#Issac Solomon

[shiurkoma]

Seeing how the bible doesn't usually make brawns a positive trait ( jacob vs esau, Samson, david vs the rest of his brothers etc.), we can somewhat conjecture that "beautiful men" in the bible isn't necessarily masculine, at least when compared to the standards in modern west.

Even the renaissance depictions of them are too buff in my opinion. They are too influenced by greek aesthetics, and greeks love their men beefy.

So there you have it, twink bible characters. Sorted them (very loosely) based on my own interpretation.

In my bible lessons i learnt that noah doesn't particularly like humans (he agreed to kill everyone all too happily and didn't try to bargain like abraham), so i made him smile. Its the moment god tells him he is going to destroy humanity.

Moses is my favourite flavor of twink because ARE YOU KIDDING ME HE IS WEARING A MASK THAT IS LITERALLY THE BEST THING IN ANY CHARACTER DESIGN EVER But really i think all of them turned out nice and I can't pick a favourite (maybe its joseph after all, not the most well drawn but he looks at you like he's looking at a piece of garbage how precious is that).

Translation of the chart probably not accurate since im not Japanese nor adept in their yaoi terms

[haseeb-room]

[the-first-man-is-a-cat]

Collection of Seals of members of the Jewish Communities in Medieval England, France, Spain, and Switzerland. They are listed as follows:

1. Bonefay son of Barton

2. Yosi son of Bonefay

3. Solomon son of Gedaliah

4. Judah son of Reuben Chasdai

5. Jechiel son of Menachem Chaim

6. Issac son of Jacob

7. Todros HaLevi son of Samuel HaLevi

8. Abraham son of Moses Crudo

9. Issac Rossell, for Shmurah Matzah

10. Mordechai son of Menachem

[livingdeadmlm]

Master list Requests:Open!

Fluff🤍

Nsfw🩶

Smut 🖤

headcannon format 🕸️

Oneshot format🌾

Kinktober 2023🪨

Kinktober 2024🪻

Characters with no links have no fics as of 12/15/2024

Also this is in no way every fic I have written as I went crazy when I made this blog so most Jojo fics are lost to time (and not good)

Red Dead Redemption

Arthur Morgan

"Painter" Drabble

Being a stepdad to Issac

AFAB Reader Smut

Domestic life with Arthur

Low Honor Morgan Priest Reader 🩶🖤🪻🌾

Werewolf Morgan HCs 🕸️

John Marston

"Lotion" Drabble

Javier Escuella

"Comedy" Drabble

"Serenade" Drabble

Giggling at Others Outfits

Voyeurism🩶🖤🪻🌾

Charles Smith

"Stars" Drabble

Dutch Van der Linde

"Faceless" Drabble

Hosea Matthews

"Carriage" Drabble

"Scone" Drabble

Kieran Duffy

Ticklish Kieran

"Cold" Drabble

Sean MacGuire

The First Shall Be Last, Switch Sean

Flustered Sean

"Credit" Drabble

Lenny Summers

NSFW Hcs

Josiah Trelawny

"Quarter" Drabble

Micah Bell

"Enjoy" Drabble

Multi

"Abundance" Drabble

VDLG Men and Sex Toys

VDLG Swooning and Love Language

Obey me!

Lucifer

Mammon

Pet Play🩶🖤🪻🌾

Tail Play🩶🖤🪨🌾

Leviathan

Diavolo

Breast Worshipping 🩶🖤🪻🌾

Solomon

Barbatos

Simeon

Asmodeus

Beelzebub

Belphegor

House MD

Gregory House

James Wilson

Robert Chase

Eric Forman

Mouthwashing

Captain Curly

Daisuke

Age Gap🩶🪻🌾

Metalocalypse

Nathan explosion

Table Sex🩶🖤🪻🌾

Pickles the drummer

Toki Wartooth

Charles offdensen

Blood Play🩶🪻🌾

Skwisgaar Skwigelf

Yandere Skwisgaar 🖤🌾

Dethklok

Nudes with Dethklok🩶🖤🪻🕸️🌾

Doing their Makeup before a Show🤍🕸️

After a Long Tour🤍🕸️

Breaking Bad/Better call Saul

Saul Goodman

General Dating HCs🤍🩶🕸️

Fake Dating to Lovers🤍🩶🌾

Lingerie 🩶🖤🪻🌾

Cuddle HC's 🤍🌾

Jessie Pinkman

Nacho Varga

Lalo Salamanca

Mortal Kombat

Kung Lao

Dating HCs 🤍🩶🕸️

Face Sitting🩶🖤🌾🕸️

Johnny cage

Face Sitting🩶🖤🪻🌾

Kenshi Takahashi

Newly Blinded

Reptile/Syzoth

Radian

Liu Kang

Hellsing

Alucard

American Psycho

Patrick Bateman

Creampie 🩶🖤🪨🌾

Complimenting his beauty

Working with Patrick

Big Businessman Reader

Fight club

Jack/ The narrator

Tyler Durden

Dating HCs 🕸️🩶

Stardew Vally

Shane

Elliot

Harvey

Scott pilgrim vs the world/takes off

Scott Pilgrim

Wallace Wells

Lucas Lee

Todd Ingran

Nu Carnival

Eiden

Aster

Morvay

Yakumo

Edmond

Quincy

Kuya

Garu

Blade

Dante

Rei

Other

Oral Fixation Bruce Banner 🩶🪻🌾

Vampire Midas Fortnite🩶🪻🌾

Hol Horse 🌾

Mike Schmidt with an Insomniac Reader🌾

Monster Fucking with Postal Dude🩶🖤🪨🌾

Ryo Asuka with Affectionate Devilman 🤍🕸️

Clingy Reader with Gyro Zeppeli 🌾

Hugging Miles Edgeworth🕸️🤍🌾

Akira Fudo with a himbo bf

[secular-jew]

The land of Israel has been populated by the Jewish people since 2000 BCE. Here's the timeline, in case you didn't realize that it is their homeland.

1900 BCE:

- Abraham chosen by G-d as the Father of the Jewish Nation.

1900 BCE:

- Isaac, Abraham's son, rules over Israel.

1850 BCE:

- Jacob, son of Issac, rules over Israel.

1400 BCE:

- Moses leads the people out of Egypt and back to Israel.

1010 BCE:

- King David unites the 12 tribes into one nation.

970 BCE:

- King Solomon, son of David, builds the first temple structure in Jerusalem

930 BCE:

- Israel is divided into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.

722 BCE:

- Kingdom of Israel is conquered by Assyrians.

605 BCE:

- Kingdom of Judah is conquered by the Babylonians.

586 BCE:

- Solomon's Temple is destroyed by the Babylonians.

539 BCE:

- Persians conquer the Babylonians and take control of Israel.

538 BCE:

- The Jews return to Israel from exile.

520 BCE:

- The Temple is rebuilt.

432 BCE:

- The last group of Jews return from exile.

333 BCE:

- The Greeks conquer the Persian empire.

323 BCE:

- The Egyptian and Syrian empires take over Israel.

167 BC:

- Hasmoneans recapture Israel, and the Jews rule independently.

70 BCE:

- Romans conquer Israel.

70 CE:

- Romans destroy the temple.

After that, the Jewish people were captives to the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Crusaders. Through all of these events, the Jewish people continued to live in Israel. There were more or fewer of them, depending on the centuries, but there was never a time when the Jews didn't live in the land.

They stayed, they built their communities, they raised their families, practiced their faith and they suffered at the hands of many outside rulers, but they always kept their faith. It is what sustains them, even now.

May 1948 CE:

- the UN established the State of Israel, the sovereign nation of the Jews.

Don't buy the Palestinian lies that they are entitled to the land. It simply is not true. HaShem will also provide a way for his chosen people to live in Israel, as He has for thousands of years.

Based off of a post by Raymond García of Julesburg, Colorado USA

[svcker4l0ve]

Rules of the requests

Stuff I WILL write for

All types of smut (little to none expectations), fluff, porn with plot, porn without plot, all types of readers (although male readers will be a bit harder for me but I will do it if I can), size difference, SMAU, headcannons, one-shots, texts,

Stuff I WILL NOT write for

Spit kink, abuse of any kind, self-harm, racism, homophobia, original characters, dying, incest, rape/non-con/pedophilia

Canon typical characters/people

I will try to write each character/person as canon/realistic to their person as possible

When requesting

When requesting something, you don’t absolutely have to go into major detail if you don’t want to (if you do, then by all means do), but please try not be vague about your requests, and please make sure to say who you want, and what type of story you want(i.e SMAU, headcanon, one-shot, texts) . I will try to get to as many as possible, but it will take some time, so please be patient.

