#if anyone has the link to chapter 109

[abejaenacuarela]

Noragami 💕 found family

so apparently it's already Saturday in Japan and the last Noragami chapter already came out so here's a redraw I did today in honor to this beautiful manga (+ the original official illustration, from volume 1)

I did hate how the faces turned out and I struggled to come up with an original composition in Wich I could fit Nora as well, pero que se le va a hacer, solo soy una chica

• do not steal • follow me on Instagram

[marineduo]

Cobymeppo / Kobymeppo Fic Recs!

Here's a list of Koby / Helmeppo fics that I personally recommend, for @klausbens and anyone else just getting into Kobymeppo from the Live Action! Putting them under a read more because this is going to be a long. Fics will be linked in the fic titles! They are ordered in oldest to newest.

General Recs

This Modest Paradise - Eloarei

Coby and Helmeppo run into Morgan while shopping.

This one is my all-time favorite Cobymeppo fic. It was one of the first I found and it's one I still think about and revisit often

Grow - Eloarei

Helmeppo is able to take care of himself, but when his father returns home with a promotion, he finds he suddenly doesn't have to anymore, and that's the weirdest part about moving to the Marine base in Shells town. Without any responsibilities, he becomes bored, and any of the positive attitude his mother might have left him with goes straight out the window.

This is a really sweet fic about Helmeppo's initial time in the Marines. Not as overtly Cobymeppo, but the last little bit always gets me right in the feels.

The Way of Monsters - Eloarei

Coby was used to monsters. After years under Alvida he thought he understood them. But escaping out into the world shows him that there's a lot he doesn't know. What makes a monster? And what redeems one?

This one's very fun. It has werewolves, and is a bit of a Beauty and the Beast kind of tale. Highly Recommend.

Building Desks For Dummies - thecayenneknight

Koby and Helmeppo must face their greatest mission yet: assembling a single piece of furniture.

Short and sweet and super cute.

Dance With Me - RedPen1992

Soon after the conclusion of the Paramount War, the Marines have to face their next greatest challenge, The Marine Gala.

This one's more focused on Akainu/Kizaru, but the Coby/Helmeppo stuff in there is really good. Overall a great read.

Anniversary - altokiwi

Ready to go party, Hina demands they tell her all about last year's Halloween Night, first. Holding Helmeppo's hand tight, Coby tells the story about the scariest —but also the happiest— night of his life.

This is a really good one. I may be biased since it was an exchange gift for me, but it's a wonderful blend of silly and a little spooky <3

To Come Back - merricat

Coby and Helmeppo's close-knit circle of Marines is holding a celebration at none other than Shells Town, which forces Helmeppo to confront demons past and present.

I'm also biased towards this one (another exchange gift), but man it's so good. Lots of Helmeppo looking back on things, and them just being so sweet with each other.

Daydreams - hamstercheese7

Coby just cannot concentrate on paperwork. And who could blame him, with a view like that?

This one's so silly sweet I love it. Has both Coby/Drake and Coby/Helmeppo.

Coby/Helmeppo Oneshots - ShadowoftheLightningPack

Ok this one's a doozy at 109 chapters but there are a lot of good ones in there. If nothing else I think it's really worth at least browsing to see if anything catches your attention! (That being said, read chapter 93 it's fun)

Against Change (You Can Wander Through the Ruins) - owlboxes

“I don’t want to pry,” Coby murmurs, quiet so as not to startle Helmeppo, who already looks seconds away from crumbling. “But…I want you to know I also want to listen, if you want someone to talk to.” “I have to get my hair cut in the morning,” Helmeppo says, his voice trembling, as he tugs at the strands that have grown longer, almost to his chin now. “…but what if I don’t want to?”

I'm a sucker for Cobymeppo Fics that center around Helmeppo's hair and this checks all the boxes.

My Fic Recs

(These are all ones I wrote myself that I think are worth a read)

Over the Edge

When Helmeppo ends up letting go in a precarious situation, Coby is forced to consider life without his other half, if only for a little while.

Diaries of Coby-Meppo

I particularly recommend Scissors.

Bloodsoaked

When things go south on a solo mission, Helmeppo takes things to the extreme.

Masquerade

Coby and Helmeppo attend the year's big masquerade ball at Mariejois and the night goes far better than Coby had ever expected.

A Haunted Base

“Tell me again why we’re doing this?” Helmeppo looked down from his perch on a ceiling beam, watching as Tashigi came in with a huff and slammed a box down on the operating table he’d stolen from the base earlier. “Because Smoker had better things to do, and nobody gets out of Vice Admiral Dahlia’s plans?” 

Day on the Edge

Coby enjoys a peaceful morning with his partner, but something leaves him feeling uneasy.

SPICY Fic Recs

Saved and Earned - Tonko

Integrity is a hard road, but Helmeppo is trying.

I don't even know what to say about this fic. You know that pic of the stick figure on all fours shaking something violently in its mouth? That's how crazy this fic makes me.

Guilty Pleasures - me

When Coby witnesses the carnage his friend and partner is capable of, in the moment he's not sure how he'll get past it. But the jokes on him, because he's into that shit.

I wrote this to be similar to Bloodsoaked, but more spicy.

Searching for the Words - 2Farky2Furious

“Helmeppo.” He shook himself from his thoughts. “Huh?” “It’s just me. You know you can tell me anything, right?” “I—” Helmeppo met the soft, familiar warmth of Coby’s gaze and blurted into the scant space between them. “I want to kiss you again.”

A little angsty at first, which makes the semi-public sex even better.

Helping Hands - leghair

What had started as a rare bartering chip back when they themselves were new recruits and every drill had left them quaking like newborn deer had shifted into a standard IOU or repaid-favour, and from there, eventually, had simply become… habit. After their midnight training sessions left them fatigued, they would crawl back to their barracks, where Helmeppo would scratch Coby’s back and Coby scratched his - quite literally. That’s just how they got through it. It had been a while, though, come to think of it. Their schedules had grown to be quite different since Coby’s promotion. He still got the occasional remedial massage from medical, but it just wasn’t quite the same as someone who knew his body as well as Meppo did.

Very good fic, but also I think of the tag 'formal apology to the one (1) cobymeppo shipper with an appetite for toes reading this with dismay' at least once a week.

Coby/Helmeppo Smut Oneshots - ShadowoftheLightingPack

If you don't read any of the others (though you should), at least read chapter 8. It's very good.

[oceangirl24]

20 Questions for Writers

Thanks @mrsmungus for the tag. ❤️

❣️How many works do you have on AO3?

13 total, including three fanart art gifts. The only writing I have is my current work. I'm bringing the old FFN stories over on another account.

❣️What is your total AO3 word count?

834,995- 1 million before the year's end would be nice.

❣️What fandoms do you write for?

So far only Boy Meets World. The fanart gifts have been in other fandoms.

❣️What are your top five fics by kudos? Autumn in Philadelphia Trilogy- 243

Flashbacks- 109

Christmas to Last a Lifetime- 94

Not too shabby for such a massive series with an OC as a main character.

❣️Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes. Eventually.

Ever single comment is incredibly important to me and I don't always have the spoons to respond the way I want to. Rather than rush a response, I wait until I can give it my full attention. There are times, however, when certain comments appear to go answered for months. Those are comments from people I am in touch with privately and have already thanked. I will respond to those in time as well.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

The Darkest Night without question.

❣️What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

At this point, probably Christmas to Last a Lifetime.

❣️Do you get hate on your fic?

Is having someone throw a tantrum in your comments hate?

The writer who did this was upset over how the first part of AiP ended because they did not read the tags or summary. They also complained about my OC being better than theirs and whined about liking Audrey more as though at 11 years old I created with Aud malicious intent to hurt them 20+ years later. 🙄

This was the person who also tried to push me out of the fandom, harassed me, and stole my work.

So, hate, no. Immature, entitled behavior, yes.

❣️Do you write smut?

No it's not my thing to read or write. My story is canon compliant and I'm staying true to the content of the show as well. Since it's a 90s kids' sitcom, situations were only dealt with to a certain degree.

❣️Do you write crossovers?

Technically. lol The AiP trilogy is a crossover with BMW and its sequel show, Girl Meets World, but since it's in the same universe I don't count it.

I am in the works of doing a real crossover that I'm really excited about, hopefully soon.

❣️Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes. See the hate on fics response.

I debated how much to say since my socials are still being monitored but you know what, I don't care.

This person stole big chunks of my work from three of my stories and readers have noticed. That's how I became aware of it. Two readers brought it to my attention and just recently another mentioned it also.

I've dealt with it thanks to my dear friends who have had my back through this year + long ordeal.

And ngl, it was satisfying to see her panic and meltdown when the report was submitted and rush her ending. The subsequent attempts to cover her tracks have been popcorn worthy as they have been both comical and pathetic.

Anyone who knows me will tell you I'm too nice and give too much benefit of the doubt which is why no one outside of my friends' circle has seen the massive report on the theft and harrassment.

However, should you dear [REDACTED] try it again, I'm holding onto that report and won't be so nice the second time around. It won't be your friend who's been asking for the link since December 8th that I'll give it to either.

❣️Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not to my knowledge.

❣️Have you ever co-written a fic?

Not yet!!! But soon and I'm so excited.

❣️What's your all-time favorite ship?

As for canon ship, they change all the time, but currently it's

❣️What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

At this point it's looking like Birthday Wishes. lol I mean, I have it outlined to the end and the next chapter is almost ready to go, but I'm prioritizing Saudade and have little time for BW, unfortunately.

❣️What are your writing strengths?

I'm not sure. May be characterization? Possibly world building and character development.

❣️What are your writing weaknesses?

Conciseness. lol Also SPAG editing. My brain skips words like crazy when writing and even editing. No matter how many times I go over things, I miss so much.

❣️Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I avoid this personally because I know enough that I'd mess it up. And I only know Swedish which isn't really a language that figures into my work naturally.

As for fics I'm not writing, it really depends on how it's done.

❣️First fandom you wrote for?

Boy Meets World. First published was Labyrinth.

❣️Favorite fic you've ever written?

Ah, how to chose. Autumn in Philadelphia trilogy. I can't get anymore specific than that. lol

No pressure tags to play for: @axolotlsupremacyowo @tsunderesalty @amberlide @winterlovesong1 @justanotherpersonwhowrites @obscureobsidiandraws @stealing-your-kittens @bees-and-sunshine @ligercat

If anyone would like to be included in the tags, please let me know and I'll be sure to get you next time.

[purplehairedwonder]

Fic Stats Game: One Shots

After the original Fic Stats Game was almost entirely multi-chaptered fics, @chromatic-lamina tagged me for a version for one shots!

Rules:

Give us the links to your one shot fics with the most hits, most kudos, most comments, most bookmarks, most words, and least words (does that count for one shots? Guess so).

Most Hits: "Ghosts That We Knew," a White Collar/Chuck crossover where Neal Caffrey and Bryce Larkin are the same person, with 5,858 hits. I wrote that in 2012, wow. Second place goes to "A Far Better Thing," a Seblaine one-shot from my Glee fandom days, with 3,886 hits.

Most Kudos: "Bent But Not Broken," a One Piece one-shot in which Luffy finds Law tending to his injuries after he escaped Hawkins with 479 kudos. Second place is "I Want Your Laughter (Like the Flower I Was Waiting For)", another One Piece fic with Luffy trying to make Law laugh more often and falling in love along the way. It has 451 kudos.

Most Comment Threads: "Aftermath," my first post-chapter 1081 fic, has 21 comment threads. Second place is "The Heart Is a Thing to Be Broken," in which the Straw Hats learn about the events of chapter 1081, with 17 comment threads.

Most Bookmarks: "Bent But Not Broken" is first with 120 bookmarks and "Ghosts That We Knew," is second with 109.

Most Words: "Let It Break," a Supernatural fic that takes place after episode 6.21 and whumps Sam pretty hard, has 7,435 words. Second place is "Where My Demons Hide," a Glee fic dealing with the dynamic between Blaine, Kurt, and Sebastian post-Klaine breakup, with 6,527 words.

Fewest Words: My shortest fic is “See,” a tag for Glee episode 6.01 with 290 words; second shortest is “The Point of a Submarine,” a One Piece prompt fic about the Polar Tang, with 362 words.

Tagging anyone who wants to play--especially if I tagged you the first time but you had one-shots go unnoticed.

[sometime-in-1995]

Really struggling to search for the link where I can read Semantic Error's Novel 😩 The anime was so effective and intruiging while the manhwa is just 💯 ARTSTYLE MAGNIFICENT! But I want moooore! Not just because the novel has more juice than the manhwa but also, now that Tokyo Revengers has ended, Sex Education S3 just released but I'm on Ep5 last night and I'll resume later so it'll also end soon enough, and POTN's new update schedule has become every other week now 😭 I've tried searching and all I can find is the raw manhwa on RidiBooks, the translated manhwa on Manta, and the novel up to CH8 on Novel Updates and Sleepy Translations which is also as far as the manhwa goes. As far as I know, the novel is already completed with 109 chapters. Imagine! We're only on CH8! There's definitely still a looot to uncover! If ever anyone knows where I can read Semantic Error's Novel in English legally, please message me 😭🙏

Sangwoo is weird af but that's what makes him cute and adorable. 💕 And Jaeyoung, you know I'm on all fours for you 😘

[tsutsumi-kaina]

Theory: AFO Gave Tomura Decay (Part 1)

This was initially posted on my main, but I rearranged/rewrote some parts that went off track and decided to repost it to my BNHA blog instead.

