#lord have mercy on me this was a THINKER

[dailybrandonrogers]

Analysing How Bryce's Creation of Elmer Clones Differs Across Timelines and The Implications it has on Pre-established Events

In the Finale of BRYCE, Bryce recalls a period of her life where she "Made clones of a baby I stole so I could harvest hearts ethically," alongside miscellaneous footage of herself from Stuff & Sam. Then, "but when I was thwarted, I took it out on the country by running for president," and footage from the Epilogue of S&S where the Eldest Elmer kidnapped her in order to torture and hold her captive.

At the end of this theory, I proposed two unanswered questions that I am now hoping to resolve with the information revealed in the Finale of BRYCE.

The chronological disreprency of the S&S Epilogue.

How Stuff & Sam occurs in The Current Timeline.

Here is a reference of the Timelines I mention:

The first thing to investigate is the order of events in The New Timeline as recounted by Bryce Tankthrust, which will be assumed as a factual objective. Temporarily ignoring the existence of anything that happened The Old Timline, the events are as follows:

In 1990, Bobby Worst murders an abundance of people and harvests their hearts for Bryce's use. These are stored in a cooler, and Bryce uses them as needed until she runs out in the mid-nineties. We know this because footage of the empty cooler is shown before Bobby informs Bryce of her mother's release, scheduled for around 1995.

After dealing with her mother's return, Bryce kidnaps "a baby" (Elmer Phitts) and clones it in order to harvest their hearts without murdering anyone. She wants to obtain her supply ethically.

Bryce and this operation of hers gets "thwarted." Based on the events of S&S, this would mean Sam and Donna murder Bryce in their own home by enticing Baby Elmer to shoot her. Then, after obtaining the Creator's Book from Sam, the Eldest Elmer kidnaps Bryce and resurrects her. He then holds her captive, and tortures her indefinitely as payback for how she exploited the Elmers.

The next event Bryce mentions is her presidential election campaign. Before this, it be must be assumed that the events of Blame the Hero occur, as that's how she was previously depicted being freed from captivity.

I'm going to pause here to explain the initial theory I had constructed pre-BRYCE for some clarification.

In a previous post, I asserted that the version of Stuff & Sam we the audience watches takes place in The Elmer Revolution Timeline. This is because the action of Main Character Blame, and Original Blame quarrelling over the time machine in BtH's 5th episode "A Botched Beach" within The Lincoln Lives Timeline is the catalysing factor for Tattoo Shop Elmer (who is the Eldest Elmer) to travel back in time and create the Elmer Apocalypse nuke. The moment Elmer returns to the ABB scene, the timeline has shifted from Abraham Lincoln Lives to Elmer Revolution. For the remainder of BtH, the Timeline stays in The Elmer Revolution until thr climax in "The Best Ending" where Hitler and Elmer die in their respective ways, ensuring that time travel is never invented, but more importantly that Elmer never makes his apocalyptic nuke. Their deaths created The New Timline, which the BRCU has remained in ever since.

Priorly, it was accepted that S&S takes place in 2018/2019. This follows Original Blame, who was from 2033, choosing to stay in 2018 to have another chance at life. It is shown that several months later he is adopted by Sam and Donna during the events of S&S. The below screenshot is from the aforelinked theory; hopefully it explains how Original Blame remains in The Elmer Revolution Timeline, hence inundating S&S to also take place in that Timeline too.

Even though The Elmer Revolution itself doesn't start in 2033, the Timeline still begins in 2018.

Here is where differences come into play. The BRCU is shown NOT to be a paradoxical time loop; the events of The New Timeline are very different from The Old Timeline. BRYCE in its entirety takes place in The New Timeline, including the scene where Bryce cuts out her heart for Bobby. While not shown explicitly in BRYCE, Abraham Lincoln and Hitler would have spawned in right before Bobby threw up, preventing his vomiting and the breaking of Bryce's heart. This key moment allows Bryce to grab Hitler's book about authority and decide to run away hand-in-hand with Bobby instead. From here, the BRYCE series continues as shown.

This does not necessarily mean that BtH takes place over and over again in a never-ending paradoxical loop, at least not in The New Timeline. My interpretation of this is that a paradoxical loop DOES happen infinitely in The Old Timeline, and every single time it ends the same way with formation of The New Timeline being the result. To paraphrase, these 5 different Timelines all take place in one singular Universe. But in every single Universe, BtH happens causing all the different Timelines to occur and finally end with The New Timeline. I'll save further elaboration of this for a future post, but my conclusion is that BtH does not necessarily need to happen in The New Timeline. Moreover, it's important to remember that each Timeline is replacing/building upon the one that came before it; they're not variations of The Original Timeline.

With this is mind, it could be proposed that the context surrounding The New Timeline version of Stuff & Sam proceeds as follows:

Donna Phitts, having returned to the USA from Germany after WWII (and the events of BtH's The Best Ending) eventually gives birth to her son, Elmer.

Bryce Tankthrust, now a successful CEO, kidnaps a baby Elmer Phitts sometime after 1995. She creates clones of him in order to harvest their hearts and fulfil her demand following the exhaustion of the previous collection she had given to her by Bobby Worse.

Sam, sometime before 2016, attempts to adopt a baby through Thrust Babies, and he and Donna uncover the Elmer cloning operation. They are able to rescue the original baby Elmer, but not before Bryce eventually tracks them down and gets murdered by the baby in question. Sam and Donna have a falling out after she regains her memory, which prompts Sam on a journey that eventually leads him to obtaining the Creator's Book, anr meeting the Eldest Elmer and The Secret Society of Elmers. Sam later manages to resolve his feud with Donna, but what's important is that the Eldest Elmer now possesses the Creator's Book, which he utilises to resurrect and kidnap Bryce Tankthrust in revenge.

Somehow, Bryce escapes. Without the baby Elmer, her cloning empire disintegrates, and she ends up making a deal with Queen Elizabeth II, where she pays five million dollars every month in exchange for orphan hearts. Eventually this deal disintegrates too, as seen in Normal British Series. However, Bryce no longer needs to harvest hearts as she has began to grow one of her own.

Now. Let's move onto the unfortunate clusterfuck of new unanswered questions, plotholes, and disreprencies this brings up.

The timeline of events in The New Timeline is so unbelievably messed up now. A majority of Bryce's videos are now implied to take place in the 1990s. There appears to be a twenty year period between 1995 - 2015 that is left pretty vague all things considered. BRYCE demonstrates that Bryce's ascendancy takes place primarily between 1990 - 1995, which is visually illustrated by her straight hair. Between 1995 and 2015, all that is mentioned is the Elmer Cloning operation. Her presidency, Normal British Series, and modern day lifestyle are all mentioned too, but these take place between 2015 - 2023.

One disreprency I think I can come up with a theory to explain though, is Bryce's age/birthyear.

We now know that at the absolute latest, Bryce began working at Callco Phones in 1989. She usurped Finchell as head of the company before 1990. Bryce was shown to be 20 at the time of her employment, suggesting she may have been born in 1969. Funny enough, here's a post from my drafts that I never ended up pursuing because 1) I did want to wait until the third episode came out, but 2) because I didn't think it held much weight.

It's pretty irrefutable in my opinion that Bobby was born in 1971, however I am now inclined to believe that Bryce IS three years older than Bobby. A birthyear of 1968 also gives enough time for all the post-Donovan's death events to unfurl between 1988-1990. Moreover, this could be an explanation for why Bryce is slightly more mature than Bobby as a child. To surmise, I believe after some minor adjustment, the geneal dates of BRYCE series events still make sense. I can't say the same about the new 1995-2015 period, however.

The next step will be to focus on how certain Old Timeline events fit into The New Timeline in light of these order of events now partially clarified. This will also include how Bryce escapes from the Eldest Elmer, as well as what happens in BtH's place.

[itsyourchoicedevotionals]

Setting Debate Aside

“Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise.” Luke 23:43NIV

Jesus committed no sin; walked perfect before Yahweh in every way. Still, hated because He couldn’t be controlled by religion— man-made laws, He was hung upon a cross. Pictures show Him lifted high above the throng, but truth, He was slightly above the height of men. Religious rulers, onlookers, and soldiers ridiculed Him; spat on Him; mocked Him— ‘come down from there, if, You’re the Son of God.’ Those who He’d fed and healed, turned their backs on Who He was, as He hung upon the cross.

Two thieves hung one on either side of Him. One mocked and ridiculed Jesus with the rest of the crowd. The second thief said— V40-41NLT “…“Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this Man hasn’t done anything wrong.”

Churches debate how to become born again. One side declares— you absolutely must repent of all sins, and be baptized to be born again. Legalism demands repentance and adhering to the Israelite Laws. More liberal thinkers: just acknowledge Jesus is God’s Son with the mouth —salvation happens immediately.  

Setting debate aside— Thief confessed his sins, not to Jesus, but before Jesus to the other thief. Was that repentance? Baptism wasn’t available nor allowed, he was dying, hours away from eternity. Many people call this a deathbed conversion. What Thief did have was the knowledge that Jesus Christ was the Son of God. 

Thief didn’t have the opportunity to follow and keep Old Testament Laws. There wasn’t time for restitution; asking forgiveness for his entire list of sins; no time to confess Jesus before men as his Savior. Only one thought was in Thief’s mind— ‘I want to go where You go Jesus.’ The response from Jesus’ mouth was Thief’s salvation— forgiven, accepted— the first recipient of God’s grace.  

No scripture describes what happened to Thief better than Romans 5:8HCSB “But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!” Thief is and was the epitome of grace covering even the worst of the worst. What God couldn’t look upon because of His holiness, He lovingly sees through the blood of Jesus— that’s grace. Mercy drew Jesus’ love and grace to Thief. 

Another lesson can be found in the salvation and death of Thief. Some hold to the teaching— our bodies lie in the grave awaiting one resurrection of the dead. How can this be with those who were buried at sea, or cremated? Thief received his spiritual body at the same time as Jesus received back His spiritual body— when they arrived in Paradise. 

There’s a new timeline for soul and body to meet. But is the timeline really new? God created time. He stands outside of time. What we measure as time is nothing to God. “…forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2Peter 3:8ASV. Yahweh sees the beginning of time, the end of time and everything in between at the same moment. He’s at the beginning of our lives and the end of our lives at the same moment, knowing the end from the beginning, see Isaiah 46:9. 

When we exit time through death, we’re immediately with the Lord, “today you will be with Me.” We’ll have our new bodies with flesh and blood bodies no longer necessary. Everything will be explained “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye…and we shall be changed.” 1Corinthians 15:52ESV. Are you ready to end the questions about grace forever? Here’s your answers. Will you use them? It’s your choice. You choose.

LET’S PRAY: Almighty God, Your plan of salvation is the only way we could ever approach Your holiness. Thank You for giving us grace, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

by Debbie Veilleux

Copyright 2023 You have my permission to reblog this devotional for others. Please keep my name with this devotional, as author. Thank you. 

[ahopkins1965]



Nahum 1:3 says: The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.  What this is saying is that the Lord is slow to anger.  This is the truth because the Lord God will always be there with you.  He knows that we cannot make it without his help.  The Lord is great in power.  God has all power, and that is power that we wish we could have at our disposal.



The Lord God will not aquit the wicked.  Frankly, I have changed my ways because I used to be a backbiter myself.  A backbiter is a person who talks about you behind your back and is scared to come to your face just to solve matters.  Someone told a big lie on me recently by saying that I was talking about my best friend.  The only thing I have said is that I will try my best to visit Charlotte, NC.  I need to get a job because Social Security is watching me very carefully.  This is because I was making money from publishing two books in two years.  The Social Security Administration specifically stated to my face that they are reviewing my entire situation.  They are mad at me for earning money for myself.



Further, I would like to work again in the near future.  I have to go back to school and earn another college education.  The Lord is not showing any mercy to those who are always in trouble.  I want to inform all of you that I have to get my act together and pay off my student loans and other bills.  I guess what my family members want me to do is become a two face person.  I used to be that way years ago.  People who are two face cannot be trusted by anyone.

Moreover, I have changed my behavior for the better.  I used to be a backbiter and a sinner.  I used to tell lies all of the time.  I have lost a lot of close friends and family members do not trust me anymore. My own family members do not have faith in me anymore.  My family members accused me of talking to scammers and computer hackers on a daily basis.  I got scammed out of$16,977 dollars in Western Union Funds.  I don't be online as much as I used to.  The scammers are uploading naked pictures of women on my Facebook page.  The scammers remember my information for the rest of their lives because I was stupid enough to give it to them.

