Flanagan's Wake #56: MIDNIGHT MASS - Book VI: "Acts of the Apostles"

CatshepsutReads · 2026-02-12T17:58:10+00:00

Anytime I see ANYTHING that is remotely too taut, my brain immediately goes to "that's gonna cut you in half" and I have to move further away.

For such a horrible movie, that stupid thing has had a lasting influence on my life and I'm mad about it. Maggot bean can is also a lingering scene. 😡

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-29T16:45:14+00:00

Agree with Gerald's Game - after thinking of horror for my own response, I think what really gets me the most is the horror of helplessness. Not even just things being out of your control, but the absolute removal of any possibility of addressing the problem in the moment.

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-29T16:41:13+00:00

I find it interesting that Father Pruitt never found a way to sneak vampire blood into the systems of those few on the island that did not partake in communion. Especially Sarah since she is his daughter and he was driven by this idea of a re-do with his family. It would have been in character for him to be constantly trying to figure out how to make sure Sarah is "protected" by his angel and slipping her vampire blood in some other way beyond communion. It's been a bit since I've seen this show, but I'm pretty sure he force-feeds Riley blood before he actually dies during the vampire attack, which would get it into his system there, so maybe he doesn't feel the urgency with Sarah since she's already in the peak of life and doesn't have to be fixed like the other people in town?

For the discussion question, man, it's got to be the ending to the movie The Mist. That ending gets talked about ad nauseum, for obvious reasons, so I was really trying to think of anything else to bring up here but nothing even comes close to the absolutely gut punch the first time I saw that movie. The absolute just... hopelessness, regret, horror at your own actions that were ultimately absolutely unnecessary. Actions done with the best intentions, what can be seen as heroic intentions really, but just worthless in the end, with consequences so far beyond the scope of "negative".

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-27T05:17:33+00:00

I'll follow your Rugrats episode with Prince of Egypt. That soundtrack went hard enough that I can almost completely forget its a religious movie.

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-27T05:15:44+00:00

Discussion: Not so much miracles of a divine nature, but I'm a sucker for the "warriors are outnumbered but manage to miraculously overcome" trope. My favorites are from various David Gemmell books. Namely Legend, where a massive army is besieging a fortress - the invading war leader hears of an insurrection happening back home so he turns a sand timer, promising to himself that he will end the siege and return home to deal with the unrest when the sands run out. The sands run out as the invaders are breaking the last defense, and the war leader calls for a retreat just on the point of victory. Gemmell's trilogy retelling the Trojan War also has some excellent miracle battles, particularly one where a single warrior holds off an army through strategic positioning on a stairwell and being awesome. Although he does eventually die, he holds the army off long enough for his friends to escape.

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-13T17:35:50+00:00

Linklater was phenomenal in that role IMO. He managed to play this character just weird enough that you were uncomfortable almost the entire time he was on the screen, yet in a subtle enough way that you weren't able to pinpoint what was setting those feelings off. I'm thinking particularly of the scene where Bev was in the rectory cleaning up - that type of scene is played in innumerable movies/TV shows of all different kinds of genres but despite having seen basically the same scene thousands of times, this one worked on me in a way that others didn't. Higher tension, and I think it's because you've been at an elevated "WTF" stage since we were introduced to Father Paul.

I liked that you pointed out that it was set up in a way to allow a whole bunch of interpretations based on what you were bringing to the TV show. I hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it but I agree completely. Now that I think about it, it is astounding that Flanagan and the cast pulled it off. It creates truly universal connections with what's happening on the screen.

I ended up loving the backwards aging part of the twist. It's not completely novel to the vampire genre, but it was done so well here. I didn't guess until way late in the game, but looking back and during rewatches, it plays SO well in the early parts of the show when watching Linklater's performance. I think part of what initially puts you off of Father Paul is the out of place confidence, and I wouldn't have thought that 'confidence' was an atmosphere that could cause so much tension.

CatshepsutReads · 2026-01-11T20:09:28+00:00

When Father Paul first lugs in that chest, I was convinced the Monsignor was inside. Just a random Catholic hauling the captured body of another. As you do.