I wanted to talk about one of my favorite theories for a bit-- namely, the theory that AFO slipped Tenko “Decay” in an effort to facilitate Tenko’s descent into villainy. It’s a pretty popular theory, and one of the main arguments in favor of it (i.e. manga!Tenko was seen being escorted home by a man with AFO’s build and similarly atrocious fashion sense) has already been discussed to death-- so instead I’ll touch on points that I haven’t seen talked about as frequently, but still seem to hint at some foul play surrounding Tomura’s quirk.  

Warning: This post has spoilers for both the most recent chapters of MHA (up to ch. 316) as well as spoilers for Vigilantes (up to ch. 109).

1. The Itch

Putting this first because it’s often the point I see cited most frequently as evidence of Tenko being born with his quirk, while I personally feel it’s the biggest piece of evidence we have in favor of his quirk not being natural.

imo the idea that Tenko has some sort of autoimmune disorder that activated in response to having a quirk forced on him isn’t actually all that far-fetched-- because AFO himself  invites us to consider the medical implications of quirk transfers when he compares “quirk transplants” to organ transplants (which, by the way, are notorious for being rejected by a recipient even if they are a 100% match. Organ recipients usually have to take Antirejection meds that suppress their immune system for the rest of their lives-- b/c when left unsuppressed, the immune system will view the donor organ as an invading pathogen and will try to crazy murder it. That being said: One of the more benign signs of rejection after a liver or kidney transplantation is pruritis, a.k.a. severe itching).

Basically: Tenko’s body is trying to reject the unsuitable/transplanted quirk-- and it manifests as an allergic reaction which, like most immunity-related illnesses, gets worse when stressed.

Pictured: 50% Panic Attack 50% Shrimp Allergy

Another point in favor of this interpretation is that Decay seems to trigger something eerily similar anaphylaxis when it goes out of control. Tenko is suddenly unable to talk, his itch is the absolute worst that it's ever been, his eyes are visibly bloodshot, and he begins to audibly wheeze-- as if his throat is swelling up. Yes, hyperventilating can be a symptom of a panic attack (and he very much is having a massive panic attack on top of everything else that’s going on in this scene), but having your airways appear to constrict to the point where you are wheezing and can no longer talk is not. Let’s move on!

2. Decay’s first actual manifestation occurs during the --happiest-- moment of Tenko’s life: Right after finding out his grandma, Nana Shimura, was a hero.

This particular sequence always struck me as…. strange, to put it mildly. Like, really strange. It also blatantly contradicts the commonly accepted explanation for Tenko’s “itch.” 

“You have within you an impulse to destroy that even you can’t control. It’s bursting out of you, and the itching is your body letting you know.” - (AFO, chapter 237)

But if this is really the case, why do we see it first activating during what’s likely the happiest moment of Tenko’s life? If Decay is truly fueled by hate/anger and required sufficient hatred to build up before manifesting, then what exactly is fueling it during this scene and why did it activate at this specific moment? So let’s ask ourselves-- who, other than Kotaro, would be pissed off that little Tenko found out about Nana and wants to be just like her?

*jazz hands* This guuuuuy!

Let's assume that AFO was able to watch the Shimura family drama unfold from inside Tenko-- This would explain why decay suddenly activated after Tenko found out about Nana, despite Tenko being completely over the moon at the time.  Which brings us to our next point. 

3. The Unique Property of AFO's Vestiges (plural!)

The fact that Tomura has never seen a vestige is often  brought up as a point against the idea of Decay being someone else’s quirk-- however, we get a fairly probable explanation for why Tomura has never seen Decay’s vestige in the recent chapters of MHA: Vigilantes.

The main antagonist of Vigilantes, Number Six/Rokuro, is in possession of a quirk called “Overclock” that was gifted to him by AFO. Overclock initially belonged to the hero “o’Clock” before AFO stole it, and initially we’re led to believe that Rokuro is able to see o’Clock’s vestige.

Except, it turns out what he’s seeing isn’t o’Clock’s vestige at all.

What time is it? It’s AFo’Clock!

The above more or less implies that AFO’s vestige is A) Able to masquerade as the “original” vestige of any quirk that he steals (that, or he fuses with their vestige and then overwrites their personality completely with his own) and B) Exists as a pseudo-vestige in pretty much every quirk that he passes down (and there’s evidence of this in the core series, too-- AFO somehow knew of Nagant’s betrayal instantly and immediately activated the bomb quirk he snuck inside her despite his actual body being nowhere near her at the time.  Plus, AFO-Prime heavily implies that he is able to at least sense the actions/thoughts of TomurAFO to a certain degree, even before the prison break occurs). 

In other words, Tomura has never seen a vestige of Decay’s original owner because AFO literally saved over their vestige with his own. 

Additionally: If we're gonna vehemently insist that Decay 100% belongs to Tomura "bc no vestige!" we have to acknowledge that characters like Nagant and Machia never seem to see the original quirk owners in vestige form, either, despite possessing quirks that were gifted by AFO.

At any rate-- We can assume a pseudo AFO vestige present in stolen quirks isn’t nearly as strong as the vestige that’s present within the AFO quirk itself, which is why AFO can’t simply take over anyone that he gifts a quirk to. What the pseudo-vestige seemingly can do, however, is:

Possibly influence emotions/personality like the brain tumor he is (see: his whole monologue about organ transplants being able to influence tastes and personality, which implicitly means quirk transplants can do the same since he is explicitly drawing comparisons between the two)

Possibly force activate their quirks (see: Nagant’s bomb, and likely Tenko’s first incident of decay)

Monitor people from the inside and somehow relay things like their emotional state, situation, and location, back to Prime-AFO. 

Speaking of “monitoring situation/location”...

4. The Key To Heroics (And Villainy, Apparently) Is All About The Timing!

"AFO added you to Find My Friends! Let AFO see your location? :)"

Folks have already talked about how obviously orchestrated this scene is and how it points to AFO having played a part in the Shimura family tragedy, so we'll leave things at that and move on.

Continued in part two (link!)

[spectraspecs-writes]

Tatooine - Chapter 108

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 107. Chapter 109.

@averruncusho @ceruleanrainblues @chubbsmomma @strangepostmiracle thank you for reading, you get a tag. @skelelexiunderlord thank you for support, you get a tag.

——–

I find myself waking up early, far earlier than I meant. But then I’m amazed I got to sleep at all, or even stayed asleep. The nightmares were awful, but I couldn’t wake up. I felt like I was being suffocated by that mask but I couldn’t pull it off. Revan’s mask. My mask. No. No. Revan’s mask. Because I’m not Revan, I don’t know what she knows, she doesn’t know what I know. Or knew - what she knew. I’m a scout. Revan was a killer. A murder. A Sith Lord. I’m not Revan. I’m not.

T3 stayed with me the whole night after Carth changed our course. And the engine isn’t making any noise, so I guess we’re here. Tatooine.

And it’s morning. I suppose I should go check, shouldn’t I?

The cockpit is empty. Carth’s not there. He’s not in the main hold, either. And I don’t sense him in the port side quarters. I guess he left. Not that I blame him.

I’ve got to get out of here. But not like this. Not these robes. This isn’t me. I’m not a Jedi, I’m a scout. And out there is a world I haven't explored. All I looked for was the Star Map. All I cared about was the Star Map. But this is not a dead world. Not even a desert is dead. Where there is life, there is water, and where there is water, there is life. That’s one of the first things you learn as a scout.

But did I even learn it? If I’m Revan, then…

No. No.

A Jedi robe does not a good scouting outfit make. The copious lack of pockets alone makes it a poor choice. I tie up my hair so it’s off my neck, and pull out a soft white tunic. And my vest. I’m torn between shorts for the heat and pants to fight the sand, but I eventually settle on a loose pair of pants and sturdy boots. I keep only a single lightsaber in my pack, opting for my swords instead. I’m not a Jedi. I'm a scout. A lightsaber is a weapon. A sword is a tool, far more versatile in use. I have my sunglasses. Now all I need is my droid. T3 doesn’t need much prompting. Like he doesn’t want to leave my side.

Much as I hate it, Czerka is the only game in town. They’re the only ones sending people into the desert. I could go alone, but that’s not a good idea. The clients always have insurance if something happens - it’s in your contract. They pay for whatever you find, even if all you find is pain. You never go out alone. I need to be myself, even if that means taking one job with Czerka.

This is good. I missed this. Missed my vest. Missed myself. But it isn’t myself, is it? Who the hell even am I? I remember being a Republic scout, I remember turning over rocks, discovering insects I’d never seen before. Watching eggs hatch and documenting what I saw. Seeing lemurs hang from trees by prehensile tails. Leaves no one had ever seen, trees no one had ever seen! I remember finding a hot springs on Utapau! Spending the nights on the rocks while we analyzed water quality, microbial landscapes, geological makeup, or just plain swimming! Are those memories even real? Do those insects even exist? Those eggs, those lemurs, those leaves, those trees? Is there a hot springs on Utapau? Where did the data come from? What was real?

But I know. Whether any of that was real or not, anything I see today, anything I find today will be real. Anyone I meet today will be real. My memories here will be real. Maybe I wasn’t a scout before. But I will be today.

I step into the Czerka office - the same representative is there from the last time. “Greetings from the offices of Czerka Corporation.” The disgust I feel is thankfully different than the disgust I’ve been feeling for myself. “How can I help you?”

I pull up my Republic file, my fake scouting record. Doesn’t feel fake. “I’m a scout,” I say, “with a specialty in ecology and droid repair. Do you have any expeditions going out?”

She hums a bit, reading over my record. “According to this, the Republic holds your contract. Czerka corporation has no interest in any legal disputes with the Republic.”

“You won’t have to worry about that,” I assure her, “The Republic violated my contract, and the mission I was on came to an abrupt end when the Sith destroyed the ship I was on.

She hums again. “I suppose that is a risk when your employer is at war.” Tell me about it. “For long-term employment, however, you would have to fill out an application with Czerka headquarters. Business hours only, please.”

“I’m not looking for long-term contract negotiation,” I say, “This is just for a one-off freelance gig.”

“I don’t think our teams would have much use for an ecologist,” she says, looking back at my file, “but I am interested in your technical skills.” Better than nothing, I guess. “Our mining teams have had difficulty keeping the machinery functioning. As I’m sure you know, sand has a tendency to interfere with machinery. How soon would you be able to start?”

“I’m willing to head out now,” I say, “What’s the pay rate?”

“When you return at the end of the day, you will receive 150 credits.” She transfers a file to my datapad. “This is a standard contract. It stipulates that Czerka corporation is not liable for any harm sustained on the Dunes. Any disputes you may have with Czerka Corporation will be settled through binding arbitration. When you return to this office you will receive 150 credits in exchange for your work.” I don’t expect any problems, nothing I can’t deal with. And despite what she says, you can’t absolve yourself of all liability when you send out scouting teams. It’s been galactic law for the past two hundred years or so and there are scouting organizations who take it very seriously. Czerka tries to skirt the law but it never lasts. Scouts who know what they’re doing hold them to it, or threaten to call in the authorities. And Czerka tries to keep all that on the down-low, paying off officials, making donations, counting on the ignorance of the people signing the contracts. If I was doing anything other than a one-off gig… well, actually, you should just shoot me if this was anything other than a one-off gig. But anyway, if it were anything but that, I’d get into it myself. No one is expendable and they can’t pretend to be ignorant of the hell they’d catch if they tried to say otherwise. Even so, I sign the contract but I’m not even sure it’s legally binding. Rena Visz doesn’t exist. I’d have to sign Revan’s name but I don’t know what it is.

Nope. Nope. Nope, I don’t want to think about that.

“Excellent,” she says as I transfer the signed contract back, “There's a speeder outside - input your datapad and it’ll direct you to a set of coordinates. You’ll meet one of our mining teams there.”

And that’s that. I load T3 into the pilot’s side of the speeder and input my datapad, like she said, and off we go, onto the Dune Sea. The speeder takes us past the Czerka marker points, past even the Star Map. I can feel it calling out to me as we pass it. And it feels different, so different, from how it felt… oh God, it was barely last week. It felt like such a long time, so much has happened. I met Jolee, Bastila and Canderous got together, Kashyyyk was liberated, Carth’s son, Carth… Carth! That happened! That happened two days ago! And now… he probably hates me now. And I can’t say I blame him. If T3 wasn’t driving, I would have stopped. Because its call is so loud, so strong. And I can’t tell if it’s calling for Rena or Revan. But T3 drives on, and with distance the call fades. It doesn’t go away but it fades.

The speeder pulls up to a cave and slows to a stop. The sand is different out here. Still sand, of course, and a very fine sand, at that, but it’s dirty,. Soot and smoke from the machines. Polluted. To think what this sand could have given with care. Something like this doesn’t happen naturally. There’s nothing I could do about the state of this world now. As if anyone would listen to me if I could. Not even the Sand People, I think - they would surely feel the same way, but I can never know the same as they do. They should be the ones to rehabilitate the planet. I am only another outsider with an opinion. And besides, this is a stable state now, any massive changes, if not done slowly and carefully, could just as easily land the world in a worse state as it could a better one. And it’s not my place.

I have to assume it’s the site foreman who comes up to me. I get T3 out of the speeder. “You the Czerka droid tech?” he asks.

“Droid tech, yes, Czerka, no, but suffice it to say I’m here to help,” I say.

He chuckles. “You hate the bastards, too, huh?” he asks rhetorically, and I shrug and nod. “I don’t know why we're still out here, the ore’s no good, and the machines hardly work with all the sand. You’ve got your work cut out for you with fixing.”

“I’m hoping for it,” I say, “in fact, I’ve got something that should make everything easier.”

