#not that he cant do important things post resurrecting

[wazzappp]

I drew. a lot for this. Also heads up for non RE mutuals this is going to be. confusing for you. I'm going to do my best to annotate and provide context but you are in for a wild ride.

Anyway long ass lore post for how Lisa and Robbie go from fighting to working together in this AU.

In the RE8 cannon all of the Dimitrescu daughters are made at the same time but for the sake of ✨the situations✨ I am going to change that. Lisa lived the longest as a human before being assimilated into the mold with a Cadou (infecting extension of the Megamycite). Technically her 'sisters' are older than her, as they were assimilated a while ago. Lisa has been a member of house Dimitrescu for about 2 years now. This puts her in this. Weird middle child zone. She wants to make her 'family' proud but she's also aware that what makes them proud isn't really the most achievable thing in the world (expecially with Bela to contend with. Older sibling overachiever to the maximum). She's got a certain degree of distance from them and sometimes wonders if she wasn't better off before all of this. Her memories are fuzzy but still there for the most part. She cant remember faces or names but she remembers feelings and situations. She doesen't remember families being like this (she wants OUT).

Chasing prey brought in is fairly standard for her. It's some of the only entertainment she gets. So when she catches Robbie exploring around the castle she has no idea that he's special in any way. He's just some new guy she gets to mess with before eating and DAMN he's FUN. If she didn't know any better she could almost think that he has experience being chased around (he does. he very much so does. all of RE7's worth). What she ALSO doesn't know is that Mother Miranda (big bad. Different from Lady Dimitrescu, who she refers to as 'mother') is planning on using Gabe (who is replacing baby Rose in this) to try and resurrect her dead kid with a 'perfect vessel' and this requires. uh. disassembly (in the base RE8 gameplay the reason Ethan goes to each house is because uhhhhhhhh his infant daughter has been dismembered and stored in jars and he needs to collect them so he can put her back together.... yeah). Robbie intervenes before this can get going and is instead going house to house because if he wants to get out of this stupid fuckass villiage he needs to collect the key components to unlock the gate keeping him in here (i need him to have a reason. to kill everyone. its important to me ok).

When Lisa finds out this random, but fun guy, she's been chasing who she thought was JUST SOME NORMAL GUY killed one of her sisters she mentally goes 'Oh. OH. THERES A CHANCE FOR ME TO GET OUT OF HERE'. That in conjunction with discovering Mother Miranda is planning on FULLY DISMEMBERING A CHILD she uh. Makes some decisions.

What you have to understand about her plans of matricide is that neither Lady Dimitrescu or her sisters can actually really fully die. Sure, their bodies are gone, but their consciousness is stored in the hive mind and they can reform later after gathering their strength. If she has to put her kinda shitty found family in time out for the sake of getting herself out of here + keeping her newly revived conscience clean she's absolutely going to do it.

(fuckin. backgrounds. dialogue. fuck. why can things not just take place inside of the void. DUKE MY BELOVED WE LOVE AND RESPECT DUKE IN THIS HOUSE HES A REAL ONE fuck now I got it in my head that he keeps trying to play matchmaker for them and i need to. go draw that because its too funny not to.)

Lisas plan involves this lab I had her mention in the comic above. It's where Robbie needs to go to synthesize more poison for the dagger of deaths flowers, and SUPPOSEDLY where a medicine that might allow her to go outside again might be (enemies of Lisas type become SIGNIFICANTLY weaker in the cold. She could try to bundle up but its still really not a good idea). She would love to go there herself, but it's in an area of the castle thats exposed to the cold of the outdoors.

The Two of them make a fairly decent team and Lisa finds herself having a LOT more fun hunting with someone else than she does on her own. They balance each other out pretty well; Robbie works primarily with guns so he can watch Lisas back while she's up close wrecking any grunts they run into. It's also pretty helpful having someone who can turn into a swarm of flies for puzzle solving purposes.

After all this Robbies trust for her increases SIGNIFICANTLY. He's still not really sure about her, but she's moved out of the 'active threat' classification into the 'kinda helpful' zone.

Lisa's plan has three ways it could go:

They all fail miserably and get sent to mental and physical time out in the megamycite.

They win and get to go free but either the medicine isn't there or it doesen't work. In which case she's just planning on getting as many coats as possible and Try-or-Die-ing it.

The medicine is there and she actually gets to roam free

Luckily for her, the medicine IS there, it DOES work, and Robbies sense of honor / noticing her usefulness (its hard to wage a one man war on an entire community of mutants ok you cant blame him for appreciating having some ACTUAL HELP for once) all align for the best possible scenario.

The cold does still affect her; her healing isn't as quick as it usually is and her increased strength / speed is a bit reduced, but she can go!! outside!!

She decided to stick with Robbie in getting out of the village as a whole. She doesen't really know what the world outside is like but anything has to be better than here (plus if she stays here she's probably getting shoved into the Megamycite by Mother Miranda PERMENANTLY and that just. wont do).

Also yes Lisa being with Robbie for the rest of his adventures means that she is there for Heisenbergs 'proposal'. She uh. Does not like that much.

this all made. more sense in my head I hope it at least makes a little sense out loud.

[thebunniesgrim]

I'm getting way too much enjoyment watching how some of Helluva Boss fandom is raving over the popular current theory that stolas is going to die in the series.  

Because of the Oops episode and how the skull and cross bones in the smoke clock landed on Stolas and other stuff  

I.e.  

Having imp assasins in LooLoo Land 

Stella  

Striker  

His lullaby saying that when he’s gone Octavia will be ok and that today could be his last (I could go on a whole tangent about that lullaby it's so good)  

Western Energy  (that's it)

I'm not saying I want stolas to die but am I also saying it would be funny to watch the fandom go up in flames about it?  

Well call me Phineas and Ferb because

Yes  

yes I am 

You can stop reading here if you want. Under the cut I'm just rambling justifying why I think what I think. there are some jokes and lighthearted critiques, but you know... you have the option to look and give your own opinions  :)

I mean I have my grievances with him like I've said in my other post (shameless plug Warning I'm very illiterate in case you haven't noticed) but like I don’t wish death upon him I still like Stolas believe it or not   

lol.

In fact I hope stolas doesn’t die and mostly I don’t think stolas is going to die at all frankly. I highly dout the writers/viv/whoever is going to actually kill off stolas mostly because like any time stolas is in danger its so underminded like- ok LooLoo land is mostly a joke (good joke too I like the end where Stolas turns the imp guy into stone good pay off), Stella played for laughs beacues shes making the hit right in front stolas and it doesn’t get paid off till the next season which is fine the seasons are short, Western Energy he was fine like an episode later.  

If home boy cant be hospitalized for more than one episode he isn't dying  

Granted I will allow some leeway as we don’t know how much time has passed since Western Energy to Oops but it- I don’t think stab wounds and broken arms heal that fast regardless of that :/ if I'm being honest especially if it was a holy weapon just saying.  

Even if he did die that brings up a lot of questions like what happens to demons when they die? Are all demons immortal and can only die due to physical damage? are Asmodeus and Beelzebub going to outlive Fizz and Vortex if imps and hellhounds/other demons aren't immortal. Were the 7 deathly sins ever babies like everyone else? If demons are immortal and can live forever and the Ars Goitias can only be killed by angelic weapons that are hard to get, I'm assuming, why do, they need to have children or heirs? Why even have children at all? If angelic weapons can kill demons do demonic weapons exist and can they kill angels or other holy beings?   

All this and more on You Can't Answer These Questions at 8 

Lol  

anyways

but in all seriousness 

Here’s the real question  

If they did actually kill Stolas, will they bring him back?  

Riddle me this batman  

there's a very the very real outcome of them bringing stolas back through some magical demonic bs anyway so like it really won't matter. They're not going to have Stolas bite the dust permanently and if they are... respect honestly (the balls frankly).  

People will cry, I'll laugh because I'm heartless, he’ll be like resurrected or something, and everyone will be happy or mad idk.    

Like it's one thing for Millie to get hurt in the other episodes because there wasn’t a major plot point you know? (and she’s not important) There was no lingering scene on it with sad music. In when stolas got hurt it was this big thing and for him to just be like fine an episode later is like what? How are you going to have this big emotional climax with no emotional orgasm (sorry) afterwards. And like no I'm not letting this go what the heck? You had the whole fandom screeching about Blizto going to sloth just to do nothing with it and put a twist about Barbie and then also have stolas be perfectly fine and dandy the next episode afterwards. Are there no stakes in this show? Like I get that Helluva Boss wasn’t planned in the beginning but like come on... When Viv approves of the episodes does she look back at the other episodes? Is she even there? Is she ok? Is she and everyone else seeing a bigger picture that I'm not? Has she sat down and watched Helluva Boss from the very beginning and watched them from episode one to now? I mean really not just a once over to send it off to youtube I mean really took a good and hard look at the episodes? The way they mix episodic, and story is really messing with me I'm going to go back and watch all the episodes from the beginning just to make sure it’s not me.

I like how I said in my tangent about Hell fire (shameless plug part 2) I said I liked the new episode over all give or take some extremally small nitpicks yet here I am complaining :) guess I'm a liar   

soo yeah, I really don’t think they're going kill off their golden child, their best boy, their little botanist boo, their dopamine deficient dandy, their booboo bear, their uwu baby boi, their uke wukey cinnamon roll, their twinky little baby owl, their Boo thang, their stary eyed savant, their sad beige gay, their smoopy woopy do, their snoogum-boogums, their skidamarink a dink a dink skidamarink a doo, their-  

ok 

I'm done  

I'm so sorry   

[pigeonrocks]

finally, the guy ever.

mass lore under the cut bc I dont want to make 17 million posts about one guy, not organized. my insane ramblings about my guy

RIGHT!!!! Enoch lore! this is gonna be just a mash of things about him for convenience.

★ Enoch is entirely believed to be the sole werewolf left in Nosgoth, there haven't been any others found in a while. they're... just sorta gone?

his first appearance is in BO2, I think- where Kain meets him again, his former buddy! who was blood thirsty and full of insatiable frustration and so hot blooded is now trying to keep himself out of trouble due to initial overwhelming paranoia and anxiety, Kain spares him (that's his dog) and Enoch continues to help him in what ways he can, this is not the domino to his faulted loyalty- but where it starts to clearly had been stemming from, a sort of debt he needed to repay- which later itself manifests into his pride & loyalty to serving Kain.

★ Enoch himself has a bizarre ideology, genuinely. He believes the acts of vampires (specifically Kain) as righteous and what he does in their name as that same level of grandiose superiority with full acquiesce- not a complaint from him at ALL!!!! to kill in the name of Kain is to promote that beheld greatness of vampirism, the undying belief that what he's doing itself is correct- no matter the abhorred terrors and heinous acts hes doing.

