#Step of Faith

[perfection-is-an-opinion]

~Damned if I do and damned if I don't, but I'd much rather be damned for doing than damn myself by living in the regret of never doing when I had the chance.~

-a poem of a new kind

[itsfarmerphil]

One step in front of the other, it's the instructions for walking on water...

As today begins and the rolling is starting, it’s important to keep our eyes on Jesus as we take each step, not being swayed or distracted by the wind or the waves so that step by step we can not only get out of the boat but walk on water with Jesus. Even though I am away and not having my walk and worship with the dogs and God, this morning these lyrics started to play in my head. This is how…

[michaelbreznau]

Take the Step

“Take the step!” I can still hear the words of the slightly irritated Drill Instructor clanging across my memory. He continued in the face of the reluctant young man, “Step off the edge! You can do this!”   We were learning high-angle rescue on the side of a 100’ limestone cliff. The first skill to obtain was basic rappelling. In my previous years on the wild side, I spent many afternoons…

[prlssprfctn]

[aroaceleovaldez]

not to complain about the show again but genuinely I think people should be WAY more pissed off that s2 cast an abled actor as a character with Down syndrome - particularly a character whose entire arc and narrative presence is focused on the fact that he has Down syndrome and how Percy has internalized ableism and how Percy unravels that (and also chewing out Annabeth for her ableism).

Like. Tyson has down syndrome. This is a very core part of his character, because like I've said before: the entirety of the first series is centered around and hinges on disabled stories and themes. If you are having an abled actor cast as Tyson you have already failed step one. Cause either you are actively erasing Tyson having Down syndrome or you are having an abled actor try to portray Down syndrome and neither of those things are okay.

[virgil-upinthestars]

tolkien, writing a poignant and epic tale about two people overcoming thousands of years of feuding and cultural conditioning to save the world and form a lifelong bond of understanding, respect, and admiration

tumblr users: that's the gayest shit i've ever seen in my life

[meanderfall]

decided that the reason why 2003 splinter can be so laid back at times about the adventures his sons get up to is bc he knows he's unleashed hellions upon the world

[tritoch]

i know a lot of people (very understandably) dislike the paladin job quests in ffxiv, particularly HW, but i do think it's fun that, now that the pre-ShB MSQ revamp is complete, paladins now have a very cool and thematic in-game storyline that happens without a word being spoken: the development of passage of arms.

none of the below is directly stated in the script, but imo it's a fairly obvious gloss on what the game presents, if you assume a paladin warrior of light. spoilers for all expansions through the end of 6.X.

in the new version of steps of faith, as vishap breaks through each ward protecting ishgard from attack, lucia mounts a final desperate effort to hold him back, with a very familiar looking animation:

but even lucia can't hold back vishap's flame alone, so the temple knights surge forward to assist her. their efforts make the shield visually more powerful and larger. the temple knights here band together in defense of ishgard, and their knightly resolve to protect their home is the difference between victory and defeat.

lucia and the knights do ultimately succeed in defending the last ward, as you have to defeat vishap before their shield falls or you lose.

later in heavensward, obviously, we will get ffxiv's most famous (failed) attempt at blocking something with a shield.

this moment can be read as fairly impactful on the warrior of light's development; as i've noted elsewhere, after the trauma of watching haurchefant bleed out in their arms at level 57, at level 58 paladins learn to channel their magic into healing (and it's called "clemency," or mercy. mercy for whom? who was guilty?), and as someone pointed out on that post, at level 58 dark knights used to get "sole survivor", letting them heal in response to a marked target's death.

for a time, you literally carry haurchefant's shield with you, and 3.3 very much literalizes in genre fashion the idea that even when you are standing alone, your fallen friends stand with you. you don't need to call any allies to stand at your side and raise their shields with you because they are already there, in spirit.

stormblood marks a pretty important turning point in the warrior of light as a combatant, in my opinion, and the text makes this clear in several ways. first, in pretty much all your jobs, you've now far exceeded your trainers and are pioneering new techniques. this is no less true of paladin, which for 60-70 abandons any trainers at all for you to show off your peerless skills in a tournament.

second, stormblood is straight up a story about you getting stronger. at level 61, zenos kicks your ass. at level 70, you kick his ass. why? because you fought and got stronger and developed incredible new techniques and became a one-man army.

for a lot of classes, this story lines up nicely with the big rotation changes or flashy new finishers on the way from 60 to 70. SMN is now busting out bahamut and casting akh morn; RDM gets verflare and verholy; DRG starts harnessing nidhogg's power directly through dragon sight and nastrond.

the tanks are divided in two: warriors and gunbreakers get huge damaging upgrades at 70 in the form of inner release and continuation, each of which lets them hit the same button many times for lots of damage and satisfying animations. paladin and dark knight get more protective abilities; dark knight gets the blackest night, and there's been plenty said about that already by pretty much everyone.

paladins get passage of arms. instead of a relentless new attack (and you get requiescat at 68, which is a way bigger deal for your dps rotation), your big reveal at 70 for zenos in your fight in ala mhigo is a superior way to protect your party, a shield that lets you stand for your allies so they never have to fall for you again. it's lucia's same shield, except you need no allies' shields to reinforce you, proof of your martial prowess and your ability to transcend limits, and perhaps in truth a reminder that you never really stand alone.

