#faultless

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Pure and Undefiled Religion

Pure, unstained religion, according to God our Father, is to take care of orphans and widows when they suffer and to remain uncorrupted by this world. — James 1:27 | God's Word Translation (GWT) The Holy Bible, God’s Word® Translation Copyright 1995 by God’s Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Cross References: Deuteronomy 14:29; Job 31:16-17; Psalm 146:9; Isaiah 1:17; Isaiah 1:23; Matthew 12:32

[tom4jc]

June 18, 2024 Verse Of The Day

[dadabhagwan]

Do You Know that In reality everyone is faultless. When you see faults in them, you cannot love them. So when you see the world as faultless, that is when pure love will arise.

[fairy-bard]

i’ve been loving watching critical role recently if for no other reason than because i get to watch a decent portion of viewers actively falling for cult tactics lmao

a forbes article describes cult tactics as when cult leaders “censor dissenting viewpoints, promote a distorted narrative and use relentless repetition and peer pressure”

ludinus needing to monologue at everyone he meets. cherry picking what information to let people know (ie the orb). showing popular world leaders (gods?) at their absolute worst as a means to win over the vulnerable. creating dissent between cult prospects and the people who they’re close to outside the cult. doesn’t take no for an answer. repeating his points over and over, in whatever context he thinks will be most persuasive. targeting people who’ve lost everything. convincing people that they’re special

matt is a genius.

[randomness-is-my-order]

complicated feelings on jiang fengmian aside, i think the reason i don’t buy into the whole “jfm favoured wei wuxian much more than his son” and tend to agree with wwx’s words to jc that of course jfm would be more stern with jc because jc’s his son is because—my asian parenting experience has been somewhat the same (and i actually think this might be a bit of a universal experience regardless), not in the exact way mxtx portrays this relationship but in that my parents and parents of every single person i have ever known (mostly; there are always a few exceptions) show this pattern of being sweet and cordial and generally non-disciplinary towards kids who aren’t their own and being way stricter and more stern with their own children because they are the ones they are parenting. there’s almost this mutually known boundary that you don’t go and yell at another’s kid to correct bad behaviour, rather the impetus of imparting important values and lessons is reserved as your right for your own kids. that’s how i’ve always read jiang fengmian’s dynamic with wei wuxian vs jiang cheng. he was stern with jc because that’s his son and heir, someone he cares for very deeply. on the other hand, he does care for wei wuxian as well but he has never crossed that mental boundary from uncle to father figure in his head and his interactions with wei wuxian have never read as paternal or favourably partial over jc to me.

[evidenceof]

some of my fave things that we do know about irl post-war joe liebgott:

didnt trust the microwave. they said he wheeled away from it super fast after setting the timer

would take his kids to the beach the few times he had a day off from work

held babies facing out and against his tummy bc he, “wanted them to be able to see everything.”

insisted on building his grandkids’ bikes and let them choose the paint color

[lurkinginnernarrator]

A thought I had, (this isn't a fully thought out meta, just an impression of sorts.)

Something about Wei Wuxian's inherited vengeance.

Where did Wei Wuxian get that vengeance from? Mild-mannered Jiang Fengmian? Benevolent and kind Jiang Yanli? Cangse Sanren, who Wei Wuxian remembers saying something along the lines of remember the good things people do for you not the bad? Wei Changze?

The child of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze would've likely done something along the lines of protecting the common people and fighting for justice during the Sunshot campaign, but did Wei Wuxian do that?

No, I tell you truly, Wei Wuxian is also the child of Yu Ziyuan. Did they have anything resembling a healthy relationship? No. But the child of Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze wouldn't slaughter thousands in unholy vengeance. Wouldn't extract oceans of blood for every drop stolen.

But the child of Yu Ziyuan would.

That isn't to say, he's only the child of Yu Ziyuan, no, we see glimpses of the influences of his other parental figures throughout the story.

Look at how he doesn't flinch from leaving the proverbial (paradise) mountain to save the wen remnants (CSSR), look at his compassion for the common people (Jiang Yanli); His sense of loyalty (Wei Changze), level headedness (Jiang Fengmian).

