#also still cannot believe peter just did not d word in this show. like no one k worded him again. insane | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shades-of-stony · 3 years

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ABO Stony AUs! (Part 2)

As promised, here is part 2! [link to Part 1] I’m not sure if I’m gonna make part 3 but there are still a bit ABO fics left.

A King For Christmas by iam93percentstardust

Summary: In 1867, Tony Stark flees New York after refusing to marry the alpha his parents chose for him. His money runs out in the small kingdom of Dacia, ruled over by King Steven of the Rogers line. Somehow, and he’s not entirely sure how, he ends up accepting the position of nanny to the king’s four children: Harley, Peter, Sarah, and Morgan.

Tony bonds with the children easily but their father is harder to get to know. Steve is still grieving his wife’s death four years earlier. His continued mourning has turned the once bright halls into dark and somber shadows of their former glory. Tony isn’t entirely certain what he can do but he knows that he has to do something or else the whole country, so attuned to their leader, will sink into despair. He begins by reconciling the king with his young children.

Meanwhile, the children have decided that it’s high time their father fall in love again—and Tony is the obvious choice. They concoct elaborate plans to force the two together, hardly realizing that Steve and Tony are falling in love, not through their shenanigans but through the quiet moments they share bonding over the love they have for the children.

What, Like It’s Hard? by JehBeeEh

Summary: Omega Tony Stark has it all, until his alpha boyfriend breaks his heart. In an effort to win him back, he follows the alpha of his dreams to Harvard Law School, where he discovers there might be more to being the first omega at the prestigious school. He also meets another alpha that might just make him forget the one he drove across the country for.

Two-Point Perspective by FestiveFerret for sabrecmc

Dear omega,

Congratulations! You've been selected. Alpha #95847872 has been assigned as your pre-bondee. A group bonding ceremony will take place on the 14th, unless other arrangements have been made by your alpha or their family. A valid bonding license must be submitted to Omega Services within 45 days of this letter or all services will be cancelled and any transferable benefits will not be applied to your alpha's package.

If there is some reason why you cannot be bonded on this date, please apply for an extension by calling 1-800-555-6827 within 7 days of receiving this letter.

Sincerely, National Omega Services

I Love You (From the Bottom to the Top) by RomancebyFaye for Reioka

Summary: Steve and Tony have a great relationship. They may have only been dating for a few months, but the truth is, they had been in love for years before that. Their relationship is only getting better from adding this new intimacy and Steve is very satisfied with how open Tony is in the bedroom. He’s giving and generous, sometimes to a fault, just as he is with everything.

And then Steve comes home early and catches sight of something he wasn’t meant to see. The shock he gets from the sight of watching his alpha ride a toy might not have been meant for him, but it doesn't stop him from wanting.

Now, if he can just figure out how to tell Tony how much he wants what he witnessed without putting his foot in his mouth…

Or Tony offers Steve something in the bedroom and Steve misunderstands the offer.

Until he doesn’t.

A Prime, Divided by avengersasssemble

Summary: Facing his and his infant son's possible death sentence, young prince Tony runs away to the only place where his father would dare not follow: the Northern Territories, known to house the most savage and brutal Alphas--including their bloodthirsty leader, the Prime Alpha. Forced to navigate fatherhood and diplomacy while being unable to speak the Northern language, Tony has to make decisions to save his son, even at his own expense.

Oversight by ShyOwl

Summary: It really wasn’t Steve’s fault that no one knew he was an omega.

I Love You 3000 by NazakiSama166

Summary: After the death of his husband, the only thing Steven Rogers could think of was going on and dying in one of his missions, and Steven was happy to get his wish.... that was until he woke up in a strange universe when people can shift into wolves and men can get pregnant... Oh, and did he mention that Tony was there too and was in love with his younger jackass self? And let's not forget about Peggy...

Life just loves to mess with him...

Dear Enemy by AvengersNewB

Summary: Alpha Steve and omega Tony are SHIELD agents who don't always see eye to eye, but some benefits on the side help them work things out in the most non-traditional way. Steve's jealousy after an unfortunate encounter with Ty Stone, however, makes things complicated.

Love Match by FestiveFerret

Summary: Tony had but one goal for the season: secure a marriage proposal from an alpha with the position and means enough to remove him from his father's house. Love was wholly irrelevant to the matter.

Stuck in a... by Annie D (scaramouche)

Summary: Steve gets into a serum-enhanced rut. Tony figures that there’d be a long list of people who’d volunteer to help Steve out, but there’s only one person Steve wants.

A Late-Night Snacks, and Other Good Ideas by Annie D (scaramouche)

Summary: Steve's heightened senses means that he always knows when Tony's in heat. One night, he finally does something about it.

citrus and lavender by JehBeeEh

Summary: Steve laid Tony on his bed as delicately as he could manage. Which was ridiculous because he knew, logically, that Tony was absolutely fine. JARVIS himself had told him. And that’s 100% why he had fought Natasha so hard on Tony not needing to go to medical when they came back, even though he probably could use the check up. Yup. That was definitely the only reason he had insisted on bringing Tony back to the penthouse. No other reason at all. If you keep this up, you just might start believing it, he thought to himself ruefully. Tony wasn’t his. He had made it very clear that he didn’t need some alpha in his life to mess with everything he’d worked so hard to accomplish. Especially not Steve Rogers.

Found Love in a Hopeless Place by crispybacon

Summary: Steve really, really did not want to tag along with his brother to the bar, no matter how many times the jerk nagged him that he needed to get laid. Just because Bucky’s known his Omega since kindergarten, and the pair have loud obnoxious sex in their shared small two bedroom apartment, didn’t mean Steve needed to stick his knot in any Omega that looks his way.

That’s not the kind of Alpha Steve was.

Or, Steve goes to a bar and meets an Omega with a complicated past that changes his life forever.

This is Not a Drill by sabrecmc

Summary: “Can I—can I see him? I mean meet him. Uh…welcome him to the team?” Tony clarified, probably not very well, he knew.

“Well…there’s a bit of an issue with that,” Fury said, and Tony figured this was where Fury got to whatever it was that had really forced his hand and made him call Tony in, knowing how much the man detested having to do so. “You see, well. He was suspended in the ice for nearly seventy years,” Fury began. Tony nodded along, because he could do math.

“I’m sure he has a lot of adjusting to do—“ Tony started.

“Seventy years,” Fury repeated, cutting Tony off and leaning back in his chair and making it rock slightly. “Of no suppressants.”

“Oh,” Tony managed to choke out past the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. “Oh.”

Everybody's got a hungry heart. by Perlmutt for ShadowsintheClouds

Summary: Tony Stark has never experienced a true heat due to the suppressants he's taking on a daily basis. Society accepts him as a beta, together with his friends and teammates and the alpha he's secretly in love with. But some things are just too big to be kept hidden forever. An unfortunate turn of events forces Tony to reveal his biggest secret to the world...

Baby, Just Say Yes by betheflame for starksnack

Summary: In a world where Tony's life looks a lot like Taylor Swift's, Steve realizes there always more to omegas than meets the eye.

Apple Pie and Sunshine by betheflame, starksnack

Summary: Even though they've loved each other for years, Steve and Tony have each convinced themselves that their one-night-stand was a fluke. Thing is, it also resulted in Tony getting pregnant and as the birth approaches, perhaps it's time to use their words.

blue since the day we parted by funkyspacegirlfriend

Summary: When he's twenty, the man Tony thinks will be his alpha and mate walks away, leaving Tony with a gift he'll never regret.

The same alpha reappears fifteen years later in the form of SI's new military liaison.

In my Favorite Dreams (I feel your heat) by Corsets_and_Cardigans for wingheads

Summary: Steve is on his morning run in DC when a ghost from his past comes back into his life. And he's not alone. *** “Steve?” Sam’s voice cut through the veil of the past, the crushing weight of memory that stole his breath. “What’s wrong, buddy?”

His staring must have finally alerted another parent, a woman eyeing him warily while tugging on Tony’s sleeve until he turned around. His eyes were just as expressive and wide as they were ten years ago, piercing the cold morning air straight to Steve’s own.

“Tony.”

“Wait. Tony Tony? The Tony? The Tony that Bucky busts your chops over Tony?”

His voice cracked, wrent into pieces at seeing his omega who wasn’t his anymore, body flaring in pain. Years worth of aching denial like a hot fireplace poker to his soul. “Yeah.”

“Okay then, who’s the kid?”

The Couch by Perlmutt

Summary: Steve overstepped a mark, when he accidentally called Tony, his mate, tiny. Because his omega was very self-conscious when it came to his height. So he needed to show him that he thought Tony's perfect just the way he was, if he didn't want to sleep on the couch for the next week. Luckily Steve was the man with a plan...

be the summer in my heart by billyscissors

Summary: After Obadiah betrays the Southern Isles, he offers Omega Prince Anthony Stark as tribute to appease the Warlord of the North

#stony #stony fics #stony fanfic #steve and tony #stevetony #stevetony fanfic #stevetony fic rec #stevetony fic #stony fic #SUPERHUSBANDS #fic rec

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princecharmingmendes · 5 years

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Paris | Day One

When your parents decide to travel with your best friend’s family that you haven’t talked to in a while, who you have a massive secret crush on, what could go wrong, right? Right?! (best friends to lovers)

*It’s my first series, hope you love it!

*Word Count: 6.3k

*Warnings: cursing, slight angst and Shawnie boy being cute.

*Posted: December 7th, 2019

-*-

Pants? Check! Gloves? Check! Fuzzy socks? Check! Charger? Check! Passport? Check! Phone? Shit! Where’s it again?! Oh, yeah, I’m holding it.

I rolled my eyes to my own stupidity finishing my mental packing checklist. I think I might have everything I needd with me. Well, I’ll only find out whenever I need something from across the ocean and notice that I probably forgot it on top of the sea of clothes that I decided not to pack laying on top of my bed.

I don’t even know why I’m so apprehensive about this whole family trip thing. We always travel together at least once a year, the only difference is that this time, the Mendes’ family would be joining us, which wasn’t the first time as well. I mean, maybe the first time in a few years, but still, nothing that I haven’t been through before. Shawn is not even going to be joining us! I mean, not that I care.

The buzz from my nightstand captured my attention from my thoughts and I stretched as best as I could to reach for my phone without getting up from the soft spot on my bed. I internally rolled my eyes at the photo of my younger sister lighting up the screen.

“Sup, kiddo?”

“I’m not a kid anymore, you know?” She said trying to contain the anger laced on her tone.

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say, kiddo”

“God, sometimes I really hate you”

“Awn, I love you too, Flo, so, why did call the most amazing human being on the whole wide world?”

“Y/N, seriously, you’re so annoying”

“Whatever, but, ‘seriously’” I said mocking her tone, earning a light chuckle from the other side of the line “what can I do for ya?”

“I’m just calling you to check if things are ready, mom’s been driving me crazy” Florence said and I swear to God that I could imagine her rolling her eyes in annoyance, but I could not blame her.

I mean, I love my mom, but she is a general when it comes to traveling, she needs to double check every little thing possible, finding mistakes where you could not even imagine. But after all that stress, you could be 100% sure that nothing would go wrong if she planned everything, because she had a plan “D” for everything. That’s right, a plan “D”.

“Everything’s in the right place, double checked and ready to go” I said between giggles.

“Great, she said you can leave in ten if you want, dad’s just finishing some stuff so that we can go to the airport”

“Kay, I think I’ll just go now, I’m pretty bored anyway”

“Fine, see you in ten”

“See you, kiddo” I said ending the call before she could kill me.

I took a deep breath and got up, closing my huge suitcase, but not before going through the whole mental checklist thing, and with all the strength I had, getting it on the floor. I grabbed my phone and tossed it on my backpack, put my sunglasses on the top of my head and got out of my small apartment. Took a deep breath again to lift my suitcase to put it on my car, and got it, starting it to go to my parents house.

It was weird saying their house, I mean, they bought it, so it’s theirs, but I sort of grew up there and I just recently moved out, so I guess I’m just getting over the fact that I don’t live with them anymore. It’s not like I live that far, it’s just that I decided to move closer to college to make my daily routine easier, so I moved to a small apartment that’s just a seven minute drive to campus, or a twenty minute walk. But it’s not like in a non insane traffic rush it would take me more than 10 minutes to get to their house. And since we moved almost five years ago to Toronto, we got much closer, since we had to readjust and make new social circles in the Big City, so I guess that’s why it’s so weird to me to not be around them the whole time.

After the whole nostalgic thoughts and a few jamming sessions on the car, I entered the building and parked on my spot, typing quickly on my phone saying that I was already there to my sister. She replied almost instantaneously, telling me to wait in the garage and that they were on their way down. So I just sat on the car, waiting for them, scrolling through social media and feeling my heart beat a little faster when I saw a picture Shawn posted on his stories, on a FUCKING airport. That had to be a coincidence. He wasn’t going to Paris with us, he simply couldn’t.

Let me get this story straight. My family and I used to live in a small town in Canada, called Pickering, and we used to be the Mendes’ neighbors. Our parents clicked almost automatically when they moved, because someone took French classes with someone when they were like seven and whatever, you know what I mean. So me and Shawn, Florence and Aaliyah kind of didn’t have an option on not becoming like best friends. Flo and Aaliyah had a similar age, my sister is 17 and Liyah is 16. Shawn is 21 and I’m 20, and since we’re literally at each other’s houses all the time, we automatically became best friends basically since the day we were born. And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

The problem is that Shawn Peter Raul Mendes is the definition of perfection. He’s not just the hottest person to live on earth and probably the whole galaxy, but also the funniest, kindest, most talented and caring human being I’ve ever met. And there’s a bonus, he knew me better than anyone. So it was impossible to not fall for him when I discovered what that is/was. Okay, maybe not fall for him, but I did have a major crush on him growing up, but I never said anything, cause, duh, who would?! I’d never do anything that could make our relationship weird. Even because he never showed any signs telling me he felt something as well.

So yeah, I had to swallow seeing him with other girls, having a heartbreak because of other girls and all that with a smile on my face, like it didn’t feel like having someone pinching my heart every damn time. But what made everything worse was the day I found out we were moving to Toronto when I was like 15. I ran into his house, straight into his room and cried the whole night, and when I told him the reason why, he couldn’t hold it in, so he cried with me. In the end, he helped me pack and promised me that we would still be best friends, no matter where I was moving to, that he would call and text all day, that he would be only a couple miles away, and I believed him. And I can’t say he didn’t keep his promise, at least for the first year.

We would se each other every holiday and text non-stop, but than he started dating some random girl and suddenly, he couldn’t come on the holidays or answer my phone calls. And to avoid another heartbreak, I decided to let it go. It’s not like we don’t talk anymore or don’t see each other in years, it’s just that, it’s not the same as before. But I don’t blame him, this is inevitable, our lives are so different. He’s one year older and he travels a lot, he took a whole year just to wander around the globe with his friends, he’s in music school somewhere and is dating a girl that looks like just got out of a runaway. I’m just someone who finished high school and went straight to college to become a doctor, so my life is quite boring, I study a lot, work an insane amount of hours for a student with my stepfather to gain experience (and that’s it, no money for me), I’m finishing a research and my last fling didn’t go as well as I expected, turned out I was not his only one. So yeah, completely different lives.

He cannot come to this trip and mess with my head that I took many years to get in the right place. He simply can’t.

“Darling?” The voice of my mom reverberated through the whole garage startling the shit out of me.

“Geez, mom, are you trying to kill me or something?” I said jokingly standing up from the seat and going to greet them.

“It’s just a little revenge for every time you scared me”

“Hi, Y/N, where’s your suitcase?” Dad asked me kissing my forehead.

“Hi, dad, it’s in my car”

“Okay, you girls get your stuff on the car and I’ll grab the suitcases, Okay? Karen said they’re already here, waiting for us to go to the boarding area”

“Kay” Flo said getting her backpack and jumping on the backseat of the car. Mom was already on the passenger seat.

“Do you need help, dad?” I said as I watched him get my bag from my car, putting it into his.

“No, sweetheart, I’m done, the rest is already here, thanks”

With that, I just nodded and climbed on the car, that a few moments later was already on the streets of Toronto heading to the airport.

-*-

“Oh my God, is that Shawn?!” Flo whisper yelled to me, getting my attention that was on my phone to her. We were close to the check-in desk where our parents where checking-in our luggage.

“Dunno, don’t care”

“Oh, come on, Y/N, he’s your best friend and there’s like ages since you last saw him, it was on summer!”

“Yeah, so? Six months it’s not that much”

“God, you’re so annoying”

“What are you two already arguing about? This is vacation you guys, try to chill a little bit and behave, please” Mom said as they approached “Now let’s find Karen and Manny”

“I think they’re there, love” Dad said pointing towards what Flo said Shawn was, but I just didn’t want to look just yet.

“Oh, yes, that’s them, let’s go!”

Shit.

“Karen!” Was the first greeting to be heard as we got closer to the them, obviously it came from my mom, cause she was born without the power of being embarrassed.

“Oh my god! You look amazing!”

And than everyone started talking and hugging and all that stuff. I was a little behind, too focused on the level I was on CandyCrush to look up, but when I bumped into a wall I immediately looked up and tried to stabilize myself, but that was just a stupid idea. It wasn’t a wall. His scent was the first thing to make me weak on my knees. But than my eyes met his honey colored ones and that beautiful grin that showed all his perfect aligned teeth. And before I could fall on my butt, his strong hands gripped my waist firmly, steadying my body and keeping me close.

“Sh-Shawn” I sighed practically a whisper “oh, shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you” and all I could hear was my heart beating wildly and his melodic chuckle.

“S’okay, honey, still playing CandyCrush?”

“Uh... yeah, yeah, it’s a nice game”

“Yes, it is, God, you look so...”

“Y/N, my dear!” Karen cut her son in the middle of the sentence, making my heart skip a beat. I don’t know if I should thank her or be mad at her “Shawn, can you please let her go, I didn’t see her in a while too”

“Sure” He said, cleaning his throat and letting go of me, scratching the back of his neck. Am I really missing his hands on me?!

“Hi, Karen, how are you?” I said smiling politely before being engulfed in a bear hug.

“I’m extremely happy to be here with you guys, and you? Oh, you must have so much to tell me! You look so good, you get prettier everyday! Are you dating someone new? How college?” She asked too many questions making me dizzy for a second.

“Sweetie, calm down, you’ll be with her for a long time, don’t make her regret coming just now, hey there, Y/N” Manny said giggling, making Karen smack his arm playfully.

“I’m good, college is amazing, too much in such a little time, but still amazing. And thank you?!” I said trying to answer everything.

“That’s really good, dear, but don’t worry, we’ll have time to catch on everything”

“I’m pretty sure we will”

“Y/N!”

“Liyah! Loved your hair” I said hugging her.

“Oh, thanks!”

As we walked down the aisles to the boarding area, everyone was talking cheerfully to each other, catching on everything they could. I was a little behind in the middle of Flo and Liyah, listening to her new crush when I felt something reaching for my wrist, making me look back, seeing Shawn with a shy smile on his face, so I went a little to the side to walk beside him instead.

“I never greeted you properly”

“I guess you didn’t”

“Hi, Y/N, how are you?” He said reaching his hand out, I grabbed it smiling and you shook them.

“Hi, Mendes, I’m fine, and you?”

“So much better now” he said winking in my direction, making me blush lightly “I can’t believe that I can still make you all flushed that easily”

“Oh, shut up, pink cheeks”

“Oh, drop it, you’re sister’s right, you’re annoying as heck, but I still missed you”

I froze as the words fell off his lips.

“Everything okay, honey?” Shawn asked turning around with concern written all over his face “did I say anything wrong?”

“Hm?”

“You stopped out of the blue”

“Oh, I just remembered that I have no idea who I’m sitting with on the flight, ya know?”

“Oh, didn’t know that was a issue, are you still afraid of turbulence? Is that why?”

“Hm, yeah”

“Oh, than you can chill, you’re with me, your parents and mine put us together to catch up”

Great. Just what I needed.

“Oh, that sounds nice”

“So, how’s life?”

“Same”

“Really? But what about that guy... Roger?”

“Rick? Oh, turned out you were right and he was a dick”

“What did he do?! Did he hurt you?!”

“Well, he did cheat on me, so he kind of hurt me, but not physically”

Shawn mumbled something I couldn’t hear.

“What was that?”

“Hm? Nothing”

“Shawn...”

“Nothing, honey, I swear” he said looking straight ahead. So I decided to just drop it. He’s just too stubborn.

“So... how’s your life?”

“Mine? Great, I’m moving back to Canada”

“Really? When?”

“Actually, just moved back to Toronto like two days ago”

“I can’t believe it!”

“Me neither” Shawn chuckled “I was supposed to surprise you, don’t know, just show up at your door or college”

“You thought about surprising me?”

“Of course, you’re my best friend, honey”

“Oh”

“‘Oh’? Why do you sound this surprised?

“I don’t know, we just aren’t that close anymore, and we didn’t see each other for like six months, and you didn’t call on my birthday and...” I couldn’t finish because someone was asking for my documents and stuff.

So we went through the whole process and going through the gate, sitting down close to each other on the plane without a word. After what felt like ages, I felt something brushing the sides of my thigh. I look down and it’s Shawn’s knee bouncing. And for now, I just ignored it, knowing he had a lot to say, just wasn’t comfortable enough to do it now. So we got in the plane and sat on our seats, I sat next to the window, and I let him take the aisle due to his gigantic legs.

My headphones were quite loud when I felt the plane starting to move, making my hands grip the seat tighter involuntarily. Before I could start feeling sick to my stomach, I felt a hand covering my knee, giving it a little squeeze. I just breathed in a little deeper and looked at his face, but he was already looking at me. He leaned in, kissing my forehead and letting go of my knee, turning his palm up, so I instantaneously held it, threading my fingers with his.