★ The 'veil' is more based on the werewolf hcs I've had to come up with to explain both their disappearance (sarafan related) and why Enoch values hiding his face so much.

SO!!!! to explain, since Enoch withstood the werewolf related madness, he views it entirely as a shameful thing, being stuck as essentially a big dog and as what everyone else thinking of him as a monster, a thing that will kill their crops, their livestock and run a fool in their towns and deserves to be slaughtered- he cant stand being seen, by anyone- not even himself. It's shameful for him because of how he's the last, it's a permanent reminder of what cannot be- the heartache and sorrow that is a constant for him already.

★ alright, second appearances. He next shows up in SR1, wow crazy. uhm- specifically Raziel goes and finds him to seek out answers because Kain treated him as a confidant , surely he'd know about him being a sarafan right? turns out he does. he was advised (instructed, actually) to not tell any of the lieutenants, he had no play in their resurrection, just thought the fact (during the time) to be irrelevant because of how the two both mutually hated the sarafan.

Not a lot for soul reaver, since he doesn't show up that often, or really at all, bc hes not too important.

THATS DIFFERENT IN SR2 THOUGH!!! last of his appearances. bc of the time travel stuff where Raziel can meet Enoch at his peak, not some socially extinct guy in a catacomb. The feared general in Kain's empire, his beloved zealot- carrying out his beliefs bc he genuinely believes them with his whole heart & soul, believing in all the flaws and things that lead to Raziel killing him. little too overaggressive in his youth- no leash and muzzle. Hes reckless & crass- real tempered- said that before but it's real apparent with the younger version of him in sr2.

He wants to kill people!!!! He wants to exact revenge on anyone who crosses and wrongs his sire.

Alright, I think that covers everything. or at least all the important stuff! hooray!!!!

[strawberrycamel]

important* Tim Drake comics liveblog

*important in that these were recommended on a different tumblr post if i wanted to understand tim's character and see all the important events in his life

I'm gonna be reading: Lonely Place of Dying, Robin (1993) vol. 1 and 2, Batman Knightfall, Batman Prodigal, and Young Justice (1998)

No Man's Land and Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul were also recommended, but I've already read those so im not gonna do them

(i should probably also mention I've seen a Bunch of screenshots and explanations for how Tim met Dick and Bruce, so there probably won't be a lot for Lonely Place of Dying)

anyway here we gooo

-

Lonely Place of Dying

aww Tim's just a lil stalker boy. lil baby boy. A lil surprised the 'following batman and robin around at night since he was 9' was really just a fanon thing and not canon

lmao Tim didn't even tell Dick his name while they were at the circus

i love seeing lil baby boy tim though, he is so much happier and having a good time and different than how he was in Red Robin (note for anyone who cares: the first Tim Drake comic/the first comic I read period was Red Robin so seeing him here is wild)

-

Robin (1993) vol. 1

okay learning about how Tim's parents actually are makes me understand why some ppl dislike how they're portrayed in fanon; they don't seem that bad

they were basically always fighting/arguing around Tim & even when Tim wasn't around they were fighting too & when they go off traveling on business they sent Tim to boarding school, but he's alone on his vacation days/weeks (he was on vacation week when he met dick and then alfred and bruce)

ohh this thing about ransom payments

Jack made a rule about not paying randoms and it extends to Jack himself and his wife Janet (or so I'm assuming)

meaning it would probably extend to Tim too?

I get that it's a slippery slope, but I'm also just :thinking emoji: (side note: this is probably good material for an angst fic)

oooooo

so mayyybe they would've changed the policy if Tim was kidnapped for ransom? or is it just because they were kidnapped that Jack is saying this? hmmm

THAT'S KINDA DARK, TIM.

(also more angst fic material 👀)

the panel! the one that shows Janet, at least, regrets not spending as much time with Tim! or maybe she regrets arguing with jack as much? or both

I've seen this panel float around tumblr before and now i've got more context!

also, was not expecting moneyspider to show up so early lmao

also also im glad the whole 'tim is really good with computers / hacking even before coming to join bruce' is canon (referring to Lonely Place of Dying)

plus the whole 'knowing karate and how to judo flip someone before bruce' being canon too (referring to Lonely Place of ying)

also he's just such a nice and excitable boy wth, i love baby tim

ANARKY BABY

idk why, maybe bc of the unterworld stuff in red robin, but i like Lonnie

AUGH

found Lonnie, took him down, feeling good about his win, and then Bruce comes in with bloody bandages like 'i have bad news' akjfdshgadf qwq

OH, SO THE COMPANY DID PAY THE RANSOM?

jack was happy to see batman show up & janet actually warned batman about a dude coming up behind him w/an axe they really aint like their fanon counterparts are they

ARE- NO WHY WOULD YOU DRINK THAT

okay i cant be super mad bc how would they expect it to be poisoned, (and also I knew beforehand that they were gonna get poisoned) but omgggg im kinda mad about that

awww tim and bruce hug (i mean sad times, but aww hug)

[glassautomaton]

incomprehensible lightlament tagger here so I feel obligated to defend my honor.

I think for me it comes down to 1) a lot of the (especially earlier) senior staff writing kind of sucking objective ass but then having these brief flashes of the most intriguing shit you’ve ever seen in there. mediocre stories with a great deal of potential are like crack to me (at least when it comes to actually making fanwork) bc they get my braingears turning as to how to expand on them (+ of course the handful of fucking brilliant senior stuff tales hidden in the clutter that will fuck you up forever that work precisely bc of the notoriety of the characters theyre about and that, I suspect, were created by people who felt very similarly to me) and 2) I just. rlly like the foundation as a setting and like pretty much every goi-associated character the senior staff all ultimately offer some unique perspective on foundation doctrine; clef is interesting bc of his shitty self-loathing deflection complex motivated by his past on in the goc & the fact he doesnt even work here of his own accord (see: the vanguard side of the no return canon for some pretty cool recent writing on this), light is interesting bc of her determination to hold on to a veneer of morality despite the general fuckedness of everything which, given the prominence of her being in some way entangled with the o5s, can turn her downright hubristic in some tales (see: the new faces splintercanon on the resurrection hub for this). which isnt to say original characters cant be that but having these established fairly iconic characters can be a useful shortcut and with the sheer context of everything that already exists on these guys you can usually end up somewhere very interesting a lot quicker than if you were to build your own characters from the ground up.

I will say though I immensely respect the notion of just straight up not caring about any of the big name characters, I kind of envy you if I’m honest. I think like stroytelling enjoyer motivations aside part of the senior staff’s appeal does also stem from people especially in fandom being more willing to engage with stories that have characters they’re already emotionally attached to in them which, y’know, isn’t a sin, people like what they like, but I do think people miss out on some real bangers hidden on the wiki because of it. I recognize I am part of the problem here, but, yknow, I dont control what the brain attaches itself to.

anyway, cheers! sorry again about the lightlament, i will say that isnt normal youve just accidentally stumbled into a mutuals circle of people who are categorically not normal about dr light. spiders georg etc

I think I get what you’re trying to say here, and again, it’s largely similar to why I wanted to write Resurrection-family articles in the first place. There is a bit of a difference though: I read Resurrection when I was a lot younger, when it first came out. Back then I hadn’t really been as discerning or critical of what I read on the wiki, so I either didn’t notice or didn’t care about the flaws in the story, and I liked it pretty uncritically. Even back then I wanted to write for it, and years later, when I decided to write for the Wiki, I still did. At that point, I noticed a lot more issues with Resurrection on re-read, but I was already attached to the canon. It was really influential to how I viewed the wiki, so in spite of its flaws it’s important to me as an SCP writer. These days, though, I’m probably far too critical to get attached to things in the same way, hence my general apathy towards staff stories (though it might be worth noting that even back then, I found senior staff stories annoying as I outlined in a previous post).

I also understand your second point about the staff representing interesting aspects of the setting. As a writer, though, in a lot of cases I just kind of figure “why bother with all that baggage when I can just write my own character that I’ll enjoy writing more and is better tailored to my needs?” And, again, these characters just seem too ill-defined to get a good bead on. That sort of falls back to the whole “why bother with wrangling all that when I can make my own character.” I wrote Iris because I find her whole deal as an established SCP to be interesting at a basic level, even if I find the original SCP-105 article itself to be bland and uninteresting. I am aware that by trying to write one solid interpretation of her I am only adding fuel to the fire of her having too many interpretations but one day I’ll have the majority of 105 tales under my name. Then who’ll be laughing.

And I definitely get just wanting to use characters that people already know. From a more cynical standpoint, it would help with interest in your content - as I’ve said before, my tales featuring more original characters haven’t done well - but just on an “I have an interest in this thing and I want people to talk to about it” level I get it. Lord knows how many times I’ve latched into a character from something only to see a grand total of two dudes and an ambitious octopus who also like them on the internet.

[cuntstable]

oh oh also top 5 fictional characters...if you can sum them up with a little paragraph + why you like them if you know. regardless of source material type

oh man. okay i tried to not write an essay lenght post but i. ended up doing that anyway LOL. so ill save everyones dashes with a readmore

1. pucci. obviously….. the main villain of jojos stocean, an insane catholic priest trying to create ”heaven” on earth, that in short is a world where everyone will know their fates/futures from birth and will thus be able to avoid tragedy and/or make peace with the inevitable, as inspired by his backstory thats essentially a tragedy formed out of crazy coinsidences or ”faith”. he wants to make a world where things like that cant happen anymore and is willing to die to make it happen LOL.

idk man like where do i even start….. its very funny bc reading stone ocean there wasnt any single Moment where i went crazy mode about him it just gradually happened like i finished the story and thought about him a little and went ”Wow. WTF.” like im almost certain half of the things i think are interesting about him are accidental and ive just added to all the vague thematic implications he has but still. like hes very clearly inspired by characters like oedipus from classical tragedies and he embodies the main themes of the story hes in perfectly As The Villain (memories, faith, the avoidance of faith, the strenght of the human spirit and will etc etc). all the while being an interesting and TO MEE incredibly compelling and sad character in his own right, and also an interesting criticism of the catholic church and christianity at large (religious mania, justification and blindness to atrocities through god, apathy and nihilism towards the material existing world in favour of focusing on some uncertain World to Come etc etc). ARGH

2. almalexia…….. main villain of morrowinds tribunal dlc, a mortal turned god now losing her divinity and trying to hold on to it as she slips into insanity LOL.

this is definitely a character thats been elevated to me by my own musings on her and what ive seen others do with her as opposed to just the source material but i do still love her lots… i think i just have a bias towards delusional insane manipulative religious villains doing awful things that theyre convinced are necessary for a better world. that and girlbosses LOL

3. klaasje disco elysium….. a lover of the murdered man the plot of the game revolves around, shes on the run for corporate espionage and works as an important clue giver to the main character….

she so criminally underrated its CRAZYYY to me that people dont talk about her that much. anyway yet another two faced manipulative character on the list……. shes so interesting to me because shes clearly an incredibly sad and lost person with a lot of guilt all the while STILL being a bad person. shes the kind of character who wants to simultaneously die and to keep living no matter what, so she throws everyone she cares about under the buss so she can keep running and then turns around and associates with the worst people and parties too hard and lives very dangerously. idk. its interesting to me. that and shes also generally an incredibly charismatic character both in game and TO ME.