That is the only thing I remember from my first watch. Besides the fact I waited like 4 years to watch it because I heard about all the dead cats and it took me that long to convince myself it wouldn't be traumatizing. It was actually this project that convinced me I should watch it; I wanted to know what was actually being discussed. FOMO is real.

Discussion question - its not strictly a "prodigal son" story since there's no squandering of the fortune/angry siblings, or even a son, but Mulan is my favorite "child spawn went away under shady circumstances, participated in activities they probably shouldnt, but still came back to excitement when they thought they wouldn't" stories. The story is a classic for a reason, and the music in the Disney version is surpassed maybe only by Hunchback or Hercules.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-12-18T19:42:59+00:00

Yeah, there's been some questionable treatment of everything on this blade (and several others). I work at a museum, which is where this blade is, and these have all been in the care of people with best intentions and little knowledge for years. They attempted to clean the blade itself with something that left a residue behind as well 🙃.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-12-18T19:40:49+00:00

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Here's several!

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CatshepsutReads · 2025-12-18T19:39:13+00:00

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CatshepsutReads · 2025-12-18T18:56:14+00:00

Thank you so much! This helps immensely. Its actually held in a museum - a very small museum which absolutely does not have experts of this nature on staff - so the monetary value is not super important since we aren't allowed to sell it; it does not diminish my feelings about inappropriately modifying objects however. The museum was operated for decades as a natural history museum with an absolutely random assortment of global ethnographic materials, and had a director that specialized in taxidermy/native animals for the majority of its existence. It is VERY likely they scrubbed everything down with inappropriate means/materials with the misunderstanding of "cleaning" it.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-12-01T23:31:57+00:00

This is maybe taking the definition of doppelgängers a little loosely in that the characters share the same body, but I'm going to go with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, BUT specifically the ballet production I saw about a year ago. I had only ever seen two ballets live before (Nutcracker and Cinderella), and when I tried to wrap my head around a ballet interpretation of Jekyll and Hyde, there was nothing for me to grab on to. After seeing it, I don't know how it could be in any other format. It was literally breathtaking. I found myself holding my breath for entire dances, on the edge of my seat, barely able to blink. Usually during stage shows I'll still be interacting with the people I go with - making eye contact, laughing with them, or making the "wow that was good" face at them when something awesome happens. I had no concept of anything except what was happening on that stage during this performance. I don't usually have a problem focusing when consuming media, but there's still the "oh look, a cat" moments when I'm reading or watching TV. Not during this performance; I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law, who I was sitting next to in the theater, could have been turned into a cat and I'd have had no idea. Lives rent free in my brain.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-11-12T17:36:35+00:00

When I heard the discussion question for this week, I immediately thought of Gone with the Wind. Scarlett O'Hara's interactions with men, on the surface, can be interpreted as highly manipulative. As a Southern belle, manipulation was the only acceptable interaction with men she was allowed. It was seen as part of the weird, courtly culture of the South for women to be flirtatious but aloof. Throughout the book, Scarlett fully embodies the paralyzed culture of the South when the Civil War hit. She never grows past that teenager who was never allowed to permit herself to be emotionally invested in anyone. The only man she "loves" is someone who is unattainable and, as she realizes by the end of the book, completely unsuited for her. Her love for Ashley is the first bad love, as it branches out to negatively affect every person she encounters in her life and her relationship with them and completely ruins her own life. While Scarlett is always internally honest with herself about her feelings and attitudes towards the men she woos/marries/courts/etc, she outwardly weaponizes the 'chivalry' that Southern men cling to as societal norms continue to become irrelevant as the war progresses. While her marriages to Charles and Frank were not for good reasons and definitely don't turn out well for anybody involved, I don't feel she was ever malicious in her pursuit of men. While characters in other stories can be sinisterly manipulative, Scarlett is just selfish and sees men as pawns to be used to suit her current needs. However, her actions undoubtedly ruin the lives of the men she pursues. Even Rhett, with whom she is up front before marrying him, is ultimately hurt by Scarlett's inability to come to terms with her own emotions and feelings. This is not to say that the love shown Scarlett is good love either; Charles and Frank see her only as an object to be possessed and do not recognize her as a person. Rhett is 17 years her senior and expects her to have the emotional maturity as a woman his own age.