Finally, I am a person who is 58 years old and I have a lot of common sense right now.  I am very intelligent and smart academically.  Even though I had a 2.63 GPA in college at the University of Toledo.  I had to study very hard in school.  The Lord is watching all of us inside of the clouds and the whirlwind.  My overall Grade Point Average is a 2.41.  My Nephews College at Tiffin is undefeated in the conference in Football.  There was a time when I used to abhor school because of my selfish ways.  I had a real bad disposition in the past.  I only made myself fail at various things.  I had to overcome having a learning disability for a total of 5 years.  I have achieved success in school and on the job.  Please keep me in your prayers and thoughts because I suffer from Alzheimer's and Seizures.  I also suffer from Type 2 Diabetes Full Blown and Schizoid Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia right now.  I am under surveillance by the US Government right now.  I cannot get a job because I am a victim of Age Discrimination and Mentally Illness.

In Conclusion, I am a hard worker and a person who loves to write about everything in my life right now.  I am blessed and not stressed.  I am an analytical thinker.  I am a critical thinking person.  My own family members and friends underestimate my ability to be a grown man.  I am gifted in a variety of things.  I love learning more than ever before.  If I can stay in school until I die.  This is my privilege.  I need some Job Skills.  I need to change my environment and attitude about life.  Thank you for reading my essay.

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

7/2/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

2 Kings 1-4 

Welcome to Daily Audio Bible Chronological. I'm Jill. Today is the second day of July. Welcome, everybody, and thank you for welcoming me back. I guess you didn't really have a choice other than to show up here, and I'm so glad that you did. Really, just to make the Bible a priority. Make it a part of your daily rhythm and to allow God to speak to us through His word. That's a really good thing. And no other relationship would it work that we allow people to speak on behalf of somebody and not be directly in relationship with that person. We can't let somebody else have all the conversations for us. And I really think that we are in relationship with someone. This starts the conversation here and hopefully the conversation continues throughout the day. I often hear people talk about a quiet time alone with God and they set aside some time intentionally, and that's wonderful. I have conversations all day long throughout the day with God and I'm like, do you ever get sick of me talking to you? So far he hasn't said yes, so I praise God for that. We're here starting a brand new week together. All things new and I'm thankful that I get to turn this page and be here with you this week. So we are starting a brand new week. We took our brand new mercy that was ours for the taking. Today we've turned the page. We're starting a brand new week, we're starting a brand new book and we're starting a brand new translation. Today we are beginning Second Kings and we're reading chapters 1, 2, 3 and 4. And this week we're reading the Evangelical Heritage version. Second Kings, chapter 1.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for this brand new week. We thank you for all things new. We thank you for the chance to begin again, again and again. And again. Thank you for being able to let go of the things that are not ours to carry into this week and to be released from obligation and guilt. And we consecrate this week, this time, our lives, our words, our actions, our deeds to you. Do that which you long to do in our hearts today, this day and this week. We love you. We praise you and we worship you. And we pray this now, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Announcements:

Looking forward to a great week together. I'm Jill. We'll turn the page together tomorrow. Until then, love one another.

Community Prayer Line:

Good morning. It's Heather in Santa Barbara, formerly of Nashville, and love to lift up Emmy in Illinois. I have recently been there where my housing prayer request was answered by the prayers of the faithful I know you know this, but I'm, I'm praying with you guys all, every day. Not as hard as I should. Um, but that Emmy prayer request for housing and marriage strengthening really resonated with me and even though mine didn't end in a positive direction for marriage, it did for housing and I I just pray for your husband for emotional maturity that he would know that he needs a good good father. I pray for you to be able to hang on to a Bible verse yhat you read three years ago that it's still rattling around in your head or just just infuse um, this couple, Lord pray the full protection over them as they need one another right now. They they need you. They need one another. They need to just band together and find good solutions. And men have different thinkers than we do and and we need to be united when we're making decisions and be able to use our our brains as you gifted us. So I just pray that the solution would come when these two are joined together in lockstep with you, even if it's just a 5 minute Bible read every day. But whatever it is, Lord, I know that you've got them. I pray for reconciliation in...continued reconciliation in their marriage and reconciliation with you in that time that we spend with you, Lord, for me, so it's just never, never nearly enough. But daily I know that you're pleased that you we pray with you, and so we know that you're praying with us.

Hello DABC, this is Under Construction and I'm just hoping that you guys could please pray for my other half. Have some things are going on that are really scary. And he is just kind of really falling back into an old life and ways of sin. And I just I don't know how much longer I can work on the last in this way. And I just really want us to have a relationship that honors God and blesses him, and not just on very different paths at this point. So have just something that you guys could please pray for us and for him specifically. I know that God is absolutely amazing and that anything that happens is you know you can use it for good, but I just I don't know what the right words are. Can you just please pray for him and us? Thank you.

Dearest Papa, today we bring you Emmy from Illinois, our beloved Emmy from Illinois. Normally, she struggles with her marriage, and that alone is enough, But now she's got, she has her father-in-law, has now moved in with them, and they're trying to find a new home to accommodate the whole family, and that's going to be difficult. And Emmy feels as though she's lost touch with you. Lord, she's having a hard time holding on. But please, please reassure her, overwhelmingly reassure her, palpably reassure her, it's your job to hold on to her and that you're not letting her go anywhere and that she can take comfort in that. Please give her the strength to keep going and to take a step by step. Umm, just give her the wisdom to know how to manage each situation as it comes up and please give her the patience in this new overwhelming life change that's going to most likely become more stressful as time goes on because having having parents live with you is is always stressful. So please guard her up and hold on to her. Don't make all of her, dearest Papa, we need you to please take care of her. We love her so much. Emmy, this is your friend Adrian in Maryland. Please keep in touch with us and let us know how it's going.

Good morning, David. This is Tonya calling from Suffolk. Cynthia from upstate New York, thank you so much for that prayer for me and my husband. I just want you guys to know that I'm just so full of joy that God has yet showed himself mighty. I know God is definitely up to something good. I don't know if you guys can remember when I shared the story and I needed the prayers in reference to my daughter that was in new age spirituality and then she got saved January of this year. But I tell you God has yet, can show himself mighty. Yes, the devil has still been trying to attack her, but God is still the God of all gods. And I just want to thank you all for the many prayers you guys have prayed for her and the prayers for my marriage. And I just think just thank God overall because I know that God is up to something good. And I would definitely continue to keep you guys updated. And Karen just want to pray for your mom like you said God definitely had his hands in there. So Heavenly Father want to thank you right now in the mighty name of Jesus Lord God that this new appointment that should go too far that you just restore her sight. Heavenly Father I'm asking God that you just be there before she get there. God touch the doctor's God that's gonna be residing in her care. Look, I'm trust and believe in you right now. In the mighty name of Jesus for a complete healing of her eyesight. Lord God, and this is my prayer to you. In Jesus name. Amen. DABC as always, I love you guys. And continually be encouraged.

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

I've been thinking lately about the ecumenical paranoia I see within the Eastern Orthodox Christian Community. It is, incidentally, a big reason why I haven't "pulled the trigger" as it were and become a fully Orthodox Christian. A "Catholic" Christian - with all that entails.

First, Truth is truth. If you are more interested in maintaining whatever you think it is that defines you as an Orthodox Christian than in pursuing Christ, finding Truth, and moving towards your Telos; then God bless you, have a nice day. I have nothing more to say to you. Christ himself promised Peter that the Truth would be kept - "The Gates of Hell will not Prevail" (Matthew 16:18) Have a little faith in the God you profess to worship that he will preserve right faith, right worship, and right praxis within his Church.

Secondly, You are insecure in your beliefs. I'm sorry if you feel threatened by authors that come from other Christian denominations. While I think that most Protestant thinkers are too fully invested in certain ideas, and that they may have an anemic faith that doesn't work when times get really tough - that doesn't mean that they can't have insights, or stumble into a deep idea. They're Christian. They acknowledge Christ and they're being drawn to him. They could have something to say. Saint Basil the Great himself acknowledged that even Pagan literature could be edifying. Why not Schismatics who are at least trying to find the way, however imperfectly. I won't talk about Prophets, Adventism has one, and many have proven that she was as imperfect as her Old Testament counterparts, but there are many who take a stand in the age they live and say something that might be unpopular, but necessary, and that needs to be heard.

Both of these points lead to my last one. Fear. Fear of change, fear of being wrong, Fear. In this, I look to St John -

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. -- 1 John 4:18

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have Mercy upon me, A Sinner

[solatgif]

TGIF: Roundup for April 28, 2023

We are proud to introduce Joey Chen, Enoch Liao, and Jason Tarn as new SOLA Council members. All three leaders have influential voices in the Chinese heritage church in America. In fact, Enoch and Jason are currently working with other leaders to host the first Chinese Heritage Church Collective on May 2-4, 2023.

SOLA Network strives to influence the emerging generation of Asian Americans and those who lead them. In addition to visiting our website, we encourage you to subscribe to our YouTube channel and Podcast feed.

This newsletter is one of the many ways you can keep in touch with us. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more, check out my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group and TGIF Playlist on Spotify. You can reach me on Twitter and Instagram.

Aaron Lee, Editorial Curator

Enter to win these excellent books! Where can we find rest from a selfish and sinful world? In An Island of Grace, Christopher Wright writes on redeeming love in the book of Ruth. Read my review. Do the Ten Commandments apply to Christians today? In Ten Words from God, Gordon J. Keddie gives an exposition of the Ten Commandments. Read my review. Thanks to Crown & Covenant for providing these books for our giveaway, in partnership with my newsletters for @diveindigdeep and FCBC Walnut.

Articles From Around The Web

Daniel Jung: Beef and Belief

“Beef explores a broader cultural norm within the American church: the expected finality of a testimony.”

Related: Gaining a Voice: The Asian American Church in Context with Dr. Esther Chung-Kim

Sam Beh: What Keeps you Going when Ministry gets hard?

“What keeps me going when ministry gets hard? It’s that I want to dwell in the joy of the Lord as I live into his will for my life.”

Related: The Hardest Question for Pastors and Church Planters by Fred Mok

Daniel Brueske and John Lee: True Servanthood in the Footsteps of Jesus

“We believe that the term ‘service,’ as applied to the mission of Jesus, must be understood in a nuanced and refined manner. Its overuse in our era has cheapened the concept. But in Jesus’s case, ‘service’ meant embracing the most shameful and despised fate of his time—death on a Roman cross.”

Related: Comfort for Weary, Bruised, and Broken Gospel Servants by Sam Wan

The SOLA College Writing Cohort is our new writing cohort for college-age students to receive mentorship and training as young Christian writers. Editorial Board member Soojin Park will personally be leading this initiative, and she is very excited at the prospect of nurturing the next generation of Asian American thinkers and writers who will help encourage and edify the Church!

Books, Podcasts, Music, And More

Irene Sun: A Recipe for Teaching Your Child Biblical Theology

“The Lord has given us parents visible things to teach our children his invisible attributes. In eating and drinking the Lord’s provision (visible), we taste and see his grace and mercy (invisible).”

Related: Sharing Biblical Theology With Kids: An Interview with Irene Sun by Aaron Lee

Kirkus Reviews: Sam D. Kim Talks About ‘A Holy Haunting’

“Like the iconic song by the Beatles, the journey of faith is like a long and winding road. My book, in short, is a memoir about the many complexities intertwined in our faith journey.”

Related: From Doubt to Faith: Book Review of “A Holy Haunting” by Aaron Lee

Aaron Lee: Related Works

Book Reviews: ESV Expository Commentary Vol. 5: Psalms – Song of Solomon by Crossway. Listen to our TGIF playlist on Spotify. Join my Asian American Worship Leaders Facebook group.

Check out the new edition of our SOLA Network Magazine! Download it for free and share it with your friends as a great way to be introduced to the work we do at SOLA Network.

Featured This Week On SOLA Network

SOLA Network: Announcing New SOLA Council Members for 2023

“We are proud to introduce Joey Chen, Enoch Liao, and Jason Tarn as new SOLA Council members. All three leaders have influential voices in the Chinese heritage church in America.”

Aaron Lee: A Message of Hope: A Book Review of “Shame” by Esther Liu

“Does shame cast a dark shadow over your life? Then you should check out Shame by Esther Liu. In less than 100 pages, this 31-day devotional explains what it means to be truly known and loved. The book will renew your mind and reshape your heart in regards to countering shame.”

Renee Zou: What Comes to Mind When You Think of Heaven?

“Fellow Christian, we are destined for the new heavens and the new earth. God is longing to bring us home. Are we longing for the same?”

Jason Min: Why Do We Sing At Church?

“Given the rapidly increasing popularity of worship movements like Hillsong, Bethel, and Jesus Culture, many wonder whether the church today has placed too much weight on the role of music in corporate worship. But I would argue that our view of music in the church – specifically congregational singing – is not weighty enough.”