4. yuyuko touhou….. a ghost princess who rules over the underworld of hakugyroukyo. shes the main antagonist of touhou 7 in which she tries to resurrect an undead cursed cherryblossom tree and the unknown person buried underneath, only to eventually find out that the person buried is her very own corpse.

shes been my favourite character for like over a decade LOL. my first ever Blorberino if you will…. i just like her a lot i think shes a fun character as this mysterious hedonistic ghost aristocrat that likes to play dumb and relax even if shes incredibly smart and powerful. and also reading fanwritten doujins and fics about her (ill be fair) very sad backstory (was born as a cursed human and ended up killing herself and being sealed away by her gf so she could live a grief free afterlife with out memories) as a 13 year old did lasting psychological damage to me and my taste in characters I THINK

5. lady hideko from the handmaiden movie…… a japanese aristocrat living in occupied korea in her adoptive uncles mansion, she runs away from her abusive life with her handmaiden after they attempt to scam each other and fall in love instead

shes a random ass character to throw into this list LOL but i do love her…. one of the cinema characters of all time���.. and yet another favourite of mine that falls into the Insane Manipulate character archeotype. i could talk about her more at lenght but this post is too long as is so like ill just say that shes a man hating lesbian that murders her abusers and ditches her societal status to go and suck some korean peasant boobs. so ofc i love her lost :)

[dukessecretao3account]

To the people who are upset with the most recent chapter of RHATO, IT MAKES SENSE YOU FEEL THIS WAY!!!

Someone who studies film narrative and hopes to be in the film industry in the future here🙋🏾‍♀️

I'm absolutely obsessed with angst stories and I'm obsessed Jason and Bruce's relationship. Conflict is what MAKES a story compelling! And if a story is compelling then a story is GOOD! Which means that the CONFLICT has to be good! (if it contains narrative)

I feel like a better approach to the Jason and Bruce father/son angst would have been how both of them are different from how they were before. When Jason was first introduced as robin (post crisis) he loved being robin! Bruce became his father! He was loved and protected and supported! Both Jason and Bruce have changed since Jason's time as Robin and there's no going back.

In the new red hood webtoon, them taking the approach of "Bruce never had any hope in Jason and Jason never felt like Bruce's family" isn't compelling. What would grab the people who enjoy fanon and the people who read the og canon alike is that Jason and Bruce built a bond when Jason was Robin. Bruce was the first adult since his mom who really trusted him and believed he could be more than the streets he grew up on. Jason felt at home at the manor. I think all of these facts crumbling to the ground when Jason comes back as Red Hood is SO IMPORTANT. We as readers invested in a relationship that is now broken. It hurts more when Jason and Bruce fight. Both of them want something that is gone forever. If Jason want his father back and if Bruce wants his son back it will take communication, hard work, and most likely some therapy on both sides.

I think them having GOOD conflict then resolving it by the end of the story would be ideal. Obviously there would have to be stakes as well to push the conflict. But Bruce bulldozing Jason, threatening him, saying that he doesn't believe in him isn't good conflict simply because we no longer find Bruce compelling. He is giving neglectful and borderline verbally abusive father. Like could you imagine seeing a parent talk that way with their kid??? By the end of it he made Jason CRY and he said to him "when you're done crying at can talk" WHAT????

In the same way, Jason's conflict of "the manor was never home" and "I was taught how to be cold when I was robin" is NOT COMPELLING. By adding these things to Jason's og run as robin and retconning his love of people and loving heart we don't feel any loss when he choses to do things that are morally questionable. We as readers don't care about Bruce or Jason's relationship with him since they both treat each other horribly (bruce is more at fault due to him being an adult).

How to better approach their conflict is Bruce begging Jason to come home. When Bruce looks at Jason he has to believe that part of the boy he loved is still there. Because of he doesnt, then that boy is still dead. The boy he took in and then lost violently is right in front of him but seems gone. Bruce being in conflict with his love of Jason and deep conviction of not killing. But love always comes first to Bruce which is why he wants him to come home. Talk things out, give him something that feels familiar.

Meanwhile Jason's conflict should be how Bruce wants the boy who died to come home. Jason being haunted by how he's not who he used to be plagues him. Having nightmares of his younger self crying out and asking what has he become. Jason cant come home because it's not his home, it was the home of the boy who was murdered. Wherever Bruce says "come home" Jason always says that he "can't". In the og run, Jason learned Batman's strongest quality: compassion. His second conflict would be grieving his own psuedo-loss of compassion post resurrection. I believe it's still there 100% but a good conflict is Jason scaring himself with his own actions.

(for all of you who have read MDZS it's like Lan Zhan and Wei Wuxian but in this context it's between a father and a son)

We have someone begging the other to come home because they see they are hurting and they love them and on the other side you see someone on a mission who can't stop and every time this person asks them to stop or come home they see it at they don't like them or they actions and want to control them.

Overall, I strongly believe tragedy and heartbreak is what can make a story like Jason and Bruce's compelling. Instead, we have whatever that was in the last chapter.

I ask you what is a better story:

A:

A son who is afraid he no longer has a home is haunted by how he will never be who he used to be, meanwhile a father will stop at nothing to bring his son home. They have always loved each other. The father believes in his son when no one else will- even when the son doesn't believe in himself.

B:

A boy rebels against his father and said father responds with threats. They both are angry with each other and at everything all the time. They don't love or believe in the other, they probably never have and they probably never will. Also son has 1 month before father throws him in the same asylum as his murderer.

I honestly don't know if I'll keep reading this webtoon tbh. I have an overwhelming love for Jason and Bruce in every story but I stopped reading the last RHATO because of the same thing...

[deathseemslikemyfriend]

Hey. I know it's been a while since we talked. I hope you're okay up there. Are you happy? I hope so. You deserve it so much.

Things down here haven't been so great lately. I'm sure you can understand. I think I'm just resistant to change. Like what if things change and it gets worse? What if I lose him altogether? What if I lose myself?

I guess I also fail to realize that change isn't just a negative thing you know? What if things can get better? What if I find myself again? I'm more afraid of the fall than reaching the peak I think. I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingertips and I'm sure you can tell I don't have very good grip strength lol.

I've gone rock climbing twice now with him. Both times surprised me by how much strength and determination I actually had to finish. Only when things became really too much where I knew I needed to recover did I let myself rest.

I guess that's a metaphor? I'm terrified of heights right? But even when I was barely holding onto those grips, I managed to keep going and finish paths that I didn't think i could complete considering I've never done this before. I'm barely holding on right now and I'm not convinced I can finish this path. But there are people cheering me on and encouraging me. There's something there to catch me if I fall. And I have my own strength to dig my heels in, readjust my grip, and reach.

I keep trying to rush the process because I'm afraid if I dont just boulder through everything the bad times will come back. The truth is, the bad times will always come back. That's just how life works. I can't prevent myself from feeling sad or even depressed. But I can make the feeling less severe. Or cut it short. This might sound bad, but I really just have to gaslight myself into thinking I'll be okay and maybe one day I'll learn to believe it. I have a new apartment. I finally live closer to my friends. I'm figuring out how to lean on God. I live with a freaking dog. I just have to remember those little things that make me remember good can be found among the bad.

I worry for him a lot. He's trying to support me and himself right now. But he's right. He can only support me so much before it starts to destroy him too. And vice versa. And I don't want him to destroy himself for my sake, or for anyone else's. Nor do I want to self destruct and watch him lose someone he cares about. Sometimes my brain does this thing where it tells me he doesn't care. But he does. I know he does. But caring doesn't mean he has all the answers for all my questions. I need to learn to manage my expectations of myself and understand that he can only meet me so far.

I always tell him we're fighting the same war in different battles. And I stand by that. But I cant ask him to abandon his post when my own battle is more challenging than I anticipated. His battle is important too. And we need to win ours separately before we can regroup.

I'll admit sometimes when people just tell me to trust in God I get annoyed. Sometimes it feels like they dismiss my feelings because God doesn't always answer me in a straightforward way and it's frustrating. But they're also right. When I lay in bed begging not to go, the only person who can really help me in that moment is the Lord. Not everyone in this world can help me in the way I need when I need. But He can and He always will. For He loves me so unconditionally He will help guide me.

I should've died years ago. I came out the womb kinda fucked up to begin with. And things have just compounded since middle school. But something always told me no it's not your time yet. Whether it was finding comfort in fandoms or music or just my own sheer will, God hasn't given up on me yet. Just as Jesus died for my sins, maybe my past life has to die for me to be free. I have to just let go of my fears and let myself be resurrected with Him by my side. And I don't necessarily have to do it alone, but I know that at the end of the day, that resurrection can only happen through me.

I can't be there for him all the time just as he can't be there for me. Sometimes we try to push that boundary because we care so much. Love is powerful in that regard. But love also requires trust. And I need to trust in myself to know that he's gonna be okay without me momming him all the time. And I need to trust in myself that I am capable of catching myself while he's catching himself.

We promised each other things would be different this time. To be honest, I'm scared for when he goes to school. Is he gonna be okay? Is he gonna leave? Is he supported enough? But those are also things only he can control. And to prevent the same mistakes from happening, I need to let him care for himself while I do the same. We can support each other as best as we can, but support does not equate to solving the other's problems. That's how I learn from last year.

I love him. I really really do. And maybe he's not it but until there is no hope I'm fighting for it to be us because i really don't quite think it's over yet. But it's because I love him with every part of my soul that I need to just trust him and let him do his own thing. Let him make his own friends, work out his mental health in the way that he needs, and let him thrive. God has brought him back to me even when I thought I lost him forever. So I know he's never truly gone. He's just on his own journey right now and that's okay.

I'll be honest. That whole server thing really destroyed my sense of worth and my security in myself. I made a lot of mistakes, I trusted in the wrong people, and I almost watched him slip away right in front of me. But God forgave me for everything the moment it happened. And despite my mistakes, He loves me and forgives me. And so I need to do the same. I don't entirely hate myself, but I don't love me either. I can pick out the flaws but I struggle to say what I do right. I have so much bitterness in my heart. That's why my anxiety turns into anger and i lash out so easily. The pastor was right. The only way to combat that is to let love and forgiveness come into my life. To not let myself dwell in things that God has already forgiven me for. Not to rush the process to get it over with but learn why God has given me the chance to forgive myself and learn to be better for myself, for my family, and for my friends.