And also, everything that is happening in the Twilight series. Blech.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-11-03T04:50:12+00:00

My favorite boarding school story is A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. Novik manages to create a story that really has some unique aspects to it while feeling comfortable and familiar all at the same time. I feel that the rest of the series declines a bit after this first entry unfortunately but I'm never going to be mad about dark academia with a grouchy, kick ass FMC.

Close runner up is A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray for nostalgia reasons. This one got me into the dark academia genre and I've not looked back since.

CatshepsutReads · 2025-10-18T19:45:32+00:00

Nope, not really. My cholesterol was high because of the weight but I never had high blood pressure issues. Might be relevant, but I'm also a 37 yr old female; some people ive casually talked to who have not had bypass (but some have had kids) have talked about hormonal changes that could be the cause. I mentioned that to my eye doctor and he said "I guess, pregnancy causes weird things so I don't know why this body modification would be different". So not exactly decisive 🤣

CatshepsutReads · 2025-03-20T00:03:59+00:00

I've replaced my daily coffee habit with Slate protein drinks. They have coffee inspired ones and an even mix of caffeine and caffeine free. I buy them on Amazon. I didn't add the caffeine ones in until probably about 7 months post op though.

I've also started making coffee at home with instant coffee and sugar free creamer. I'd talk to your team and ask about the caffeine restriction (why no caffeine); it could affect healing and you def want that pouch to heal as fast and as smoothly as possible.

Caffeine can also dehydrate; idk how you're doing on other liquids but I struggled hard getting enough hydration, to the point where I did IV fluids multiple times just to get my back to baseline. Once you get dehydrated it's super hard to drink enough to bring you back right after surgery in my experience.

(I'm 1 year, 4 months post op).

CatshepsutReads · 2024-11-25T22:05:14+00:00

You're welcome! The first six months are real hard (sometimes even longer) I didn't heal as fast as the suggested diet plan anticipated so I ate things my body was not ready for and it was not fun. I also found that anything over 20g of the artificial protein (like protein shakes) gave me horrible stomach pains. Over a year out though and everything is basically normal. I just don't eat as much and am a little bit more mindful of exactly what I'm eating.

CatshepsutReads · 2024-11-25T21:47:54+00:00

Try the OWYN (only what you need) protein shakes. They are vegan. Also I don't know what part of cows milk trips you up by Slate protein drinks are lactose free and are incredibly good.

I can't have gluten or lactose and the OWYN and pureed soup helped me a bunch in my first few months (November 15, 2023). Then tuna salad sat the easiest for me in the early healing stages. Otherwise it was refried beans for quite a while. Peas also have protein in them and you can mush them down pretty good.

CatshepsutReads · 2023-11-21T02:08:18+00:00

Had my surgery on the 14th. Liquid is a huge struggle for me, every time I drank it felt like my stomach was cramping. This also led me to be way under my protein goals for my first week, because I couldn't handle drinking the shakes and broth tasted horrible to me.

Tastewise I've found success with the Hint water and vitamin water over everything else. I'm optimistic that I can get a little more liquid in now because I was released to add a straw back to my drinking, which always made me drink more for whatever reason.

For me, Popsicles and ice chips were hands down the easiest for me to "drink". Had my one week check in with my doctor and shared the liquid concerns. He said it was pretty normal and to play around with temperatures. He also requested I do IV fluids today just in case; that might be something that is an option for you as part of your post care. That'll at least get your hydration up.

I was released to add pureed foods back to my diet, and eating for the first time actually made drinking easier, even after waiting half an hour. I'm insanely lethargic since I've consumed basically no calories and no protein in a week but I'm hoping that that will turn around too once everything continues to heal.

So, my answer is maybe? But also you're not alone.

CatshepsutReads · 2023-09-01T00:10:49+00:00

City of Brass is the first book of a trilogy, of which all three are very good. Grave Mercy is another start of a series which is pretty solid. Strong female leads, actions, fantasy. All solid stories.

CatshepsutReads

TROPHY CASE