#her @ ms babylon the great .

[gashface]

Hey team,

Great to see you all out there on the field, submitting incredible edits this week! WOWIE! Thank you all for your time and thought spent on this week's edits, all of them were great!

Before we get to the results, we bid farewell to two of our beautiful models.

Mandy by @skaterboisims

And

Dawn Pepper by @bigppton-jpeg

Thank you for entering the competition, while it is sad to see you guys go, we wish you nothing but the best <3

Now onto the results! This week I was looking for themes based around the idea of a "homerun" This could be sports or even something outside the box with this phrase.

Charline Morel by @cyazurai

Baseball is one of the few sports where a fan has the opportunity to take away a physical memory. A moment frozen in time, in the form of a baseball. When a foul ball sails through the air, up, up over the heads of players and fans alike, an excited fan has the opportunity to pluck it straight out of the air (as long as it doesn’t crash into their face first). Some bring catcher’s mitts to increase their odds of being The One to catch the ball, and others improvise with baseball caps. Some are young, some are old, but the wonder in their eyes is all the same. Because that ball is undeniably special - it was a part of the action. A piece of the game, broken free, for someone to catch. Something that almost every player has interacted with - even the team you aren’t there to see. That ball embodies the hopes and dreams of every player on that field, as well as every single fan in the stands, and when a fan catches it they feel a rush of emotion. Excitement. Joy. Disbelief. Then they have the choice whether to keep that joy and excitement all to themselves, or give it away to a younger fan and spread the joy. No matter what, catching a foul ball can be a magical experience for fans, and make them feel like they were the ones to hit the Home Run.

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 5/10

STORY: 8/10

EXECUTION: 9/10

STYLE: 8/10

Parker Winston by @morgynemberisagenderfluiddaddy

As a vampire hunter, I like to get a little creative with my weapons. A silver barbed bat might not be the most effective, but it pisses of the vamps, it amuses the hell outta me, and hey they call me a vampire bat for a reason. Also, for those wondering; yeah, I pitch as good as I hit ;) Swing batter, batter! - Parker &lt;3

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 5/10

STORY: 7/10

EXECUTION: 9/10

STYLE: 8/10

Ember Arendse by @wolfrynn313

Ember: "When I saw this week's prompt I thought: Well I don't know my way around a 'Homerun!', but I do know my way around a K.O! My Dad made it his personal mission to make sure that my brothers and I knew how to defend ourselves should we ever need to. I decided to have some action shots taken f.t my younger brother Phoenix." (Disclaimer, no siblings were harmed in the making of this shoot)

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 8/10

STORY: 7/10

EXECUTION: 7/10

STYLE: 6/10

Babylon Fleur Beppu by @everythingtapioca

Babylon, a petite girl with a fiery spirit, had an unbreakable love for basketball. Despite her size, she dribbled with determination, her tiny frame swiftly dodging towering opponents. The court became her sanctuary, where she defied stereotypes and soared through the air like a shooting star. Every bounce of the ball echoed her dreams. With relentless dedication, she practised tirelessly, her passion igniting a fire within. And when the final buzzer sounded, Babylon's unwavering spirit shone brightly. She may have been small, but her love for the game was colossal. In the world of basketball, she stood tall, inspiring others to reach for the stars.

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 8/10

STORY: 6/10

EXECUTION: 7/10

STYLE: 7/10

Eli Sims by @simsinfinitylt

Eli Sims, a renowned model, was photographed this morning enjoying the Mt. Komorebi mountains. Onlookers can confirm she was like a pro in the board, and everyone was very impressed. It seems Ms Sims was so confident in her skill she was riding the Ludicrous section of the mountain. In other news, after 6 years of the disappearance of Elizabeth Gil, daughter of the owners of Gil Fashion House, her parents are now addressing the matter and they have declared they hired a private investigator to look for their daughter.

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 8/10

STORY: 5/10

EXECUTION: 8/10

STYLE: 9/10

Dillion Carter @mewo-ita

(Home run as in running away inside your home) A once cheerful and beloved doll, Penny Cheerful— is possessed by an entity taking on the appearance of a cake accessory. Her soul is snuffed as it uses the doll’s body to rampage the other toys, causing them to run away in terror from both their former best friend and their toybox home.

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 10/10

STORY: 8/10

EXECUTION: 7/10

STYLE: 8/10

Su-Yen by @dododoesstuffs

I wanted to do a skateboard but I could find good stuff and I still had some skates. So why not combine two of Su-Yen’s hobbies, dancing and skateboarding, and do dancing on skates.

POINTS

ORIGINALITY: 8/10

STORY: 5/10

EXECUTION: 6/10

STYLE: 7/10

Good work everyone! I was very impressed with everyone's edits, once again I want to emphasise please don't let a number define you~! I want people to think outside the box and just have fun ya know! Thank you to everyone who submitted this week, it was so lovely reading all the stories and just seeing how creative you all are~

INFORMATION FOR THE NEXT PROMPT WILL BE RELEASED AROUND 10:00PM AEST 1ST OF JUNE

This week's prompt hint!

That's all guys! Can't wait to see what everyone does for WEEK 3

- Buddy

[cyarskj1899]

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NEWS

Denver Sean

Angela Bassett, Niecy Nash, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and More Win Critics Choice Awards

January 15, 2023 7:40 PM PST

It’s another great night for Black women in entertainment winning awards they rightfully deserve!

The 28th Critics Choice Awards took place at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

Chelsea Handler hosted the CW broadcast, taking over from actor Taye Diggs, who hosted the past four years of the awards ceremony.

Sheryl Lee Ralph took home the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for ‘Abbott Elementary,’ Niecy Nash won Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series for ‘Dahmer,’ Angela Bassett won Best Supporting Actress, Ruth E. Carter won Best Costume Design for her work on ‘Wakanda Forever’ and Zendaya took home Best Actress in a Drama Series.

In a special honor, Janelle Monáe  received the #SeeHer award.

See the evening’s full list of winners below.

Best Picture

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

“RRR” (Variance Films)

“Tár” (Focus Features)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Viola Davis – “The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)

Danielle Deadwyler – “Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing)

Margot Robbie – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Michelle Williams – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Michelle Yeoh – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Best Actor

Brendan Fraser – “The Whale” (A24)

Austin Butler – “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Tom Cruise – “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Colin Farrell – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Paul Mescal – “Aftersun” (A24)

Bill Nighy – “Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best Director

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

James Cameron – “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

Damien Chazelle – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Todd Field – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Baz Luhrmann – “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Sarah Polley – “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Gina Prince-Bythewood – “The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)

S.S. Rajamouli – “RRR” (Variance Films)

Steven Spielberg – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Best Limited Series

“The Dropout” (Hulu)

“Gaslit” (Starz)

“The Girl from Plainville” (Hulu)

“The Offer” (Paramount+)

“Pam & Tommy” (Hulu)

“Station Eleven” (HBO Max)

“This Is Going to Hurt” (AMC+)

“Under the Banner of Heaven” (FX)

Best Drama Series

“Better Call Saul” (AMC)

“Andor” (Disney+)

“Bad Sisters” (Apple TV+)

“The Crown” (Netflix)

“Euphoria” (HBO)

“The Good Fight” (Paramount+)

“House of the Dragon” (HBO)

“Severance” (Apple TV+)

“Yellowstone” (Paramount Network)

Best Young Actor/Actress

Gabriel LaBelle – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Frankie Corio – “Aftersun” (A24)

Jalyn Hall – “Till” (Orion/United Artists Releasing)

Bella Ramsey – “Catherine Called Birdy” (Amazon Studios)

Banks Repeta – “Armageddon Time” (Focus Features)

Sadie Sink – “The Whale” (A24)

Best Comedy

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Bros” (Universal Pictures)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“Triangle of Sadness” (Neon)

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” (Lionsgate)

Best Acting Ensemble

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

“The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

“The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)

“Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Best Talk Show

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO)

“The Amber Ruffin Show” (Peacock)

“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee” (TBS)

“The Kelly Clarkson Show” (Syndicated)

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” (NBC)

“Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen” (Bravo)

Best Comedy Special

“Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special” (Netflix)

“Fortune Feimster: Good Fortune” (Netflix)

“Jerrod Carmichael: Rothaniel” (HBO)

“Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual” (Netflix)

“Nikki Glaser: Good Clean Filth” (HBO)

“Would It Kill You to Laugh? Starring Kate Berlant & John Early” (Peacock)

Best Foreign Language Series

“Pachinko” (Apple TV+)

“1899” (Netflix)

“Borgen” (Netflix)

“Extraordinary Attorney Woo” (Netflix)

“Garcia!” (HBO Max)

“The Kingdom Exodus” (MUBI)

“Kleo” (Netflix)

“My Brilliant Friend” (HBO)

“Tehran” (Apple TV+)

Best Animated Series

“Harley Quinn” (HBO Max)

“Bluey” (Disney+)

“Bob’s Burgers” (Fox)

“Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal” (Adult Swim)

“Star Trek: Lower Decks” (Paramount+)

“Undone” (Prime Video)

Best Movie Made for Television

“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (The Roku Channel)

“Fresh” (Hulu)

“Prey” (Hulu)

“Ray Donovan: The Movie” (Showtime)

“The Survivor” (HBO)

“Three Months” (Paramount+)

Best Actress in a Drama Series

Zendaya – “Euphoria” (HBO)

Christine Baranski – “The Good Fight” (Paramount+)

Sharon Horgan – “Bad Sisters” (Apple TV+)

Laura Linney – “Ozark” (Netflix)

Mandy Moore – “This Is Us” (NBC)

Kelly Reilly – “Yellowstone” (Paramount Network)

Best Actor in a Drama Series

Bob Odenkirk – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

Jeff Bridges – “The Old Man” (FX)

Sterling K. Brown – “This Is Us” (NBC)

Diego Luna – “Andor” (Disney+)

Adam Scott – “Severance” (Apple TV+)

Antony Starr – “The Boys” (Prime Video)

Best Hair and Makeup

“Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

“Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“The Whale” (A24)

Best Visual Effects

“Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

“The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

“RRR” (Variance Films)

“Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Best Editing

Paul Rogers – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Stephen Rivkin, David Brenner, John Refoua, James Cameron – “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

Tom Cross – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Matt Villa, Jonathan Redmond – “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Monika Willi – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Eddie Hamilton – “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Best Production Design 

Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, Vanessa Cole – “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

Hannah Beachler, Lisa K. Sessions – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy, Bev Dunn – “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Jason Kisvarday, Kelsi Ephraim – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Rick Carter, Karen O’Hara – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Best Cinematography

Claudio Miranda – “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

Russell Carpenter – “Avatar: The Way of Water” (20th Century Studios)

Linus Sandgren – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Roger Deakins – “Empire of Light” (Searchlight Pictures)

Janusz Kaminski – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Florian Hoffmeister – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Best Comedy Series

“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

“Barry” (HBO)

“The Bear” (FX)

“Better Things” (FX)

“Ghosts” (CBS)

“Hacks” (HBO Max)

“Reboot” (Hulu)

“Reservation Dogs” (FX)

Best Actress in a Comedy Series

Jean Smart – “Hacks” (HBO Max)

Christina Applegate – “Dead to Me” (Netflix)

Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

Kaley Cuoco – “The Flight Attendant” (HBO Max)

Renée Elise Goldsberry – “Girls5eva” (Peacock)

Devery Jacobs – “Reservation Dogs” (FX)

Best Actor in a Comedy Series

Jeremy Allen White – “The Bear” (FX)

Matt Berry – “What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)

Bill Hader – “Barry” (HBO)

Keegan-Michael Key – “Reboot” (Hulu)

Steve Martin – “Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)

D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai – “Reservation Dogs” (FX)

#SeeHer Award Janelle Monáe Lifetime Achievement Award Jeff Bridges

Best Animated Feature

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)

“Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” (A24)

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” (DreamWorks Animation)

“Turning Red” (Pixar)

“Wendell & Wild” (Netflix)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Daniel Radcliffe – “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story” (The Roku Channel)

Ben Foster – “The Survivor” (HBO)

Andrew Garfield – “Under the Banner of Heaven” (FX)

Samuel L. Jackson – “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” (Apple TV+)

Sebastian Stan – “Pam & Tommy” (Hulu)

Ben Whishaw – “This is Going to Hurt” (AMC+)

Best Costume Design

Ruth E. Carter – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

Mary Zophres – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

Catherine Martin – “Elvis” (Warner Bros.)