TGIF: Roundup for April 21, 2023

Walking with Children and Teens Through Doubts About Christianity / CNN: A viral scene from Netflix’s ‘Beef’ nails a very specific religious experience / The Irresistible Peril of Publishing / On Spurgeon the Pastor, with Geoff Chang / Contextualization and the Old Testament with Dr. Jerry Hwang

General disclaimer: Our link roundups are not endorsements of the positions or lives of the authors.

[mtnkat3]

I miss You Alll...

Hard to think about another summer passed... another Labor day weekend here... when...

I started thinking & writing my angst more freely in my diary this morning this song took hold.

It always gives me tears & wobbly lip.

And the thought of losing...

You Alll are there.

I know it in my soul.

Just know...

I miss You Alll.

I never have, nor will ever be able to, stop loving You Alll.

Waking from that nightmare this morning was absolute irrefutable proof of that fact.

I miss my best friends. I miss everything about You Alll. I even miss Your...Alll's tests.

I miss my best friends

The ones I gave the keys to my soul to.

But I believe in love. I believe in You Alll. I believe in us. I believe in me.

And I believe in magic & miracles.. As I believe in God's Love, Plans, Reasons, & Timing.

Lord, God, Jesus,... I thank You daily for loving, saving, teaching, guiding & molding me. As I too know the verses of Your Word that I have ♡ have been that You wanted me to see.

You have not forsaken me. Have not left me alone to fight the adversary. Have not locked me away, never to know the absolute beautiful Gift that Real & true love of souls connections is. You have only locked the veil enough that I focus more on my tasks to getting my butt moved than on taking away the only thing that matters to me.

The soul's Mate./s... You Created me with & for.

Only You Lord, & he/they...ugh. know the truth.

And only in that truth will I ever be set free.

Wereas Hollywood wants people to think that when a Phoenix is transformed & set free that she must walk alone, I know this isn't the case. At least, not for me.

I know that when I walk out of this hell hole of a pit of my deepest life's valley.

I will be walking into the Light of Your Love Lord. And as I believe that true soul's Mate/s love is Your Gift, I believe that is Your Lighted Way & the most rich, abundant Blessing my life will ever know.

I believe that God You have been teaching me with all the tests of years of separation. Guiding me into growing to be...me. and I have. More than I ever thought. Hard to explain the eye opening a soul goes thru when going thru a hellious divorce from a person I never should've met. But knowing with absolute confidence & clarity that my soul's Mate/s... are right there.

I do not care what society thinks.

God Created us to be Mavericks, Originals, free thinkers. Question everything that humanity says. Only God's Love, Grace, Mercy, Guidance, Wisdom, & Strength are sacrosanct.

Those verses Father, are to remind me...

Your Timeframe, Plans, Reasons...

Not mine own.

So walk righteously. Walk where others fear to tread. Walk where there is no path. Walk knowing that You Lord are with me. And that You have my beloved Mate/s meeting me somewhere along that pathway.

In the forest... tall, strong, powerful, proud in You Lord. Where I am safe. I do not fear.

Because I have been in the deepest of valleys. And You Lord have walked me out.

I bare the scars proudly, humbly. A reminder both of my humanity, & that I have preserved. With You Lord.

And when You rend the veil...

my knees will give out. Right after I run into...

my soul's precious, beloved, perfect for me, ... Mate/s, Alpha/s, Bear/s, King/s, Warrior/s, Love/s,... husbands, lovers, Daddys... of babies..., guides, teachers, protectors,... I know there are more descriptors, but I know too that I am not to know them now..

besides... You Alll... sigh.

You Alll are perfectly imperfect for & to me. That's all that matters.

& the truth... it will set me free.

To love You Alll fully, richly, abundantly.

In God's infinite wisdom.

People who live as if sheep need the Shepherd. And He needs those He Grows into Enlightenment to be those leaders. I pick up that Staff because I know it's God's. And I know it will always protect & comfort me. I know that I am getting it right now because I feel His Light. Carefully. Because the adversary tricks. I never forget, the adversary goes after those with the strongest faith hardest because those with none... it already has. But those of us with faith... we are prized. If for no other reason, I fight against that, I fight for those that can't. I fight for those that have like me stumbled but not broken under the adversary tricks.

I will be every version of hollywoods heroines for other women to lean on. From Xena, to Selena, to the newest she hulk. I believe ...

God Speaks.

I believe.

God uses me, even when I don't know how or whom is hearing...

I believe in God.

I believe in love.

I believe in You Alll.

I believe in me.

I believe in us.

I believe.

I know in the deepest parts of my soul...

True love never dies & true love always waits.

Forever.

God, Jesus, You take my tears, sorrow, sadness, anxiety...

You give it purpose & meaning.

That I walk from that cloud...

thru the beauty of the misty forest...

into the dappled space of Your Light...

You sit me down in a hot tub, ...

my Love/s ... near... guarding me, ...

& my soul is being cleansed...

until I seee...

so Will it be.

Humbled by, bowed to You Lord.

May I seee... please...

Your loving, fallible daughter,

~Tijgeress kat Phoenix. 🌺

👩🤓☔💡⚓🙏🙇‍♀️🌂🔗

🐯🐾🦉🐐🐢🐛🦋🌱🌺🌹🌻🌷🌳🧶🧵

⛓🧰🏗🧱⚒🛠⚔⚙⚖🔏📒☎️🛰🚀🗽🎶

⌚⚡🌠🔱⚜🐻💝🦌🗝♠️🧩🔆♾🌎🎯🧭🕯💋 Kat layers.

Fr.9.2.2022 12.26pm est.

[honeytea8]

✨✨La Squadra Boyfriend Headcanons✨✨

[Alexa, play Boyfriend by Big Time Rush]

Guys, I spend an ungodly amount of time thinking about La Squadra, so here are some bf headcanons for the sexiest group of assassins in Naples. No one asked but I am bringing it straight to your dash anyway! (under the cut for length lmao)

I’m going to start with Prosciutto, who has recently fallen on my radar pretty heavy! 

He’s a good and decent boyfriend, if not a busy one. Not that he doesn’t care about the relationship, but most of his energy was going to Passione things before you waltzed in and so he’ll struggle a bit between his work responsibilities and maintaining his relationship with you, but only in the beginning. 

If you are also a part of Passione, it’s a hell of a lot easier to manage. 

I see Prosciutto as the gift-giving type: lingerie, sweets, perfume, designers, etc. His salary isn’t the best, but he manages it as well as he can just to accommodate you! 

I just can’t get the idea out of my head that Pro was raised by a strict mama, that’s why he can be a bit of a stickler sometimes. He’ll catch you still lounging in bed at nine am, and be like “Why are you still in bed? Get dressed, we’re going out.” Dude!

I’m sorry to say, but Prosciutto is absolutely the ‘lecturing’ type. (He lectured someone in nearly every scene in the anime, Formaggio once and Pesci numerously and Bucci too) 

He will lecture you when you make mistakes, especially because as his s/o, he has high expectations for you and believes you’re capable of so much more. It’s never, ever out of hate. He loves you, and that’s why he chides you a bit lol. 

This does not negate the fact that he doesn't mind when you lean on him for support. He likes when you count on him, because he always comes through especially for you!

Depending on whether you’re in the mafia or not, I totally see him sparring with you, or working out with you in an effort to make you tough. Prosciutto wants you to be able to defend yourself, just in case. If you complain, he’ll tell you, “Better safe than sorry, tesoro”.

Prosciutto will respect you, period.

A good listener, goddamn! He’s up there with Risotto when it comes to who listens to their s/o more! If you have an issue, he’ll hear you out and offer advice if you want it. If you give him advice, he’ll take it into serious consideration. He’s honestly a good partner, can’t stress that enough.

Finally, sex with Pro is an entire event. Romantic dinner, candles lit, wine, the whole nine yards before he gives you nine inches of something else :) (I’m kidding!! Lmao, kinda). 

But as I said, Prosciutto is quite deliberate, and a bit of a perfectionist. He knows what to do and how to do it, you can trust him.

Ghiaccio is next only because he’s my favorite. 

The ice gremlin is probably the most interesting (and hilarious) boyfriend out of the bunch (I say this with only a tidbit of bias). He isn’t funny himself, but funny shit just happens to him. 

Because of this, he will use you as a soundboard when everyone else refuses to listen to him. He’s got a lot to say, so be prepared for his TEDtalks. LMAO!

It will take some perception on your part to notice when he actually expects a response from you, and other times he’s just ranting to get his point out. 

He will correct your grammar when you text, but barely notices when he makes a similar mistake (his brain moves in mph). Please use the proper names like Venezia, Italia, Roma and Napoli when talking to this man; save yourself from the headache.

When it comes to dates, please have mercy on him, he’s a textbook over-thinker! You’ll just have to plan something simple at home for you both to enjoy. 

He isn’t incapable of planning dates, but he’ll want everything to be so absolutely perfect for his s/o and will throw a fit when it ultimately isn’t. 

Contrary to popular belief, I think that Ghiaccio is a pretty attentive partner. He’s super intelligent and I think a part of it stems from his innate ability to read people (I’m referencing the part in the anime where he deduced what Giorno and Mista had come to look for, while going off very little information). 

The more time he spends with you, the better he gets at it. 

His form of affection will be shown through the amount of time you both spend together. When it comes to sex or anything related to that, be gentle and slow as Ghiaccio will likely be a flustered mess. 

As he becomes more comfortable and confident, he will be bolder and just ask out right if you’ll suck him off tonight or not. The man appreciates directness, so don’t bother being coy. “You want me to give you head? Cool, lay down a towel or something.” is what he’ll probably say.

Very practical 👌🏾👌🏾

Melone, good lord, he’s kind of perfect. 

A bit of a doting boyfriend here and there—very much concerned about your health. Expect him to ask if you’ve eaten, or taken your multivitamin. How are your bowel movements?  LMAO

It can become a bit much, but he really genuinely cares. He’s not asking to be intrusive or nasty! If he was, you’d know. 🤣

But I seriously consider Melone to be the one (at least among La Squadra) who is way, way invested in his relationships. He will know every little detail about you; will ask you lots of questions and expects you to ask him just as many. 

This may be annoying to some, but this dude will definitely bring up your horoscope in an argument. He’ll be like “I honestly can’t fathom why you’re being this way, though it’s to be expected from a libra.” 

Peg this bitch so he can shut up.  

Melone is also touchy as hell, but not in a clingy way. He loves touching, and just to tag onto the headcanon about his partial blindness, I want to say that he’s so touchy because that’s how he ‘sees’ you best.

Just know that half the time, he isn’t touching you to be lecherous, even if he genuinely does like the feel of your skin under his fingertips. Melone will even encourage you to touch him back. 

Rub his thigh or back and he’ll be simping.

He is obsessed with your legs, and will paint your toes if you let him. 

LOVES PDA! Melone will also tongue-kiss you in public if you let him!

Notice how I keep saying ‘if you let him’. Give him an inch and he’ll press you for a mile, so if there are boundaries you would like to establish, please do, cuz he sure as hell won’t, just saying!

When it comes to sex, Melone is a dick and coochie sensei. Oral is his favorite thing to do, probably enjoys giving more than receiving to be honest. I’d say he’s pretty much mastered sex for what it is. 

That being said, if he’s ever talking out of his neck, just invite him to put his mouth to better use. He’ll even thank you for your gracious request.

Formaggio is next 💀 

According to my JoJo compatriots from discord, he’s like the Optimus Prime of fuckboi’s so let’s ride that wave for a bit! LMAO

I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise that Formaggio is pretty shameless. He will send you a dick pic on Sunday morning before church and have the audacity to say “Just wanted to bless you real quick”. 

@autumn-kouhai mentioned him giving his s/o sickly sweet pet names and I just have to agree. 

Expect to be hit upside the head with: baby-boo, sugar plum, honey bunches, sweetums. I can imagine them becoming really ridiculous too like “the last piece of red velvet cake” or “cheddar bae biscuits from Red Lobster”

His catch phrase is “Got nudes?”

Send them, and he won’t be afraid to reply with something equally sexy. 

Be warned though, he will stockpile whatever you send him and then be careless with his phone. If you don’t mind Illuso’s snoopy ass seeing your nudes then by all means, have at it. Otherwise, send them through snapchat, so they disappear later. 

As far as La Squadra boyfriends go, he’s the most fun! Y’all don’t even go anywhere because man’s is broke. BUT, Formaggio knows how to have a good time without any need to spend money (my kind of dude tbh) you guys just crank up the tunes, dance, and get lit until the neighbors complain. 