Something about how conscious he is of debt. Does that stem from his inherent preference of righteous action? His desire to do right? Yes. But I wouldn't discount his awareness of debt also coming from a quasi-maternal figure like Yu Ziyuan. Now there is a woman aware of debt, what she owes and what is owed to her.

Everyone is shaped by the adult figures in their life, and we inherit many things from them, such as traumas, perspectives and traits.

I posit Wei Wuxian is no different. But, just like Wei Wuxian, we aren't defined by our parental figures.

[chocosweetcream]

Why do people in this fandom normalize an affair between Rhaegar and Lyanna?

Because Rhaegar’s marriage was arranged. So it means the reason for arranged marriage is an excuse for cheating and cheating with a highborn woman and running away with her?

Not like that. Just because the marriage was arranged doesn't make it an excuse to affair and run away with the other woman, especially to fulfill the prophecy.

If the three of them were still alive after the rebellion. And People knew the relationships between Rhaegar and Lyanna, the people would surely support them. Because Lyanna is from the North and she is the Stark. And that put Elia and her children's lives in danger. It can happen like the Blackfyre rebellion. Because a lot of people are racist and sentimental towards Dornish.

This fandom is sick of normalizing an affair between Rhaegar and Lyanna. But if happens to Ned Stark if he really has an affair or their other favorite character in the affair, they will be mad.

[gr8ntaire]

Yknow not to labour the point & maybe this is slightly my own naivety also but the more one thinks about it the funnier* the idea that alain is this like, unfeeling calculating & cold person actually is. I get WHY it exists (for various reasons, not least because it is easier to see him this way when his biggest rival is arguably INCREDIBLY emotional and very much so about feeling and so on even down to the way he drives) but like……actually if u think WHY alain did a lot of the things he did then really it seems like he wasn’t doing it in a calculated manner but rather fuelled by his own frustration and emotional reactions. He didn’t chat shit about ayrton to the papers to get the upper hand for example, he wasn’t being calculating in fact he MIScalculated that interaction, if anything, because he was so emotionally involved. It’s not untrue to say he, arguably because of his experiences before that time, was able to “benefit” from certain connections he had - even if it was a roundabout way - but like….by that time the world of f1 had already taught him that it was a necessity to survive, yknow? People say a lot for example that Ayrton’s behaviour changed because of how he was treated as a way to absolve him of the blame but the same is true of Alain’s situation: the things he experienced at Renault and from the press changed how he behaved himself. But it’s untrue to act like he did those things with some master plan because Ayrton pissed him off, rather it’s just that: he was pissed off. He was upset. Alain may drive in a very calculated’ ‘cold’ manner but the man is just as emotional as, yknow, anyone else.

[torchstelechos]

There's something really heartbreaking about the misunderstandings between Mirabelle and Siffrin, because at the start of the game Siffrin teases Mirabelle but gets real anxious and worried about upsetting her multiple times and even gets worried about Bonnie throughout the game. This being to the point that they keep the good lines in the script, even if they could feasibly stop caring about it. Then, during act 5, Mirabelle hits Siffrin with the fact that he's mean when he's teasing her but she doesn't let it get to her because she knows they mean well. Do you think about this? The thought of Siffrin being so self conscious of his own faults to the point they made sure the loops always were kind until the last one only to get slapped in the face by your families comments and hand. Like I think about this a lot. Obviously they knew they were mean but they also did everything in their ability to not hurt their family only to be told that they had multiple times and it was only because of his families trust and love that his family didn't take it to heart. Like fuck, fuck, I think id fucking go crazy. I think I'd isolate myself if that happened to me. Oh my gods. It really makes some of his next decisions really bonkers to me, but in a good way because yeah! Yeah that makes sense. Anyway post game I think Siffrin would probably not tease or poke fun at anyone for a good while in fear of hurting their families feelings.

[mgu-h]

Lando Review 147/? • Jan 2022 • Tumi Ad

[tagedeszorns]

The Composer - Sorcerer of the Cohors Nasicae/Faultless.

With the new Codex, the Emperor's Children canonically now like their sorcerers and have more of them.