Shirley Kurata – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Jenny Eagan – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

Gersha Phillips – “The Woman King” (Sony Pictures)

Best Song

“Naatu Naatu” – “RRR” (Variance Films)

“Lift Me Up” – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

“Ciao Papa” – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)

“Hold My Hand” – “Top Gun: Maverick” (Paramount Pictures)

“Carolina” – “Where the Crawdads Sing” (Sony Pictures)

“New Body Rhumba” – “White Noise” (Netflix)

Best Score

Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Michael Giacchino – “The Batman” (Warner Bros.)

Justin Hurwitz – “Babylon” (Paramount Pictures)

John Williams – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Alexandre Desplat – “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” (Netflix)

Hildur Guðnadóttir – “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Best Original Screenplay

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Charlotte Wells – “Aftersun” (A24)

Martin McDonagh – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Todd Field – “Tár” (Focus Features)

Best Adapted Screenplay

Sarah Polley – “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Rian Johnson – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

Kazuo Ishiguro – “Living” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Rebecca Lenkiewicz – “She Said” (Universal Pictures)

Samuel D. Hunter – “The Whale” (A24)

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett – “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (Marvel Studios)

Jessie Buckley – “Women Talking” (MGM/United Artists Releasing)

Kerry Condon – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Jamie Lee Curtis – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Stephanie Hsu – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Janelle Monáe – “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” (Netflix)

Best Supporting Actor

Ke Huy Quan – “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (A24)

Paul Dano – “The Fabelmans” (Universal Pictures)

Brendan Gleeson – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Judd Hirsch – “The Fabelmans” (Searchlight Pictures)

Barry Keoghan – “The Banshees of Inisherin” (Searchlight Pictures)

Brian Tyree Henry – “Causeway” (A24/Apple Original Films)

Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Henry Winkler – “Barry” (HBO)

Brandon Scott Jones – “Ghosts” (CBS)

Leslie Jordan – “Call Me Kat” (Fox)

James Marsden – “Dead to Me” (Netflix)

Chris Perfetti – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

Tyler James Williams – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Sheryl Lee Ralph – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

Paulina Alexis – “Reservation Dogs” (FX)

Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear” (FX)

Marcia Gay Harden – “Uncoupled” (Netflix)

Janelle James – “Abbott Elementary” (ABC)

Annie Potts – “Young Sheldon” (CBS)

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Paul Walter Hauser – “Black Bird” (Apple TV+)

Murray Bartlett – “Welcome to Chippendales” (Hulu)

Domhnall Gleeson – “The Patient” (FX)

Matthew Goode – “The Offer” (Paramount+)

Ray Liotta – “Black Bird” (Apple TV+)

Shea Whigham – “Gaslit” (Starz)

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television

Niecy Nash-Betts – “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” (Netflix)

Claire Danes – “Fleishman Is in Trouble” (FX)

Dominique Fishback – “The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey” (Apple TV+)

Betty Gilpin – “Gaslit” (Starz)

Melanie Lynskey – “Candy” (Hulu)

Juno Temple – “The Offer” (Paramount+)

Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Giancarlo Esposito – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

Andre Braugher – “The Good Fight” (Paramount+)

Ismael Cruz Córdova – “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” (Prime Video)

Michael Emerson – “Evil” (Paramount+)

John Lithgow – “The Old Man” (FX)

Matt Smith – “House of the Dragon” (HBO)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Coolidge – “The White Lotus” (HBO)

Milly Alcock – “House of the Dragon” (HBO)

Carol Burnett – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

Julia Garner – “Ozark” (Netflix)

Audra McDonald – “The Good Fight” (Paramount+)

Rhea Seehorn – “Better Call Saul” (AMC)

Best Foreign Language Film

“RRR” (Variance Films)

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Netflix)

“Argentina, 1985” (Amazon Studios)

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths” (Netflix)

“Close” (A24)

“Decision to Leave” (Mubi)

Best Actress in a Limited Series or Movie Made For Television

Amanda Seyfried – The Dropout (Hulu)

Julia Garner – “Inventing Anna” (Netflix)

Lily James – “Pam & Tommy” (Hulu)

Amber Midthunder – “Prey” (Hulu)

Julia Roberts – “Gaslit” (Starz)

Michelle Pfeiffer – “The First Lady” (Showtime)

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[allclearsheet]

最近のこと。

2022年12月1日

先週は仕事が忙しくなって神様から遠くなっていましたが、今週はそれも落ち着いてきて、調子を取り戻しつつあります。御言葉も宣布されるようになり、かみしめながら聞いています。山羊と羊に分けられること、終わりの時だから厳しく裁きがなされること、悔い改めて主に縋り付くこと、従順に従うこと、ど���も心に刺さります。

自己中心、怠惰、御言葉をつまみ食いしてる、100%全力じゃなかった、周りの環境、人のせいにして、自分が変わろうとしてなかった、利己的、明け方が中途半端、自分のために生きてしまっていた、raptさんのためにしっかりと祈ってなかった、溢れてくる自分の罪に耐えきれなくなりそうになりました。そんな中でも、祈ると愛しているのだから、倒れることなく、励むように伝わってきました。神様の愛のなんと深いことでしょうか。神様の愛があれば、強くなれます。

２０２３年から千年王国が始まると預言されています。私はそれに入ろうと思って意識して走ってきたわけではありませんでした。祝福ばかり求めるのも何か違うかなと思ってしまっていたのです。自分など駄目だと思ってしまっていたのです。神様は救いを真剣に願っているのに、自分が自分の救いに真剣じゃなかったことを悔い改めます。

祝祭の日を通して神様が教えてくれた、神様の愛を妨げるものを取り除きたいので、生活を改めたいと願っています。ただ、そのためにどこへ行けばいいのか、何の仕事をすればいいのか、どう生活すればいいのか、まださっぱりな状態です。もっと私にやってほしいことがあるかもしれないと思って神様に委ねて祈り求めて見つけ出したいと思っています。

兄弟姉妹たち一人一人がこの終わりの時に世の中の混乱や裁きに巻き込まれることなく、神様とつながって生きることができるように願います。厳しい裁きの御言葉が宣布されている中、兄弟姉妹達ひとりひとりの投稿から聖霊を感じて涙する、神様の思いがより深まることが多々あり、助けられています。

大バビロンである中国共産党が速やかに滅び去りますように。滅びの日が定められているという御言葉を聞いてうれしくなりました。地上天国が来るならば、神様、どうかこの悪なる時代を終わらせてください。人類をどうか救ってください。

最後まで諦めることなく祈り続けたいと思います。

deeplで翻訳してみました。

Recent.

Last week I was busy with work and was away from God, but this week that has calmed down and I am getting back on track. The Word of God is also being proclaimed, and I am listening to it as I chew on it. The things about being divided into goats and sheep, the fact that judgment will be severe because it is the end times, repentance and clinging to the Lord, obedience, and following obediently, all of these things are piercing my heart.

Self-centeredness, laziness, eating up the Word, not giving 100% effort, blaming the environment and people around me, not trying to change, selfishness, half-heartedness in the way of dawn, living for myself, not praying for Ms. Rapt, and enduring my overflowing sins.... I was almost unable to bear my overflowing sins. In the midst of all this, I prayed and was conveyed to encourage her without collapsing because I loved her. How deep God's love is! With God's love, we can be strong.

It is prophesied that the Millennial Kingdom will begin in 2023. I did not consciously run with the intention of entering it. I thought that it would be different if I only sought blessings. I thought I was not good enough. I repent that I was not serious about my salvation, even though God is serious about salvation.

I want to change my life because I want to remove the obstacles to God's love that He has taught me through the feast days. However, I still have no idea where to go to do this, what job to do, or how to live my life. I want to leave it to God and pray and seek to find out if there might be something more he wants me to do.

I hope that each of my brothers and sisters will be able to live connected to God and not be caught up in the confusion and judgment of the world in these end times. While the word of severe judgment is being proclaimed, I often feel the Holy Spirit in the posts of each of my brothers and sisters and weep, and God's thoughts are deepened and I am being helped.

May the Chinese Communist Party, the Great Babylon, be destroyed quickly. I am glad to hear the Word that the day of destruction is appointed. If Heaven on Earth is coming, God, please put an end to this evil age. Please save mankind.

I will continue to pray without giving up until the end.

[ddagent]

BREEN :)

John/Delenn Weekend Promptathon | Read at AO3

General John Sheridan sat in his office in Geneva, fiddling with the Starfury model on his desk. He tried to recall the last time he’d been in a Starfury and, with great disappointment, realised he couldn’t. Leaning back in his chair, John let out a deep sigh. Where was the challenge? Where was the problem to be solved? Since the early days of the Minbari war, it seemed as if his career had been mapped out ahead of him: XO of the Prometheus, CO of Io, CO of the Agamemnon. He’d spent three years on an explorer class vessel before promotion after promotion had led him here. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Rank. Medals. And not a damn thing else to show for it.

Two raps echoed through his office. His aide, Lily, entered. “General, Satai Delenn is here to see you.”

“Thank you, Ms Waters.”

She smiled brightly at him before slipping back out of his office. At least his meeting with a Minbari Satai would be something to keep his mind off his near-constant boredom – and his divorce. He’d met a few Minbari since the end of the war; they had greeted him with disdain, distrust and disinterest in equal measure. He had no doubt that Satai Delenn would be the same. Her government was hoping to create stronger ties with the Earth Alliance, years after the aborted Babylon Project. Better late than never, John mused as he straightened his dress uniform and prepared to greet the Satai.

Lily entered first; the Satai followed. “General, may I introduce Satai Delenn. Satai, General John Sheridan.”

John’s mouth fell open and refused to pick itself back up. Any member of Earthforce would have had the exact same reaction: Satai Delenn was partly human. Dark hair, woven with grey, curled lightly atop her shoulders; her brow was less pronounced, a half bone crest wrapped around her skull. Her robes were a vivid plum – the most colourful thing in his drab office. But the shock of her part-Human appearance was not just why John kept staring. She was also the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Eyes that missed nothing; full lips that thinned at his blatant rudeness. John tripped over himself to offer his hand and his welcome. Lily, who had been nursing an obvious crush on him for the three years that she had been his aide, stared at him like he had the bone crest.

John ignored it all in favour of the Satai. “Hello. I’m John. John Sheridan.” He coughed, finally closed his trap, and straightened his jacket. “General. John. Sheridan.” What the hell is wrong with you?

“General. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“And yours.” He shook her hand for what felt like the ninth time, John quickly pulling his back by his side. “Welcome to Earth. I believe we’re scheduled for a tour of the dome today, dinner with the President this evening, and then talks will begin tomorrow.”

Satai Delenn inclined her head in acceptance; those bright eyes growing glassy. “Those were the arrangements made, I believe.”

Staring at the Satai, John saw someone who was equallybored; someone who had met all expectations and still found life wanting. What the hell? “About three blocks from here is a market; they sell the most amazing oranges. You hungry?”

His aide looked scandalised. Satai Delenn, however, seemed enthralled by the prospect. “Yes.”

Good. He was hungry too. Had been for the longest time.