Formi is also the CEO of jokes/memes, and will have you in absolute tears almost always! I literally tell my friends that funny guys are so dangerous, don’t sleep on them! They will make you laugh until your panties drop, it’s magic, I swear. Formaggio has that same energy. 

No matter how bad of a day his s/o is having, rest assured, he will draw the biggest laugh out of you.

Besides his fuckboi tendencies, his most redeeming quality is the fact that he’s super cool and fun to hang with. You’ll literally have a good time, always, because his energy is right! Very good vibes around this man, I swear! It’ll be exactly like dating your best friend, because essentially, he will be your bestie.

Formi has many moments of tenderness that aren’t sexually charged too—moments where the jokes stop and he’ll just rub your back or feet, this is usually when you aren’t feeling well and need some quiet. 

However, Formaggio won’t let you mope all day, he’ll pull out the big guns and call you his “sweetie baby” and when you try to resist he’ll say “What, I’m just tryna show you some love.”

He’s a good dude lmao I’d date a guy like him irl 😭

Pesci stans wya??! Let’s get into this baby boy. 

Pesci is boyfriend material, idgaf what anyone says. 

He is pretty much the least problematic to be with among all of La Squadra, even more so than Risotto (don’t argue with me). 

Pesci is hyper aware of your likes and dislikes and will literally go out of his way to make sure that you’re well and okay. 

Arguments are basically nonexistent and if they occur it ain’t coming from his side. 

I also think that Pesci has a lot of empathy, so when you’re going through something, he’s right there in the thick of it with you. If you’ve seen that meme that goes ‘when my gf is on her period it’s UterUS’ lmao that’s Pesci’s energy 100%. 

Sometimes, he’s more of a lover and not a fight, that is perfectly okay!

However, if someone tries up his s/o, say farewell to Mr. Niceguy. He will defend your honor to his dying breath. And with you in his corner, trust me, he’s not going down. 

A romantic at heart, Pesci will plan little date trips like picnics in the park or boat trips to Capri, actually, I’d like to point out that he excels in the art of date planning. If you’re the adventurous type, he’ll plan outings where you both will be more active, like biking through the city or renting a mop-ed and going sight-seeing. 

Because Pesci has a sensitive stomach, he’s very much considerate of what you both put in your bodies. If you have dietary restrictions or allergies, this guy knows all about it and will cater to you perfectly. 

A true gentleman through and through, he will never force himself on you, ever. In fact, he really doesn’t like engaging in anything sexual when you’re drunk or high, sorry if you’re into that! 

Pesci is the kind of guy who keeps up with your favorite shows.

If ya’ll have similar taste in media or literature, he will immerse himself in it so that he can relate to you all the more.

If there’s anyone who will entertain anime-related discourse, no matter how nonsensical, it’s Pesci. And he isn’t just putting up with it, he’s actively engaging in the conversation so you are always heard and validated. 

He’s an A+ boyfriend, that’s all I gotta say! Haters can stay mad :)

Goddamn Illuso... idk man.

I really feel like you have to have thick/tough skin to handle this guy, for various reasons. 

The first being that Illuso can be a bit mean at first. He’ll push your buttons on purpose just to see what’ll make you tick. Will tease the living heck out of you, always, kind of a bully lmao but not to the extreme, it’s just his brand of humor—and the thing is, he won’t be mad when you dish it right back, so it’s cool. 

Secondly, Illuso has big dick energy!! 

I mean rightfully so, because he is indeed packing! But my word, he ain’t humble about it at all! 

He is not above making jokes about ‘splitting you in half’. In fact all of his jokes have hidden, dirty undertones! 

His affection is shown through speech mostly. Illuso will drop subtle innuendos and provocations, half to see you flustered and half because he wants you to know how much he wants you. 

Illuso isn’t incredibly vocal about his feelings outside of ‘I’m tryna hit that thang’ but you won’t doubt that he loves you because Illuso doesn’t waste his own time. 

If he’s spending his time with you, you can rest assured that it’s because he wants to. 

Illuso is a voyeur and you’ll just have to understand/accept that and move on. 

He loves watching you and will even creep over to your place through the mirror world just to hang or watch you do chores. Loves to surprise you and give you jump scares lmao it’ll make you a tad paranoid but it’s also fun. 

Illuso is prone to random bouts of sweetness; it’s very sporadic, very touch-and-go. 

One day, you’ll wake up to chocolates on your dresser or new shoes, lingerie, or makeup if you wear it. I imagine that if you’re low on funds, he will even help you buy your groceries that week. 

It’ll surprise the hell out of you, but that’s just how Illuso is. He enjoys keeping you on your toes! 

He’s prideful and smug as hell, so he will definitely expect a thank you, because even if he does it out of the kindness in his heart, he also wants to hear that you appreciate him

Same goes for the bedroom scene. Illuso loves making you vocal, it’s his favorite thing in the world, so he’ll make a game out of doing the things that get the biggest reaction out of you. Like I said, it's that big dick energy at work here, smh.

Sorbet and Gelato in a polyamorous relationship with you? Let’s get it! 

We don’t get anything substantial about these two except that Sorbet follows the money, so these are all personal headcanons for how I see and write them. 

Here’s the juice: when it comes to you as their s/o, these two are possessive as hell. You are theirs and that’s that on that! 😭 Don’t ask questions, just go with it.

Sorbet is the chill one of the duo. He can be a bit smug at times, but he’s mostly a laid back dude who doesn’t get bothered by much.

When it comes to you, Sorbet likes to spend quality time with you more than anything, and will ask you to cook for him at your place so he ain’t gotta spend money. Oh? Did I not mention that I kinda think of him as a cheapskate? Lmao cuz I do.

Sorbet will come by your place just to steal your coupons from the mail then head out; you’re not using ‘em so why should he let them go to waste?

Gelato is the complete opposite; personality wise, I headcanon him as a mix between Melone and Formaggio lmao

But it’s not as crazy as it sounds, he’s cute and outspoken like Melone, while maintaining a free-spirit like Formaggio. One quality that I like is that he’s quite devoted to you and Sorbet. If anyone crosses either of you, goodluck to them!

I like to think Gelato’s also just really boujee and high maintenance. He loves to pamper and be pampered. You and him tag-team Sorbet’s wallet and go on spa dates together at his expense (not that he ever really stood a chance)

While Sorbet is cool with just being in the same room as you, Gelato loves hugging/cuddling with you and Sorbet—will definitely fight for the middle spot between the two of you on the couch during movie nights.

He baby, so let him have it lol

In the bedroom, I would salute anyone with the guts to take the two of them on. They both lay down that work, period. 

Sorbet gets his kicks from teasing and edging you (his sadistic side comes out a bit), while Gelato loves when you give him extra TLC. To put it short, they know how to take care of you, so there are no issues there. 

Last but not least, Mr. Risotto Nero himself.

Man, idc on the lowest of keys, he seems a little bit like a grandpa to me

The type to sit at home and do crosswords, has a bird feeder in his yard and plays old Italian hits while washing the dishes. It’s very domestic 💀 (I find it cute, whatever!)

As a boyfriend, I can’t imagine him suddenly being spontaneous or outgoing unless you drag him out of his home/comfort zone.

Be patient with Mr. Nero, and he can come to surprise you

After a while, it won’t be just you dragging him out and about; one day he’ll ask you to come over and you’ll be greeted with a nice, traditional, homemade meal

Pay attention and you will notice him watching your face to see if you like his cooking 🥺

After seeing his fight with Doppio, I must admit that Risotto is very, very observant, almost scarily so.

I can totally picture him pointing out random things about his s/o that even they don’t know

One night, Risotto may come up to you and say “I talked to your neighbor about the dog, they’ll keep it inside now.” And you’re just staring like 😳 how did he know the barking was keeping you up at night????

He’s sweet, and will take good care of you as a boyfriend should.

Very good listener, won’t talk as much but will hang on to your every word, I promise. He could even recite it to you verbatim.

He’s a big dude, that ain’t news, so expect to be swallowed up in hugs and sometimes even picked up (as a tall girl myself, I simp!!!)

Gives A1 piggyback rides, lol

ALSO RISOTTO IS HUMBLE ASF!

Big dick energy, but on low volume 👏🏾 after all, he doesn’t need to do much talking, because a night with him is more than enough!

Listen babe, you better stretch, do some squats, and prep in whatever way you can before Mr. Nero gives you that work. 🤐

Lowkey a freak, but it’s well hidden behind his ‘quiet giant’ exterior

So, who are y'all dating? Personally, I’m going for Formaggio and Pesci hehe

[kaiyaki-sano]

Hi there🥺💜 Congratulations for your follower count! Luna spurred me on to join your event so, if it is still open, here's something about me. I'm curious who will you match me up with from the entire Naruto cast 🤭

Sassy, a bit arrogant at times and I swear a lot when I'm angry. I make a ton of inappropriate jokes and I flirt all the damn time.

I'm a very exclusivist person. I decide who I talk to and I am very picky with people, but at the same time, I care very much and I love too much

My love language is acts of help and little gifts

I cry easily when something impresses me: both smth good and bad. I'm an over thinker and I have moments when I get sad for no reason. I... I switch moods fast as fuck cause I am a gemini

I am short (5'4 short ._.) and slim, a dog and a horse person.

I love to swim, wearing dresses and summer hats and I get cold very easily

I hope I didn't overshare, I was trying to give you as best of an image as I could. Kisses

-Biscuit

Okay I really couldn’t choose between these two so you get them BOTH😌

I pair you with:

Obito Uchiha/Genma Shiranui

Look at his face I fucking love him

Anyway, he loves your attitude. Oooooh does he love that arrogance and that sass, he loves how you can match him in a roasting session.

Dear god, if you roast Kakashi with him, he’s falling in love right that second.

I’m not even kidding, he’s gonna swoon. You’ve wrapped him around your finger just like that.

The closer you get, the dirtier his jokes become, and he’s so delighted that you match him on that too.

The two of you flirt so hard, so often, people assume you’re married.

He’s so honored that you took a liking to him, he knows you’re very choosy about that, and it makes his heart flutter to know he’s earned a spot.

When you cry, no matter the reason, he’s right there and he’s holding you, kissing your hair and wiping your tears, not pressuring you to talk if you don’t want to, but dear good god he wants to help, wants to fix it immediately. Seeing you hurt, he cannot take it. He might cry with you.

He loves your sundresses, I mean, of course he does. You’re hot, you’re so hot, he can’t take his eyes off of you when you wear them.

Good luck trying to be on time to wherever you were going in it, because he won’t be able to resist destroying you in it first.

But he’s going to give you one of his jackets or hoodies to take with you, because he knows you’ll be chattering with cold in a matter of an hour.

He adores you, he knows how you are.

WOOF WOOF BARK GENMA-

My bad. But look at him, I mean, seriously? Fuck.

He also loves that fire you have, thoroughly impressed at your quick wit and your humor. Makes him chuckle, you amuse him greatly.

He will probably out-flirt you, but that’s not to say you won’t make him blush a few times.

The man is just good at it. He can make you weak with one dirty joke and a smirk around that god damn toothpick.

You love it.

As much of a shit head as he is, he is just as much of a softie baby.

You’re crying? Who does he need to actually murder? He’s on his way, he’s serious-

Okay fine, he’ll hold you instantly without question, but in his mind that’s what’s going on. Murder plans.

Whoever made you cry: count your fuckin days my dude.

Lord have mercy on your soul if you wear a sundress around him. I mean, you’re gonna need it.

Good luck leaving the house in it, he’s not gonna be able to stop railing you into the next dimension.

Two words: oral fixation.

Good night😌

[dany-is-my-queen]

Born To Be Yours | Part VIII

Sansa Stark x Fem! Baratheon! Reader (Daenerys Targaryen x Fem! Baratheon! Reader eventually)

Season 1-8

Word Count: 2,165

Note: Leave your thoughts please! 💛

Pt.1 Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6 Pt.7 Pt.9

“I don’t want to leave King’s Landing! What about you and Tommen? No one can separate us! Please Y/N, I don’t want to go to Dorne.” Myrcella was weeping holding you tight by the waist.

“You’ll be safer in Dorne, little one. It’s dangerous if you stay. I promise you I’ll visit Sunspear as soon as I can. They will give you a warm welcome. Nothing bad is going to happen, okay?” You keep saying to ease her worries. She’ll be just fine, you thought.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“You are my sister. We’ll be in each other’s hearts till the end of time.” You wiped her tears.

“Princess Y/N, Princess Myrcella.” Sansa greeted you. Another two courtiers arrived to be with her.

“Lady Sansa, I love your dress! Did you make it yourself?” Myr announced.

“Yes, princess.” She chuckled.

“You should teach me how to do this beautiful stitching. Sadly we don’t have the time.”