Characters/people I write for

Harry potter

Harry potter, ron weasley, hermione granger, the weasley twins, draco malfoy, pansy parkinson, sheamus finnigin, dean thomas, ginny weasley, blaise zabini, theo nott, mattheo riddle, tom riddle

Supernatural

Majority of character- dean, sam, cas, jo, jody, rowena, crowley, michael, lucifer, gabriel, ect

Brigerton

Anthony, Benedict, Colin, Daphne, Eloise, francesca,  Penelope, prudence, phillipa, cressida, 

Anne with an E

Anne, gilbert, diana, ruby, jerry, billy andrews

Wednesday

Wednesday, Tyler, Xavier, enid, ajax, larissa, yoko, kent, divina

My life with the Walter boys

Alex, Cole, issac, lee, danny, jackie, 

Outer banks

JJ, John b, Sarah, Kiara, Pope, Cleo, Rafe, Topper, Barry, 

Fate: The winx saga

Bloom, stella, flora, terra, sky, aisha, riven, beatrix, musa, sam, dane, 

All fear street movies

Deena, josh, simon, kate, cindy, ziggy, young nick goode, sheila, joan, kurt, alice, tommy, sarah fier, hannah miller, solomon goode, 

All texas chainsaw movies

Thomas Hewitt, Bubba Sawyer, chop top, drayton, heather miller/sawyer, 

It (1990 and 2017)

Richie, bill, mike, ben, stanley, eddie, beverly, pennywise

Friday the 13th

Mostly just jason, but if you would like to request another character from the franchise, then go ahead

Scream

Billy, stu, sidney, tatum, dewey, randy, gale, micky, roman, jill, charlie, richie, amber, ethan, kirby, quinn, sam, tara, chad, mindy, wes

Buffy the vampire slayer

Buffy, Angel, willow, spike, Cordelia

My Babysitter’s a vampire

Ethan, Benny, Rory, Sarah, Erica, Jessie

Chilling adventures of Sabrina

Sabrina spellman, Harvey kinkle, Nick scratch, Ambrose spellman, Roz walker, Theo putnam, Prudence blackwood, Dorcas Night, Agatha Night, Hilda spellman, Zelda spellman

Avengers

Bucky barnes, Steve rogers, Tony stark, Natasha romonoff(romanov), bruce banner, thor odinson, sam wilson, wanda maximoff, pietro maximoff, clint barton, vision, Peter Parker, T’challa, Stephen strange, Scott Lang

Fantastic four

Susuan, johnnie, reed, ben

X-men

Peter maximoff, logan howlett, ororo monroe, jean gray, scott summers, kurt wagner, Lorna dane, victor creed, rogue(anne marie), alex summers, Remy lebeau, andy strucker, lauren strucker, marcos diaz, john proudstar, Blink(clarice fong), Hank mccoy

Dc

Bruce wayne, clark kent, dick grayson, jason todd, tim drake, damian wayne-al ghul, Diana Prince, Oliver queen, barry allen, Garfield logan, raven (rachel roth)

Other slashers

Freddy Kruger, Bo sinclair, lester sinclair, Vincent sinclair, art the clown, michael myers, Tom hanniger(2009), daniel robitaille(candyman), chucky ray, Tiffany Valentine-ray, 

REAL PEOPLE

Formula One

Lando norris, Max verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Oscar piastri, Lewis hamilton, Liam Lawson, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Riccardo, Yuki Tsunoda, Isack Hadjar, Alex Albon, Kimi Antonelli, Esteban Ocon, Fernando Alonso, Gabriel Bortoleto, George Russel, Jack Doohan, Lance stroll, Nico Hulkenburg, Nico Roseberg, Ollie Bearman, Pierre Gasly, Sebastian vettel, Jenson Button, 

[francicide]

@id-pack-archive

NAMES

amelot, asher, aim, austin, brahm, buck, beatrice, bonn, bandit, bandiette, bullseye, blanche, bandana, curly, catty, claude, claudette, charlie, clyde, dustin, dusty, dorithy, dahlia, elias, frances, franklin, howard, howie, hoover, horatio, irven, issac, jess, jesse, josephine, jack, jeremiah, jackal, joanne, jolene, john, johnston, leon, laurence, lawrence, maxine, marrison, maverick, marston, prudence, ruth, russel, rifle, solomon, south, shirley, shotgun, snake, tombstone, vernon, warden, wilde, wildesse, whiskey, whiské, wolfe, wulf, wulfred.

PRONOUNS

hx/hxm, bull/bullet, bullet/bullets, gun/guns, cowboy/cowboys, cow/boy, west/wests, red/reds, dead/deads, death/deaths, redemp/redemption, rev/revenge, aim/aims, spur/spurs, shot/shots, alco/alcohol, out/law, out/outlaw, outlaw/outlaws, pist/pistol, rifle/rifles, repeat/repeater, x/xs, law/laws, shot/shots, shot/gun, shotgun/shotguns.

USERNAMES

mqrstons, marstcn, loneoutlaws, deadmanrifle, reddeath, rdmptons, jawnmrston.

TITLES

prn who is wanted, the gunslinger, the [adj] bounty hunter, the reformed outlaw, prn who redeemed prnself, prn who rides on horse, prn ripped/scarred by wolves.

IDS

wildwestcoric, reddeadcowboy, reddeadbountyhunter, redgenderonic & redgendertwonic, girl/boy/nbissueslinger, outlawslinger, cowboyloser, whiskeylexic, gunslingbitch, wantedpostropic, bountyhuntropic, alcotropic, quickdrawtropic, jerkheartogoldtropic, guntwirltropic, longcoattropic, antiherotropic, westernal

cowboy alt to person, cowboy/cowhand/cowgirl presentation, gunslingersensus, cowboy rankesque

dissojohnmarston, dissooldwestade, desirdeadgang, desirdrjohn, desiroutlaw

[ PT: Names, Pronouns, Usernames, Titles, IDs. end PT ]

[avalonishere]

Just in case you missed it ..

The land of Israel has been populated by the Jewish people since 2000 BC. Here's the timeline, in case you didn't realize that it is their homeland, as designated by the Lord Jesus Christ.

1900 BC: Abraham chosen by God as the Father of the Jewish Nation.

1900 BC: Isaac, Abraham's son, rules over Israel.

1850 BC: Jacob, son of Issac, rules over Israel.

1400 BC: Moses leads the people out of Egypt and back to Israel.

1010 BC: King David unites the 12 tribes into one nation.

970 BC: King Solomon, son of David, builds the first temple structure in Jerusalem

930 BC: Israel is divided into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah.

800s BC: The rise of the prophets, God's messengers.

722 BC: Kingdom of Israel is conquered by Assyrians.

605 BC: Kingdom Judah is conquered by the Babylonians.

586 BC: Solomon's Temple is destroyed by the Babylonians.

539 BC: Persians conquer the Babylonians and take control of Israel.

538 BC: The Jews return to Israel from exile.

520 BC: The Temple is rebuilt.

450 BC: Reforms made by Ezra and Nehemiah.

433 BC: Malachi is the end of the prophetic age.

432 BC: The last group of Jews return from exile.

333 BC: The Greeks conquer the Persian empire.

323 BC: The Egyptian and Syrian empire take over Israel.

167 BC: Hasmonean's recapture Israel, and the Jews are ruled independently.

70 BC: Romans conquer Israel.

20 BC: King Herod builds the "second" temple

6 BC: Jesus Christ is born in Bethlehem

70 AD: Romans destroy the temple

After that, the people were captives to the Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Crusaders. Through all of these events, the Jewish people continued to live in Israel. There were more or less of them, depending on the centuries, but there was never a time when the Jews didn't live in the land. They stayed, they built their communities, they raised their families, practiced their faith and they suffered at the hands of many outside rulers, but they always kept their faith. It is what sustains them, even now.

In 1948, the UN established the State of Israel, the nation of Jews. Don't buy the Palestinian lies that they are entitled to the land. It simply is not true. God will also provide a way for his chosen people to live in Israel, as He has for thousands of years. Pray for the people of Israel. 🙏

[dorokora]

Issac: How can you find what you make annoying? You made it.

Daichi: Solomon made you and he finds you annoying.

[leebrontide]

Secondhand Origin Stories, Chapter 2

Here is this week's FREE chapter of Secondhand Origin Stories! This post is scheduled to go up on my birthday! Reblogs count as birthday presents!