[rottenczar]

Tag List

https://rottenczar.tumblr.com/tagged/

The World (I use modified UN geoscheme [x])

Africa

Northern Africa

Western Africa

Central Africa

Eastern Africa

Southern Africa

Asia

Central Asia

East Asia

South Asia

Southeast Asia

West Asia

Europe

Western Europe

Northern Europe

Eastern Europe

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Seasons

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Concept Tags

Misc

I rebel; therefore I exist - (Camus) absurdism tag rolling the bones - dice  mandarin, clementine, tangerine - citrus  I know this is all very boring - (Wendy Cope) ode to a simple life internet poetry - for accidental wordsmithing the fish rots from the head down - generational trauma the nature of man

on God/religion

God is on the loose - (Mohja Kahf) God is all around us and his death was the life of the world - God is dead, long live the world (Mainlander) God is typing... God-shaped hole become as Gods queering the divine - An exaltation to the faith the eye of providence - the ever watching eye

on evil/the Devil

all right, I’ll go to hell then - Embrace damnation (Twain) evil is always possible - (Anne Rice) speak of the Devil 

on love

cultivated love  the sea that floods is love - (Elizabeth Smart) heart of stone ...you burn me... - (Sappho) the banks of familiar rivers - (A misread of Milosz) a horrible hunger - (Bela Lugosi)

on time

wormhole - time folds in on itself greener looking time - (dodie)

on death

no grave can hold my body down - I’ll crawl home to her (Hozier) dust to dust - earth to earth, ashes to ashes death was singing in the shower - (Tom Robbins)

on woman/girlhood

Babylon the Great - Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth (Bible)

on pain

the parting glass - So it falls that I should rise, and you should not It’s called: Freefall - (Rainbow Kitten Surprise)

on identity

growth is inevitable - it is the only way Identity is a vector - (Lee Lozano) αρχω - I rule

creatures/people

phlebotomists - vampires and vampires a merry life and a short one - (Black Bart) pirates double, double, toil, and trouble - (Shakespeare) witches smoky old pool rooms and clear mountain mornings - cowboys something wicked this way rides - witch/cowboy wizard council - wizards mechanical lifeforms - robots dr beaky and co - plague doctors

nature

deep deep down in the rivers bed - (Marinetti) I have loved the stars too fondly -  do you love the color of the sky? - pretty skylines the flaming banner of the North - (Albert Laighton) aurora borealis a blanket made of stars - (The Chicks) the blue marble - earth selene - moon sol - sun swimming in chicken soup - (Kurt Vonnegut) ocean an ocean and then some - (Dan Egan) GREAT LAKES GANG

americana

the new American gothic American gothic

[arcadianambivalence]

Babylon Berlin, S3E6

There are times when I get so invested in these characters or weary of their futures, I can spend half an episode with my heart in my throat.  

This was one of those episodes, packed with some rather seamless character introductions, chilling historical references, and a few moments of unexpected and touching bravery.

Spoilers under the cut

Katelbach’s article on the secret rearmament is about to be published on the first page of Tempo Editorial so everyone can see that the Treaty of Versailles is being broken. But amidst this victory, the ring of a telephone cuts in.  A team of SA members is on their way to destroy the article—and Katelbach.

Richard “Fritz” and Horst “Otto” are included.  Their boss, Stennes, leads the abuse of staff members, destruction of property, and other intimidation tactics.

The editor, Heymann, gives Katelbach the original documents, then stalls the oncoming SA members long enough for Samuel to escape. Heymann is then violently beaten in front of his staff as a threat against releasing any more information.

It is the day after General Seegers (remember him?) has taken control of the military.  His daughter, Marie-Luise “Malu,” ruffles at the sudden increase in the army’s status and regulations.  She also does not agree with her dad’s principles.  She’s a law student, a few years shy of being recognized as an adult capable of making her own decisions, and she (secretly?) works for Red Aid.  

SEEGERS: “German law dictates my responsibility to care for you and your duty to obey.”

MALU: “What do you know about German law?  As a lawyer, I can tell you—“

SEEGERS: “You’re a third-year student.”  (English dub says it’s her third semester.  That’s a big difference in translation.)

MALU: “That’s long enough to know that a separation of the official and private spheres must be maintained in all areas of civil life.  Except in your parallel universe of order and submission.”

Helga mistrusts the Nazi party, but Moritz only sees it for its youth programs.  In fact, he wants to go on a trip with some new friends.  His mom argues against it: “It’s important to give back to your community, not just take.”  When Moritz lets slip that this is like practice for the military, Helga immediately puts her foot down.  She didn’t live through a war just to have her son want another one.

Meanwhile, Gereon is fine with Moritz’s boy’s group, although I imagine there are some things Moritz conveniently forgot to tell him. Moritz also wants to move in with Fun Uncle Gereon who treats him like an adult but without the responsibility.  (I’m starting to see how this may be a reaction to how Gereon was raised…)  I could write a meta on what this episode says about the generations.

Gereon tries to contact everyone in the list of lawyers, reporters, and engineers (all the great thinkers and researchers) Graf uncovered, but as he goes down the list, he discovers with rising horror just how many people have been arrested and brutalized or even killed already.  One man not yet crossed off the list?  Hans Litten.

After his name was mentioned in almost every episode, we finally, finally, meet Litten, lawyer for Red Aid and another fascinating historical figure.  Lotte asks him to get an appeal for Greta, and Litten (despite a massive backlog of other cases of injustice) takes her on.  He’s not concerned about money, few of his clients can pay anyway, which is a relief to Lotte.

In a brief scene, we’re reminded once again that Zorgibel is not doing well.  (One interesting thing about many Weimar politicians and officials is how many of them died relatively young.  Would history have been different if more of them lived longer?)

Meanwhile, Gereon and Graf discover Fritz and Otto’s real names and link them to Benda’s murder.  Gereon goes to Horst’s apartment to question him (and guess who recruited Moritz’s youth group?), but Horst is busy trying to break into Elisabeth’s house and seize Katelbach.

True to her promise last episode, Elisabeth hides Samuel.  She uses a wardrobe with a false back to cover the door to his room, obscuring the door from view and keeping anyone from seeing any of Katelbach’s papers.  And if that isn’t impressive enough, she agrees to take the evidence back to Heymann for publishing that very day.  

Needless to say, Katelbach is supremely grateful to her.  

(Perhaps their Old Married Couple banter can become Actual Married Couple banter…I can dream, can’t I?)

Remember the doctor’s visit back in episode one?  Helga finally gets the results.  She’s pregnant.  So that’s yet another thing for her to worry about in the future that, more and more, does not have Gereon in it.  

And one more thing to drive her closer to accepting Nyssen, not that he’s even remotely a good choice.  

Ms. Nyssen is embarrassed by her son.  He’s literally kept out of view in some parties.  (The speed at which he latched onto feeling like he represented a “betrayed” Germany is becoming clearer with each appearance he makes).  

Marie-Luise and her sister swap seating arrangements so she can subtly get information from Wendt.  (Speaking of which...what kind of age gap is this?  It’s clearly set up that she’s flirting for information, but if she’s not technically at the age of majority, this seems wildly inappropriate).

He quotes the conservative Ernest Junger.  She shoots back with philosopher Walter Benjamin.  I’d call this two readers flirting, but refer to the previous paragraph.  

And both want to win the conversation more than win each other.  Wendt’s speech to the party seems to be directed down at her in particular.

In a private meeting with other conspirators, Wendt suggests the NSDAP use Nazis to intimidate their enemies and demoralize the people.  The military men are not interested in this plan.  

After a very long absence from this show, Gustav Stresemann arrives to interrupt their meeting and propose a union, which is a puzzling turn of events.  Wasn’t the real Stresemann supposed to be championing the Young Plan at this point, you know, the kind of foreign “interference” these guys would hate?  Or does this represent how he didn’t come down hard enough on the rearmament?  Or does this have to do with Poland? 

But let’s return to the season’s mystery thread.

While reviewing notes from the film case, Lotte realizes Vera lied in an official statement (no surprise to us).  When she confronts Vera (who is still staying at her apartment), Vera reveals Walter pressured her to lie and that she is in grave danger for speaking to Charlotte.  

All clues seem to point to Walter, but even he does not live without fear.  Esther makes her play to star in the movie, which Walter rejects.  “You’re the wife of Edgar Kasabian, the Armenian,” he protests, to which she throws a vase at him and completely shatters his nonchalance about his boss’s wife. 

The threat is silent: Yes, I am the wife of the Armenian, and don’t you forget it.

Suddenly, the Phantom of Wittenburg seems to have been acting with a particular goal, no?

Notes:

The famous journalist Kurt Tucholsky (aka Theobald Tieger, among many other aliases) is mentioned at the beginning of the episode.

Marie-Luise quotes Walter Benjamin, a philosopher and essayist known for “On the Concept of History.”  Benjamin lived in Berlin until the Nazis’ rise to power, after which he settled in Paris, but he could not escape persecution for being Jewish there, either. He committed suicide in 1940 when turned back from the France-Spain border while trying to cross Spain to neutral Portugal.

Wendt quotes Ernst Junger, known for the WWI memoir Storm of Steel (the anti-All Quiet on the Western Front, if you will). 

Gustav Stresemann was a statesman remembered for his part in the Kellogg-Briand Pact that made peaceful resolutions seem possible.  He was very good at making friends in unlikely places, although the desire to reduce reparations was generally at the root of his choices, which I assume is the end goal of this fictional version, too.

[myrecordcollections]

Jane Birkin & Serge Gainsbourg

Beautiful Love

@ 1968 US Pressing

******

Jane Birkin was the longtime muse and partner of the classic French songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. And from the moment they recorded “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus,” a cheerfully (and explicitly) erotic duet that became a major succès de scandale, she became one of his greatest interpreters. Even after their breakup, she continued to sing the songs he wrote for her in her delicate, vulnerable voice.

Ms. Birkin enjoyed an acting career that took her from a bit part in Antonioni’s “Blow-Up” to film and stage work with Agnès Varda and Patrice Chéreau. And, of course, her beauty and style transfixed generations of fashionistas, and inspired the pricey Birkin bag from Hermès.

Now, at 71, Ms. Birkin is taking on a new challenge. She recently recorded a set of Gainsbourg songs, accompanied by a full orchestra, for the album “Birkin/Gainsbourg: Le Symphonique,” and is now on a world tour with them that will bring her to Carnegie Hall on Thursday.

In a telephone interview, she suggested that the idea was not as odd as it sounds — noting that Gainsbourg was known to incorporate melodies by Chopin, Brahms and Grieg — and spoke candidly about love, art and loss. Here are edited excerpts from the conversation.

Ms. Birkin performing Gainsbourg’s songs with full orchestra last year in Paris. Ms. Birkin performing Gainsbourg’s songs with full orchestra last year in Paris.Credit...Laurent Viteur/WireImage You’re really the keeper of the Gainsbourg flame. What is it about his songs that continues to fascinate?

I would have thought that he was probably France’s most modern writer: He invented a new language, he cut words in two like Cole Porter. He didn’t just have one phase, like other great French writers, who stayed in the same sort of mode. He never stopped running ahead. It was amazing that he was popular at all, given that he was so far ahead of his time.

He wrote for me from 1968 until the day he died [in 1991]. They’re not always the most well known, the songs that I sang, but they’re among the most beautiful. And the most tear-jerky, in a way, was when I left him. Why he went on asking me to interpret the songs that I had inspired I don’t know — but perhaps he knew that I’d be faithful at least to that.

The idea of taking the songs — which are so rooted in different styles, from pop to chanson to yé-yé to reggae — and making them orchestral sounds counterintuitive. But I understand classical music was important to him. How so?

A lot of the songs he wrote, not only for me but for others, were from classical music. So “Jane B.” was Chopin.

Whenever he wanted to give us something really beautiful, he sometimes wrote it on classical music — perhaps out of a sort of modesty, of always being so admiring of classical work that somehow he wanted to give us the best. From his pianist days — he was a pianist at a bar in Le Touquet [a seaside town in northern France], and his father was a classical musician — it was from his upbringing that he knew so much about classical music. Brahms was “Baby Alone in Babylone.”

Did he listen to much classical music?

He did when his mother died. He had bouts of wanting to be sad, and then he would put on classical music. Glenn Gould he always had under his elbow. And he had, on his little table, a picture of Chopin, and Chopin’s hand.

Is it harder or simpler to sing songs that were written for you, that must bring up so many memories?

When he first gave them to me, they were personal — and then I was not necessarily the best receiver. I sometimes thought that he had a hidden message. And, actually, when I listen to the words now, they’re even more beautiful than I understood then. Many sad things have happened now, like Kate [one of her daughters, who died in 2013]. So if I think of anything, I sometimes think of her.

It sounds as if this project had its roots in that tragedy.

I wasn’t very good on my own. I didn’t know what to do. I realized the importance of going into other people’s lives, of going to the cinema — I’d sometimes see three, four films a day, sometimes see two, three plays a week. To understand other people’s stories, not to think about yourself so much. It helps, other people’s stories. Somehow singing Serge’s songs, and knowing that people would have memories, probably about when I sang them first, that’s rather nice.