“What? You’ve got a way to teleport us off this rock?”

“I wish,” I say. I set my pack down on the speeder and open it. I’ve got an old shirt in here. “The machines stop working because sand gets into the vents and clogs with the gears and the works. Close off the vents and the machine overheats, but leave them open and the sand gets in and they’re useless.” There’s the shirt. “So what you need is a way to keep the sand out and prevent overheating. And we’re gonna do it the same way the animals do.”

“But that fabric will hold the heat in,” he objects.

I scoff. “Yeah,” I say sarcastically, “because I’m stupid.” I indicate T3. “Check out his vents - does he look like he’s overheating?”

He stoops to look. Sees the fabric under the vents, and around the joints. “I don’t believe this.”

“Then watch me. Got a machine down?”

He indicated a machine near the mouth of the cave. “Just pulled it out a little while ago. Started sputtering and smoking. We’re down to just one - if that one craps out, we’re stuck mining by hand.”

Easy enough. “T3, help me get this open.” T3 has a laser cutter, and he carefully lasers off the seal on the large access panel. I can pop it open with my panel tool once the seal’s off. Tool, panel, open - yep, the wires are loaded with sand. I shut the vents off, because the first step is to get the sand out, and I don’t want it getting to other parts of the machinery. Too big to tip over and dump out, so I get in and sweep.

This is a good feeling. I can do something with this, and the machine won’t care who I am or what I’ve done. Won’t care that I had no idea who I was when I woke up this morning and I still don’t. Won’t care that I can’t help but hate myself for atrocities I don’t even remember committing. Won’t care that I have two people in my head, two sets of memories even if I can’t access one set, and no way to reconcile them. Because I can fix this. And even better? Revan can’t take this away from me. Because I invented sand shields, not Revan.

Okay. Sand’s all out. I tear the fabric to a more reasonable size, popping the panel closed with my foot and T3 welds it shut again. The vent should be… there we go. Doing this outside could prove a little tricky, more sand could get in while I’m putting the cover on. Quick work is needed. I pull my vest off and use it to cover the majority of the vent, except for the bolts, which I set to work getting off. Once the bolts are off, I quickly whisk the vent cover off and put the fabric in its place. Then I put the cover back on, and replace the bolts. “That should be good for most of the time. It might need replacing after a sandstorm, but as you could see it wasn’t that difficult to do,” I say to the foreman, “And this is more basic that what T3 has, but like I said. It gets the job done.”

Still skeptical, the foreman turns the machine on. With a healthy whir it comes to life. He comes around to the vent and holds his hand in front of it. Waiting. A few seconds later, he looks at me, then back, then me, then back again. “I can feel air coming out,” he says simply, surprised, “This… but it’s so simple! But it works!” He turns the machine back off. “This could solve half our problems. This is great. Did you come up with this?”

Yes, as a matter of fact, I… wait.

I… I remember.

No.

“The sandstorms aren’t the worst of it, Master Jedi.” Someone said that. A long time ago. “It’s the sand. It chokes out the machinery. Our engineers tell us there’s nothing they can do to stop it, but it’s leaving us like sitting ducks out there.”

“And the Mandalorians don’t have the same problems?” That’s me. That’s my voice. But… not me. No.

“Not that we’ve seen, though damned if we know why.”

“Maybe they’re using a different power source,” Hanna said. Who’s Hanna? She was my best friend, but who was she? I don’t know. I don’t know.

But a thought struck me. I don't know why or how. But it came to me. Revan. Me. Revan. She pulled her robe off and tore it. “The insides of the machines are sealed up tight, with no way in or out. Except the vents.” She pulled out her lightsaber. Green one. Held it on the metal, where it met the fabric. The metal melted and fused with the fabric, and when she removed her lightsaber it cooled and the fabric stayed. Sand shields. The very first sand shields. And she must have refined the process… because that looks exactly the same as the sand shields on Hk-47. Revan built HK. I built HK.

“No,” I finally say, “I didn’t.” Because she took it from me. Revan took this from me. That was my accomplishment, something that I did, something I achieved and she took it from me. My stomach turns. This is going to be the rest of my life - every single thing I’ve ever done, every good thing that’s ever happened to me, poisoned by Revan. I’ve done nothing. Revan has. Nothing good ever happened to me. It happened to Revan. Carth was the only good thing and Revan spoiled that too. I can’t have anything. Revan will only take it away.

I don't feel so good.

I fall to my knees and retch into the sand. I can’t stop it. Everything hurts. Everything burns. “Get some water!” the foreman shouts, “She’s got sun sickness!”

“It’s not sun sickness,” I manage to say, forcing the words out.

“I’m not willing to take that chance,” he says, “I’ve lost more than a few miners to sun sickness, I’m not about to risk another.”

“I’ll be fine,” I repeat, “It’s not sun sickness, I’m positive.”

“Oh, yeah, doctor?” he says sarcastically, “Then what else could it be?”

Well… there really is no way to tell a perfect stranger you used to be a Sith Lord and it’s destroying your life. So I shake my head a bit. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

He doesn’t believe me. He hands me some water. “Drink this slowly. And let’s get you back to Anchorhead.”

“You send all your miners back to Anchorhead when this happens?”

“You’re not one of my miners. You’re from the company, and in their eyes you matter more than these miners.” T3 gets loaded into the speeder first, then the foreman helps me in. Makes me feel even more like shit now - not only did Revan take sand shields away from me, she’s taking away what could have been a good day’s work. I wasn't even out here for an hour!

I try my hardest not to cry. No one would get it anyway, and I’d just come off as a pitiful little girl. Because it turns out none of my memories of dealing with that are real and I have no idea how Revan would have dealt with that. Because it turns out that at heart I’m a terrible person even though I don’t want to be.

“I know it doesn't seem like it,” the foreman says, “but you did a lot of good today. Those machines are a lifesaver for my miners. If even just one of them keeps working because of this, you’ve saved us a lot of pain.”

Maybe so. But none of that makes up for all the pain Revan caused. There is a massive debt of blood owed that Revan accrued, that I could hardly begin to pay back. I've already, personally, accrued a debt, but it was easy to justify - I was trying to stop Malak, stop the war, and in doing so would save countless lives. But Revan started the war. Revan is responsible for the deaths of billions, Republic and Sith. Not even counting the Mandalorians from the last war! Saving the lives and limbs of a handful of miners doesn’t begin to make up for that.

When we get back to Anchorhead, the foreman tells me to wait in the speeder, so I do. He’s gone for maybe five minutes before he comes back. “You’ll find 250 credits transferred to you,” he says, “She wasn’t happy about it, but you saved the company way more than that, so I persuaded her to increase your cut.” He gets T3 out of the speeder while I pull myself out. “I’ll make sure the rest of our machines get shielding under the vents. And thanks again, really.” And he speeds away, back to the mine.

I don’t want to go back to the Hawk. I don’t want to go to Manaan. I don’t want to do this anymore. I can’t. Maybe I can get passage on a freighter out of here. Actually join the Republic scouting corps. Or, hell, maybe the Sith. Mandalorian. Aratech. Free-lance - just to actually do something. To feel something other than hatred and anger. Because there’s no way I could hope to make up for all the shit I’ve done that I don’t even remember. Not by finding the Star Map, not by ending the war, nothing. And staying and doing all that only increases the chance that I’ll hurt the people I care about. The only way to avoid that is to just… go. Run away. Take T3 and just go.

I find myself at the cantina. That feels about right. So I go in. “Hey!” the bartender shouts to me, "You can’t bring that droid in here. It’ll have to wait outside.”

Oh, hell, no. I’m not leaving him. And I think I could get away with a little intimidation. I look at a bottle resting on the bar. Reach out with the Force and lift it high above his head. “How about now?”

He looks from the bottle, to me, to T3, and back to the bottle. Decides it’s not worth it to argue. “Just don’t cause any trouble.” I gently set the bottle back down and take a seat.

[dailyaudiobible]

05/13/2021 DAB Transcript

1 Samuel 14:1-52, John 7:31-53, Psalm 109: 1-31, Proverbs 15:5-7

Today is the 13th day of May welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I'm Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today like every day as we come around the Global Campfire together and just find our places and allow the Scriptures to continue speaking out the journey before us. We’re in the book of First Samuel right now in the Old Testament and we have been learning about Israel's first king, Saul. And Saul indeed has a lot to teach us about leadership and about our own motivations and our own fears and all of our Achilles heels. And we will see some of that continue in the story today as we get to know Jonathan, Saul's son, Prince Jonathan. And, so, let's dive in. First Samuel chapter 14.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in the book of first Samuel today we got a situation that Saul has navigated himself into. I guess probably a decade maybe, I don't know how long ago there was this song, it was a very popular song, it was even used in a television commercial, but the…sort of the lines, the payoff lines in the chorus were, “it feels like the only way is the wrong way.” I guess I always remember that song because sometimes it feels like that. It’s just kind of what Saul has navigated himself into - the only way is the wrong way. And, so, what we witnessed today is the first kind of…it's a small one, but it's an actual uprising against the king, a confrontation with the king who is supposed to have the power of life and death in his hand. And now we see that the people aren’t so sure about that, at least those in his army. So, we just read the story. Very briefly, Jonathan the Prince, like the son of the king takes his armor bearer and they go and confront the Philistines and that sets off a chain reaction where the Philistines begin to fight with each other and then the Israelites charge down and they get in the battle and Saul sort of seeing that the enemy is in disarray wants to take advantage of the situation, but trying to appear to be this mighty strong leader, like he commands his army, “nobody eats until we've got our vengeance.” And these guys are in battle. They are in hand-to-hand combat. So, they’re expending a lot of energy and they're losing it quickly, and they cannot continue without eating. And, so, this slows them down. Of course, it was Jonathan, it was Jonathan who started the whole thing. He didn't ever hear the command, “not eat anything.” And, so, he eats the honeycomb and he's refreshed and the whole thing is a little bizarre to Jonathan because he knows like everybody…we have to have energy if we’re going to fight. In the end this comes down to “God won't talk to Saul”, and Saul wants to figure out who disobeyed one of his commands. And, so, as the story goes, it's Jonathan that's identified. That…that's the situation that Saul has gotten himself into where the only way is the wrong way because he's put a curse on anybody who eats. Like he's saying that…that the person who has sinned and disobeyed him is going to die, even if it's in his own family. And, so, now he's in the situation where the Prince of Israel is about to be executed for disobeying his dad, disobeying a command that he never heard, that he didn't even know about until after the fact. So, Jonathan's like, “okay it was me. I did it and I'm ready to die.” Saul, his dad, is like “and die, you will”, basically. “And die, you shall. This is, you know, this is…this is the punishment.” It's pretty staggering, actually. And, so, the people then confront the king and there like, “no. no. this is not right. This is not how this should go because the enemy is in flight from us, and that could only be have…have been done by God. And Jonathan is the one that brought us this victory. So, there's no way we’re gonna execute Jonathan.” And, so, Saul once again then is humiliated before his people. One of the things that he is most sensitive to, like this is his weakness and he's humiliated again. He wants to be a strong leader, but probably more important, he wants to look like a strong leader. And, so, he's plagued by this insecurity. He’s like more concerned with the image of the thing than actually being the king. And that insecurity just about cost him his son. So, we  can look at this story and go, “okay. I see it now. I see it.” Shake our head up and down, “yes, I see this now. I see how this is affecting his kingdom and his kingship.” And then we can take our head in disagreement. Like, “no. That…that shouldn't be done.” And then we have to go look in the mirror. How many times, how many situations have we navigated ourselves into where the only way was the wrong way? And, so, the thing we’re trying to navigate away from, right, we’re trying to protect our pride or we’re trying to keep our insecurities hidden but then we get into these situations and then we’re humiliated, and our pride is exposed and our insecurities are exposed and people get hurt and misunderstanding and just all this stuff that starts to unravel, when there was pride and insecurity and then a precipice, a fall. It’s incredibly interesting how much of ourselves we can see in king Saul and how much the story of King Saul invites self-examination and change.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit come. We invite You into…into everything that’s ever said from the Scriptures. We need You to lead us into all truth. Your…You are the final point of truth. It is You that we seek. It is Your guidance that we seek because we are quote unquote truth from all angles. Everybody thinks that they've got a corner on things when it is You and You alone that can lead us into all truth. And, so, do that please we ask of You in the name of Jesus, lead us into all truth, that we might be continually transformed, that we might be light, that we might be true, that we might be Christlike. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

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And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, the little red button up at the top or there are a number of numbers that you can call depending on where you are. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number. In the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to call. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Dr. John from Jordan New York. To the young lady that called stating that she was six weeks pregnant and not sure what to do. I heard this on my way back from the hospital just after delivering a baby. And it’s interesting because I’ve had other patients who have been told by other doctors, they can’t get pregnant and then they come to me pregnant. So, yeah, you’re not the first person to be told that and it not be true. God doesn’t make mistakes. This pregnancy is not a mistake and God has a special plan for this child of yours. Whether that’s for you to have the…the child go up for adoption to provide a couple who can’t have children with children…a child or whether it’s for you to raise a child, I’m not sure. That’s something that you’ll figure out with God. But just trust him. Trust him that he will provide a way for you, He will provide everything that you need. And be thankful for this great blessing that you have. So, if you have any questions or just want another ear you can email me countrydoc46@gmail.com. And just put in the subject DAB and that will alert me to the sender. All right take care sweetheart. Good luck we love you and God is with you.