“It’s okay, princess, you’re fine and I’m here with you, okay?” He said in a calm and low tone near to my ear, making my whole body melt into the seat “do you want me to do anything to make it better?” I just shaked my head “no? Is this enough?” I nodded “okay, so just breath for me, eh? Can you do that for me, honey?”

I nodded starting deep breaths and felt my hand being lightly squeezed, in encouragement.

When the plane was finally stable, I slowly let go of his hand and snuggled into the wall. I could feel Shawn’s stare on me, but I couldn’t simply look at him, so I just closed my eyes and focused on whatever artist’s voice was playing through my earphones.

An hour or so later, when everyone seemed to be asleep, including mister “I miss you”, my bladder decided to work, so I really needed to go to the bathroom. I got up and started trying to jump the sleeping giant by my side, but something made him stir wake while I was literally in the middle of jumping him, with his legs between mine, and he just grabbed me by my hips.

“Hm, Sorry, did I wake you?” I practically whispered, trying to gain some balance I placed my hands each side of his head on his seat.

“No, baby, whatcha doing?”

“I need to go to the bathroom”

“Oh, sorry” he said with his eyes not completely open, in a zone between sleep and consciousness.

I just gave him a tight lip smile and ran to the bathroom. Okay, did he just called me “baby”? I shook my head and threw cold water on my face. Getting back there made my heart get a little warmer. Shawn was laying with half of his body on my seat, with his arms crossed and the softest look on his face.

“Shawnie?” I whispered laying my hand on his chest and he whined still asleep “handsome, I need to get back to my place”

Shawn slowly opened his eyes again, rubbing his whole face, mumbling a “sorry” and sitting straight. I jumped his legs back and sat down.

“Do you want to lay on me, big guy?”

“Can I?”

“Sure” and as I said, he quickly lifted that seat divider and placed his head on my chest, snuggling on my side and wrapping his arms around me.

“Thank you, honey” he said as I started running my hand through his hair, making him groan softly, and in a matter of seconds, drift off to sleep again. So I just chose a random movie to play and tried to fall asleep, since I didn’t have much to do other than stay quietly because of Shawn standing basically on top of me.

Fortunately, I ended up dozing off pretty quickly, but half and hour later, I felt something on my neck making me wake up, but I didn’t want to open my eyes just yet.

“What?” I groaned as lowly as I could.

“Shh, baby, you can go back to sleep” Shawn murmured against the skin of my neck.

There he goes again with the baby thing.

“Shawn? What are you doing?”

“Nothing” he said nuzzling his face even deeper in my neck.

“Shawn?!”

“Shh, baby, there’s people trying to sleep, and you should be doing the same” he said and I felt his lips brush against my skin, giving me goosebumps.

“Seriously, what the hell are you doing?”

“I just missed you, do you want me to back off?” He asked and I pondered for a while, than I shook my head and he mumbled a simple “good”.

He peppered light feather kisses along the side of my neck, making me feel those damn butterflies on my stomach, and also making me feel like I’m 13 all over again.

“Go back to sleep, honey” he said running his nose through the extension of my neck.

“You woke me, I can’t”

“Sorry, you’re just so warm and cozy, I couldn’t resist”

“Resist...?”

“You” Shawn said like it’s obvious giving a longer kiss on a particular sensitive spot, pulling from me a little whine and making me thread my fingers between his curls. Shawn chuckled lightly against my skin “yes, honey, anything you want to say?”

“You”

“What about me?” He said leaning his head against my shoulder, turning my head by my chin to look at him.

“You’re just confusing”

“I’m confusing?”

“Yes! Why did you wake up?”

“The person behind me tripped on my feet on their way back to his seat”

“Oh, I see that, do you... hmm...”

“Do I...?”

“Do you want to go back to sleep?”

“I wouldn’t mind” he said straightening his back and getting back to his seat.

“Where are you going?” I asked pouting involuntarily and he just smiled. More of a cocky grin than anything else.

“Just adjusting so you can lay on me”

“Oh, okay”

“C’mere, honey” he said patting his chest and I just laid there, wrapping my arms around his middle, and having him do the same “now sleeps, I’ll be right here”.

“Kay” and with that, he kissed the top of my head and held me even tighter, starting to play with my hair. How can you not immediately go back to sleep with that?

-*-

I woke up a while later with the sound of the flight attendant offering dinner to another people a few seats ahead of us. I grabbed my phone and saw that we still had a four hour flight to Paris and sighed. Well, at least I had a giant warm pillow by my side. I tried sitting properly but Shawn wouldn’t let go of me, so I just gave up and relaxed against his chest, grabbing my sketchbook to look through it.

I got so lost in over analyzing my past few drawings that I didn’t notice that he was awake and looking through them with me. At least, not until I quickly went through one that I didn’t finish and he placed his hand over the page, stopping me from turning it. I looked up to meet his honey colored ones already looking at me.

“What?”

“What is this one?” He said extremely low due to the nap we took, making me warm inside.

“It’s nothing, I didn’t even finish sketching it”

“Is it us?” He said taking his hand from the page and looking at it.

“It was supposed to be, it’s a recreation of that picture we took at your place on Christmas, wrapped up in christmas’ lights”

“Why?”

“Dunno, guess I just missed you a little bit more than usual that day”

“No, why didn’t you finish it?”

“Oh, sorry, I... I guess it seemed odd to draw the both of us, especially because at that time we weren’t even talking because of...”

“Yeah, and I’m sorry about that”

“It’s okay, I guess, it’s over”

“She was wrong though”

“Your ex? Obviously, she was jealous for no reason, you’ve never seen me as more than friends”

“And neither have you”

“Yes, I know that, she didn’t”

“I made a lot of dumb choices, eh?”

“Yeah, you did, Shawn”

“And I wish I could just go back and fix them”

“Fix what’s not broken? You don’t need to fix anything, I’m right here, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, but you are hurt”

“Am I?”

“Honey... we need to talk about it, we’ll never go back to normal if we don’t”

“I don’t have anything to say, Shawnie”

“But I do, honey” he said taking a deep breath “I know I’ve been the shittiest friend in history, that you didn’t always come first in the past few months and I’m truly sorry for that. I’m also sorry for promising things to you that I didn’t keep, like always being there for you when you need me and stuff. And sorry for the ex girlfriends that made us go further apart, obviously for my mistake, but anyway, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that...”

“Shawn...”

“Please, Y/N, I really need to get that off my chest”

“And I will let you do that, is just that she’s...” I didn’t finish the sentence, just pointed to the flight attendant offering dinner.

“Oh, sorry” he said flashing her a smile that probably almost killed the poor woman. Yes, that’s Shawn Mendes effect.

We grabbed our trays, thanking her and placing them on the little table thing.

“Okay, keep going”

“Okay, and I’m sorry for everything I did you wrong, for example, not calling you on your birthday, just a quick text, but I just did that cause I was so ashamed of all of the things that I did to you, I almost didn’t come to this trip to not put any sort of pressure on you for forgiving me. But specially, the most important thing I should be apologizing for is for making you feel like you don’t mean the world to me and that you aren’t one of the most important women in my life, and I love you with my whole heart and I missed you like hell, and being away from you was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my entire life. And I never want this to happen again. I’m sorry, Y/N, for everything”

I couldn’t breath. Really, all the air that was on my lungs simply disappeared. I just stared my shoes for what felt like a really long time.

“Honey? Y/N? Are you okay? Do you need me to leave?”

Oh, okay, it was a long time.

“Hm, Sorry, I’m just trying to, ya know, absorb everything”

“Okay” he said stating the back of the seat in front of him.

“Hey” I said placing my hand on his thigh squeezing it lightly “it’s okay, big guy, I’m not mad at you, I love you too, and it’s okay, I just figured we were going through different times in life and stuff... but it’s okay”

“It shouldn’t be, you should hate me”

“Not really, but I just can’t” I said and he placed his hand on top of mine.

“I love you so much, Y/N”

“You’re my best friend, dude, you kinda have to”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it” he said sighing.

“Isn’t it?”

“Of course it is, honey”

“Good, now can we eat? I’m starving” I said and he giggled.

“Yes, we can, Y/N”

After that, we chose a movie and started watching it. His hand made a discreet way to my knee, and I just looked at it, but didn’t say a word. The movie was a random rom-com movie and I can say it was starting to get boring, but since people around us were falling back asleep, we didn’t have much to do. I felt his fingers starting to come higher on my leg, stopping in the middle of my thigh.

“Shawn?”

“Hmm?”

“What are you doing?”

“Watching the movie”

“Hm, yeah?”

“Yup” he said popping the ‘P’.

“What’s the name of the main character?”

“Susan?”

“Yeah, you’re such a bad liar, where are you, big guy?”

“M’here”

“No, you’re not”

“I’m just... enjoying you...r company” he said tracing random figures with the pad of his thumb “I really missed you”

“What do you mean?”

“I just feel the need to touch you”

“Well, you are”

“I know”

“Do you mind?”

“Not really”

“Okay” he said squeezing my thigh and than grabbing both of them and putting them over his lap, pulling me even closer.

“Dear?” Karen called making us both jump in our seats “oh, sorry, didn’t mean to scary you”

“It’s okay” I said chucking and trying to take my legs from Shawn’s lap, but he wouldn’t let me move “what happened?”

“Nothing, I was just going to the bathroom and wanted to check on you guys on the way back, do you need anything?”

“We’re fine, mom, I think we can handle this”

“I know you do, sweetheart, doesn’t mean I don’t get worried”

“Well, everything’s great, Karen, thank you” I said giving her a smile, which she gave back.

“Okay, I’ll just go back to my seat, we have another two hours” she said going away.

“Shit, she scared me” I said and Shawn laughed “shhh”

“Oh shit, sorry”

“It’s okay, dummy”

And that’s pretty much how we spent the rest of the flight, laughing, talking and watching that movie.

-*-

A few hours later, we were already at the hotel, checked in and heading to our floors. Both of our parents were at the same floor. Me, Shawn, Flo and Liyah were almost at the top, both of our sisters were in the same room at the left of the hall, and me and Shawn were to the right, but each one in one room.

Five minutes after I closed the door, someone knocked on it, so I turned around and opened it. Shawn was standing awkwardly in the middle of the hall scratching the back of his neck.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

“Hm, nope, I thought maybe you needed some, with the bag and stuff”

“Well, I didn’t even take a look at the view, so I guess maybe? Well, you can come in, I don’t think I’ll be sleeping any time soon, we slept a lot during the flight”

“Yeah, exactly... so, where do you want me to place your bag?” He asked stepping into my room.

“Hm, there?” I said pointing to a random corner of the room and going to the balcony, opening the doors and heading outside, just staring at the view of the Eiffel Tower.

“Holy shit” Shawn mumbled behind me.

“Yeah, it’s so... magical”

“Mhmm” he said standing by my side “we’re lucky we both got his view”

“Really?”

“My room is right next door”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, I think we even have a door between them”

“Oh, wouldn’t you like that, Mendes”

“What do you mean?” He said flushing hard under the moonlight, making those stupid butterflies appear again, making me remember everything I’ve ever felt for him “honey?” He called making ME flush for being caught staring at him.

“Oh, shit, sorry, well, you always like to scare me randomly and stuff, so that would make things a lot easier”

“Do you think I’m twelve?”

“No, of course not, big guy, I’m 100% sure”

“Oh, please” he said rolling his eyes at me playfully and chuckling “let me check that door thing again”

I just laughed as he walked back to the room. I just leaned on the balcony railing, enjoying the view and the light breeze from the cold night, that was giving me light goosebumps. And for a second, just a little moment, I allowed myself to imagine what would be like to have something with Shawn. I mean, I’ve done that a lot when I was younger and stuff, but nowadays I just don’t allow myself to do that, not anymore.

But being with him would probably be amazing. He always do this thing where he just puts his whole heart into everything he does, especially when he loves it. So just imagine being with someone so passionate, and caring, and kind, and sweet, and smart, and hot as him. I just can’t see any bad points in it.

“What’s going on on that pretty little head of yours, honey?” Shawn said lowly next to my ear, making my heart skip a beat and almost die.

You see, I wouldn’t mind the closeness and stuff, cause that guy has no idea of what personal space means. BUT, I would always see it coming and prepare myself to not freak out. But I did not see him coming, and did not expect him to be right behind me, close enough so that I could feel his hot breath on the back of my neck, since I was with my hair in a messy bun. His hands grabbed the railing in front of me, standing beside mine. Shit, he’s close.

“Nothing”

“Mhmmm, I don’t believe you” he said pressing his lips gently on my skin, making me bite me bottom lip to hold back a whimper.

“I... it’s nothing”

“See, it is something” he said rubbing the tip of his nose against the extension of my neck “I know you, baby, just tell me”

“I was just thinking how this trip would be a perfect scenario for me to be with someone... you know... romantically involved with someone”

“Oh” he said and I could feel his arms tensioning around me “anyone in particular?”

“Hm?” I said playing with my fingers but I felt one of his hands on my waist, turning me around to face him, but I just couldn’t, so I stared at our feet.

“So...? Anyone?”

“Oh, shit, sorry, no... not a single soul in particular, no one, no”

“Sure?”

“Yeah, sure”

“Yeah, don’t believe you right now, but I think I’m going back to my room to let you rest, you seem really tired”

“Do I?”

“Yes, you can’t seem to concentrate on what I’m saying, and you were staring at nothing in particular when I got here, so I guess you’re just tired”

“Yeah, that’s probably it”

“So... let’s go back inside?”

“Mhmmm”

“Honey?”

“Hm?” I mumbled looking up for the first time since he turned me around, and I regretted it almost instantaneously, why did he have to look so fucking good? And than he smiled, making me feel like my legs were turning into jello, making me grab his arms for support.

“Do you want me to carry you to bed?”

“I need to take a shower first”

“Okay, let’s do it like this, I’ll take you to the bathroom and I’ll let you shower and I’ll leave the door between our bedrooms open, so I can shower and come back before you, than I’ll tuck you in bed and go back to my room, okay? Sounds nice?”

“You’re perfect” I said without thinking and than flushing, because I noticed what just left my mouth.

He just chuckled wrapping his arms around my middle, taking me off the ground and to the bathroom, placing me on top of the sink. He went back to the room and returned a few moments later with my PJs, my shower bag and my bag of underwear.

“I’ll leave you to shower and stuff, and whenever you’re ready, I’ll be waiting for you in your room, okay, honey?”

“Okay” I basically whispered and he smiled, placing a delicate kiss on my forehead before leaving.

I just hopped off the counter top and locked the door, stepping into the shower a few moments later. A nice steaming hot shower later, I had my hair in a messy ponytail, makeup free face, lotion on my body, fuzzy socks and sweats on, and with that, I stepped out of the bathroom only to die a little more.

The room was already dark, only with the tv on, my things were nicely organized on the nightstand or on top of the suitcase, and Shawn... He was laying in the middle of my bed, with his curls a little damp, wearing his flannel plants and hoodie, barefoot, scrolling through some social media, oh so casually. God, he’s going to kill me without even trying.

“Hi” I said in a really soft tone, softer than I intended.

“Oh, hi, honey, are you ready for bed?” He asked and I just nodded “c’mere” he said opening his arms for me and I just crawled into bed with him, getting lost in the warmth of his body and scent.

“You’re the most caring person I’ve ever met”

“Thank you, I truly try to be”

“I know, and you are, and I love you”

“I love you too, Y/N, you have no idea”

Oh, I do.

“Thank you, for everything”

“You don’t have to thank me... but I won’t turn this into a discussion, so... what time are we getting up tomorrow?”

“Dunno, what time is it?”

“A quarter past midnight”

“8:30? So we can be downstairs at 9 am for breakfast? They said they’re going to leave the hotel at ten o’clock sharp so if we do this, we’ll have time”

“Yeah, that’s nice, but since I’ve been to Paris before, if you wanna do something separate or something they don’t want to, just tell me, and I’ll take you anywhere”

“Okay, great to know I have my own tourist guide” I said between a yawn and he chuckled.

“Okay, I really need to let you sleep” he said letting go of me and getting up, straightening the duvet on top of me and kissing my forehead “goodnight, honey, knock if you need me, okay?”

I nodded and held his hand.

“What, baby?”

“Thank you, for apologizing and making up for it, I missed you too” I said and he gave me a half smile.

“I’m still on the process, I hope someday I’ll be able to make it up to you”

“You already have... I... goodnight, Shawn” I said nuzzling on my pillow and letting go of his hand, but not before squeezing it lightly.

“Goodnight, Y/N” he said almost like a whisper as he left the room and I let the slumber take over me.

-*-

*Please reblog or like this post if you liked it so I'll know if I'm supposed to keep posting this series thing.

*I'm sorry if there are any spelling mistakes.

*Please do not repost this without giving me the credit, this is a completely original piece and I do not give permission to copy this!

*Hope you guys enjoyed it!

*xoxo*

-🌙

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kinnoth · 3 years

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AVENGERS ENDGAME MEGATHREAD

- Thor cutting off Thanos' bits like somebody who's not afraid of a bit of brutality unlike gutless weeb tony stark

- There is at least grief in this movie. There is at least the gravity of suffering and the ways that it warps you. There is at least the acknowledgement that when things are lost, there is no benefit.

- No wonder they can't come up with different forms of magic in this world, the technology is already multiple forms of magic

- this movie at least has some situational comedy bits and not just quippy one liners

- guess they still haven't figured out how to make it look like hulk is touching things

- I don't care that he's fat, I care that they made him abdicate his responsibility

- oh wow BLOOD

- I'm so glad they gave the fuck up on Natasha/hulk. Natasha/Clint is the more interesting relationship anyway

- lol Clint's family died and he got a tattoo sleeve and an e-boy haircut

- ok I do enjoy the idea that during the endtimes alien attack on new York, surgery just keeps on going. Plan D motherfuckers, this city's burning down but no one leaves the OR or you will be cited for patient abandonment

- just given everything we know about Thor, I don't really believe he cannot feel gravity when walking into the living past of his ruined home and seeing the still breathing figures of his dead family. I just really wish they could let thor have emotions like they're letting the rest of them have emotions. I don't know why they've decided that he's the funny one so he doesn't get to have feelings except for when it's funny

- also weird that they don't have Thor grab the tesseract while it's locked up in Asgard when nobody gave a shit about it as opposed to making the new York team grab it after the alien attack on ny when they have to fight off hydra

- i do enjoy loki's natural and immediate antipathy towards captain America. like i feel like that's just proof he's a better person than everybody else

- OH YES LOKI GO CAUSE PROBLEMS YES

- wait is this supposed to be where he teleports into his own tv show lol lame

- haha Thor as defibrillator

- new cap v old cap is very funny.

- the code word for getting cap to lose his fucking shit is "bucky is alive"

- oh this is the kind of retconning I'm into "why did Stephen strange give Thanos the time stone? He made a mistake!" Very good.

- HAHA FUTURE NEBULA ACCIDENTALLY AUTO CONNECTS TO PAST NEBULAS WIFI BC THANOS DOESN'T UNDERSTAND NETWORK SECURITY HAHA

- oh ok Thor's reunion with Frigga is nice

- aww! That's a good device! Thor has relied on his ability to heft his hammer his whole life to know that he is worthy to be who he is, and since he lost his hammer and since he lost everyone who knew him, he's stopped knowing who he is, AND THEN HE GETS TO HEFT HIS HAMMER AGAIN. Nice.

- ok but how are we gonna explain fat Thor stealing his hammer from Thor 2 Thor

- tony/his dad is much less graceful of a reunion

- Clint and Natasha are the best sibling relationship love them LOVE THEM

- I love this comic sequence of Clint and Natasha each trying to sacrifice themselves for the soul stone this is great

- oh I know why I like this movie better than the other ones there have been almost no punch ups so far, just a bunch of emotionally broken people scheming for things

- oh god just as I say it there's gonna be a punch up isn't there

- did we forget that Thor is OP again, goddamnit why are they constantly nerfing Thor

- oh wow disgusting, captain America is worthy of the hammer 🙄

Military arm of a fascist imperialist state etc etc

- god this is annoying. I was legit almost enjoying myself for a second when it was just a bunch of sad old avengers trying to plan a heist

- EW TONY STARK IS NOT ALLOWED NEAR CHILDREN OR MINORITIES GROSS

- oh classic "you took everything from me//I don't even know who you are" CLASSIC

- listen I know this isn't the point but we never get to see seidr and I think that's a fucking TRAGEDY

- oh my god we're gonna do girl power pt 2 wasn't this embarrassing enough the first time

- CUT OFF HIS ARM FOR FUCKS SAKE HOW MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO--

- ok that was a nice quiet death. Tony stark didn't deserve a nice quiet death, but I think understated things are just more valuable, and i prefer a story to extract as much value as it can out of itself

- but it's been 5 years right now is spider man still in the same class with the same kids oh boy we'd better hope mj also vaporised or she'll be like 20 right now and not a candidate for a love interest and peter will just have to date ned

- yeah I still don't care about tony stark

- THOR STILL DOESN'T ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY OVER HIS PEOPLE FOR FUCKS SAKE WHY DOES EVERYBODY HATE RAGNAROK LIKE THIS

- lol so the entire Thor franchise, the entire battle for the throne, we could've just let Loki win it in the first movie and... What, none of this matters huh? God. Fucking. I hate this stupid franchise.

- oh they're bringing the hammer back to Thor 2, cute

- Steve abandoning bucky to be alone as a man out of time in a world by himself is just such classic Steve

#the asshole liveblogs #avengers endgame

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thorsthot · 5 years

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♡thorsthot’s writing challenge♡ 5k edition

yooo! so the first time I did this, I was at 2.5k followers back in 2018. 2020 we at 5k baby!!! but no deadass, I'm very grateful, especially for the people who have still been here even when I'm being an asshole.

