#I love them and their examples

[reformedfaerie]

one thing about biblical womanhood posts that I’ve noticed is that when it’s talked about, they still strive to emphasize the aspects that were remarkable situations— they leave a faint taste of feminism in my mouth because they focus on Deborah, the woman raised up to lead because the men wouldn’t; they focus on Jael, the woman who kills a man with a tent spike; a woman dropping a stone, Rahab smuggling Israelites and defying authorities—

And all of these are raised up and praised as the Biblical woman with just a hint of look!! We’re strong!! We’re in the thick of it!! We’re not submissive doormats!!

In one sense, this is true. These are great, godly women. They are our examples.

But in all our striving to remind people of biblical women’s strength, we cannot forget who else are our examples.

We cannot forget Ruth. Ruth who humbled herself and remains loyal with Naomi, submitting herself to God and trusting in His provision. Ruth who lays herself at Boaz’s feet and who sacrifices possibly being a widow soon again for the sake of Naomi’s care and God’s provision.

Martha— one who serves and who desires to serve

Mary— one who sits at Christ’s feet to learn and desires to hear the words of her Lord

Lydia— who insisted on hosting and serving the Lord’s messengers; who would be possibly sacrificing her wealth being a part of the church in Philippi and serving the church

Mary— Jesus’ mother who submitted herself to God’s will, submitted herself to the scorn of her peers, who trusted the Lord to fulfill His promises and whose soul was pierced with a sword

The strength of godly wives who submit though their flesh and curse is contrary— the strength of women who order their homes, are humble, are helpers, are mothers, are servers, are menders, are teachers, are caregivers, are sellers and makers, are students of our Lord.

Don’t confuse gentleness for weakness; nor tenderness for a lack of strength.

Women are strong.

And it’s not because of tent spikes.

[andthebeanstalk]

Today my therapist introduced me to a concept surrounding disability that she called "hLep".

Which is when you - in this case, you are a disabled person - ask someone for help ("I can't drink almond milk so can you get me some whole milk?", or "Please call Donna and ask her to pick up the car for me."), and they say yes, and then they do something that is not what you asked for but is what they think you should have asked for ("I know you said you wanted whole, but I got you skim milk because it's better for you!", "I didn't want to ruin Donna's day by asking her that, so I spent your money on an expensive towing service!") And then if you get annoyed at them for ignoring what you actually asked for - and often it has already happened repeatedly - they get angry because they "were just helping you! You should be grateful!!"

And my therapist pointed out that this is not "help", it's "hLep".

Sure, it looks like help; it kind of sounds like help too; and if it was adjusted just a little bit, it could be help. But it's not help. It's hLep.

At its best, it is patronizing and makes a person feel unvalued and un-listened-to. Always, it reinforces the false idea that disabled people can't be trusted with our own care. And at its worst, it results in disabled people losing our freedom and control over our lives, and also being unable to actually access what we need to survive.

So please, when a disabled person asks you for help on something, don't be a hLeper, be a helper! In other words: they know better than you what they need, and the best way you can honor the trust they've put in you is to believe that!

Also, I want to be very clear that the "getting angry at a disabled person's attempts to point out harmful behavior" part of this makes the whole thing WAY worse. Like it'd be one thing if my roommate bought me some passive-aggressive skim milk, but then they heard what I had to say, and they apologized and did better in the future - our relationship could bounce back from that. But it is very much another thing to have a crying shouting match with someone who is furious at you for saying something they did was ableist. Like, Christ, Jessica, remind me to never ask for your support ever again! You make me feel like if I asked you to call 911, you'd order a pizza because you know I'll feel better once I eat something!!

Edit: crediting my therapist by name with her permission - this term was coined by Nahime Aguirre Mtanous!

Edit again: I made an optional follow-up to this post after seeing the responses. Might help somebody. CW for me frankly talking about how dangerous hLep really is.

[pcktknife]

zoroark pokedex entries

[yardsards]

the owl house really said "familial love is stored in a gifted garment"

EDIT: forgot one! thanks @cat-eared-exam-taker

[jimmyspades]

[elitadream]

When we think of Mario and Peach's chemistry in the games, any rescue scene is usually what comes to mind. But there's one bit of Mareach interaction I just had to talk about because it's honestly one of my all-time favorite moments with these two.

