wacky queer Mormon

But then when I actually look at Lucy Lawless out of costume, even when she was playing Xena, she looks... average. A gorgeous woman, absolutely, and rather tall, but not the Amazon she comes across as when she’s inhabiting the role. 

On how he approaches female characters

Grace has short hair. She looks like a typical athletic butch woman:

Being butch is not offensive. Portraying tough butch women in action movies is not some regressive anti-feminist act. I can and I will compare Grace to Xena because she is a female character portrayed as strong and tough in a very natural and unapologetic way—there are no concessions to preserving an elegant or dainty aesthetic when she fights.

A Single Dead Human can provide provide replacement organs for 8 other humans, and donate life-improving tissues for 140 more! Achieve Mass Imortality and become an Organ Donor Today!

Human cells are outnumbered by thier gut flora by several degrees of magnitude, and it’s suspected that the bacteria play a significant role in their psychology!

Nearly every human is capable of swimming short distances in an emergency, and many do it for fun or as thier primary means of foraging.  This is weird for something that was an Arboreal Primate not that long ago.

Having already conquered all terrestrial ecosystems and several aquatic ones, humans are currently working on aerial envoirns and fucking space.  The Ultimate Invasive Species.

the favorite food of many humans is the fermented lactations of other animals.  Other humans find this substance totally undigestible.

The Canadian Armed Forces has issued new orders to military personnel as senior commanders seek to address allegations of having been soft on hate in the ranks.

The orders, which aim to take a harder line on “hateful conduct,” follow a rash of high-profile incidents in which the military was caught flatfooted as service members were publicly linked to hateful actions or groups.

“The year before, it was more like a reaction kind of approach,” said Maj.-Gen. Marc Gagne, who oversees strategy, plans and policy within the chief of military personnel’s office. “We were reacting to cases.”

The new direction also comes as the military is actively working to recruit more women, visible minorities and Indigenous people to ensure it reflects Canadian society and is better able to operate in diverse theatres.

The new order aims to leave no doubt about what constitutes “hateful conduct” by banning anything — words, images or symbols — that encourages, justifies or promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups.

That includes discrimination based on nationality or ethnic background, race, colour, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or disability.

Continue Reading.

On the other…

The new order aims to leave no doubt about what constitutes “hateful conduct” by banning anything — words, images or symbols — that encourages, justifies or promotes violence or hatred against individuals or groups.

Heavenly Father is Lawful Good, Jesus is Neutral Good, and Heavenly Mother is Chaotic Good

H.F. will reward good and punish bad according to the Rules We All Agreed On. You can ask for help but you have to fill out the right forms.

H.M. doesn't even care if you get her name right and will pretend to be anyone from Hera to the Virgin May as an excuse to visit her kids.

But apparently ableds aren’t satisfied with just assaulting and kidnapping us and feel like they need to add manslaughter to that by giving COVID-19 to people who are clearly medically fragile.

Every time you’ve asked a person if they needed help and they said no was a time when you presumed a disabled person was incompetent simply because they were disabled. Probably a good percentage of the times they accepted help, too, because it’s often easier to just let the damn ableist do the damn thing instead of dealing with another insulted ableist. Every single time you did this you were being ableist, and you annoyed and insulted a disabled person and made their day that much worse. You’ve been committing microaggressions against disabled people. Congratulations.

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based on these passages from the odyssey and the aeneid (and i think it might have happened in the iliad too, though i can’t remember where):

On the other, there’s actually a very reasonable explanation for this: Beauty was specifically believed to be a sign of godly approval in Classical Greece.

“WHAT THE FUCK STAY AWAY FROM THE ROCKS.”

Everybody STAND BACK! I have an ART DEGREE and a love of RELIGIOUS ART the borders on a FETISH!

I can explain this why LDS Chapels look the way they do!

Let’s start with the boring stuff: practicality.

Catholic cathedrals look relay nice and fancy because they were able to put oodles of cash and literal generations of work into the building because, well, they’re the Catholic Church. They’ve got time and money. 

Mormonism on the other hand, is much smaller, younger, and started out being very broke. The early Saints could scrounge together enough cash and man power to put together a Temple, but to do that for every meeting house was just impractical. Plus most early converts came from an American Protestant background where meetings were usually held in tents, homes, or multipurpose “Meeting houses” (That’s why Mormons tend to call them that instead of chapels, churches, sanctuaries, etc.). So they were used to less ornate multi-use worship spaces. The financial troubles of the early church have left lingering marks on the modern church, making them VERY concerned about not overspending. 

All the chapels look the same because it’s cheaper to have a handful of standard designs than it is to keep designing new ones.

So LDS chapels are the way they are because 1) We started doing it like that 2) there’s been no need to stop and 3) it’s cheaper

BUT LET”S TALK ABOUT ART!

As I see it, Mormon architecture theory was heavily influenced by the philosophies of two art movement. Temples architecture was influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement that lasted from approx. 1880 to 1920. Meeting houses were influenced by the Minimalist Movement of the 1960s.

First, the Arts and Crafts Movement isn’t what it sounds like. It was a response to the industrial revolution, which was killing the market for traditional hand crafted materials. Craftsmen and artisans couldn’t keep up with massed produced goods, so instead they went all in on quality, which the factories could not reliably match. There was a focus on not only using the best materials, but also in showing the skill of the craftsman. That philosophy of high-quality material and high quality craftsmanship has clear appeal to Mormon Temples. No matter what weird hodgepodge of styles you get in a temple (we do like to mix and match when it comes to temples) they all will focus on high quality materials and expert craftsmanship.

BUT WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT TEMPLES, WE’RE TALKING ABOUT OUR BEST WESTERN MEETING HOUSES!

So, meetinghouses are very minimalist in design. Not a lot of flair, maybe some art deco in the lighting, but only as a treat, if you’re good. 

But why minimalism? Minimalism in visual art is all about exposing the beauty of the materials. Want to make a minimalist piece? Grab a canvas, paint it all one color, and admire how the paint looks on the canvas. Look at the way the textures of the paint and canvas interact. Minimalism is about appreciating the beauty of parts more that the entire thing. 

Now if we take that theory into the wonderful world of theology we start to understand the appeal. Mormonism teaches that you have two major parts to you; a body and a spirit. Paint and a canvas. In our teachings we point out that both of these parts are good. Bodies are necessary and desirable and our spirits are what make us who we are. Both deserve to be examined and appreciated on their own. Just like in minimalism, the point is to see the beauty of the parts.

Also, Mormonism is a very introspective religion (though the culture may not always follow suit). Most of our holiest moments are meant to happen quietly and internally. The sacrament, The Celestial Room of the Temple. Both of these are times to be still and examine the parts that make up you. The Godly parts, the not-so-Godly parts. 

I mean, get expense is a factor but is there not a way to make these places more visually appealing and comfier to exist within? Like I can't afford a couch right now. I get the need to punch pennies. Genuinely. But is there really no better way to craft these spaces? There can be holiness in art and there is a special kind of holiness when beauty exists in religious spaces. I'm not out here saying we should Catholic the place up with stained glass in every window or anything. But why can't we have tasteful red curtains for windows? Or other colors? Why can't there be a visual cohesion that is BOTH inexpensive AS WELL AS pleasing?

Marine life specialists noticed a spotted eagle ray mother was having trouble and helped her deliver two baby rays