I found it really fun when I first did this. I got to read fics that I normally would never read. Even though I don’t read fanfic now, I still want to show appreciation whenever I get the chance. And what better way than to host a writing challenge?? under the cut you’ll find the rules, and the various prompts to choose from!

Deadass, just have fun! (and lets hope this doesn’t flop lol) if there’s any questions, feel free to ask :) reblog this to boost, if you’d like

♡ rules ♡

gotta be following me - let me know if you’re posting from a side blog

YOU CAN WRITE FOR ANY CHARACTER IN MY GUIDELINES :)) - (It does not have to only be mcu characters but yes, you can write for Tony, Loki, Nat, Wanda, etc)

I suggest writing outside of the mcu; but it is your choice

no, you cannot write Peter Parker smut, idc whether or not he’s 18

if you're writing smut PLS BE 18+ baby

also, no dark!fics, non-con, in*est, etc

two people per prompt so first come first serve - each person can have at most 2 prompts but it’s not required.

if you’d like to write more than one fic, you can!

word minimum is 700 words; there is no word or chapter maximum

has to be a reader insert

♡ formatting + tags ♡

fics should include, a word count, warnings, and your prompt

if you’d like, you can add a summary (it’ll help me when making the masterlist)

for the love of all things holy, please, add the ‘read more’ function to the fics.

must tag me in the fic + use the tag #thorsthotfive and #thorsthotchallenge (so that I can find it if it gets lost in my notifs!)

♡ how to + what happens when you enter ♡

send me a message or ask highlighting which prompt(s) you’re going to use and the character you’re writing about

for example; “movie dialogue #4 w/ wade wilson” or, “situational #7 w/ bucky”, etc

when you enter: you’ll get a reblog (likely more than one) + a paragraph of feedback that highlights what I love about what you wrote

you’ll also be on the special 5k writing challenge masterlist placed within my own masterlists.

send me a link as well, if I don’t reblog/notice the fic!

there's no deadline to enter, but there's a deadline to post

deadline - March 16st 2020

♡ prompts ♡

situational (au/trope) -

Oh No! There’s Only ONE Bed!

Stranger In a Coffee Shop

‘Damsel in Distress’

Enemies to Lovers (@yournonlocalpoc w/ Jason Todd + d.4)

Friends to Lovers (@tonictransistor w/ Stephen Strange + md.4)

Soulmate AU (@the-wordsmiths-fabrications w/ Thor)

Fake Dating (@I-jus-wanna-writehappy w/ Arthur Curry + d.5)

Noir Detective AU

Apocalypse AU (@thortopia w/ Thor + d.6)

Wow! The Scary Man in the Woods is actually a Sweetheart (@pruemania w/ Thor)

Vampire AU

Bodyguard AU

Character Death

Monster/Alien Fuck Fest

dialogue -

“Do you love him?” (@sidehowriting w/ Thor)

“You’re the love and light of my life and I can’t wait to spend eternity with you.”

“At least take me out to dinner first.”

“Will you stay awake with me? I can’t sleep.”(@yournonlocalpoc w/ Jason Todd + s.4)

“You trust me? Don’t you?” (@I-jus-wanna-writehappy w/ Arthur Curry + s.7)

“We’re gonna have a baby.” (@thortopia w/ Thor + s.6)

“Yes, my lord.”

“Do you believe in aliens?”

“It’s not what it looks like!”

“It’s all your fault.”

“I’ve never been scared a day in my life.”

“I don’t love you anymore.”

“Don’t argue with me today.”

“Do you ever shut up?”

movie dialogue -

“It's fucking over, us, this is no joke. I don't think we should see each other any more.”

“Now take me to jail.”

“I didn’t want to get blood on your floor.”

“You met me at a very strange time in my life.” (@tonictransistor w/ Stephen Strange + md.4)

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“How can you go through life pretending that you’re happy?” (@daydreams-and-shortattentionspan w/ Steve Rogers)

“But this is life. This isn’t a movie”

“They say it hurts less if it’s a surprise.”

“We make a good team. Right?”

“They’ll kill you for helping me.”

“I’ve been a bad, bad girl.”

“Now, you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband/wife won't be home for hours.”

“Are we getting married tomorrow?”

“I gave you everything. You gave it all away.”

song prompts -

Candyman - Christina Aguilera

The Way - Ariana Grande ft. Mac Miller

Do U Dirty - Kehlani

One Night Only (Disco Ver.) - Dreamgirls Soundtrack

Gambit Rogue Delight - Sylar

Dance For You - Beyonce

Whore - In This Moment

Playing Games - Summer Walker ft. Bryson Tiller

You Know I’m No Good - Amy Winehouse (@daydreams-and-shortattentionspan w/ Bucky Barnes)

Cyber Sex - Doja Cat

Love Song - Lana Del Rey

Eyelids - PVRIS

Baby - Clean Bandit ft. Marina & Luis Fonsi

Ma Chérie - Palace Royale ft. Kellin Quinn

#tiy speaks #thorsthotchallenge #thorsthotfive #writing challenge

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patricia-von-arundel · 4 years

Text

If anyone wants it, AO3 link for the story I put up last night. I’ve also gone through and edited out (I hope) all of those blasted typos. I shouldn’t type up stories in the middle of the night.

But okay! I promised to do better about responding to comments. So let’s go:

snoffles

said: Oh man, yes! Good stuff. I think the style works very well - really keeps it brisk and engrossing. I tore through this thing. I’m on the fence about the age issue - at first, I was thinking I’d prefer if you kept it set when they’re younger so it matches up with when Edelgard was experimented on. Then that final scene happened and…yeah. Whatever you decide, I’m good with it. I just want more! Thanks for this and all your other beautiful writing. :)

Thank you! I’m still debating on the age thing, too. I realized I needed to avoid the influence of those back in Enbarr/TWSITD after the experimentation, but wasn’t sure what to do with her. What I think I’ll do for now is leave it as-is, and potentially, as the plot develops, see if I can go back and rework the beginning... somehow. I do need her and Byleth to get their butts to Garreg Mach. I’m really glad the final scene worked, because I was super excited to write it! Thank you for reading!

insectoid5 reblogged this from patricia-von-arundel and added:

This is excellent, Em!! I think you managed to write Edelgard in this way quite well. 😁Oh, El, you and your aim...

I will get snark in about El’s aim however I can. Every time.

ishtar0110 said: Holy moly!!! YESSS!!!!! 💜🧡💖💞💓🧡💜

I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thank you! :D

lysissisyl said: So, I think Edelgard is perfectly recognizable here. It’s just not the exact same Edelgard we all know, because she can’t be. She shouldn’t be, because her life wasn’t the same. The Edelgard at the end of CF and the Edelgard at the end of SS are very different people for very obvious reasons. Here it’s the same and I’m an even more critical moment of her life. This Edelgard got a chance to heal when her wounds were still fresh. That really reminds me of Marvel’s “what ifs”!!! As for Edelgard’s darkness surfacing at times, I think it is perfectly understandable here, even for someone who doesn’t know her well. She has been saved, she has known love, but sometimes the horror just comes back and she can’t help it. It’s a possible way to handle trauma while still healing, and not an uncommon one. I’m still a bit shaken, so I hope my words make sense somehow. I think this already tells you you made a very good job. 😅 Still, you asked for some feedback, so here it is. I tried to keep it brief, but I miserably failed. My sincere apologies.

lysissisyl said: And she still has a hard time dealing with her own feelings. She can’t name what she’s starting to feel for Byleth and she calls it envy, probably because it’s less scary. All this just to answer to your doubts and say that she IS recognizable and she IS in character. I’m not even starting on anything else XD Sorry again This Edelgard is still able to hope, she hopes for her father to saver her, even just for a moment. She sees someone who is not an Agarthan and can still trust them. This is something the Edelgard we know has lost. At the same time, she doesn’t want Byleth to hold her down, she can stay still despite the pain when Jeralt cleans her wounds. She doesn’t scream. This is so Edelgard.

Good! Excellent! Thank you! That’s exactly what I was most worried about - missing the mark on El’s characterization. She’s so internally focused... and so reluctant to speak up about her own goals/struggles. Going forward, I’m hoping that problem will solve itself, but I’m glad she wasn’t completely OOC here. Balancing trauma with living daily life in a believable way is tough at the best of times. Especially with a character like El who is never going to lash out or allow herself to express her own pain and fear and anger. She isn’t going to be like Dimitri, who through his behavior can be read quite readily. El is a mask, Flame Emperor or not.

The part where her wounds were cleaned - yeah. That one I hoped would give that impression. This is Edelgard. She will not scream. She’s so dang-blasted stubborn she will not scream. There’s a piece of the same Edelgard we see at the start of the game.

This is wonderful feedback, and I appreciate it very much! Long responses are the very best, I promise. (And I hope I got your responses in the correct order. Tumblr is Tumblr.)

kalinary said: Woot, didn’t have time to read this last night when I was half dead but was definetly looking forward to reading it today which I did :). Hmmmm so now feedback and constructive feedback. The kind I’m worst at :P. All in all I think the story was great, excited to read more of it. See where the story ends up going and the characters growth and changes. I wonder who the third house leader is. Could be Hubert would think he would also recognize El. Hubert raises an interesting question though. How does he change without El returning and how does he react to her miraculous return. Then you have the other characters reactions as well. Does El keep her identity a secret? With her changed hair and depending on timing would there be many who would recognize her? Does she accept her identity at garreg Mach at the start? Or do the others end up oblivious and she gets to approach and get to know them simply as El and not the emperor for once. Many questions and I very much look forward to hearing the answers but I think I’ll end my mini rant here for now

I’m terrible at constructive feedback, too. It’s hard. I envy those who can do it well.

As for the third house leader... bad news. I said next chapter? It’s, uh... actually going to be the one after. You’re getting more mysteries in the next chapter. We’ll definitely be seeing Hubert, though, in some capacity. Could be a house leader. Could be in another role. We shall see, we shall see... but he’ll definitely show up.

As for El’s identity, I guess that’s not a huge spoiler to say that yes, she will be keeping her identity a secret (at least at the start). But of course, secrets like that are never kept for long, especially in a school. Where is there more gossip than in a school? And, of course, Rhea’s around, and Rhea isn’t fond of those who keep secrets from her... and Edelgard isn’t too fond of Rhea. (There’s some stuff with those two I cannot wait to write. Things go very differently than in 3H, though. Very, very differently.)

Let’s put it this way: including Byleth and Jeralt, there will be five people initially who know El’s identity. And they’re probably pretty easy to guess.

Appreciate the feedback!

Did I get everyone? If I didn’t, poke me, and my apologies. I know I missed some tag responses - if any of them need to be addressed, again, gimme a poke.

Oh, and the story has a title now! A World on Its Side, derived from the song “Ring Them Bells” (Bob Dylan). Full lyrics beneath the cut:

Ring them bells, ye heathen From the city that dreams Ring them bells from the sanctuaries ’Cross the valleys and streams For they’re deep and they’re wide And the world’s on its side And time is running backwards And so is the bride Ring them bells St. Peter Where the four winds blow Ring them bells with an iron hand So the people will know Oh it’s rush hour now On the wheel and the plow And the sun is going down Upon the sacred cow Ring them bells Sweet Martha For the poor man’s son Ring them bells so the world will know That God is one Oh the shepherd is asleep Where the willows weep And the mountains are filled With lost sheep Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf Ring them bells for all of us who are left Ring them bells for the chosen few Who will judge the many when the game is through Ring them bells, for the time that flies For the child that cries When innocence dies Ring them bells St. Catherine From the top of the room Ring them from the fortress For the lilies that bloom Oh the lines are long And the fighting is strong And they’re breaking down the distance Between right and wrong

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jq37 · 5 years

Note

[obligatory recap ask]

**spoilers for subway skirmish and borough of dreams**

@kickmuncher3 and @galfast: ty for your asks, I’ll use them for the next two recaps. this is probably the least efficient way for me to handle this but I want to keep all of these visually consistent dammit.

One of the funniest things about this season of D20 is most if not all of the cast has lived in NYC which manifests as very specific references and in character complaints that you just know come from a place of truth and experience. Which is to say we got a lot of that in these episodes.

Also, this has nothing to do with anything but living in NY update: On Sunday, I saw a man hanging upside-down from a tree--by his feet--and playing the flute. And barely anyone registered it at all. So I really cannot stress enough how much New York is Like That.

Pete opening the fight by blasting a fireball and then telepathically calling out Kingston is--como se dice--a Power Move.

Brennan *immediately* channels the opposite of whatever energy Emily's on and goes right for Ricky's dog to the horror of everyone at the table and his absolute delight. Like, it's a spectral dog but still. Bro. Dog.

Kingston taking the heat metal damage to get Epona to drop him is so raw. But then, for the rest of the fight, he doesn't say a single thing except for his Command spells which is a very different kind of raw.

Question: Is Riz's mom the only good cop that exists in D20?

I know this was an RP ep and I know they knew it was gonna be an RP ep but I wonder what would have happened if they had pretended to cooperate with Epona to get more info. Probably just an extended RP ep that would have segued into this same fight eventually. But I'm curious about what information they let get eaten by a swarm of rats.

Misty's Irresistible Dance spell is very clutch.

The gators from the last fight are back in the form of Kug's summons and one of them still has a grudge against Misty. Misty is all, "send me your resume!" because she appreciates the spunk. I was starting a sentence about what the hell play this sentient gator is going to be in but as soon as I hypothetically asked it my brain was like, "Peter Pan. Next question."

Y'all, this really was Kug's fight. Between calling the roaches, crocs, and gators, channeling Moonshine to call lightning, and killing Epona within 40 mins of the ep, he truly was on fire. Good for him. He also turns into a bear but specifically a bear that would have escaped from the zoo. It's the little details that make this show great.

Brennan putting his foot down on tying rats together not being acrobatics is the eternal DM mood.

Back to Epona for a second, do we think she was working for Robert directly? Someone connected to him? Something else? When her shadow split after Ricky's attack was that meaningful or just flavor? Where did that badge come from? Has it always existed? What does destroying it mean? It didn't seem to help. The bad cop ghosts were still around, just no one could control them at that point. If they had yoinked that badge, could they have had a summoning item that hey could use? Or is it bad karma to use something like that? Is it still bad if you're forcing the bad cops to do good stuff? Did Brennan anticipate this or is the Coach Daybreak 2: Electric Boogaloo? Lots of questions.

Misty's cutting words to the cop (saving Ricky) making the Law and Order "DUN DUN" noise is great.

Emily ends up not needing to roll to make rat nunchucks because her health goes low enough that her magic ring activates but I feel like she low key wanted rat nunchucks.

Wild that Kingston went down for just long enough for it to be cinematic before being revived by Misty ("Get up, old man,")

Also wild that this whole fight only took about 45 seconds of in game time. It makes sense if you think about it the way you would a movie and that's how most D&D fights are but that's so much play time for so little game time and it hit me this ep because I was actually keeping track of rounds.

Anyway, I have not mentioned up until this point that the whole crux of this fight is to last long enough for Alejandro to roll high enough to summon the train to Nod but, long story short, Pizza Rat shows up to save the day. Does that make more sense in context? Marginally.

I like that the train to Nod shows up on the wrong side of the tracks. Like I said, man. Details.

Oh and to my above point about the cast making comments about NY as people who have lived in NY, I loved Brennan looking directly at the camera when he was going off on people who just stand at the door like idiots while you're trying to get in and then Siobhan pokes like half her head into frame so she can also stare directly into the camera. Mood.

When Ally said Pete shoots Kingston I half believed it for a good couple of seconds. I was right there with Lou.

OK, so I don't know how many of you have watched Sharkboy and Lavagirl (and, if you haven't feel free to skip this bullet) but no movie has brought me more enjoyment overall than SB&LG. Not because it's good because it's not. But it's so insane that it's amazing. It's right in the sweet spot. I always say, if it was any better, it would be Spy Kids 3 and, therefore, unwatchable (SK 1 + 2 are dope as hell though, for the record). I bring it up because the way Brennan describes Nod reminds me a lot of Drool in SB&LG. Like, the rollercoaster subway car def could be in the same universe as the Train of Thought. This is all to say that I think Brennan could have written a version of SB&LG that was better without being worse. Idk if that comes across as complimentary, but it is, and to both parties actually.

From the way Nod (the kid) is being framed (in this ep and the next) I know we're not supposed to mistrust him but, put in that situation, there is no way I would trust the gray faced, black eyed, creepily gliding dream child.

Post fight, Kingston wants to offer an apology for what he said about Pete and Nod wants to apologize for putting Pete in his current situation. Also, the group decides to be more open in general. Kug, as most of us guessed, got beauty and the beasted for white collar crime by his business partner (Gabby) who is Esther's mom and a witch (also, Ricky thinks his crush on Esther is a secret which is just adorable and completely incorrect).

Brennan cuts sharing time off because this is the combat episode dammit! Save it for next session. But, because I'm behind, next session is now! Let's get into The Borough of Dreams.

Misty, as a faerie, is instinctively mistrustful of vising other magical worlds and eating the food or taking things at face value. I love that she's playing a character where she can ask these questions and not be meta-gaming because I had some of the same concerns.

Wildly, WALLY walks out of the train as he just happened to be on it (as conductor) at the time. Kug bursts out with the fact that he's his dad and Wally takes this to mean that Rat Jesus is his bio dad but, even after being left alone for so many years, he claims Bruce as his real dad. He's wrong but he's sweet.

"I thought you were mad at me." Brennan, you didn't have to do that.

Murph clearly trying to not accidentally call Wally a piece of shit because that's his go to Kug way to describe things is so funny.

"We could turn me into a rat." WALLY

Kingston and Misty looking at each other like, "These absolute children," while Pete and Soph are making Brittney Spears references.

So we find out what all of the magic stuff they picked up does. Misty's mirror can see invisibility. Pete's grill helps with persuasion. The thousand hour energy makes you immune to sleep for 42 days(!) The bagel can be used for divination or to essentially kill a person but spread their essence throughout the universe (which low key sounds like a sacrifice someone might make to help cancel the spread of say an undead presence or a money virus).

I want Ricky and Wally to be friends forever.

Kingston's lack of connection to the dream world is so sad. Like, he's no nonsense but he's like NO NONSENSE. Like no nonsense possible. So he's just walking around like Eddie Valiant in Toontown.

And, at the same time, the rest of the party is doing the MOST nonsense. Mary Poppins-ing into the sky. Misty is making out with the moon. Wild.

SOBER SALAD

Ally drops the ketamine on the tomatoes line and Brennan fully breaks

Very sweet for Pete to bring Kingston a salad, even though that's such a random food to just have in your pocket(???). Why does salad keep coming up on this show? One more time and it's officially a motif.

So the dream world basically works on Sharkboy and Lavagirl/Xanth/Phantom Tollbooth/Wonderland/Toontown logic. If you've seen/read any of those, you basically have it down.

"Only people with Sprint have service."/"Oh, amazing!" Brennan threw that softball out for anyone who wanted it and Emily, as usual, hit it out of the park.

Brennan very clearly knows his NY history. The mob boss (lucky Luciano, no not that one) that he mentioned during the sleeping with the fishes bit is a real dude and basically the dude who brought organized crime to the US (in the form we know it now).

Ricky and the mints. Lord.

Anyway, the one item I didn't mention earlier is the holy grail detergent which can literally clean souls. Which sounds mighty interesting considering some of the other stuff that's come up this campaign.

(Also, I wonder if you could use the bagel as spell components since it contains everything in the universe in microcosm).

I can't believe Pete was the one saying, "At least eat before you shotgun that 1000 hour energy." By the by, the 42 hour span of the energy drink makes me suspicious. Is that just for humor (and accurate math) or it this a Chekov's Gun kind of an item indicating some kind of time jump at some point? Ricky drinks it later in this ep so, if there's a clock attached to that, it's ticking. I'm prob reading into this but I assume if you're still reading these, this is what you're here for.

Ally making sawing motions before being told an egg creme has nothing to do with eggs and is in fact a drink.

Pete! OK, so Pete has made some good steps in this ep, starting with promising to start reining in the drug usage. Later he works on his magic and also gets over Priya. This is the most endeared I've been to him all season. Especially his, "I try to do a good job," line. I felt that.

"It's still open to you." Aw.

Brennan clearly saw the chance for a lore drop this ep and boy did it drop. Let's run through the highlights.

Nod dumped all this on Pete the way they did because it's super super hard to contact a Vox Phantasmus beforehand due the the natural, waking world inclination to brush off dreams. You have to have the job before you can talk to the boss. Cruddy system but that's how it goes.

When Sophie said the thing about Robert Moses creating spaces that can't be accessed she meant by magic but it's an interesting way to phrase it because the irl Robert Moses is known for (allegedly, but like, it tracks) trying to keep black people out of certain spaces.

Robert Moses sold his soul to Hell and Faerie which is why he's still alive it seems. No one wants to collect on his soul and anger the other party.

Whoever predicted that the golden door for Emma Laz's poem was the rectangle from episode one, collect your prize because it's confirmed in this ep.

We learn about the ephemeral axiom which basically says, a dream can be all things but once it manifests, it's a single thing. (you might even say, "it is what it is".)

So another big thing we learn is that if a dream gets so big that manifesting them in the real world would break the game, it's called a Paragon. There are four total: Heaven, Hell, Faerie, and The American Dream. (Wild that The American Dream is the only country specific one that exists. Like, I rep my home team of course but the U.S. is a pretty latecomer to the country party. You'd think someone else might have gotten Paragon status at some point.)

"Was one of them the Grand Canyon?"