Before the Codex, Lucius' pet sorcerer was hated and feared and a rarity, because Emperor's Children (before the Heresy) did not allow imperfections like mutations.

The Composer lived secluded in the upper regions of the Diadem and did his thing, guarded by Terminator Afilai.

I wonder if his life is better now. Especially after saving everybody's backside by flying the Diadem into the Webway to Commorragh to get the Warband back from their involuntary field trip.

[katshuya]

Rhaegar's wife, who had delicate health, gave him two children. One caused her to be bedridden for half a year and another that he impregnated her with during her recovery or, immediately after and almost killed her, deserved that crown.

Yes she deserved it more than Lyanna Stark who braverly defended her father's bannerman yet impulsively and naively when there was a well known mad king watching and entered as a mystery knight that grabbed everyone's curiosity for being unknown.

Elia Martell, who endured Rhaegar, his prophecy, racist people, and their opinion about how unworthy she was for him AND his racist, mad cruel father desrved respect as well as that crown.

Yet she was gifted with humiliation one after another after all that she sacrificed.

This will trigger many. But that crown was Elia's right after all the hell this strong woman had been through. Not Lyanna's. Yet, in the narrative, it is all about Lyanna and the winter rose.

Rhaegar only endangered Lyanna, and even if Aerys and Lyanna's family and betrothed weren't there, it was still Elia's right.

Honoring Lyanna could have been done more respectfully and wiser, yet it was extremely dumb and cruel.

Yet the audacity to put Elia in such a humiliating situation

She deserves more respect and attention from GRRM, which I doubt he will grant her any true respect.

Elia was killed for the sake of the narrative. So the promised one can happen. She was used and then killed in an unnecessary way for it.

What even happened to Elia's body along with her children's? Definitely weren't sent to Dorne. While we know Rhaegar's was burnt and Lyanna's in winterfell.

If George wanted us to like the Rhaegar x lyanna thing, then he failed miserably. For sane people, of course.

This will always be where he failed the writing.

We hear of Lyanna's suffering in the books, and how she was killed to bring important child for the future of the realm and its safety yet we barely hear of Elia's, who gave and suffered much, much more.

I like the Starks, but this is where George crossed the line with his favoursim.

She is barely there in the narrative, yet her story and the things she had been through and everything associated with her upbringing make her more interesting character than Rhaegar or Lyanna to me and many people.

I believe George unintentionally made her more interesting to many of us when he wanted us to care for Rhaegar and Lyanna.

Edit: I'm talking about the crown, not the winter rose itself. Since some Rx L shippers entered the asks and were acting so unruly like usual.

[twixxee]

[nightcorecarseatheadrest]

opinions on servant boq

Ok I have like. A lot of these. Strap in

The first thing is that servant boq is really interesting to me because we have nothing to compare him to at the moment. He doesn’t exist in the books, and the movie in which he appears is not out yet. This means that’s he’s his own thing at the moment. Shiz era boq exists in both the books and the movie. Tin man boq will always be analyzed alongside Baums/1939 tin man. But servant boq is different. He’s his own thing

Depending on the actor playing him, the way I see him varies. His primary emotions are usually angry/sad/apathetic. Michael Wartella plays him very mopey, where jake Pedersen plays him very mad!! This makes every single Boq actor give him a different outlook on the witches and his situation.

This bleeds into how he talks about seeing Glinda. Most of the time, it’s clear that she’s his crush the way that she was at shiz. He thinks that Galinda Upland is waiting for him in the emerald city and that she’s gonna say thanks for the favor babe now we can be together. But sometimes his Glinda speech shifts from ‘I like a real girl’ to ‘I like the idea of freedom and I miss my old life’ (this isn’t to say that he’s lying about going to see Glinda per se, just that how he views her changes from actor to actor sometimes)

He’s obviously pretty important to me. Boq is SO flawed and servant Boq retains this annoying stupid attitude while still allowing for some really sad moments!! Wwote just punches us in the gut with his bad decisions.

