“The Devil Works Hard, But AO3 Authors Work Harder,” I Mutter To Myself Like A Mantra As Encouragement

TBOSAS showed us why Snow believes poor kids from 12 can be influential and SOTR showed us that he still lives in fear of that decades later. Snow was working double-time to make Haymitch look bad—and still couldn’t do it!

The recap cut out him holding Lou Lou while she died, trying to save Ampert (don’t even get me started on how it’s because of Haymitch that the last interaction Ampert ever had with another person was a gesture of affection and a compliment), working out how to call off the porcupine (only possible because the distorted crying sound reminded him of consoling his baby brother), trying with Maysilee to revive Hull, sharing the chocolate with Silka because she was crying, admitting to Maysilee that he didn’t want her to leave . . . and the few positive aspects they were forced to leave in (e.g. defending Maysilee, killing only in self-defense) were enough for 12 to welcome him home with open arms.

They held him back from going in the house to die with his family, Louella’s mom took him in and told him it wasn’t his fault, and his friends tried to stick by him until he literally beat them off.

I can only conclude Snow only hated him so much primarily because he knew Haymitch was loved and going to stay that way, whereas Snow had long since ruined his own life. He comes down on Haymitch like a ton of bricks because, from the moment he laid Louella’s body down in front of him, Snow’s known that Haymitch sees him for what he really is, sees the Hunger Games for what they really are, and he’s petrified that Haymitch might make other people see it, too.

Say it again for the people in the back: If you think your religion can change, you’re admitting you believe it’s made up. Or, at the very least, that its source was flawed.

Laws of secular governments are 1) made for specific times, places, and people, and 2) made by people, and as we all know from bitter experience, people often make mistakes. This is what makes man-made laws changeable, to correct and update them as needed. Having a system in place to continually test and revise such laws is good and necessary.

The external trappings of religion are somewhat like this. How should a monk dress? This varies by the order, and it’s a decision made by people; it can change. It’s not an immutable truth about reality. The moral law of the Church, on the other hand, consists of immutable truths about reality that are as real and unchangeable (if less easily observable) as the laws of physics.

If you saw God Himself descend from Heaven, with all His omniscience and omnibenevolence which makes it unthinkable for Him to make a mistake or act maliciously, and personally lay out a code of conduct meant for everybody’s use until the end of time, you would never dare change a single aspect of that code.

He did, and we don’t.

Now, if you don’t believe that God descended from Heaven, or that He’s omniscient, or that He’s omnibenevolent, or that He’s omnipotent, etc., then naturally you won’t believe in His promise of an institution founded by Him (Matthew 16:17-19), guided personally by Him (Luke 24:49, John 16:7-8, John 14:16-20, Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8), and which cannot be defeated by any power of evil (Matthew 16:18). In that case, Christianity would be of human origin (or worse: founded by an imperfect and unreliable god) and we would be free to edit it as we pleased.

The whole Good News™️ shtick of Catholicism, though, is that although humanity is fallen and we cannot achieve perfection by our own merits, it’s not all on our shoulders and we have a God who can and did and does and will help us. One of the most notable ways He’s done this is by providing us with a Church to safeguard His teachings for us as a reliable reference point. Changing said teachings is more than inadvisable; it would be totally contrary to the God-given mission of the Church.

Alright, everyone, say it with me: The Catholic Church Has No Power Or Authority To Change Her Doctrines Or The Moral Law

NPR.org

What Happens When A Country Bans Spanking?

Researchers look at countries that have prohibited corporal punishment for kids and their rate of youth violence.

Now a new study looking at 400,000 youths from 88 countries around the world suggests such bans are making a difference in reducing youth violence. It marks the first systematic assessment of whether an association exists between a ban on corporal punishment and the frequency in which adolescents get into fights. 

So, what’s The Scene for you, the one that just has to make it into the movie? For me, it’s hands-down the mute “Buddy?”

Need to have my heart shattered a second time by seeing Haymitch’s reaction to Ampert’s death on screen.

Because he knew almost as soon as he met Ampert that the kid had no chance. Ampert’s reaping was an execution order, even more than anyone else’s. From a purely practical perspective, Haymitch should have been closed-off toward him, should have resigned himself to Ampert’s inevitable death at the hands of the unstoppable Capitol and just looked out for himself. After all, Snow offered Haymitch a deal if only Haymitch would lay low and let the Capitol do as it pleased.

Instead, Haymitch promised to fight for Ampert, to protect him, to keep his death from being whatever torture Snow had in mind for him. He promised to do whatever could be done. Why? Not because it was easy (it obviously wouldn’t be) and not because it was even possible (how could it have been), but because it was right. Because Ampert was a kid caught up in other people’s problems and he didn’t deserve any of it. Anyone who could have stepped in was obligated to, even if it didn’t do any good. There was no saving him, but there was no justifiable option but to try anyway.

Haymitch was all-in with this impossible task. He understood the doomed necessity of protecting the kid marked for death, not because he could succeed but because he couldn’t not try. That’s why he fought for him even as he realized the mutts were only there for Ampert, that this was the brutal execution Snow had planned to make an example out of an innocent kid. That’s why he tried to save someone who couldn’t be saved. That’s why he tried to call out to bones that couldn’t hear.

Countless children’s media misled me with their emphasis on the dangers of quicksand, but VeggieTales was spot-on with their emphasis on the danger of the public veneration of material goods.

what I assume y’all are seeing on benadryl

Tired of stories where the author worldbuilds a whole religion only to chicken out at the last moment by making the main character a skeptic. You mean to tell me that there’s all this richness in lore and culture, but you’ve trapped me with the one person in this society who doesn’t care about it? So bland. I could meet an agnostic easily enough by walking down the street, but your story is my one chance to hear the perspective of someone who follows whatever religion you’ve contrived. You made this whole world; convince me that your character really is from there.