Anyway, dragging the American Dream into the waking world would fix the American Dream to mean one thing--I assume making tons of money if Robert Moses has his way. I'll admit, I was a little fuzzy on the mechanics of this on my first watch-through because pulling the American Dream into the real world sounds like it should be a good thing. But I think, at the most basic level, it's a matter of you shouldn't put magic that shouldn't be in a box in a box. I'm still wondering about the exact implications for the waking world if he succeeds though. Like, how would that manifest? Would everyone suddenly become money hungry (lol, how would you tell)? Would people still want what they want but the American Dream would just be understood to mean making stacks and none of the good Superman-y stuff?

"It's not Protestant work ethic is it?"

Robert Moses is undead and can't get into Nod, so those are good things to note.

I was so ready for Wally is get dispelled and for him to be a figment of Kug’s imagination or a dream or something. I braced myself so much. I was ready to set up a firing squad for Brennan for doing that to Kug.

Who tipped the bugsters off to where Pete was gonna be? As far as I can tell, the only people that knew were the gang plus Alejandro and Esther. Maybe someone was scrying on them and that’s what the roll Zac failed during the wedding ep was.

As soon as Brennan mentions locking the door, Ally immediately makes the connection and goes, "Key to the city." Nod "locks" the American Dream and gets rid of the lock which seems to mean the American Dream is temporarily unavailable. Which seems not good and like it's gonna have collateral damage for sure but I guess you bad is a matter of degrees and Robert getting in would be worse. But still, imagine your immigration papers get declined because some random kid decided to close down the American Dream for a couple of days.

So, we get some backstory of Misty. She apparently just was straight up not having a good time in Faerie so she stole Titania's shoes (allowing her to be in iron-filled NYC without triggering her fairy vulnerability) and peaced out.

"She's gonna kill you."/"Only if she can get here and I have her Goddamn shoes." (**A million airhorns in the distance**)

I love that Emily is still on the souls thing. Emily doesn't believe in Occam's Razor. In fact, I'd like to propose a corollary called the Axford Axiom: The coolest path between two points probably isn't the correct one, but it should be! I want her to run a campaign so bad so I can see her be in a game where her crazy endgame is what's going on because she's the one who wrote it.

Misty: Let's go to hell!

So much like a videogame, the map has opened up and we have three places to check out. The former locations in the dream world of Faerie (Carnagie Hall), Heaven (JFK airport), and Hell (where do you think? Hell's Kitchen). The gang splits up to look for clues (and drinks, in Misty's case). Actually, make that four places: Pete goes to the Met Museum of Memories to basically Avatar mind meld with the other Voxes and get a handle on his magic to a degree (thank God--Nod?). We'll take these in order of appearance, which means we're off to Hell with Kug and Ricky (plus Ox and Wally).

(Focus on the Pizza, baby!)

At first I wanted Ricky, the good boy, to go to Heaven, but the idea of a firefighter in Hell also has appeal.

Re The rat holding his guts: Gross.

Ricky holding his axe like a cell phone.

So we and Kug learn that the rat-spell that was cast on him wasn't actually a rat-spell. It was a spell that would make his outsides reflect his insides and his insides happened to suck. I'm wondering if that means that it's a static spell that reflects his outsides at the time it was cast and it would need to be recast to reflect any moral progress made or if it will just revert him once he's made enough progress.

I'm also wondering (partially bc one of my players asked to do this last session) can a Druid wildshape into a person? I feel like no, but like, did any of you ever read Animorphs? You know how in book 1 Tobias gets stuck as a red-tailed-hawk but then later her gets his morphing ability back and then he can turn back into his human form for 2 hours at a time? What if Kug just started doing that? Just being a rat who is sometimes a dude.

They also go to the statue of liberty (which has a French accent, natch) who shows them that there's, like, a money/greed virus infecting the Dreaming and the American Dream. Ricky smells undeath again. They think vampires. That's plausible but I'm not sure.

OK, Heaven.

WHOOOO, strap in y'all

(Sidenote: I wonder what would have happened if Soph hadn't chose to go to heaven. I feel like she could have easily run into you know who in hell had she chose to go there, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

Brennan actually tries to lead Emily into the thinking about Dale mindset but Emily, having reached a note of closure in Soph's character arc, pushes back on that.

honeyougotastormcoming.gif

Brennan,about to wreck her entire life: Cool.

I and the cast keep saying heaven a lot but it's like an all roads lead to Rome situation. It's heaven, Valhalla, Elysium, nirvana. Like, whatever Good Place you believe in. It's the Good Place.

Sophie, upon being told that if she jumps into the fight at the Pearly Gates she knows nothing about, she might literally die: And what about it?

Emily's face when Brennan says, "And you see Dale," is so much. You can see the entire range of human emotion in her eyes in that moment.

Sidenote: I wonder how much of her backstory Emily planned and how much Brennan dropped on her. Like, she knew Isabella was part of her backstory obv. Did Brennan come up with all of this whole-cloth or did she say she wanted there to be something supernatural and and let him fill in the details. Very curious about the collaborative process.

When Dale's character art comes up, it says "Sophie's Angel" for Dale's descriptor so where I thought we were going was that Dale was Sophie's Guardian Angel who wasn't supposed to be romantically involved with her and the reason he was gone is that he was forcibly brought back to heaven. But that may be because I recently watched this.

Dale, is upsettingly sweet with Sophie, calls her "sweetie" the entire time they're together, fights a ton of angels to get to her, and says he got her text message. Emily is about to cry. *I'm* about to cry. I'm sure the only reason Brennan isn't fistpumping is because he needs to stay in character.

Dale gives this cryptic piece of advice before he is dragged off by angel guards: When you get to the top, I know what it'll seem like, but there is someone there.

Emily, of course: I fight the angels.

The angels, hilariously, don't take it personally that she's fighting them--and very well, but not well enough to beat a nat 20. Sometimes the dice are spooky in tune with the story.

"He's got a job to do here. Who's gonna watch the deer?"

Dale also tells Soph to tell Jackson he said hi which is interesting to say the least.

Emily gets two very dope lines in a row:

"Let me hold your hand through this Alejandro."

"I'm gonna kill her. And I don't think she's going to the great big airport in Brooklyn."

That's it for her for now, but let's put a pin in that for now and come back to it after we check in with the others.

Siobhan and Kingston are at the former spot of Faerie, the Glamour Bar.

Zac jokingly (I think) guessing Dr. Doolittle as the thing Siobhan can't remember when she says Eliza Doolittle is so funny.

Also, her terrible cockney British accent on top of her actual British accent is great.

I love that the two actual Real Adults are the ones who go and get wasted mid-mission.

Brennan introduces "Bobby Goodfellow" and it takes Siobhan exactly four seconds after Brennan finishes the word "Goodfellow" to be like, "It's Puck." She knew and she knew her character would know it and she hardcore pounced.

I meant to mention this before but it's super funny that Kingston has been around the magical block but there's still so much he doesn't know. He was surprised by a bunch of stuff in this ep that I'd think he would know about (like the Midsummer's faeries being real) but nah. He's like, "This is my specific brand of magic nonsense. That's what I know about. I don't mess around with any of *that* stuff. I stay in my lane. I stay in my city."

Ty Brennan for teaching me how to pronounce sláinte. This is the first time I'm hearing it out loud.

I love his Puck voice. Like, the little British street urchin voice.

No big surprise, Puck sent the mirror on the order of Oberon and Titania (who are not back together but are knocking boots according to him).

Puck warns Misty, "The world of mortals is not long for this world," and follows it up with a seemingly sincere, "Come home. We miss you," which is an interesting thing to say after announcing that Titania is gunning for her. Who is this we, Puck? Your boss wants to bodyslam her!

Also, what do the faeries know that they're not saying? All of them in the bar seemed to know something was off but none of them said anything and Puck didn't elaborate.

I've always liked the trope of the person from the otherworldly, magical or super advanced being like, "Idk what you're talking about. Humans are great!" because it's the opposite of the snooty elf/vulcan/whatever trope that I really can't stand. Misty showed shades of that in this conversation but I feel like there's still so much that we're missing in her backstory and I wanna know what it is.

(Also, this is prob just me being a little pepe silvia but I would be very unsurprised if Misty got an opportunity to betray the party at some point. Don't @ me. It's just something I could see myself offering to a player for the drama of it all).

Anyway, Kingston is extremely uncomfortable in the bar and makes a hasty exit so let's go to the museum with Pete and Nod.

Ally jumps onto the, "Suggested donations are for suckers" train w/ Siobhan.

Turns out, Pete f'd up Robert up so much that he has kind of a brain link with him. I wonder how long that's gonna last.

Pete gets proficiency in arcana and a choice between lesseing wild magic surges or gaining some control over them (2 wild magic rolls on a fail and ally gets to choose which effect takes place). Obv the second one is more fun rp-wise so that's what Ally picks.

It's a memory museum so OF COURSE he gets a chance to look at the memories of the rest of the party. But it's getting late so he only has a chance to check on one person's memories. He, naturally, picks Kingston. Makes perfect sense from an RP perspective but out of character I feel like Misty is the most closed book of the party.

Pete sees Kingston's life from his childhood to the present (Brennan puts Lou on the spot to do some improv...I mean beyond the improv they're already doing) and it's about what you would expect based on what we know about Kingston but it's very beautifully described (sidenote: did any of y'all ever watch the life and times of juniper lee? where she can't leave the city bc she's like the buffy of that world? I really felt shades of that, except more self imposed).

During that montage, a character is like, "You could make hundreds of millions of dollars--I mean, I'm exaggerating," (s/t like that) and I'm not gonna go back and check but I feel like Brennan (or maybe Lou) made almost exactly the same comment in the first ep of this season in a very similar context.

Oh, also, Kingston gets dubbed Vox Populi by a dragon on Bleecker Street in case you were wondering about logistics.

Again, Nod says that inviting Liz into his life was basically dooming Liz to be stuck dealing with the Unsleeping City but I feel like unless you have a Vox position or something similar you should be able to, like, opt out. So what you need to ignore some weird stuff day to day? May I direct you to my earlier anecdote about the flute dude in the tree. New Yorkers are good at that. And if she moved away, would it even be an issue?

Actually, that raises another question. Is NY the only place where magic is happening? It can't be because Santa is doing his thing at the North Pole. And NY has the Umbral Arcana which shields magic from muggles. Does that mean that elsewhere, magic just isn't hidden? I'm guessing that works because the bulk of magical happenings are happening in NY. Which, again, if so, couldn't Liz just move if she really wanted to? Or is she actually being *kept* there?

Ahhhhh, that argument scene with Kingston and Liz. Ow.

Robert's subconscious is heckling Kingston's memories the entire time.

The party gets back together, Pete immediately lets Kingston know he was memory spying on him and hugs him (while Misty is drunk a singing over him). Their rift literally caused a kind of rift in NYC which is now healed (which causes Sophie to see the Unsleeping City/Dreaming Yin-Yang sign over their heads).

Ricky drinks the 1000 hr energy so start the clock I guess.

Misty, upon hearing that Dale is dead basically does that John Mulaney bit: Hey, do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like [s]he sucks and I will totally kill that guy for you.

It's the day of Priya's art show which I totally forgot was happening. Before that, Sophie finally goes to see her brother and we can return back to that pin I mentioned earlier.

(Also, it’s the 20th which means we’re getting really close to Christmas)

He says that their family got mixed up with the Confettis and they've been helping to launder magical items that Confetti is paying some rep from Hell (an associate of Robert's).

And by, "Some rep from hell," I mean Isabella Infierno specifically.

Emily, hilariously riffs for a while about how small it was of her to call Isabella a succubus even though she clearly knows at this point that Isabella is some kind of demon. I mean...Infierno. Come on.

Sidenote: Which demon actually trying to be subtle would pick the last name Infierno? You wanna blow your cover for the aesthetic that bad?

Emily goes, "Oh my (beat) Nod," which I think is the exact way she dropped the first, "Oh Melora," in one of the first eps of Naddpod.

Anyway, it turns out that Soph's family knew that Isabella was gunning for Dale (he was getting close to realizing something shady was going on) and, while they didn't call the shot, they let it happen.

Oh! He also says Dale was a chosen one from "some monastery" which, of course, fits in with Dale's comment about saying hi to Jackson. Now I'm wondering if his other comment--about there seeming like there's nothing at the top--is about whatever chosen one test he had to take to get the position to begin with. And maybe he was giving a clue to Sophie so that when she takes it, she'll for sure pass and get whatever dope powers or weapons or privileges come with the position.

"The only reason I'm not going to go after you right now is because I'm not organized enough to give you the fucking revenge you deserve." Soph is cold as ice after hearing about what her family did.

"Maybe you should have said that to Isabella before she went after me." Another mic drop line from Emily. This really was her episode. You can really see Emily channeling hr genuine emotional reactions into her character.

La Gran Gata shows up to let Soph know she has her back to hunt down Isabella. The only other warlocks really seen played are Fjord on CritRole and Leiland on Bloodkeep so it's wild to see a character with such a chill relationship with their patron.

So, Priya's art show. They show up (to a distressingly unsafe building from Ricky's perspective) and it turns out, not only is it performance art (the worst kind) Pete *is* the art.

"I present to all of you: cruelty, a exploration of a relationship. Peter, take my hand."

major barf.

Pete goes OFF

Kingston: Picasso is art, this is bullshit!

Siobhan: Her last name is Danger? I hate this bitch.

Pete gets over Priya instantly which totally tracks because, like I said, barf.

Sophie stealing Ricky's thing and rooftop jumping. Zac narrows his eyes when she says that.

I love Isabella's title card. It says, "Literal Succubus". It reminds me of the funniest scene in Bedazzled when the Devil (Liz Hurley) gives Brendan Frasier her business card and it just says, "The Devil".

But she's here and she's here to fight! I'm so excited for this one y'all! Unsafe building. Lots of civilians. Sophie (and Emily) going totally feral. I haven’t looked forward to a fight this much since Adaine went for Aelwen. Let's gooooo!

#asks #dimension 20 #the unsleeping city #d20 #riz-gukgak #this is 5k words #aren't I good at utilizing my free time

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linsh6 · 5 years

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Speculations for GOT S8

Since I’ve expressed some thoughts about Show!Jonrya, maybe I just outright say all my opinions toward GOT and my S8 speculations.

D&D are really dumb writers

Yes, I won't avoid my “despise” on them so I just outright say it. A lot of people think they just hate Arya so much so they reduce her complex character into a one-dimensional badass assassin and ignore her capacity to become a leader (or queen). But in my opinion, they just purely so suck at script writing that everyone in the show is reduced to a one-dimensional character.

I once held a job as a scriptwriter back in my country (not in English though, and then I quit my job and became a free writer), and I know some important principles and points when it comes to scriptwriting. First of all is the characters’ arcs, D&D apparently have sucked at that so I won’t say much, all of you guys can refer to Grrm’s amazing original and will know how complex character development truly is (He’s so talented and I admire him so much). Why, based on Grrm’s brilliant work, D&D still managed to fuck up the characters’ shapings, I don’t know the reason, just like I suspect why they can even earn their job at HBO.

Then is the structure and consistency, I can convince myself that D&D did try their best for the characters but failed, but if the story is not consistent and even contradict itself, it’s deadly. A good scriptwriter (or at least who wants to be) must consider the whole plan from the beginning, otherwise, the story would easily become a total mess.

I believe that D&D do that effort (I believe in their ambition to be remembered and honored as scriptwriters), and we can access that they did plan out some character's development from S1 and talked with Grrm regarding their endings.

So based on that I would build my personal speculations for S8′s plot.

1. Jonerys’ relationship & Daenerys’ ending.

First of all, I am a little up for the Daenerys’ mad queen theory. In S7 Daenerys literally burn people alive because they refused to bend their knee, which includes Sam’s father and brother. Tyrion felt it not good and tried to stop her, but he failed.

That behavior is not a really good sign to me, and every character must hold their fate for what they’ve done, remember some actors did refer that there’s a trail for everyone in the final season? If that’s the case, why Daenerys should escape that final trial? I can tell D&D set this up intentionally because Tyrion as a neutral mirror already contradicted Daenerys at that scene.

And I dont’t see Jonerys will end well, their value and ways of lifestyle are too different, and their union in last season was nothing more than a forced push. They only knew each other for several days! How can we count on their relationship to be a great love story? And honestly I don’t see D&D put any effort in developing Jonerys’ relationship, all of their plots are so obvious and cliche, if they really are the final endgame D&D certainly could come up something better & more touching.

I do think that Jonerys would become enemies in the end. Daenerys has no way back but become a queen to rule the seven kingdoms, otherwise all the efforts along her way to come to now would mean nothing, where there’s no better description than Grrm’s original line “If I look back, I am lost” ( In the books I sympathize for Daenerys, but she’s so flat on the show...)

2. Sansa will die

Honestly, I think Sansa will die halfway both in the show and in the books, she’s not important enough to make it to the finale episode. Actually she’s not even important enough bothering me to talk about, but D&D certainly did show some “fondness” to this character that made us hard to ignore.

Of course, they really “like” her, even to add a rape plot to force her to “grow” and made her first reunite with Jon. But that’s it, they can’t do more. They nearly made her become the top tier characters, but only nearly. Despite of their “fondness” of Sansa, D&D still didn’t make the northern lords fight against Boltons for Sansa like they did for Arya in the books, neither Jon. And D&D shaped her as an ambitious politician who would rather take place of Jon and almost kill her sister, which was verified by the script remark. (And Jonsa is a crackship both in the show and the books, there’s no other way around.)

Sansa still needs to fulfill her final character arc with meeting Cersei at King’s Landing, so her death may happen at episode 4 or 5 I guess.

3. Arya’s role in the battle of dawn

I surely believe Arya will play an important role in the battle of dawn, even decisive, first point is her valyrian dagger, and second is Nymeria.

In Isaac’s interview, he did say bran offers Arya the valyrian dragger because he senses there’s gonna be some importance to it. So maybe we can guess Arya would use this dagger in some vital fighting moment like fighting the Night King.

Then is Nymeria, I know people are all upset about the scene in S7, but it must mean for something, otherwise that would be a total waste of time for showing that Nymeria becomes a queen of a wolf pack (and the money too). Remember Ghost and Nymeria are the only Stark’s direwolf left. I believe Nymeria’s wolf pack would show up in the critical moment during the fighting.

4. Arya’s parallel to Lyanna

I guess that in S8 there may be a scene directly compare Arya to Lyanna. Remember GOT’s team did make some efforts to choose an actress who resembles Maisie to play Lyanna. And Maisie also once said "I remember having a little braid in my hair and the hair and make-up team would be like, you cannot leave with that braid in your hair, we have to take it out. Because people will read into it and find some spoilers with just a braid."

If Arya has a scene with a braid and be referred to Lyanna, then it must have a strong impact to Jon, because all these years he always wondered about his mother, now finally gonna see a live Lyanna 2.0 before his eyes.

5. Jonrya’s relationship development

According to actors’ interviews recently, that would be a fair guess that Jonrya won’t go well at the beginning, like a forthright hug as they do in S1E2. But I don’t view it as a bad thing, on the opposite I believe a real important relationship would need a proper and elaborate-designed development (never like Jonerys’ one), that arc would be more moving and impressing.

If Jon & Arya develop their relationship through the final season, like afraid to face each other at the first but then realize they will still love each other no matter what, then I have every reason to believe Jonrya is the endgame.

And if they do end up romantically (that’s my hope), I guess would be under that stressful circumstance and they still and only have each other (Sansa will die, Bran is emotionless, Jon and Daenerys may turn against each other halfway). Only they would love the other unconditionally, what else does it need for them to go further?

Final word

To close this post, I just want to express my love and respect for the show. Not for D&D of course, they suck at those characters and mess the story after S5. But for Grrm’s brilliant original base and the actors’ amazing performances, including those of Lena, Peter, Carice, Alfie, Aiden & so many other great ones, and finally my beloved Maisie (Not including Kit and Emilia, especially Emilia, they’re lovely though).

In my view, GOT is one of the greatest show in the world (thanks to Grrm’s original work of course not D&D’s), and I may rewatch and appreciate it every now and then for my later years.

D&D did a rather good job at least for the first 4 seasons, if they really make an “unexpected” ending as every actor put it and want to impress the audience & to be remembered well, I do hope they could end it well, just like what they did with the beginning.

If that so, I may still not forgive what they did in S5 but would not hate them anymore probably😊.

#jonrya #jon x arya #got8 #got #arya stark

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spiderman-spoilerman · 5 years

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I. Am. Spider-Man.

AO3: lisa_yo

Summary:

“What exactly do you see here?”

It is a calculated question. Jim Morita, Principal of Midtown Science and Tech High, is more than capable of answering. But he let his mind wander for a bit.

He sees his students, five years gone in a flash. All dark clouds, and bad grades, and empty smiles.

And when Jim Morita looked into the eyes of that one student, the one who seems the most harrowed by it, that kid, Peter Parker, he couldn’t just stand by anymore.

He knew he had to do something.

Or, Peter’s school goes not only on a field trip but also on a two-day camping trip to the Stark Tower and Avenger’s Compound upstate, a year after the events of Endgame.

And Peter, well, Peter doesn’t want to go.

Notes:

Warning: lots of angst, dashes, italics

The trope has been done a gazillion times and I have read twice of it, but I decided that I will also write my own version, especially after getting so angsty after Endgame.

SO, please enjoy and talk to me after! Please?

(This is a repost from AO3. You can read it there and drop a comment :D)

Chapter 1: Peter doesn't want to go

“I know you can see it. If you listen hard enough, you’ll hear it, too. But you’re not even trying. I’m sorry for having to ask this of you. But it’s been a year. And I’ve done everything I could. Nothing’s working.”

Silence.

“I don’t beg Pepper. I don’t, not usually. But. I’m teetering on the edge of desperation here, and I know you can help.”

The silence stretches out.

And then.

“No, Jim. I want to, really, but, I just can’t, not now. It’s too soon.”

“Look at this—that’s our school’s academic decathlon. They won Nationals in DC, before the snap, and they didn’t even have their chem kid there. And when I visited their session today, they were worn out in a way that I’ve only seen in the eyes of my troops. In the military.”