What was it like recording a sexually charged song like “Je T’Aime … Moi Non Plus,” knowing it was written for Gainsbourg’s ex, Brigitte Bardot, who did not want their recording of it released because she was married to someone else? Was that strange?

No, no — I didn’t want anybody else to sing it! Serge rang me up years after that and he said, “I’ve got some bad news for you.” And I said: “What? Say it quickly, then.” And he said, “Brigitte’s been on the phone and she wants to bring out ‘Je T’Aime’ — her version.” I remember thinking that that was quite just and proper, because it was her song. I still find her version very troubling — it’s a lovely and gorgeous version — so, if anything, I have to thank her for not wanting it to come out.

I understand you plan to publish your diaries?

Yes, I’m trying to translate them into French, even now. There are funny things, charming things with Serge — but pretty depressing personal stuff. It was much more about how disheartened I was, of not being pretty.

From the outside looking in, that’s hard to believe. Few people have been more glamorous, or more universally considered beautiful.

I know it must be annoying when people say that — I’ve read about really beautiful people saying, “Well, I didn’t think I was much,” and I think, “Oh God, with looks like that, I could have sunk a ship.” It’s true that if you’re not with the person you love, and they’re not looking at you, then it doesn’t matter what you look like.

NY Times 

[ozma914]

movie review: Zombieland: Double Tap

Has it really been ten years since Zombieland came out?

Wow. That explains why Little Rock doesn't look little anymore.

When we last saw our four friends, they'd just escaped certain death at an amusement park on the West Coast. Well, the great thing about the zombie apocalypse is that zombies don't drive, so a cross-county road trip would have way less traffic.

Our friends Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg, also our narrator), Whichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) have taken advantage of that, and ended up in a new, secure home across the country: The White House.

But all is not well with our little family. Little Rock was eleven when the apocalypse hit, and is frustrated at still being treated like a kid, and by the lack of people her own age. Tallahassee is aching to be on the road again. And while Columbus and Wichita seem a happy couple, she freaks out when he presents her with an engagement ring: specifically, the Hope Diamond. (Half the fun of the early scenes involve the gang hanging out in Washington, mostly at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.)

Soon the group is split up and on the road again, avoiding new and more dangerous zombies and headed (by way of Graceland) toward a hippie paradise called Babylon. There anyone who enters is made to melt down their weapons, before they enter "paradise". You know that won't end well, and sure enough, they soon have to defend their domain from an army of the undead.

Zombieland: Double Tap is exactly what we need from a comedy these days: Humor, unencumbered by political correctness. We're treated with new characters along the way, including laid back stoner pacifist Berkeley (Avan Jogia), and ditzy Madison (Zoey Deutch, who I nominate for funniest dumb blonde ever). They're both people who by rights shouldn't have survived this long, but we get to be treated to our main characters' reaction to them.

We also get Rosario Dawson as the kick-ass proprietor of an Elvis Presley themed motel, and a strangely familiar duo (Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch), as well as a few unexpected appearances that are loads of fun.

In fact, maybe that's what Zombieland: Double Tap should be compared to: Buckets of bloody fun. And guts. There's a lot of shooting and zombie killing, plenty of action, and most of it is oh, so funny, in a gross sort of way. You can skip the end credits scene if you want to, but please, please stay for the mid-credits scene.

My Score:

Entertainment Value:  4 out of 4 M&Ms. The good brown ones.

Oscar Potential:  1 out of 4 M&Ms. Three Oscar nominees and one Oscar winner, and--no, wait. Four Oscar nominees and one winner, but they're having way too much fun. Good production work, too, but hey--zombie movie.

[re-readingcomics]

Reflections on New York Comic Con 2013

This was my first time, it was also the only time I got tickets with anyone.  (One of my cousins, we actually didn’t see much of each other in the Con. His big thing was he wanted Stan Lee’s autograph. I wanted to see a lot. When I later did get Stan Lee’s autograph I missed several things I considered seeing. But that was years later. So here are the tweets I sent and the time and what I think about them now.

Serious answers, it takes a lot of effort to keep track of when and where comics people are doing signings, especially if they aren’t in Artist Alley. Pay attention to their social media, their publisher’s social media and any other organization that they’re doing events with. Non-Artist Alley signing are scheduled by the convention, expensive, and require you to spend a lot of time online.

I honestly don’t remember what else I was doing then. I was a few months at the job that I currently have and I may have started a task that was much longer than anyone anticipated. I don’t want to think about that now, probably wanted less then.

I didn’t get to see him. It was a crazy day. Reading about his panel was the first time I heard of Sense8. I’ll always wonder if Sense8 would have felt more like a Babylon 5 follow up if it had run longer.

I dressed as the Creeper. I chose this because of the recently re-released mini series Beware the Creeper, which I got because I liked Cliff Chaing’s art on Wonder Woman. Chaing was one of the first people I saw at that convention, and one of the people I have seen most regularly. The next year I saw someone in a much more ornate Creeper costume, more of the Steve Ditko version, and it made my jaw drop.

Several times at this convention I was mistaken for Poison Ivy, including with some Cat Calling. I mostly corrected them. Let no one call me a “fake geek girl.”

This is the only time I’ve gotten to meet Kelly Sue DeConnick, though I’m going to have another chance soon at Book Con. It was at an Image Comics booth, a few weeks before the first issue of Pretty Deadly was published. (At the time I was hoping that they would have preview issues available.) Everyone on line had things she worked on for other publishers. I had the first two trade paperbacks of her Captain Marvel run, and the guy either in front or behind me had the individual issues for the first part of her Dark Horse Ghost run. I mentioned that  I hadn’t read it and he reacted incredulously. I have since read all of DeConnick’s Ghost run and what was collected by Dark Horse in Ghost Omnibus vol 1. I wrote about the two launches of the series at Women Write About Comics.

The guy with the Ghost comics made a comment about why some character, maybe Carol Danvers?, didn’t smile more on covers. DeConnick immediately got into a “do you know what an aggressive and condescending thing that is to say?” (Not her exact words, but also this was the first he heard of it.) I pointed out the then still raising funds on Kickstarter art project “Stop Telling Women to Smile”. DeConnick hadn’t heard of it, so I tweeted to her about it later. I have no idea if she ever looked at it.

I don’t remember this scene in Once Upon a Time. This was during the third season, with the Peter Pan plot, in  my opinion the best plot the show did, (though I gave up during the Frozen plot despite really liking the cast) Jennifer Morrison was there, she lobbied on behalf of a cosplayer for her character to get a ball gown so that future cosplayers could dress like her.

After the OUAT panel, I rushed up to the main Show Floor to get to the Oni Comics Booth. I went there to meet Brian Woods and get him to sign his miniseries Mara (technically published by Image Comics.) I had decided to read this after scanning through an DC Women Kicking Ass where there were posts excited about his  all female X-Men book. I haven’t followed DC Women Kicking Ass for a while, so I don’t know what their current content is like, but at the time, they were very into the backlash of the DC relaunch known as The New 52. A lot of the criticism from DC Women Kicking Ass was about the lack of female characters who made the transition, possible demotions of importance in their titles and the lack of female creators. So the dominant tone of their coverage of Woods was “this guy gets it while DC keeps fucking up.” I had a fine and pleasant time meeting Woods. However, shortly after NYCC that year, news broke that he was a serial sexual harasser. The news was shocking, and the next year I would have a similar pleasant encounter with a male creator who was then revealed to be abusive, but I’ll get to that later.

I do want to note that this year Marvel announced a few new titles starring female characters and some with female creators. (in retrospect the most important was Ms Marvel written by G Willow Wilson). There was some talk about how they were doing better than DC, when in fact, this got both of their numbers about even, especially if you count Vertigo, as I do. This has led me to a couple of conclusions,. The first is that roll out is probably the most important thing, if one is trying to look like an inclusive publisher without actually being one. DC relaunched every title they published bringing attention to the fact that few were starring and/or created by women and/or people of color, while Marvel launched a few titles that fit that description and got lauded. A few years later, when Marvel relaunched their entire line, they were rightly criticized, as DC was during the New 52. The second is the fact that there are The Big Two and they’re being rivals is bad for the cause of gender and racial equality in comics, because no criticism of one can be read without thinking it’s praise for the other, and that essentially leaves both off the hook. Anyway, here’s a criticism of Woods’s X-Men run.

I went to two other panels that day, both were run by DC Comics. The first, which was about continued promotion of The New 52 was controversial. It even got mentioned in this book about Wonder Woman I read, but honestly I don’t remember it being as egregious as discussed there. The book says that the people from DC gave expensive gifts to people who asked flattering questions and nothing to those who were critical of how the company was treating it’s female characters. I remember everyone who asked questions getting gifts. After the convention I did meet a couple of people who were at the panel and were very upset about how they addressed questions about Wonder Woman’s costume (they tried giving her pants and making it less skimpy, then got even more complaints than keeping her more traditional costume) and after debuting some covers of upcoming issues, Cliff Chiang quipped about how it was always good if you could get some bondage in a Wonder Woman cover.

(Here are the covers if interested:

I’m selling it in my eBay store along with other comics that I had autographed.)

Part of why I feel pretty sure people got prizes for unflattering questions is because…

I got one from the Vertigo panel, and my question wasn’t great.  I tried to ask a process question, which was essentially when do you know if a series is better for a limited or indefinite run. But I think I said it unclearly. The answer I got was no great, but the Nexus was. I kept it until a few months ago when I broke it and could no longer replace the parts.  (I don’t know why in the tweet I couldn’t decide if I I was writing “won” or “one” and decided to split the difference. Maybe, because of the circumstances, it didn’t exactly feel like a prize.)  Anyway, in later years, they no longer gave such gifts to people asking questions. I’m sadder that none to the titles that Vertigo had recently released around then  and was promoting at the event (FBP, Hinterland, Coffin Hill, even the relaunching of American Vampire) are still around. It’s a shame, I followed most of them.

[purficklyclean]

Yuletide Recs, Part One

I was on vacation all week for once and so I’ve really dived into Yuletide in a way I don’t usually have time for.  So many great stories this year, as usual; my top 10 from Fandoms A-M (oh, and also the number fandoms) in alphabetical order by fandom below the cut:

We'll Burn That Barn When We Come To It (11th Century CE RPF, Harold II of England/William the Conquerer)

from: h.godwinson@homespuntwaddle.com to: brn@norman.org.fr

Hi Bill

Look, can we just talk this over like adults?

And the fact that I’m saying this despite the WIRE FENCE you’ve now erected round the perimeter of my farm ought to show you that I mean it. Please reply!

Harry.

You don’t have to know anything about William the Conquerer or Harold Godwinson for this epistolary modern AU to be super fun and hilarious to read (though having some knowledge makes it even better, of course).

Refraction (17776, Gen)

Hey Ten? Do people still write fanfiction?

If you aren’t already familiar with 17776: What football will look like in the future, I recommend you drop everything and go experience that because it was one of my favorite things of 2017.  Once you’re done, come back and read this delightfully meta fic about fanfiction in the future.

cross the bridge as it burns (Babylon Berlin, Gereon Rath/Charlotte Ritter)

Don't try to put your thoughts in order. Gereon at the end of the world.

When I finished Babylon Berlin earlier this year, I immediately went to check for fic and there were like less than a dozen fics and none of them were what I was looking for, so I was SO pleased to see a Gereon/Charlotte fic in the Yuletide collection and I’m even more pleased to report that it is absolutely fantastic and captures the tone of the show so, so well.

Miss Scarlet Rolls the Dice First (Clue (1985), Miss Scarlet)

"The 1950s were good for business. The war in Korea had segued nicely into a cold war, which was her preferred kind."

Ms. Scarlet, after.

A fascinating, well-written look at Ms. Scarlet’s life in the decades after the events of the film.  I don’t even know what to say about this except it’s nothing I would have expected from fic about Clue, but I loved it and I’m so glad it exists!  It has a completely different tone from the movie and yet everyone feels completely in character; it’s so marvelous.

i found it hard, it was hard to find (The Defenders, Luke Cage & Jessica Jones)

They’re not quite exes, and they’re more than exes, and last she heard they each have someone else now to wake up next to, but she wonders sometimes still about the version of herself who could have been someplace for him to return to.

(Luke finds Jessica, after.)

