ARM CHOPPING IS NOT A LOVE LANGUAGE

Throughout the movie Jud keeps repeating that religion should not centralise the ego, hatred and violence. It should centralise community, love and acceptance in line with the teachings of Jesus. And then Jud takes this jewel that has caused so much pointless violence within the community. That has caused so much pointless violence against him. And what does he do? He gives it to Jesus.

He doesn’t keep it for himself, he doesn’t throw it away or give it to the church. No, he gives it to Jesus. Jesus who internalised all sin to give the world a clean slate after his death. Jesus who forgave humanity.

Jud forgives and lets go of the grief the community and church brought him. He acknowledges the sins his community and his church have committed and counters the hatred and violence with love. Because that’s what Jesus believed in. That’s what he fundamentally believes in. He is not here to “fight the wicked or bring them to justice”, but “to serve them and bring them back to Christ”

By “displaying” the stone as the heart of Christ Jud also buckles down on his belief that we need to openly acknowledge our shame and not hide it away. We should not let it fester until it consumes everything good in us, but acknowledge and accept it as a part of us. Because God acknowledges and accepts it as a part of us.

It’s a poignant callback to the exchange between him and Benoit Blanc where the detective accuses him of only joining the church, because it gave him a place to hide from his mistakes and to get a clear way to absolution. And Jud, who has openly talked about the mistakes that lead to him joining the church from the very beginning of the movie, counters that he didn’t find his way to god, because he wanted to find absolution.

He says he made these mistakes with open eyes, but that his faith helped him acknowledge those mistakes. He believes that his mistakes don’t condemn him for eternity in the eyes of God. He believes that God does not hide or fix people who have made mistakes. He believes that God loves people when they are guilty.

So he takes this jewel that has been tainted by violence and hatred. That represents the sins of the community. And makes it the heart of Jesus. Symbolically the community is not only forgiven, but also told they are loved even though they are guilty. Because that is the heart of Jesus’ teachings in Jud‘s eyes.

I like it, too, because he’s well aware that Cy is recording Blanc’s summation. He’s completely and totally aware that Cy will be posting it online, for the whole world to see. He’s Benoit Blanc, the world renowned detective who’s never failed to solve a case. He’s Benoit Blanc, the man so incredibly observant, there’s no way he missed that. He looks directly at Cy, even. He’s Benoit Blanc, happily married gay man who hates Christianity for how his mother treated him out of structured homophobia.

I think my favorite scene has got to be when Benoit Blanc is trying to convince Father Jud not to confess to murder in the middle of the forest at night, and then like, in the background, someone clearly connected to the unsolved murder mystery plot scuttles across the backdrop with an old lantern, pauses for a moment to witness the argument in the foreground, then continues on to complete the next step in the getting-away-with-murder plan.

It felt like a skit from a Muppet movie or Scooby Doo.

Marta is just comfy, pretty much all the time. Not in, like, life, but she’s all New England cozy in her clothes. Helen (as Andy) looks like a goddess in her clothes for most of the movie (a bloody and wrathful one towards the end).

I think this ship (spaceship) is really funny

Another artfight reference! I'm getting a little behind on posting them here because college got my full attention for a bit, but stuff is calming down so here i am >:]

I was really overdue on reworking Kore's design, it's probably one of my best ones, so I sat down and figured out how to properly draw their hairstyle! I then also did some other small changes, like changing the colors a little and making the chimeric coloration on its flowers more pronounced.

A bit more about her, from her page :]

Silly little creature