Hello Daily Audio Bible my name is Caroleena I’ve been listening for about three years or so thanks to my amazing sister-in-law who shared this with me. But this is my first time calling. Today in the United States we’re celebrating Mother’s Day. And I just want to pray for those who maybe are going through a difficult time and this day is not a day to rejoice, maybe if anyone has lost their mothers or grandmothers and miss them dearly or a maternal figure in their life or maybe your mom is alive but for whatever reason you’re not talking to them or maybe yourself you’ve been trying to become a mom. I was one of those and it was only until God led me to adoption that now I became a mother and my little one is my biggest joy and my biggest gift. So, Father I…I lift everyone who is suffering today, and that this day is not a day of celebration. I ask that your love it’s upon them that you make them feel that they are seen, and loved, and cared for Lord no matter the circumstances. And that whatever miracle they need in their life and that they could also hear voice clearly as to what to do Lord. We love you. We thank you for this day, despite how difficult it is for many. And thank you all our Mom’s who’ve poured so much into our lives.

Good Evening Daily Audio Bible family my name is Reverend Joseph Sackett. I was just very moved by Carissa who called in yesterday about her uncle Joey who struggles with alcoholism. I just want to let you know it struck me because I too have six siblings one of whom passed away. I am 50 years old and for 30 years of my life I was a more or less hopeless variety of alcoholic. I was saved at a young age, but I was very depressed and struggled with alcoholism from about 18 to about 45 years old. However, after finally hitting those rock bottoms and ending up homeless and in jail six years ago I can let you know that there is hope, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Nobody thought that I would ever stop drinking Charissa, but I am an Uncle Joey. I’ve been called Joey all my life. I’ve got the six siblings and I’ve got the alcohol problem. And God delivered me April 7th, 2016 and in the past six years I’ve become an ordained minister and I pastor in a recovery ministry helping other people. I just had to call him and say, Joey can make it because Joey already did. In Jesus’ name I pray for Joey to be delivered from this alcoholism and I recommend that maybe he tries out something in your community called celebrate recovery. God bless you. Brian y’all are…

This is listener in Maryland, and I have come to the community of Daily Audio Bible to the campfire. I like that analogy because if you are moving through the night and you see the light of a campfire you move towards it and when you…you get to the campfire you…you feel the warmth of the campfire and then the community of the campfire and all of that is very comforting and centering. So, this is a place that I come for comfort and centering. I do it daily usually early in the morning because that’s when I have to put on my full armor of God to make it through the rest of the day. And particularly now with this night that we are moving through, some call it the pandemic or whatever, but we need the light and warmth and destination of a campfire. So, thank you, Brian for providing this platform. Thank the staff that makes it run. And for the rest of us, give, i.e., throw a couple logs on the campfire whenever you can. And as…whatever you can to keep the light in the warmth and community of this campfire going.

Hello and greetings from beautiful Cincinnati Ohio. I’m actually…this is Daniel Johnson Junior by the way. I’m in Northwestern Hamilton County about 25 feet from the Great Miami River. I’m in a park that’s often become a place I’ve come and done a DAB long walk in many years passed. And I’m looking at the Great Miami River. It’s…it’s…it’s much greater and stays than usual. Probably the top of it’s probably traveling along at a good clip probably about 25 - 30 miles an hour. But I'm also struck by just these birds that are singing. Listen to that. God is taking care of these birds. They’re just so joyful and going out and getting their food looking for whatever it is. And I'm struck by like…Gods taken care of me too. In the past years I…there was one year that I actually wrote in the sand alongside this great Miami River first Samuel 4:12 thus far the Lord has helped us. And I took a rock from the side of this this riverbed, and I have…I have it with me today to this day. God's taken care of me. God's taken care of the birds of this air. I don’t know what my job future holds right now but God is taking care of it. And I'm struck by that emotionally today. It is made the 10th. We just got done reading one of the psalms and it was recounting Israel's history and just was another indication for me that the only way to know about Israel's history or our history and to reclaim…to talk about the ways that God has been helping us is to record it. And it's another just call for me to continue journaling. So, hey, from beautiful Cincinnati OH I wish you could be here with me right now. This is so beautiful. But you are because I'm thinking about you guys, all of you. It's Daniel Don Johnson Junior. God, bless you make it a great day.

Hi yes, my name is Dana Smith and it's been a while since I've been on here. I live in Alabama and I just have a prayer request. I work manufacturing and about two weeks ago I had finally had enough of…of being pretty much bullied at work and went to human resources. And anyways it just has been a rough 2 weeks and the men that are doing this, it's just there's a lot that's happened. I know God's in control but if you all could pray that God will soften their hearts and…and turn them away for the way that they're being, but also those that are in management that are in control that know that it's going on will step in. You know, we think as we get older that things like this won't happen, but they do. And, like I said, I know God's in control but I'm struggling because God blessed me with an amazing job, an amazing job. And because I grew up in an abusive home, I have a hard time dealing when people are…especially men…have that domineering way about them. And, so, it makes me hard to stand up for myself. And a lot of people don't understand that and they're like, “manufacturing is a rough job, a cut through job, and blah blah this.” And I'm like, you know what, it doesn't matter where you work at you should never have to put up with bullying. So again, my name is Dana from Alabama. If you all could pray that God's divine…he will divinely intervene and that everything will work out because right now being isolated and being not part of a team, it’s just gotten really bad. And this is…this is my life this is my job. And I just ask for y'all's prayers, that everything will come together in God's will. Thank you all so much.

[theonyxpath]

Pirates of Pugmire art by Pat Loboyko

Pirates of Pugmire, which as of my writing this, has 16 days to go and is just under 75% funded! Thank you to everyone who has back, shared, and commented so far, and I’m so excited to help bring all the new pirate rules to the Realms of Pugmire, including ship battles, bird and lizard characters, new callings, firearms, and treasure! We’d really like to get this traditionally printed and in stores, so if you would, too, or just to see manuscript previews, head over to the Kickstarter at http://kck.st/2EoRkyp, yar! But who is writing this, you ask? (We’re going to pretend like you asked. And by “we” I mean “I.”) It is I, Dixie Cochran! Yes, that’s right, I’ve taken over the blog this week while Rich and the rest of the gang who attended UK Games Expo are on their way back from England (or in Matthew’s case, back to elsewhere in England). I’m sure Rich will provide a full account when he returns next week, but until then, here’s a report from Matthew, along with some photographs he kindly sent along.

“The team of Rich, Eddy, Matt, Matthew, Klara, John, Steffie, and Chris had a fantastic time at the UK Games Expo this year, where we ran a demo table, ran over a dozen games at the Hilton, and sold product from Leisure Games to great effect! It was Onyx Path’s first time having a booth at a British convention, and the sheer number of people who thanked us for coming or showed a keen interest in our games (Pugmire, Scion, and Prince’s Gambit were standouts) was staggering.”

L to R: Matt McElroy, Rich Thomas, Chris Allen, Klara Herbøl, Steffie de Vaan, Eddy Webb, and John Burke play Prince’s Gambit! The Sabbat wins!

“We organized our very first Chronicles of Darkness tournament at the Expo, with players from each game of Vampire (run by Klara Herbøl), Werewolf (run by Chris Allen), Promethean (run by John Burke), Changeling (ran by Steffie de Vaan), and Geist (ran by Chris Handley) went on to participate in an Antarctic session of the Contagion Chronicle (run by Matthew Dawkins)! The final winner was Michael, who played his changeling from Steffie’s game, and won a prestige copy of Demon: The Descent. The tournament concept was so good we’ll aim to do something similar next year.”

Matthew and the players of the final game of the Chronicles of Darkness tournament, Stephen, Chris, Sophie, Michael, and Andrew! Congratulations, Michael!

“All in all, we had a superb time. It was great to meet freelancers who haven’t made it out to Gen Con before, the business meetings we held were fruitful, and everyone had a lot of fun. Here’s to the next one!”

The Onyx Path crew at UKGE: Matthew, Klara, Eddy, John, Steffie, Chris, Matt, and Rich! No wonder it’s been so quiet around the office this week. Wait, I work from home…

Eddy welcomes folks to the Onyx Path booth at UKGE! Look how excited he is! “You’re all good dogs!” he seems to say

Dixie again! Isn’t it just like Matthew to interrupt me on my very first blog entry here? I feel like I’m sensing a pattern. For real, though, it looks like everyone had a great time at UKGE, and I hope it’s a convention to which we return in the future! (See how I said “we” there? Maybe I’ll come next year! Who knows? I got so much done while they were gone, though…) For those of you who aren’t as familiar with me, let me actually provide a bit of my history with the company. In 2015 or so, I was chatting with Rose Bailey, just catching up, and I mentioned that though I’d gone to school intending to pursue a career in copy editing, I was having trouble finding a way into the field (at the time, I was mostly focused on fiction and comic books). She subsequently tried me out on the Demon Translation Guide and from there I moved on to supplements and eventually cores. I’d been playing White Wolf/Onyx Path games since about 1999, but for some reason hadn’t considered the RPG industry as a career path until it fell into my lap. Now, several million words edited later (I’ve lost count, but it has to be over three million at this point), I ended up stepping into a version of Rose’s former position when she left to focus on her personal projects. I’m the in-house developer for Chronicles of Darkness and Exalted, so I make sure those lines are doing what they need to, and I still edit quite a bit of our books myself, though I outsource a lot of the smaller supplements and a few core books to other editors, depending on my current workload. In addition, as many/most of you know, I’m one of the three hosts of the Onyx Pathcast, along with Eddy and Matthew, which I enjoy immensely.

It’s been a really great 16 months or so working for Onyx Path, and I look forward to doing even more in the future! Let me know in the comments if there’s anything you’d like to hear about or anyone you’d like to hear from on an upcoming Pathcast episode!

The classic Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

Anyway, if I seem to be stalling before I get to the actual Monday Meeting notes, it’s because we didn’t actually have a true meeting this week, what with half the staff still traveling. I have updates and teasers, as usual, but as to what we talked about in the meeting? There wasn’t a lot. (Mostly I asked Mike to give me art, which he did! Thanks, Mike!)

Now that UKGE is past, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at PAXU, though of course bits of our team here and there will be at other conventions throughout the summer. Say hi if you see one of us!

To reiterate a couple of teasers from Rich from last week, we’ll be announcing a new developer for Scarred Lands and the projects they are overseeing once everyone gets back. Plus, on the Scarred Lands Community Content site, the Slarecian Vault, the beginning of July marks the start of a phenomenal linked adventure series you will not want to miss! Also, June 13th we’ll be starting a little treat for everyone that leads into the aforementioned July event. (Psst, it’s one we get a lot of questions about.)

The modern Shén pantheon from Scion: Hero!

One last tease before we get on to blurbs and updates, for something else that is coming soon…oh? What’s this?

Oh, sorry, that just fell out of my email, but hopefully it will help people create

Many Worlds, One Path!

(Did I do that right?)

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Pirates of Pugmire Kickstarter is nearly 75% funded, so swing over to our ship and check it out!

Pirates of Pugmire is a chronicle sourcebook for both Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau. It’s usable in either game, or as part of a joint experience. Some highlights include: * Two new species for players to enjoy: lizards and birds * Six new callings, including two for dogs and two for cats * Rules for building, sailing, and sinking ships * A trove of new allies, enemies, and treasures * Information on Waterdog Port and Port Matthew * “Going on the Account,” a chronicle of three new adventures, taking characters from 1st through 6th level

You can also hear Eddy discuss the writing and design of Pirates of Pugmire on the Onyx Pathcast on your favorite podcatcher, or here on : https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/)

ONYX PATH MEDIA

Onyx Pathcast art by Michael Gaydos

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast is an update straight from UK Games Expo!: https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/

And Here’s More Media About Our Worlds:

Beanduck Productions’ crew has been playing Exalted! They’re on session 13 of Full Party, but the rest of the sessions are on YouTube if you want to catch up! There are hours of Exalted goodness there.

Garblag Games is still playing Scion! They’re on episode 9!

The ever-wonderful Saving Throw Show is also playing Scion! (So much Godly goodness!)

Twin Cities by Night just released Chapter 1 of their new Chronicles of Darkness game!

Occultists Anonymous’ Mage: The Awakening chronicle delves into magic-crafting territories with the following episodes:

Episode 17: We Got Our Scryes on You – The cabal establishes surveillance on the Predator Kings alpha and begins to track him. https://youtu.be/GP3500xZ41s

Episode 18: Preparing For War – With a scrying spell established, the cabal creates support spells and curses the alpha every way they can think of. https://youtu.be/-8uetChnfEM

Meanwhile, Red Moon Roleplaying has just concluded their Scarred Lands actual play run by Matthew, over on www.redmoonroleplaying.com! Stay tuned to their channels, as soon they’ll be participating in a V5 Chicago by Night chronicle!

It would be remiss of us not to link you again to the fantastic Pirates of Pugmire story Travis Legge ran for us, both parts of which are available on our channel! Here’s episode one: https://youtu.be/fU9y3tl77GM

Darker Days Radio interviewed a bunch of Onyx Pathers and Matt Timm from Modiphius at the UK Games Expo, the recording of which is here: http://podcast.darker-days.org/e/109-darker-days-radio-live-at-ukge/

And Roll the Role recently concluded an excellent Trinity actual play that can still be viewed on their Twitch channel here! https://twitch.tv/rolltherole/profile?desktop-redirect=offline_channel

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

ELECTRONIC GAMING

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is now live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

ON AMAZON AND BARNES & NOBLE:

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

OUR SALES PARTNERS:

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can now order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing print versions of both Origin and Hero for Scion Second Edition on DriveThruRPG and in stores!

CONVENTIONS!

Gen Con: August 1st – 4th Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd We’ll also be back at PAX Unplugged later this year!