For those of you just joining us, I'm posting a chapter a week of my free near future scifi/low neon cyberpunk YA/NA novel, which has been described as

"-a character driven, compelling story full of family, queerness, corruption, brain altering nanites, secretly teen parenting AIs, and taking aspects of the superhero genre to their very human and rarely-explored natural conclusions."

For content warnings and more, check here:

You can follow along by following #SHOSweekly

Chapter 2

Issac recognized Solomon’s brother instantly. He wasn’t on news streams often, but he was vaguely connected to the family, so Issac had gone out of his way to know what he looked like. He surfaced now and then to address some altered-related event that had people’s undies in a bunch. He was age-stable, like Solomon and Dad, but managed to radiate a certain old-man paternalism despite his unfortunate baby-face. Issac was surprised to see that the guy was barely over two meters-- Solomon and Yael both dwarfed him.

Everybody cut off their ranting mid-sentence, conspicuously silent in front of the interloper. Bridgewater tilted his eyebrows just the tiniest bit to let them know he’d noticed it.

Secretary Nodiah Bridgewater was as physically powerful as anyone in this building, but he was dressed to show off his power in Mom’s world-- the world of money, investments, and political capital. He wore an old-fashioned blue three-piece linen suit, and shoes as high quality as any Issac's dad owned. They clicked deliberately as he stepped off the elevator. 

The semi-familiar stranger had chestnut brown hair and reddish brown eyes. It was as if the cultist wackos that had originally assembled the genes for the seven “Holy Kings” of the Heavenly Rule line had specifically not wanted any of them to look too matchy-matchy, and made them look as different as a bunch of burly over-two-meters-tall white people could look within the bounds of conventional aesthetics. 

Bridgewater made up for his youthful features with an army-straight back and a dour expression that suggested Issac's whole family were the damn kids that wouldn’t get off his lawn. The jackass was only 36, same as Solomon. 

He surveyed the room quickly, the way Issac had learned to expect from superheroes, sweeping through to identify relevant details. The hairs on the back of Issac's neck stood on end as Bridgewater's gaze lingered on him. 

Crap. 

Martin was never going to let him hear the end of this.

Mom sliced through the dense silence with clipped words. “Secretary Bridgewater. Pleased as ever to see you. May I ask why you felt it was appropriate to show up at our home with fifteen minutes’ warning on a Tuesday morning? I'm fairly sure you know I have a career outside financing the team."

Dad crossed his arms over his chest and loomed politely. Solomon didn’t move a hair, frozen, staring solemnly at Bridgewater. Behind them, Drew halfheartedly suppressed a cringe, but backed Dad up anyway.

Nodiah’s voice was a smooth baritone, with the casual sureness of somebody who’d gotten used to expecting obedience. "Well, then it's lucky I wasn't coming to discuss the team. I assumed that when the subject was your son, you would find the time." 

Fuck.

Dad cut in with his LodeStar: Leader of the Sentinels voice, “Is there a threat?" Oh, this was going to go badly. Issac felt his hands start to sweat and his face go red.

Nodiah seemed just as happy to focus on Dad. Which let Issac breathe a little. "Yes. A dire one. I've been getting reports all morning, from universities all over the country, regarding the development of nanotechnology that has the power to alter and reprogram human brain tissue in living subjects. Which, of course, would be considered altering technology. Being developed on US soil, without an ethics committee or bureau’s oversight.” 

Oh, what a load of barely accurate crap!

Drew stepped forward. “Issac’s a target?”

Nodiah's tone didn’t falter. “He’s the developer.”

All eyes were immediately glued to Issac, of course. Yael winced and bit xyr lip. Jamie flinched, but looked mostly exasperated. They both knew a little bit about his secret pet project. 

He braced for yelling. For reprimands. He readied his counter-arguments-- he had loads. He believed in what he was building. He wouldn’t have sent it out into the world, even partially completed, if he didn’t. And it’s not as if he was publishing blueprints!

All the arguments he might have given died in his throat as he actually registered the expressions on the adults around him. Nodiah was impassive, but he was the only one. 

The rest all held varying levels of sharp concern, and under that-- fear. Dad in particular had gone bone-white. Issac had maybe three other memories of him looking like that, and they all involved gunfire.

Drew looked like he was pretending not to be bothered by a punch in the gut. Mom had turned utterly unreadable, the way she did when she’d rather be caught hiding something than let out whatever was going on internally. Solomon, though, had one hand tight around Yael’s arm, and looked like he was preparing to take his brother down right here in their courtyard. 

Ice cold anxiety peaked in an instant, then plunged away, leaving him irate. Words were the only defense he personally had at his command. 

He opened his mouth, but Dad cut him off. “Look, Bridgewater. This is... it's not like he's been using human testing. Whatever he’s been designing, he’s just a kid.” He sounded…humble. Issac couldn’t remember ever hearing a tone like that before from his dad. Nobody had ever humbled LodeStar. 

"He's of the age of majority in eighteen days, according to my records.” Bridgewater looked at Issac again, and Issac had to forcefully remind himself that Nodiah was here as a government official. He wasn’t going to attack Issac.

He raised his chin and looked Nodiah Bridgewater right in those calculating eyes. “It’s a medical treatment I’ve been working on.” He sounded defensive, but he didn’t care. He forced himself to recalibrate, trying to borrow a little of the charm his parents had lost track of this morning. “They’re just prototypes--”

Drew raised his voice enough to talk over Issac. “Look, do you want to talk or do you want to stand in the courtyard?”

Issac turned to glare at Drew. Mom caught his eyes with hers, and shook her head, silently forbidding him from responding. Issac looked back at her questioningly, missing the chance to try and find some kind of expression on Bridgewater as he answered, “I think that would be for the best.”

Issac barely suppressed a frustrated growl, and ran his fingers through his still soggy hair, but he headed towards his front door. Dad’s hand landed on the center of his chest. “Not you. We’ll call for you if anyone wants to talk to you.”

Issac's reply burst out louder than he meant, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “What?!” 

Mom backed him up immediately. “You heard him.”

Issac boiled over. “Oh come on! You are all completely over-reacting! This is progress.”

Mom’s jaw set in at an unforgiving angle. “Issac Tillman-Voss. Do not test me on this. You will stay out of sight unless you are called.”

Issac gestured at Bridgewater without looking at him. “I don’t see why some government blowhard should get in the way of--”

“Issac,”  Jamie hissed so quietly he almost missed it. He bit the inside of his cheek and tried to be content with glaring as hard as he could at his parents. He couldn’t quite work up the nerve to glare at Bridgewater.

Mom’s voice smoothed out considerably, but was starched stiff with formality. “Right this way, Secretary.”

The rest followed. Drew passed him with a quick, commiserating little squeeze to Issac's arm. Yael made a step towards Bridgewater, but Solomon jerked xyr arm back. Xe stopped, looking hurt and confused. He gave xyr a warning look, then let xyr arm go and joined the others. Jamie watched them go with her shoulders curled inward and her arms wrapped tight around her midsection. Issac really hoped she wasn’t going to puke. That was all he needed to deal with today. Plus, if she did, he was pretty sure his stomach would follow suit.

The front door of his own home closed with a quiet but pointed click. Issac and Yael stared at it. Jamie sighed, and looked at Issac with a resigned sort of disappointment.  He grimaced at her, and turned on his heel, heading to Jenna’s supposedly empty apartment. 

Jamie hissed at him again. “Issac. Issac, you know that’s locked. It’s always--”

Martin let him in without a word.

* * *

Jamie slammed the door, letting it make the bang their parents were expecting, hoping nobody noticed it was coming from the wrong doorway. She turned to stare at her brother. She kept her voice low, even though Jenna’s apartment itself was a dead zone for the internal security systems. “You hacked the tower security? When?”

This would be a devastatingly bad piece of information for Yale’s uncle to find out. Jenna built the MARTIN system. It was supposed to be the best.

Issac glanced back at her, barely more than a rough shape against the windows of the east-facing apartment. “Don’t freak out.”

Jamie found a light switch, which she hadn’t had to do in years, and flicked it on. 

Jenna’s living room was frozen in time-- as if a museum was doing a retrospective piece on the private lives of the Sentinels, and doing an eerily good job. The air filtration systems took care of the dust, and everything was exactly where it’d been left-- down to the dishes sitting in the drying rack and the magazines shoved under the navy blue corduroy couch, pages peeking out at the edges. The coffee table was still broken in half, and half the tiles in the kitchen had been pried up off the floor and stacked in a neat pile. Just like the last time she’d seen this room, nearly three years ago. A shiver went up her spine. She’d given up on thinking about this apartment, and about Jenna being gone. It was over. There was nothing she or anyone could do. And it hurt.