There is a loaded look. It is heavy, but Pepper seems to be carrying something much heavier, so she doesn’t falter.

A lock of strawberry-blonde hair falls to her face.

She doesn’t move it.

“I asked Harrington. He said they were more alive, then. They joked about, laughed. They were kids, then. But after the snap, it was all just different. These students are one of the brightest in America. But even their grades and performance leave a lot to be desired. They’re failing, Pepper, they’re falling through. And it’s not just them. Robotics, Mathletes, Vanguard—they’re all stuck.”

There is a certain croak to his voice that doesn’t have to do with talking for hours, trying to convince the immovable Pepper Stark-Potts. It comes from something deeper. Like a year-long clawing, searching, and failing to find a solution. Until now.

“And I’ve been doing everything that I can to bring them back. But everywhere I go, it always leads me here.”

This time, Pepper speaks.

“What exactly do you see here?”

It is a calculated question.

Jim Morita, Principal of Midtown Science and Tech High, is more than capable of answering. But he let his mind wander for a bit, the long table stretching out even further, bringing him to the place he’s been calling home for a few years now.

There, he sees his students, five years gone in a flash. He sees the dark clouds that fly over their heads. He sees their grades and their papers, and he doesn’t see the usual excellence, the usual exuberance, the usual love for learning.

He thinks, after talking to the guidance counselor, that they are using their studies as a distraction for the five years that went and gone.

Or, they’re not studying at all, because whatever happened in those five years had been a big enough toll on their young minds to take.

And when Jim Morita looked into the eyes of that one student, the one who seems the most harrowed by it, that kid, Peter Parker, he couldn’t just stand by anymore.

He knew he had to do something.

“I see the future here,” he starts.

Pepper raises her eyebrows, in a you can do better than that look¸ and he agrees, so he ploughs on.

“I see the foundations of something bright here, something that could speak to my students in a way that an aging man in a suit cannot. I see that this is the best possible place that my students could gain something essential, something life changing. This is the place of Ton—Iron Man— after all,” Pepper’s eyes quiver, but she holds her head high, “and there is no better place to learn about life once again than the castle of the man who gave his life for it.”

“Really, Jim?”

She is tired. More so than he has ever seen. Perhaps, it is because they are friends that she lets him see a fraction of her heart. This is all he needs, because at least he knows Pepper is strong enough to show him that she does, indeed, still have a heart.

That it didn’t die along with—

Jim gives her a rueful smile. He did take public speaking before, and he wasn’t a general in the military for nothing.

But when he begs, and he usually doesn’t, he tries to cover it up with beautiful words. As compensation.

It doesn’t work here. And so, with the look of a man as tired as she, he rasps:

“Could you at least—please, consider it?”

There has been a rumor circulating around Midtown Science and Tech High that involves their Principal Jim Morita coming to school from a visit at the Stark Tower upstate, looking very pleased.

It is an understatement though, to call him that. Because Principal Jim Morita wasn’t just pleased¸ he was chipper¸ elated, ecstatic, hell he was skipping down the hallway towards the principal’s office while singing Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen—(Abe swears in his life that was what he saw, but the others won’t believe him until he got Ned to hack the school cameras and show the disbelieving students—Michelle—that he was, indeed, skipping.)

The teachers all know something as well. Seymour saw the teachers all huddled together, speaking in hushed tones, and then proceeding to casually scramble when he burst into the teacher’s lounge.

It has been going on for a month now. The excitement and speculation over the whole thing bringing a sort of lightness around the dreary setting.

Peter has been ignoring most of the talk, blocking out everything at the very mention of Sta—. But you could only get so far when, everywhere he goes, he is looking at him.

It’s been almost a year now, since The Awakening.

The whole world took a collective break from school, all adjusting as best as they could—the government, the system, the positions left behind and attempting to be reclaimed.

It had been messy. That’s why it took a while until Midtown High opened its gates again for the students that have just Awoken.

They all tried to be the same old students, same old kids, but when you look back across the room to share an inside joke, and find your best friend’s seat empty, because, right, right, he’s in college now, it forces you to reevaluate about the whole life thing and smacks you head first about what could have happened if Tony Stark didn’t sacrifice his life for the world.

But that’s what he heard from the sobbing kid in lunch earlier.

It’s quite hard not to hear it when you’ve got enhanced hearing.

Sometimes, Peter wishes he didn’t have this—everything Spider-Man, the internship, Tony—

Ned nudges him in his side. Peter turns to him. Ned smiles.

For now, everything is quieter. Everything is alright.

A pause.

Pepper closes her eyes.

A breath.

Her eyebrow furrow, and then relaxes.

A sigh.

He doesn’t know what this means, but Pepper is looking at him now and he knows he should listen.

“Alright.”

Principal Morita blinks.

“Is this—really?”

Not his most eloquent, but whatever.

“Yes, Jim. I’ll help you.”

In a beat, he collects himself and smiles, “Thank you, Pepper.”

Pepper returns his smile and tilts her head forward as a silent ‘you’re welcome’.

There is a gentle fire in Pepper’s eyes, a smoldering flame, not unlike a fireplace during winter, when the guests have left and the children are asleep, and there is only the two of them, Pepper and Anthony, on the couch, talking, and Jim knows he should not be thinking this, but he sees Tony in Pepper’s eyes, and he sees love—a love for life that is so monumental that he gave his, in exchange for half the world.

It could be said, then, that Anthony Edward Stark is worth half the population on Earth. And that’s if you haven’t met him. If you did, you might say, more than half of Earth, or the Universe—he’s worth infinity— Jim knows, because he’s been in that conversation before and he doesn’t want to delve into it again.

And he should really be starting now, the presentation, the plans, but he thinks of Tony and his shocked thank you suddenly isn’t enough.

Jim starts— “Really, truly, Pepper, this, everything, thank you.”

Pepper’s face flickers for a split second, but she recovers immediately, “You, as well, Jim. Give yourself some credit.”

And then comes in the child.

She ambles towards her mother, all pretty dress and blue Iron Man helmet on her head.

Morgan Stark.

Pepper turns toward her daughter, hands outstretched as the five-year-old hugged her, “Morgan, honey, did you run away from Judy again?”

Pepper presses a button, revealing the child’s pouting face.

“Yeah… she’s boring. And I wanted to play with this,” she taps her helmet, “but she said I can’t, so, I hid!”

“Alright,” Jim watches as Pepper laughs genuinely for the first time since he came, “Better run and hide somewhere else, she’ll find you here!”

Morgan squeals and scampers off, the two adults watching as she does so.

“She’s…”

“Yes. She is,” Pepper agrees, love in her eyes, “And she’s as amazing as he.”

It comes out of nowhere.

Well.

No.

That’s not right.

They’ve been waiting, listening, watching, for the teachers to spill. What is this secret that’s gotten everyone so busy?

Club presidents are called over one afternoon, and when they come back to a barrage of questions, they reply with secret smiles.

The robotics club offers a parcel of information, that their president told them to prepare their best drones and gadgets, and to hone their presentation skills.

The Vanguard’s Betty Brant, Editor-in-chief, calls in a meeting, informing them of a big event where they are all to attend, because it is going to be the biggest scoop of the year, and that they should recruit more photojournalists.

Student leaders—from sports captains to mathletes—are always out of class, bustling around, talking in their quiet circle. And everyone wants to know why.

There is a buzzing in the hallway, a deep contrast to the hollow silence and the silent murmurs that always pervaded before. Peter feels it. The undercurrent of energy, a breath of life, they’re laughing.

Peter lets out an easy smile after that. He tries to forget, for that second, the burden of Spider-Man.

And he succeeds, for a few gracious moments.

Until.

Flash bumps past him. He sneers.

“Watch it, Penis.”

There is a heat to it that was never quite there before, a sort of resentment that speaks of a deeper wound.

Flash here, Eugene, he lost his father. In the bus one second, woke up in the streets the next and then goes home to an urn and a sobbing mother.

Both Flash and his mother had been turned to dust. His father stayed. Until he couldn’t take it anymore and shot himself in the head. Flash’s uncle manages their business. Technically, Flash owns everything now. At the cost of losing his father.

And that’s something Peter understands.

“Flash,” Peter calls out, his voice failing him halfway—

What was he gonna say? That he was sorry? Bullshit. Flash doesn’t need an apology; he needs his father.

And right now, even though it hurts, when Flash mentions his internship and Mr.— and his ‘lies’, he takes it. Because he can take it. Because he has to take it or both of them will break, and it is better for only one of them to crack—Peter is prepared to be that one, plus, he deserves it—

“What, Penis? Here to clear up the internship? Heard that’s what the fuss is all about. You’re probably scared now, huh? Shaking in your boots, trying to stand up to the only one brave enough to call your bullshit.”

Peter stands and takes it all.

“What could you ever possibly say about that to make me, or, or anyone, believe that a fraction of that is true? Even if you try now, Tony Stark is dead, no one will believe—”

Peter does not hear the rest of it because he has already turned and walked away before Flash could even finish his name.

They’re in Chemistry when it happens.

The sound system cackles to life.

Their teacher stops talking midway.

Everybody knew there was going to be an announcement one day, but they didn’t know it was going to be through this.

So much speculation, and with such an anti-climactic reveal?

Or so they thought.

It is Principal Morita that speaks through the system, his voice echoes, “You can clear them now.”

Their Chemistry teacher, Ms. Warren, bolts to life.

She is giddy and breathless when she starts—a wild excitement barely held back in her eyes—

Everyone is on the edge of their seats.

If they can make even Ms. Warren like this, then it must be something.

“Okay, class, I know you have been waiting for this for a long time, but now is the time that we finally tell you.” She looks around the class with a smile that stretches to its full capacity, an undeniable exhilaration ripples through her body. “Through the efforts of countless teachers and student leaders, and of course, primarily Principal Morita, who was able to get us the deal, it is my pride and enthusiasm to announce, that—”

A room burst into cheers and screams and someone is definitely crying—

Everyone stops breathing.

“—Midtown Science and Tech High School will be visiting the one and only Stark Industries—”

Everyone is screaming.

“—which has relocated upstate, so that means, we will also be going to the Avenger’s Compound—”

It is like a stadium in the classroom—

The students are stomping their foot and banging their table, but Ms. Warren isn’t finished, oh, she was just getting to the good part.

“But that’s not all! Of course, that’s not all!” Ms. Warren’s grin is as wide as it can get, enjoying the student’s reactions, “Pepper Stark-Potts, the CEO of Stark Industries, also just approved our plan for a two-day camping trip there—”

If the screams before were close enough to rupture Peter’s sensitive ears, then this could probably do it in completely.

The students are all standing up, hugging each other, crying—

If this was before the snap, the reaction could have been milder. Really. But because this is the first exciting thing that happened to them after everything, it wasn’t much of a surprise that they would be shrieking in earnest.

They also know that ever since the Awakening, the Stark Industries has been closed off from the public, recovering whatever it can from the ruins of the war.

Pepper singlehandedly raised the company and Avenger’s Compound together, taking on her original role and her husband’s responsibilities on her own. Although, there was talk of an apprentice but no one was really able to prove it, given the privacy.

So, they know, that whatever is happening right now, that it’s special and they’re the only ones who are going to experience this, and witness a phoenix rise from the ashes, the rebirth of a fallen tower, from the ashes of a fallen man.

Peter blinks, hard.

MJ rests her knee on his, sitting on his left, as Ned leans toward Peter’s shoulder.

Ms. Warren isn’t finished yet.

“I will be discussing the plan with you, until next period, so there won’t be the next period, but! But, I need you all to settle down, yes, sit right down Ms. Moon, you too Ms. Avril.”

As the last students sit down, with the spontaneous cheers from across classrooms echoing in their sentiments, Ms. Warren continues on.

“As I said, this will be a two-day trip. During the first day…”

Pepper listens intently, nodding along as Jim highlights plans and reasonings.

“…during the first day, it would be best to start with the tour in the Stark Tower. It would be the perfect jump-off point for the next day. Which is the mini-Midtown high festival. But before that, a little bonfire by the lake accompanied by music will be good for letting off steam. Plus, it’s the perfect bonding experience for the students—to cool off and be kids again.”

Pepper hums.

Everyone is looking at each other. Friends vibrating in synchrony and barely contained energy.

Ned shares a look of worry with MJ, above Peter’s head, who is slumped in his chair with his hands covering his face.

“…we will be staying in the Avenger’s Compound, where it is big enough to house us all. Bring your sleeping bags, because we will be staying there during the night. Yes, in the compound, on the floor, they’ll be clearing up two floors for us, yes, it’s that big—

“Now, the second day is the most important one. You could even say; it is the highlight of the whole trip. It will be a very busy day, indeed. Because, that is when we will conduct the mini-festival—where all creators of all fields from the school will be given the chance to present their works, the theme: life.”

At this, Peter looks up.

“And the thing that also makes this so special is, Principal Morita and Pepper Stark-Potts had agreed on making this an official event, a tribute for the hero, Tony Stark—”

Ned scampers toward Peter, who is already out of the door, his chair scraping and falling on the floor with a loud THWACK!

There is a collective silence at the suddenness of the movement.

MJ sighs, “He’s sick Ms. Warren. Leeds is already on it, so if it’s alright…”

Ms. Warner simply nods and then continues on.

“And now, on to your behavior during the trip…”

Peter doesn’t want to go.

Not so soon.

Not… not for a tribute, because that would mean he’s—

(He’s dead Peter, he’s never coming back, he’s—)

Peter is doubling over the sink, he can’t breathe, but he doesn’t think he should, because if he does, he’ll do something worse—he’ll cry—

(There is a certain wetness in his cheeks, trailing down from his eyes and to his lips—it is salty, but he doesn’t think it is what it is—he’s not, he’s not crying—)

Ned bursts into the men’s room, catching his breath and honing in on his shaking, breaking brother.

Peter notices him in a dull, peripheral way. Somehow, the water is running and if he could, he would drown himself in the sink water, but since he couldn’t, he just drowns in his tears instead.

Ned is by his side now, rubbing circle on his back, and he seems to be talking, he could make out some words, but not enough to understand what he means by it.

He doesn’t want to go, he doesn’t, hedoesnthedoesnthedoesnt—

“I know, Peter. And nobody’s making you. You don’t have to go.”

Did he say that out loud?

(Yes, yes, he did. That’s all he’s been saying since he ran out of the classroom. And Ned understands.)

Later, when the bell rings for third period, and Peter and Ned are sprawled on the bathroom floor, with the latter rubbing circles on his shaking friend’s back, Ned tells him that he doesn’t want to go, as well, and that he would join him wherever he wants to go, because that’s what best friends do.

They stick with you till the end of the line.

“The students are all going to love it here, Pepper,” Jim says, picking up his folder as Pepper stands.

“Well of course. You’ve thought and you’ve fought this out for them after all.” She looks down, “And, I think this is really good of you, Jim. For caring as much as you do.”

Jim stares back at her. He smiles softly.

“Yeah, well, when you’ve seen the best in a person and you’re seeing them at their worst, you would want to bring them back up. Only, multiply it to a hundred for me.”

Pepper returns his smile. He is right. In every way that matters, no matter how much it hurt her, he is right.

Please reblog or comment or heart or whatever! Thank you!

#spider-man far from home #avengers endgame #spider-man #peter parker #mcu #tony stark #michelle jones #ned leeds #steve rogers #i.am.spider-man chapter 1 #pepper potts #may parker #flash thompson

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buckybarnesbingo · 5 years

Photo

Week 2 Roundup! We have some fantastic stuff from all our participants, so keep reading to see it all!

Title: Cross Stitch Cutie Bucky Collaborator: rebelmeg Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C3 - free square Ship: non Rating: Gen Major Tags: cross stitch, crafts Summary: Bucky wearing his Wakanda battle uniform.

Title: The Sum of His Fears Collaborator: lokivsanubis Link: AO3 Square Filled: C1 - nightmares Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Major Character Death, Evil Steve Rogers, Evil Tony Stark, Angst, Nightmares of Torture Summary: Very few things filled Bucky’s heart with dread and paralyzed him with fear. But this… this did… Word Count: 2280

Title: All Will Be Well Collaborator: littlemarvelfics Link: AO3 Square Filled: B2 - AU: cop/detective/FBI Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Gen Major Tags: pregnancy, reader insert, domestic fluff Summary: Cop Bucky has a hard shift and you try to help him. Word Count: 1207

Title: I can feel the sinkin’ (But then I came around) Collaborator: bitterfloof Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y3 - accidental marriage Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Teen Major Tags: no powers AU, getting together, fluff and humor Summary: He downloaded the next photo … and the next … and the next. And with each one, the situation became more and more clear. Letting his phone drop onto the mattress, he paused for a few moments. The last photo still shining up at him - Clint and him, standing hand in hand laughing evidently, at the altar of some random crappy chapel. Bucky looked the to the sleeping form of Clint - he had married Clint Barton. Word Count: 3254

Title: Desk Collaborator: shieldagent-78 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U2 - WinterHawk Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Teen Major Tags: fluff Summary: A training accident holds you up but not for long. Bucky is not pleased with you pushing yourself. Word Count: 531

Title: Count On Me Like One, Two, Three Collaborator: EvensDramaticShenanigans Link: AO3 Square Filled: U2 - schmoop Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: college AU, broken bones Summary: “I also need to get one of those scooter things,” Bucky adds. “That’s gotta be better than these damn crutches.” Steve’s eyes drop down to the crutches again, and he frowns. “Crutches are never comfortable,” he agrees, shaking his head. “You want a piggyback ride?” He asks, grinning as he laughs at his own joke. Bucky ducks his head and laughs along, a good-natured smile settling over his lips. “Yeah, that would be real nice, wouldn’t it?” He says, not thinking anything of it.When he looks back up, however, Steve’s already in the process of shrugging his backpack off of his shoulders. The smile melts off of Bucky’s face and his brows furrow together. Was that… a serious offer? Word Count: 4235

Title: A Heart Beats at Midnight, Chapter 3 Collaborator: Trashcanakin Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y1 - warm and fuzzy feelings Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: fluff and humor, Tony POV, post CA:CW Summary: Bucky & Tony have a well needed chat. It’s an emotional rollercoaster! Word Count: 5045

Title: Dirty Mouth Collaborator: AvengersCompound (emilyevanston) Link: AO3 Square Filled: U1 - KINK: please let me come Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content Summary: When Bucky makes a comment about your dirty mouth, you show him just how dirty your mouth can be. Word Count: 1589

Title: call the minions (fire up the lab) Collaborator: calmena Link: AO3 Square Filled: B1 - Protectiveness Ship: WinterIron Rating: Mature Major Tags: preslash Summary: When Reed Richards turns down Tony’s help with Dr. Doom, Tony knows what the next step has to be: he needs his own personal supervillain. And who else should respond to his request but the Winter Soldier, who cannot watch a dumbass risk his life without trying to interfere? Word Count: 1536

Title: it’s no secret, everyone knows Collaborator: Daecyan_Shikoba Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y1 - secret relationship Ship: BuckyNat Rating: Teen Major Tags: background Stony Summary: it’s only a secret because they’re oblivious. Word Count: 1292

Title: The Winter Senior Collaborator: Blondie_Bluue (LuvMeAlwayz)Summary: Link: AO3 Square Filled: C4 - Get Off My Lawn Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: old man Bucky Summary: These kids just wont stay off Bucky’s lawn Word Count: 617

Title: Wake Up Collaborator: candycanedarcy Link: AO3 Square Filled: C5 - Coma Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: pre-relationship, protectiveness, angst with a happy ending Summary: Clint tells Bucky he loves him and promptly falls into a coma. A+ avoidance skills there, Clint. Word Count: 1761

Title: Torn By What We’ve Done And Can’t Undo Collaborator: Politzania Link: AO3 Square Filled: B4 - Regrets Ship: none Rating: Teen Major Tags: Civil War fix-it, not really character death Summary: Bucky Barnes is living a quiet life in Bucharest when his world is turned upside down twice within twenty-four hours. Now nearly four thousand miles from home, he is called to face his past, pay a debt, and begin again. Word Count: 1874

Title: Friday Night Collaborator: candycanedarcy Link: AO3 Square Filled: K3 - Bed Sharing Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: pre-relationship, drunk Clint, recovering Bucky Summary: Drunk Clint Barton is different than Sober Clint Barton, and Sober Clint Barton pretending to be Drunk Clint Barton is different from them both. Bucky’s pretty sure he feels the same about all of them anyway. Word Count: 3712

Title: The Ballad of Many Legs Collaborator: Judy_The_Dreamer Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y5 - Bucky/Nat Ship: BuckyNat Rating: Explicit Major Tags: meet-cute, faerie AU, shifter AU, explicit sexual content Summary: Deprived of believers by the modern world, Steve Rogers is perhaps the most lacklustre earth faerie prince you’ll ever meet. Good thing he’s a man with a plan. Unfortunately for Steve, he hasn’t quite figured out that the people he’s charming aren’t exactly human in every sense of the word. Life can get lonely when your best friend is oblivious to the supernatural side of your life, so Bucky Barnes is in dire need of some feels. And guess who shows up to give them to him? Word Count: 3711

Title: Magic Spell Collaborator: lokivsanubis Link: AO3 Square Filled: B3 - Winteriron Family Ship: WinterIron Rating: Teen Major Tags: Hidden Relationship, Superior/Subordinate relationship, Angst with a happy ending potential Summary: Stephen sighed sitting beside Peter out on the patio while Bucky and Tony had a rather intense conversation behind the glass doors in the kitchen. The ex-neurosurgeon wasn’t a child psychologist but it didn’t take one of his four Ph.Ds to understand it wasn’t good for the small boy to see the two fighting. “Peter, I’m going to place a magic spell on your family, okay? It will protect them from harm but only if you promise me one thing.” He said taking the boy’s attention off the scene taking place before them. Or Tony’s parents are coming to town and Bucky has to move out during their visit. Word Count: 1019

Title: Can’t Be Blamed Collaborator: candycanedarcy Link: AO3 Square Filled: B3 - KINK: Phone Sex Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, light D/s Summary: Bucky misses Clint when Clint’s on a mission. So he takes the situation into his own hands. Literally. Word Count: 1332

Title: fine, i’ll write a flower shop au Collaborator: 1000_directions Link: AO3 Square Filled: U3 - AU: flower shop Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Explicit Major Tags: explicit sexual content, semi-public sex Summary: Undercover missions were easier before Clint had a boyfriend to miss. Word Count: 3312

Title: Super Man Flu Collaborator: until-theend-oftheline Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U5 - marriage Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Gen Major Tags: mentions of injuries, fluff Word Count: 1600ish

Title: A Perfect Size Collaborator: HeyBoy Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y4 - Height Difference Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: art

Title: Midsummer Afternoon Collaborator: SierraNovembr Link: AO3 Square Filled: B3 - Tony Stark/Iron Man Ship: WinterIron Rating: Mature Major Tags: Masturbation, Voyeurism, Skinny Dipping, Secret Relationship, Minor Injury Summary: Tony came slowly awake. The sound of the water and smell of honeysuckle swirling around him nearly tugged him back to his pleasant doze. There was a rustling below him in the small clearing, and a distinct humming that Tony would recognize half-dead. He leaned over the branch, staying well within the shady cover of the leaves, to spy the culprit. Word Count: 2977

#buckybarnesbingo2019 #bbb2019 #weekly roundup #week 2 roundup #week 2

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pamphletstoinspire · 5 years

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Readings for Pentecost Sunday

This post picks up from themes discussed in the previous post on the Readings for the Vigil of Pentecost.