I want him to be proud of me. But I also want to be proud of me too. Somehow I've held out for this long. That's gotta mean something right?

Since I can't always look out for him, i ask that you do. Out of everyone, you probably understand him the most, even moreso than me. You always have guided and helped him when he needed you most. So please touch his heart once again. God is telling me that we need a step back before we destroy each other. We can still support each other, but we have to learn to stand our own ground. But we don't have to do it alone. And he's not alone because he still has me, he has his friends and family, he has God, and he has you. Helo him understand the difference he makes in people's lives. That his life is so precious and meaningful. That he is so strong even when his strength starts to give.

I truly love that man with everything I've got. I love him for his flaws, for his perfections, and everything in between. He is beauty, he is grace, and he makes this world such a beautiful place.

But I have to love myself as much as I love him. And that's okay. It doesnt mean I love him less or value him less or care for him less. It just means my heart has enough room for so much love and that love will bring so much happiness and positivity into my life.

Maybe one day he'll come back to me the way I really hope and pray he does. But I won't know that right now. And that's okay.

I hope you're doing well. Honestly, I think about you all the time. I wish we could've met in person and gotten to know each other better. Maybe we are getting to know each other, just in a different sort of way. You're a blessing too and I hope you know that. Thank you for always listening. It truly means more than you know.

[supercantaloupe]

on Aelwyn Abernant, the Reformed Villain Squad, and redeeming teenage antagonists

an analysis on antagonist character development in Fantasy High. spoilers through sophomore year and (mildly so) the most recent roll20 oneshot. essay under the cut bc i am very long winded

the turnaround with Aelwyn in s2 is handled so well  i cant get over it. she was such a major antagonist in the first season and just. despicable. she had no pathos. we hated this bitchy older sister who tried to kill Adaine and her friends and raise an evil dragon, and when she gets knocked on her ass and thrown in jail, we cheer.

and then s2 fucking starts saying “hey she’s in jail still if you’d like to look into that” and pursuing that thread ends up being almost as comedic an idea as it is a reluctant one; it’s also quickly shunted to the background as soon as more pressing leads present themselves, to the point where we almost forget about her until Adaine is kidnapped and then the first time you see her it’s just. viscerally upsetting.

she’s bad. she did evil. she got what she deserved.

but she already got what she deserved. last season.

she got her ass handed to her by a bunch of 14 year olds including her little sister (how embarrassing!). her plans were thwarted. she got punched in the face and made fun of. she already got her punishment.

it just……immediately registers as over-the-top Wrong to be told “hey, remember that antagonist you beat last season? she’s still being punished for that, except it’s way worse than just going to mumple.”

and there’s that reminder that like…this is a teenager. a child. who has been manipulated and abused. which is a really fascinating look at this character we used to see pretty much unilaterally as a one dimensional bitchy villain.

i mean we got a more in depth look at Penelope’s and Biz’s motivations in s1 (Penelope being the popular rich girl sorceress obviously hungry for power and the alllure of the high school clout that is being prom queen, but also we know that her having to turn on her best friend Sam Nightingale as part of the scheme was something she was reluctant and not happy to do; and Biz being that predatory incel creeper type dude besides just a nerd with computers and a lack of social graces). and they were as much willingly active in the plot as Aelwyn was. yet in s1 they really never do bother to explore Aelwyn’s motivations. i remember after watching s1 but before s2 that was one of my biggest lingering questions: why tf was Aelwyn involved?

well. she was manipulated and abused. her terrible parents raised her in an awful environment that conditioned her to Listen and Obey and Behave and Be Perfect, and then Kalina helped cinch the noose around her neck with threats and coersion into the KVS Kaper and the NMK crown debacle. she doesn’t freely choose any of it; she’s coerced, manipulated, abused.

and she already got justifiably punished for her bad actions in s1. the torture is almost literal overkill. it’s just……there’s this immediate turnaround in sympathy and view of the character. on first watch, it’s viscerally upsetting to see her getting so brutally punished for actions she already faced consequences for, and on rewatch, it makes your skin crawl to know she’s being tortured for terrible things she had little choice in carrying out. and tortured by some of the very same people who coerced her to behave terribly in the first place, to add insult to injury.

and it’s still fucking frustrating when they rescue her and her memory gets reset and she goes back to her parents because it’s like “well shit, she’s evil again, and we just wasted all that effort for nothing” but it’s also sad cause we know she’s running back to her abusers and she isn’t happy about it but doesn’t feel like she has a choice. and it’s sadder still that what eventually inevitably gets her to turn to good for good (i.e. away from her parents) is just. a full dissociative mental breakdown.

(but then she survives and it’s gonna be good!!! until Adaine dies in her fucking arms. which is. almost funny. she’s been through so much shit and that isn’t something that Brennan would have just. preplanned. like a written in plot point. no, that was just an unpredictable consequence of the battle. what a juicy fucking moment. she’s been through All That Shit™️ and has finally turned to fight for good and her sister just fully dies in front of her. yeowch)

and she turns out okay in the end. she comes out the other side alive and whole and supported by her sister and her friends, with the hope of a future and recovery. there is an acknowledgement that A) she can and will grow from her mistakes and damage, B) it’s going to be really hard, and C) the post-s2 one shots both prove that she’s doing okay now. hell, she has a whole squad now of other former-teenage-villains-turned-good-guys. she has friends now, Ragh and Zayn, with common ground, and a secret handshake and everything. they’ve all grown from the mistakes of their past into better, happier, healthier people

and about Zayn and Ragh. we’ve seen a lot of characters, protagonist and antagonist, teenage and adult, PC and NPC do some really fucked up shit and get punished for it. but why do they get happy endings? why are Aelwyn, Ragh, and Zayn the only members of the RVS and not someone else like Biz or Penelope or Dayne? 

well, the latter two are dead by then; but then again, Biz and Ragh were also killed by the Bad Kids in s1, and subsequently resurrected. (Zayn died too, but was neither killed nor revived at the Bad Kids’ hands, so i’ll get to him in a sec.) and there are plenty of adult antagonists the Bad Kids face who are killed and left that way by the Bad Kids without second thought: Johnny Spells, Coach Daybreak, Captain Wicklaw, the Abernant parents (presuming Arianwen doesn’t survive in the forest for very long, which i doubt). why do some characters get second chances while others don’t?

in the case of Zayn, his death was pretty much out of the Bad Kids’ hands, and they later found out he was manipulated by Daybreak into being bad anyway because of his sad living situation. he was a pretty minor antagonist in the scheme of things, and when we re-meet him as a ghost in the s1 epilogue, he’s pretty obviously remorseful for his actions. and dying seems like a steep enough punishment to me for the shit he did to contribute to the KVX caper; returning as a ghost, free from the trappings of his unfortunate living life, he now has the room and freedom to grow into a better person.

in the cases of Daybreak, Spells, Wicklaw, and the Abernant parents: these are bad people who should know better. these are fully grown adults who actively choose to do evil. whether they think it’s the right thing to do or not (in Daybreak’s case), whether they think it will benefit them and don’t care about anyone else (in the Abernants’ case), or whether they don’t care much at all and are just doing shit because they feel like it (in the cases of Spells and Wicklaw), these are all adults who consciously make the decision to do terrible things and hurt other people. of course Johnny Spells, who is generally a punk thief and thug, is not on the same level of bad as Angwyn, who kidnaps and tortures his own daughters for political gain, but the point remains. these fuckers should know better. they’re grown ups. they had their chances to be good and they chose not to heed them. their minds are set on bad actions and they are a continued danger to other people as long as they are alive. when they die, the Bad Kids do their damndest to make sure it stays that way.

now, in the cases of Penelope and Dayne: these are teenagers who actively chose to participate in an evil plot. Penelope, Dayne, and Biz were all fully cognizant of what they were doing trying to raise KVX back to his former power. why? well, to some extent, we can only speculate. i suspect Penelope was just one of those Regina George bitches who is rich and popular and powerful and obsessed with power and popularity within high school as if that’s the end-all-be-all of existence (which, like, when you’re currently in high school, is a somewhat understandable worldview i think). Dayne being her boyfriend and a musclehead jock probably falls into a similar line of thinking. they are actively and willingly trying to cause harm, and teenager or not, must be stopped. they’re killed, anyway, during the Climactic Battle™️ anyhow; it’s not like the Bad Kids were going to gain anything at that point by keeping them alive.

now, Biz: Biz is the creepy Nice Guy incel type, sees woman as a prize he deserves to win, yadda yadda. he does, like Penelope and Dayne, actively choose to help KVX. there might be something to be said about his motivation the Bad Kids discover after the arcade battle by detecting his thoughts (that being to upload the captured maidens from the palimpsests to “call the shots” himself) is an altered memory; whether this was his original motivation from the start or not, i’m not sure. but the Bad Kids do kill him – and then resurrect him for important, time-sensitive information. and they beat it out of him – he gets two of his fucking fingers blown off. and Riz reattaches them once they have their info, and they realize his memory is altered. of course, the Bad Kids don’t know at this point that the altered memory was something he, Penelope, and Aelwyn had planned and agreed on and done to themselves, but this points to something important in my opinion: the Bad Kids, and the narrative/show as a whole by extension, acknowledge that external manipulation affects how guilty someone is in a crime.

which brings us to Ragh. Ragh, introduced from episode 1 as the meathead jock. Ragh the archetypical one-dimensional high school bully. Ragh who works with the harvestmen in effort to (ostensibly) end the world/provoke international war. Ragh, whose low intelligence but high loyalty and internalized homophobia led him to be fully swayed and blindly led by his coach and captain, who have actively chosen to do evil. Ragh who is killed in combat by the Bad Kids and resurrected for information, not Daybreak. Ragh, who the Bad Kids realize was probably not aware of exactly what he was being made to do and how bad it really was. Ragh, who by their kindness in sparing his life and directing him on a better path, becomes a well-rounded character and an active ally to the Bad Kids during and after prom, an invaluable companion during their quest in sophomore year, and overall a really good friend and person. 

(it might also be worth considering the case of Jawbone here, too, who started out a very minor antagonist in a fight but ended up becoming a major NPC because the Bad Kids talked to him, found out he came from an unfortunate situation and set of circumstances, and showed him kindness in offering the school guidance counselor position, a kindness that isn’t really owed but given anyway and ends up changing his entire life for good.)

and then, Aelwyn, whose case is already discussed above. so, why is the RVS what it is, why them but not others?

if you’re familiar with Avatar: the Last Airbender, you’re probably familiar with Zuko’s character arc, and how it’s often lauded as a masterful example of developing a villain into a hero over the course of a narrative. what makes Zuko’s arc so well done and exceptional is that he starts out as a kid in a bad situation under the influence of bad adults seeking to do bad deeds, but he later realizes the error of those ways, actively removes himself from that situation despite the difficulty and danger in doing so, goes through a lot of shit and reflects on his past mistakes and learns from them, and then actively chooses to fight for good in the end with the help of close, trusted friends, found family. 

this, i believe, is the same in the case of Fantasy High and its treatment of the RVS. its members, like Zuko, are all teenagers who came from shitty situations and were manipulated by evil adults to do bad. they are punished for their bad actions, and they learn from their errors and mistakes. with the kindness and help of good people, friends and chosen family, they are able to escape their abusers and bad situations and grow into their own people. and they actively choose to improve themselves with that help and fight for good.