We don’t know the exact way he ended up in Nessas employment (im gonna call it employment because that’s what it is I’ll explain in a moment) so the story is pretty vague. Here’s what we know based off of tests wwote, the grimmerie and the show we have

1. Boq was offered a job by Nessa to keep him close after her fathers death. They were still in college here.

2. At some point, Nessa started changing laws and removing rights with the intention to keep Boq from leaving her.

3. At some other point, Boq succumbed to a mixture of Wizard propaganda and anger at Nessa, which led him to resent Elphaba.

4. Boq is now a (probably still paid, because it’s a job but I wouldn’t think the rest of the work environment or his wages are particularly good) servant to Nessa.

(Tests is not in the show and the grimmerie only has actor testimonies about their characters but I’m treating it as canon because there’s no other information as how he ended up there.)

When Elphaba comes in and Boq sees that Nessa can walk (god I hope they change this well this plot point is so shitty) he goes oh okay so you don’t need me anymore I’m heading out, implying that boq has been staying with her out of pity this whole time. Now. I’m hesitant to say that this is Boq the character being ableist and more wicked the musical being ableist. This plot point makes NO SENSE. Do the laws mean nothing now?? He says he can’t leave earlier due to laws but now decides he can. This just feels like they needed a reason for boq to try to get out now at that time specifically for the story. I’ll link two articles on the ableism with Nessarose below to read if you’d like to hear smarter people talk about the other ways the show has wronged her.

Ok so. He’s a college dropout working a shitty job with a boss who’s also his girlfriend and he can’t leave because there are laws preventing it that his boss girlfriend made. He’s angry and sad about all of this. He’s still crushing on the girl that told him to date his boss girlfriend in the first place. He makes the stupid decision to anger his dictator boss girlfriend by trying to leave her for a woman that doesn’t and has never wanted him, and in return she tries to cast a love spell that just ends up killing him. He’s sad and pathetic and annoying and makes all the worst choices given to him.

My opinion is I love him deeply and think he should be sent straight to hell for his sins.

[the-star-rigel]

I don't believe in my father either.

With a sewing needle, a few careful cuts, and white thread, Jason’s mom had arranged one of his dad’s old button up shirts. It was well-worn, sort of yellowish though in actuality probably had never been sparkling white, but it was the best they could do and Jason was proud of it. He’s as neat as could be today, with his hair that’s been brushed for once, his one pair of pants that aren’t unraveling at the bottom, and finally, finally, a grown-up shirt to wear to mass.

His voice, he’s sure, can be distinguished amongst everybody else’s, because he’s missed this song so much. Not as much as he misses Holy Night, but he guesses it makes sense they only get that one once a year. At seven, he still needs to stand on the wooden prayer kneelers so he can see. 

He tries his best to pay attention to the homily, but he gets distracted by a stained glass window he hadn’t noticed before. They must’ve moved the lighting around, because it’s in a corner that never gets lit up enough to distinguish the colors. In it, a man with white-gray beard and closed eyes embraces another figure. Jason can’t tell who the other person is -- only the back of their head is visible. Off of their brown hair, though, he can guess they’re probably younger than the old man. He wonders which story this window tells. Maybe it’s Abraham and his son. That’s probably what it is, Abraham is kind of a big deal. He almost nudges his mom to ask her, but she looks stricken by whatever the priest is talking about.

Jason figures it’s probably a sign to tune back in, but it’s just the usual, something about God having given up his only son for the world. Jason’s not sure why his mom is making that face. As far as he’s concerned, that’s old news.

She must feel his confusion somehow, because she reaches out and gently strokes his hair, and smiles at him. Her smile’s a little wobbly, though. 

On their way back from mass, Jason can’t help it.

“I don’t understand, mom,” he blurts out, “sometimes it just feels like they’re always telling us the same stuff over and over.”

“Yeah.” His mom pauses, squeezing his hand. “Yeah, I get what you mean. But, you know, with really complicated things you can’t just have been told about them once. Remember when Ms. Martinez taught your class fractions? You told me Allie hadn’t understood them until a month later, and you’d all spent that entire month working on them! Imagine if you hadn’t.”

“I guess.” Jason hadn’t needed an entire month to figure out the fraction stuff, even though he was a year younger than everybody else. Maybe that’s why his dad skips out on mass.