I’m super behind on all things Defenders and am unlikely to ever catch up at this point, but I still love these two and I loved this fic.  It’s basically just a conversation between them, but it feels so in character and true and warmed my heart.

The Inbox of Good Tidings (Tea House (Gmail Theme), Fox)

Something is very different around the tea house. For one, it has snowed. Fox's entire routine is thrown off!

This is the most adorable thing I’ve ever read??  I’m not even sure why I clicked on it, other than wanting to know what a story based on a Gmail theme would look like (classic Yuletide), but I’m so glad I did.  It’s just a super sweet story with just the right amount of meta gmail theme content, which is something I never thought I’d type.

Performance Review (The Good Place, Judge Hydrogen)

The Judge is judged.

It’s time for Judge Gen’s latest performance review! I cannot possibly say enough good things about this fic: it’s formatting is fun, it feels so true to The Good Place, it’s HILARIOUS, and it has a perfect ending.  A must-read for any Good Place fan, for sure.

Bakes to Die For (The Great British Bake Off RPF, Gen)  

While digitizing the BBC archives, an intern who asked to remain anonymous discovered a transcript of a lost episode of the Great British Bake Off. The paper could neither be photocopied nor scanned as all the copies came out blank; and the actual footage was never found.

In the spirit of The Seventh Seal (or Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey), Death is challenged to the Great British Bake Off, and the judges and hosts are along for the ride.  What more could you possibly want out of a fic???  This script-formatted fic nails the tone and format of GBBO absolutely perfectly, while also being completely hilarious as everyone deals with Death and the situation at hand.  Also, I want to be BFFs with Bettina, the human here who challenges Death.

in good hands (Justified, Rachel Brooks & Raylan Givens & Tim Gutterson)

A hand, a refrigerator, a flood. Another hand. Raylan might be psychic.

An absolute treat for anyone who misses Justified.  Great character work, super funny writing, and a very great and very Justified-style plot featuring our favorite US Marshals.

There's No Shame in It (Mamma Mia!, Tanya Chesham-Leigh & Rosie Mulligan & Donna Sheridan)

"So… on three, then?”

And on three… they made music. It was everything Donna had always imagined it could be. The harmonies, the descants, the way their three voices blended into something so much bigger than any one of them could have been on their own. It was every reason why she’d never understood her mother’s clinging to a solo career. Why would you ever want to sing alone when you could sing like this?

I don’t think anything brought me more joy this summer than Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, but I wasn’t sure how the gorgeous scenery and fun performances and ABBA music would transfer over to fic.  However, this lovely little origin story about the beginning of Donna and the Dynamos managed to bring that same joy.  The characters are captured beautifully (really, I can’t say enough about how spot-on all three feel), ABBA is involved, and a beautiful friendship is born.

[wwwnewunificationchurchcom]

(via The Tabernacle of God: the "Inside the Belly" Church, and Rev. Moon's rise by Ms. Pak in the 'JESUS' Church of Korea)

THE LATTER DAY SAINTS and JOHN the REVELATOR

As with Arthur Ford; the Warlock who Rev. Moon visited who told him about the Holy Spirit being male, it was Rev. Moon who decided he knew better than Arthur Ford or Grandmother Pak Wol-yong about Jehovah; yet Ms. Pak knew that the Holy Spirit of God was Male because she called herself ”His Wife”.

Rev. Moon did not believe her, or anyone else about the Holy Spirit; but he was and is still is completely wrong about this matter; and was in serious trouble because of it; as the Angel who came to me through a suddenly visible door in 1986 at the guestroom upstairs in my grandmother’s house at 1520 Willard St. in the City of St. Francis made quite clear.

.......................The Angel of Patmos...................

It was the Angel of John of Patmos the Beloved who told me of the problems with Rev. Moon; and which were later elaborated upon when Hyo Jin Moon came and then ministered to me and even wrote a song with me about restoring his father; after my 40 days of Temptation in 2008 ([ 21 days in Canada ]) – ([ 19 days in America immediately after the 21 days in Canada ]) that ended with my Victory over Satan the Devil in the year 2009, when my 40 days in the Wilderness ended on January.

All this came after the 21 month course of Barack Obama when he became the Leader of the Third Israel here in the West, as when we ”took Egypt from within”; as Augustine also saw in Rome when he died in 430 AD; having separated from Satan with his mother Monica

This is what John the Baptist was to have done with Elisabeth his mother by believing her when she told him Mary came into the House already pregnant by the Holy Spirit. 

John did not believe her; and neither did Rev. Moon believe her report; but she was in the position of the Porter at the Door of the House into the Kingdom of God; so that was a very big mistake; both for John and for his body; that of Rev. Moon who was to restore John at the ”Restoration of all things”.

Rev. Moon was to have Restored of all things starting with Elijah’s mission that John failed at, but Rev. Moon with his Korean bride did not do this; and got married instead in 1960; precipitating the Second Fall as the Korean Adam and Eve in whose position Rev. Moon and his wife fell when Rev. Moon had Extramarital Sex while married; and thus became a hypocrite of a Universal proportion called “that evil servant” in Matthew 24:48.

The Angel described the factors where Rev. Moon had left his position when he had me take the Vow to join the Most Ancient Order of Melchizedek; the Virgin Priesthood itself; and become a eunuch for the kingdom of heaven’s sake; and to go through the ”Death in Christ” 21 years later on October 24th; 2007. 

This happened after I completed my 21 year course of Jacob during which I was instructed in the Kingdom of God by the Angel of John the Divine; called by the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith in his book in the section I Nephi 14:27 by the name of ”John” whom he also calls ”John the Revelator”.

Joseph Smith is thus my ”witness” as to the arrival of my Father’s servant John; as there is no other explanation of how Joseph Smith would have known that John would come to me and help me open the Revelation of Jesus Christ and see it was indeed the Book of Life of the Lamb.

Only my Acolytes believe my Father Jesus sent John to me to repair the damage that Rev. Moon had done; by ignoring the commands he was being given concerning the Providence; and of which regarding the shambles the Providence was in the Angel said I was now ”the Last Flower Child of the Resurrection”; who would be known as “The Wrath of the Lamb” for that reason, in my mission to the Unification Church and it’s errant shepherd: Rev. Moon; called in the Gospel of Luke “that evil servant”

The Veil of ISIS the Whore is the Mystery of Babylon the Great; she who Rev. Moon believes is the “female” version of the Holy Spirit….… and of which Sean ( Hyung Jin ) Moon recanted as patently false when I arrived at Sanctuary Church on Palm Sunday  March 29th, 2015 to begin my Advent as can be seen in his video “Spirit of Truth” as I began to lead them into “All Truth”, as had been foretold of me.

[wakeupwereinthelastdays]

I saw a post on on another site congratulating the black woman Supreme Court Justice and calling it a great thing for America with a pic of her sitting with Obama. That made me think.

Liberal Media Message to Black people:

“Support Obama. He’s going to help Black people.”

Reality for Black People: Obama fights to legalize GAY marriage while telling black people he cannot specifically pass any legislation to help them as a race because he’s everyone’s president.

Liberal Media Message to Black People:

“Support Biden. He’s going to help Black People.”

Reality for Black People: Biden legitimatizes bills of protection specifically for LGBT and ASIANS in the midst of “Black Lives Matter” chants and protests - chants and protests that were not addressed by Biden with bills specifically made to protect black people, in particular black males. And now Biden is allowing 100,000 white Ukrainians into the USA when he did nothing but allow the USA to turn back Haitians and turn back brown people coming from Central and South America.

Liberal Media Message (and their operatives on “BlackPlanet” - the site where I saw that congratulatory post) to Black People:

Support Kentanji Jackson Brown because LGBT/ASIAN/UKRANIAN-supporting President Biden says we should because she is… “Black”.

Reality for Black People: She is a black woman married to a white man. In other words, she is a black woman married to a man who belongs to a race that acts as the enemy of black people in the USA. If Biden thinks we should be aware of her race because it holds some significance in light of American history, then we should be aware of her husband’s race because, logically, that, too, holds significance in light of American history!

Another thing to point out about Ms. Brown’s seeming admiration for black people’s white oppressor race in America…Shortly before she was confirmed she sighed that she could not “fill the shoes” of the white man who sat in the seat before her. Oh really? She didn’t say she’d do more for her people in her role. Nope. She told the press (in a ‘bow-down, I’m not worthy’ type of way) that she could not fill that Edomite’s shoes. If we operate with any logic based on our awareness of which white man handpicked her (you know which one. Mr. Joe “I-Support-SPECIFIC-protections-for-LGBT/ASIAN-and-welcome-UKRAINIANS-into-the-USA-while-sending-Haitians-back-to-Haiti-and-keeping-Latinos-at-bay-in-cages-at-the-border” Biden), it sounds like her words were code for: “Um, don’t you expect anything from me, black people - at least don’t expect anything more than what you got from the white male Supreme Court justice whose seat I’m filling.”).

Black people, come on. Quit celebrating your enemies’ victories, including the victories achieved by enemies who use black PAWNS in their chess game against us. These black pawns♟are nothing but cosmetic changes for old white/Edomite agendas that include practicing continued neglect against black people’s concerns, grievances, well being and general existence. The latter being especially when it’s not ‘voting’ season in Babylon the Great (aka “America”).

If we want change - REAL CHANGE - for our race, learn what it entails by contacting Israel United in Christ. Their contact information is typically in the description section of their videos on YouTube. Some of their YouTube channels are:

IUICInTheClassroom

IUICInTheClassroom Two

IUICEvents

IUICHarlem

IUICNewJersey

IUICPhoenix

IUICHaiti

IUIC Mexico

IsraelUnidoEnCristo

Subscribe to (and share with family and friends, etc) all of the above channels when you can.

Shalom.

[davidjjohnston3]

I am mad at my biological father... People in Milwaukee have strong spirits but they don't test or discern from whence these spirits come (Satan); they have a kind of 'anti-a'ga'pe' that wants to send people to Hell.  I finally got fed up and started cursing or at least confuting in my head and heart, wishing there would be terrorized for messing with me / my soul.  I want them to be chastened.  In what universe is it OK to antagonize someone's soul rather than build them up / edify?  It's Babylon America: commerce is king, pornography is the supreme teacher(?), media is religion, movie-theaters are temples.  All this time my 'father-in-law' was trying to teach me the American way of lying to the civil authority and medical professionals... A while back I took stock of 'our' old family home and realized in some ways my biological parents are not that bad.  I told my biological father as much and he got even more mad / contemptuous of me. Do I not assess the man properly? Reddit got mad at me for saying 'social form' and some Christian on Twitter tried to 'nope(?!..=|)' me for saying I prayed Sec. Pompeo will be President.  'No room in the Kingdom for phony Christians.'  What's phony about defending the faith worldwide?   Paul Washer of HeartCry Ministries extols the authority of the African father and the son kneeling before him but Caucasian American dad-son relationships are not that way in my experience.  Once I bowed to my dad but it didn't mean much.  Once he bowed to me after my (near)-suicide-attempt in Korea and that did mean.. Anti-racism seemed like an important concept to me but then I thought there are so many people who just wanna get stuff and if I met Ibrim X. Kendi in real life he's probably be cordial enough but not hesitate to unlease looters and rioters against me for his vision of the greater good not to say communist-disintegrationist-chaoticist utopia.   Everyone in Milwaukee seemed to be mad at me a while back since the story of me in Korea at the high school was not 100% storybook.  'Oh David James Johnston he fell in love with his 16-17-year-old student, but realized they are being left behind or the Korean War is really terrible and they're all in danger up there then some things happened with the faculty and he tried to kill himself.'  That is not totally inaccurate but I wasn't 100% the depressive melancholy young prince over the last 9 years.  I had some ambitions and I studied a lot and I also had bad habits like smoking. I got a short-sleeved white polo shirt at the department store and lost a bit more weight.  I am around 5'11 165 I would guess.  I really have to make sense of my cardiac condition although hopefully it was acute / idiopathic from the Pfizer vaccine.  What scares me is that I had a foreaugury or prophecy(?) of it in 2016 when I felt something like a powdery liquid running down behind my breastbone at the same time as when I was walking around Lake Park in terror of Koreans from the past coming to kill me, angel soldiers, 'the stars throwing down their tears,' the tiger of wrath, and also, feeling like God was feeding me something without having to eat. I still haven't read all of Blake's 'America: A Prophecy.'

