On one side of the gallery above stood the men sentenced to penal servitude in Siberia, who had been let into the church before the others. Each of them had half his head shaved, and their presence was indicated by the clanking of the chains on their feet. On the other side of the gallery stood those in preliminary confinement, without chains, their heads not shaved.
The prison church had been rebuilt and ornamented by a rich merchant, who spent several tens of thousands of roubles on it, and it glittered with gay colours and gold. For a time there was silence in the church, and only coughing, blowing of noses, the crying of babies, and now and then the rattling of chains, was heard. [...]
The priest, having dressed in a strange and very inconvenient garb, made of gold cloth, cut and arranged little bits of bread on a saucer, and then put them into a cup with wine, repeating at the same time different names and prayers. Meanwhile the deacon first read Slavonic prayers, difficult to understand in themselves, and rendered still more incomprehensible by being read very fast, and then sang them turn and turn about with the convicts. The contents of the prayers were chiefly the desire for the welfare of the Emperor and his family. These petitions were repeated many times, separately and together with other prayers, the people kneeling. Besides this, several verses from the Acts of the Apostles were read by the deacon in a peculiarly strained voice, which made it impossible to understand what he read [...]
No one present seemed conscious that all that was going on here was the greatest blasphemy and a supreme mockery of that same Christ in whose name it was being done. No one seemed to realise that the gilt cross with the enamel medallions at the ends, which the priest held out to the people to be kissed, was nothing but the emblem of that gallows on which Christ had been executed for denouncing just what was going on here. That these priests, who imagined they were eating and drinking the body and blood of Christ in the form of bread and wine, did in reality eat and drink His flesh and His blood, but not as wine and bits of bread, but by ensnaring “these little ones” with whom He identified Himself, by depriving them of the greatest blessings and submitting them to most cruel torments, and by hiding from men the tidings of great joy which He had brought. That thought did not enter into the mind of any one present.
From Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy
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Man, I want shapeshifter cap SO BAD.
I want to see a Billy that really leans into the wonder of the world, the million paths a child could take in their life.
I want to see a Billy that wants to try everything, at least once.
A Billy that looks at all the people who spit at him, deride him, pity him, dismiss him, ignore him, because he has no future, no prospects, a child in the gutter and say no. I'm going to grow up to be whoever I want to be.
And a captain marvel that says you're going to be amazing.
Billy taking the premise of captain marvels form - his ideal self, a blank slate for Billy to paint his bright colours, the person he wants to be deep inside - and dialling that freedom up to eleven.
A dancer, a dinosaur, a train conductor, a tiger, an ice cream maker, a butterfly, an astronaut, a shark, a college student, a Tamaranean, a mouse, a scuba diver, an elephant, a doctor, a moose, a race car driver, a dog.
A child wanting to see the world.
If you want to find captain marvel, well first you've got to try his comm, probably a couple times.
Then you've got to go to fawcett, hope he's there and not saving the yetis from a salamander invasion in a different dimension.
You've got to ask around, because it often goes by word of mouth here, no matter what technology you bring. Don't worry, it'll spread very quickly, but if you're in a hurry you can find his commemorative statue and leave an offering. No one knows if it really works, but it's a good way to pass the time and feel productive.
Soon, a face will peel out of the crowd. It's always familiar, but it's never the same one.
Wait for the flash of lightning in a cloudless sky.
And then you will find captain marvel.
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qtubbo is a someone born from the love of the universe, ya know the end poem with the 2 'gods' talking? blue and green. tubbos eyes? blue and green. how the gods see the world? very different from those who live in it- how tubbo sees the world? very different from how those 2 gods saw the world but so much more than what other islanders or even the federation see-
tubbos seemingly weather related powers? its how his reality related powers manifest with emotions, but he can bend reality as needs be, need to get through this wall? grab a bike and cycle through- why needs the bike? why do gods need offerings or things that 'hold' or 'guide' their power? cuz it works, just like all the bad luck stuff, power runs on weird rules ok? and tubbo being unseen by anyone but etoiles was slip of control in powers which was unexpected, he got stronger
basically, tubbo is a godling and he can and will break reality because he sees reality as a tangible and mutable thing to a larger extent than anyone around him can (fed keep an eye on him so they can do 'reality checks' or at least they try)
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Also I love how half of the Bad Kids are All-Powerful, Semi-Immortal teenage girls and the other half are Just Some Guy™. Truly the dynamic of all time.
But I also love how these ridiculously ultra powerful girls (AKA the Immortal All-Seeing Elven Oracle, Saint Applebees Creator and Destroyer of Deities and the Spirit of Rebellion, Arch-Devil of Hell, Wizard's Paramore, Fig Faeth) do not give a single flying fuck about their magical responsibilities and duties.
You want the Elven Oracle to actually live with the Elves and foretell the future? Bitch, she doesn't have time for that, she has straight A's, anxiety and she's going to be late for her part-time job if you don't leave her alone with this oracle stuff.
You want Saint Applebees, Creator and Cleric of Cassandra to... pray? Grow her religion? Talk to her God? Mmmmmm.... No. Sorry, but she's a teenaged lesbian with ADHD and trauma. She doesn't have time for, I don't know, that, she's got her own thing going on. Like her breakup, and working out, oh, and did you hear about her campaign for class president??
And you know that the Spirit of Rebellion won't be found living in or, really, doing anything remotely close to ruling over, her domain. She's not even going to pretend to be interested in her duties as Arch-Devil, just like she wouldn't be caught dead actually showing up to class. The only duties Fig actually takes seriously is that of a ✨Wizard's Paramore✨
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