For Pentecost Sunday, Mass during the Day, the First Reading is, finally, the account of Pentecost itself, from Acts 2:1-11:

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together. And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were. Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven staying in Jerusalem. At this sound, they gathered in a large crowd, but they were confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded, and in amazement they asked, “Are not all these people who are speaking Galileans?

Then how does each of us hear them in his native language? We are Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, inhabitants of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya near Cyrene, as well as travelers from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism, Cretans and Arabs, yet we hear them speaking in our own tongues of the mighty acts of God.”

We have already remarked (in the post on the Vigil readings) on the intimate relationship between this event and Babel (Pentecost is the Un-Babel) and Sinai (Sinai is the giving of the Old Law for the Old Covenant; Pentecost is the giving of the New Law of the New Covenant).

It is important to note that the congregation gathered around the apostles comes not only from a wide variety of nations of the earth, but also consists of “Jews and converts to Judaism.” In other words, there are both ethnic Jews and ethnic Gentiles here: those who hear the apostles are truly a representative cross-section of humanity.

It is unfortunate, though understandable, that the rest of Acts 2 is not read for this Mass. A reading of the rest of the chapter should be obligatory for every homilist or teacher and would allow the following points to be made:

(1) the close association of the giving of the Spirit with the ministry of Peter, the spokesman to and for the Body of Christ. One of the goals of the Church is the reunification of the human family. Denominationalism and nationalism among non-Catholic Christians defeats this goal. Like him or not, the successor of Peter remains the central figure of world Christianity. All Catholics are united in their fidelity to him, and the only thing that unites all non-Catholics is their opposition to him. Thus he is the great unifier. See this article by Protestant theologian Stephen Long.

(2) The close association of the giving of the Spirit with baptism, and by extension the sacramental ministry of the Church: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).

(3) The correlation of the worship of the early Church and Mass: “And they devoted themselves to (a) the apostles’ teaching and (b) fellowship, to the (c) breaking of bread and the (d) prayers (Acts 2:42).” This is a perennial description of the life of the Church. We see all these same elements in the Mass, respectively, in (a) the readings and homily, the (b) passing of the peace, (c) the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and (d) the Collect and the Eucharistic Prayer. St. Luke records the life of the early Church in such a way that we can recognize our continuity with them, because we are the same Body extended in time.

The Responsorial Psalm is the same as that for the Vigil. See my comments on the vigil below.

The Second Reading is 1 Cor 12:3-13:

Brothers and sisters:

No one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; there are different forms of service but the same Lord; there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free persons, and we were all given to drink of one Spirit.

This passage raises several interesting points. St. Paul says, “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

What does it mean to say “Jesus is Lord?” Remember that Jews like Paul did not pronounce the divine name (YHWH) but substituted adonai in Hebrew and kurios, “Lord,” in Greek. The fullest sense of proclaiming “Jesus is Lord” is to identify him with the God of Israel who revealed himself to Moses.

Further, Paul’s statement that “No one can say Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit,” reminds us that Pentecost, while a extraordinary event, is not the first bestowal of the Spirit on mankind. The Spirit has been active since Creation. Particularly, a careful reading of the infancy narratives of Luke 1-2, to mention just one example, shows how active the Spirit was even before the earthly ministry of Christ. St. Paul’s statement implies that the Spirit was already active upon certain individuals who confessed Jesus as Lord in the Gospel narratives (e.g. Matt 15:22, John 20:18,28). Pentecost is the coming of the Spirit as “power from on high” (cf. Luke 24:49), but by no means is it the debut of the Holy Spirit in salvation history!

St. Paul goes on in this reading to discuss different spiritual gifts, stressing that “to each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit.” How often that truth is ignored in parish life! We still tend to operate with a “passive” view of the Catholic laity, the view that the laity’s role is to show up to receive the sacraments while the work of the Church is carried out by clergy and religious. Yet the Scripture insists that gifts of the Spirit are given to each, for the purpose of building up the whole body. Yet the typical parish offers little or no guidance for the typical lay person to identify his or her giftedness, and develop it within parish life. Here is a program that offers some suggestions.

The other option for Year C in the Second Reading is Romans 8:8-17:

Brothers and sisters:

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit that dwells in you. Consequently, brothers and sisters, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a Spirit of adoption, through whom we cry, “Abba, Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

This Reading allows the homilist the opportunity to speak about what St. Paul truly taught about the path of salvation, in contrast to what Protestants have traditionally said about St. Paul.

As a Protestant pastor/evangelist, I used to visit homes and give “Gospel presentations” where I taught “salvation by faith alone” based on the “Roman Road,” a collection of verses from Romans arranged in such a way as to imply a sola fide path to heaven. But St. Paul does not teach salvation by faith alone! Nor does he teach that we “earn” our way to heaven!

St. Paul clearly denies that we can simply “believe in Jesus” and then be saved, no matter how we live. He says above, “If you live according to the flesh, you will die!” By this he means spiritual death! To continue to live in sin will result in eternal separation from God, even if you “believe in Jesus”!

Rather, the Christian life is a process of “putting to death the deeds of the body” (i.e. sin) “by the Spirit” so that we may “live.”

How is this not “works righteousness” or “earning our way to heaven”?

Because it is empowered by the Holy Spirit! St. Paul teaches that we receive the Holy Spirit from God through faith and baptism. Thereafter, the Spirit truly works in our lives, changing our thoughts, feelings, and actions, so that we truly follow God’s Law (summarized as love of God and love of neighbor) and become acceptable in his sight. There is no salvation apart from the transformation of our thoughts, feelings, and actions — who we are — by the Holy Spirit! There are no shortcuts or loopholes!

This transformation is not always pleasant, because it means the killing off of some of our desires, many of which are sinful and unhealthy. Moreover, as we grow in holiness, the world around us doesn’t always appreciate it, and often responds with hostility. Therefore we must “suffer with him, so that we may be glorified with him”! That final verse of this Reading also contradicts any notion of “salvation by faith alone” understood as easy-believism!

The Gospel Reading is John 20:19-23, which is John’s record of the initial bestowal of the Spirit on the Apostles:

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,and whose sins you retain are retained.””

Sometimes this is called the “Johannine Pentecost,” but it would be incorrect to pit these two events against one another, as if John was of the opinion that the Spirit was given at one time, and Luke of the opinion that it was dispensed at another. In the Christian life, there are certainly definitive giftings of the Spirit (for example, in Baptism and Confirmation, and even in every worthy reception of the Eucharist), but the Spirit comes to us continually, not just once.

In fact, Luke does record the same event we find detailed in today’s Gospel Reading, although the fact is frequently missed. In Luke 24:49 Jesus says, “Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.” The Greek is present tense: Jesus is giving the Spirit as he speaks, which is the event recorded in John 20. The rest of Luke 24:49 says, “But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from high.” So Pentecost is not the first time the Apostles receive the Spirit. Rather, it is a special dispensation, it is a “clothing with power from on high.” We should understand it as an extraordinary empowerment with authority, gifts and charisms that they will need for their apostolic ministry. As the Second Reading emphasized, there are many gifts and forms of ministry inspired by the same Spirit.

Finally, the Gospel Reading emphasizes the coordination of the ministry of the Spirit with the Apostles. John makes the same point as Luke, a point we have remarked on in previous posts. Highlighted here is the essence of what we know as the Sacrament of Reconciliation: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, whose sins you retain are retained.” This emphasizes the purpose for which the Spirit is given: that our sins may be forgiven.

Calvin struggled with this verse and ended up arguing that the “forgiveness of sins” referred to the apostles’ preaching. Through preaching sins were forgiven or retained. One can see that interpretation is certainly not the obvious meaning of the text. Perhaps if the entire Church had always understood the verse that way, one could accept it as its meaning. But of course, the Church hasn’t understood it in Calvin’s sense. Like many other passages of Scripture, this was one in which Calvin could not actually live by the principle of “sola scriptura.” When talking with other Christians, Catholics should remember that it is most certainly not a question of “them” (Protestants) taking the Bible “literally,” and “us” taking the Bible “figuratively.” The differences between Catholics and other Christians revolve around which passages are to be taken one way or the other, literally or figuratively.

As a Protestant pastor I never even noticed John 20:23. Now, I love this verse as an assurance that those vested with the leadership of the Church have been granted by Jesus himself the authority to remit sins. I’m not left to battle with my own subjective judgments on my own behavior, which are invariably self-justifying and biased, but I can state reality before the man on whom hands have been laid, and objectively, tangibly hear the voice of the Spirit: “I absolve you …”

Just as in the first reading, the Gospel reading from John 20 emphasizes the connection of the Spirit with the Apostolic ministry, and by extension, the ministry of those in apostolic succession. There is not a “hierarchical” Church and a “charismatic” Church—there is one Church, and the Spirit moves through her officers. Of course, when her officers resist the Holy Spirit, or don’t manifest the “fruit,” it is a sore trial of faith for the rest of the body, but the answer then is prayer and fasting (Matt 17:21), not schism.

The alternative Gospel for Year C is John 14:15-26:

Jesus said to his disciples: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always.

“Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him. Those who do not love me do not keep my words; yet the word you hear is not mine but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you. The Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.”

In this passage, part of the Last Supper Discourse (John 13-17), Jesus stresses the connection between love and obedience.

Liberal Christianity loves to talk about the “love of God,” but rarely about obedience to his word. Love of God without obedience is a false love. It’s empty of any content. It means, “I have vague affection in my heart for God, whoever he or she is, however I imagine him-her-it to be, but I have no specific commitment to him.”

How do we tell when I person is “filled with the Spirit”? In some groups I have associated with, being “filled with the Spirit” was identified with raising hands in worship and speaking in tongues. Those are good things in themselves, but this passage from John points to a different sign of the Spirit: “keeping the word” of Jesus. Does a person’s life exemplify “keeping Jesus’ word”? If so, it is a good sign that the “Father and Son” have come to dwell with that person.

The last verses of this Gospel promise that gift of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit that will “teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Some Christians take this verse as almost a promise of individual infallibility to every believer who will pray for guidance before reading the Bible. The Spirit does guide individual believers, for sure, but let’s remember that the addressees of this promise are, in fact, the Apostles assembled with Peter. We call this the “Apostolic college,” which is still with us, and takes visible shape when the successors of the Apostles gather with the successor of Peter (in a Synod or Council). So gathered, they represent the universal (in Greek, katholikos) Church. And it is to the universal (catholic) Church that Jesus gives this incredible promise that the Spirit will “teach you everything and remind you of all that I told you.” Thus, in the decisions of the Church’s councils as well as in the teachings of the saints through the ages, who have been recognized for holiness by the whole Church, we have rich testimony to the Spirit’s teaching through the ages. In fact, the Catechism is a great condensation of the Spirit’s voice to the Church, “teaching and reminding,” through history to our present day.

From: www.pamphletstoinspire.com

#pentecost sunday

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mcrmadness · 5 years

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DIE ÄRZTE @ Warsaw, Poland on 16.5.2019 (text/photo post)

I was there. It was my first DÄ concert. A crazy Finn who traveled all the way to Poland from Finland to see a German band live. I regret nothing! :D I’ve been a fan of this band since April 2009 so this was also basically a 10-years anniversary for me. Beware, this is gonna be a long post.

It’s crazy what just one band can make a person to do. I’m nearly 28 years old and I had never ever been to a plane before. I was convinced for years that the first plane I step into, will crash down. Well, I was to 4 different planes in 5 days and none of them crashed down. Before I had also been only to Sweden once and Estonia once, and now I can also add Poland to the list, and Latvia because of the Riga airport. The flights were terrifying, the first one was so terrifying I was worried how I’ll get anywhere from Riga as I no way can go into another plane ever again. But I still did, because we needed to get to Poland. And I’m glad I did, cos the second flight was not so bad and the two flights back home were even less bad. I’m still not a fan of planes or flying, but I guess I’ll be able to do that again if needed.

I didn’t really see the city, even tho we went there on Tuesday and left on Saturday, we still didn’t get to the city. But it didn’t and still doesn’t bother me, because my main thing WAS Die Ärzte and all my focus went on that. The weather was awful there, just raining 24/7 but on Wednesday we still decided to walk to the venue to make sure we know how to get there the next day.

There it was!!! And we just walked around the streets in this area, just for fun and to observe this part of the city.

“Farin wouldn’t fit to walk under that branch!!!” was what my brother said when we saw this tree while walking :D

So we were just walking around while it was raining, visiting food stores (and always a different one as we succeeded at being embarrassing in every previous one), one “cosmetics” store where we found an older man who knew a bit of Finnish but thought at first that we were Hungarians :D That was interesting because the languages ARE language relatives but still I cannot understand other ugric languages; but apparently they do sound similar for the ears of people who don’t speak these ugric languages as their native language.

On Thursday I woke up basically in panic. My brother had forgotten to turn off his alarm clock and it went off at 7am which woke me up. I was covered in sweat, hungry, thirsty and my stomach felt awful and I was afraid of having a diarrhea finally from the water, but apparently it was just my normal “stress/panic stomach” but I was not able to fall asleep anymore. I felt like throwing up and I was in full panic mode basically and that’s when I wrote the panic-post about the gig here too. We still managed to get ourselves out of the building after 13 o’Clock and walked to the venue, where I met several awesome people (all German of course, I feel like we were probably the only people there speaking English [and Finnish] :DD). We waited in the line for hours and at least I had a blast. I was bit scared of it at first because of my neurotic nature but it went better than excepted and I didn’t run into single annoying person there. And I got a tour t-shirt which is my treasure now and I’ll protect it at all costs :DDD

The gig itself was so awesome. Already in the beginning the air felt very bad tho and I was sweating like what, at the times I already wished for the gig to be over so I could get outside where it’s good air and not so hot, but then something in my head just said “WHAT are you wishing for???????” as in no way I wanted that gig to ever end either, you know :D Soon I got over that and once the gig really started, I was just enjoying what I saw so much I didn’t feel nor notice anything else. I’m very short but I was lucky to not have 5000m tall people in front of my the whole time. Just once there was a guy as wide as he was tall too and because of him at the times I only saw glimbse of Farin’s head, but most of the time I saw pretty well at the stage and I was able to see the whole band with my own eyes :D I always film at concerts because I also get to see the concert from a better angle when my hands are 50cm above my head. But still there’s always people who block the view even from the camera, so you can imagine how my point of view is usually backs of heads and bit of the band too.

Here is the only photo of the concert itself as I filmed everything with my camera but I just needed to have at least one photo to my phone too, and this was it. It looks as if we were really far away but it sure did not feel like that. It’s the wide angle of my phone making that look like that, but I swear I could see Farin’s facial expressions and everything so clearly even tho we didn’t even stand in the front row. I’ll be making another post about the videos, but just wanted to keep this as a small “travel blog post” and also talk about the gig a bit, as I was requested by someone to do so :)

So, the gig. What can I say? It was awesome :D I was so nervous and in panic in the morning I thought I’ll die, but it was all gone when we got into the club. Usually the feelings also hit me after the concert when I’m back at the place I’m staying overnight, but not this time. I was so full of addrenaline and endorphines (even tho it doesn’t show as I don’t really move, I just stand still and watch the concert) that I was just smiling and being hyped the whole time, constantly just thinking and remembering the concert, watching video clips from my camera and I couldn’t sleep until it was like 4-5 in the morning. And same continued the next day. It was so incredible feeling because normally I ALWAYS have a nervous breakdown after concerts but this one seemed to do the opposite and I was feeling just better than ever and it kinda returned my “faith” in my concert visits because I often have felt like dying at gigs and I always ask myself why I do this, when it feels so bad and good at the same time, and yet I always go to gigs to feel like dying. This time I felt like I was alive and not dying at all. Maybe I was feeling like dying enough because of the planes and the gig was much more safer experience as it was not my first gig, even tho it was my first DÄ gig :D And even in a different country! With people who were not fellow Finns! I still can’t believe it how good it felt because I have NEVER felt so good after a concert! I never had the nervous breakdown after this gig and I have had it after every other gig I’ve ever been to (okay my list only has 6 of them so far, and the first gig I was to was in 2007), so this kinda gives me hope that maybe I’m starting to get used to the feels and maybe I’ll not have so strong nervous breakdowns in the future either. Who knows.

And the setlist was great. So many awesome songs and I can’t believe I’ve now heard some of my fave songs live! And I still can’t get over “Klaus, Peter, Willi und Petra” :D Felt so special to be in Warsaw as they played it live for the first time since 1985 and that song is good! :D

Friday was pretty much a day when we just slept. Or tried to sleep. I was up again too early, I just cannot sleep in in foreign places. And I felt like staying at the flat, not going out nor speaking to anyone. I was so tired of translating Polish with Google Translator offline when I don’t speak a word of polish, so tired at trying to talk English with Polish people who don’t speak much English and just trying to make sense of everything. I survive with English but it’s just incredibly hard to think and speak in English and at the same time try to pronounce well and come up with phrases that don’t sound like I have never studied English in my life. It’s just so difficult and I think the problem isn’t my English but just my social skills and overall personality because I cannot speak even proper Finnish when in social situations as I get nervous and forget how even my own mothertongue works. We still tried, but didn’t get to the city as first it was raining and thundering, next ticket vendor did not work, second ticket vendor had a broken paper money part and I didn’t understand how the card works; and didn’t want to go into a bus if not understanding how the ticket vendors there work either so we decided to walk to this shopping mall 5km away instead.

We spent some time in the shopping mall, buying something too and then left before the closing time. This time I could get a ticket vendor working and we traveled back to our place by busses. I wish I would have learnt to use the tickets before Friday evening as we had to leave from Poland the next morning pretty early. But at least I know how to use them when we visit Warsaw again one day...

The next morning we took a taxi to the airport and started our journey back home. We were finally at home at 23.00 Finland time. Warsaw was great, Die Ärzte was am (is!) amazing and I’m gonna keep remembering this trip for a long time! And if it’s up to me, this can’t be my last DÄ concert! I need to see them again one day!!! :D

Good bye, Warsaw!

Aaaaaaand back in Finland. What an experience this whole trip was! Thank you Warsaw, Die Ärzte and all the people I met at the gig!

#me #die ärzte #die aerzte #miles and more tour 2019 #dä warsaw

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poipoi1912 · 7 years

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Barba-centric thoughts on Ep 19x13

For the last time.

But first, to get it out of the way.

Sonny Thoughts

Who’s that?

No but, are we honestly expected to believe that Sonny would pass on observing Barba’s murder trial?

Sonny, who is a lawyer himself, would pass on witnessing a) any colleague’s MURDER TRIAL, b) BARBA’S murder trial, c) Randy Dworkin working his magic and d) the skills of Peter Stone, out of sheer curiosity? How does any of that make sense? Sonny as a law student was eager to shadow Barba just to observe a random trial he had no personal connection to, and he’d return to the precinct literally saying “court was AWESOME” while the others rolled their eyes, and now that he’s a lawyer, all he does is say “lol it’s a good thing I’m a cop”?

Remember when the conversation was “will Carisi join or even replace Barba at the DA’s office?” to the point where Peter was asked about it in interviews? Remember when Sonny’s law degree had a purpose? When it was building up to something, to a potential change? When Sonny actively faced a dilemma? Now it’s only good for a throwaway line.

What has Sonny done all season?

Nothing.

Which brings me to, what has Barba done this season?

A lot, and none of it’s good, unfortunately.

Barba Thoughts

Barba has messed up many times this season. Too many. Twice it’s been completely intentional (causing a mistrial with the jurors on that elevator, and this). We’ve seen him act way too emotional for someone in his position, and indeed we have seen his heart guiding him (like it did the other week, with the alt-right/antifa case, when he dropped the charges because his heart wasn’t in it). It’s a fact that Barba changed, a lot, over the years, and this season saw him going through even greater changes.

In the past, he always had his integrity. He may have misstepped before (like with Munoz, who was a very close childhood friend) and he may have held opinions which pitted him against the squad or the police in general (the Terrence Reynolds case), but he always held his positions with impressive, if firm, conviction. Just last season, he admitted to what was, at the time, his “deepest” secret, i.e. giving money for drugs to a witness who ended up OD’ing, and even then he believed he had done the right thing.