* The psychiatrist whom I respect offered or 'ordered' me Prozac last week and it made me think.  I feel almost like the Boomers saw Millennial children as having no souls.  My parents wanted to send me to Hell.  My mother always used to speak about 'Rosemary's Baby' and when I was young I ran around with a red cape in a strawberry patch.  My mother told me this when I was in the mental hospital in 2013, afraid of the color red and not wanting to tear my chicken sandwich since I thought that it was metonymic(?) for tearing the Scripture rather than swallowing / appreciating it whole.   'We Boomers worked hard, stopped the ['totally causeless not trying to help anyone'] Vietnam War, Civil Rights, moreover weathered the traumas of JFK, MLK, RFK assassinations; ergo we earned the right to treat our daughters as sex-slaves and fire out our sons in order the better to take advantage of our neighbors' daughters whilst also amusing ourselves by medicating and psychologizing our kids rather than loving them and tending / nurturing / ministering to their souls.'   I didn't take the Prozac but I did think of (Ms. / Artist / [Singer]) Kim Taeyeon - 'Love in Color' is my favorite song of hers which makes me think about abortion-culture in a way and how 'too many choices' can destroy or over-modulate the distance or scuff and wear down the love in a relationship - and bipolar disorder.  I was diagnosed with bipolar in 2012 and suffered manic symptoms for most of my childhood.  I felt in the hospital that one possible 'aetiology' or origin / backstory of bipolar is knowing that people out there want to kill you; or even, damn your soul to perdition / Hell / everlasting eternal conscious torment for displeasing them or going against their norms / expectations. My diagnosis was later jacked up to schizoaffective / bipolar schizoaffective, then nearly 'crossed the ionosphere' into schizophrenia, and is now back to schizoaffective thanks to the wonderful, integrity- and probity-filled psychiatrist, who was also the only person telling the truth and not being a corporatist tank-driving-vehicular-manslaughterer at my commitment hearing where Father in Law lied to a district judge and the justice system treated me like a second-class system.  The ONLY person whose yes was yes and no was no. I still think sometimes about 'the condition of fiction.'  I wish I could develop my more scholarly ideals sometimes rather than writing in this 'free' style as I don't really like freedom I like formality and rules. I miss [].  I used to see so many colors and I saw this person in my mind's eye / Spirit when I met her online; but yesterday I felt like I just saw 'dark red.'

*

My brother is really rich (from Data Science)... I need to mend fences with him... I feel as if over the years I might've had mixed motives in 'taking him under my wing.'  We had a bad relationship when I was young and I even stole money from him a couple of times.  I also tried to catch him looking at pornography online rather than rebuke or chastise or plead with him not to, for courting death and failure.  I just wanted to embarrass / shame him. I helped him get a job shortly after the Great Recession and I guess some part of me falsely believed he owed me a favor for that. I sent him many books over the years. After my initial diagnosis of a possibly disabling mental disorder my mother told me he had said that I could live with him if I needed help but that no longer seems a possibility - in fact he said, 'I never said that.'  I was worried since I'm weak.  Hopefully God willing I can get back to where I was a couple of months ago and actually execute sth like the description of the educational administrative job that I was offered. I came to a point in my life lately where I no longer know whether something is destiny.  When I took the HS job in Korea - maybe the biggest decision of my life - I was confident.  But in the last couple of months has been a tempest or fog of war or I simply made so many decisions I don't recognize myself completely.   I want to work on 'Leaving Babylon' or 'Leaving Milwaukee' or 'Leaving America.'  There are or seem to be good Christians in Milwaukee but why live in Babylon - commercial empire worshipping all kinds of false prophetesses, porneia, objects, death, child-rape, abortion, post-partum abortion, automobiles, meals, brands, money / Mammon and other 'stuff' Pastor Timothy Keller calls 'Counterfeit Gods' (to say too little since they're actually often demons from Hell)... I'm not sure how to write it without penning distracting trash that would give wannabe writers bad habits and make naive readers think they know more than they do. My net worth is about 2,000 dollars but I want to give it away just because I'm mad.  I thought about selling my Lenovo X-1 laptop since it's Chinese Communist poison / curse, I know it's hacked by Huawei or whoever through a nano(?)chip, Father in Law tracks with AI... I heard the new Samsung smaller notebooks have around a 17-hour battery-life.

Milwaukee's Child Protective Services appear to be some kind of CCP-derived 'metaphor-joke.'  Amber Alert a child has been kidnapped in either a silver Kia or a Chevy Impala.  You can mount a plate-reading AI-camera on a 50-dollar drone easily...

I'm applying to a job in Korea.  I have no idea if I'll get in.  It is in my favorite neighborhood, and I liked the video of their staff. This would be a 'redemption-arc' for me.  'I am so exciting.'   I don't know if it can be. I listened to a few minutes of 'Inferno' by C. Cho.  Masterpiece.   Did I ever pay dues like a BigLaw junior associate?  Was I ever fast-tracked?   Career-decisions are difficult.  I have literal rejection-demons, I think, or uncertainty-demons.  Maybe it is Belial himself: sensuality plus intellectual abnegation.  Like I want to pretend the Spirit isn't there.   Other people also suffer disappointment-demons, I feel.  Loss-demons.   Understanding others can be challenging, and the fun of it, moreover, is overrated for some people.  IDK if I can ever. And too, some people, once you understand them - when they realize you understand them - become shameless.  They get more seared-conscience than ever, like the only reason they were ever acting good was to save / maintain face.  'Buyaolian.'   In past I tried to be all things to all men but lately I ended up trying to be 'Chinese mistress' to someone in a bad way.  I had already tried 'Japanese daughter, daughter-in-a-box.'  I don't know why I don't try 'son' except it makes him fake more than usual, that I know of. I felt praised like a daughter when I got praised; although maybe it is just me. 'Hello Kitty is a girl,' Said the Sanrio person. I looked at our family cat Ariel the other day and thought, 'my adult daughter Yves from LOONA.'   He used to look like a manly lion, like Jesus even, the Lion of Judah. Cats are feminine. I would get a cat but I just want to teach and write. This cat seems at peace; he no longer overeats nor conversely is hyperthyroidal and thin / 'dried out.' I miss the cat Pukah from down the way, who was fat and 'crepitant' in her voice-sound.  I took care of her for pay and bought some Audiobooks with the 'loot' or 'lucre.'

I honestly have a theory about Koreanness I don't like to share called 'Han Death Runes' that says some people see Koreans - women and girls - and just want to rape and beat and kill them.  They just do.  Japanese soldiers / officers / the entire government did.  Doubtless Chinese did before that.  Korean men did too.  Caucasian men do now.  Other people look at babies and want to kill them - not a joke, empirical Science has recorded it; Saint Augustine some 1600 years ago developed the category of Original Sin.

For a time I was convinced that ShowerThoughts on Tumblr was the Korean girl whom I attempted to save from attempted sex-trafficking by implying she should work hard in tenth grade and learn about [AI, IT]... 

I am interested in helping orphans and other young people; today in lieu of the Lead Teacher offer I missed out on I applied to some Assistant jobs at Christian private and charter schools and was impressed with the humaneness of the management-questions on the online hiring-assessment.  Nonetheless, ‘Blessed Are the Peacemakers,’ and the world will need I think / believe for somebody to prove that it is possible to take care of young people who don’t have good parents such as through a better orphanage-system someday.  At least, this is kind of what I dream and daydream about.  I think Saint Paul would talk more about older women helping younger women to be good mothers, however, or ‘teaching’ them, whatever that means.  

The pro-life cause as this political cartoon long ago pointed out is supposed to be in favor of life far beyond the emergence in to this world as a defenseless eight-pound baby.  

*

I feel lately as if I ‘waged a war for peace’ and ended up as the only casualty.  I don’t mean to aggrandize myself.  I strengthened my enemies and all I got out of it was a clarified love.  I hope / wish that this constitutes suffering and not just punishment before Moses for being a bad teacher with abominable taste in student clientele, and also forget to send off graduates with a graceful hail and blessing, maybe a final exhortation and prayer, and let them be they.

[demilillith]

Some extra about my OC’s so I’m on track with organization and such:

Demi:

Lives in an apartment with his best friend who pops in time to time to help him on, both are going through their own things, but don’t hesitate to help each other out. @beowulf-fang-fist​‘s OC Olliver happens to be this roommate/bestie!

Demi is interested in tattoos, but because he has never gotten one, he likes Henna a lot more since it’s temporary and allows him to change it if he doesn’t like the outcome

Has a scar from slashes he had when fighting off rouge demons, or, so he says...

Can become a werewolf if he so chose from spells he learned as well as wearing the pelt of the dead wolf that he had befriended. He claims that being one is like “being renewed and together in one furry package.”

While he’s a stripper, Demi’s demure attitude and more “professionalism” makes him very popular in the clubs: The “don’t speak, show” attitude he goes about things leaves most patrons to imagination of his real personality.

When Demi dances, he loses his ambitions and becomes a completely different person.

Demi wants to emulate Sailor moon and other characters he’s seen through finding manga that’s been tossed down into the Underground, but it’s mainly one off mangas / episodes on tapes that he sees that he models a lot of his actions to. You won’t notice though, his cheerfulness and positivity knows no bounds anyhow.

Demi does have a pure demon form, however, he doesn't have much control over it and doesn’t know how to bring it out aside from what’s called a “Trance” where his emotions push him over the edge and forces him to become a full incubus in order to “preserve himself”

If Demi wants to, he can mimic other demons and such through spells and contracts, for example: With ifrit, Demi’s horns become more similar to the beast of flame and he becomes much more beastial. With Parvati Demi is himself, but, the two wear matching outfits in order to perform a dance together OR the two ravage whomever is in front of them with two tridents or “trishulas” in Hindi. 

Demi has a knack for picking people out with his observations that come off both innocent though much more sharper, but he chalks it up to being a people person

He has a tramp stamp (TB-Drawn, I need ideas / inspirations but thinking of having a star / heart)

Blowjob Lips™

Works as a stripper, an on and off model / fitness shop clerk, and at times Ifrit’s personal assistant when need be. He has many jobs, but, he somehow finds a way to do it all without much thought.

Has the ability to Pictomance, meaning if he draws on himself, the henna will be able to be manipulated to bring out actual spells from it, as well as make magic through his own art. Demi’s more of a henna enthusiast though, but his art is something he holds to himself.

His tarot card is the Fool arcana Fimbulvetr:

Despite being a forest guardian, he looks at himself like a soldier who survived a war and is the only who one has come back. Most of his birth and his “future” frightens him and makes him to cling to affection believing that he won’t get that the next day.

His mastery over the spear is amazing but, Fimb is much more like a fencer the way he uses Gungnir. He wants to use a rapier one day, but thinks it’s best to use the tools he was given.

Despite being a great warrior / strong person in general, Fimb suffers still from bad self esteem that makes him push himself harder to be the best: When he doesn’t realize he’s fine the way he is, demon infested or not.

Nordic names / old English comes second nature to him, though he’s still learning to read “modern” languages, Fimb has a distinct knack for being able to read runes and see them appear in places near nonsensical without much knowledge as to why.

Likes having his hair brushed, but always is conscious about his hair length, if it’s too long, maybe he should cut it...

While Fimb gives nicknames to everyone he meets, they are very few who are called by name in his book: Be wary, there’s a REASON he does so, whether he doesn’t like them or because he shows them true respect (In which he will always refer to them as “Sir” or “Ma’am”.)

Once thought Demi was some outlandish prince so had to break out of the habit of calling him “Milord”

While he loves that Demi reads him stories and tomes he has, Fimb’s favorite story is the “wizard of oz” because he personally sees himself as the Scarecrow of the story.

Oddly despite being so young in terms of chronological years, Fimb has an amazing span of memory / understanding of history and myths as it stands, so much so Demi and him have debates on the purpose of the Aesir and the fall of Babylon.

Can whisper and talk to the trees by placing his hand on them, when hunting this becomes a valuable asset as he can track others through the “trees’ eyes”

Gungnir can pierce and expel demons / heal if Fimb chooses, however, Gungnir is rumored to have it’s own conscience that Fimb can speak to, and Fimb alone.

