catacombs of Mexico. The environment of the city of Guanajuato lends itself to a natural process similar to embalmment, preserving bodies in pristine condition. They are easily the most horrifying mummies I have ever seen, with their faces contorted by postmortem shifting. Ray Bradbury saw them once, and they terrified him out of Mexico. At the end of Ray Bradbury’s The Halloween Tree, our cast of characters is confronted with the catacombs and have to race through the mummies to save their friend. The book’s first adventure is actually in ancient Egypt in the tomb of a pharaoh, so this serves as a potent contrast. Egyptian mummies are created intentionally, made out of reverence and respect. But the mummies of Guanajuato were made by accident, unearthed when their families could not or would not pay the burial tax on their graves. They are a harsh reminder on the reality of death, a confrontation with what becomes of us after we are put in the earth, and something that is inevitable for everyone.

9.) The Fallen One (SyFy Channel Movie)

Giant mummy of a nephilim! First off, again, I love the idea of monster mummies made from something other than humans. Giants have an extra layer because it makes you imagine how bizarre the actual process of mummification must have been. This thing’s brain must have weighed at least twelve pounds and been the size of a pumpkin, but it was still pulled out through its nose by a hook. There’s also the ties to conspiracy theory lore here. The nephilhim, giants, and their remains have a significant theory in conspiracy lore, whether they’re the products of fallen angels, aliens, or both. And there’s only one thing to do with an idea that crazy; make a horror monster out of it! I don’t give a toss about the movie. It was so crappy I couldn’t even find a screenshot for it. You’ll have to settle for this giant mummy from Gatchaman instead.

10.) Mummy Gundam (G Gundam)

It counts. G Gundam was a trip, y’all. This is literally an old Pharaoh Gundam (there were multiple) that was destroyed in combat, mummified, and then resurrected by the Devil Gundam, giving it magic powers like bandage control and regeneration. Its pilot was mummified too, so there was just a straight-up mummy in bandages doing martial arts in the cockpit. See what I mean about this show being wild? I just love the image of a giant mech rising out of a sandstorm, like a piece of the landscape itself, combined with a mummy coming back for revenge. The gundam was never even alive and it still came back from the dead like some angry, vengeful god. That’s just straight up stupid fun.

Zombies!! (Matthew 27:52-53)

Let's put aside the yearly Easter memes about whether Jesus was a zombie or a litch or something else entirely. They are old, tired, and unoriginal.

More importantly we assume those people have completely missed these verses depicting the events prior to Christ's Resurrection.

They are worthy of the missing memes.

And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!” ~ Matthew 27:46-54

Why are we not talking about all of these walking dead?

Wait. What?

Let's throw some of the obvious questions out there:

Who were these people? The Greek for "saints" here means "holy ones." Are these figures from the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament?

How many of these “holy ones” travel into Jerusalem?

Did they speak to anyone? What did they say?

If they woke up on Good Friday (vs 52), why didn't they leave their tombs until Easter Sunday (vs 53)?

How long were they walking around? Did they die again? Did they return to their graves unaided? Were there a bunch of poor slobs who were forced to re-intern these saint?

Why is this story only recorded in Matthew and nowhere else in the Bible?

Why is there no accounting of this event outside of this passage? Why don't historians like Josephus or Tacitus ever mention anyone else telling crazy stories about dead saints breezing through town.

We're not going to attempt to answer any of those questions. But we will posit another one. 

 What does your interpretation of this passage say about your respect for the Bible?

The Controversy

There have been some knock-down, dragged-out, Bible-nerd fights about this passage. People have been kicked out of churches, seminarians, and family gatherings over how these two verses are read: that was not an exaggeration. But many/most people reading this have, at best, only a vague recollection that these two verses are even a part of the Passion narrative. So of course we included it in the game. 

 Some history and perspectives

Though many of the early "Church Fathers" refer to this passage without any apparent issue -- including Clement of Alexandria,  Eusebius, Ignatius, Irenaeus, Julius Africanus, Origin and Tertullian--, there are those who suggest that it is a late edition to the narrative that should simply be cut out. This is an interesting argument, made more so when applied. 

Notice how smoothly Matthew 27:50-54 reads with verses 52 and 53 excised:

Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

You wouldn't have even noticed anything was missing if we hadn't told you.

However, to (badly) channel the renowned Nahum M. Sarna, we must work with the text we have before us as it stands, even when textual and historical difficulties arise. If we can't merely excise the text, we have to decide what to do with it. To that end, the primary question applied to this text has been whether to understand this passage literally or not?

