I found a good cutoff point — about 2/3 of the way through the book, even! — so here’s Roundup Part 2 of my Secret Commonwealth re-listen.

It’s hella long. I did try to put some effort into “if I could edit this to have a more consistent plot and be more thematically-coherent, how would I fix it?”, instead of just going “and THIS was handled badly, and THAT was handled badly, and THIS TOO was–” over and over.

Also, I broke it up with cute daemon photos.

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. (Matthew 2:16)

This question used to trouble me: How could God allow these little ones to die when His own Son was safely on the way to Egypt?

Logically it makes no sense to blame God. Herod is the one who did the evil, not God. But saying that never helps. It’s as if we expect the Herods of this world to behave that way, so when they do, we just grieve and move on without surprise. But not with God. We expect good from Him. And when we see horrible evil happening, we cry out in shock and blame. It isn’t logical, but it’s human.

I only got over this when I realized that in fact, God didn’t save Jesus from death. He postponed it. The last baby of Bethlehem died too—betrayed, flogged, nailed to a cross 30 years later. And He did it for the other babies—and for me—and for you.

Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection is the only way I can bear the horrors of the world. Because Jesus is God Himself, and He chose His path deliberately—not to save Himself, but to rescue all of us from evil, at the cost of His life. He loves us that much. If that is what God’s heart is like, the Herods of the world will never win. Jesus lives and reigns forever. And because of Him, we too will live.

WE PRAY: Lord, when horrible evil happens, save us! Amen.

Reflection Questions:

• Do you have trouble watching the news?
• Why do you think both ends of Jesus’ life are marked by horror?
• How do you lean on Jesus for help in evil times?

Advent Devotions were written by Dr. Kari Vo.

snowflake_challenge 
Challenge #2: Pets of Fandom: Loosely defined! Post about your pets, pets from your canon, anything you want!

I have four cats, legally, but it's more like 3 cats and half of two cats. Reb Brown - my old man cat, Stink my half blind and brain damaged cat and Kitten my murderpuss all live here full time. Reb is an indoor cat, with occasional escape attempts. Stink and Kitten are indoor/outdoor cats, mostly because they refuse to use a litter box. Well Kitten refuses, Stink doesn't really understand the concept.  We also have Missy, who I see on occasion but she spends most of her time at the care home across the lane. And Buddy isn't out cat but spends most of his time here. 

We also have three chickens, Jade, Fluffernutter and Jellylegs. We may get more in the spring. And we have 2 fish. 

I also offer you these two fic about animals:

Some Of The Adventures Of Schrödinger The Cat - A Stargate SG-1 fic about Sam's cat after the Tolen are attacked.

Proper Lawn Maintenance - A Dragon Age fic about a goat.

Dear Candy Hearts artist/author,

This will be my second time participating. My AO3 is Haro. If someone feels so inclined, treats and gifts are also enabled on my account.

I'm a millennial lesbian living in the midwest US with my long time girlfriend and our menagerie of kitty cats. Cats are a welcome addition to ANY prompt I give. As far as I'm concerned all my faves are cat lovers, even if they don't know it yet. 

Non-series specific likes: Found families, friends to lovers, mutually requited pining, teamwork, equality in relationships, mutual protection, physical affection, battle couples, home being a person and not a place, established relationship fic, angst and hurt comfort with a happy ending (I'm soft at heart), transfem headcanons, dancing, characters in fancy or special clothes, anything with cats. I'm also a sucker for stories where characters triumph against impossible odds, as well as stories where free will > fate.

 Dislikes: noncon, dubcon, cheating, drawn out miscommunication, major character death (except what already exists in canon). Unrequited relationships, love triangles, stories about one partner outliving the other by a lot, descriptions of pregnancy, detailed descriptions of baby rearing, kids as a focal point, omegaverse, anything where a major character dislikes cats.

I'm also not really interested in smut fic as a gift. Allusions to sex, mentions of it, sensuality, and fade to black are very welcomed though!

Amyway, here's my prompts! I tend toward quite shippy requests.

永夜星河 | Love Game in Eastern Fantasy (TV) [Ling Miaomiao/Mu Sheng | Mu Ziqi/Xia Ziqi]

I am desperate for anything post-canon with our Miaomiao and Ziqi. There's so little of it out there. I'm so into these two right now! They have my heart. If you can't do post-canon, any established relationship within the timeline of the story would also be loved. Perhaps something while they're traveling together to look for his memories?     

You are welcome to include any other LGIEF characters, as well as Mu Yao/Liu Fuyi as a ship.  