Because he did do the right thing. Then.

This season, however, Barba has been doing the wrong thing, way too often.

Part of me appreciated the focus on Barba’s decisions, and part of me was suspicious (as I mentioned recently) because I knew that, usually, when a character receives an unprecedented amount of focus, it means they’re on their way out, and all those “bigger” moments are meant to sett up their exit arc.

I was wrong.

Barba’s exit wasn’t the result of his longterm disenchantment with his work. Barba’s exit wasn’t set up previously at all. Barba’s prior mistakes were, in retrospect, simply meant to highlight the fact he has turned into Liv, i.e. he shows complete disregard for the law and just does whatever he wants wait no, I mean, he has grown a heart. also he could never fully become Liv because her actions never have consequences Because you can’t have a heart and still prosecute criminals? For some reason? Do the writers know Barba wasn’t a defense attorney?

Anyway,

This was no masterplan. Barba’s exit happened on a whim. Even though the writers have known about Raul’s desire to leave since literally before the season started, they did nothing to create an actual exit arc. They just used him as normal, and they came out with the most dramatic, far-fetched and soapy idea they could to create a single exit episode, instead. Which Barba then had to share with McCoy and his own replacement, both of whom took up valuable time which could have been spent on Barba himself, and on highlighting Barba’s importance to the entire squad.

When an actor leaves amicably, and when they graciously make themselves available for an exit “arc”, it’s customary to treat them with the analogous level of respect.

Barba deserved a tribute, and this episode was no tribute to Rafael Barba.

Case(y) Thoughts

Remember when I said a “right to die” case had some potential for an exit arc, even though it would never come close to (the actual best ADA) Casey Novak’s iconic exit in S9? Casey, of course, put her career on the line by knowingly lying about evidence (i.e. something a lawyer would conceivably do), because she wanted justice. Because she tried to help a friend and colleague (my fave, Chester Lake) who snapped and resorted to extreme actions when the system failed him and a victim.

“He deserved to pay.”

“And so do you.”

That’s how you write a morally gray exit.

You do NOT have an Assistant District Attorney literally turn off life support for a baby even though he is not a doctor or even a relative of the child. Truly no one would do what he did in real life. No one. No matter what half-assed and canonically inaccurate story the writers tried to spin about his father.

Can you imagine? Physically ending a life thus rendering yourself liable for homicide? When it’s not your place to do so? And you are fully aware of the legal ramifications? When the life in question is a child’s life, and the parents disagree on what to do? Can you imagine “siding” with one parent and taking that final (and irreversible) step, as the other parent is forced to forever live with the consequences of your actions?

Can you imagine any of us finding any of that ethical?

Can you imagine that, instead of having Barba passionately argue a case for the right to die, or find a smart, legal-yet-shady way to help the mother do the deed herself without being charged for a crime (which was what I thought was going to happen, when the episode began), the writers had him physically pull the plug?

With that one move, and with the fact Barba’s actions were attributed to (selfish) emotion, because of his father, Barba lost his moral footing, no matter what that opening eulogy tried to tell us. His position on the matter may well have been correct (it was certainly defensible), as was his instinct to help that poor mother, but his actions were wrong. And this is now how or why I wanted him to leave. Not because he was so very wrong.

Squad Thoughts

I admire Liv for personally and single-handedly manning an entire Special Victims Unit while taking the time to attend lengthy trials and also haphazardly inserting herself to any and all hostage situations in the Tri-State Area.

Stone Thoughts

Eh. That said, I did like his quip about the Class A Felony. My Barba thoughts aside, I’ve been saying it all along, SVU needs a prosecutor who does the job without being emotionally compromised every five minutes. It’s one thing if A Case hits home, but an ADA who can’t do his job because his feelings are clouding his judgment shouldn’t have a job oh wait he no longer has a job lol.

Also I can’t believe I’m saying this but I was Team Stone, not Team Liv (or Team Barba) and I kinda think that’s exactly what the showrunner intended? And I’m offended I fell for it? But Stone was right so I had no choice but to agree with him? is it because i’m a lawyer too omg

I’m conflicted. But Liv dissing him over not having children (I hate that more than I hate most things by the way) and then acting like Barba, who also has no children, “gets it”, I guess because he’s been around her long enough, and her parenting skills are so good they’ve transferred over to him? Ugh.

Seriously, Team Stone. Do you think there’s a chance the showrunner (who created the character and is clearly attached to him) will actually let Stone be his own person? And challenge Liv on equal footing? Because Liv might be Liv, and Mariska might be Mariska, but the showrunner’s love for Peter Stone might be enough to keep him from being swallowed by the Benson Vortex?

(and do I kinda like that? Are they gonna make me like Peter Stone by having him disagree with Liv every time she’s wrong i.e. all the time? Because I’m open to it 👀)

Religious Thoughts

Both Barba and Carisi have talked about their faith in the past. Carisi especially is a man of faith who regularly goes to church and has been shown to be a true believer. And yet, he had no insight to offer about what the Church might have to say about a case like this. In fact, religion was not mentioned at all. During this case, of all cases. In my opinion, that was because the writers knew that by religious standards there is no defense for Barba’s actions, and they didn’t want to give the audience a reason to think negatively of him. Still, this was a glaring omission.

Stray Thoughts

“Weasel”? They couldn’t find a better word lol?

RANDY DWORKIN. Not an obvious choice to defend Barba (oh, Rita, where art thou?), but definitely an entertaining one. I felt like I was watching the original Law & Order every time he spoke. Also, every single thing he argued was, indeed, defensible, and the writers made a decent (if schmaltzy) effort to paint Barba’s actions in a positive light, but the fact remains; having the right to die (which I personally support) is not the same thing as allowing a complete stranger to (technically) kill you “for your own good”. Even if it was the right decision, it was not Barba’s decision to make, and the trial glossed over that a bit.

Jack is still the DA? Since when? And why did they never namedrop him in all these years?

Both Peter Stone’s Class A felony quip and Jack’s quip about it being “unbecoming” to have his ADA’s killing people were great lines, but they rubbed me the wrong way because they were effectively making fun of Barba? But also they were accurate? And Barba deserved to be dragged? Again, I’m conflicted.

The new showrunner can write dialogue very well, but he cannot write season-long arcs (the Sheila mess confirmed that), he can’t write characters well or consistently, and he struggles with original episode ideas. For Season 19, I guess that’s not so bad. But for television in general, in its current thriving state, it’s pretty disappointing.

Liv, to an Assistant District Attorney: Forget the law for a minute.

me: *facepalm*

Peter Stone: lol how ‘bout I don’t?

me: u go gurl

The Barisi Corner

One last time, for old times’ sake.

The ship lives forever in our hearts. Where it’s always lived.

And also in Peter Scanavino’s heart ❤️

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vintagegeekculture · 7 years

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Dead Fandoms, Part 3

Read Part One of Dead Fandoms here.

Read Part Two of Dead Fandoms here.

Before we continue, I want to add the usual caveat that I actually don’t want to be right about these fandoms being dead. I like enthusiasm and energy and it’s a shame to see it vanish.

Mists of Avalon

Remember that period of time of about 15 years, where absolutely everybody read this book and was obsessed with it? It could not have been bigger, and the fandom was Anne Rice huge, overlapping for several years with USENET and the early World Wide Web…but it’s since petered out.

Mists of Avalon’s popularity may be due to the most excellent case of hitting a demographic sweet spot ever. The book was a feminist retelling of the Arthurian Mythos where Morgan Le Fay is the main character, a pagan from matriarchal goddess religions who is fighting against encroaching Christianity and patriarchal forms of society coming in with it. Also, it made Lancelot bisexual and his conflict is how torn he is about his attraction to both Arthur and Guinevere.

Remember, this novel came out in 1983 – talk about being ahead of your time! If it came out today, the reaction from a certain corner would be something like “it is with a heavy heart that I inform you that tumblr is at it again.”

Man, demographically speaking, that’s called “nailing it.” It used to be one of the favorite books of the kind of person who’s bookshelf is dominated by fantasy novels about outspoken, fiery-tongued redheaded women, who dream of someday moving to Scotland, who love Enya music and Kate Bush, who sell homemade needlepoint stuff on etsy, who consider their religious beliefs neo-pagan or wicca, and who have like 15 cats, three of which are named Isis, Hypatia, and Morrigan.

This type of person is still with us, so why did this novel fade in popularity? There’s actually a single hideous reason: after her death around 2001, facts came out that Marion Zimmer Bradley abused her daughters sexually. Even when she was alive, she was known for defending and enabling a known child abuser, her husband, Walter Breen. To say people see your work differently after something like this is an understatement – especially if your identity is built around being a progressive and feminist author.

Robotech

I try to break up my sections on dead fandoms into three parts: first, I explain the property, then explain why it found a devoted audience, and finally, I explain why that fan devotion and community went away. Well, in the case of Robotech, I can do all three with a single sentence: it was the first boy pilot/giant robot Japanimation series that shot for an older, teenage audience to be widely released in the West. Robotech found an audience when it was the only true anime to be widely available, and lost it when became just another import anime show. In the days of Crunchyroll, it’s really hard to explain what made Robotech so special, because it means describing a different world.

Try to imagine what it was like in 1986 for Japanime fans: there were barely any video imports, and if you wanted a series, you usually had to trade tapes at your local basement club (they were so precious they couldn’t even be sold, only traded). If you were lucky, you were given a script to translate what you were watching. Robotech though, was on every day, usually after school. You want an action figure? Well, you could buy a Robotech Valkyrie or a Minmei figure at your local corner FAO Schwartz.

However, the very strategy that led to it getting syndicated is the very reason it was later vilified by the purists who emerged when anime became a widespread cultural force: strictly speaking, there actually is no show called “Robotech.” Since Japanese shows tend to be short run, say, 50-60 episodes, it fell well under the 80-100 episode mark needed for syndication in the US. The producer of Harmony Gold, Carl Macek, had a solution: he’d cut three unrelated but similar looking series together into one, called “Robotech.” The shows looked very similar, had similar love triangles, used similar tropes, and even had little references to each other, so the fit was natural. It led to Robotech becoming a weekday afternoon staple with a strong fandom who called themselves “Protoculture Addicts.” There were conventions entirely devoted to Robotech. The supposed shower scene where Minmei was bare-breasted was the barely whispered stuff of pervert legend in pre-internet days. And the tie in novels, written with the entirely western/Harmony Gold conception of the series and which continued the story, were actually surprisingly readable.

The final nail in the coffin of Robotech fandom was the rise of Sailor Moon, Toonami, Dragonball, and yes, Pokemon (like MC Hammer’s role in popularizing hip hop, Pokemon is often written out of its role in creating an audience for the next wave of cartoon imports out of insecurity). Anime popularity in the West can be defined as not a continuing unbroken chain like scifi book fandom is, but as an unrelated series of waves, like multiple ancient ruins buried on top of each other (Robotech was the vanguard of the third wave, as Anime historians reckon); Robotech’s wave was subsumed by the next, which had different priorities and different “core texts.” Pikachu did what the Zentraedi and Invid couldn’t do: they destroyed the SDF-1.

Legion of Super-Heroes

Legion of Superheroes was comic set in the distant future that combined superheroes with space opera, with a visual aesthetic that can best be described as “Star Trek: the Motion Picture, if it was set in a disco.”

I’ve heard wrestling described as “a soap opera for men.” If that’s the case, then Legion of Super-Heroes was a soap opera for nerds. The book is about attractive 20-somethings who seem to hook up all the time. As a result, it had a large female fanbase, which, I cannot stress enough, is incredibly unusual for this era in comics history. And if you have female fans, you get a lot of shipping and slashfic, and lots of speculation over which of the boy characters in the series is gay. The fanon answer is Element Lad, because he wore magenta-pink and never had a girlfriend. (Can’t argue with bulletproof logic like that.) In other words, it was a 1970s-80s fandom that felt much more “modern” than the more right-brained, bloodless, often anal scifi fandoms that existed around the same time, where letters pages were just nitpicking science errors by model train and elevator enthusiasts.

Legion Headquarters seemed to be a rabbit fuck den built around a supercomputer and Danger Room. Cosmic Boy dressed like Tim Curry in Rocky Horror. There’s one member, Duo Damsel, who can turn into two people, a power that, in the words of Legion writer Jim Shooter, was “useful for weird sex...and not much else.”

LSH was popular because the fans were insanely horny. This is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the thirstiest fandom of all time. You might think I’m overselling this, but I really think that’s an under-analyzed part of how some kinds of fiction build a devoted fanbase.

For example, a big reason for the success of Mass Effect is that everyone has a favorite girl or boy, and you have the option to romance them. Likewise, everyone who was a fan of Legion remembers having a crush. Sardonic Ultra Boy for some reason was a favorite among gay male nerds (aka the Robert Conrad Effect). Tall, blonde, amazonian telepath Saturn Girl, maybe the first female team leader in comics history, is for the guys with backbone who prefer Veronica over Betty. Shrinking Violet was a cute Audrey Hepburn type. And don’t forget Shadow Lass, who was a blue skinned alien babe with pointed ears and is heavily implied to have an accent (she was Aayla Secura before Aayla Secura was Aayla Secura). Light Lass was commonly believed to be “coded lesbian” because of a short haircut and her relationships with men didn’t work out. The point is, it’s one thing to read about the adventures of a superteam, and it implies a totally different level of mental and emotional involvement to read the adventures of your imaginary girlfriend/boyfriend.

Now, I should point out that of all the fandoms I’ve examined here, LSH was maybe the smallest. Legion was never a top seller, but it was a favorite of the most devoted of fans who kept it alive all through the seventies and eighties with an energy and intensity disproportionate to their actual numbers. My gosh, were LSH fans devoted! Interlac and Legion Outpost were two Legion fanzines that are some of the most famous fanzines in comics history.

If nerd culture fandoms were drugs, Star Wars would be alcohol, Doctor Who would be weed, but Legion of Super-Heroes would be injecting heroin directly into your eyeballs. Maybe it is because the Legionnaires were nerdy, too: they played Dungeons and Dragons in their off time (an escape, no doubt, from their humdrum, mundane lives as galaxy-rescuing superheroes). There were sometimes call outs to Monty Python. Basically, the whole thing had a feel like the dorkily earnest skits or filk-singing at a con. Legion felt like it’s own fan series, guest starring Patton Oswalt and Felicia Day.

It helped that the boundary between fandom and professional was incredibly porous. For instance, pro-artist Dave Cockrum did covers for Legion fanzines. Former Legion APA members Todd and Mary Biernbaum got a chance to actually write Legion, where, with the gusto of former slashfic writers given the keys to canon, their major contribution was a subplot that explicitly made Element Lad gay. Mike Grell, a professional artist who got paid to work on the series, did vaguely porno-ish fan art. Again, it’s hard to tell where the pros started and the fandom ended; the inmates were running the asylum.

Mostly, Legion earned this devotion because it could reward it in a way no other comic could. Because Legion was not a wide market comic but was bought by a core audience, after a point, there were no self-contained one-and-done Legion stories. In fact, there weren’t even really arcs as we know it, which is why Legion always has problems getting reprinted in trade form. Legion was plotted like a daytime soap opera: there were always five different stories going on in every issue, and a comic involved cutting between them. Sure, like daytime soap operas, there’s never a beginning, just endless middles, so it was totally impossible for a newbie to jump on board...but soap operas know what they are doing: long term storytelling rewards a long term reader.

This brings me to today, where Legion is no longer being published by DC. There is no discussion about a movie or TV revival. This is amazing. Comics are a world where the tiniest nerd groups get pandered to: Micronauts, Weirdworld, Seeker 3000, and Rom have had revival series, for pete’s sake. It’s incredible there’s no discussion of a film or TV treatment, either; friggin Cyborg from New Teen Titans is getting a solo movie.

Why did Legion stop being such a big deal? Where did the fandom that supported it dissolve to? One word: X-Men. Legion was incredibly ahead of its time. In the 60s and 70s, there were barely any “fan” comics, since superhero comics were like animation is today: mostly aimed at kids, with a minority of discerning adult/teen fans, and it was success among kids, not fans, that led to something being a top seller (hence, “fan favorites” in the 1970s, as surprising as it is to us today, often did not get a lot of work, like Don MacGregor or Barry Smith). But as newsstands started to push comics out, the fan audience started to get bigger and more important…everyone else started to catch up to the things that made Legion unique: most comics started to have attractive people who paired up into couples and/or love triangles, and featured extremely byzantine long term storytelling. If Legion of Super-Heroes is going to be remembered for anything, it’s for being the smaller scale “John the Baptist” to the phenomenon of X-Men, the ultimate “fan” comic.

The other thing that killed Legion, apart from Marvel’s Merry Mutants, that is, was the r-word: reboots. A reboot only works for some properties, but not others. You reboot something when you want to find something for a mass audience to respond to, like with Zorro, Batman, or Godzilla.

Legion, though, was not a comic for everybody, it was a fanboy/girl comic beloved by a niche who read it for continuing stories and minutiae (and to jack off, and in some cases, jill off). Rebooting a comic like that is a bad idea. You do not reboot something where the main way you engage with the property, the greatest strength, is the accumulated lore and history. Rebooting a property like that means losing the reason people like it, and unless it’s something with a wide audience, you only lose fans and won’t get anything in return for it. So for something like Legion (small fandom obsessed with long form plots and details, but unlike Trek, no name recognition) a reboot is the ultimate Achilles heel that shatters everything, a self-destruct button they kept hitting over and over and over until there was nothing at all left.

E. E. Smith’s Lensman Novels

The Lensman series is like Gil Evans’s jazz: it’s your grandparents’ favorite thing that you’ve never heard of.

I mean, have you ever wondered exactly what scifi fandom talked about before the rise of the major core texts and cultural objects (Star Trek, Asimov, etc)? Well, it was this. Lensmen was the subject of fanfiction mailed in manilla envelopes during the 30s, 40s, and 50s (some of which are still around). If you’re from Boston, you might recognize that the two biggest and oldest scifi cons there going back to the 1940s, Boskone (Boscon, get it?) and Arisia, are references to the Lensman series. This series not only created space opera as we know it, but contributed two of the biggest visuals in scifi, the interstellar police drawn from different alien species, and space marines in power armor.

My favorite sign of how big this series was and how fans responded to it, was a great wedding held at Worldcon that duplicated Kimball Kinnison and Clarissa’s wedding on Klovia. This is adorable:

The basic story is pure good vs. evil: galactic civilization faces a crime and piracy wave of unprecedented proportions from technologically advanced pirates (the memory of Prohibition, where criminals had superior firearms and faster cars than the cops, was strong by the mid-1930s). A young officer, Kimball Kinnison (who speaks in a Stan Lee esque style of dialogue known as “mid-century American wiseass”), graduates the academy and is granted a Lens, an object from an ancient mystery civilization, who’s true purpose is unknown.

Lensman Kinnison discovers that the “crime wave” is actually a hostile invasion and assault by a totally alien culture that is based on hierarchy, intolerant of failure, and at the highest level, is ruled by horrifying nightmare things that breathe freezing poison gases. Along the way, he picks up allies, like van Buskirk, a variant human space marine from a heavy gravity planet who can do a standing jump of 20 feet in full space armor, Worsel, a telepathic dragon warrior scientist with the technical improvisation skills of MacGyver (who reads like the most sadistically minmaxed munchkinized RPG character of all time), and Nandreck, a psychologist from a Pluto-like planet of selfish cowards.

The scale of the conflict starts small, just skirmishes with pirates, but explodes to near apocalyptic dimensions. This series has space battles with millions of starships emerging from hyperspacial tubes to attack the ultragood Arisians, homeworld of the first intelligent race in the cosmos. By the end of the fourth book, there are mind battles where the reflected and parried mental beams leave hundreds of innocent bystanders dead. In the meantime we get evil Black Lensmen, the Hell Hole in Space, and superweapons like the Negasphere and the Sunbeam, where an entire solar system was turned into a vacuum tube.

It’s not hard to understand why Lensmen faded in importance. While the alien Lensmen had lively psychologies, Lensman Kimball Kinnison was not an interesting person, and that’s a problem when scifi starts to become more about characterization. The Lensman books, with their love of police and their sexism (it is an explicit plot point that the Lens is incompatible with female minds – in canon there are no female Lensmen) led to it being judged harshly by the New Wave writers of the 1960s, who viewed it all as borderline fascist military-scifi establishment hokum, and the reputation of the series never recovered from the spirit of that decade.

Prisoner of Zenda

Prisoner of Zenda is a novel about a roguish con-man who visits a postage-stamp, charmingly picturesque Central European kingdom with storybook castles, where he finds he looks just like the local king and is forced to pose as him in palace intrigues. It’s a swashbuckling story about mistaken identity, swordfighting, and intrigue, one part swashbuckler and one part dark political thriller.

The popularity of this book predates organized fandom as we know it, so I wonder if “fandom” is even the right word to use. All the same, it inspired fanatical dedication from readers. There was such a popular hunger for it that an entire library could be filled with nothing but rip-offs of Prisoner of Zenda. If you have a favorite writer who was active between 1900-1950, I guarantee he probably wrote at least one Prisoner of Zenda rip-off (which is nearly always the least-read book in his oeuvre). The only novel in the 20th Century that inspired more imitators was Sherlock Holmes. Robert Heinlein and Edmond “Planet Smasher” Hamilton wrote scifi updates of Prisoner of Zenda. Doctor Who lifted the plot wholesale for the Tom Baker era episode, “Androids of Tara,” Futurama did this exact plot too, and even Marvel Comics has its own copy of Ruritania, Doctor Doom’s Kingdom of Latveria. Even as late as the 1980s, every kids’ cartoon did a “Prisoner of Zenda” episode, one of the stock plots alongside “everyone gets hit by a shrink ray” and the Christmas Carol episode.