The introduction sequence of Luigi's Mansion 3.

We see our characters on a bus ride, and the two of them are sitting side by side. Peach appears to be laughing at something Mario said, and they're both having a great time. All goes smoothly until Toad swerves to the right, causing the passengers to lose their balance and bump into each other.

It takes them a second to steady themselves, and the first thing Mario does as he opens his eyes again is glance at Peach with a smile. But it's not his trademark grin. His expression is quite softer than usual, and meeker too.

Even rarer still: he then lets out a timid chuckle. Something I've personally never seen him do in any other game. He's being shy, bless him. Not openly flustered or delighted, but actually shy.

And what does Peach do? She returns his smile with a bright and gleeful "Yahoo!". An all too characteristic exclamation that she has undoubtedly borrowed from him over time.

It's a very small and brief moment. But OMG does it say a lot about their dynamic.

It captures everything that I find so very charming and endearing about their unspoken affection, and it's a very good example of how I imagine those calm and blissful moments between them to be like. The moments we never see as players, but which are surely there as well.

I wish there was one instance where we got to fully see what a pleasant and peaceful day was like for them. But if this is the closest thing we're ever going to get, then I'm okay with that.

Because this scene alone is downright adorable and it makes me very happy. 😊💞

[sysig]

Those wacky skeletons ♥ (Patreon)

[lyxchen]

Sometimes I think about queer love and get overwhelmed with all the joy and happieness I'm feeling and it's one of the best feelings I have ever felt <3

[v1-kisser]

Proship dni for my comfort thanks.

I feel like everyone portrays F/Os as these romantic, perfect all around lovers, and while that's all well and good! I prefer F/Os who are flawed, who don't always say the right things. Who can sometimes be petty or selfish. F/Os who have a habit of seeing conflict as a contest on who can talk the loudest, instead of a conversation. F/Os who run out of patience sometimes and have to go cool off mid-conversation, even if they're right. F/Os who struggle to communicate their emotions.

I find comfort in the idea of a relationship where mistakes like that are allowed and given room to breathe. A relationship where, no matter what the conflict is, the walls eventually come down. Maybe it takes hours, maybe days until you're both calm enough to work it out. Maybe it takes several conversations to solve it, but each end in Hey. I love you. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

You're not perfect, and neither is your F/O. That's okay. That can be beautiful, too. There's not a hug that's more comforting than the firm, tearful one after reaching mutual understanding. Knowing that you didn't mess it up too much, you didn't break things permanently. You couldn't if you tried. They missed you... and you've got some serious affection to catch up on.

[tiredalwayss]

Lee Dong Sik and his perfectly successful attempts to flirt with get under Han Joo Won’s skin

+bonus Joo Won flirting back

[goldensunset]

i looooove pokémon npcs whose team members subtly imply something about them that's never touched upon in the story or at least never outright said. i love villains having friendship evos. i love trainers who commit hard to one aesthetic or vibe with their team (beyond simply sharing a type) and i love it even better when there's one random exception especially if that's their ace. i love when later down the line someone boxes the cute fun soft baby pokémon they used to have in favor of a seemingly stronger or scarier one to show that they're getting serious. i love when they have a pokémon that's difficult to get and raises lots of questions about them. i love it when the lore behind a pokémon fits the character to a T and i love it even better when it appears to contradict them. give me the story-gameplay harmony but better yet give me what appears to be story-gameplay dissonance but might actually have implications if we're willing to dive deep into it

[vebokki]

something something shen yuan pov

[mitskiluvr]

beast will always mean SO much to me because of everything it tells us about atsushi and akutagawa. all the parallels between them. they were both victims of circumstance—akutagawa ended up on the side of “good” in beast and atsushi didn’t and at their core they were both just teenagers trying to find a way to survive with the hand that was dealt to them

[ride-a-dromedary]

[I'm sorry for your loss.] It was a long time ago. The wounds don't heal, but they become more bearable.

[frnkiebby]

just a couple of drowned sewer rats~🎃

[me-sploh-rada-imas]

novi val jance this tour has been too strong