Fantasy High, through the arcs of Jawbone, Zayn, Ragh, and especially Aelwyn, asserts that it is not your fault if you come from a bad situation and are forced to behave badly as a result. it does not pretend that you are absolved of any responsibility for those actions; quite the opposite, as even though they were externally manipulated into their evil actions, all of those mentioned characters face tangible consequences for their actions and later express remorse for their mistakes. but Fantasy High also asserts that even if you have made great mistakes in your past, even if you came from a bad situation beyond your control, even if you were manipulated and abused, with care and love and support and a hell of a lot of work and effort, you can improve your situation and find good, happiness, peace, you can thrive. evil adults who should know better don’t get redeemed. teenagers who aren’t coerced but actively choose evil don’t get redeemed. but abused kids deserve another shot at happiness. with enough work, and some love and help along the way, they can get there, even from the lowest imaginable point, from rock fucking buttom. it’s possible. 

[raeynbowboi]

How to Play as Danny Phantom in DnD 5e

We’re going ghost with this build as we work to incorporate the undead slayer of the undead: Inviso-bill. If we can, I might try to blend his division between human and inhuman forms, but if I can’t, then this build will focus exclusively on his ghost form.

He’s a Phantom

Except he’s not. Not quite. He’s Undead. Or as close as he can get. Undead, Vampires, and Skeletons aren’t playable races, so we need a way to simulate being not exactly alive. The Revived Rogue is someone who has died and been resurrected and also comes pre-packaged with ghost bolts and walking through the Ghost Zone. Beyond his ghost powers though, Danny is a normal Human. However, his ghostly breath alerts him to danger, so we’ll make him a Variant Human with the Alert feat to warn him with +1 DEX and +1 INT.

Danny’s no stranger to using his powers selfishly to get what he wants, but he is at heart still a hero. I’d call him Neutral Good.

For background, super heroes often get lumped in as City Watch, but as Danny is a pretty well-known figure in the area, he could be considered a Folk Hero.

He can walk through walls, disappear, and fly

We can’t make Danny a literal ghost, so the next best thing is to try and help him resist non-magical damage. Spells like Blade Ward, Stoneskin, and Investiture of Stone give you temporary resistance to these damage types. War Clerics, Oathbreaker Paladins, and Crown Paladins get these resistances as well. As a ghost, Danny can only be harmed by other ghosts. Unfortunately, all of the subclasses that offer protection for mortal wounds don’t offer them until extremely late in the build and are only viable if Danny doesn’t need too many levels in Rogue.

Psionics Wizards also get the ability to become resistant to Slashing, Piercing and Bludgeoning damage. Later, at 14th Level, this spiritual form gains the ability to walk through walls and can cast spells like Fly and Invisibility. With this build, Danny isn’t a pure ghost, as he can now shift between a tangible and ghostly form. Comparatively, the Revived Rogue gets Bolts from the Grave for Ghost Blasts, the ability to speak to ghosts, and Ethereal Jaunt lets you slip in and out of the Ghost Zone at will, which can offer the same intangibility to let Danny go through walls as the Psionics Wizard. As an Oathbreaker Paladin, he can boost the strength of Undead, detect undead, and gain resistance to melee damage.

To get Danny’s ghostly resistance to mortal wounds, you need at least 6 levels in Wizard, but doing so takes away Danny’s ability to walk through walls without using spells like Blink. However, this gives Danny’s Bolts from the Grave 7d6 Necrotic Damage. At a 14/6 split in favor of Wizard, Danny gets his ghost bolts, intangibility, and wall-walking, but reduces the damage of his ghost bolts to only 3d6 Necrotic damage. But to be fair, Danny’s ghost bolts aren’t that strong. Oathbreaker Paladins need to be 15 to get their damage resistance, which only leaves 5 levels for Rogue.

Stats and Proficiencies

Okay, realistically Danny’s Intelligence would not be his top stat. Danny is not a valedictorian by any means. But the Psionics Wizard lets him go ghost, which is what we need, and Wizards cast with their INT stat. As a Rogue too, it would be criminal to deprive him of a high AC, so we’ll also focus on his Dexterity score. Next is Wisdom, since his ghost sense alerts him to the presence of undead, so he’ll need a strong Perception. Constitution makes sure you don’t die after a single hit. But as an awkward geek, your Strength and Charisma scores will suffer. You might have hid your powers from your parents for a long time, but to be fair, they’re not exactly the most perceptive pair, so you don’t exactly have to be a master at deception to fool them.

Acrobatics Arcana Deception Insight Perception Stealth

Name: Danny Fenton Race: Variant Human Background: City Watch Alignment: Neutral Good Class: Revived Rogue (6)             Psionics Wizard (14) Base Stats: Strength: 8 (-1) Dexterity: 20 (+5) Constitution: 14 (+2) Intelligence: 20 (+5) Wisdom: 10 (0) Charisma: 8 (-1) Saving Throws: Strength: -1 Dexterity: +11 Constitution: +2 Intelligence: +11 Wisdom: 0 Charisma: -1 Combat Stats: HP: 129 AC: 16 Speed: 30 Initiative: +10 Proficiency Bonus: +6 Passive Perception: 22 Dark Vision: 0 feet Proficiencies and Expertise:    Acrobatics (Rogue)    Arcana (Variant Human)    Athletics (City Watch)    Deception (Rogue)    Insight (City Watch)    Perception (Rogue)    Stealth (Rogue) Skills: Acrobatics: +17                   Medicine: 0 Animal Handling: 0              Nature: +5 Arcana: +17                         Perception: +12 Athletics: +5                         Performance: -1 Deception: +5                      Persuasion: -1 History: +5                           Religion: +5 Insight: +6                           Sleight of Hand: +5 Intimidation: -1                    Stealth: +17 Investigation:+5                  Survival: 0

Spell Slots

1st (4) 2nd (3) 3rd (3) 4th (3) 5th (2) 6th (1) 7th (1)

Danny’s Spellbook

Cantrips                          3rd Level   Blade Ward                      Animate Dead   Chill Touch                       Blink   Fire Bolt                           Fly   Mage Hand                      Gaseous Form   Message                          Protection from Energy 1st Level                         4th Level   Cause Fear                      Banishment   Detect Magic                    Greater Invisibility   Feather Fall                      Phantasmal Killer   Mage Armor                      Stoneskin   Magic Missile                    Vitriolic Sphere   Ray of Sickness             5th Level   Shield                                Danse Macabre 2nd Level                            Dominate Person   Invisibility                          Passwall   Levitate                          6th Level   Misty Step                         Circle of Death   Phantasmal Force             Create Undead   Ray of Enfeeblement         Investiture of Stone   See Invisibility                    True Seeing   Shatter                            7th Level                                              Finger of Death

Bonus Actions:

Cunning Action: Aim, Dash, Disengage, or Hide once per turn.

Reactions:

Uncanny Dodge: Reduce damage from enemies you can see that hit you.

Features:

Alert: Can’t be surprised. +5 to Initiative. Arcane Recovery: Recover 7 or fewer level 5 or lower spells on a short rest. Bolts From the Grave: Deal 3d6+5 Necrotic damage instead of a sneak attack. Empowered Psionics: Add +5 damage to Psychic or Force spells. Mental Discipline: Learn Dominate Person, Scrying, or Telekinesis. Can be cast once without using up a spell slot. Doesn’t count against spells known. Psionic Devotion: Cast invisible Mage Hand as a bonus action. Psionic Focus: Replaces Arcane Focus. Reroll a 1 on Psychic or Force spells. Revived Nature: Advantage against poison, resist poison, no need to eat, drink, sleep, or breathe. Alert immobility for 4 hours instead of sleeping for 8. Sneak Attack: deal an extra 3d6 when attacking with advantage. Thieves’ Cant: Speak and understand secret codes in casual conversation. Thought Form: for 10 minutes, resist psychic and melee damage. Use 5 times per long rest. Thought Travel: Thought Form can float, fly, and pass through solid objects. Tokens of Past Lives: Pick 1 skill or tool proficiency on a long rest. Watcher’s Eye: You can find and recognize criminal lairs and guard stations.

How do you feel I did with Danny? Did I miss anything important? I have two more builds planned and then I’m taking a break from DnD builds to refocus on my Dating Disney posts. The last two will be Star Butterfly and Momo Yaoyorozu. But I’ll be sure to file away any requests for future builds when I come back to this.

[etherdoubler]

shevat posting 3: i have hot soup for brains

hear that? that’s my little foil hat rustling. because through some loosely connected dots i have devised a theory that is crucial to the third shevat invasion fic i will never write. and that theory is this: krelian and zephyr are working together over the course of the game*

*but they are not allies

lets talk about zephyr’s motivations first. obviously, she feels guilty about sophia’s death, which forms the crux of her continued involvement in world events. this is pretty explicitly stated. what isn’t explicitly stated is what exactly she means by “defeating solaris.” does she mean to invade it? conquer it somehow? blow it up, as happened in the game? with her positioning as someone who is aware of the greater history of the world and the shadow government of solaris pulling the strings, i propose this: zephyr’s ultimate goal is to have the emperor and the gazel ministry killed. (miang too but she knows the only way to “”“kill”“” miang is to have her return to the body of deus. and guess what krelian’s plan involves!)

so zephyr wants to redeem herself for this trespass against sophia and the surface dwellers. she probably knows this isnt happening any time soon, what with all of civilization being destroyed and all, so even though it is framed as a punishment, zephyr is willing to undergo krelian’s life extension treatments. after the days of collapse i think zephyr does not truly believe shevat will win in any meaningful capacity against solaris but, of course, because of her guilt, she also has to continue to put up some form of opposition to those who got sophia killed. so if she will never truly be in a position to kill the leaders of solaris… maybe someone else will be. maybe someone she is already acquainted with. maybe someone like … krelian?

meanwhile, even if krelian’s goal is to isolate the instigators of shevat’s betrayal from greater society, there’s no reason to let shevat itself exist- krelian could easily keep the immortal shevat elders in his laboratory and accomplish the same thing. krelian is also shown to very clearly be the kind of person who gets rid of things after they’re done being useful to him. so why is shevat still around??? because shevat itself is part of krelian’s plot.

krelian needs to make sure the gazel cant move too far ahead in aligning the relics before everything with his nanomachines is in place. they’re obviously doing everything they can to start getting their bodies back and resurrect god etc. but he cant be too obvious about his obtrusions or they wont trust him (for varying definitions of the word ‘trust’ of course). so he stashes one omnigear (the most important one, even) in the only place completely outside of solaris’ influence, to be returned to him when all of his preparations are complete.

so it goes like this: krelian goes to shevat to give life extention treatments to the shevat elders, monologues about his plan to zephyr, who then says she wants to help him when he reveals killing the gazel ministry et al is part of his overall plan. krelian realizes there might be some use in keeping shevat around for at least a little bit, and lets zephyr hold onto sophia’s omnigear since it means the chances of the gazel reaching it are greatly reduced. zephyr is essentially stalling for 5 centuries waiting for krelians signal to send over the omnigear, along with its pilot, apparently.