The Modern Arguments

When Michael Licona questioned the literal interpretation of this story in The Resurrection of Jesus: A New Historiographical Approach, he inadvertently set off a firestorm in regards to this passage.

Prominent figures like Norman Giesler and Albert Mohler said that this event is 100% literally, historically true, and anything less than a full-throated endorsement of this viewpoint is heretical and anathema (or close to it).

Robert Gundry argued this passage was employing the Jewish literary form of midrash-- a genre that allows for the melding of literal and metaphoric elements to present a theological perspective. Thus, the writer of the gospel was not focused on making a historical or non-historical point in this passage. 

Some (wisely) attempted to sidestep this fight altogether (which is why most of your clergy have never preached from this sermon from the pulpit) perhaps seeking shelter in the wisdom of N.T. Wright's statement, “Some stories are so odd that they may just have happened. This may be one of them, but in historical terms there is no way of finding out.”

In the midst of receiving a multitude of open letters on the matter, Licona said the following in a press release: 

Further research over the last year in the Greco-Roman literature has led me to reexamine the position I took in my book. Although additional research certainly remains, at present I am just as inclined to understand the narrative of the raised saints in Matthew 27 as a report of a factual (i.e., literal) event as I am to view it as an apocalyptic symbol. It may also be a report of a real event described partially in apocalyptic terms. I will be pleased to revise the relevant section in a future edition of my book” (emphasis ours).

In this last, we see an important idea which should not be lost in the midst of the "you're not a good enough Christian!" screaming matches any discussion of “the inerrant nature of Scripture” always seems to devolve into: 

Historical or not, this passage must communicate

a theological point.

Some Middle Ground

This passage is a sign of the power of Jesus. That much both sides can agree to. Be it an historical event or not, like Licona we affirm that this story must be understood to be employing apocalyptic terms and symbols, as is found throughout the gospels.

In Raymond Brown's (seminary favorite) Introduction to The New Testament, he asserts that these verses may be a poetic way of describing the beginning of “the last days" or "the end times" Jesus spoke so much about. As he points out, there were signs tied to events in the life of Jesus.

At His birth a star was in the heavens. Now at His death, an earthquake shakes the earth, and the underworld lets lose its dead. In this way The Day of the Lord, The Day of Days was being ushered in through the the death of Jesus. And nothing will be the same. 

The curtain in the Temple, separating the Holiest of Holies from the people, has been rent in two. Man now has direct access to God. The veil separating life and death was also punctured. Now the dead walk into the city of God.

As any English teacher worth her salt will attest, for a symbol or metaphor to mean anything, it must be rooted in reality. The abstract must have a concrete expression. Thus, this passage must point to some objective reality, though we will happily leave others to fight over the specifics of that.  However, the gospels display Jesus' power over death/Death. His ministry included the resurrection of people from all walks of life (see Luke 7:11-15; 8:41, 42, 49-55; John 11:1-44). 

A theme that is continued in the epistles, most notably 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which reminds that, for Jesus, the "last enemy to be destroyed is death" (vs 26) {Note: Click for an in depth look at the concept and evolution of death/Death in the Bible}.

 On this point we wish to stand on Moltmann' shoulders about the nature of Jesus and resurrections of the dead:

According to the stories in the synoptic Gospels, Jesus proclaimed the dawn of God’s kingdom on earth (Mark 1.15). The kingdom comes to the sick as healing, to lepers as acceptance, to sinners as grace, and to the dead as resurrection. The raising of the dead is one of the signs and wonders of Jesus’s messianic mission (Matt 10:8; 11:5), for when the living God comes, death is forced to retreat (Is 25:8). But when Jesus raises the dead, he raises them into this life, which leads to death, and in so far this is merely an advance sign and heralding of the eternal life to come, which will drive death itself out of creation. The synoptic Gospels, which describe Jesus’s messianic mission, did not develop a ‘theology of death’. For them death is a power opposed to God whose end is at hand through the coming of the messiah. The ‘meaning’ of death is just that it will be overcome because through it the glory of the life-creating God is revealed (The Coming of God, 81).

Perhaps instead of getting bogged down in inerrancy fights, running in circles around some unanswered questions, we can focus on what's important. 

Perhaps the most important part of this conversation is the realization that, whether you read this passage historically, metaphorically, or both, on Easter Sunday, more than one stone was rolled away. 

Perhaps we should focus on the power of the eternal life to come and how we live right now.

  But what do we know: we made this game and you probably think we're going to Hell.