“I’ll send you a golden gown as a present on your nameday” She grinned and went off to play hide & seek with the ladies. “You are going to miss your sister.” Sansa said.

“A lot. But I know it has a purpose. She’s strong.” You nodded.

“Just like you. I miss Arya. We had a complicated relation, she was always so annoying and I was a brat. I should have cherished the moments we had together. She’s out there all alone.” With a sad voice she spoke.

“We will find her.”

“May I ask you something?” She doubtfully inquired.

“Anything.”

“You don’t like to be around Joffrey?”

“No. And I’m glad he hardly ever request my presence. We had a messy childhood. I’ve been closer to my siblings since they were born. They brought light to my life. There’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for them.”

“I admire you, Y/N.” You smiled.

“Lady Sansa, do you fancy poetry?”

“I do! It’s very romantic.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear that. I made you a poem... you inspired me. Here it goes...

Big vivid blue eyes

Gentler than the ocean sea

Long silky auburn locks

Warmer than a sunset

This a lady, a lady who will own the world.”

You created it the very first day you meet her, of course, you wouldn’t recite it to her when you barely knew each other. It was way too short but it meant something.

“Woah... Y/N I’m speechless. You are so sweet. I don’t deserve a friend like you.” Right, friend.

“Of course you do.” You said. She kissed your cheek the same way you kissed hers the other night. Swiftly and subtly. Gods it felt so good. If anyone was watching they could see how blushed you two were.

“May I ask specifically what the King has in mind?” Tyrion was weary of his sister’s stubbornness.

“You may, specifically, or you may ask vaguely. The answer will be the same.” She nonchalant answered.

“It’s important we talk about this.” He insisted.

“It’s the King’s royal prerogative to withhold sensitive information from his councilors.” Cersei was looking from the balcony to the gardens the longing stare Sansa had on you. You watched with a heavy heart over the younger princess so you weren’t paying much attention. The Queen Regent didn’t like the idea of that kind of closeness between you both. She didn’t suspect anything either, not more than devotion the northern lady held for Y/N. Still, it bothered her you always stood up for her. “That whore should stay away from my daughter.” She declared.

“Why? It seems they get along pretty well, your son loves to torture her. She found someone who treats her right. I don’t quite understand the reason you’re mad about it.”

“She’s poisoning her. Manipulating her. Y/N is so naive. That girl thinks she has her under her claws at her disposition.”

“What you are saying doesn’t make any sense. They are just girls. What harm can they do to each other?

“Will you send her away as well? Maybe you should have considered Y/N instead of Myrcella.”

“You haven’t changed a bit. Still so bitter and distant with Y/N. She knows how to fight, how to defend herself. She’s brave. Just like her father Robert Baratheon was. Only three of your four children are sane. But I’m really curious about this... how can you put one of them above the other? Being so hurtful with your actions and your words, Y/N experienced that. Where were you when she needed you the most?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Of course I love her. In my own way. She’s my blood, and for good or for bad, blood is for life.” Tyrion let out a tired sighed of disbelief. Then he left.

“My friend...” Varys approached you.

“What news, Lord Varys?”

“Your uncle Renly. He’s dead.”

“How?”

“He was stabbed in the heart. Some say it was Lady Catelyn Stark, his own Kingsguard, and others Stannis Baratheon himself. We don’t know for sure.” You knew this was a high possibility due to the quarrel between Stannis and Renly, though it was soon you were pretty sad about the fact he’s gone. He was always good to you.

It was the day Myrcella was leaving home to be in an unknown place. She was terrified, truth be told you were too but you had to remain strong and positive.

“My lioness, I’m sure the next time we see each other you’ll be even more beautiful. Five years, twenty years, we’ll always be the same.” You were trusting Dorne to take care of her.

“Just a bit older. Who is going to stay with me when I have a nightmare or when-“

“As father told me, don’t be scared even in the face of danger. You will never be alone. I love you.” You kissed her forehead bidding her goodbye.

“Promise you will never forget about me Y/N.”

“I promise.”

“May the seven guide the princess on her journey...”

Tommen was sobbing, the septa cleaned his face. You held him whispering she was going to be safe and soon enough you’ll be seeing her again.

“You sound like a cat meowing for his mother. Princes don’t cry.” Joffrey hissed with his arms folded. You were to busy comforting your baby brother to pay him any attention.

“I saw you cry.” Sansa blunted out.

“Did you say something, my lady?” He turned to her.

“My little brother cried when I left Winterfell.”

“So?”

“It seems a normal thing.”

“Is your little brother a prince?”

“No?”

“Not really relevant, isn’t it?” He irritably replied.

“Some people care for their siblings, you don’t care for any of us. That’s why you are so stone-hearted about it.” You kept looking at Myrcella almost gone boat. He gave you a withering look before walking. Sansa was emotionless, perhaps because of her younger brothers, Bran and Rickon. Hopefully, they were alright.

“Come, dog.”

You followed the guards. In the hall, a crowd started to yell things at the King. Tommen was taken back to the Keep while your mother and you stayed close to each other, she held your hand.

“Hail to the King!”

“Murderer! Bastard!”

“Please your grace, we are hungry!”

Suddenly a piece of cow excrement was thrown to his arrogant face. “Who threw that? I want the man who threw that! Find him and bring him to me! Kill them! Kill them all!” Sansa handmaidens were keeping her close. The Lannister guardsmen shielded you and Cersei while the folk tried to get to your eldest brother. They were rioting, it was chaos.

“Move, move!” Tyrion ducked his head. You tried to follow the tall girl but she left your sight.

You entered a big gate to safety. “Where’s the Stark girl?” Tyrion shouted.

“Let them have her!” Joffrey furiously screamed.

Wasting no time you ran to the exit not caring about the riot happening outside.

You entered a short corridor, almost tripping by your feet. When you found her she was on the ground with her clothes ripped off, crying while trying to break free from the man’s grip.

“Have you ever been fucked?” You heard the disgusting person say.

“Take your hands off her!” You pushed one of them and hit him. The other flee and the last punched you in the stomach and then slapped you. The northerner was terrified. In that precise moment, before you kept fighting, The Hound arrived and spun the leader down, then disemboweled him, the second begged for mercy, resulting in him cutting his throat. He first offered to help you what you refused so he could carry the Stark girl. She was in shock.

Now you were in the gated area. You heavily sighed. “The Princess is hurt! So is the little bird.”

“Thank you, Sandor.” He nodded.

“Y/N! Are you alright? Did the assailants do something to you?” Tyrion worriedly asked you.

“No, no I’m fine.” You shook your head, trying to catch your breath.

“That was stupid.”

“Well, Joffrey is a slow thinker.”

“Your mother is going to be so angry about this.”

“I don’t care, uncle. You know it.” You smiled at him and he shook his head in disapprove. “My lady. They will take you back to the Red Keep. I will personally treat your wounds okay?”

“You already have done too much, my princess. I-“

“Please.” She nodded. “I’ll be with you in a few moments.”

You entered Cersei’s chambers, she was expecting you. Both hands on her waist. “What the hell were you thinking?! Are you an idiot? I’ve sent one of my daughters away and now the other is almost raped and killed the same day!” She was all hysterical.

“Mother, your son wasn’t deciding. Someone had to. Without Lady Sansa we’ll never see Jaime again. I’m the only person who cares for the innocent people? I wouldn’t let them hurt her.” You fought back.

“She is not worth risking your life for. You are trying to follow your father to the grave! It’s not about honor. It’s about your safety. I can’t lose you, Y/N.” She argued.

“You won’t.” You walked out leaving her with a mad expression.

“She was so brave Shae! She came to my aid when I thought those people were going to hurt me. She’s so fearless.”

“It was a very silly act. Things could have gotten worse.”

“But they didn’t. Sandor also helped. But Y/N,s boldness is remarkable.” Shae peered at her knowing what Sansa really meant.

You knocked on the redhead door. “I hope it’s not too late. My mother kept talking, I couldn’t wiggle my way out.” You excused yourself.

“Come in. I was waiting for you. Shae insisted on do it herself.”

“Princess. My lady.”

“Goodnight, Shae. She’s in good hands.” She gave you a little smile.

“Did you have supper already?”

“Yes, I took a quick bath too.” Sansa gestured you to sit down.

“I see. Your hair is still wet.” You quipped.

“You saved me. Again.” She began.

“Actually, Sandor saved us. I’m glad I arrived in time.”

“I thought they were going to kill me.”

“I wouldn’t let them. I won’t let anyone touches you ever again. I’m sorry. It must have been very frightening to you.”

“It was. You rescued me. I’m so grateful, Y/N. But your life is way more important than mine. Stop doing it.”

“I’ve heard that before.” You took the kerchief smearing in it some ointment.

“I’m serious. You are very brave. I don’t want you to get seriously injured because of me.” She insisted, more serious this time.

“I wouldn’t blame you. No harm will come to you while I’m around. I mean it. What I wouldn’t do to save you?”

“You are so stubborn. I would have given them bread if I had it. I hate the King more than any of them.”

“I know you would and I know you do, we share the same feeling about him.”

“Oh, gods! I’m a fool! I didn’t notice until now that you are also hurt.” She concernedly acknowledged.

“It doesn’t matter.” You brushed it off.

“Of course it does.”

“You first.” With the fabric, you began to swab her eyebrow cut.

“Auch.”

“It’s not deep. Does it hurt?”

“A little. What about yours?” She carefully touched your lower lip with her thumb.

“It’s just a scratch.”

“Let me clean it.” You found her eyes staring at your lips.

“The-the cut will disappear soon.” She stuttered.

“I won’t.” She looked up yo meet your eyes.

“What?”

“I won’t stop risking my life to keep you safe.” Not only you were doing this for the promise you made to Lady Catelyn, or because it was the right thing to do, not even for honor or recognition, but because you were falling harder and harder for her, you were deeply in love with the she-wolf.

[paula-of-christ]

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Scheduled post that I wanted to share today, as I drive to Tennessee for my retreat!

The first day of religious education! Though I am not teaching this year myself, I relish the opportunity to meet more people - especially the little ones - at my parish. Somehow there is nervousness in me, perhaps, I think because of my general disposition to be introverted. This is likely why I prefer teaching teenagers myself, as they tend to be just as nerve-wracked as myself.

Lord Jesus, that I may speak your truth, guide me, that if it be your will my words may speak to your beauty and serenity. I will start with what I have mentioned previously which is this: the silent work and love of God, evidence most in the life and rhythm of a parish. For even when we ourselves do not see the Lord at work in our litany of duties, the monotony of doing the thing yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

I mean this also in the intellect that we see in our sisters [and brothers - for who I most recently observed this in was a woman], expressed in the smallest way of the systemic way of finding votive candles that were burnt out or nearly, then rotating and replacing them. Such a small gift to the life of the parish, so that, the next day, those new candles may be lit and the Body's prayers answered.

It was a moment that striked me so, something so small yet done daily, was done for the life-blood, which is prayer, of the Church. With the ease and seeming tranquility of one who is calculating exactly their next move. We see this too in nature as well, the work of the birds of the sky to build nests, yet God still provides for them. The wheat too, is kept up by the Grace and Mercy of God. Similarly, the Lake too moves with a quiet (though I mean this in an abstract sense, as anyone who has been around water would know how decidedly not quiet it is) rhythm, to break down the shore and bring oxygen into the water for the algae and the fish.

It has been described, in other works and by thinkers greater than I, that the soul is much like a great basin of water, or an ocean. I will spare you the details of this allegory since it has been talked of so frequently and I am sure I have nothing new to add to this meditation. But in seeing the majesty of God in the Lake (which I will note is like God Himself, 3 parts make the whole -- truly the Creator is reflected in all of creation) I am drawn to attempt my own conclusions, little and incomprehensible though they be.

If, like a great body of water, our soul only knows true peace when we know God in our vocation, then what can harm us? I mean to say, the waves crashing on the shore make little difference to the bottom of the body 100 yards out. Though a storm could rage and upset the sands of the shore, when we know God, the center (or bottom rather) is utterly calm. Like a great basin that grows larger the more it is filled, as St. Theresa says. The soul expands, and in doing so, gives more opportunity for the shores to become restless. For, the larger the basin, the longer the shore. So too, however, the deeper it becomes so that, with greater faith, comes more avenues of calm, if we only remain with Christ in our soul.

I am sure this is not a new idea, and I only do not recall having heard of it before. But in hopes this one day reaches the eyes of someone else, I have written it thus. Poor soul, always have faith in Christ, that whatever storm is raged against your shores, you may have serenity and faith in God, who has saved us.