There was one change-- a brand new micro-fabrication unit sitting on the dining table, along with old-fashioned paper schematics and a stack of petri dishes. It had scratched Jenna’s table.

“Don’t freak out,” she repeated dully. “You just admitted to building prototype altering technology, in secret, and then started talking like a cartoon mad scientist in front of the head of the Altered Persons Bureau, whose Chicago office we live on top of. And when he comes in here to collect your stuff, he might find out that you’ve hacked one of the world’s top security systems to have a secret lab inside one of the most protected buildings in the US. And you have prototypes? Since when?”

Yael flopped down on the couch, and Jamie squashed down the urge to shout at xyr not to. You weren’t supposed to sit on a museum display.  Yael was looking around the room with  uncertainty, not looking at either of them as xe spoke. “Seriously, Issac. You, of all people.”

Issac threw them both a quick sneer to signal incoming sarcasm. “Oh yeah. Supervillainy. That’s exactly like medical technology I built to help people recover from, oh, say, brain injuries or nerve damage. I’m so evil.”

Yael frowned at him. “Don’t be glib. Did you two see Papa’s reaction? Wanting to hide Issac I get. He was the one violating international laws, and he’s only got one shoe on. But why would Papa hide me from my own uncle?”

Issac sat abruptly at the dining table. “Right? I’m not the one being weird. They’re the ones being weird.”

Jamie stayed standing, uncomfortable to be walking through a 3-D memory the way her siblings were. “I wish I knew what they were saying.” She glared at the carpet. “They’re talking about us! We have actual confirmation of that. We should get to know what they’re saying.”

Issac flicked a balled-up scrap of paper at her, missing completely. “They’re talking about me and maybe Yael. Not you, pipsqueak.”

She huffed. “Well, it’s still got to do with me!” Didn’t solidarity mean anything to them? Stupid useless older siblings.

Issac made a vague, unconvinced sort of sound, looking at his tech. Not actually rounding it up or anything, just sulking at it. Jamie looked at Yael, who was looking at the opposite wall, engrossed in xyr own little world. 

Issac could build brain-altering nanites and could hack the MARTIN system. Yael was only a few months away from being a Sentinel. And their parents didn’t think they could sit in on a conversation. OK, yes, Issac had been making a mess of it, but maybe if they were actually allowed to speak for themselves sometimes--

Her reasoning caught up with her internal ranting. Issac could hack MARTIN. Jenna had destroyed all of the MARTIN scanners in her own apartment, but Jamie’s home was littered with them. She kept her voice low so the sensors in the hallway wouldn’t overhear her. “Just get us the feed on your phone! Then we’ll know what they’re saying! You can do that, right?”

Yael sat bolt upright. “Can you?”

He blinked vacantly at them, the way he did when he was caught completely off-guard by a question and had to reboot. “…No.” Jamie drooped in disappointment. “Not unless you have a sensor completely unconnected to MARTIN stashed in the living room.”

Jamie perked up again. “I left my guitar in the living room. It still has the recorder you made me in it. Would that work?” He’d made it for her himself, for her birthday two years ago, so she could record her practices to replay later and work on her picking.

“That old Z-wave thing? You still have that thing?” he asked condescendingly. She’d been caught with something obsolete. Their family wasn’t big on keeping things once they were obsolete. 

Yael’s condescension was even more overt. “You know damn well she does.” Xe stood, joining them. “And I know you already have a feed from it going into your account. Good thinking, Jamie.”

Jamie’s head snapped up at Issac. “You have a feed from my guitar to your account? You-- you bugged my room?” Why? Why would anyone bother? Jamie was so boring-- but she felt her face flush anyways.

Her mouth hung open in shock as he made a distracted noise of agreement, then frowned at his phone as he tapped away at it. “But MARTIN is jamming the damn feed. Tch. Typical. Always sides with them at the worst possible--”

“Issac!” She tried to get his attention, but he stayed oblivious. Did she have any allies at all?

He looked right over her head at Yael. “Bet I can get around it.”

Yael nodded. “Well, hurry up if you’re going to do it. God knows what we’re missing.”

“Yael!” Jamie tried, almost wincing at the high and dangerously close to whining note in her voice. Ugh, she hated her high-pitched voice. “You knew!”

Yael at least had the good grace to give a genuine apologetic smile. “I told him he should tell you! But it really does only send the music to his account. I made him show me, I promise. No voices or anything.” It might have been flattering if he’d actually asked her. 

“Ha!” Issac punched the air. “Sucks to be you, MARTIN! That’ll teach you to keep me in the dark.” He grinned triumphantly at them, as if he hadn't just admitted his third or fourth act of treason today. One of them against Jamie specifically. “I got the sensors off. We could walk up and sit right outside the door if we wanted.”

Yael raised an eyebrow. “Almost all of them would hear that.” Xe paused, then startled. “Wait-- you turned off all the sensors? On the whole building?”

There was Issac’s vacant look again. “…Yes.” 

OK, maybe she could understand them not wanting Issac to speak for himself, a little bit. “Well, we’re all grounded for the next decade.”

Yael put a massive hand on her shoulder. “Not you. You didn’t do anything. Issac is the one dumb enough to do something like this with my uncle here. And I’m the one who probably should have stopped him.”

Jamie brushed the hand off. “It was my idea. Issac can’t plan his way out of a paper bag.” She straightened up. “And I’ll tell them so. I mean, I’ll tell them it was my idea.” She’d tried to take a stand earlier and been ignored. Maybe this would get her point across.

Issac shrugged easily. “Like Bridgewater said, I’m eighteen in eighteen days. After that, they can’t legally hold me against my will. No more being grounded.”

Jamie looked at him dubiously. “You completely missed his point.”

“I did not. Look, he’s not going to arrest me. This is Nobel prize stuff, here!” 

Jamie rolled her eyes. 

“It is! This will revolutionize neurology, endocrinology--”

“I know, I know. And I get why you’re making it.” Especially in this eerie diorama of a reminder. How could he stand to work in here? “But it’s still kinda creepy for someone who doesn’t know you. Especially since, apparently, you have actual prototypes now.”

“We could invite Nodiah to stay for dinner, get to know him,” Yael suggested dryly. Then, a little more warmly. “A little family re--” Xe cut off, squinting out the window. “What’s that?”

Jamie turned, and squinted in the same direction, but didn’t see anything but a particular swath of skyline she hadn’t seen in years. Jenna had been the one with the clearest view of Lake Michigan.

Issac followed suit. “Huh?” He leaned, then walked over towards the window. 

Now Jamie saw it-- a black smudge, moving right at their height. Too low to be a commercial plane, too high to be much of anything else. Yael moved one arm in front of Jamie to block her from following Issac's example. “I think it’s unmarked.” 

The smudge was growing. Yael sounded nervous. “Issac, come back over there.”

He took a step back from the window, tension starting to build in his shoulders. “I’ll just…turn the sensors back on quick.”

“Now, please,” Jamie agreed.

But Issac pulled his phone out of his pocket right where he was standing, and started dinking around on it. The smudge was a lot closer now. Yael took another step away from the window, pushing Jamie further back.  Even she could see now that it was a jet-- something old she didn’t recognize. Her voice was a little unsteady. “Hey. Issac. Come on.”

He registered her tone of voice and looked up at her.

The jet was close enough now to see the shape of a pilot through the glass. She wanted to run, get away, but Issac still wasn’t moving. 

Jamie ducked under Yael's arm, started to rush towards Issac-- wanting to pull him back. She didn’t even make it two steps before the image in the glass blurred suddenly, and the entire bank of windows shattered inward.

* * *

Opal heard the crying before she made it up the front steps of the house. She bolted the last few steps, letting the door slam against its hinges and almost running Shani over.

Her little sister froze up at the sudden rush, staring at Opal with huge frightened eyes and a wash of muted lavender light flickering from her hairline down, brighter than Opal’s because of her lighter skin. The fear only lasted a split second before recognition hit. Her shoulders slumped in relief. “Opi!” She put pudgy little hands on Opal’s ribs, steering her towards the stairs. “Fix it!”

Opal stopped, turning back so Shani could read her lips. “What happened?”

Opal had grown up with ASL as much as English. Her own hearing was annoyingly sharp, but Daddy’s implant had never been that good, and Mom had learned it as a kid for Auntie. But even though Opal was fluent, she couldn’t follow the furious, emphatic flurry of motions Shani ran through. Shani had no super-strength, but she was far faster than most people, and whatever had happened upset her enough to make her forget to sign slowly enough to be understood. 

