The Doorway: a panfandom game

[Trigger Warning: Mentions of Homophobia in Religious (Orthodox Christian) Organisations & Followers.]
Also, links include half-naked pictures of "Priests", so slightly NSFW

A group of priests and other "members" of the Eastern Orthodox church have put out a homoerotic 2015 calendar to combat homophobia within the church. Their official press release is as follows:

The story takes place on the right bank of the Moskva River south of Moscow, where some priests believe that same-sex unions are NOT a sign of the coming apocalypse, contrary to what Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill may claim. These priests set out, in a humorous way, to remind the world that homosexuality is NOT one of the 7 deadly sins and in fact that Jesus Christ never even referred to homosexuality as a sin!

Yet in the words of many in the Orthodox hierarchy, LGBT people have suddenly become the worst kind of sinners — an omen of the impending end of the world. What about wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony?

This year's calendar, titled “S.A.L.I.G.I.A.” (Superbia, Avaritia, Luxuria, Invidia, Gula, Ira, Acedia.) pays particular tribute to social tolerance, featuring a wide variety of homoerotic pictures of members of the cloth, who wear masks to hide their identities, and comes in "SFW" and "Uncensored" versions.

While I don't know how I feel about the "Bah! It's no worse than any of the other sins!" approach to homosexuality, I suppose I can get behind their efforts: "Our creative team along with our gay-friendly guests are more enthusiastic than ever to work on this new series illustrating the ancient sins forgotten by a declining Church obsessed with demonizing the LGBT community." Particularly because their website does seem to be more than just a place for selling the calendar, but is also filled with LGBT articles and interesting resources ... and a Meet the Priest contest.

You can see the advertisement for the calendar here which does use footage from some of the protests and violence against homosexuals and their supporters in the Orthodox region and Russia where homosexual propaganda is currently illegal. A percentage of the proceeds from last year's calendar was "used to battle discrimination against gays in Russia" -- Although it's a bit vague on how -- I hope they continue to use money to support this cause, and continue to deliver the sexy priests.

I've been watching Twin Peaks. Is the purpose of this show actually to make the audience die of secondhand embarrassment?

I am uncertain as to what the difference between brunch and breakfast is.

However I find both to be very tasty, Edible Complex.

[Bruce Banner (616)]

So I think Chewie might actually really like Horatio. She didn't even try to swallow him or maul his face. I'm kind of impressed. I think maybe we should do something fun this week. If you want to, I mean.

[Jessica Drew (616)]

Wanna go out and stir up trouble? I mean stir down trouble? Also what are you doing for Thanksgiving?

When I arrived here in April, my son had been born only a few hours earlier. Although Neal is my second child, he's the first I've been fortunate enough to raise from infancy. I'd read all the baby books I could get my hands on back home, but that didn't mean I had any idea what I was doing. And thanks to the Tesseract's whims, separating us from Neal's father, I was doing it alone.

Or at least I thought I was. But the truth is that I was never alone, because of everyone here. The doctors who made sure my newborn was healthy, my coworkers at the Youth Center who helped me feel comfortable leaving my son in their care, my friends (both old and new) who offered a hand whenever we needed one, and all the other parents on this network who shared their hard-won wisdom.

Two days ago, Neal turned six months old. Mother, father, and son have been reunited for a while, thank goodness, but I want all of you to know how much it has meant to me, being a part of such a supportive community as I've learned -- first on my own, and now with my beloved husband -- how to raise this beautiful child.

It's a long, difficult, wonderful journey, and I know David and I aren't the only ones on it right now. We have a very much-needed support group for people who have lost loved ones (a group I myself have attended); how about we add a support group for people who have gained loved ones? I don't just mean those parents who have welcomed a newborn babe into their lives recently. Parents with children of all ages would be invited. As I alluded to earlier, David and I were separated from our daughter Emma for 28 years. That wasn't exactly a common occurrence in our world, but here, it happens with much more frequency, and it presents its own set of challenges from a parenting perspective.

I also want to be clear that if your child isn't in this world with you -- for whatever reason -- you're still very much welcome to join us. Sometimes it can be therapeutic to share your past experiences, and everyone brings a unique perspective that other parents can learn from. If it's too difficult to talk, you can listen, and if even that is too much, you can certainly leave the room at any time (and, if you like, we can speak privately or I can refer you to someone experienced with loss & grief counseling). I want this to be an environment of inclusivity and understanding for all parents, regardless of our individual circumstances. We may have led different lives, but we've experienced many of the same emotions: the deep love, the intense fear, the joy and sometimes the loss. Let's honor the differences and celebrate the commonalities of our journeys through parenthood, together.

If you'd like to participate, please let me know here what days and general time frames are best for you. My first thought was Sunday evening, so that if any painful emotions do come up, they can be addressed the next night at the Refugee Survivor's Group; another option would be during Youth Night (4-7 pm on Wednesdays) to reduce the need for babysitting services, at least among the older kids. But we'll certainly work with the Youth Center to make sure every parent who wants to attend is able, whatever day we decide to meet.

Not dead, not a ghost, not a dead ghost. But not in Maine anymore, either.

I'm looking for Audrey Parker. Has anyone seen her? I was told she was around here somewhere.

[Harry Osborn]

I was talking to Connors about How interested are you in the Museum of Modern Art?

[Jan Van Dyne (616)]

So... um. Part of the reason I asked you to help me with the research I had to do with this disease and stuff is --

Is because, I think it's --

I mean I guess I just need someone to talk to about the fact that all of this is pretty --

I haven't talked to anyone about this, I certainly haven't spoken to Peter about it, but I know medicine, I know what we're capable of back home, and -- and I know what we can't necessarily do, and this research. This answer we're looking for?

I don't think we're going to find it.

[Tony Stark (616)]

Hey, do you hate happiness?

Who: Grant Ward & Nick Fury
When: 31 October 2014 (slightly backdated)
Where: CLASSIFIED
What: Nick Fury has an offer that can be refused.
Rating:Talk of abuse, death, spy hijinks.
Status: STATUS.



( Really Fury was within his rights to shoot him just based on his insults to Hill and Natasha. )

Human beings have never been the exception to an arms race with the rest of the worlds' species. The fact that we have a new flu vaccine every year would be proof of that... or really, just any disease that has yet to find a cure.

So, therefore, however scary and disturbing it is, the fact that there exists a strain of vaccine-resistant polio in the world is not surprising at all. I had a professor in grad school in one medical anthropology course on the effects of disease evolution based on human behavior throughout the centuries, who told us that thanks to our increasing population and depleting natural resources, we are most likely due for another deadly pandemic. A vaccine-resistant polio strain is probably just the beginning.

That being said, I still stress the importance of getting vaccinated. And people that are afraid of risk factors such as autism really need to learn to do their own research.

[New SHIELD]

In the interest of disclosure, two of my former students have been located. Barnard Allen and Kendra Hughes were labeled KIA during the takeover of the Science Academy. It would seem their deaths had been exaggerated. From what we have gathered they have been in HYDRA custody thought neither have been terribly verbal in the past two days.

At the moment they're stable. But they haven't shared how they got here outside of saying SHIELD was involved. Have there been any operations involving agent recovery that I was not aware of?

[Sam]

I know it wasn't exactly dinner, but I am very grateful for your help the other night.

[ OUAT PEOPLE: ]
Emma and I returned from our trip safe and sound. I trust nothing too exciting happened in our absence?

[ EMMA: ]
Is your door soundproof now?

Huh.

So I got into ESU for spring semester.

How many other musicians are there among us? I'm a drummer. I'd say I'm a better singer than you might imagine, but knowing who I am here, it might not actually be surprising.