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB, COMPILED FOR THE FIRST TIME BY DIXIE COCHRAN (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Geist2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon) Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Redlines

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

Second Draft?

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Development?

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Heroic Land Dwellers (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

DR:E Threat Guide (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

DR:E Jumpstart (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

Manuscript Approval

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant core (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Pirates of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

Editing

Memento Mori: the GtSE 2e Companion (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Spilled Blood (Vampire: The Requiem 2nd Edition)

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

M20 Book of the Fallen (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

V5 Chicago By Night (Vampire: The Masquerade)V5 Chicago By Night Screen (Vampire: The Masquerade)

CofD Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Witch-Queen of the Shadowed Citadel (Cavaliers of Mars)

Distant Worlds (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Scion Ready-Made Characters (Scion 2nd Edition)

Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss (Scarred Lands)

Dark Eras 2 (Chronicles of Darkness)

Indexing

Trinity Aeon

ART DIRECTION FROM MIRTHFUL MIKE!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Scion Ready-Made Characters – Art is in.

Dark Eras 2

M20 Book of the Fallen – Drew’s finals in

VtR Spilled Blood

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

Trinity Continuum Aberrant – Sketches

Hunter: The Vigil 2e

Ex3 Lunars

They Came From Beneath the Sea

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

In Layout

V5: Chicago

Trinity Core 

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel 

Proofing

WtF Shunned by the Moon

Signs of Sorcery – At WW for approval

DR: E

Scion Jumpstart

Aeon Aexpansion

C20 Cup of Dreams

Ex 3 Monthlies – At WW for approval

At Press

Dragon Blooded – Deluxe Printing

Dragon-Blooded Cloth Map – at press

Dragon-Blooded Wallpapers – Going out to backers

Dragon-Blooded Screen – Printing

The Realm – Gathering errata

Trinity Core Screen – Printing

TC Aeon Screen – Printing

Tales of Excellent Cats

C20 Player’s Guide – Gathering Errata

Adventures for Curious Cats

Geist 2e – Gathering Errata

Book of Oblivion – Out to backers

Trinity: In Media Res

Scion: Hero – Wednesday

Scion Origin – Wednesday

Today’s This Month’s Reason to Celebrate!

It’s Pride Month! This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, so let’s remember Marsha P. Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, Brenda Howard, and all the other activists throughout the years who made Pride possible. Happy Pride to all our LGBTQI+ fans and freelancers, and I hope any celebrations you attend are amazing!

[kieranjamesreviews-blog]

Red Dead Redemption 2 Review

FYI: I have played nearly 2 full days worth of the game, completed the mains story and 85% complete. I am not a professional review or writer, I am your average gamer, reviewing for the first time.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstars prequel to the their first highly successful game Red Dead Redemption. This game immerses you into the late 1890s of the wild wild west. However, it is not that wild anymore and people are moving past their more vicious ways and becoming more sophisticated and acceptable but, not for one group of people. The Dutch Van Der Linde gang, a bunch of misfits and outlaws still clinging to the oldways with Dutch their leader preaching and leading them. This game is an extremely enjoyable game, the best I have played in years with great, amazing story and fantastic mechanics that makes you feel like a cowboy. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece of a game and in this review I will talk about it, trying to not spoil much as this game is an experience that I recommend you play on your own first.

Story (Plot) Spoiler free

First of I have to talk about the story as this is the main aspect that people are paying for and I have to say it didn't disappoint. The game has 109 missions, 6 chapters and 2 epilogues and with this tells an enjoyable story from the viewpoint of Arthur Morgan a high ranking member in the Dutch Van Der Linde gang, you are a yes man doing dirty work without questions, but that soon changes. You start the game in a bad way, fleeing the law (the Pinkertons) who want you to hang after a heist gone wrong in Blackwater. You and the gang have nothing and are trailing your way through the snowy mountains to find shelter and warmth. Thus starts the main plot of the game, you are all wanted men, who now have no money and need to get away fast, before the law catches up with you. This is really what you are doing for the main story missions, doing certain morally unacceptable activities to get money to “help the camp” so they can flee. However, in doing so you cause unwanted trouble, deaths and general ruckus. Which lead to members of the gang being killed and captured. Losing control of the situation Dutch (the leader of the gang) starts to become reckless and to be honest pretty insane, coming up with plans that will get them in an even worse state then they already are. Your character Arthur Morgan, realises that they don't belong in this world anymore and that Dutch, this once loved father figure is unravelling and that you need to help the remaining gang members to get out. Before Dutch gets everyone killed. This sums up the plot in a quick way, I don't really want to spoil anything to important as this game is an experience. Obviously there is more to it than what I have described.

Characters

Rockstar really had to work hard to create a character that would be loved as much as John Marston which if you didn't know is the protagonist in the first Red Dead Redemption title. The main character would have to live up to the huge shadow of the previous protagonist and oh boy did he. Arthur Morgan is your typical/ stereotypical western cowboy. He has a gruff voice which never got boring, had great jokes, one liners and can hold his own in a battle. But even better than that he develops as a character and person. This game takes him on a journey from a morally iffy yes man, to a man who sees his existence and the gangs existence as unwanted in this new age. A quote he says sums it up perfectly “we’re thieves in a world that don't want us no more” He knows he is a bad person, but decides to change later in the game the best he can and keep the people who deserve a better life safe to live a better life. He is in a constant battle with morality and is full of regret, but by the end of the game is more enlightened and sees the world a lot clearer.

During this game you meet a lot of other great characters from your gang and on the road, which I can't go through all of them. Old faces appear such as John Marston, his family and even uncle. But the character that had the most impact other than Arthur was Dutch Van der Linde. Dutch the leader of these misfits and outlaws starts off as a decent man who seems to just want to help all the people in the gang get to safety. He seems caring, kind and in control. He is a fearless leader who is good with words, which in some way gets the gang to follow him, he seems to know what he is doing. However, he is such a good character because just like Arthur he changes, when things start going south he slowly loses control, his actions and ideas are being questioned. This kind man is now ruthless and reckless, giving no concern for the safety of his fellow gang members. Loyalties are questioned, ties broken between members and Dutch. If you ever think about leaving...well that won't go down too well with big ole Dutch.

Mechanics

Before the game came out Rockstar were really pushing all these mechanics that are in the game, which all added up to create a realistic world. Which I believe they have done pretty well. Lets start of by talking about character mechanics, the big one is of course beard growth, yes your beard does grow and to a pretty considerable length. Think of Gandalfs beard but a little shorter. You have to feed your character otherwise you will start becoming underweight or on the other hand if you eat too much you get fatter, these mechanics do happen, but seem to not change the game massively if you are on either side of the chart. However, food is a necessary thing to help your health gauge fill up. Other than that we have a stamina bar, health bar and dead eye bar which all increases over time by running, fighting and being shot at. A bit like GTA V.

Now we come to world mechanics, so a big thing Rockstar touched on before the games release was that you can go up to anyone and you can greet them, antagonise them etc which could lead to them getting angry and attacking you etc, depending on how far you take it. Yes this does happen, you don't have to use it, it's just there for if you want to, It's a great mechanic honestly as it makes the world feel alive, like these are real people. Another thing that links to npc mechanics is the random events that happen while riding your horse, you could be going down a road and then someone is being robbed. You can help them or leave them. This mechanic ties into the honour system as well, if you left them your honour will go down if it goes all the way down, people will hate you and if your honour is high people will like you more and less bad things will happen. These two mechanic together makes the game seem like 1. the world is thriving with people and 2. that your actions have consequences, be that good or bad. Another great mechanic is that people remember the actions that you do, an example of this is with a mission at the start of the game, where you get into a bar fight and get thrown out of the window. Next time you go to that bar, the barman will say something along the lines of, I hope you don't start any trouble. Just that little thing again makes it seem like a lived in, real world.

Now for some small mechanics, which there are many that go unnoticed such as, bodies decaying. If you kill someone and leave their body it will decay over time, vultures and other animals will come and eat them etc. Which is just a cool little thing. Another little mechanic is your saddle bag and the way you actually take the guns of the side of your horse, like you would in real life. It's the little things that matter. I have missed out other mechanics but If I wrote about them all I would be here for ages. Some of them are, actually being able to pick items you want buy up in a shop, like seriously you see them in your hand or wearing less or more layers of clothes depending on weather conditions.

Horse Mechanics

Horses, horses, horses. What can I say about the horses. The horses in this game move like an actual horse in real life, yes the males have testicles and yes they grow or shrink depending on weather conditions. It's the little things that count. The horse in this game is your pride and joy, you tame the horse, bond with the horse which unlocks new mechanic for the horse, such as drifting. It's stamina goes up over time and so does its health. You have to feed the horse and brush it to increase bonding and the general health of the animal. However, with any animal and living creature in the world, they can die and in this game it's no different. It can die by being shot, tripping over a rock or tree, or just about anything to be honest. Which is sad but creates some funny clips. You can customise your horse, changing saddles, tail shape, size, if it's braided or not. Same with the mane. Also just to make it even sadder when your horse dies you can name it. RIP Mrsflumpylocks. That was my horse BTW it died by hitting a tree. You change all these aspects of the horse by going into a stable, which reminds me exactly of GTA Vs Auto shop. It even does the same cinematic to get into the stable and or shop. Overall the mechanics for the horse are good and is a great improvement from the first game.

Hunting

Hunting is a mechanic you are introduced to pretty much in the first hour of the game. Rockstar said it will be a big part of the game. Which it is to a certain degree. At the beginning of the game you have to hunt for deers to feed the camp. You use your tracking skills to follow the animal, then once you see it use a bow to kill it. You then skin it and then put the meat on the back of your horse to give to the gangs cook Pearson. With the pelt you have you can go and sell it, if it's a high quality pelt i.e you killed it by a head shot or heart shot, the pelt would sell for more. There are also certain animals called Legendary animals which drop legendary pelts which can be used to craft sweet looking outfits for your character, which gives you another goal in the game. Now hunting is all well and good, but I feel it becomes unnecessary to hunt animals for the camp if you have most of the upgrades and keep the camp stocked, as you don't need to kill anything, the camp will survive without you doing any animal killing. So really at end game the only thing hunting is good for is getting cool outfits. Nevertheless, hunting is still pretty fun.

Graphics/Environment

From random encounter with people on the road to animals frolicking around the plains. Red Dead Redemptions environment is a beautiful but ruthless one. It feels lived in with the encounters that happen good or bad and gives a lot to take in and marvel at. Thats probably why you have a camera in your satchel. The graphics are beautiful, with an amazing and careful eye of detail, from your footsteps actually appearing in the snow or mud to your face actually getting dirty over time. On the performance side of things I was playing on a standard Xbox One and it looked great, I had no frame rate drops of any kind and I can only imagine what the game would look like on a an Xbox One X and a 4k TV.

The Bad

Honestly I have to really nitpick to find anything that I would call “bad”. So here they are. I feel like the law is wanted system is really unfair and biased against me. I could go to a town and someone starts a fight with me, but I get a wanted bounty? It doesn't make sense, also the whole witness system and how every time I kill someone there is always a witness that I can't see. It gets very frustrating. My next gripe is that the picking up of items in shops physically is pretty cool, but I feel is useless as it takes so long to buy anything. I hardly ever use the mechanic, unless i’m trying to get cigarette cards for hours on end. The last “con” is that I feel weapon customisation could be better, when I heard about the customisation of weapons I thought it would be better and I know they are old guns which wouldn't have acog scopes and stuff. But I just felt like I wanted more. Again these are tiny things that don't affect my enjoyment of the game massively

End game content

Once you have finished Red Dead Redemption 2, you have a long list of things to do. Which are as followed. Do the collectable missions, there are many collectable missions in Red Dead from dinosaur bones to cigarette cards, which you will need if you want to get 100% on the game. Hunt all the legendary animals, get some outfits. Go fishing, play poker or even go treasure hunting. There is also many a side quest to do, some very weird and some hilarious, I’m talking about that circus quest there. Lastly explore the world, Red Dead Redemption 2 has the biggest and most beautiful map out of all the Rockstar games, full of easter eggs and hidden items. The end game offers a lot to the players to keep their interest and the best thing aswell is that an online will be coming in November.

Rockstar has crafted a wonderful game, which feels realistic, lively and thriving with activity. Which immerses you so much that you do not want put down the controller and you would rather play than take on real world responsibilities. Other than that the game offers an amazing story that of a film and provides you with memorable characters and will make you question your moral compass. I would recommend anyone this game and I rate this title 9/10. Thank you for reading and I hope this helped you.

[talofasp7]

Blog Post 6: Coffeehouse in Today’s Society (Technology)

In Chapter 6: And So The CoffeeHouse: How Social Media Promotes Innovation Tom Standage goes into another direction dealing with communication of others with different interest to fit into a certain group to share opinions, ideas, and thoughts of any topic. The interesting part of this chapter that the first start of collaborations with other and increasing the growth of communication all started in a coffeehouse. As quoted, Coffeehouse’s were designed as, “ With their promise of a constant and unpredictable stream of news, messages, and gossip, coffeehouses were an alluring social platform for sharing information” (Standage pg.109). 

When reading this chapter and how coffeehouses were such a huge social platform that allowed any person (Scientist, man, woman, business worker etc.) to express their thoughts and link with different people with the similar interest in topics. Which made me think of in today’s society and how social media is the platform for anyone. Standage states, “The main business of coffeehouses was the sharing and discussion of news and opinion in spoken, written, and printed form” (Standage pg. 107) in other words, business would come together in coffeehouses to discuss important topic dealing with verbal or written form. In today’s society we use the same form however, digitally. On Facebook business and organizations are able to make public/private groups that allow everyone to be on the same page. Same with Messenger making a group chat allowing everyone to voice their opinion on a specific topic. 