Opal motioned her to slow down, but then Shani just stopped, chest heaving. She treated Opal to a slightly tearful glare, and pointed sharply up the stairs, where Opal could still hear the uneven, hitched breathing of either Mom or Aunt Tess. 

She nodded her agreement, and Shani nodded back, relieved again, before turning to trot out the door and down the front steps. Opal paused long enough to see Shani sit down on the broken concrete steps; away from whatever was happening, but easy to find if anyone needed to.

Opal made her way up the rest of the stairs. Nobody would be bleeding, anyway. Not if that was Shani’s reaction. 

Mom was sitting on their couch, still in her scrubs, her eyes reddened by more than the exhaustion of the shift she’d just be coming off from. Mom didn’t have superpowers, and where Opal was “built like a brick shit-house,” as Grandpa used to say, Mom was all soft curves. She had skin the color of a found penny, just light enough to be a little blotchy from crying. 

She was leaning against Aunt Tessa, whose eyes were a little pinked but whose even lighter complexion wasn’t puffed from any crying. She was frowning furiously, the hand not holding onto Mom’s hand in a tight fist on her thigh. They were both facing the TV, the sound off and closed captioning on.

On the screen were two serious-faced newscasters in front of an image of a jet hovering far too close to an exploding skyscraper. She could just make out the stationary caption behind the closed captioning. It read “Mystery Jet Attacks Sentinel Plaza: Chicago”. The closed captioning was flashing by-- rife with homonym errors from the cheap voice recognition software they used-- saying something about a mysterious “sonic weapon.” 

Opal crossed to the room in a daze and sat down on the couch. Mom put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close, and Opal went, resting her head on Mom’s shoulder. 

They watched silently for a few minutes. Opal was sure her mom was thinking about what would have happened if Opal had left a week ago, when school let out.  She squeezed Opal tight when the news anchor said that LodeStar’s son had been in the explosion. The camera zoomed in on a small figure falling out of the shower of broken glass and debris.

Mom stood suddenly. “Mm-mm. Nope. That’s enough for me. That is enough of airplanes and skyscrapers.” She shook her head, looking away from the TV. “Opal, come help me with the dishes.”

Opal leaned to the side, looking around her mom. “It says LodeStar caught him. He’s in the hospital, but--“

“Opal,” Mom interrupted.

Opal didn’t sigh out loud. She just stood up. Aunt Tessa leaned the other way. “Well at least get out of the way so I can see, Emmy. Your butt’s blocking the captioning.”

Mom glared at Aunt Tessa, but took a step to the side. Aunt Tessa glanced at her. “You oughtta let her stay in here. This is superhero stuff.”

“She knows what she’s getting into,” Mom snapped in answer. “That doesn’t mean I need to look at it.”

Auntie sighed, settling back. “You better not tell her she can’t go.”

“Shut up, Tess,” Mom sniped before storming off to the kitchen. Opal followed, only letting herself drag her feet a little as Mom attacked the dishes. She wedged herself in by the sink before mom handed off the first pan to dry.

She let a few dishes pass in silence, thinking. Sentinel Plaza, attacked. 

She’d planned to buy Greyhound tickets to Chicago tonight.

She glanced out of the corner of her eye at Mom. Mom sniffled, glaring down at some ground beef sticking to the plate. “Mom--”

“How’s your daddy?”

“He’s fine.”

“He’ll be less fine once he hears about this.”

Opal hadn’t even been thinking about that. She chewed her lip a second, then put another plate away. “I feel bad for them. With LodeStar's kid being hurt.”

Mom shivered a little. “I can’t remember his name, but he’d be about your same age, I remember that. Just a little bit younger than you.”

Was he that old? The dot had seemed so small. Opal nodded. “And they only lost Bion, like, three years ago. And all those newscasters that’ve been saying Capricorn should retire.” The Sentinels weren’t on TV as much as a lot of the other teams. Maybe they just didn’t need to be. They were too well-respected and too reliable to need to suck up to the press. Plus, she always got the impression they didn’t like it. LodeStar and Capricorn had been on TV just last week, and she remembered thinking that as easily as LodeStar conversed, as enviably comfortable as he was with microphones in his face, there was something tight about his smile, something distant about his eyes. Still, he was funny and charming, and never got riled up, no matter how obnoxious people were to him. He’d been reporting about yet another victory for the Sentinels. 

Capricorn was usually with LodeStar in press meetings, but he didn’t tend to say much. Rumors suggested he had a crush on LodeStar or something. Not that Opal listened to rumors. But he did spend half of every interview watching his teammate. And since Helix was notoriously private, that meant LodeStar was the clear frontman of the team.

Was he going to have to do an interview about his son falling off a building?

Mom shook her head resolutely. “Do you have a point? Other than making me think about how underequipped they are, and how dangerous that is?”

“C’mon, Mom. You love the Sentinels. They’re your favorite. And I bet they really need some extra help about now, with LodeStar’s kid being hurt. Like how Auntie moved in when Shani got sick. Maybe they need me.”

Mom put a hand over her face, and was silent for a second. “You’re as crazy as your daddy.”

“No, he thinks I’m crazy, too.”

“He wants you to get better than what he did.”

“I know. I’m trying to.”

“I wish I could go with you.”

“Aunt Tess and Shani would have the house burned down by the time you came back.”

“Excuse me?” Aunt Tess appeared. “Did I just have a malfunction or did I really just hear that? I’m not the one who left the burner on last week, am I.”

Mom put a hand on her hip and glared. “I’d been up for twenty-six hours and still made you all dinner.”

Opal offered a peacekeeping smile. “Sorry, Auntie. I just mean you and Shani would have a lot of parties in here if mom wasn’t telling you no.”

Mom turned off the water, then tossed the soggy dish towel at Opal’s head. She caught it as Mom spoke. “Stop making me sound like such a wet blanket.” Mom looked at her sister. “She wants to go save the Sentinels.”

Auntie rested her elbows on the table and her head on her hands. “Of course she does. She wants to save everybody. That’s why she’s gonna be a superhero. Besides, she might as well deal with terrorists if she’s going to deal with Chicago cops. At least with the terrorists, she’s allowed to hit them.”

Opal raised an eyebrow. “Auntie.” Besides, not like Chicago cops were probably any worse than Detroit cops. The Detroit cops especially were used to dealing with altereds-- they carried high-voltage tasers that Opal and everybody like her were weak to, and had a ton of military-grade equipment. Opal was sort of hoping that since Chicago had way fewer altereds, the cops might be a little less militarized. After all, they had the Sentinels to deal with altereds, if they needed to.

“I’ll buy you some mace as a going-away present.”

Mom goggled at her. “Did you just tell my baby girl to mace a cop?”

“No I did not just tell our baby girl to mace a cop! But people don’t know her in Chicago like they do here. Some dumbass tries to mug her and she hits him, his whole body’ll just explode. Then what’s she gonna do? The CPD and the APB will have her before she even gets to the Sentinels.”

Opal took Mom’s place at the sink, getting the water back on but looking over her shoulder. “I’m not even gonna be alone. I’ll be with Aldis and his crew. And I think ‘explode’ is a little overboard.”

“How do you know? You never hit anybody.” She smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ve got another present for you, too.”

Mom smiled now, tears in her eyes, just like when Opal smiled for her dad, but genuinely proud all the same. “A-hem.”

“We got another present for you.” Aunt Tessa amended. “Even Shani helped a little. Where is that girl?”

Mom looked at Opal. “Front step?” She nodded. Mom sighed. “I’ll get her.” She wiped her hands on the drying rag and headed back down the stairs. 

Aunt Tess smiled at her. “Well, do you feel ready?”

Opal shook her head, leaning against the sink. “No. But that won’t stop me.”

* * *

Yael could sit still. Xe was capable of sitting still. Even now. No matter how bad xe wanted to get up and pace all over the room. Even if xe wanted to throw all xyr anxiety, guilt and rage at the ridiculous, unfair comforts of the sub-basement panic room and tear everything apart-- xe would sit still. Xe measured xyr breaths and kept xyrself from denting the metal table xe was sitting at.

Jamie sat across from xyr, emergency inhaler on the table. She was breathing again, but shallowly. Her face had switched from the painful, magenta flush of suffocation to the translucent white of exhaustion and strain. Each of her breaths were as carefully measured as Yael's. If she started crying again, it would set off another asthma attack. 

The sub-basement panic room was a mishmash of old furniture-- a dust-scented space that was supposed to be familiar and comforting in times of danger. The only piece of furniture that wasn’t a leftover from a redecoration was the long, metal-topped table xe had never really thought about until xe’d seen it used as an emergency medical table, three years ago. When they’d watched Melissa try to put Jenna back together with blood everywhere and help already evacuated from the building. The room also had an old cabinet full of games and kids’ movies-- distractions, put here for scared kids younger than the ones here now. The stupid chess board on the long metal table gave Yael an anchor to stay by. 