[z3r0-f4ilur3]

Zizek Notes, Part Three, As A Joke

Zizek, On Hegel, Around The Hour Mark Malbranche as an invisible mediator of the medieval and the modern.

how are the thinking substance and our body connected? "I bet it's by love" I say to myself as some tosspot corrects Zizek on the pronounciation of Pineal Gland. STFU GRADUATE STUDENT he speaks multiple languages, you knew wtf he meant

(It occurs to me that the reason "The Most Dangerous Philosopher In The West" is not ever dissapeared is that everyone, even those he critiques, would genuinely like to know what the hell is coming down the pipe and believe he has some filter of analysis appropriable by everyone. I fear what a mind without class consciousness does with Zizek's lower hanging fruits.) So far I want to throw things at every graduate student who has interrupted Zizek, not only are their interupptions not questions, they are not dialectic; they are just devilis advocata, anathama JESUS HAVE MERCY, I am absolutely done with the theology of the body. The Roman Catholic Obsession with Aristotle killed thinking's progress, long and gradually and by degrees. We are still suffering under their ugly dualism. based Zizek is Anti-Aquinas gang, I love Zizek arguing from the Orthodox tradition! Ahhhh Slovenian Orthodoxy, I must study I understand why Zizek is so clearly pro the Christian Empancipatory Community now. He has a basis in pre rationalism. Oh thank God, what a mystery to find the good news pronounced through him! Why does the Church advocate a weird notion of sex is only for procreation is only human, but natural law rejects that, animals don't behave as humans do in constant sex seeking. Dawkins and the Roman Catholic Church both enforce a view of competitive determinism, "we only exist as genes to reproduce" First good statement from a grad, but he quotes Steven Pinker, VOM Dawkins is and has been SHUT UP GRAD STUDENT Dawkins is and has been out of his class, this is a waste of time in relation to Hegel "The only legitimate critique of Hegel is that he isn't Hegelian enough" Zizek. Hmmmm lolol Judith Butler shoutout "Don't be a binary thinker," Judith says, to which Zizek retorts, "Okay, I will make jokes about many partners" Hegel believes sex is a natural substance humans civilize; Zizek says Hegel is missing the death drive in his analysis. "The wild child is not an animal nature; it is the denaturalized nature" the excess we try to civilize is not nature, it's a mediatior, and Zizek asserts this is the death drive. I disagree with him here, he is totalizing the system of sexuality to a death drive, no such total system exists Human desire is denaturalized because historical stuff, Zizek, it's not the base level of human nature, I feel like Zizek still deals in idealism. But he would, wouldn't he? Secretly. "Kant: Man is an animal that needs a master." Lol, put that on my ever expanding list of reasons I'm glad I'm not a man, even though that's a deliberate misunderstanding to frame it as a joke Zizek's theory of sexuality has a great deal of orthodoxy in it

"it's not that culture breaks with nature, but that there is an absolute impossible insistence; civilization stablizes death." Utilitarian accounts of language are more modular than idealistic ones, hello descriptivism

Zizek says "Mystery" like an Orthodox priest does. No, it's not JUST that I want to chrismate, this guy is doing some very heavy translating of some real terrain in the Orthodox worldview and bringing it into the commons, whether he knows it or not. okay, time to take a break...I've only made it to the hour and 18 minute mark and already so many notes. Lord

[carewyncromwell]

Anybody want some more POTC AU? Well, this time we’re getting some focus on our Davy Jones (Finn McGarry @theguythatdraws, based on this concept) and our Commodore “Carey Weasley” (Carewyn Cromwell)! In the original films, their respective roles are on opposite sides of the fence (hell, Davy Jones kills Norrington in the movies damnitDisneyNorringtondeservedbetter >>), and even in this AU, Davy!Finn has some history with Carewyn’s brother Jacob...so how will they interact, when they collide? We’ll just have to wait and see...

17th-18th century pirate ships were -- in a bizarre way -- tiny, floating representative democracies, about 50-60 years before the American Revolution. In a world where nearly all European countries were run by kings chosen by “divine right” and one could usually only “rise above their station” through fighting in wars or through marrying someone of a higher class, pirate ships operated under the idea of “one man, one vote” and their captains both were chosen by popular vote and could be replaced at any time, oftentimes rather peacefully. The Age of Enlightenment sparked by thinkers like John Locke started in the midst of the Golden Age of Piracy and really kicked off as soon as it was over, circa 1730. Those same ideas ended up inspiring both the American and French Revolutions in the later 18th and early 19th centuries...so yeah, in a weird way, you could draw a direct connection between the values and grievances against the monarchy expressed by pirates to the ones expressed by America’s Founding Fathers and the figures of the French Revolution!

Previous part is here, whole tag is here...and I hope y’all enjoy!

x~x~x~x

When the Flying Dutchman returned from Tortuga, the brig was stuffed to the brim with about two hundred prisoners -- and yet, even with that, Cutler Beckett was not pleased. None of those captured were particularly well-known or wanted pirates: instead the group largely consisted of retired pirates, pirates’ families, or other such refugees from the law who hadn’t committed any crimes except through association.

“The pirates refused to be taken alive, Beckett,” spat Jones impatiently. “All of the ones we captured fought to the death rather than be imprisoned.”

“Admirable excuse, Jones,” said Beckett airily, “but at present, we need prisoners to interrogate -- and although you may be comfortable dealing with dead men, they don’t do much good for us that way. Unless you can give us the location of Shipwreck Cove yourself?”

Jones’s eyes flashed dangerously. Alas, he couldn’t answer that question -- and so Beckett railroaded him.

“I’ve come to the conclusion that you need some oversight, Jones -- so from now on, Commodore Weasley and my associate, Patricia Rakepick, will remain on board the Dutchman...just to make sure things run smoothly.”

Jones watched as a line of soldiers escorted the Dead Man’s Chest on board his ship. He had felt the presence of his heart earlier, but it being so close made his chest feel like it was on fire, blazing with wild, storm-like emotions he hadn’t felt in years that made him want to hit something, scream in pain, and burst into tears all at the same time. It was agony, after so long, and it made Jones whirl on Beckett with a murderous expression.

“I will not have that thing on my ship!” he snarled.

“Perhaps you will not, but I will,” said Beckett.

He glanced at Rakepick. “Did the key Jones handed over work?”

Rakepick dangled the key to the Chest off of her finger with a smirk. “Aye -- I checked it before we brought it over.”

“Good.”

Beckett returned his gaze to Jones.

“From here on out, you shall answer to the Commodore and Madam Rakepick for your orders -- all orders, naturally, that come directly from me. Should you not, they will have the authority to discipline any misbehavior.”

Jones’s gaze flickered over Rakepick and then over to the shorter Navy-dressed officer standing perfectly straight beside her.

The Commodore -- yes. This was the one called “Carey Weasley” -- Black Jack Roberts’s younger sister and, as per Jones’s deal with Jack, his future crew member, Carewyn Cromwell. She truly didn’t resemble her brother much at all, Jones thought: it was little wonder no one had made a connection between her and the infamous captain of the Tower Raven. And Jones thought, it was irony at its finest, the thought that one of the people Beckett was using to restrain him was in fact destined to scrape before him instead, within the next two months.

Jones’s gaze returned to Beckett pretty quickly. He snapped his claw at his side as he loomed over the much smaller man.

“The Flying Dutchman sails as its captain commands,” he said fiercely.

“And its captain will sail it as he is commanded!” Beckett shot back, his usually detached and arrogant voice betraying some real aggression for the first time.

Jones’s crew muttered among themselves, both shocked and a bit intimidated. The leader of the East India Trading Company took several steps forward, his eyes boring into Jones with pure contempt.

“I already disposed of your pet,” he said softly. “I would hate to have to also dispose of you so quickly, when you might still have some use.”

Despite saying this, it was clear that Beckett felt no compassion for Jones’s life at all.

“This is no longer your world, Jones. There’s no place in this new world of ours for the immaterial. In short, the immaterial...has become immaterial. Best you learn that quickly, and fill the new role you’ve been dealt.”

Jones loathed having the two red-haired women and their battalion of Navy soldiers aboard. Although a lot of the time neither of them spoke to him, he hated having their eyes on his back and hated knowing that they as agents of Beckett’s were there to be his “leash.”

Rakepick flaunted her authority noticeably more than Carewyn did, dictating their course and openly contradicting Jones’s orders. About the only time Carewyn seemed to speak up was in response to the treatment of prisoners -- while the Flying Dutchman sailed back toward Port Royal, the Commodore frequently checked on the condition of the prisoners in the brig. One of Jones’s sailors even reported to him that he’d seen her bringing one of them a Bible on request. It was odd, considering that every single one of those prisoners was going to hang as soon as they arrived in Port Royal, unless they had “valuable information” to give. Unfortunately the only valuable information that Beckett wanted were the identities of all seven Pirate Lords, the significance of their “Pieces of Eight,” and the location of Shipwreck Cove, the last secret pirate haven on Earth -- and, to every prisoner’s credit, if any of them did know the answers to those questions, they refused to say...perhaps because they knew that it’d be the place the pirates who were able to escape the Dutchman’s attack would go.

Carewyn escorted the prisoners on shore to Port Royal, while Rakepick stayed behind with the troops aboard the Flying Dutchman. When she arrived, she met up with Percy, who had been in charge of the fort in her absence. The hangings started the very next day. A long, long line of prisoners all locked in irons pooled out of the brig and were walked one by one closer to the gallows. In groups of seven, they were sent up to the hangman’s noose -- men, women, even children -- all without trial and without any chance for mercy...all thanks to Lord Beckett, and by extension the King of England who had given him that power. It broke Carewyn’s heart standing on the sidelines with Percy, unable to do a thing to stop it.

Cutler Beckett arrived in Port Royal in the midst of the executions, looking incredibly smug. It took everything in Carewyn to not yank out her pistol and stick in his disgusting, weasel-like face...especially when he brought her and Percy away from the gallows to speak to them privately.

“I admit, Commodore...your plan has not produced the intelligence I wished for,” said Beckett as he considered the map in front of him. Once again, he was playing with a silver piece of eight absently in his right hand. “But it has been a very effective showcase of the British Empire’s new position on piracy. My proclamation would’ve lacked the proper teeth, without such a visible display.”

‘You’re despicable,’ Carewyn thought, hatred pulsing through her heart as a tiny boy was placed up on a barrel at the gallows.

“Thank you, sir,” she said lowly.

Percy glanced at the gallows too, and he winced at the sight of the boy standing on the barrel.

“It’s unfortunate that the information they offered was not useful to you, Lord Beckett,” he said, his voice betraying some hesitance. “I thought that the locations the boy provided for where the Dennis and the Andromeda make berth and the routes the Blackbird uses to plunder ships seemed promising...”

“You think too small, Captain,” said Beckett.

There was a rather arrogant gleam in his eye as he glanced from Percy to Carewyn, the piece of eight lingering between his pointer and middle finger.

“Chasing pirates one at a time would take up more resources and time than I have a desire to use. What I want is to bring order to this world -- and to do that, all pirates must be dealt with...either by being brought into line to serve our interests, or by being disposed of. And to do that, the pirates’ spirit must be decisively crushed.”

He glanced at the piece of eight between his fingers.

“...How much do you two know about the Pirate Brethren Court?”

Percy turned to Carewyn. Her eyes narrowed slightly.

“I’ve heard of it, but I’m afraid I don’t know much.”

That was a bald-faced lie. Charles Cromwell himself had been one of the original Pirate Lords ages ago, before the curse no doubt interfered with his old duties and the Mediterranean was taken over by someone else.

“They are -- from what I understand -- representatives, who only gather whenever pirates as a whole need united leadership,” said Beckett. “They are a Parliament for piracy -- one that selects a ‘King’ to represent them all, in times of crisis.”

Percy frowned in confusion. “A King chosen by the people? I’ve never heard of such a thing...”

“Pirates do not believe in divine right,” Carewyn explained. “Even when it comes to their captains, the crew can vote to replace them at any time.”

Percy turned to Beckett. “...Then do you think the pirates will attempt to convene this ‘Brethren Court,’ in response to the attack on Tortuga?”

‘That’s definitely what I hope...’ Carewyn thought to herself.

Beckett nodded. “I am assured of it.”

Carewyn’s eyes drifted away, back up to the line of chained prisoners still being forced up onto the gallows.

“If they were to convene this ‘Court’ of theirs and select a King, my Lord,” she said softly, “it sounds like they could be a greater threat than ever. Individual pirates might be more expensive to chase one at a time...but if they were somehow able to unite, they could create a formidable army.”

Beckett raised his eyebrows. “I did not think you would fear a War, Commodore.”

“Not at all,” said Carewyn. “If the British Navy could stand toe to toe with the Spanish and French, we should more than be a match for a smattering of rag-tag galleons -- especially with the funding of the East India Trading Company behind us...”