in many respects passage of arms should really feel like a paladin signature move to you now if you are playing it at this point, because you should be popping it in pretty much every fight (you are using your mits, right...?). basically every FFXIV fight has at least one big AOE with downtime that warrants passage of arms usage, usually after the mid-fight add phase with slowly filling bar. since that AOE usually drops during downtime, there's no reason not to pop passage of arms (which otherwise restricts your movement and actions), and even on normal, sometimes every little bit counts on a damage check even if it means dropping DPS (thinking here of harrowing hell P10N on release, which was...less consistent for a lot of roulette parties than you might hope).

so from 70 onward, passage of arms is in a sense a paladin warrior of light's signature move, and certainly the one a player gets to most actually enjoy (since if you're using it, you're by necessity not doing anything besides moving your camera and admiring your sick animation). it doesn't have any competition in terms of spectacle until confiteor, and those you're usually throwing out in the middle of movement.

it's such a signature, in fact, that the only other person shown using your one-person version of passage of arms is your greatest admirer, who studied your legend for over a century.

and it's when he fails (should've popped arm's length, bud) that the warrior of light decides they can't let their friends fall for them, and sends them away with the transporter beacon. this is all wrong: you were meant to die for them, not the other way around. yours is the shield that stands between your allies and defeat. it is you who will win this passage of arms and break your opponents lance. and you do.

and then later, when they need to quickly establish zero's domain as a place of fallen grandeur, the home of someone who once believed in heroes but is now a cool and cynical vampire hunter d, what do they use? a decayed statue of someone in the paladin endwalker gear doing the passage of arms animation, of course.

from a visible instantiation of knighthood as a joint effort to defend what is sacred, to a tribute to the fallen friends whose memories stand by you and animate you, to a symbol of the wol's power as emulated by their allies or darkly mirrored in other shards.

not bad for a mit button you hit once per fight and otherwise never think about!

[erinwantstowrite]

I LOVEEE how you make sure that Peter has enough of Ales in him!! That's her baby boy w her lack of self preservation <33

it's honestly a crime that i can't write about her properly yet. we're gonna have to wait a minute before peter can focus on her

[sengenism]

[dr stone final chapter spoilers!!]

y'know what makes gen's crying moment in the ending even more meaningful

is that gen went from being a sceptic

to this

time machines are not even achievable in our present time, but gen's faith in senku and science is unshakeable. "full of unthinkable things" indeed yet he believes in senku regardless

and what gets me more, is that the ultimate faith in humanity and its sciences is the core of byakuya's personality too

and gen's faith in senku and his expression parallels this conversation between byakuya and lillian

LIKE LOOK AT THEM

so here is dr stone's final and most important message– that science means perseverance, because humanity will never give up.

senku isn't great because he's a genius. he's great because he doesn't give in to his failures. he keeps going, because he believes in science. (and gen is the one who narrates this message in the end. oh gen asagiri u will always be loved!)

[robinsversion]

“Y’all are fake fans” my sibling in Christ my rights as a human being matter more than what’s essentially a telenovela with more violence, and when someone is supporting a figurehead of a movement that wants to strip me and my family and friends of their rights, if not hunt us down, then fuck the telenovela. I’m a queer disabled person, child of a Vietnam War Veteran who didn’t survive leukemia, my mother has numerous health issues, and my friends are queer, disabled, immigrants, and a multitude of other identities that the current administration is going after. Again, fuck the telenovela. I also love Taylor Swift, and have spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on her music and merch, and her songs dominate my music library, but if she came out tomorrow in an interview saying the same shit as Roman did, I’d drop her in a heartbeat.

[itsfarmerphil]

Inspire because You've been inspired by God!

This morning, I woke up and started thinking and wondering the best way to describe the WHY? behind the way I live my life. Heading into today after a week of INSPIRE at church from the banquet to the Wednesday night service to the Thursday night miracle prayers and worship night to today’s Miracle Sunday weekend where God is preparing us for where we are about to go and for what we are about to…

[king-ludwig-ii]

That time period during which Octavian called Cicero “Pater”. I don’t forget and neither should you.

[vroomvroomvroommf]

he said Oscar 😔 not Osc or Osco… divorce???

JK MCLAREN 1-2 MF!!!!! Oscar 1st win!!!!!!

[venomade]

Annette, getting everything she wants and deserves: 🥰💖☺️😍💞💛🤩

Mizrak, becoming the thing he feared the most: 😭😢😿😔💔❤️‍🩹😫

[walkswithmyfather]

Deuteronomy 10:12-13 (NLT). [12] “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the Lord your God, and live in a way that pleases him, and love him and serve him with all your heart and soul. [13] And you must always obey the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good.”

“The Steps of Faith” by In Touch Ministries:

“To keep moving towards Christlikeness, live what you believe.”

The Bible often calls the Christian life a walk. It speaks of walking in the Spirit, in God’s ways, in love, and in truth. Our life, then, shouldn’t be stagnant but instead should develop to be increasingly like that of Jesus.

If you feel that you’re going backward instead of forward, here are five steps to correct your course:

Know that God keeps every promise. The Bible contains an amazing number of guarantees for believers, including wisdom, God’s presence, and peace.

Anticipate the Father’s response. In other words, expect that your confidence will lead to blessing.

Be aware daily of His involvement in your life. By spending time in the Word and prayer, you become sensitive to what God is doing.

Pray boldly. Approaching the Father in such a manner isn’t a prideful confidence. Rather, it’s an overflow of your assurance in Him (Hebrews 4:16).

Obey the leading of the Holy Spirit. God sent His Spirit to personally teach and guide every believer (John 14:17; John 14:26).

God promises to make His children beautiful throughout life. How can you cooperate with His gracious work?”