Xe moved xyr rook, pretty much at random. Xe couldn’t focus, but wasn’t willing to give up on the distraction that was keeping xyr sister from breathing right.

Unsurprisingly, it was a bad move. Jamie’s watery pink eyes-- the most vivid color in her face-- slid upwards to look at Yael with a guarded expression. She took the rook with her bishop, positioning it to take Yael's last remaining knight in the process. Yael quashed an irrational urge to be angry at her. How could she focus? How could she keep her mind on chess when their brother might be a wet, shattered mess on the sidewalk three stories up?

Maybe LodeStar had caught him. Yael had to focus on that hope. Even though Neil had told them more than once about how hard it was to catch people without snapping their necks or dislocating their arms. Yael would be ecstatic if Issac walked away with only a dislocated arm or two. Xe glanced at the bank of elevator doors. They’d been down here for over an hour. The jet had to be rubble by now. Their attacker had to be dead. Why’d they been left down here to wait, with no calls or contact? 

Yael only had a hopeless chess game to buffer xyr from the blisteringly vivid memory of Issac’s face the moment he realized he was going to fall. That xe couldn’t get to him. Watching his hand claw at dust. Watching him mourn for a second what Yael might have to mourn forever. He hadn’t even been able to see that Yael had managed to grab Jamie and get both of them to the safety of the emergency elevators. Maybe he’d thought they’d died with him.

Melissa was painfully silent. She sat as still and focused as her daughter, over on the overly plush red couch that used to be Drew’s. Her back was to Yael and Jamie, head bent forward, waiting for a call. She had cleaned her tear-smudged makeup already at the sink, and might even have looked normal, if Yael had been able to make out her face. Yael didn’t understand how they could be so still. 

Nodiah was here, too. Standing far away, with his back to them all, focused on his phone. He’d stayed standing, and had barely said a word the whole hour. He’d kept his his eyes off them, as if their fear and mourning were obscene, and he was uncomfortable around their grief. Even though he was powerful-- so powerful the adults seemed afraid of him-- he’d hidden down here, rather than joining the team above. 

So had Yael.

Jamie's hoarse, breathless voice was almost swallowed up by the long, concrete room. “Yael.” 

Yael turned back to xyr sister, who gestured minutely at the game with a trembling hand. Yael ground xyr teeth and tried to glue xyr attention to xyr sister’s needs. Xe could do this. There was still one thing xe could do. Jamie was close-- close enough Yael could have reached out and grabbed her again if necessary, could hide her fragile body under Yael's bulk. If there was another attack, Yael could protect her.

The hiss of an elevator sent Yael rocketing to xyr feet. The bench xe’d been on crashed to the floor as xe turned to face the doors. Melissa and Jamie followed suit, silently. Nodiah Bridgewater only turned his head. 

The door opened to show an exhausted, dust-covered Capricorn. Not in uniform-- there hadn’t been time-- but still heroic. He was grim, but always was, after a fight. They-- everybody but Nodiah-- raced towards him. He didn’t make them wait. “Neil caught him. He’s at the ER and he’s stable.”

There was a collective exhale. Yael started as Melissa staggered on her tall shoes, and reached both hands to steady her on her feet. Jamie looked for a split second as if she might actually faint, and Yael panicked, trying to figure out how to catch them both at once, but Jamie only sagged, head bent forward and shoulders drooping. Melissa righted herself, touching her fingers gently to Yael's hand as she looked back to Drew. “I need my--”

His voice was gentle. “I’ve got a self-driving cab waiting for you on the east side of the building. I’ll--” he paused briefly, his voice almost catching. “I’ll stay here with the kids.”

She sagged again, lifting her cold hand off Yael and touching Capricorn’s arm instead. “Thank you.”

Jamie cut in, unexpectedly shrill and loud. “What?” She stepped forward. “I want to go to the hospital, too!”

Yael nodded emphatically. “We should be there with him.” Issac was alive. Xe’d failed him, but not fatally. Xe had to get to him.

Melissa shook her head, taking Capricorn’s place in the elevator. “Absolutely not.” She looked up, more sympathetically. “But I will let you know every single development as I hear about it. I promise. I’m not bringing a mob to the ER.”

“But--!” Jamie began, her voice on the verge of cracking. 

Drew reached out to Jamie, looping an arm around her shoulders and stepping in to hold her. “He’s stable. You don’t have to hurry. It’s--”

Jamie shoved off him, propelling herself away, coughing violently. He recoiled, suddenly realizing he was covered in dust and the rubble from Jenna’s home. “Shit, sorry...” 

Jamie waved him off, walking back to the table to sit down beside her inhaler.  She was breathing deeply as she could, so she couldn't talk, but she leveled a glare at the rest of them. Melissa looked from her daughter to Yael, meaningfully. Jamie would stay, and Yael would watch Jamie. 

Xe pressed xyr lips tight together and stayed quiet, miserably accepting the instruction.

The elevator door closed, and she left.

Drew sighed wearily, shoulders sagging. He glanced at Nodiah out of the corner of his eye, and straightened again. "Secretary. It's all clear upstairs."

"You killed him?" Yael prompted.

His eyes flicked to xyr for a second, then away. "We arrested him."

Yael's mouth dropped open, but Drew overrode xyr. "He surrendered. We don't kill someone who’s surrendered and subdued. You know that." His voice was steady, but he looked uncomfortable about it. He had to feel the same way Yael did. He had to. He loved Issac.

"But he--”

"That's the rules, Yael. You know that." 

Yael’s hands clenched into fists. 

Drew narrowed his eyes at xyr, glancing up and down. His voice was low, not quite a whisper, but this room made everything loud. "And cut that out."

His glance was xyr clue. Xe glanced down. Xyr skin was completely glossed over with a dark silver. Prepared for a fight, for danger. To pummel Issac’s attacker into dust. Way too late to be useful.

Nodiah was watching xyr with sharp, considering eyes. His voice was smooth as the flat of a knife, with just the faintest edge of sarcasm. "Well. Membraned thermal superconductive exoskeletal production. What a surprise." He looked meaningfully at Capricorn. "Aren't you surprised? This wasn't in her medical file, so I'm sure it must be the very first occurrence." He looked back at Yael, who was in no mood. Xe had mostly retracted the shielding when he spoke again, but it rushed back into place. "Wherever could you have inherited that, I wonder." 

Xe wouldn’t be able to make the shielding hide under xyr skin now. How dare he comment on that, after a lifetime of ignoring xyr? He had no right to break that silence in his first words to xyr.

Drew sounded as rock-steady as ever. "The driver will take you wherever you need to go, Secretary Bridgewater."

Yael's uncle gave Drew a cold, irritated look, and stepped towards the elevator. Then he paused, turning back to xyr. He looked a little less distant, a little more frank. "I have always wondered. Did Solomon ever actually confess it to you, or did he leave you to work it out on your own?"

Yael bristled. Xyr voice came out a low growl. "My father has nothing to confess."

These were the words he’d expected. "Well, then I see you've inherited something from him after all. How much simpler for you both." He cocked his head to the side. "But you understand, don't you. When the public sees you, they won’t play along. Anyone who was alive during the South Dakota uprising will recognize you, or at least your abilities. Solomon’s charade will have to end then. You need to prepare yourself."

A lifetime of not talking about it and a morning full of rage and terror left Yael with no ready response. 

He didn’t seem to expect xyr to have one. He looked to Capricorn, professional once again. "I hope you have your best marketing people on this. We can't save her from public opinion, and you know we won't qualify anyone who will make the public feel unsafe."

Drew didn’t speak. He only watched Nodiah with furious, unflinching eyes. Under layers of dust, Yael could see green lights flicker indistinctly. But his lights weren’t taboo like Yael's silver. 

Nodiah rolled his eyes slightly, stepping onto the elevator and holding his hand out to prevent its closing-- he wasn’t used to MARTIN. He started to speak, but Drew's phone rang and he answered it immediately. Nodiah dared to look insulted.