Coffeehouses were a form of communication to meet with coworkers and business contributors to stay informed with everything that was going on during that period. They as a whole wanted to improve coffeehouses after the doubt on it being beneficial to people. As it is stated, “Coffeehouses were imposed order on the chaotic media environment of the time, sorting material by topic and making it much easier to find specific types of information, and people to discuss it with” (Standage pg. 108). Basically saying to improve the way people were able to find certain groups that they were interested in and has opinion or thought to discuss upon they separated in larger coffeehouses all around the area. It also says, “Crucially, from the point of view of participants in the discussion that took place within its pages, the journal would also, act as a neutral public form in which scientist could claim priority for their work” (Standage pg. 119). An example of this that is current is how business and people can communicate with others through Face timing. AT first communication started with messaging and calling to connect to others even in a business meeting they have someone over the phone to discuss about the company and important issues as well. Now, many apps now a days have Face-Time. There is a new app where you can face time with friends and watch videos or listen to music all together as a whole called Air Time. This allows people to be more engaged in technology and communicate digitally and more efficiently.Business they also use face time to have colleagues to be in meetings and get updated on businesses out of state or out of the country as well. They use the digital form to connect with other sponsors through Skype and other apps to have face-to-face interaction. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHeI7A1umew

[dfroza]

sexual desire exists inside everyone mature enough to feel it.

but it is still sinful behavior to have sex with someone outside the marital bond. and our Creator formed the way a man’s body becomes as “One” body with a woman’s as a consummation of such a sacred and lifelong bond. but not all regard it as such, and many have broken its covenant.

but even so, the True nature of Love is pure and eternal. it never ends...

Today’s reading from Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) illuminates this:

Her: Restless night after night in my bed,

I longed and looked for my soul’s true love;

I searched for him,

but I could not find him.

I will get up now and search the city,

wander up and down streets and plazas;

I will look for my soul’s true love.

I searched for him, but I could not find him.

The watchmen found me as they kept watch on the silent city.

“Have you seen my soul’s true love?” I asked.

Not long after I left them,

I found him—I found my soul’s true love.

I pulled him to me and would not let him go

until I brought him to my mother’s house,

to the very room where she conceived me.

(to the young women of Jerusalem) Heed my warning:

By the gazelles and deer of the field,

I charge you not to excite your love until it is ready.

Don’t stir a fire in your heart too soon, until it is ready to be satisfied.

Young Women of Jerusalem: Who is this coming up from the desert,

with billowing clouds of dust and smoke,

with a sweet aroma of burning myrrh and frankincense,

with fragrant spices fresh from the merchant?

Look, it is Solomon’s litter,

surrounded by 60 strong men,

some of the very best soldiers in Israel,

All armed swordsmen,

battle-hardened heroes, experts at war,

Marching with swords at their sides,

ready to guard the king from the terrors of the night.

King Solomon built his own royal carriage

from the trees of Lebanon.

He had its posts fashioned from silver,

its back made of gold,

its seat covered with royal purple,

its interior decorated with love by the young women of Jerusalem.

O go out, young women of Zion,

and see King Solomon

Wearing the crown with which his mother has crowned him on his wedding day,

on the day his heart overflows with joy.

The Song of Solomon, Chapter 3 (The Voice)

to be accompanied by this line that points to the inner room of the heart:

Just as I moved past them, I encountered him.

I found the one I adore!

I caught him and fastened myself to him,

refusing to be feeble in my heart again.

Now I’ll bring him back to the temple within

where I was given new birth—

into my innermost parts, the place of my conceiving.

The Song of Solomon, Chapter 3:4 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 4th chapter of the book of Acts where Peter and John were arrested for sharing the spiritual truth of the Son of which they kept on doing even though they were told not to by men:

The teaching and preaching of Peter and John angered the priests, the captain of the temple police, and representatives of the Jewish sect of the Sadducees. They were furious that the people were being taught that in Jesus there is a resurrection from the dead. So while Peter and John were still speaking, the Jewish authorities came to the temple courts to oppose them. They had them arrested, and since it was already evening they kept them in custody until the next day. Yet there were many in the crowd who believed the message, bringing the total number of men who believed to nearly five thousand!

The next day many Jewish leaders, religious scholars, and elders of the people convened a meeting in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. They made Peter and John stand in front of the council as they questioned them, saying, “Tell us, by what power and authority have you done these things?”

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered, “Respected elders and leaders of the people, listen. Are we being put on trial today for doing an act of kindness by healing a frail, crippled man? Well then, you and everyone else in Israel should know that it is by the power of the name of Jesus that the crippled man stands here today completely healed! You crucified Jesus Christ of Nazareth, but God raised him from the dead. This Jesus is ‘the stone that you, the builders, have rejected, and now he has become the cornerstone!’ There is no one else who has the power to save us, for there is only one name to whom God has given authority by which we must experience salvation: the name of Jesus.”

The council members were astonished as they witnessed the bold courage of Peter and John, especially when they discovered that they were just ordinary men who had never had religious training. Then they began to understand the effect Jesus had on them simply by spending time with him. Standing there with them was the healed man, and there was nothing further they could say.

So they ordered them to leave the room while they discussed the matter. Among themselves, they said, “What should we do with these men? Everyone in Jerusalem can clearly see that they’ve performed a notable sign and wonder—we can’t deny that. But to keep this propaganda from spreading any further among the people, let’s threaten them severely and warn them to never speak to anyone in this name again.”

So they had them brought back in before the council, and they commanded them to never teach the people or speak again using the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “You can judge for yourselves—is it better to listen to you or to God? It’s impossible for us to stop speaking about all the things we’ve seen and heard!”

Since the members of the council couldn’t come up with a crime they could punish them for, they threatened them once more and let them go. All the people praised God, thrilled over the miraculous healing of the crippled man. And the man who received this miracle sign of healing was over forty years old.

As soon as they were released from custody, Peter and John went to the other believers and explained all that had happened with the high priest and the elders. When the believers heard their report, they raised their voices in unity and prayed, “Lord Yahweh, you are the Lord of all! You created the universe—the earth, the sky, the sea, and everything that is in them. And you spoke by the Holy Spirit through your servant David, our forefather, saying:

‘How dare the nations plan a rebellion,

ranting and raging against the Lord Most High?

Their foolish plots are futile!

Look at how the kings of the earth take their stand,

with the rulers scheming and conspiring together

against God and his anointed Messiah!’

“In fact, Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with Jews and non-Jews, met together to take their stand against your holy servant, Jesus the Messiah. They did to him all that your purpose and will had determined, according to the destiny you had marked out for him. So now, Lord, listen to their threats to harm us. Empower us, as your servants, to speak the word of God freely and courageously. Stretch out your hand of power through us to heal, and to move in signs and wonders by the name of your holy Son, Jesus!”

As they prayed the earth shook beneath them, causing the building they were in to tremble. Each one of them was filled with the Holy Spirit, and they proclaimed the word of God with unrestrained boldness.

All the believers were one in mind and heart. Selfishness was not a part of their community, for they shared everything they had with one another. The apostles gave powerful testimonies about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great measures of grace rested upon them all. Some who owned houses or land sold them and brought the proceeds before the apostles to distribute to those without. Not a single person among them was needy.

For example, there was a Levite from Cyprus named Joseph, who sold his farmland and placed the proceeds at the feet of the apostles. They nicknamed him Barnabas (or “Encourager”).

The Book of Acts, Chapter 4 (The Passion Translation)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, june 3 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at honest prayer:

"My eye grows dim through sorrow; every day I call upon you, O LORD; I spread out my hands to you... Help me, O LORD my God; save me according to your love" (Psalm 88:9; 109:26). Such words pierce through the clichés and chatter about religion, theology, and so on, voicing the lament of a soul in trouble, desperately crying out to God for help... The language of prayer is often quickened by affliction and trouble, for the heart senses it must find God or die. "The troubles of my heart are enlarged..." (Psalm 25:17). "Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed..." for if you will not help, O Lord, then I will perish; I will be consumed in my grief, I will waste away in the void of darkness... "Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?" (Jer. 15:18). O Lord, "I am poor and needy; my heart is pierced within me" (Psalm 109:22). During hours of pain or mental anguish prayer becomes spontaneous, raw, unscripted and devoid of empty words. Anguish moves us right to the point, bypassing other concerns, distilling the heart's cry for God's help. If you feel overwhelmed, pour out your heart in prayer... It is not the words of the prayer that matter as much as it is the fervor, the intensity of the heart, and the passion that yields itself before God. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4). "The LORD is near to the broken of heart and saves the crushed in spirit" (Psalm 34:18). [Hebrew for Christians]

and another about faith:

"We walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor. 5:7). This is true for all people, since every soul lives by faith of some kind or another. Our Torah portion this week (Shelach) begins with the episode of the spies and concludes with the warning not to "spy after your heart and after your eyes" (Num. 15:39). The Torah mentions the heart first and then the eyes to indicate that the eyes follow the heart. We see as we believe with our heart: "According to your faith be it done unto you." When the spies said, "We are not able to go up (לא נוּכל לעלות)... for they are stronger than us" (Num. 13:31), they revealed their unwillingness to believe in God’s promise, or, to put it another way, they revealed their faith in God's inability to deliver on his word.... Indeed, the Hebrew word for "than us" (i.e, ממנו) can also mean "than Him," suggesting that the spies believed that even God would be unable to uproot the Canaanites! According to their faith, so it was done; by believing that it was impossible, they lost the possibility of God’s promise...

Faith sees what is possible and refuses to yield to the artificiality of mere appearance. Indeed, appearances are often a test of our courage. We may never know how often a test was given and - just before victory was manifest - the heart grew faint and was lost to fear. "According to your faith" (על פי אמונתך) is a spiritual principle that applies to everyone. In that sense, it is not that we have faith that matters (since we all do), but whether our faith is grounded in the promises and power of the LORD God of Israel, or something else.... [Hebrew for Christians]

6.3.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

June 3, 2021

The Secret of the Lord

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.” (Psalm 25:14)

This is an amazing promise. The word for “secret” means the “inner counsel,” evidently of the triune God Himself.

But how can those who fear the Lord really know the secret counsels of the Godhead? The answer can only be by divine revelation to God’s prophets. Thus, the prophet Amos affirms: “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but [unless] he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).

When these ancient promises were given, however, much of God’s revelation, though already “settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89), was still not revealed to men. Then Christ came and promised His disciples, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost...shall teach you all things” (John 14:26).

“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:1-2). In addition to the 12 disciples, God then also called the apostle Paul, and through these men the Son would convey to those who fear Him all the rest of His revelation. “By revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (...Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ephesians 3:3-5).

Finally, “the secret of the LORD” was completed in written form by John, the last of the apostles, with nothing else to be either added or deleted (Revelation 22:18-19), that “the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets” (Revelation 10:7). All we shall ever need to know of God’s eternal counsels is now available to all who desire to know, in the Holy Scriptures. HMM

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: This Weeks Must-See Art Events: The Art World Mobilizes for 2017

Farley Aguilar, “The Protest,” oil on linen, 2015. Aguilar has a solo show opening Sunday night at Lyles & King.

For everyone who has complained that the art world is too apolitical in the past month or so, take note of how 2017 is kicking off. We have a week of feminist exhibitions, the start of a month-long project about Trump’s America Saturday at Petzel Gallery, and shows that tackle topics from water contamination to the holocaust and the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

Welcome to the art world in the Trump era. If the list of participants at Petzel’s event is any indication, the big guns are coming out.

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Wed

The Callahan Center Gallery at St. Francis College

180 Remsen Street, Brooklyn, NY 5:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Fred Terna: Processing Chaos, Recurring Echoes

Fred Terna has been making art for over 70 years. In 1946, one year after being liberated from the concentration camps where he had survived for four year, Terna went to art school in Paris. Since then, he’s experimented with abstractions that borrow from surrealism and cubism—with emotional undertones informed by his traumatic experiences. In this exhibition, we’ll see work he’s made since 1970. That would be an entire retrospective for most living artists—it’s humbling to think that represents just about half of Terna’s career.

Thu

Cheim & Read

547 W 25th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Louise Bourgeois: Holograms

Who knew the late, great Louise Bourgeois made holograms? I sure as hell didn’t, and I’m a fan of both. In 1998, Bourgeois was approached by the holography studio C-Project and invited to produce a series. This is the first exhibition of the 8 plates that came from that collaboration. As one would expect, the press release promises they’re dreamy and full of “slapstick horror.” A definite can’t-miss.

  Cheim & Read

547 W 25th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Tal R: Keyhole

Also at Cheim & Read, another show that looks great. Copenhagen-based artist Tal R has asked his friends in different cities to send photos of storefronts from their local red light districts. Tal R then translates these into whimsical crayon drawings and paintings—each depicting a colorful, stylized sex business from strip clubs to gay bars. These look like they’re going to be a lot of fun.

  Paula Cooper Gallery

521 W 21st St New York, NY 6:00 PM to 8:00 PMWebsite

Dan Walsh

    Nobody commands a grid like Dan Walsh. It helps that his paintings tend to be much larger than your average grid painting. (Many of the canonical minimalist paintings from the 70’s as well as those that hail from Bushwick don’t tend to exceed 35 to 40 inches. Walsh’s paintings are more frequently in the 70 inch range.) As we noted in our review of his 2012 show, they have a lot of weight to them as a result is needed in a cavernous space like Paula Cooper Gallery. Past that, though, it’s the fact that each painting seems so worked that makes them so compelling. This is the type of art that can easily look mechanical and robotic. Walsh avoids that at every turn.