As his hat is also “alive” due to being possessed by a demon that came out of Fimb’s eyepatch when he made the mistake of opening it, it has stuck with him since despite badmouthing that he will “leave and cause chaos” because it knows that if he tries to, Fimb can easily destroy him. He now takes the form of a sense of a “guide” to Fimb similar to how Morgana from P5 follows the protagonist and makes their own assumptions or observations.

His arcana is considered the Hierophant

Parvati:

While she’s a powerful goddess and mother in her own right, Parvati suffers from the worry that she’s not “needed” in the world and she’ll fade away like “the other pantheons” because while she is inherent as “Shakti” (Female energy of the universe that manifests in creation and other aspects in life alongside the male counterpart as Bhraman), Parvati as an identity can “fade” if people do not believe in her, just like other “gods”. Belief is power, and without it, she has none.

Parvati comes across similar to Saeko / Ms. Smith from Persona 1 as well as Aradia from Nocturne: Without her power, Parvati is without any way to protect or help others, she can only provide hope. However, it is this hope that may actually spur others to action, and Parvati looks at this as her special skill. A mother may know best, but a friend can be the difference between a war and peace.

Wistfully thinks of her husband Shiva, and won’t say where he “is”. It’s assumed that because Demi has Parvati “connected to him” and has lost all of his memories, Parvati’s left with a fragmented space to be in since her contract stipulates that she will always be with him, but is meant to be with her husband as well. As Demi doesn’t know Shiva, she cannot return to him. This is one of the reasons she plots to steer Demi to “becoming himself again” in order to go back to what things were before

She has danced / taught Demi holy dances in order to better protect himself as well as shown him how to summon demons in the form of allowing her to call her via a dance or by burning seals. Demi is able to calm beasts and other creatures through his dances, but depending on the dance, also changes the outcome of the dance he performs: I.E: A simple routine can bring forth fire or even heal, but an actual routine can cleanse and expel demons. This process takes a lot out of Demi depending on the intensity but he’s been known to go into what’s called a “Trance” and immediately shift into an actual demon and perform a dance that can completely demolish things in his way. (Parvati herself is able to do this, though depending on her emotions / intensity she can become Durga or Kali like in the legends of her backstory. Kali being a terrifying goddess who wears the skulls of her enemies as a garland and a skirt of arms while Durga is the embodiment of Parvati’s righteous anger. Both are extremely powerful but she loses all thought as Kali)

Ideally she tries to help Demi with his boy problems, but, she’s more so the type of parent who asks, “So, do you think he’ll make a good husband? I want you happy!” But she means well, she also makes sure to ask Demi for his boundaries now that he’s far more vulnerable than how he was before.

She’s VERY much like Starfire from Teen Titans, the Hindu traditions she participates in is something she takes very seriously, however sometimes the practices seems very outlandish to Demi as... Well... A boy’s gotta eat meat to get the beef and Parvati is known to fast the most out of all the deities because she is a goddess of the family, marriage, and orphans. The fasting is meant to bring forth good fortune, and tries to put this on Demi who she sees as her son, but we all know Demi’s habit of having meat everywhere.

Her Arcana is considered the High Priestess Persephone:

Her “appearance” is never the same, and I look at her like Rupaul / a drag queen who consistently pulls off so many looks that you simply cannot leave her in one specific portrait or outfit.

Because she is a trans woman, her development is more so towards “This is who I am, and I love every minute of it.” and she’s meant to invoke that in her walks, her way of dress, her attitude and her ideals

She is professional with Demi, as he’s her best dancer, but, she sometimes overworks him under the basis of his “work” of weeding out rogue demons and saving humans in the Underground is work for the benefit of the entire District.

Persephone is the queen of the underworld in that Hades is her husband and while this IS true, and she doesn’t deny or agree that she IS the real Persephone; She has gemstones upon gemstones that demons under her power wear them on their person. Demi wears an opal choker to “bring out” his true form, which Persephone knows would transform him into a demon, but WHAT demon, she didn’t know.

“Good and evil are concepts in the way that men whose hearts are not strong enough must argue. We all know what is good and evil in our hearts, and those change over time and in our ideals. Think about who you are, as a person, before attempting to label others.”

Despite being someone so reserved and so... “Mysterious”, Persephone is meant to drag on the question of “Who is the person you want to portray yourself as?” And I think her character is the best way to do so, the way she interferes with Demon’s ploys but all for the sake of the District, she may come across as unfeeling or rather more uptight, but she knows well and means well after living so long

Hades stole her away when she was being abused by her father and allowed her to “be herself” in the Underground. She doesn’t talk about the events, but, Hades wears white gloves in order to respect her boundaries on touching and reclines as her “shadow.” Hades himself is more akin to her “servant” and has passed on leadership of the District to her in his stead many years ago.

Her favorite accessories are long nails and she enjoys spas/manicures and other beautification past times

She personally oversees her club and makes sure her workers are well cared for as well as given a chance to use their talents to the fullest (I.E, her way of saying “Do what you like, but the minute you hoe it up it better be away from my club.”)

Her club is named La Pomme de Grenade, bonus points if you learn the translation, but, she’s very big on the club itself, sometimes singing blues while Hades plays the piano. Her songs have stricken the hearts of demons and beasts, leaving them weeping as she belts out a tune that sings to the soul.

Her arcana is the Empress

Ifrit:

He has taken up residence in a penthouse that Demi frequently visits to maintain their “contract”

It’s rumored that when he was once a warrior, a certain summoner he knew died due to his carelessness as a beast. It’s unknown why, but he feels a familiarity towards Demi and unfortunately, places this same overprotectiveness on him to make up for the mistake he had long ago.

He doesn’t know how to deal with the loss he had had, and so attempts to use Demi to fill the guilt in him, if he protects and serves Demi, then he is fixing the mistake he had.

Tries very hard to change/control the environment he is in, but doesn't realize this may hurt others, and I want this to be a big dynamic with Demi, while Demi is his summoner / he’s his sugar daddy, Ifrit tries much too hard to make things “better” for Demi and his own demons under him. This gets him much respect from the denizens working under him, as well as fear from his enemies as a pseudo mafia boss. 

He enjoys the idea of being a “King” and if you were to call him “My liege” or “Sir” you get +3 affection / kink

+3 affection / kink if you have the balls to try and be dominant with him.

Money and business are now his game, and when it comes down to it, he will show up to facilitate deals. If such is the case, broken knees and body parts are common, as he sees it as a way to train.

Ifrit is a complex character that brings out the sexualized aspect of Demi, in terms of being his sugar daddy and part of his demonic contract is that Demi is to give him affection / intimacy / attention and Ifrit will grant him power, money, and well, whatever he’d like to eat afterwards.

Thiddies out™ was a look made by him.

Someone really asked to see Ifrit break their head / melon with his thighs and canonically now Ifrit can do that, his kink though is displaying strength so you’re only making him stronger y’all

“Nuh-uh, I don’t have a death wish.” “But you can handle it! Yes it’s much bigger than--” “I’m not ready to die today Ifrit.” “What if I sit--” “You’re trying to kill me, I don’t even have life insurance.”

If you ever need to know about what Ifrit wears to his “private” gym, know that it’s one of those 80′s shorts that gives you the perfect shot of that fire elemental ass and boots. He likes the idea of being “prepared” to fight with little to wear just like when he squares up when summoned.

Once nearly spent a fortune to buy a vintage Digigar game to play on console. Demi had to hear what Digigar evolutions many digigars had for an entire month.

When he first met Demi, he whispered huskily in his ear for a private dance and after taking him home, Demi found himself treated out to breakfast in bed by servants at hand and foot. It was this event that spurred Ifrit to create a contract when he realized how much Demi “needed to be cared for”. (In reality, Demi isn’t used to such treatment, so when he comes to ifrit thanking him repeatedly, it simply makes Ifrit’s ego bolster into the idea that he’s taking care of him.)

“Call me... Daddy, my little prince.” “Is that all? I thought you were gonna tell me not to call you Big Guy.”

Wants Demi to be exclusive with him, but, in terms of having a job with him and him alone: He can’t, however, because of Persephone having right over him as Demi’s “boss”.

Grab his horns and suddenly you’ll have a more intoxicated and energized Ifrit on your hands. He’s truly the ride or die of your life if you try him.

When ifrit is summoned, his clothes are burned off and his beard grows on fire. The design is similar to the retro final fantasy Ifrit, but rather, Ifrit’s taste in clothing still has him in very skimpy outfits to retain SOME modesty rather than none.

Grappler Dad™

“Come at me, with your full strength if you dare!” “It was funny the last 7 times but now you need to turn yourself around so I can come.” “Oh...” “..Fine. FIE, MILORD, I AM READY TO BE TESTED.” 

He’s a soft man please don’t hurt him he already has to worry about his summoner being a stripper / witch like he doesn’t need more issues at this point lmfao

The type to softly rub his thumb over your mouth and call you beautiful as he probably raws the fuck out of you like this is how I Stan my man.

He has tired eyes from so many things he had to do and witness, but the minute his eyes go sharp, your life is going to be obliterated.

Has bought Demi things to wear, but, gets flustered at the idea of wearing similar things in his own right.

Was once given the opportunity to strip in the club for once, but the idea was simply Persephone musing out of jest with “an old friend”

Likes to trace Demi’s henna with his fingers

He’s very dominating, liking to be hands on and very very husky in his words and word choice

While he’s a goofball and soft, he’s still very much a sharp and disciplined individual who simply wants to be validated for doing his best and give love to people to make up for the love he feels he didn’t deserve.

Scruff his beard and he groWS STRONGER HEED THE WARNING SHEEPLE.

His arcana is the Emperor

Venus:

She doesn’t like sweets, but does love ice cream and will try her best to eat some everyday (”I eat ice cream whenever I feel like I wanna treat myself!” “You eat it everyday” *Eats ice cream gawking at the person*)

Based off a cousin who was mocked for her weight, Venus is the epitome of beauty and show business, and is currently on the DL to making her comeback

Demi inspired her to comeback after living in a life of boredom and excess believing that the business stole her creativity and she personally covers for him like a mother hen, though, he’s still pretty star struck his favorite celebrity speaks to him so casually

She doesn’t openly display “magic” rather, her songs and singing are the key to her siren like call. She’s still pretty upset about how music has “changed” so far and wishes the new idols would get some sensibility in their songs and dances.

The “Birth of Venus” was her greatest song and a ballad for the lost woman above ground who somehow made her way to the place where the demons cherished her when the humans reviled her.

When waking up in the morning, she looks in the mirror and struts for good luck.

Thinks of having a talk show to spill the tea and the gossip on the regular... but, can’t help but feel most of the celebrities are fake people with nothing interesting about them besides sex appeal in Eros.

Can incite others with passionate speeches about love and life

“Baby baby don’t you cry, tomorrow’s gonna be a better day...”

She’s best described as someone who KNOWS she was fake before, in her smile, in her actions, and she’s now renewed to find purpose and meaning in her life, through Demi’s interaction with her while incognito

She was forced to choose a lifestyle / major in highschool she didn’t like, and then was going to be forced into a marriage with a man who did not love her that ended up causing her to stumble into the Underground with a mysterious train ride.

She’s probably one of the few humans to ever survive being in the underground without fading away and turning into a wisp of a soul to be eaten by demons; at this point she doesn’t think she’s still human, but now she’s Venus, once more reborn

Likes to lay in bed thinking about what to do tomorrow, but can’t help but want to just stay in retirement and relax as much as she liked

You couldn't go past a newsstand without seeing Venus’ beach catalog with her pictures on the front cover

Entire District is here for her performance

“BODY LIKE WOW, PUSSY ABOUT TO END THIS DROUGHT.”

“Newsflash, asshat, I’ve never liked fat phobia, I love my body big or small.”

Has squared up with Ifrit despite knowing he’s Demi’s sugar daddy, the two have a... “special” relationship in that they would never work together unless the situation calls for it. An intense situation.  Venus straight up would square up with Ifrit on a random whim like people don’t realize beyond the public eye they’re not on the best terms. The reason being Ifrit doesn’t take her seriously and 

Her special “magical skill” is called Love Handles, a song that refreshes and reminds people they’ll be alright in the end, even after the worst things happened.