Yael had the same exceptional hearing as most altereds. But Neil’s voice, rough and uneven, wasn’t clearly audible from around Drew's ear. Xe watched for clues-- slight relief, then concern, then muted horror and anxious purple lights leading to creases like cracks around his eyes. Still, his voice was steady. "Melissa’s on her way to you now. She'll be there soon. Do they--” He was silent again. Jamie pushed away from the table, avidly tracking every glimmer of emotion on Drew's face, every flicker in his skin. Yael didn’t think xe had ever seen Drew look so lost before. He turned his face, keeping Jamie from seeing it. "I-- I don't." A pause. "Keep me informed. I'll make sure Solomon and I get you the device. Maybe we can--" He winced, as the voice on the other end grew loud for one explosive moment. His voice was quiet, chastened. "OK. OK. Just keep me in the loop. Do whatever you need to. Bye."

He hung up, and collected himself. "Secretary Bridgewater, please consider this the notice that the Sentinels are in possession of damaging altering technology in connection with this morning’s arrest, and that we and Dr. Tillman will further investigate this device and complete a full-length report."

Any frankness from before evaporated. Nodiah was all business. "Altering?"

"Yes, sir. The device--" He cut off, head tilting back towards Jamie, as if suddenly remembering she was there. "I'll file a full report. Right now, I think I need to talk to the kids."

Nodiah was resolute. “Capricorn, an attempt was very likely made on my life this morning in your home. Do you really expect me to go back out there without knowing what it was they were trying to do to me?"

Jamie’s little voice prompted, "Drew?” 

Drew dropped his eyes, but only for a moment, then he forced them back up to meet Yael’s. “Whatever that weapon was, it had varying types of attacks, for metal, or for stone. One of them seems to have been designed to cause neurological damage. They're doing an MRI3 on him now, but we won't know much more for a while.”

For a moment, everything was utterly silent. Jamie was the first to speak, her voice thin. "Is he going to be like Jenna was?"

Yael's heart shattered. "You can't send him away!"

Drew's voice rose in anger this time. "We didn't send her away." He moderated his tone. "You two know that. She moved out on her own. She made that call. And no, Issac will come home. We just don't know when yet. We'll take care of him." His eye caught Bridgewater, whose expression was unreadable, but held some kind of secret understanding. 

Drew straightened to his full height, leaning almost imperceptibly towards Yael's uncle. His voice was controlled, icy fury. "Do not. Do not say what you're thinking. Not now, and not in front of them. Or to Melissa, or Neil. I swear to God, Bridgewater. If you can't dredge up that much decency now--"

Nodiah returned a small gesture of distant, dignified acquiescence. "I will leave you to your loss. My prayers will be with you."

This mollified Drew some. He still glared at the closed elevator door, even after it was closed. By the time he turned back to them, Jamie was walking away, back towards one of the armchairs beside the couch. She sat down with her back to them, curling her legs up and her arms in, disappearing from view. Only her increasingly uneven breaths gave away her location. 

Drew watched her go, then looked at Yael. "We'll take care of him. Whatever comes up, we'll take care of him."

[firstumcschenectady]

“Provisions” based on Isaiah 55:1-9 and Luke 13:1-9

I was reading a commentary on Luke and I realized I’m “getting” Pilate more and more these days:

Josephus’s accounts of Pilate’s confrontations with the Jews confirm that bloodshed was not uncommon: Pilate’s troops killed a group of Samaritans climbing Mt. Gerizim; Pilate introduced Roman effigies into Jerusalem; Pilate seized Temple Treasury funds in order to build an aqueduct.1

I don’t appreciate having a more visceral understanding of the experiences of ancient Jews in oppression by the leaders of the Empire, but here we are nonetheless.

I have been convinced by Marcus Borg, John Dominic Crossan, and Walter Brueggemann that the Bible sets up a contrast between human systems of oppression and domination and God’s aims for systems of wholeness and interdependence. Various entities play the role of “oppression and domination” in different parts of the Bible. Egypt and the Pharaoh get to be the first and primary example of oppressors.

Egypt and the Pharaoh oppress the descendants of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob, and then God intervenes and frees the people. The people learn dependence on God and each other, and then get to settle into the “Promised Land” where they live in mutuality with sustainable practices and relative equality for a nice long time. 400 years or so.

The next example of oppression in the Bible is the Ancient Israelite Kings, perhaps none more so than Solomon. Once the people get a King, they get high taxes, forced labor, and class differentiation, not to mention kings who think they have the right to do whatever they want regardless of settled laws. The people are oppressed by their own Kings, mostly, although there is some debate about if that oppression was “better” than some others.

Then the next big oppressors are the nations who capture Ancient Israel and Ancient Judah, Assyria and Babylon. We hear more about Babylon, and it Babylon that features in our Hebrew Bible lesson today.

Isaiah 55 comes from the time of exile, when many Ancient Israelites were exiled in Babylon. While the exiles were taken away in waves and returned in waves, we often summarize the exile as lasting about 70 years, which means that most of the people taken into exile died there and most of the people who ended up returning had never been “home” before.

Today’s passionate passage dreams of the joy of homecoming, and contrasts the oppressive systems the people knew in Babylon with a return of God’s dreams back home. Walter Brueggemann writes:

The poet makes a sharp contrast between old modes of life under Babylonian authority and the new offer of life with Yahweh. The initial verse, perhaps in the summoning mode of a street vender, offers to passerby free water, free wine, and free milk. This of course is in contrast to the life resources offered by the empire that are always expensive, grudging, and unsatisfying. Israel is invited to chose the free, alternative nourishment offered by Yahweh.2

The thing is, the author of Isaiah 55 knows that not everyone will make that choice. The people who were thriving in Babylon were likely going to stick with the oppressive regime that benefited them instead of trying to live out God’s dreams. Others would stay because they just didn’t believe things could be any different. Despair kept them in place.

Whenever I encounter this passage, I’m drawn like a magnet to verse 2, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” This just has so many layers of truth. One is probably too literal, but in these days of ubiquitous processed food designed to create cravings without satisfaction I take the passage as a reminder to eat food that satisfies. Similarly, why do we spend money on cheap plastic gadgets that we’ll eventually tire of and trash?

More spiritually though, this passage guides me to reflection. What am I spending time, money, or energy on that doesn’t actually matter? Where is my labor being wasted? What good things is God wanting for us that we’re too distracted to attend to? What things that we have and hold dear might actually be getting in the way of what need or what would be great for us? What do I think of as “bread” that is really “fluff” and where do I seek satisfaction where I’m really being exploited?

The premise here is that God wants goodness for the people. Satisfying food that everyone can access, labor that builds up life and doesn’t drain it, delight, love, hope, a clear sense of God’s closeness, mercy, complete and utter wholeness and freedom. Contained within though is the reality that even when that kind of goodness is offered, people don’t always take it. Probably, at least in some ways, we don’t either, and God invites us to goodness again and again.

And to turn away from the things of death and destruction, from cheap tricks that distract us, from oppression and evil in all forms. So that we, and all, can move towards life.

Of course, we never get to do that in a vacuum. While we’re trying to learn how to live into God’s goodness, and let go of the things that don’t satisfy or bring life, we have to do it in the midst of a world where domination systems exist and oppression is present. Sometimes those are heavier than others, which I think we have already noticed today, but they’re never gone (at least in Western societies, I think some indigenous societies were and are quite different.).

By the time of Jesus the domination system of oppression was the Roman Empire version, and it was about as brutal as usual. While we hear Jesus talking about two incidents – one where Pilate had killed a group of people and one where a wall or tower collapsed and killed a group of people – I think the author of Mark was probably talking a lot more about the destruction of Jerusalem itself. There are profound questions being asked here, generally amounting to “are people who die in random incidents killed because God is punishing them for sin?” to which Jesus answers, “no!” And yet, Jesus says, unless things change and people engage differently with each other it will keep happening. Which, I’ll say, is true. For the early Jesus movement, there was a sense of urgency in this, perhaps because the early Jesus movement had also just experienced the massacre and destruction of Jerusalem and had a strong sense that the world was ending.

The end of our passage is also meant to bring urgency, but it also brings grace. The desert climate of Israel isn’t an easy one to grow anything in, there isn’t spare land or spare water for trees that don’t produce fruit. And yet, the gardener intercedes on behalf of the tree, asking for one more year to nurture it more deeply and see if it is able to fulfill its purpose.

I love that it reminds us that when we aren’t able to “fulfill our purposes,” we too may need some gentleness and nurture to give us a fighting chance. I love that it reminds us of a good way to treat others who are struggling. And I notice that the end goal is a tree that bears fruit, so that the people can eat from it.

Jesus and his followers get accused of being gluttons, drunkards, and violators of the Sabbath because they eat when they’re hungry and drink when they are thirsty. Jesus tells stories about fig trees, and wanting them to make figs so people can eat them.