Morgan Lehman Gallery

534 West 24th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

David S. Allee: Chasing Firefly

Back in October at the Art Critical review panel nobody had very good things to say about Martin Creed’s billboard sized rotating sign “Understanding” located in the Brooklyn Bridge Park. Pretty much any interpretation had brought by the viewer and the piece really wasn’t that deep. Credit David S. Allee with a photograph of the sign that improves upon the public art work. In the nighttime photograph, the sign is surrounded by rings of light due to the slow exposure. It resembles the parenthesis people on twitter put around their name to express shock. In these dark times, Allee’s gesture seems right on the money.

The show will be filled with Allee’s night time photographs—a series he’s returning to after 10 years and we’re glad to see it. Night, through Allee’s lens, seems dramatic, bold, yet eerily still. It’s a good combination, and one that definitely should be seen in person.

Fri

Grady Alexis Gallery /El Taller Latino Americano at Artspace PS 109

215 E 99th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Nor Any Drop to Drink

  As artists become more politically engaged, we expect to see more shows like Adam Zucker’s curated show “Nor Any Drop to Drink”. According to Zucker, the show is “a response to the global deterioration of water sources and the conflict between the synthetic and natural world.” Most recently, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s actions protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline have brought this issue for artists to the forefront, though the fact is we all need to be paying attention to the coming water shortage. This exhibition is just one attempt at raising consciousness.   

Participating artists: Vanessa Albury, Jacinto Astiazarán, Alli Miller, Jay Milder, Rifka Milder, Emilia Olsen, Michael Sheng

Chapter NY

249 E. Houston Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Ann Greene Kelly: May Not Be Private

Ann Greene Kelly’s assemblages mash-up references to the body, architecture, and just a little bit of consumer culture. They evoke a strange sensation of domestic and body horror, and given that the show takes its title from a women’s health brochure, have a political urgency as well.

VICTORI + MO

56 Bogart St. Brooklyn, NY 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.Website

Phoenix Lindsey-Hall: Never Stop Dancing

Phoenix Lindsey-Hall has slip-cast 49 porcelain disco balls, one for each victim of the terror attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. This looks to be a powerful installation—each ball will be illuminated in the darkened gallery—in keeping with the artist’s practice of memorializing queer victims of hate crimes.

Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning

161-04 Jamaica Ave Jamaica, New York 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.Website

Closing Reception for Female Adapter: New Work by Faith Holland

We’ve frequently featured Faith Holland on the blog, whose singular brand of feminism-meets-web-savvy-meets-sexy-GIFs is right up our alley. Unfortunately, we haven’t had a chance to make it to Jamaica to see this show, the end result of Holland’s year-long New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Studio Residency Program at the center. Be sure to make it to the closing reception, where one can check out her site-specific “Queer Connections” installation, which spans 13 feet.

  Sat

Petzel Gallery

456 W 18th St New York, NY 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.Website

We need to talk...Artists and the public respond to the present conditions in America

  The staff of Petzel Gallery decided to devote the first month of 2017 to some much-needed strategizing about how the art world can respond to the disastrous results of November’s elections. They’ve divided this program into both an exhibition and a space for viewers to dialogue. From the gallery:

Participation in writing, through film, and in live discussions.

As visitors enter the gallery they will be invited to write down their reactions, thoughts, anxieties, hopes for the future, on a giant billboard on the wall.

The gallery will also devote one room to screening film clippings, shorts, vignettes that in some way tackle today’s issues. This part of the program is open to anyone who wants his or her concerns brought before an audience. Submissions* will be added to a loop and screened in the gallery as well as on the website.

Saturday Symposiums: on three Saturdays during the show, interested parties and the public will be invited to participate in symposium-style conversations, debates, and readings on different issues: Civil Liberties (January 21st), Immigration (January 28th), and The Environment (February 4th). Details to follow.

Artists Respond: A list of artists whose work will be on view in the main space is in formation, but at time of press, includes Yael Bartana, Judith Bernstein, Andrea Bowers, Troy Brauntuch, AA Bronson, Paul Chan, Mark Dion, Sam Durant, Rainer Ganahl, Hans Haacke, Rachel Harrison, Dana Hoey, Jenny Holzer, Jonathan Horowitz, Josh Kline, Barbara Kruger, Sean Landers, Louise Lawler, Glenn Ligon, Robert Longo, Allan McCollum, Joyce Pensato, Raha Raissnia, Peter Saul, Dana Schutz, Gary Simmons, Dirk Skreber, Slavs and Tatars, Andrew Tider/Jeff Greenspan, Wolfgang Tillmans, Rirkrit Tiravanija…and more to come. A percentage of sales will be donated to any organization that seems appropriate to artist and collector.

*Beginning January 1st, 2017: please send submitted video files titled “January2017” as downloadable links via WeTransfer, Dropbox, or Vimeo to video@petzel.com. If uploading via Vimeo, please ensure the video is downloadable and can be added to collections. Work should be up to 5 minutes in duration, with a max file size of 2GB, one submission per sender. Submissions will close January 31st. We reserve the right to omit videos with offensive content.

  La MaMa Galleria

47 Great Jones Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Lintel, Mantel, Module, Shelf

  Curated by Samuel Draxler, this show is intended to subvert the conventions of sterile, prefabricated domestic spaces. And if the press image is any indication, it should be a hit. GaHee Park’s oil painting “Drama” features a wine & cheese & sex party in a motel room. She’s the best. Full disclosure: we recently showed GaHee Park’s work in our exhibition Strange Genitals.

Artists:

Lauren Bakst & Yuri Masnyj, Elliott Jerome Brown Jr., Mary-Ann Monforton, GaHee Park, Isaac Pool

  CUE Art Foundation

137 W 25th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

The Visible Hand

“The Visible Hand” is a term in economics for management, in opposition to the Invisible Hand of the market. So here, four artists and one collective present themselves as managers of sorts. Maureen Connor, for example, presents a more counterpoint to institutional critique—she investigates the HR problems of host institutions and then creates installation to help solve them. I’m not sure if that’s what’s going on in the above image, but whatever these things are, I want one for our office.

Artists: Chloë Bass, BFAMFAPhD, Maureen Connor, Devin Kenny, Jen Liu.

Sun

Whitney Museum of American Art

99 Gansevoort Street New York, NY 3:00 p.m.Website

Blade Runner—Autoencoded

  If there’s one benefit to living in the dystopian “future” we call the present, it’s that we finally know what androids dream of—and it’s usually weird as hell. Terence Broad has built an artificial neural network (which I imagine is somewhat similar to Google’s Deep Dream …or maybe one of those episodes of Star Trek where Data tries to make art) and shown his creation Blade Runner. He then tasked his AI to recreate the film, frame-by-frame, from memory. I can only imagine how weird the resulting movie, which is screening at the Whitney, will be. The event is free for members, or $12 for non-members. Totally worth it.

  A.I.R. GALLERY

155 Plymouth St Brooklyn, NY 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.mWebsite

Sinister Feminism

  This is our DUMBO neighbor’s 12th biennial, and just based on the name alone it’s gotta be good. We’re not familiar with any of the artists involved, but the press release sounds bad-ass:

“Sinister Feminism. We fortify veneer into armor. We appropriate from misogynist sources. We exceed the cinematic ideal. We vibrate the sound of the city. We endure. Our physicalizations we know are transgressive. We are a halation of line. We throw shadow across the page. We teach the tongues of the past. We mock the habit of metonymy. We transmit the sense of hysterics. We smell. We hurl what we are required to withstand: our bodies, our selves. We are trying to reach you. We wildly grin.”

Artists:Lucas Berd, Dora Budor, ceramics club (cc), Kerry Downey, Dolores Furtado, Nicolás Guagnini, Caitlin Keogh, Chelsea Rae Klein, Lizzy Marshall, Whitney Oldenburg, B. Quinn, Lili Reynaud-Dewar, Torbjørn Rødland, Karin Schneider and Leigh Ledare, Bailey Scieszka

Curated by Piper Marshall and Lola Kramer

Lyles & King

106 Forsyth Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Farley Aguilar: Bad Color Book

Miami-based, self-taught painter Farley Aguilar’s paintings remind the viewer why paintings are fun, and sometimes frenetically anxious. They’re populated by expressionist figures in surreal tableaus. Clowns, wrestlers, religious figures, and other archetypes seem squeezed together in tense, brushy compositions. Traces of revisions and happy accidents dot their surfaces, and there’s a sense of playful horror in both subject matter and process. This is the definite highlight of Sunday night.

  from Art F City http://ift.tt/2iFWuft via IFTTT

[dailyaudiobible]

11/11/2019 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 23:1-49, Hebrews 10:18-39, Psalms 109:1-31, Proverbs 27:13

Today is the 11th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I'm Brian and it is, of course, great to be here with you as we take this next step forward in the Scriptures this year. And as we get our work we going we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week. Ezekiel chapter 23 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, let's just…let's just reread a passage from our reading in Ezekiel today. “Yet she multiplied her acts of promiscuity, remembering the days of her youth when she acted like a prostitute in the land of Egypt and lusted after her lovers whose sexual members were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of stallions. So, you revisited the depravity of your youth when the Egyptians caressed your nipples to enjoy your youthful breasts.” So, are we all paying attention here? Like is everyone paying attention right now, because that was sort of the point? So, I mean Ezekiel chapter 23 is one of the most graphic portions in the Scriptures, and pretty much not a year goes by that I don't get a bunch of emails, like “I don’t why…what's this doing in the Bible” kind of questions. And I guess the fundamental answer is because God said those things and they were written down by the prophet Ezekiel. So, I mean we can approach us a couple of ways. We can say, “ooo, I don't like that kind of language being in my Bible. And, so, if God said it…well…I have a weird feeling about God. And yet as graphic as it might be, God is simply saying this is where you will end up if you do that. Or we could say, “what is going on here? Why is God choosing this particular imagery and memorializing it for all time in the Scriptures? If we simply go back and we remember the story of the baby girl lying in her blood left abandoned to die and then God shows up and says, “live”, and cares for her and meets her every need and she grows up to be beautiful and marries Him and they have children together that she then sacrifices and that she then abandons the Lord in favor of adulterous relationships with anyone that she can find, well then when we get to this kind of language in the 23rd chapter of Ezekiel it starts all making sense. God had entered into an exclusive covenantal relationship, the bonds of which were as powerful, if not more powerful than marriage itself because this is the language God chose to use and his vision was for an exclusive family, His family, set apart and made holy. And He offered painstakingly the parameters of what that would look like. If they would obey and live within that covenantal relationship as a people before their God, then there was nothing that they couldn't do that the entire world would be blessed because of them. And yet their story, and we have read so much of this story by now that we know this by heart, they won't be faithful, they won't stay true. And God sends prophet after profit saying, “like this is what you need to do. You need to return to me. You need to come home.” Finally, in the book of Ezekiel we get it, like full force, “this is what you are doing. You are inviting mixture. You are inviting all of these foreign lovers into our exclusive covenantal relationship. Your lust for other lovers is making you this gusting. Can't you see how far you have fallen. You are sacrificing my children born in this exclusive covenantal relationship, these children who are set apart to me, these children that are holy, you are sacrificing them to fall God's. Do you not see what you are doing?” Well, understanding this helps us understand why God is being sold graphic. Because we’re reading this, and we can be off put by it, but we certainly understand what's being said here. Okay. So, if we can wrap our minds around what's being said here and go, “okay. Alright. I…I see…I see that my heavenly Father…I see that the Lord here is exasperated and brokenhearted even. Sad, even. Jealous, even”, which He says He is on a number of occasions. So, we can get our minds around this and say, okay, I see what they…what they were doing but I wouldn't think of sacrificing one of my children to an idol. So, that's not me.” And yet really the point isn't so much all of the things that they were doing. Those were the repercussions of the path they had chosen. It was the mixture, inviting other lovers into a covenantal relationship. And that can hit home pretty quickly. I mean we can say, “well I'm not committing adultery. I’m…like I’m faithful to my spouse.” Awesome. Awesome. Me too. We’re all supposed to be. But are we being faithful to God? And I'm not sure I need to like come up with a bunch of examples. I think we can just leave it there. This, what we have been reading is what unfaithfulness looks like, where it leads, how God feels about it, what it does to his heart. I mean, I'm a man, so I can process this from a male perspective and say that when God talks about other men fondling the one He loves, I don't like the thought of that. I don't think any of us do. And what God's talking about here is those who are actually seeking these kind of adulterous relationships, those who are looking outside of a covenantal relationship to find some sort of life that they think is gonna make them more happy. And if will sit with it, if we’ll go into this, and the Bible offers us all kinds of opportunities just to go into places that we don't necessarily want to examine. But if we’ll sit with us today with the imagery, with the starkness of it all and consider ourselves in the story then we may find we've been flirting with destruction in one way or another and it's heartbreaking and it's supposed to be. And maybe it's time to stop.

Prayer:

Father we invite Your Holy Spirit into that. It's a convicting thing so it's an uncomfortable thing. And yet You…You have proven in the Scriptures that You…You don't have a problem making us uncomfortable. If it's an attempt to free us, to give us freedom, You don't mind breaking through these uncomfortabilities. So, we invite Your Holy Spirit to show us places that we have chased other lovers, the places that we have broken faith with You. We repent. It's so starkly on the page before us that we…we see it makes us uncomfortable as it's supposed too. And, so, we’re facing it. Come Holy Spirit. Convict us of the places that we…that we are chasing life outside of You. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, its the website and it's definitely how you stay connected and stay tuned to what's happening around here and in the community. So, be sure to do that. Be sure to stay connected.