(consider: in disc 2 zephyr lets elly take sophia’s omnigear to krelian even though, like elly, she must be aware its a trap. why did she do that? if zephyr and krelian are opposed forces, why allow the one thing he most desires to waltz right into his hands? also consider krelian was able to simply contact shevat when the party and even jessiah went through all kinds of rigamarole to do the same. why share a communication channel with your supposed enemy? when zephyr looks over the frozen wastes of the south pole and asks what shes been doing all these years? what indeed?).

the unofficial outcome of this agreement is when krelian merges with god and leaves the planet the surface will be liberated and zephyr and the non-mutant survivors will be free to rebuild. their “”“partnership”“” pretty much ends when elly goes to golgoda, after which zephyr tries to seal up id to assuage her perceived mistakes and keep grahf from using him to end civilization again, knowing once krelian departs civilization can finally flourish on its own terms (and imo krelian knows its very likely shevat will be destroyed with the rise of merkava in a similar if not worse manner than it was in the days of collapse. but, well, it would be after shevat lived out its usefulness to him so he doesn’t care. zephyr is also aware of this but she doesn’t have a choice).

again: why just leave the equally as advanced opposing floating sky city intact when he could have destroyed it while he was there to administer life extension treatments? because the invasions are just diversions to keep the gazel from becoming suspicious of krelian’s obvious ulterior motives by dangling an infuriatingly out of reach carrot in front of them, AND ALSO, since the gazel are partly responsible for sophia’s death, the vestiges of his resentment towards them means he doesn’t want them to get their dirty incorporeal digital hands on her omnigear. if shevat has a chronic resource shortage how are they maintaining the gate system that keeps them safe and all the other systems that make its continued existence possible at all? the computer systems that undoubtedly require complex electronics manufacturing to continue running? while some material is obtained through raids on ethos salvage ships throughout aquvy, the key parts that need to be of extremely precise specifications are made by krelian and then sent to shevat through [cough] one-way deliveries to keep the gate and everything else functional over the centuries.

(also weird that zephyr herself never disparages krelian in any way unlike the other residents of shevat. the real reason for this is i think they just gave zephyr lines to move the plot along instead of lines that moved the plot along and fleshed out her character a bit. but for the purposes of this essay (lol) its because she understands, and, dare i say, sympathizes with krelian as someone who was also present and feels responsible for such a harrowing betrayal and subsequent sacrifice of a person she also greatly respected and idolized.)

and i know what you’re thinking: are you trying to tell me zephyr was okay with krelian’s surface dweller mulching machines? no, im sure they would give her nightmares if she needed to sleep. but i am saying that i think she had a hand in why the shevat population also has limiters. (how did krelian do that by the way????)

okay phew. now, what does this have to do with the 3rd shevat invasion? well 2 things:

1. hyuga was put in charge of the 3rd shevat invasion over ramsus to get more detailed battle data on him because he was suspected of being able to align with an anima relic AND just to make ramsus feel like shit about being 2nd place. tee hee. and (this is a little off the rails ill admit) if hyuga hadn’t thrown the entire thing he would have gotten an order from krelian to retreat after a convincing amount of damage was done. why wasn’t hyuga demoted or killed or seemingly punished in any way for his apparent failure? because the entire thing was staged by krelian from the start!

2. krelian lets hyuga visit shevat in secret as long as he acts as a runner between himself and zephyr because its easier to escape the gazel ministry’s scrutiny if theres a bit of distance between him and his dealings with shevat (since he needs to keep their trust to turn the goetia key). hyuga agrees because, well, he wants to see yui (i could and probably will write an entire second dissertation about the version of citan and yui’s relationship i made up so i wont go into detail here). zephyr agrees because shevat doesnt have the resources in terms or materials or personnel to self-sufficiently repair and, as ive postulated, she is invested in seeing krelian complete his plan so he can get rid of the emperor and the gazel ministry. gaspar uh, doesn’t like it but due a combination of factors goes along with it.

(incidentally this would explain citan’s “krelian is not a man of his word and always has ulterior motives when he sweet talks someone!!! ” line especially if you imagine that hyuga’s alignment took a bit more force than billy and rico’s if nothing else because it was done under krelian’s hands)

 so there. my pepe silvia theory that krelian and zephyr were actually in cahoots the whole time (sort of). this means nothing in terms of discussing the actual game because zephyr is literally only there to give you exposition and she doesn’t really have a character arc or anything, but to me, Person Who Is Determined To Give Extremely Minor Background Characters The Narrative Weight I Think They Deserve, its everything. or rather, to me, who was trying to answer all these various questions while conceptualizing a third shevat invasion fic, its uhh… coherent.

now ill blow your mind: someone much better at thinking than me already had this idea. go read the burden of history

NEXT TIME: yui, probably, gaspar, maybe. try not to look surprised

[doom-dreaming]

WAIT WHAT HAPPENED???? i cant find spoilers anywhere im dying

Fuck you Tumblr why do you post things before I finish them.

OKAY. MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!!!THIS IS PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE MAJOR PLOT. I WARNED YOU.

(I got all this from Char’s Twitch stream, btw. Watched it last night. Cried. Screamed. Ate my hands off. You know.)

This is going to be twins-centric because that’s just who I am as a person, but here’s how it goes:

After the cutscene where the twins steal Lilith’s power, you head to Promethea.

Maliwan!Zer0 is actually Katagawa.

(At some point, Maya joins the crew, I haven’t watched any Athenas gameplay actually. But she’s here during the next event, which is important.)

The Promethean Vault Monster is the Rampager. It has multiple elemental attack stages. Once you go in and come back out of the Vault, Maya is arguing with her apprentice Ava, who snuck along to fight even though she was told not to. The twins show up, take the remaining life force from the monster.

Maya and Ava try to leave. Ty grabs Ava, Maya phaselocks Troy so Tyreen lets go of Ava. TURNS OUT TROY CAN LEECH TOO! SO HE LEECHES MAYA. COMPLETELY DUSTS HER.

Tyreen seems surprised, saying “I thought you could only leech from me?” and it’s at this point that the power balance starts to shift.

So he can phaselock now.

Then you go to Eden-6. I missed a chunk from the arrival to the opening of the Eden-6 Vault.

The Eden-6 Vault is guarded by the Gravewarden, who has multiple attack phases and elements and can shift the area on a slant, so be careful. Once you kill it, Tannis shows up because she’s figured out a way to neutralize the power so that the twins can’t use it.

Tyreen whines about being hungry and Troy says you suck. You go into the Vault, and when you come back out, Tannis is suddenly phaselocked and teleported away by the twins.

This prompts a rescue mission back on Pandora - the Pain and Terror quest. Well. So Tannis is a siren. She manifested Angel’s abilities. So she makes it out of this okay.

Over the ECHOcomms, the twins start getting more interesting. Troy pushes his way into the spotlight, stepping on Tyreen’s toes, ignoring her, stealing her catchphrases, etc. He says he has a big surprise for you.

The next time you get to Sanctuary, you get to see this surprise.

TROY AMPS HIMSELF UP ON ERIDIUM AND PHASELOCKS THE MOON and starts pulling it toward Pandora because it turns out that the Great Vault? Is Pandora. It’s the whole planet. And Elpis is the key.

So naturally, the Raiders send you down to stop him. You fight your way through to the twins, Troy is getting increasingly angry and starts legitimately screaming over the ECHOcomm (which I only found hot, sorry not sorry); well, you manage to cut off his eridium supply, but uh oh, the moon is still being charged?

YEAH. HE’S LEECHING FROM TYREEN TO CHARGE THE FUCKING MOON. I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP. (If I had, it would be better.)

This cues his boss fight. He has beautiful red wings. He’s so fucking gorgeous.Tyreen is screaming the entire time, saying that Troy’s going to kill her. He mostly ignores her.

Once you land the killing blow, it triggers a short cutscene where Troy staggers toward Ty (already on the ground) and says “Ty…we…almost…made it” and then he dies.

Lilith, Tannis, and Ava come in. Ava touches Troy’s arm. Her siren powers manifest. Lilith says they never belonged to him anyway. :(

AND THEN TYREEN GETS UP. She looks down at Troy and says “Troy….you did it.” And then puts her hands on his head AND FOR A SECOND I WAS EXPECTING A RESURRECTION BUT SHE FUCKING DUSTS HIM. VAPORIZED. BYE TROY I NEVER GOT TO HOLD YOU OR PET YOUR HAIR OR [REDACTED].

She takes the cam-bot out of his arm, which is the only part of him left, and makes a very peppy, very determined broadcast…..and then smashes the camera and disappears.

Time to go to the Eridian homeworld, as it’s the only way to shut down the Great Vault opening.

Once on the final planet that I forgot the name of, you meet up with Typhon DeLeon, who’s been stranded there for decades. As you fight through Eridians and Maliwan to do what you’ve gotta do, you learn the backstory.

Typhon and his wife Leda crashed on this planet. She was pregnant. She had twins. “The boy was always sick and the girl talked circles around me.”

Yeah. Those twins.

Typhon thought they would like staying on this planet, but they saw it as a prison and left - some time after their mother had died. Typhon regrets keeping them there, says he shouldn’t have told them the stories about the Great Vault, says he feels remorse for what they’ve become.

I was crying a lot.

You apologize for killing Troy and he says something like “I’m sorry about my boy but I’m glad he can’t hurt people anymore.” Fam. Fam my eyes are just water.

Through the fighting, Tyreen gives you little tidbits on their childhood, and the one that killed me was how she mentioned stargazing with Troy, who said that they would shine brighter than the stars. Flat-out sobbing by this point.

There’s at least one ECHO log I saw that’s from the twins as they fixed up the ship to leave the planet, I’m sure there’s more scattered around. If we find some of them as really little kids, I’m going to cliff dive without a bungee.

Just as you start to close The Great Vault, Tyreen shows up. There’s a confrontation, Typhon restrains her….she fights him…and kills him. And fucks off to complete her mission to become a god.