Prisoner of Zenda imitators were so numerous, that they even have their own Library of Congress sub-heading, of “Ruritanian Romance.”

One major reason that Prisoner of Zenda fandom died off is that, between World War I and World War II, there was a brutal lack of sympathy for anything that seemed slightly German, and it seems the incredibly Central European Prisoner of Zenda was a casualty of this. Far and away, the largest immigrant group in the United States through the entire 19th Century were Germans, who were more numerous than Irish or Italians. There were entire cities in the Midwest that were two-thirds German-born or German-descent, who met in Biergartens and German community centers that now no longer exist.

Kurt Vonnegut wrote a lot about how the German-American world he grew up in vanished because of the prejudice of the World Wars, and that disappearance was so extensive that it was retroactive, like someone did a DC comic-style continuity reboot where it all never happened: Germans, despite being the largest immigrant group in US history, are left out of the immigrant story. The “Little Bohemias” and “Little Berlins” that were once everywhere no longer exist. There is no holiday dedicated to people of German ancestry in the US, the way the Irish have St. Patrick’s Day or Italians have Columbus Day (there is Von Steuben’s Day, dedicated to a general who fought with George Washington, but it’s a strictly Midwest thing most people outside the region have never heard of, like Sweetest Day). If you’re reading this and you’re an academic, and you’re not sure what to do your dissertation on, try writing about the German-American immigrant world of the 19th and 20th Centuries, because it’s a criminally under-researched topic.

A. Merritt

Pop quiz: who was the most popular and influential fantasy author during the 1930s and 40s?

If you answered Tolkien or Robert E. Howard, you’re wrong - it was actually Abraham Merritt. He was the most popular writer of his age of the kind of fiction he did, and he’s since been mostly forgotten. Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons, has said that A. Merritt was his favorite fantasy and horror novelist.

Why did A. Merritt and his fandom go away, when at one point, he was THE fantasy author? Well, obviously one big answer was the 1960s counterculture, which brought different writers like Tolkien and Lovecraft to the forefront (by modern standards Lovecraft isn’t a fantasy author, but he was produced by the same early century genre-fluid effluvium that produced Merritt and the rest). The other answer is that A. Merritt was so totally a product of the weird occult speculation of his age that it’s hard to even imagine him clicking with audiences in other eras. His work is based on fringe weirdness that appealed to early 20th Century spiritualism and made sense at the time: reincarnation, racial memory, an obsession with lost race stories and the stone age, and weirdness like the 1920s belief that the Polar Arctic is the ancestral home of the Caucasian race. In other words, it’s impossible to explain Merritt without a ton of sentences that start with “well, people in the 1920s thought that...” That’s not a good sign when it comes to his universality.

That’s it for now. Do you have any suggestions on a dead fandom, or do you keep one of these “dead” fandoms alive in your heart?

#fandom history #lensman #robotech #prisoner of zenda #mists of avalon

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madewithonerib · 4 years

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Galatians 6:16 | ¹⁶ Peace & mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of GOD.

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Psalm 73:1, 125:4-5, Romans 1:7, 9:6, Galatians 1:3, 3:7,29, 5:16-25; Ephesians 6:23, Philippians 3:3, 3:16, 4:7; 1 Peter 1:3, Jude 1:2, Numbers 6:23-27, 1 Chronicles 12:18, Isaiah 45:25

● Psalm 73:1 | ¹ A Psalm of Asaph. Surely GOD is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

● Psalm 125:4-5 | ⁴ Do good, O LORD, to those who are good, & to the upright in heart. ⁵ But those who turn to crooked ways the LORD will banish with the evildoers. Peace be upon Israel.

● Romans 1:7 | ⁷ To all in Rome who are loved by GOD & called to be saints: Grace & peace to you from GOD our FATHER & the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

● Romans 9:6 | ⁶ It is not as though GOD’s WORD has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

● Galatians 1:3 | ³ Grace & peace to you from GOD our FATHER & the LORD JESUS CHRIST,

● Galatians 3:7-9,29 | ⁷ Understand, then, that those who have faith are the sons of Abraham...⁸ The SCRIPTURE foresaw that GOD would justify the Gentiles by faith, & foretold the GOSPEL to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith."

²⁹ And if you belong to CHRIST, then you are Abraham’s seed & heirs according to the promise.

● Galatians 5:16-25 | ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the SPIRIT, & you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh craves what is contrary to the SPIRIT, & the SPIRIT what is contrary to the flesh.

They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the SPIRIT, you are not under the law.

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, & debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry & sorcery; hatred, discord, jealousy, & rage; rivalries, divisions, factions, ²¹ & envy; drunkenness, orgies, & the like.

I warn you, as I did before, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of GOD.

²² But the fruit of the SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, & self-control. Against such things there is no law.

²⁴ Those who belong to CHRIST JESUS have crucified the flesh with its passions & desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the SPIRIT, let us walk in step with the SPIRIT.

● Ephesians 6:23 | ²³ Peace to the brothers & love with faith from GOD the FATHER & the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

● Philippians 3:3 | ³ For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the SPIRIT of GOD, who glory in CHRIST JESUS, & who put no confidence in the flesh ...¹⁶ Nevertheless, we must live up to what we have already attained.

● Philippians 4:7 | ⁷ And the peace of GOD, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts & your minds in CHRIST JESUS.

● 1 Peter 1:3 | ³ Blessed be the GOD & FATHER of our LORD JESUS CHRIST! By HIS great mercy HE has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST from the dead,

● Jude 1:2 | ² Mercy, peace, & love be multiplied to you.

● Numbers 6:23-27 | ²³ “Tell Aaron & his sons:

This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

²⁴ ‘May the LORD bless you & keep you; ²⁵ may the LORD cause HIS face to shine upon you & be gracious to you;

²⁶ may the LORD lift up HIS countenance toward you & give you peace.’ ²⁷ So they shall put MY name on the Israelites & I will bless them.”

● 1 Chronicles 12:18 | ¹⁸ Then the SPIRIT came upon Amasai, the chief of the Thirty, & he said:

“We are yours, O David! We are with you, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, & peace to your helpers, for your GOD helps you.” So David received them & made them leaders of his troops.

● Isaiah 45:25 | ²⁵ In the LORD all descendants of Israel will be justified & will exult.

Charles John Ellicott, Theologian [1819–1905] | Galatians 6:16

[16] According to this rule—The word for “rule” is the same that afterwards received special application in phrase,

“Canon of SCRIPTURE.”

It meant originally a carpenter’s rule, or the line that a carpenter works by—hence, a rule or standard; and, from that, the list of books coming up to a certain standard —not [as might be thought] which themselves supplied a standard.

The Apostle confines his benediction to those who hold the fundamental truths of Christianity—i.e., here more especially, the doctrine of justification by faith & the Spiritual view of Christianity connected with it,

as opposed to the merely external & mechanical system of the Judaisers.

2.] And upon the Israel of GOD—The benediction is addressed, not to two distinct sets of persons [“those who walk by this rule” & “the Israel of GOD”],

but to the same set of persons described in different ways.

“And” is therefore equivalent to “namely:”

Yea, upon the Israel of GOD.

By the “Israel of GOD” is here meant the “spiritual Israel;” not converts from Judaism alone, but all who prove their real affinity to Abraham by a faith like Abraham’s.

[Galatians 3:7-9; 3:14; 3:29; Romans 4:11-12; Romans 9:6-8.]

● Romans 4:11-12 | ¹¹ And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

So then, he is the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

¹² And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

● Romans 9:6-8 | ⁶ It is not as though GOD’s WORD has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. ⁷ Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.”

⁸ So it is not the children of the flesh who are GOD’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring.

Matthew Henry, Nonconformist [1662-1714] | Galatians 6:16-18

A new creation to the image of CHRIST, as showing faith in HIM, is the greatest distinction between one man & another, & a blessing is declared on all who walk according to this rule.

The blessings are, peace & mercy.

Peace with GOD & our conscience, & all the comforts of this life, as far as they are needful.

And mercy, an interest in the free love & favour of GOD in CHRIST, the spring & fountain of all other blessings.

The written WORD of GOD is the rule we are to go by, both in its doctrines & precepts.

May HIS grace ever be with our spirit, to sanctify, quicken, & cheer us, & may we always be ready to maintain the honour of that which is indeed our life.

The apostle had in his body the marks of the LORD JESUS, the scars of wounds from persecuting enemies, for his cleaving to CHRIST, & the doctrine of the GOSPEL.

The apostle calls the Galatians his brethren, therein he shows his humility & his tender affection for them; & he takes his leave with a very serious prayer, that

they might enjoy the favour of CHRIST JESUS, both in its effects & in its evidences.

We need desire no more to make us happy than the grace of our LORD JESUS CHRIST.

The apostle does not pray that the law of Moses, or the righteousness of works, but that the grace of CHRIST, might be with them; that it might be in their hearts & with their spirits, quickening, comforting, & strengthening them: to all which he sets his Amen;

signifying his desire that so it might be, & his faith that so it would be.

Albert Barnes, American Theologian [1798-1870] | Galatians 6:16

1.] And as many as walk—As many as live, for so the word walk is used in the SCRIPTURES.

According to this rule.

Greek: "This canon"; see the word explained in the notes at 2 Corinthians 10:13.

2.] Peace be on them—See the note at Romans 15:33.

And upon the Israel of GOD—The true Church of GOD; all who are HIS true worshippers; see the note at Romans 2:28-29; Romans 9:6, note.

● Romans 2:28-29 | ²⁸ A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward & physical. ²⁹ No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, & circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the SPIRIT, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from GOD."

For he is not a Jew ...—He who is merely descended from Abraham, & is circumcised, & externally conforms to the Law only, does not possess the true character, & manifest the true spirit, contemplated by the separation of the Jewish people.

Their separation required much more.

Neither is that circumcision ...—Neither does it meet the full design of the rite of circumcision, that it is externally performed.

It contemplated much more; see Romans 2:29.

3.] But he is a Jew—He comes up to the design of the Jewish institution; he manifests truly what it is to be a Jew.

Which is one inwardly—Who is "in heart" a Jew.

Who has the true spirit, & fulfils the design of their being separated as a special people.

This passage proves that the design of separating them was not merely to perform certain external rites, or to conform to external observances, but to be a people holy in heart & in life.

It cannot be denied that this design was not generally understood in the time of the apostles; but it was abundantly declared in the OT:

[Deuteronomy 6:5; 10:12-13, 10:20; 30:14; Isaiah 1:11-20; Micah 6:8; Psalm 51:16-17; Psalm 50:7-23]

4.] And circumcision is that of the heart—That is, that circumcision which is acceptable to GOD.

& which meets the design of the institution, is what is attended with holiness of heart; with the cutting off of sins; & with a pure life.

The design of circumcision was to be a sign of separation from the pagan world, & of consecration to the holy GOD.

And this design implied the renunciation & forsaking of all sins; or the cutting off of everything that was offensive to GOD.

This was a work especially of the heart.

This design was often stated & enforced in the writings of the OT; Deuteronomy 10:16,

"Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, & be no more stiff-necked;"

[Jeremiah 4:4; Deuteronomy 30:6]

5.] In the SPIRIT—This is an expression explaining further what he had just said.

It does not mean by the HOLY SPIRIT, but that the work was to take place in the soul, & not in the body only.

It was to be an internal, spiritual work, & not merely an external service.

6.] And not in the letter—That is, not only according to the literal, external command,

7.] Whose praise ...—Whose object is not to secure the praise of human beings.

One of the main characteristics of the Jews in the time of CHRIST was, a desire to secure honor among men, as being exactly scrupulous in the performance of all the duties of their religion.

They prided themselves on their descent from Abraham, & on their regular conformity to the precepts of the Law of Moses;

[Matthew 3:9; 6:2, 6:5; Luke 18:10-12; Matthew 23:23]

8.] But of GOD—"Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart;" [1 Samuel 16:7]

The praise of GOD can be bestowed only on those who conform really, & not externally only, to HIS requirements.

The remarks which are made here respecting the Jews, are also strictly applicable to professing Christians, & we may learn,

1. That the external rites of religion are of much less importance than the state of the heart.

2. That the only value of those rites is to promote holiness of heart & life.

3. That the mere fact that we are born of pious ancestors will not save us.

4. That the fact that we were dedicated to GOD in baptism will not save us.

5. That a mere profession of religion, however orthodox may be our creed, will not save us.

6. That the estimate which people may put on our piety is not the proper measure of our true character & standing.

continued...

Donald Spence Jones [1836-1917] | Galatians 6:16

16.—And as many as walk according to this rule [καὶ ὅσοι τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχήσουσιν]; & as many as shall be walking by this rule.

The word κανών, properly a workman's rule, according to Liddell & Scott, but according to Bishop Lightfoot, who, refers to Dr. Westcott,

A, the carpenter's or surveyor's line by which a direction is taken, is used in 2 Corinthians 10:13, 15, 16 of the measurements & delimitation of districts;

here, with reference apparently to a surveyor's measuring-line, as marking out a path or road.

So that τῷ κανόνι τούτῳ στοιχεῖν means "walking on orderly" [see note on στοιχεῖν, Galatians 5:25] in the line marked out by what has now been said.

The future tense appears to point forward to what should be the case among the Galatians when the letter now going to them should have had time to do its work.

But what in the preceding context does the apostle refer to as supplying "this rule"? Many think that he points to the aphorism in v.15, affirming the utter indifferency of circumcision or uncircumcision, & the all-importance of a "new creature;"

in which case the stress would lie mainly upon the latter point, the "new all-importance of a creature," which was of perpetual interest,

rather than on the indifference of circumcision which in itself was a matter of but passing concern.

It may be fairly questioned, however, whether the apostle does not rather point to the description which in v.14 he has given of the manner in which he himself regarded the cross of CHRIST, as a pattern to the Galatian Churchmen of the manner in which they also should be affected by it.

It was customary with the apostle to present himself to his converts as the model to which they should conform themselves.

Thus he commends the Thessalonians for that on their conversion they proved themselves imitators of him [1 Thessalonians 1:6].

When discoursing to the Corinthians of his manifold afflictions & of his self-humbling, men-loving demeanour under them all, he besought them to be imitators of him [1 Corinthians 4:9-16],

which entreaty he renews with a similar reference in 1 Corinthians 9:1.

● 1 Corinthians 9:1 | Amos I not free? Amos I not an apostle? Have I not seen JESUS our LORD? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the LORD?

● Philippians 3:17 | ¹⁷ Join one another in following my example, brothers, & carefully observe those who walk according to the pattern we set for you.

So he exhorts the Philippians to unite with one another in imitating him, & to fix their regards upon such as walked as they had him & those with him for a pattern [Philippians 3:17],

& again repeats to them [Philippians 4:9],

"Those things which you, moreover, learned, & received, & heard, & saw in me, do,"—all which clauses refer to his own character & doings as seen by themselves or as reported to them by others [see Alford, in loc.].

This purpose, of propounding his sentiments & course of action as a model for the guidance of his converts, no doubt underlies very many of those passages in which he so frankly & [we might but for this be tempted to think] so self-approvingly dilates upon them.

In those days we must remember there was no "Canon " of NT SCRIPTURE which might serve for the guidance of the newly gained converts from heathenism;

for practical guidance in the Christian life, besides the OT SCRIPTURES [2 Timothy 3:15-17], they had, perforce, to be referred partly to their own moral sense, partly to the inward teachings of the HOLY SPIRIT,

& partly, & this to a very important extent, to the living examples of eminently SPIRIT-taught men.

This purpose, of propounding himself as an example, evidently underlay the writing of v.14; &

it is the consciousness that it was so that now leads him to use the phrase, "by this rule," in reference, as seems most probable, to that very description of his own life.

It is noticeable that, after having exhorted the Philippians to do all the things which they had seen & known him to do, he adds [Philippians 4:9].

"And the GOD of peace shall be with you;"

just as he here says,

"As many as shall be walking orderly by this rule, peace upon them, & mercy!"

We are now brought into a position to see clearly the force of the conjunction "and," with which he introduces this verse.

It connects it closely with v.14.

"I myself glory in the cross of CHRIST, & to that cross have sacrificed all I held dear; & for all that shall be found walking in that same path—upon them shall rest my hearty sympathy &

my pastoral benediction."

It is further deserving of notice that in Philippians 3, when presenting himself to the Philippians as their examplar, the apostle speaks of "many"—no doubt with inclusive reference to those Judaizing advocates of circumcision whose circumcision he scornfully styles a concision—as being "the enemies of the cross of CHRIST."

This was written some years after the Epistle to the Galatians; but it shows that it was a common experience with the apostle to find among the Gentile Churches two classes in particular of Christians:

one, consisting of his own adherents & followers in the SPIRIT & life of the GOSPEL;

another, of those who [either because as born Jews or Gentile Judaizers, they eschewed the pollution of the cross & its aspect towards the ceremonial Law, or because they were Gentiles,

ashamed before their countrymen of trusting in a Jew who had been crucified], were fain to the utmost of their power to thrust the crucifixion of CHRIST out of sight—

"the enemies of the cross of CHRIST?"

Peace be on them, & mercy, & upon the Israel of GOD [εἰρήνη ἐπ αὐτούς καὶ ἔλεος καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ Θεοῦ].

The suppletion of "be" in the Authorized Version, in preference to "shall be" or "is," is borne out by the fact that the language of benediction,

both in the greeting at the beginning of the Epistles & in their close, ordinarily omits the copula verb, which in such cases must be what is here supplied.

We may compare in particular Ephesians 6:24,

"Grace be with all them that love our LORD JESUS CHRIST in uncorruptness,"

not only as similar in construction, requiring the like suppletion of "be," but also as another instance in which the apostle pronounces his pastoral benediction with a certain limitation, specifying those only who sincerely love JESUS CHRIST.

The limitation in these two cases only implied is in 1 Corinthians 16:22 converted into a distinctly expressed anathema upon those who do not love CHRIST.

The present passage makes the implied limitation without even that measure of stern precision which would have been marked by his writing ἐπὶ τούτους ["upon these"] instead of ἐπ αὐτούς ["upon them"].

It seems as if he would fain allure back to the GOSPEL blessing those of his readers who might feel themselves as not now coming within its range.

Perhaps in the addition of the words, "and mercy," we may detect a sympathizing sense in the mind of the apostle of the mental suffering,

which those in Galatia sincerely devoted to the crucified CHRIST had & would still have to encounter, in contending for the truth of the GOSPEL against fellow Churchmen of their own.

They would probably be no mere hard-minded controversialists, but humble, loving believers, to whom the mercy of GOD would be very dear.

The apostle adds it to his greeting only in writing to Timothy [1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2], distinguished apparently for the affectionateness & feminine- heartedness of his character.

In Titus 1:4 the addition is not genuine.

The words, "and upon the Israel of GOD," seem to be an echo of the "peace upon Israel [εἰρήνη ἐπὶ τὸν Ἰσραήλ]," which, in the Septuagint, closes the 125th & 128th psalms.

The addition of the words, "of GOD," seems intended pointedly to distinguish the "Israel"

which the apostle has m view from that which boasted itself as being Israel while it was not, & also from the false brethren [ψευδαδελφοί, Galatians 2:4] in the Christian Church, who were for linking themselves with the false Israel.

● Galatians 2:4 | ⁴ This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in CHRIST JESUS, in order to enslave us.

The addition is not merely honorific, as in the expression "the Church of GOD" [1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1; 10:32; 11:22; 15:9],

● 1 Corinthians 1:2 | ² To the Church of GOD in Corinth, to those sanctified in CHRIST JESUS & called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our LORD JESUS CHRIST, their LORD & ours:

● 2 Corinthians 1:1 | ¹ Paul, an apostle of CHRIST JESUS by the will of GOD, & Timothy our fellow believer, To the Church of GOD in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia:

● 1 Corinthians 10:32 | ³² Do not become [cause anyone to stumble] a stumbling block, whether to Jews or Greeks or the Church of GOD,

● 1 Corinthians 11:22 | ²² Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat & drink? Or do you despise the Church of GOD & humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? No I will not!

● 1 Corinthians 15:9 | ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles & am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of GOD.

but distinctive as well—that which alone GOD views & loves as "Israel"—to wit, the entire body of real believers in CHRIST, who, as portrayed in this Epistle, are

"children of promise after the fashion of Isaac" [Galatians 4:28], Abraham's seed & heirs of the promise" [Galatians 3:29], & the children of "the upper Jerusalem, which is our mother" [Galatians 4:26].

● Galatians 4:28 | ²⁸ Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise.

● Galatians 3:29 | ²⁹ And if you belong to CHRIST, then you are Abraham’s seed & heirs according to the promise.

● Galatians 4:26 | ²⁶ But the Jerusalem above is free, & she is our mother.

Of that portion of the true Israel which dwelt in Galatia [see 1 Peter 1:1; 1 Peter 2:10], those who, like the apostle, consecrated themselves to CHRIST as crucified,

● 1 Peter 1:1 | ¹ Peter, an apostle of JESUS CHRIST, To the exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, & Bithynia, chosen

● 1 Peter 2:10 | ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of GOD; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

were the guiding & characterizing element; &

therefore his blessing shed upon these spreads itself also upon those connected with them.

That the apostle is even here still regardful of others among the Galatians, who were themselves" shifting away from the GOSPEL"

& were drawing others away too [Galatians 1:6, 7], is shown by the next verse. Galatians 6:16

● Galatians 1:6 | ⁶ I am amazed how quickly you are deserting the ONE who called you by the grace of CHRIST & are turning to a different GOSPEL—

● Galatians 6:16-17 | ¹⁶ Peace & mercy to all who walk by this rule, even to the Israel of GOD. ¹⁷ From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of JESUS.

https://youtu.be/UhABlqzDpXY?t=1846

#Galatians 6:16

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