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Doing my apocalypse religion class readings and lowkey the book of Genesis is tea
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suddenly it's a really riveting (queer) read. the apostles and disciples were really writing novel-length passages about their collective crush on big J and i can't help but giggle at that notion. it's all about perspective babes 🤭
Nov 14, 2024
so, i’m reading this book- “how to read literature like an english professor“ in preparation for this 4,000 word essay i’m writing. it’s about virginity, sex, and dicks- so of course when i stumble on the section concerning religion and religious symbolism, i read between the lines as if it was the new testament
THE CHRIST FIGURE
the definition of a “christ figure” is someone who is attempted, intended, or implied to be biblical to an extent and envelopes the hallmarks of jesus christ himself. however- as you will, in mere moments, see for yourself, such a list is anything but narrow.
• (roughly) 33
• good with kids
• sacrificial
• miraculous
• virtuous
• last seen in a company of thieves ( i get the reference )
• good with bread
• good with fish?
• good at carpentry / fishing
• humble ( especially economically )
• in agony
• crucific wounds
• wounds on the hands, sides, head and feet
• outstretched arms
• sent to redeem an environment
• rejected by society
• celibate
• in some sort of wilderness, perhaps accosted by the devil
woah! what a list. jeez, i know. so 22, why do christ figures exist in literature?
really interestingly enough- mostly in an ironic way. it’s supposed to make a character who’s very grandiose look tiny. otherwise, it’s a pretty regular reason, and the reason authors do anything, to make parallels. to deepen a sacrifice, or explore and substantiate why a character needs to redeem himself; or just to make a text biblical in general.
the point is more so that such a list is so extensive and applicable that any and all may be christ figures themselves. pull a character out of your head, and go back to the list, usually one will apply. off the top of MY head, Humbert Humbert.
He is
1 ) good with children ( lol im joking )
2 ) rejected by society
3 ) sacrificial ( tonally, in reference to how he portrays his story throughout his trial)
4 ) accosted by the devil ( implicitly argued )
5) last seen in a company of thieves ( prison)
6 ) in agony
now, no one here is arguing Humbert Humbert a “good” guy, or that he is in any way holy or similar to christ in his actions. that is the argument entirely. the requisites for a christ figure allow villains or just, bad people in general, to consist in the same realm, and that is the purpose entirely!!! i am a christ figure, as are you, and to see firsthand how so much of common intertextuality is rooted in the bible, which, let’s be fair, isnt the only religious work in circulation. so why? why the bible? why jesus?
well, in literature, the bible interestingly enough is kind of just a storybook with the first explicit references to basic human themes
love,
hate
good v evil
forgiveness
redemption
betrayal
power
it’s also rich with metaphorical elements, like the garden of eden, the lions den, earth ITSELF!
anyway, i was a hardcore hater of the bible and in its application i still kind of am, but it fucking rocks for literary analysis.
Feb 19, 2025
i loveeee greek mythology. i first read this book in middle school during my percy jackson phase, and i’ve read it many times since. i find it so interesting, and i think the way the stories are told in this book are a really great introduction to classic stories. this is my super beat up copy i’ve had for years
Mar 12, 2025
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I made a Goodreads account recently and it asked me to rate some popular books I’d read before. Little did I know, every time I ranked a book, it would give me 5 more similar to that one, and then 5 more from that, and on and on until a neverending phylogenetic tree of books emerged on my screen.
I was on FaceTime with my friend as I did this, and we compared which books we’d both read, ones we loved, ones we got forced to read in school, ones we read as preteens, etc. But half an hour in and no end to the Goodreads algorithm, but stuck in The Very Hungry Caterpillar-y children’s book branch of the algorithm tree that I couldn’t escape, I started to get mad. So I command-Q’d chrome and called it a day.
This week I went back to organise my To Read list and to purge all the loose one-book memos on my notes app. My professor recently gave me her recommendations on queer literature and I wanted to properly organise them. On my profile it said I’d already read some 100+ books and I’d given them all 5 star ratings. Ok well now that’s pissing me off. Why is there digital clutter on my brand new account, and why did I give all that information to them anyways.? I love to categorise, but did I really need to log my readership of the individual 39 Clues books?
I feel similarly about when I first downloaded letterboxd and it made me go down a similar never ending algorithm of potential movies I’d watched before. I did spend an unreasonable amount of time swiping through those movies trying to remember if I really did watch Horton Hears a Who in 2008(?) or not.
Why do I feel the need to share this with the algorithm? genuinely what purpose does this serve me? Why am I volunteering memories from my 7 year old self when I learnt English by reading Geronimo Stilton books for the first time?
Anyways, I deleted all the past data from my Goodreads account. There’s only logs from my current reads, and the list of books I want to read next. There’s comfort in organising and seeing your life laid out in list/grid categories, like unlocking achievements on video games - oh did you know I read so and so and yeah I was a pretentious little bitch in high school and every YA book I read in 2013 has gotta be logged and
But there’s another type of comfort in keeping that information away from the internet where they’ll find a way to use that data against you. I can‘t think of a single occasion I’d need personalised ads for the chick-lit books I read in primary school but I know the algorithm is going to eventually find a way to sell my nostalgia back to me somehow… I‘m going to open any of my little apps and see hyper specific #ad on my screen.
I know I’ve given so much of me away online already - and look what I’m doing right now(!) , sharing my interests and recommendations to strangers online hah .. I won’t lie about the fact that it brings me joy to live online - it’s been my playground for so much of my life - Like sorry I am literally the internet explorer -But there was a time before I lived on the internet. I don’t think they need to know everything about Then.
I recommend not giving up everything about yourself to the machine
Mar 8, 2024
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Holding a physical paperback is one of the Core Experiences of reading pleasure— but the option of having your book at all times, no matter the lighting, body position or situation, is going to make you so much more likely to read.
The way you can read for 5 minutes, text your friend, check notifs and seamlessly come back to your page is kind of brainrot but you know what. Idgaf :33
For me, the convenience of skipping a trip to the library and just downloading an epub file is one of the purest indulgences of instant gratification… very gluttonous but it feels very Nice
Mar 8, 2024
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Rawdog the sound of society while you walk… the tea is crazy
May 17, 2024