The Prayer Wall is at dailyaudiobible.com and it is a fantastic, always on, resource to ask for and to offer prayer.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at the website as well. There's a link that just lives on the homepage. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, you can press the Hotline button in the app, the little red button at the top and just start talking or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello this is Janice from the UK, Birmingham in the UK. I wondered if you’d join me to support me in prayer for a friend of mine. He’s got ME and fibromyalgia and he’s had that for a long time and all the health problems, mental and physical health problems, that go with that. But currently he’s going through a really hard time. His dad is dying in hospital and not expected to last very long. He has lung cancer. Also, the flat that he…the friend lives in, the landlord went bankrupt and it hasn't sold so then now they’re putting it up for auction in the next couple weeks. He doesn't know if he'll have a home. It depends if the new landlord wants sitting tenants there or not. And further toward that, he's also got deadlines that he hasn't been able to work for a number of years. They’ve now sent something out. They want to assess him for suitability…suitability for employment, which he is in no for either the assessment or for employment at the moment. So, that's a real stress. He's really struggling, and he feels that he's just going under the waves. And I'd appreciate your support and me praying for him as well. Thank you.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Betsy calling from Michigan. I've listened for probably 8 or 9 years plus, but this is the first time I'm calling in. And I'm calling in to ask for prayer intervention for a friend's daughter. She's a teenager, she was adopted when she was young, and her mom is a single professional. And she has been fixated and involved in dark things and setting her mind on dark things and for the last month she has been inpatient in a psych hospital because she's been actively suicidal. And she has not had really much improvement during that time and her mom knows Jesus, her grandparents know Jesus. I don't know that many other people know about her situation. So, I'm just asking…let’s…I'm going to call her Sonny, asking you to intervene for Sonny as the Spirit leads, that she would be freed miraculously and by the power of Jesus from this oppression that she's under. Thank you so much. And you all sustained me during 7 years of living overseas in China. I would walk with you every day and I was never alone even in a city of millions where I was an alien. So…

Good morning Daily Audio Bible listeners this is Dana in Arkansas. I have been listening since January at a request from a friend who…who got me started and I thank her. Her name is Karen. Thank you, Karen. It's been a blessing and I love hearing your prayer requests and hearing your praises for answered prayers And I praise God with you for letting me be a part of this community and hearing all of our prayers. I'm calling today because I have 3 children who suffer from severe PTSD due to sexual childhood trauma brought on by their father, a man I was married to for 28 years. I too suffer from PTSD and I'm currently in therapy. We are all healing but it's a huge struggle. Sexual trauma is very complex, especially the kind that they have suffered. So, I'm asking for prayer for my 3 children for God's provision for them and their healing. They are courageous, they are vulnerable, and they are my heroes. They are…they are glorifying God in their healing process. So, thank you for praying for them, for praying for God's provision, for their complete and total healing. And I just appreciate it so much. God bless all of you.

Hello everybody this is Jeanette. You know, I've been hearing a lot of people who have been having an extremely hard time recently and I don't know about you, but I've pondered for a long time, how close am I to when Jesus comes back for me? I know it's been very hard over in the states. My heart goes out to my homeland but especially to you my home people. I don't know if you’ve thought about it recently but you're not US citizens or of any other country anymore, not really. You belong to Jesus and that's our king. And if you've met Him personally somehow or another you know there's nothing quite like that. I want you to think. Think about your inheritance, a home without pain, a home without trouble, a home without the attacks of the enemy which rages around in the atmosphere around us, which we pray against constantly. Let's not forget that we have an enemy, powers and principalities in the air. Let's not forget that it's not us who does the full battling, but we have angel armies behind us, around us, in front of us. Let us remember that the Lord God almighty is worthy of praise and power, its saving. He is worthy of those prayers that empower His word. So, pray on His promises. Look at the promises and pray them. I'm doing that currently and I'm so blessed to be among a group of people who are teaching me the riches of the secret place, especially having been trained up by Brian’s careful teaching. And I just want to encourage you, your home is amazing. There's no thing that can compare…

Hey Daily Audio Bible family, To Be a Blessing in California. I heard earlier today the request for Katie and Abigail and I just wanted to let the sister know that indeed I have been praying for them all day long and also praying for her husband. I can't even begin to imagine what this is like for them. Father God, You are the God of all comfort, the God of all hope, the God of all strength and help. We're just presenting for You Your children and asking You that You would draw near to them, that You would heal them, that You would do what is needed to…Father…I don't even know what they need. It seems obvious that healing would be the request. And, so, we're asking that, but also more Father, more than that. So, thank You for doing what You do so well and that is to minister to our needs. I pray Your blessings upon her husband, upon the family, extended family members and friends. We love You and thank You and trust You with our hearts, our whole heart in Jesus’ name. Amen. We’ll continue to keep praying. God bless.

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11/11/2017 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 23:1-49; Hebrews 10:18-39; Psalms 109:1-31; Proverbs 27:13

Today is the 11th day of November. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I’m Brian. It’s great to be here with you today, kind of bringing this week in for a landing together. I have some nice, steamy wind farm coffee to my left, in my new roasted red pepper Clean Canteen, which I’ll tell you about at the end. Let's dive in. Ezekiel chapter 23 verses 1 through 49 today. And we’re reading from the New Living translation this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, some saucy stuff in the book of Ezekiel today. God compares Samaria and Jerusalem, so the northern and the southern kingdom, to prostitutes who lust for lovers who are hung like donkeys. And I don't think we need to…I don’t think we need to go into that, it’s pretty self-explanatory, other than to say God is using a graphic metaphor to show how this constant generational mixture with all of the nations around them, we’re there mixing themselves in with these people and adopting all of their culture and mixing it with their own, including the worship of foreign and false gods is an utter betrayal of God. And God is pretty clear about how he feels about it.

But in the book of Hebrews we reach this kind of breakthrough moment, where everything that we've been talking about in the book of Hebrews leads to this place where the implications become apparent. So first, we have to remember, Hebrews was written to Hebrews. So, everything that's being said is from a Hebrew cultural perspective. And at length, we've been looking at the sacrificial system that every Hebrew who grew up Hebrew would understand. We spent some time looking at things that happened before the sacrificial system, so before the Mosaic law, which is something that the apostle Paul also did in his writings. We talked about how there was precedent in the Hebrew culture, that something new was going to happen, that redemption would happen by God doing a new thing. And then we watched as the writer of Hebrew declared that Jesus is that new thing and then referred back to the Old Testament to show how. And, so, today we see the implications of Jesus being this new thing, this new high priest, this final sacrifice in the sacrificial system, and the institution of this new covenant, this new thing. And the implications are found in the 10th chapter of Hebrews, beginning with verse 19. ‘And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heavens most holy place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the most holy place. And since we have a great high priest who rules over God's house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting Him, for our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water’. Okay. So, this is something we take for granted, that we have instant and always on access to God. That's not the story for the readers here. The only way they can get to God is by offering a sacrifice and the high priest once a year entering the most holy place and entering the presence of God on behalf of the people. So, the writer of Hebrews is saying, all of that has come to its completion. And now, because we have this high priest, Jesus, presiding over a new covenant, directly from heaven, we can actually go into the holy of holies. In other words, we can actually, personally individually, enter the presence of God. This is a massive, massive paradigm shift. A completely different way of looking at things and a giant leap of faith for the early Hebrew believers. It forces them, by default, to be at odds with their culture and flies in the face of their religious tradition. And the pressure that brings upon these people is remarkable. But the promise of intimacy, and union, and collaboration, and a personal relationship with God is also remarkable. Now, because the pressures are so remarkable, I mean, to the point of persecution, the writer of Hebrews leaves words of encouragement, words that echo across time, words that find themselves in our lives today, right now, because in a lot of ways we face these same kind of pressures, maybe not pressures of persecution like they were facing, but definitely the crush of culture in the world. So, I’m going to read the last little portion of Hebrews that we just read as words of encouragement to you, whatever is going on in your life and invite you to meditate upon it as you go through your day. So, beginning at verse 32. ‘Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail. And when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. So, do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you. Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God's will, then you will receive all that He has promised. For in just a little while the coming One will come and not delay and my righteous ones will live by faith, but I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.

Prayer:

Father we invite your Holy Spirit to sear these words on our hearts, that we may remember the magnitude of what You have done in doing this new thing through Jesus our Lord, that this relationship that we often take for granted is only available to us because of Jesus, and that we can come clean and righteous before You, into your presence, into the holy of holies, as it were, and be in Your very presence. Come Holy Spirit, and let us see what this means, because all of the other circumstances of life begin to fade away in the truth of this reality. Come Holy Spirit. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. It’s home base. It’s where you find out what's going on around here.

And what is going on?

Yesterday we talked about the new clean canteens that we have in stock. We get them in stock a couple of times a year and this will be the last time this year they are in stock. And these are a special edition. In the past, we've imprinted our logo on the food grade stainless steel that these are made out of and they are awesome. This time we made them in a roasted red pepper color, a deep red color, that we use a lot at Daily Audio Bible with the Daily Audio Bible logo in white and they are striking, really beautiful. I may be a little biased, but I think they stand out. So, the way that it usually works is that they're gone in a matter of days and that is definitely proving to be the case. So, they won't last long. And I’ll be surprised if we have any left before the weekend is over. So, grab them while you can. They’re in the Daily Audio Bible shop, in the active and drink wear section, until we run out of them.

And then, looking at the calendar, the 19th of November will be the final travel date for Sneezing Jesus this year. And that will be in the Shreveport Louisiana area. We’ll be in Bossier City, Louisiana at River Valley church and we’re looking for that. You can get the details at dailyaudiobible.com by scrolling down to the events section and clicking this event. And we’ll look forward to seeing you on the road.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There's a link, it's on the homepage. Thank you profoundly for your partnership. If you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or comment 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayers and Praise Reports

Hey, good morning everybody. This is ___ from Oklahoma City. I hope you all are doing well today. Good news, my young son Alex in Colorado got a new job building tanks for oilfield stuff, which is going to pay him pretty good. Thank you. Praise the Lord. Hey, I'm praying for everybody who is thinking about attending the Louisiana, Bossier City family gathering. I'm pretty sure I’m going to go or get to go. That’s a long drive but I love and I get to stop in Dallas and that’s cool. Hey, my husband, Lloyd, is going for an interview this Friday with the power plant to become a supervisor and it looks like it's pretty much like one of those shoe-in kind of jobs where he’s been doing it for a while and you’ve pretty much got it but he is going to be up against some of his friends. And I would just pray that everybody goes through the interview and does well and the person that they would like to select, whoever God wants to put in that position, let Him put him them there. And we are both on that page for sure. So, I would appreciate all the prayers that cover that. And then, hopefully, there’s no any animosity afterwards, you know? Because sometimes it can be that way among your friends. So, anyways, guys, I love you guys. Kristy from Kentucky, my sister, I couldn't even imagine being in your shoes. If something happened to my dad, I mean, he was like, I mean, is my best friend and I'm sure your dad was the same way. So, I'm giving you some great big hugs about that. Okay, I love you guys. Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Good morning. This is November the 7th and I’m calling anonymously because I don’t want to offend anyone that knows me, but Brian you said it today, you said something that I've been trying to, I guess, put in the words for six years since I’ve been listening to the Daily Audio Bible, every day. And what you said is you said it’s the covenant being talked about here and not the scriptures. You see, I grew up in a religion that discredited the Old Testament and I was told things like, music was wrong in worship, and this and that were wrong. And when I started reading the Daily Audio Bible, listening in, and reading along, within a few months of the first year, I would read in the Psalms about one of my heroes, David, who would often talk about worshiping the Lord with cymbals and harps and the liar. And my encouragement to everyone today is to, with your life, is to, if you are just getting started with this, to continue on and read these Scriptures for yourself and ask God to speak directly to you. And He’ll reveal to you the truth like he did to me. And Brian, I don't think you, in your talk about the Global Campfire initiative, I don't think you gave enough credit to your commentary and your prayers, and I just thank God for your insight and your wisdom and your prayers that continue to teach me and so many others the truth. So, I thank you for that and that's why I invested in the Global Campfire Initiative. I’m so excited about my print coming and I’m going to be able to put it on the wall of my office.

Good morning DAB family. It’s Patty calling from Calgary Canada. Just want to say hello to everybody and thank you so much for Brian for your ministry and Jill for supporting him. I’ve been listening for about 7 years. I’ve only called in a couple of times. Once was about 4 years ago when our son was heavy in an addictive addiction and I just want to say, praise the Lord. He is now over 2 years in recovery, doing very well. But I do have a prayer request today. My husband has been out of work for 18 months because of a down turn in the economy here in Alberta. And, so, could you please pray for him for employment. It’s really weighing heavily upon him. I’ve gotten a job in order to help support us. But we’re pretty close to retirement and it’s not working for us. So, if you could please pray for my husband Neil to find employment in his field I would so appreciate it. Thank you so much I love listening to you all. I lift you all up in prayer when I hear your prayers and see you on the Facebook page. Love you and God bless.

Hey guys. If you could pray for my wife, that would be great. She is like 26 weeks pregnant or something with twins and she having some Braxton Hicks and lots of discomfort and stuff. It’s still within the normal range of things, but could use some prayers for her that would be great. The longer they’re in there the better. I’m praying for you guys. I love you all. I will keep you updated and I will be praying for you guys. God bless you.