Poems In Green Ink

Blown away by the impact of seeing the Utena movie on the big screen where I could soak in all the visual details that were meant to be absorbed large.

I knew before even going in that I'd want my sketchbook drawing of this movie to be based on the dance in the rose garden but I was surprised by how captivated I was with the moment right before. Utena, on the ground, vulnerable, the stars and roses around her.

There are several groups of traditionalist Catholics that have been pissed since something called Vatican 2, which updated a bunch of practices and official positions, and one group of those is called The Society of Saint Pius X. Their leader was excommunicated in 1988 for making bishops (?) without permission.

Those bishops are now hella old, so they decided to make some more, and the pope said that was automatic excommunication. (excommunication matters both as a matter of theology (sacraments performed aren't valid) and economics (the church stops giving them money, can take back property, etc))

Pope said don't, and they did, and now: schism?????

Apparently they claim not to be sedevacantists ("pope's not valid"), but idek what else you would call this.

Article from the Vatican press office (calling them Lefebvrians is apparently itself a diss, as that is the name of the founder and emphasizes the cult of personality aspect)

Excellent bluesky thread liveblogging the consecration (must be logged in, I think? Screenshots are highlights)

Tl;dr, from the replies to that thread

There were years when Yusuf prayed five times a day, and years when he did not. It became easier to contemplate a universe of vast unpredictability as they learned one another’s speech. In lands where churches dotted the landscapes, Nicolo avoided even their shadows in the dust, and ducked in more than one alley to dodge proselytizers of myriad stripes. “I do not know,” he would offer when Yusuf asked him what he believed. “My mind cannot settle.” And this seemed explanation enough when they kept on dying and rising to life.

And then, too many years to count from their forging, Nicolo ducked into a church and left Yusuf to sit in the square, watching the townspeople pass. Nico was gone for some time, time enough to pray, to light a candle, to do whatever it was he felt moved to do, but when he reappeared he still seemed troubled, his brow furrowed as he chewed on his lip.

He sat beside Yusuf on the low stone wall he had claimed for a seat and said nothing for a while. Around them people greeted their neighbors, hurried toward the market, shooed away the pigeons. There was birdsong and the sound of children laughing, and Yusuf could not find it in himself to be startled when Nico took his hand.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Yusuf asked, nodding toward the church.

More photos, as always, on the site:

The Animal Photo Reference Repository is an independent, permanently open-access project and funded entirely by donations. Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use all photos in the repository as references.

Sorry, Dad. I couldn't think of a nice way to say "America Stinks!"

I think originally Husk wasn't attracted by Angel, not bcs of his looks, but bcs of his behavior (he even calls it fake back then). Angel was constantly pushing his boundaries and relentlessly flirting with him, which clearly made him uncomfortable. So at first, there was definitely a sense of rejection toward Angel himself rather than his appearance imo.

I personally see Husk as the kind of guy who needs an emotional connection before he starts developing real attraction toward someone. And right before "Loser Baby", he literally comments that Angel is hot so he's never denied that aspect of him.

By s2 though, they're friends (or maybe a little more tehehe), so that attraction must have grown. On top of that, in that scene Husk is under the influence of alcohol, so I think his guard is down a bit. He's clearly not indifferent to Angel anymore, so he sneaks a little glance x)))

Especially since he spent like two whole minutes completely mesmerized by Angel's beauty during his performance lol