Her eyes narrowed a bit more as they swiveled over to Beckett’s face.

“...But...if you were to advocate such a mission, you’d be at the head of the charge for it. Its success or failure would rest on your head more than any of ours...regardless of any efforts we might make to protect your reputation.”

Beckett’s lips curled up in a smile that held no warmth.

“Your concern is appreciated, Commodore Weasley,” he said, and his eyes seemed to gleam upon her. “But I assure you...I’ve waited long enough, to get the revenge I’m owed...”

He turned his focus to the piece of eight coin in his hand.

“After the injuries I’ve sustained, thanks to one of these ‘Pirate Lords,’” he said in a very soft, cold voice, “I have no intention of letting them live in peace. Wherever they decide to make their final stand...I shall be there to meet and destroy them.”

He slammed the coin down into the table with a slap of his hand, making both Carewyn and Percy flinch despite themselves.

After the hangings were complete, Carewyn returned to the Flying Dutchman, once again leaving Percy in Port Royal. The youngest Weasley brother was troubled by the thought of Carewyn being on board Jones’s ship, and she tried to reassure him as best as she was able.

“Captain Jones has to follow Lord Beckett’s orders just as much as we do,” she said softly. “Regardless of who he is, he’s been impressed into our service...it wouldn’t be in his best interest, to fight against that.”

Percy, however, didn’t look very reassured. His gaze kept flickering up to the Dutchman, even though he tried hard to look Carewyn in the face.

The Commodore offered her surrogate younger brother a smile, resting a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

“It’ll be okay,” she reassured him gently.

Percy stared at Carewyn for a long moment, his brown eyes dark with emotion. Then, very abruptly, he actually threw out his arms, grabbing hold of her and pulling her into a full hug.

“Percy?” said Carewyn, completely taken aback.

Percy didn’t say anything -- instead he just gave her a squeeze, his chin resting on her shoulder. Although he was facing away from her, Carewyn could hear a faint shakiness in the breath he took.

“Come back safely,” he mumbled, his voice harsher than normal as he tried to keep his composure. “You hear me? Come back just as you are now.”

Carewyn’s blue eyes filled with pain as she realized what was going through Percy’s head. Yes, he was scared for her safety, but it wasn’t just because he cared about her -- it was also because, with the loss of Charlie and Bill, his real brothers...she was the only family Percy had left, here in Port Royal. The only sibling he could rely on, for emotional support.

Her heart filling with compassion and affection for the young Captain, she brought her arms around Percy tightly in return, resting a hand on the back of his head and cradling it as though she were his mother.

“We will see each other again soon, Perce,” she murmured in his ear. “I promise.”

After she and Percy parted ways, Rakepick met Carewyn at the top of the ramp heading up to the deck of the Flying Dutchman. The older woman gave Carewyn another long, analytical look as she came up on deck, which Carewyn returned with a much shorter, faintly suspicious look. She didn’t like how Rakepick looked at her. It just made Carewyn feel like she knew something...but Carewyn frankly had no idea what that “something” was. One thing Carewyn did take note of, however, was the chain she wore around her neck and tucked under the low collar of her red jacket -- the chain that no doubt held the key to the Dead Man’s Chest.

That night, after all of the officers went to sleep, Carewyn entered the Dutchman’s captain’s cabin and ordered one of her lieutenants to send Davy Jones to her. Jones was not pleased to be summoned to his own cabin, least of all by the Commodore Beckett assigned to “watch” him.

“I cannot be called like some mongrel pup,” he snapped.

“Yet you came,” said Carewyn coolly. “I appreciate the promptness.”

Jones looked incredibly surly. The ginger-haired Commodore looked at her lieutenant, who was trying hard not to cower in Jones’s shadow.

“Go ahead and return to your patrol down below with the Chest, Lieutenant,” she told him. “I’ll take it from here.”

The scared young man gave a salute and then quickly left the room. Once the door was closed, Carewyn turned up at Jones with a much grimmer look on her face, her arms crossed behind her back in standard “Naval” fashion.

“...Captain Jones...Lord Beckett has ordered that we seek out Shipwreck Cove.”

Jones’s lip curled. “I believe I’ve already made it clear that I don’t know where the damned Brethren Court meets.”

“I know you don’t. And I’m glad for it.”

Jones’s eyebrows knit together suspiciously. Carewyn’s eyes flickered absently over to the door as she listened for a moment to make absolutely sure no one was listening it.

“...I don’t want Beckett to find Shipwreck Cove,” she said lowly. “I don’t want him to send Navy ships after us once we’ve found it and destroy it. Just as I frankly don’t want you under Beckett’s rule at all.”

Jones gave a loud snort. “Haha! And I suppose this is all out of the goodness of your heart, this...sympathy you deign to spare such a pathetic wretch as me?”

His eyes hardened as he bore down on her, dwarfing her with his height.

“I don’t need your pity, Carewyn Cromwell,” he said very coldly.

Carewyn was visibly taken aback.

“Oh, aye,” said Jones with a smirk, “I know your name. A ferryman of the damned knows everyone’s true names.”

Despite how taken aback and faintly disconcerted Carewyn was, however, she didn’t seem intimidated. Instead she kept her posture straight and tall and looked Jones straight in the eye.

“Then you know why I don’t want Beckett to succeed,” she said seriously. “A lot of people I love are probably on their way to Shipwreck Cove right now. As much as I know a battle will be imminent, I want them to initiate it. I don’t want Beckett to get there before they’re ready.”

“So you aim to make a deal with me, then, Miss Commodore?” asked Jones, raising an eyebrow in amusement.

“No,” said Carewyn firmly. “I just want to set you free.”

Now it was Davy Jones’s turn to look startled.

“I don’t believe in anyone being impressed into service against their will -- least of all by a captor as cruel and despicable as Cutler Beckett,” the Commodore said, feeling glad to finally let loose her bile a bit. “And if getting your heart back to you so that you can do as you please makes it that much harder for Beckett to destroy Shipwreck Cove...all the better.”

“Ah...so you think to trade my assurance that I won’t attack Shipwreck Cove for your services,” said Jones coolly. “Well, I hate to break it to you -- but I have no love for the Brethren Court myself, since they took all ownership of the seas for themselves. I daresay your dear granddaddy told you all about that...”

“‘The seas be ours and by the powers, where we will, we’ll roam’ -- yes, I know the song,” said Carewyn. “But that doesn’t matter. I’m not asking you to help the Brethren Court. I’m not asking you to help me with anything. I plan to set you free whether you want to be nice to me or not.”

Jones’s eyes narrowed as they flickered over Carewyn’s face, analyzing her critically. At last he raised his claw the way a man might raise a hand, but its size made it so it came within inches of her face.

“...Let me make sure I have this right, missie,” he said lowly. “You’re offering your assistance in restoring my heart to me...without making any sort of deal with me that benefits you?”

Carewyn nodded, not flinching at all in response to Jones’s claw getting into her personal space.

“Because you being free helps me, as it is -- by making things harder for Beckett.”

Jones considered Carewyn for a long moment. Whatever he had been expecting from the sister of Black Jack Roberts, it certainly wasn’t this. Even from a sanctimonious Navy officer, he didn’t expect this level of...well, for lack of a better word, decency...especially for someone who had showed her no kindness and she owed absolutely nothing to. He never would’ve admitted it aloud...but it impressed him.

‘Seems a bit of a shame that such a decent person should be fated for a lifetime of service aboard my ship,’ Jones thought to himself.

Perhaps because his heart was so close to him, the thought made some reluctance and guilt pick at the inside of his chest.

Pushing the feeling aside, the captain of the damned lowered his claw again. Then very, very slowly his tentacled face spread into a fuller, brighter smirk.

“...What do you have in mind?”

[adventism-atheism-orthodoxy-me]

This is NOT the history of Christianity I grew up with.

I grew up with a book by E. G. White entitled "The Great Controversy". Much of the Protestant world seems to subscribe to the events of history as they are laid out in this book. It is a particular way of understanding the world, and makes its case based upon an edited view of history. I will not disparage this book for at least two reasons -

It was an imperfect attempt to lay out the course of Christian history based upon an imperfect understanding of events. Eastern Orthodox Christianity was ignored, even though the Church remained united for 1000 years in an Orthodox condition. The Pope was correctly castigated, I think, for introducing innovations to Christian teaching that needed to be legitimately corrected. Unfortunately, many modern courses in Church history still ignore the first thousand years immediately after Christ - with the possible exception of the conversion of Constantine. It was actually the omission of Orthodox Christianity, Orthodox Christian doctrine, Constantinople, and Byzantium within this book that allowed me the freedom to "look outside the box", and consider the Orthodox Church as a possible "lost" church, "against which the gates of hell would not prevail" (Matthew 16:18). I consider this omission a mercy, upon which I have been able to explore a form of Christianity that feels truly Christian.

No malice was intended by the author - only an earnest desire to proclaim what they perceived was the gospel message as they understood it.

A book that I have found since I've been exploring Orthodox Christianity that I really think describes the tumultuous thinking that went along with the Protestant Reformation is "Rock and Sand", by Archpriest Josiah Trenham. Along the same lines is another three book series, "Paradise and Utopia", by Father John Strickland that I really want to read when I have a free moment.

Ancient Christianity was fraught with controversy, and the earliest Christians worked hard to preserve Orthodox thinking. Many of the Protestant denominations we recognize today believe things that the ancient Church would have recognized as heretical, or at the very least schismatic.

Lord have mercy upon me, a sinner.

[northernstories]

African American Literature Suggestions from NMU English Department

The English Department at Northern Michigan University has prepared this list of several dozen suggested readings in African American literature, with some materials also addressing Native American history and culture. The first section contains books that will help provide a context for the Black Lives Matter movement. It includes books that will help readers examine their own privilege and act more effectively for the greater good. Following that list is another featuring many African American authors and books. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it does provide readers a place to start. Almost all of these books are readily available in bookstores and public and university libraries.

Northern Michigan University’s English Department offers at least one course on African American literature every semester, at least one course on Native American literature every semester, and at least one additional course on non-western world literatures every semester. Department faculty also incorporate diverse material in many other courses. For more information, contact the department at english@nmu.edu. Nonfiction, primarily addressing current events, along with some classic texts: Joni Adamson, Mei Mei Evans, and Rachel Stein, editors. The Environmental Justice Reader: Politics, Poetics, and Pedagogy. This classic collection of scholarly articles, essays, and interviews explores the links between social inequalities and unequal distribution of environmental risk. Attention is focused on the US context, but authors also consider global impacts. Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. A clear-eyed explication of how mass incarceration has created a new racial caste system obscured by the ideology of color-blindness. Essential reading for understanding our criminal justice system in relation to the histories of slavery and segregation. Carol Anderson, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide. A very well-written but disturbing and direct analysis of the history of structural and institutionalized racism in the United States. Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. Anzaldua writes about the complexity of life on multiple borders, both literal (the border between the US/Mexico) and conceptual (the borders among languages, sexual identity, and gender). Anzaldua also crosses generic borders, moving among essay, story, history, and poetry. James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time. A classic indictment of white supremacy expressed in a searing, prophetic voice that is, simply, unmatched. Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me. A combination of personal narrative in the form of the author’s letter to his son, historical analysis, and contemporary reportage. Angela Davis, Are Prisons Obsolete? In this succinct and carefully researched book, Davis exposes the racist and sexist underpinnings of the American prison system. This is a must-read for folks new to conversations about prison (and police) abolition. Robin DiAngelo, What Does It Mean To Be White? The author facilitates white people unpacking their biases around race, privilege, and oppression through a variety of methods and extensive research. Ejeris Dixon and Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarshnha, editors. Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories From the Transformative Justice Movement. The book attempts to solve problems of violence at a grassroots level in minority communities, without relying on punishment, incarceration, or policing. Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. The most well-known narrative written by one of the most well-known and accomplished enslaved persons in the United States. First published in 1845 when Douglass was approximately 28 years old. W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk. Collection of essays in which Dubois famously prophesied that “the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.” Henry Louis Gates, Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow. Must reading, a beautifully written, scholarly, and accessible discussion of American history from Reconstruction to the beginnings of the Jim Crow era. Saidiya Hartman, Lose your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route. In an attempt to locate relatives in Ghana, the author journeyed along the route her ancestors would have taken as they became enslaved in the United States. bell hooks, Black Looks: Race and Representation. A collection of essays that analyze how white supremacy is systemically maintained through, among other activities, popular culture. Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Narrative of a woman who escaped slavery by hiding in an attic for seven years. This book offers unique insights into the sexually predatory behavior of slave masters. Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America. A detailed history not only of racist events in American history, but of the racist thinking that permitted and continues to permit these events. This excellent and readable book traces this thinking from the colonial period through the presidency of Barack Obama. Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life Any of LaDuke's works belong on this list. This particular text explores the stories of several Indigenous communities as they struggle with environmental and cultural degradation. An incredible resource. Kiese Laymon, Heavy: An American Memoir. An intense book that questions American myths of individual success written by a man who is able to situate his own life within a much larger whole. Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color This foundational text brings together work by writers, scholars, and activists such as Audre Lorde, Chrystos, Barbara Smith, Norma Alarcon, Nellie Wong, and many others. The book has been called a manifesto and a call to action and remains just as important and relevant as when it was published nearly 40 years ago. Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard. An invaluable collection of essays and speeches from the only black woman to win a Nobel Prize in literature. Throughout her oeuvre, Morrison calls us to take "personal responsibility for alleviating social harm," an ethic she identified with Martin Luther King. Ersula J. Ore, Lynching: Violence, Rhetoric, and American Identity. Ore scrutinizes the history of lynching in America and contemporary manifestations of lynching, drawing upon the murder of Trayvon Martin and other contemporary manifestations of police brutality. Drawing upon newspapers, official records, and memoirs, as well as critical race theory, Ore outlines the connections between what was said and written, the material practices of lynching in the past, and the forms these rhetorics and practices assume now. Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric. A description and discussion of racial aggression and micro-aggression in contemporary America. The book was selected for NMU’s Diversity Common Reader Program in 2016. Layla F. Saad, Me and White Supremacy. The author facilitates white people in unpacking their biases around race, privilege, and oppression, while also helping them understand key critical social justice terminology. Maya Schenwar, Joe Macaré, Alana Yu-lan Price, editors. Who do you Serve, Who Do You Protect? Police Violence and Resistance in the United States. The essays examine "police violence against black, brown, indigenous and other marginalized communities, miscarriages of justice, and failures of token accountability and reform measures." What are alternative measures to keep marginalized communities safe? Ozlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo, Is Everyone Really Equal? The authors, in very easy to read and engaging language, facilitate readers in understanding the ---isms (racism, sexism, ableism etc.) and how they intersect, helping readers see their positionality and how privilege and oppression work to perpetuate the status quo. Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. An analysis of America’s criminal justice system by the lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative. While upsetting, the book is also hopeful. Wendy S. Walters, Multiply / Divide: On the American Real and Surreal. In this collection of essays, Walters analyzes the racial psyche of several major American cities, emphasizing the ways bias can endanger entire communities. Booker T. Washington, Up from Slavery. Autobiography of the founder of Tuskegee Institute. Harriet Washington, Medical Apartheid. From the surgical experiments performed on enslaved black women to the contemporary recruitment of prison populations for medical research, Washington illuminates how American medicine has been--and continues to be shaped--by anti-black racism. Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Autobiography of civil rights leader that traces his evolution as a thinker, speaker, and writer.