For post-canon, I'd prefer something that isn't a reunion story, but instead takes place once they've already encountered each other at the book signing and continued their relationship. They've started their next journey together, and even if it isn't quite as full of adventure and peril as their previous one, it's still wonderful. I love anything that throws back to their time in the parallel world together and homages it, or you could also go all out and somehow bring supernatural elements to the current era. Just have fun!  

Things I love with these two: 

-While his journey was about self-love; our fragile, insecure Ziqi is never going to lose that aspect of him entirely. I like a Ziqi that still has some insecurity about himself, his personal worth, and of course, about if he can be the partner Miaomiao deserves (he absolutely can be). He's much healthier, happier, and more confident in himself, but he's still human. 

-The sweet, teasing, and fond banter they have. 

-I'd prefer no all out smut, but fade to black and implications are fine. I think if they are early in a sexual relationship, it's important for our Ziqi to be just as inexperienced as he was as Mu Sheng. Miaomiao also comes across as quite shy.  

Here's a few letter exclusive series specific ideas:

1- Body worship of any kind, especially with regard to Ziqi, who is much more a normal guy in this world than the cool, badass super strong demon hunter he used to be. And toward Miaomiao, just because she's Miaomiao and she deserves to be adored. 

2- Anything regarding Ziqi's illness! Although the surgery for moyamoya disease alleviates most chronic symptoms, and for most people, they just have to take daily medication, it's still true that he has a disability and that it's had a deep impact on him his entire life. Make it sweet. Maybe even explore some of the things he can do now that he's had his operation, but that he's still hesitant about because his kneejerk reaction is that he's not allowed to do any strenuous activity since it had been that way most of his life. You can ALSO explore how his illness parallels his half demon condition in Catching Demons, if you'd like.

3- Miaomiao escaping her rotten work life. She deserves a better job. Maybe her time in Catching Demons and her reunion with Ziqi, as well as his encouragement, finally gives her the courage to demand more (Ziqi tells Miaomiao his courage was born because of her, so he can return the favor). Does she get a promotion? Does she find a better place to work? Does she go back to school to find her way into a career that she's more passionate about? It's up to you.  
4- Ziqi growing his hair out. Look, Ding Yuxi is a beautiful man, but that ponytail adds something extra, and I miss it. I think Miaomiao would agree.  
5- Anything where they reflect back on their journey in Catching Demons with both fondness and melancholy (they'd miss their friends and family in there, after all). 

Series specific DNW: Please no other pairings for the characters but Miaomiao/Ziqi. I'm also not much of a fan of them finding reincarnations of Fuyi and Mu Yao (I'd rather them somehow reunite with the originals someday). Please nothing that involves Miaomiao doubting whether this Ziqi is the same as the Ziqi she fell in love with in the book.   

Treats welcome.

淮水竹亭 | Love in Pavilion (TV) [Zhang Zheng/Anaran]

These wonderful, heartbreaking, tragic boys. Despite their very limited screentime, they really won my heart and nestled their way into it.

I'd love to see ANYTHING romantic with these two.

I think they would be so tender; quiet and devoted Anaran, and caring and attentive Zhang Zheng.

A fix it fic would be fantastic (you could do this however you'd like, but I AM partial to them running away with each other). Zhang Zheng will need a miracle cure from a deadly illness (and perhaps a cure to a poison, if the fix it happens after Zheng Zheng takes the poison that canonically kills him), so it would be great to see some lasting repercussions. Perhaps Zhang Zheng loses his martial arts abilities or is physically handicapped in some way? But he and Anaran are still able to live on, and they are more than content.

Qingmu Yuan can be mentioned as they both have feelings for her (and I imagine they'd worry about her), but I'd like the focus to be on them. Other characters from LIP can also make appearances if needed. For this ship, something like them taking a disciple in the future would be okay, but I'd rather not see them having children themselves.

Treats are welcome. 

长相思 | Lost You Forever (TV) [Xiaoyao/Tushan Jing and/or Tushan Jing & Xiang Liu]

The only romantic pairing I'm interested in is Xiaoyao and Tushan Jing. I'm always a fan of anything gentle with them.

Otherwise, I'm interested in Xiang Liu and Tushan Jing's dynamic, so something non-romantic with them could be really neat. I think they could be friends in another life.

As far as other side characters, bringing in A'nian somehow would be fun, but not at all necessary.

I love the tenderness and the healing of the relationship between Xiaoyao and Tushan Jing. Would love to see them exploring the world post-canon. I would prefer you do not give them children.

Also I know in the series itself, Tushan Jing knew Xiaoyao was a woman all along, but in my mind he did not know she was one until she revealed it. He still fell in love of course. Tushan Jing bisexual king, is very important to me. I would love to see that explored.

Thank you so much! I hope some of my prompts have inspired you. 💖