“Don’t just trust someone else because they were in power, we can learn things and do things without the need of others handing it to us! Fight! Strive for the things you worked so hard for in life and take it!”

She advises people on love and other areas of life with her social media pages and blogs!

If you know media, you know Venus, no excuses.

EDNA MODE IS HER GREATEST INVENTION

Her arcana is Temperance

[johnhardinsawyer]

“How Long?”

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

6 / 28 / 20

Psalm 13

Matthew 10:40-42

“How Long?”

(Maybe Sooner Than You Think)

Before I begin today’s sermon, I just want to clarify that the title of the sermon, “How Long?” does not refer to how long this sermon is going to be.  Just in case you’re wondering, it will be somewhere between 12 and 14 minutes.  So, place your bets and start your stopwatches.

The question, “How long?” is asked four times in today’s reading from the Book of Psalms.  Now, if you are new to reading the Bible, the Book of Psalms is kind of like the songbook of the Bible.  There are some big hits in this songbook.  And, the biggest hit – number 1 in our hearts and on the charts – is probably “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  (Psalm 23:1)  But, over the course of 150 songs in the Book of Psalms, there are plenty of lesser-known-hits – some deep tracks.  Today’s Psalm – Psalm 13 – is one of those.

Now you might have noticed that that Psalm 13 is not necessarily a “happy” song.  You see, in the Book of Psalms, there are songs that cover the full range of human emotions.  There are plenty of happy songs and there are songs that are heartbreakingly unhappy.  These heartbreakingly unhappy songs are often referred to as “Psalms of Lament.”  You know what it means to “lament,” right?  In the Bible, there are instances of individual people as well as whole communities of people lamenting – wailing and mourning aloud because they are sorry about something, sad about something, and wanting and needing God’s help to make things better.

The author of today’s Psalm – possibly David, the person who became King David – is going through a really rough time.  According to David, there is some “enemy” (Psalm 13:2b) that is giving him grief – someone, or something, that will be his undoing, unless God intervenes.  David is hurting.  He feels forgotten, or maybe that God is even hiding from him, on purpose.  And all day long, he is carrying pain in his soul and has sorrow in his heart.  And so, he asks, quite naturally, “How long are things going to be this way?”

As you and I look at the world with all of its troubles – a global pandemic, an economic crisis, the harsh and complex realities of race relations, not to mention any number of deeply personal issues in each of our lives – I wonder how many of us might be asking the question, “How long, O Lord. . . ?”  How long will the pandemic last?  How long before I can be with my family and friends, again; go out to eat in a restaurant, again; go back to school, go back to work, go to a movie, go to the theater, go to church. . . ?  How long will I be lonely?  How long will I be without a job?  How long will my illness last?  How long will the treatments be?  How long will I be able to make it?

There are, indeed, times – maybe even times like these – when the prayer, “How long, O Lord?” is a prayer of your own heart.  But, as we look at today’s scripture passage, it might be good for us to remember that we might not be the only people praying this prayer.  And, even though many of us can identify with the person who feels beset by some kind of enemy – be it literal or figurative – what would happen if we read this Psalm as if it were being prayed by someone else?  

What if you and I were to ask ourselves the question, “Who, besides me, is praying ‘How long, O Lord?’”  What if it is a young mother in a refugee camp in Syria, or Turkey, or Kenya?  What if it is a child, working long hours in a factory in Bangladesh?  What if it is a father camped up against the border wall in Mexico, trying to protect his daughter from local cartel kidnappers?  Does the “How long, O Lord?” prayer of people like these and countless others mean any less to God than your prayer or mine?

In recent weeks, our own country has seen and heard people crying and praying, “How long, O Lord?” a lot.  One of the most powerful cries of “How long?” that I have heard recent years came from a black woman named Kimberly Jones from Atlanta.  In a moment of lament, captured on camera, Ms. Jones painted the picture of racial and economic inequality in America.  by talking about playing a game of Monopoly.  Imagine, she said, playing 400 rounds of Monopoly in a row, and not allowing one of the players to have any money or anything on the board – just earning wealth for everyone else – and then playing another 50 rounds and having everything that player earned taken from them, and then the player who has nothing is told to catch up.  If we wonder why people are angry and fed up, or get the impression that their lives matter less to the rest of us, this is one reason why.  For Ms. Jones the long legacy of slavery and Jim Crow laws and the redlining of neighborhoods – which was something practiced even in nearby Manchester, NH[1] – means that black people will never catch up, no matter how hard they work, how many so-called diversity hires take place, unless something revolutionary occurs.[2]  And, even though Ms. Jones does not utter the words, “How long?” it is clear that for her – and for millions of other people, it has been too long, and it’s not over yet.

I don’t want to speak for Kimberly Jones, but I wonder if she feels like she is beset by an enemy who exalts over her and her people – with intolerance, or indifference, or just plain impotent silence.  And I lament this.  My heart breaks.  I don’t want it to be this way anymore, either.  And I, too, start to wonder “How long, O Lord?”

Even though we might not like it, there is always a place and time for lament. Sometimes it is necessary.  Sometimes it is inevitable.  I have heard multiple leaders in the black religious community say in recent years that before any real racial reconciliation can occur, there has to be a time of communal lament and that we, as a people, have not done this yet.  They tried it in South Africa after Apartheid with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission – with the idea that the truth must be told before reconciliation can occur.  But it is clear that in a case like this, the truth hurts – to speak it and to hear it. . .  so much injustice, so much wrong, so much to learn, and remember, and heal.  And, yet, just as the truth often does hurt, it makes us uncomfortable on the way to setting us free.  And all of us want to be free. . .

I want to take just a moment to check in with those of you who are still wondering how long today’s sermon is going to be and are keeping track of the time.  I imagine that for some of you, today’s sermon has turned out to be longer than you may have been hoping.  I acknowledge that talking about lament and race and history and the truth does not always make for a nice and comforting sermon.  Maybe some of you are wishing that the lectionary passage for the day was Psalm 23.  And I am sure that some of you might be wondering where the good news is, this morning.

I think there is good news in a couple of places, starting with the faith of the Psalmist who is lifting up a cry of lamentation.  You might remember that at the end of Psalm 13, we read the words, “But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, because God [and maybe not anyone else] has dealt bountifully[3] with me”(13:5-6)  There is hope – even in a hopeless situation – that somehow trusting in the steadfast love of the Lord will bring joy and fulfillment, in the end.  How long, though, until this happens?  If Jesus would have his way, maybe sooner than you or I think.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, we find Jesus talking with his disciples.  This is right after Jesus has said that he has not come to bring peace, but division, saying that because of him, entire families will be set against one another.  “Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it,” (Matthew 10:39) Jesus says.  These are challenging words for any follower of Jesus – that we would or could or should give our lives over, completely, to the Prince of Peace. . . even to the degree that we would lose our lives.  But then Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (10:40)

There is a lot that could be said about this little passage – one of Jesus’ lesser known hits – in which he says that being welcoming and hospitable to one another means that we are welcoming the Holy into our midst.  It is so good to feel and know welcome, but what if we were to imagine that we aren’t the ones who need to be welcomed?  What if we are the ones who are being urged to welcome and be hospitable to others – who might look or vote or come from a completely different place – and, in the process, thereby welcoming Jesus?

For those of you keeping track of the time, I’ll close with this – There is a place called Megiddo,[4] which is the ruin of a fortress city Israel.  Megiddo sits near an ancient crossroads where armies from Egypt and Babylon and Greece and Rome all came marching through – conquering everything in their path.  If you were to visit that crossroads, today, you would see a jail where Palestinian prisoners are held.  It is a place of great enmity and division. . .  always has been.  At the site of Megiddo, there are between eight and twenty-six layers of ruins going back 7,000 years before the time of Jesus.  Each layer represents a different civilization who built and planted and hoped and worked for the best and thought they would thrive forever; and then, in the end, was torn down by the next conquering army – the next civilization.

The last time I was at Megiddo, looking at that big mound of jumbled rocks – all of those layers – one of the pilgrims in our group – Steve – wondered, aloud, “When people in the future study our layer, what will they find and say about us?  What will we be known for?”  After reflecting on this question over the course of several months, Steve later wrote that he hoped our layer would be one of radical welcome.  Could we be the civilization that finally – after all of the civilizations that came before us – somehow figured out how to welcome one another, and love one another, and serve on another, and live together in harmony?  What if we could?  What if we were willing?  

How long would it take to get to a place like that?  How long to be a people like that?  What will we be known for, when all is said and done?

Friends, God is not done with us yet.  God is at work on you – and in you and through you – bringing about a new creation, a new heaven and new earth.  How long will it take?  It will take as long as it takes.  But, with God’s help – working through even you and me – may it happen sooner than we think.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

----------- 

[1]https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/#loc=13/42.988/-71.495&city=manchester-nh.

[2] This is the clip of Kimberly Jones’ passionate speech.  WARNING:  Language might not be suitable for some people – definitely not for church.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llci8MVh8J4.

[3] Deal fully or adequately, recompense, repay, requite.  BDB, p. 168.

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Megiddo.

[blueagia]

Have a list of my problematic trash faves

Ten characters, ten fandoms, ten followers

thank you for tagging me a million years ago @motherofkittens94 @drunken-drea-district no i did not forget!!!! but i didn’t add gifs because gifs do not exist for some of them also i don’t know how to use this dumb website

1. Theon Greyjoy (ASOIAF) this should surprise no one following this blog Theon is one of the most amazing characters ever put to paper or film. I love him and his entire fucked up character arc and can’t wait to see where he goes next.

2. Toki Wartooth (Metalocalypse) No one reading this has ever heard of this show but it ruled my life a few years ago and Toki is my favorite, he had such a shitty childhood, he is so cute, and he is such a fuck up, and only wants to be loved. If there is a difference between him and Theon, it’s that Toki is a much more straightforward character, which is why he was my favorite long before getting locked in a basement and tortured.

3. Nancy Wheeler (Stranger Things) It’s difficult to pick just one character off of ST because all of them are wonderful but I filled this list with Problematic faves and Nancy experiences normal teenage girl emotions and reactions to trauma which apparently makes her worse than Hitler. But outside of idiot tumblr standards, she is brave and clever and resourceful and knows how to use a rifle and will dance with you if you can’t find a partner. A true hero.

4. Agia of Nessus (Book of the New Sun) Instead of just putting my asoiaf #3 here is a very similar character though she is way less of a fuck up, more loyal to her brother, and able to set aside grudges in the face of a greater enemy. I named half my blog after her because I identify more with the bad girls especially in tumblr-nonapproved series like this one, where the bad girls get more agency.

5. Mindf*ck (Empowered) This comic is another problematic thing I have strong feelings about, I don’t want to go into the concept because it sounds like the worst thing ever (in fact it is the best thing ever.) It also gave me another tragic mutilated character to sob over. Mindf*ck is a telepath whose powers were awakened when her brother (also a telepath) took over her mind and forced her to cut out her eyes and tongue (so that she could only experience sight and taste by using her powers.) She hated him so much that she used her powers to rewire her own brain to become a kind and caring person, in order to be as little like him as possible.

6. Missy (DW) I can’t pick a single Doctor but I can pick a single Master sorry John Simm I’m going with evil Mary Poppins she’s amazing especially in season 8. In 9 they softened her down a bit which I didn’t care for but still. Amazing.

7. Granny Weatherwax (Discworld) There are many great characters in Discworld but the one I like best is Granny Weatherwax because I want to be a salty old witch for a living.

8. Morrigan (Dragon Age) I want to be a swamp witch ok

9. Regulus Black Regulus Black is my favorite HP character and his story was not told in the movies im pissed

10. Talia Winters (Babylon 5) My favorite character on this show was originally this woman who was just breaking away from her brainwashed childhood as part of an organization of psionic fascists and was just beginning to realize that she didn’t want any part of it and was falling in love with a bitter sexy subversive Russian babe when her actress decided to leave the show I bear the scars to this day I never will recover.

TAGGING @aladyinasong @faller1344 @proskenion04 @bluetheon @calyssmarviss @greyjoysea @itsfuckinghidan @shiranuii @gustave156 @ms-mormont I don’t remember who has done it its so long ago don’t judge me