If you would like to enhance your knowledge of the rich tradition of African American literature, here are several of the most popular books and authors within that tradition, focused especially on the 20thand 21st centuries. Novels and Short Stories James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain James Baldwin, Giovanni’s Room Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man Langston Hughes, The Ways of White Folks Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God James Weldon Johnson, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man Nella Larsen, Passing Nella Larsen, Quicksand Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison, Beloved Richard Wright, Native Son Drama Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun Ntozake Shange, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf August Wilson, Fences August Wilson, The Piano Lesson Poetry A good place to begin is an anthology, The Vintage Book of African American Poetry, edited by Michael S. Harper and Anthony Walton. It includes work by poets from the 18th century to the present, including Gwendolyn Brooks, Lucille Clifton, Countee Cullen, Rita Dove, Robert Hayden, Langston Hughes, Yusef Komunyakaa, Claude McKay, Phillis Wheatley, and many others. Here are some more recent collections: Reginald Dwayne Betts, Felon Wanda Coleman, Wicked Enchantment: Selected Poems Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, The Age of Phillis Tyehimba Jess, Olio Jamaal May, The Big Book of Exit Strategies Danez Smith, Don’t Call Us Dead

[adapembroke]

Reading Tarot Like The Empress

There is a story told about the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Finding himself in a state that we would now call writers block, he got a job as a secretary to a sculptor he admired, Rodin. (You might know Rodin but not know you do. He is most famous for the sculpture called “The Thinker,” the guy sitting with his head in his hand like he’s nursing a headache.) Rilke was young when he went to work for Rodin, but not completely inexperienced. He had a couple of books of poems under his belt already. He had even developed a style and a method. Like the High Priestess, his process was an introverted one. He looked within. Inspiration came from his inner life and memories, and he waited around the shore of his unconscious for inspiration to strike. When he went to work for Rodin, this process was failing him. He didn’t want to sit around and wait for the muse anymore. He just wanted to get to work. Rodin had a reputation for being a craftsman, for setting his mind to a project and making it without theatrics, and Rilke wanted to learn how to do that. He hoped that by spending time around the artist, he would learn Rodin’s secret and become a craftsman of words. 

One day, Rodin asked how Rilke’s poetry was going. Rilke told him about his troubles, and Rodin gave him this advice: Go to the zoo. Choose an animal, and look at it until you really see it. It might take weeks, he said, but Rilke should be patient. 

Rilke went. He chose the panther and sat in front of its cage until he was inspired to write the poem “The Panther.” When I read that poem, I see this: That man is bored. He is so tired of looking at this big cat walking back and forth in front of iron bars, he can’t stand it anymore. There is nothing else in the world but this cat and this cage. He can’t move until he really sees this thing, whatever that means. The only thing he knows is that it isn’t happening. Every once in awhile, he thinks he has a flash of inspiration, but then it vanishes, and he’s not sure of anything anymore. 

I imagine Rilke walking away from the Panther’s cage clutching the notebook that will hold the collection that he will eventually call New Poems. The notebook is ragged from his constant handling it of but the pages are blank, all except for one, and that page contains only a single short poem about a panther. 

At least, after all of that, I got a poem, he must have been thinking. 

Turning Toward The World

In Rilke’s path through the Fool’s Journey, “The Panther” is the turning point between the High Priestess and the Empress. The High Priestess looks within. Just like your eyes need a moment to adjust when you have been staring at a book for hours and then look out the window, this poem is the process of Rilke changing the focus of his vision from his inner world to the outer world. 

In “The Panther,” he doesn’t quite escape the inner world. It’s hard to tell if the poem is about the poet or the panther. 

But then something extraordinary happens. 

He conducts the experiment again. This time, he looks at an ancient, headless sculpture of Apollo and writes “Archaic Torso of Apollo.” The poem begins with the same structure, a description of the sculpture, a poetic version of the type of work visual artists do when they are rolling around an idea and make a lot of sketches just looking at what they want to draw. Instead of focusing on what he sees, though, he cheats a little and focuses on what you can’t see, beginning his poem with, “We cannot know his legendary head.” 

Then he has an epiphany: 

From all the borders of itself,

burst like a star: for there is no place 

that does not see you. You must change your life. 

His epiphany is the shock of recognition. The panther had eyes but saw nothing. The statue, despite the fact that it has no head, sees him, and in that moment Rilke’s eyes are opened, and he sees. 

What was that moment of recognition like? What burst like a star? He doesn’t say, and if you’re feeling in a particular mood you might make guesses in a certain direction. But. I’m going to take what he said about “stars” and go a bit further with it.

The process by which stars burn is called fusion. When stars burn, a practically infinite number of chemical reactions happen in which two atoms join—fuse—together and become a third thing. 

“The Panther” is, really, about Rilke. The panther is the object onto which he projects his inner world. It’s a great poem as a poem, but he’s trying to break out of that High Priestess mode, and he’s just not getting it yet. It’s still all about him. The panther is a metaphor for himself. In “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” it starts being about his gaze, and then his gaze and the statue’s gaze meet, and those deeper eyes, the ones that refused so frustratingly to open in “The Panther,” open wide in shock at the spectacle of seeing something that is not Rilke himself. In “Archaic Torso of Apollo,” he stops considering the statue as an object to play his own heart strings on and encounters it as an Other, what the philosopher Martin Buber called a “Thou.” The object of Rilke’s poem is not longer an “it,” an object to use or experience. The statue is a being with whom he can have a relationship of dialog. Rilke’s seeing talks to the statue’s seeing, and they (or Rilke, at least) find a mutual understanding. This Other sees him, and Rilke sees this Other, and, in really seeing, Rilke falls in love, and fusion happens. The resulting work is a love poem to a ruined work of art, a third thing that comes from these two seeing each other. 

The Empress Of The Senses

If you read Tarot books, you’ll be told that the Empress is about the senses. The focus here immediately goes to pleasure. You are often told to savor sensual experiences. That’s great. Sometimes when the Empress comes up in a reading, all you really need is a bath with lots of sparkly things in it. 

But there is a tradition in many cultures of seeing empresses as divine. If the Empress was a goddess, what would that mean? What if you really held the senses to be sacred?  

The senses are by their very nature an encounter with the Other. You see seagulls. You taste the bitterness of your tea. You smell the heady, spicy, slightly trippy smell of frankincense. You hear the wind blow. You feel your lover’s hand on your leg, palm up, waiting for you to take their hand in yours. These encounters, if you are vulnerable and open yourself up to them, are sacred, encounters with the Holy Other. It is through these encounters that we experience the Holy Thou.

Empathy is a high-flying abstract word that has somehow managed in certain communities to become a burden and a point of pride. A similar, maybe better, term is ”resonance.“ Resonance happens when a thing that happens to one thing also happens to another thing. Andrea Gibson captures it beautifully in her poem, “Say Yes.”

When two violins are placed in a room

if a chord on one violin is struck

the other violin will sound the note. 

Resonance an essential element in divinatory readings. We’ve talked about how to read like the Fool, how to open yourself up to enchantment while working with the Magician, and how to tap into your own intuition in the High Priestess. The wisdom of the Empress in readings is the wisdom of relationship. There’s a huge Venus glyph in a heart on the RWS card as if Pamela Coleman Smith wanted to shake us and say, “It’s about love, people!”

When I do a reading for someone, I lay out the cards or pull up the birth chart. When I first look, the symbols are just “its” to me. They’re tools for me to use to work my craft. I stare at them for awhile. I make connections. I build associations. I connect what I’m seeing with what my intuition is saying. When I’m doing a past life reading, I’m reading the birth chart specifically with the goal of figuring out what a person’s mistakes have been. I take my little candle and set out into the darkness of the human heart, but when I really sit with a chart when I’m doing a past life reading, there never fails to be a moment when I snap into Empress mode. The experience is just like how Rilke describes it. It’s like a star suddenly bursts into life. An image comes to me—usually literally when I’m doing past life readings—and I see the person I’m reading for as a person. It’s no longer about the Hermit or the Star or Judgement. It’s about a very lonely person who wants so badly to shine but is afraid of being judged. I encounter them as a “Thou.”

The Peacemaker Queen

We discussed the High Priestess as participating in the Dark Goddess archetype. The Empress is the other divine feminine archetype in the major arcana. She is the Mother Goddess, an archetype she shares with Demeter, Gaia, and the Virgin Mary.

The archetypes of the RWS are deeply rooted in the roles of Medieval Europe. In Medieval Europe, the queen had two roles. The first was to make babies for the king. The second was to be an angel of mercy. It was the special right and responsibility of the queen to show compassion. A medieval king couldn’t be merciful, even if he wanted to. It would have made him look weak, and he would have been swarmed by his lords and assassinated as soon as they could get their weapons together. The queen had to carry all of the mercy for the two of them. She could appeal to the king publicly to spare condemned criminals. She could ask him to make peace in a time of war. He could listen to her without ruining his reputation and opening himself up to attack.

Much has been made of the sexism in this role, so I won’t dwell on it here. Instead, I will point out that this role is descended from a sacred office. The right to come between two armies and stop a war was one that belonged to the ancient Druids. They had to spend twenty years studying to earn that right—which says something, I think, about how much the Celts loved war. Much of that study was in learning to divine, and I suspect that in a warrior culture, no small part of that was about learning to find the Thou in the enemy and have the courage to show compassion. I doubt the monarchs of Medieval Europe remembered this old Druid role consciously when the queens took on this role—or I doubt the queens would have been allowed to take on that kind of power—but it is there in the cultural memory, the leader whose power comes from their ability to find that which is worth saving in the heart of the criminal, warlord, and traitor.

To me, this is the heart of the Empress. It’s about looking until you really see, listening until you really hear, touching until you really feel, tasting until you really taste, and smelling until…you get the idea; and through the senses encountering another self, finding what there is to love in the Thou you’re encountering. When you do that, you’re participating in the very force that makes the stars burn.

This post was originally published on Aquarius Moon Journal on 21 March 2020.