They’re right in front of their apartment building, so Mom drops his hand to dig out for the keys. She opens the door, and he runs up the stairs, because he’s sure she’ll stop to talk to Mrs. Miller for forever. Maybe his dad had made the fancy potato dish that none of the neighbors could figure out how to replicate. It was Sunday, after all.

When he gets there, though, he can’t smell anything. His dad opens the door. He looks tired, even though it’s noon. The official reason as to why he hadn’t come to mass was that he had to finish filling out a bunch of papers for his work -- or something like that, Jason hadn’t really been paying attention. Mom hadn’t really asked him to come, to be fair. She’d just stated, “we’re going, Willis,” and he’d raised her head and told them, okay, he’d make lunch after he’d finished going through this one part.  

“Hey dad.” Jason tilts his head. He remembers a big deal about Dad having to be away for the fun part of last December, and realizes that, with the exception of Easter a few months ago, his father hadn’t gone to church in at least over a year. He scrunches up his face. “Uh, I’ll open up for mom.”

His dad nods and walks back to the table, where there’s papers laid out everywhere. 

If Jason had to choose between Christmas and Easter, he wouldn’t have made the same choice his father had. Christmas is, like, the beginning of everything. There’s a child and that child is going to save the world. On top of that everyone gets presents. Easter’s after everyone’s messed up. In Jason’s eyes, the chocolate can’t fix that, because even the child coming back doesn’t fix that.

“Why’d you come with us for Easter?”

His dad looks at him silently for a few seconds. Jason prepares himself to be scolded and told that his father’s busy right now, but instead, a hint of a smile tugs at Dad’s mouth. “Just in case.”

Jason’s only been back in Gotham for a couple of days when he finds his footsteps bringing him back to his childhood church. The weather’s horrendous outside, and the whole crime stuff he’s been setting up is a later in the day endeavor -- or much earlier, now that he’s thinking about it -- so he tells himself it’s purely out of convenience when he pushes the doors open. 

“-- Bring the best robe and put it on him,” the deep, raspy tones echo. He must’ve just caught the last few parts of the Gospel reading. He’s surprised to realize he can’t remember the name of the priest back then, but he’s sure the voice differs. This new guy must smoke a pack a day. 

Jason strides in, moving towards one of the back rows towards the left side of the church. Everything looks a lot darker. Maybe Gotham’s humidity’s finally gotten to the wood. Maybe Jason’s just older now.

On his left, there’s a stained window that feels vaguely familiar. Due to the rain, it’s a little difficult to distinguish the figures, but after a few seconds of staring he can make out an old man holding a younger one. It’s probably not Abraham and his son, otherwise there’d be an angel and maybe a sheep. Instead, he finds a third silhouette, distinctly human, in the background. Almost like -- like another son.

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in,” the priest continues. “So his father went out and pleaded with him.”

Jason knows this story. It’s not one he’d ever cared much for. When he was a child, Jason couldn’t imagine a world where he’d leave this neighborhood, nevermind his parents or the church. But he remembers being eight and angry for the older brother, like everybody else. 

His mother told him back then it had nothing to do with the brother. It’s never too late to be forgiven. He’ll always forgive you, if you just come back. Jason had scoffed. He’d always been slightly pedantic. Of course it can be too late, mom. What if you die? You can’t ask for forgiveness then. 

“‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’”

His mom had smiled at him. But death isn’t the end. 

Right. Jason stands up. The wood scrapes on the tiling and echoes in a way that would have made him flinch all those years ago. Death isn’t the end.

On the dirty, bloody warehouse floor in Ethiopia, Jason had prayed. He’d covered Sheila with his body, but all he could think about was the memory of his mom, her grave voice, the crows’ feet next to her eyes. He hadn’t gone to church in years. What had he wanted from this last prayer? For Bruce to get there in time to save him? For forgiveness? Forgiveness because he hadn’t believed, or forgiveness because he had?

“‘But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again.”

It hits Jason like the picture of a smiling stranger in the colors his corpse should’ve been buried with. Death isn’t the end. But things end anyways. Briefly, he thinks of Bruce, considers shattering the stained glass, and finally --

“-- he was lost --’”

Jason walks out.