Tannis opens a portal back to Pandora, you’re transported to The Great Vault. Tyreen BECOMES the Destroyer and it’s honestly grotesque. There’s a vaguely Shadow of the Colossus style fight with her and then…it’s over.

There’s some talking. The moon is still too close to the planet. Lilith makes the executive decision to take that into her own hands and flies into the moon and…….becomes a firehawk moon shield? I’m still not sure.

UM. YEAH BUT IT WAS A LOT AND I’M NEGLECTING SELF-CARE BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HEALTHILY COPE WITH PIXEL BASTARDS THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK.

[delusion1ncarnate]

the 100 ask game

i was tagged by @viviansternwood and @buttered-rice1 thank you guys❤️

1. What station on the Ark would you be from?

i think i'd be from alpha station. idk why, just a radom pick.

2. What would you get arrested for on the Ark?

i'd either get arrested for talking back to someone important (i am NOT great with authority figures) or i'd get caught stealing or trading on the black market.

3. Would you take off your wristband when you landed on the ground?

no, i'd want the ark to come down, so taking it off wouldn't really serve me well.

4. What would the necklace Finn would make for you look like? (Clarke: deer/Raven: a raven duh..)

he definitely wouldn't make me one cause we would probably instantly dislike each other

5. If you could resurrect any MINOR character who would it be?

does anya count as a minor character? i want anya back!

6. Create a squad of 5 characters to go on missions with. Who are they?

clarke, luna, octavia, niylah and harper

7. What Grounder Clan would you belong to you?

i think Trikru.

8. What would your name be in Trigedasleng? (example: Octavia=Okteivia…just make it up!)

El would just be El so everything stays as it is.

9. Thoughts on Finn? Some people hate him, and others love him, so I’m curious

i really, really do not like finn.

10. Be honest. How willing would you have been to take the chip without knowing all the horrible things it does?

without knowing the consequences? if i hadn't seen too many people with the chip and how changed the were i'd totally take the chip. but if i was around enough of them i think i'd realize something strange is going on...

11. What character do you relate to most?

octavia, definitely

12. What character do you like the least?

ehh... it's a mix between echo, titus and pike probably

13. Describe your delinquent outfit. (Would you wear something like Murphy’s jacket with the spikey red shoulder patch or have a trademark like Jasper’s goggles? Be creative, yet practical)

i'd probably wear normal jeans, some high boots and a (hopefully) water resistant jacket. probably in a dark color like blue or black.

14. Favorite type of mutant animal?

i love the butterlies

15. What would your job be on the Ark?

do they have something like a librarian up there? if so, that'd be me

16. Would you have willingly pumped Ontari’s heart if Abby asked?

if my life depended on it? hopefully

17. If Lexa wasn’t Heda, but she was still alive then who would have made the best commander?

luna. she would be though and strong enough to force the clans together and to follow her while still prioritizing peace

18. How would you act if you ate the hallucinogenic nuts like Jasper and Monty?

i'd probably have a really bad trip and freak out completely

19. How would you have dealt with Charlotte’s crime? A more John Murphy approach or Bellamy Blake approach?

honestly? i think i absolutely wouldn't know what to do

20. Who should have been the Chancellor, if anyone?

on the ground? season 3 kane definitely

21. Would you have been on Pike’s side like Bellamy or on Kane’s side? Or Clarke in Polis?

i think i would be in polis with clarke trying to make skaikru an accepted member of the coalition

22. Mount Weather had a lot of modern commodities. (example: Maya’s Ipod) What is the one thing you would snatch while there?

ALL the books

23. What would your Grounder tattoos look like? Hairstyle? War paint?

i love the aesthetic of tattooed fingers and if i lived in a post apocalyptic warrior clan i'd definitely have some really cool designs on my fingers, my hands and up my arms to my shoulders. i'd also like some tattos on my back and my stomach. my hair would probably be in braids similar to octavias s3 style. my war paint would be around my eyes and down my cheeks and maybe a line on my lips or something?

24. Favorite quote?

ai giv ai op gon nemiyon kom lanik-de

i know you're still trying to save me but you cant' save someone who is already dead

you are wonkru or you are the enemy of wonkru. choose!

the one lexa said about having to look your soldiers in the eyes and tell them to "go die for me"

ai laik heda. non na throu daun gon ai

25. If all of the characters were in the Hunger Games, who would have the best shot at winning?

clarke or lexa probably.

26. Least favorite ship? Favorite canon ship? Favorite non canon ship? NOT INCLUDING CL OR BC OR BE

i hated finn/clarke

favourite canon ship is linctavia

non canon is either sea mechanic or ice mechanic

27. A song that should be included in the next season? If there had to be another guest star like Shawn Mendes on the show, who would you want to make a cameo?

maybe something by hozier? and i don't really like camoes so i'm fine without one

28. What would you do if you were stuck in the bunker with Murphy for all that time?

annoy each other to DEATH

29. You’re an extra that gets killed off. How do you die?

can i please get killed in the conclave? either by luna or octavia?

30. A character you’d like to learn more about and get flashbacks of?

kane maybe? octavia and bellamy, clarke and raven. DIYOZA

31. A character you’d bang?

luna, anya, lexa, clarke, octavia, niylah

32. Would you stay in the Bunker? Go up to Space? Or live on your own in Eden?

probably go into the bunker (and regret that pretty quickly)

33. In the Bunker, would you follow Octavia? What would you do to pass the time underground?

i'd definitely follow octavia. i'd probably train how to fight, maybe i'd read if they had books?

34. What crime would you commit in the Bunker that lands you in the fighting pits?

talking back to octavia (again, the whole authority thing)

35. Up in Space, who would you bond with first? Who would be the most difficult for you to get along with?

i'd bond easily with harper, raven and emori. i'd have my difficulties with murphy and echo probably

36. How long do you think you would last on Earth by yourself?

provided i know how to get food and water? a good while i guess

37. When the Eligius ship lands what do you do?

hide and hope i can avoid them

38. Favorite Eligius character? Least favorite?

i love diyoza. and i mean... mccreary was easy and fun to hate

39. Would you Spacewalk?

thank you but no thank you

40. Would you prefer to eat Windshield Bugs, Space Algae, or Bunker Meat?

space algae all the way

41. Would you start a war for the last spot of green on earth? What would your solution be to avoid it?

i wouldn't start the war, but if i had to fight one i would. i would probably try to negotiate and if that didn't work maybe do some shady sh*t to get rid of eligius

42. Would you rather dig out flesh-eating worms or stick thumb drives into bullet holes?

thumb drives into bullet holes. i HATE HATE HATE flesh eating bugs.

43. Are you willing to poison your sister for the Traitor Who You Love? What would you do to stop Octavia?

yeah. i'd do it. i'd maybe try to emphasize with her and make her see reason. or i'd take her out (sorry, o)

44. Would you go to sleep in cryo or stay awake like Marper?

i'd go to sleep

45. Who are you waking up first to explore the new planet?

diyoza, cause she's a bad b*tch, octavia, clarke, bellamy, miller, raven, emori, murphy and niylah

tagging: @clarkgriffon @nvermindiseeyou @jordanjaspergreen @easilydistractedbyfanfic @hostagetakerandhistraitor @mycaptainbellarke @princessarya @bellamybb @cllarkegriffin @rainbowlexa @lameblake @el-corazon-y-la-cabeza @pawprinterfanfic @blvke-bellamy @katersann @diyozas @platonichug @failing-at-being-an-angel @@ladysanss

you probably all know the drill by now: if you have already done this or don't wanna do this, feel free to just ignore this💙

[thecelibateshoewhore]

Dating in the Church (Part 1)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 NKJV).

 “You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God’s right side. Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth. You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God. Christ gives meaning to your life, and when He appears, you will also appear with Him in glory” (Colossians 3:1-4 CEV).

Happy Valentine’s Day to all those who’re celebrating! If you’re familiar with my writing, you know that I don’t take the typical approach — basically, the worldly viewpoint — regarding love, dating and celibacy because I’m committed to using my spiritual gift to serve God and His people. That said, be sure to read my previous posts about love and dating if you haven’t already: On Marrying the Wrong Person and On Love, Loyalty & Less Than God’s Best.

This series was inspired by a retweet that came across my timeline, which attempted to address why dating in the church is difficult. First, understand that there’s no biblical position on dating — at least not in the formal sense. There’s no particular scripture or passage that addresses how single believers should date. However, there are godly principles in scripture that can be applied to dating. It’s natural to want companionship, but many believers overlook the necessity and blessing of being single. This is the time to give God your undivided attention and allow Him to mature you in your faith and in your spiritual gifts. Y’all know I’m longwinded — I could write a book on this subject (in fact, I am)! Pull out your Bibles, as I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with the scriptures referenced. The first point listed was:

“We keep promoting this misnomer that marriage is more spiritual than natural.”

 Uh, since when?

 My first thought reading this was, why would any church, which is a spiritual institution, ever downplay the spiritual aspect of marriage? To do so would imply that God isn’t needed for or within a marriage, which is essentially a carnal standpoint. And perhaps that is the problem. Taking on this “natural” approach has led to many believers choosing the wrong spouse or getting married to simply appease their physical (as in sexual) and/or financial needs. God also never intended for us to desire marriage more than we desire Him.

I’m not negating the natural component of marriage. I’m negating that a church should promote marriage as more natural than spiritual, and counsel believers under this notion. To do so isn’t biblically sound. In fact, it’s counterintuitive to the ministry of marriage. (Yes, marriage is a ministry and I’ll explain why later on). Due to the laws that now govern our society, marriage has become a business transaction because Uncle Sam wants his cut in the same manner as if we were to start a business or purchase real estate. That is why when a government institution performs a “marriage ceremony” in accordance with the laws of its jurisdiction, it is known as a civil marriage or a civil union. Many secular marriage proponents believe that it’s not a spiritual or religious institution at all. For them, marriage should be attainable by any person(s) who wish to apply for a marriage license regardless of spiritual affiliation and compatibility.

 For this reason, it’s important to note that there’s marriage and then there’s marriage God’s way. If your desire is for a godly spouse or marriage, then you must understand and adhere to God’s principles regardless of what society is doing. A church that promotes marriage as a natural institution is promoting idolatry. Why? Christ is removed as the center or focal point and replaced with worldly rules and expectations. As Christians, our relationship with the Creator is the crux of our faith and should govern everything that we do, including how we date and who we marry. For believers, it doesn’t make sense that our spiritual component is the core of our lives (and human experience), but not the basis of how we learn marriage inside of the church. I’m not saying that unbelievers shouldn’t marry because it’s a vital aspect of human society. I’m also not saying that only Christian marriages are successful. I’m saying that as believers, we can’t fully experience marriage the way God intended unless He is the foundation and inspiration on which it stands. If we start to condone or accept the world’s ways, which contradict God’s truth, then we risk applying a distorted standard to how God wants us to live.