It feels a little bit like the fulfillment of Isaiah’s dreams of what it would be like for the people who returned from exile. There was in the time of Jesus a plenty powerful oppressive system in place, but Jesus and his followers just ignored it. They lived as if they were responsible for and to each other, and savored life. This wasn’t a simple way to be, and it definitely had consequences, but I think it was a faithful way to be.

In the midst of systems that seem to push people down, one of the strongest forms of resistance is to eat bread that satisfies AND share it! To simply refuse to participate in oppression and instead participate in enjoying the goodness of life that God offers, and inviting others to do so as well. To find what satisfies, and share that too. To live God’s mercy.

Come to the waters, beloveds of God. You are not obligated to drink the oppressors’ poison, you are are invited to eat and drink and be satisfied and whole. Receive the provisions of God. God’s goodness remains, no matter what the oppressors have to say about it, no matter what they do. Thanks be to God! Amen

1R. Alan Culpepper, “Luke in” The New Interpreter’s Bible Vol IX, editorial board convened by Leander E. Keck (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995) Commentary on Luke 13:1-9, page 270.

2Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah 40-66 (Louisville, KT: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), page 158-9.

Rev. Sara E. Baron  First United Methodist Church of Schenectady  603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305  Pronouns: she/her/hers  http://fumcschenectady.org/  https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

March 23, 2025

[devilspitchfork]

From my point of view, it is a great sacrifice being under refruitable obligations of immoral restraint being an apple carved out of the side of the mountain the crown of pride in the book of Isiah for the fifteen steps to the building of the temple of Solomon and across the ocean of time and temporal to the seas of victory and though it is a blessing of the living and the unliving Shem Ha-Phorash! Gen 23:12 And Abraham bowed down himself before the people of the land. And he spoke to Ephom in the burning bush, the burning of the seas of victory of the Bush that is speaking and it says, they are the voice of Ephream, the Sacrum and the distinction of direction, say they are the father of Jacob and the father of Moses the father of Issac, the father of Ishmael, it's a peradventure. Isaiah 45:10 Joseph reveals his identity And thou shall dwell in the land of Goshen, though shall be near to me, and thou, the children of Heth, for the sword of Joshua. Although, Ninety divine laws of reasons of responsibility, the integration of personality, and the transient pleasure is togetherness in separation for the crystallization of crystals that form of the men of flowering brotherhood are crystals that grow on the men of wood. Ultimately courtship and the laws of personality are temporal and subject to the boys that don't want to be seen with the girls and the girls that want to be seen with the boys. The issue with and progress in Maturity, the bridegrooms It was the Egyptian city in Galatia and the provinces of Bilhah, Cappadocia Galilee and the provinces in Asia that kept the banality of the music of the unfathomed voices off the United States of America and the redemption of the children searching for the romantic songs of Isaiah and the psalmes of Soloman. Besides, it is the excellent characterizations that make me feel young again. In the name of Solomon ruler of the earth! I presumptuously feel it’s the soliloquies of Saint Augustine in the twenty-six books of the Confessions of Saint Augustine that kept me wondering about the intoxication of the Holy Spirit and the people of IRAQ. It is the obedience to study the subject of women and the theological makeup of toxic views of the Iraq war despite learning how to speak the people the Middle East Arabic presumptuously. Shem Ha-Phorash! It is the Narrow Gate that we shall be redirected to the Big Gates of Heaven that is where everyone is traveling along the path of Elephants giraffes and caravans in the Big City of Heaven. Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of goats the bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled the unclean, sanctified by the blessings of unholy temptations of our thoughts and to the purifying bulls of the flesh. As for, when they especially hear the theology that we teach to the children come in the guilty hearts of men who are proud and make our sons feel comfortable when we talk and walk into the Big gates with open hands. Shem-Ha-Phorash! They imagine that catechism is the only explanation of the right way to travel. It appears that, the impression of the perjury of man? At the same time, it presupposes that Pathological theology is the only way to lead men in the right direction. It is a comprehensive guide to talking about the human soul. Such as, you were born to follow the government, to my way of thinking. It’s the comprehensive research that says, “That is the way we must be made to believe that to survive its long journey ahead. They can recall the adequacy of Joseph McAlester, all things considered, it’s Sergeant Lenore Wooten who toldd us they would have to fight in North Korea. Joseph McAlister, who was a good friend who loved his granddaddy Lanier who served in South.

[puplorebox]

Barbatos having glimpsed of Lucius' past and paging through the various lines of time before plucking out figures pertaining to said raven's past, only to have them a bit scattered when not quite perfect with having them brought in but at least they be around said realm but not in danger especially for McGuffin since hey hooman guardian of raven once. A pang of pity of how Issac and McGuffin ended up while rewriting things since has such power to make it the true line of time and pretty much bringing them to the raven after a bit, a fox floof and hooman an interesting gift but raven be happy with that shock gift. Powerful Uncle there when able to do such a thing. Also assistance from Solomon in helping make Jack McGuffin immortal since it is best in having Lucius' guardian around without concern of losing the man.

[johnmandevilleoffical]

A Fun Little List of Holy Artifacts!

I have finally gotten to Jerusalem! I was going to go on a rant about heathens and who deserves to live there but for some strange reason I do not want to say that even in my own silly silly voice. So instead, you get a list of every cool thing I saw within the city of Jerusalem! Enjoy! -The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus was buried! A beautiful church with many bells, and I love me a good bell. This lovely church has a Tabernacle that people used to touch and kiss, but then the church covered it in stone, and now people kiss the stone instead! Every Good Friday, and lanterns of the church go out and then relight themselves by the will of Jesus! -The mountain that Jesus was murdered on! I can't believe that it was super real and in front of me! It's actually also the same mountain that Abraham almost sacrificed Issac on, and where Noah's Ark landed! -A super cool rock with prophecies on it, specifically about how Jesus Christ would die for our sins at the age of 40. Now techincally, this is wrong, because he was 33 years, 3 months, and 3 days old when he died. BUT! Years actually used to be made of 10 months, not the 12 that we have now, meaning that the math checks out! -A Nail from Jesus' cross- specifically, the fun fact that I learnt that the emperor of Constantinople took one of them, and made it into a horse bridle, and that is how he was able to conquer Asia! Because Christ conquers all :,) -The Templume Dormini, which Christians usually aren't allowed inside of, but the Sultan gave me a special letter that tells all the men here that I should be allowed to do anything I was and go to anything that I please :3 They kissed the letters it made me feel weird. So about the temple, one time Charlemange brought them the skin from Jesus' circumcision but it's actually in Paris now. Oh, and Solomon did NOT build this temple either, the original was burned down by the romans and then the jews rebuilt it and it got torn down again until some emperor let the christians finish it. ACTUALLY about the temple you have to be barefoot inside, so you can go in and see the Ten Commandments, Moses' walking stick he used to part the Red Sea, sooo much gold, and a rock where Joseph saw the angels, David saw an angel kill a guy, and a whole lot more people just say angels on this cool rock. -A bath full of water from Paradise! -Where Mary was Conceived! -King Herod's house where he murdered all those kids looking for baby Jesus! -Away from all of that is the mountain that Mary died on, and there is a church that has the rock that covered Jesus' tomb! And under THAT is where Jesus cleaned his disciples' feet and convinced them he came back from the dead, and all of this is still inside the city, and the Sultan even built a little palace under it! Oh and on the other side is where Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of gold.

IM HAVING SO MUCH FUNNNNNNN

[countingandsnarkingon]

There aren’t others yet I don’t think but, ones from Issac and Solomon are coming, per Issac’s replies to Facebook comments

while sick just go watch all of Jana’s videos and watch the horror that is the Anderson daughters interview.

i think you recommended this to me before and i'm so sorry, i saw it and then it immediately got buried under a million tim/heidi/jill asks lol apologies

i will definitely watch both, is the Anderson interview the one with just Miriam or is there another one i don't know about? i think i saw something about that on reddit but i haven't watched it yet, i'm super curious

[inkedtales]

A school elective project of mine, where I attempt to learn how to use watercolor again, and just end up making all the colors icky looking. It’s a mandala, all though instead of using more flowers, shapes, and repetitive designs, I made mine four cartoons in one. We have Star Trek Next Generation, a cartoon me with WAY better looking hair drawing my original content that I’m working on as a side project, a Poptropica character that isn't a knight for once (though you will find a mini doodle of a knight in there if you look closely), and a Good Omens thing mixed with an Old OC of mine. Bonus, even though I am inexperienced with any type of paint, something cool ended up happening! You can actually see my details easier when I used the paint! Who knows, maybe I’ll start painting all the time and my DA username will finally live up to its name ^^ Probably not though. Painting makes me frustrated with myself.