Furthermore, Colossians 3:1-4 reminds us that the basis of our faith is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It connects us to Christ as our foundation by guiding us with a basic ethical response to living in modern times. Set your mind on Christ! We are living in times where people profess faith in God, yet promote ideologies that are against His word. God is not the one confused. His word was, is and will always be true. Any church that proclaims to be the body of Christ should know not to conform to the expectations of society. God doesn’t lower Himself to meet the desires of man. Instead, we rise up to the standard that Christ set for us. When people state that churches aren’t effective because they’re “out of touch,” the solution isn’t to water down the message so that it’s easier for the masses to swallow it. The solution is to cultivate an environment that promotes real discipleship, healing and deliverance that is also built on sound truth! We don’t have a dating problem in the church, we have a discipleship problem. (Tweet This!) Before the church can minister to your dating needs and grow you into somebody’s spouse, you first need to master being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

 Before we can address dating in the church or “godly dating,” we must first understand why we’re dating in the first place. That is, what is the end goal? For most, marriage is the end goal. That is why it’s important to understand God’s purpose for marriage. For starters, God established the blueprint for marriage as a {spiritual} covenant (contract or agreement) between God, man and woman in Genesis 2:24. There were no courthouses or marriage licenses in the Garden of Eden. In fact, Genesis 2 outlines God’s design for marriage, as well as the governing principles that we should apply to it:

(1) God designed marriage as a covenant. Like most things, in order to understand how something works, the best source to ask is the One who created it! The foundation of a godly marriage involves daily communication with God. If praying and reading scripture isn’t a part of your daily life during the dating phase, chances are you will have cracks in your spiritual foundation that will impact your marriage. (2) God designed marriage to meet our need for companionship. Eve was created as a companion or “helper” because after naming all the animals, Adam wondered why there was no suitable companion for him (Genesis 2:18-20). Also note that God first gave Adam a purpose and a responsibility, and then gave him a wife to support his needs. In. That. Order. (3) God designed marriage as a depiction of our relationship with Him. Simply put, marriage is a ministry. Although He is pleased with sexual harmony between a husband and wife, that’s not why God designed marriage; He created it as a testimony for Him. If you’ve never witnessed a godly marriage, this might be hard for you to comprehend. Witnessing a union between a husband and wife who’re under the submission of Christ is the epitome of what it means to know God and know Him intimately. God created us for purposes that are larger than ourselves to serve Him and His people. In the same manner, He created marriage to illustrate the spiritual relationship between Christ (the bridegroom) and the church (His bride). Just as a husband and wife join as one flesh, we also join as one spirit with the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:18). Just as the church yields to the authority of Christ, the wife yields to the authority of the husband who’s also submitted to Christ. And a husband is to love his wife in the same manner that Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5: 21-25). Finally, just as a husband and wife produce offspring, believers are called to go out, multiply disciples and bring people back into the body of Christ as joint heirs.

 For believers who’re married, it becomes the primary, permanent, exclusive and intimate relationship between the two people who took those vows. No person or thing comes before either spouse (Matthew 19:6). It takes a lifetime to understand this level of commitment, which is why marriage isn’t required for everyone (1 Corinthians 7:7-9). Marriage isn’t a requirement for heaven or salvation. But, for those who choose marriage, choose to pursue it God’s way.

 If you’re a believer who’s not ready for marriage, you might be “casually dating” (not to be confused with fornicating). Casual dating is defined as any relationship where a couple is not exclusively dating each other. It doesn’t mean having sex or one-night stands. Even without sex, however, this kind of situation can bring unnecessary complications. My opinion is that casual dating isn’t inherently a bad thing if both parties clearly define their expectations and maintain boundaries, but I believe it increases the likelihood of misunderstandings and disappointment because as people evolve spiritually and emotionally, what they desire in a mate often changes. Sometimes this occurs at the other person’s expense.

 I purposely didn’t cover sex in great detail because I plan to address it later in this series. If you enjoyed this post, please leave a comment below, and let me know that you’re ready for part 2.

 “Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect” (Romans 12:2 ERV).

 I love you.

 xo,

thecelibateshoewhore

[strawberry-milktea]

Anonymous said: i'm being hit with those doubts again, but this time they're aimed at Christ's death and resurrection. my friends suggested i do research to back up my faith, but im afraid i'll lose it before i can find answers. my faith feels so weak. and it's frustrating. i never wanted this to happen. if this could be answered privately i'd appreciate that a lot <33 thanks           these doubts have not gone away, and i think they're winning. i'm questioning God's existence more and more. what do i do?       im sorry i've been bombarding your inbox but im. pretty worried about this. i think my doubts are winning. they're here so much and so hard and i think im crumbling. you said that the devil can get believers to commit apostacy and im afraid that's what's happening. i don't know how to stop this. i don't even know what's going on with me anymore. my dad, who's been a devout Christian my whole life, doesn't even have any answers for me anymore.         and today, there were times i didn't feel afraid but that's what's worrying me. i should be terrified, so why arent i? does this mean im not caring anymore? i've been praying to God so much to fix this but what if He cant? what if im on my own             --- No need to apologize! I’m sorry for not being able to respond before now. Things have been a bit hectic these past couple of weeks and I had been trying to work on some older messages in my inbox to be fair. I kind of try to have a balance between the order I receive messages and which ones seem more urgent in nature. Since you didn’t send this on anon and asked for the messages to be kept private, I thought it would be best to group all of your messages together and answer them in one post. I hope that is okay. I recently saw a post going around on Tumblr sharing this blog, which provides links to series of articles about evidence for Christ’s resurrection. I didn’t get to read all of the articles, but what I have read so far seems to be written with a lot of detail and care. I plan to continue reading it and figured I would share this now with you so you can start reading, too. I hope it is helpful to you! This is another post I think is very well-written. In case you haven’t seen it before, I thought it would be good to include here as well. One of the enemy’s goals is always to convince people to commit apostasy. If a person holds firm onto their faith in Christ, there’s nothing the enemy can do. He can keep trying to launch attacks, but he can’t destroy that person’s eternal life if they hold tight onto their belief in Christ. And he also will eventually flee/let up on the attacks when you keep standing up strong in Christ and don’t give into his lies. Of course, he usually tries again at other points and maybe even using different forms of attacks when he sees the old tactics aren’t working anymore. The enemy is always prowling looking for a means to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8). But as Jesus said in John 10:10 - despite the enemy’s desire to see us destroyed, Jesus came to bring us life and salvation through His blood shed on the cross. And He doesn’t expect us to stand against these attacks alone. You are never on your own. I want you to throw that lie right out of your mind because it’s garbage straight from the enemy’s mouth. Like every single person in this world, you’re facing the unseen spiritual battle that’s always going on, and the form you’re experiencing it now is these crippling doubts. But this isn’t something that is too big for the Lord to handle. Death could not defeat Christ, the grave couldn’t hold Him back. Do you think that helping you overcome these doubts is too difficult for Him? With God, all things are possible. If I can ask, are you doing anything else to fight this in addition to prayer (which is very important, so I am glad to hear that you are doing that too)? In other words, are you equipping yourself with the Armor of God? You need to be wearing that armor. If you are in battle and don’t have armor on, what happens? You’re a vulnerable and easy target. For spiritual battle, you need to be wearing the Armor of God. It’s absolutely critical and necessary. There’s nothing wrong with researching/seeking evidence for the resurrection. However, you also need to reach a point where you make the effort to stop entertaining and dwelling on the enemy’s lies. I know it can be incredibly difficult to resist his attacks and not listen to lies that hit you right in the spots you’re weak, but it has to be done. You can’t allow him to harass you like this. Like I mentioned above, God can most certainly help you with this - but if you keep believing the lies that are being thrown at you, it’s going to be very difficult for you to lean on Him and trust Him to carry you through this. You know you are being attacked.. you know that the devil’s goal is for you to be an apostate. The extent that the enemy’s attacks can influence you is largely dependent on what you allow. The enemy can surely keep trying to attack, but you have the freewill to accept that attack lying down or fight all you can while relying on Christ. The devil is already defeated from when Christ died on the cross - these attacks are all he has left. The enemy may launch an attack, but we decide whether or not we accept the lie. We decide whether or not to act on the temptation he throws our way. Don’t ever fall into the trap of believing that the enemy is too strong for you to fight back and win when you have Christ. I’m not sure if you saw the post I made earlier in the week, but I found this sermon on spiritual attacks to be very helpful. Maybe you will, as well. I’m not sure if I mentioned this in one of my responses to a past ask from you or someone else, so I’m sorry if this is a repeat of something I already said to you - but I experienced doubts when I was very new and spiritually young in my faith. I would frequently get attacked this way when I read the Word or listened to worship music (which in hindsight, makes it all the more obvious it was the enemy instigating it) and it would make me feel very distressed. But I forced myself not to dwell on these lies, kept reading the Word/listening to worship music, and eventually this stopped happening all together. You need to do this, too. It’s hard for me to know exactly why you get moments of not feeling afraid. Are you experiencing a sense of peace in those moments that you can attribute to Him? Or is it more like emotional numbness? Based on these messages, it doesn’t sound to me like you don’t care anymore. It actually sounds like you do care, a lot. I hope this helped you.. please let me know if you would like to talk about this more.

[eksbdan-blog]

New Post has been published on https://passingbynehushtan.com/2019/05/06/tyranny-language-john-8-part-2/

John 8: The Tyranny of Language and the Coming of the Good King, part 2

John 8 and the Tyranny of Language

John 8:52-56  Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself? Jesus answered, If I honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

Continuing from the last post, the Tyranny of Language, I left you some key verses from John. I asked what it was that Jesus was preaching that was so different from the linguistic dissimulation that has covered the Bible in confusion and obscurity, that we like to call clarity, for so many centuries. What have we missed?

Everything is a parable

Just about every word that Jesus spoke was a parable. However, none of our exegetes pick up on this and consistently apply it (Mat 13:13, 34, Mark 4:2,11-12,34). The Parable of the Sower is the parable, but parabolic speech is denied for such passages as John 8 and John 9. This despite the fact that in both Jesus tells his audience that they are effectively listening to parables by their inability and refusal to understand.

39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

Veiled speech (see John 8:43). As for what this veil is hiding before them, Jesus quotes Psa 78:  “That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”

Well, what’s so parabolic about Jesus telling the Pharisees “you do the deeds of your father” and “you are of your father the Devil?” Well, I’ll tell you.

According to our interpreters and theologians, what is most important about these passages is always taken from v.58:  “Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.” Jesus was saying that he is preexistent? Indeed he is, but that is not the first meaning that Jesus is wanting to push home here.

Jesus is not putting the fact that the Pharisees were not accepting him as God as the main problem with their faith. This is a conclusion to be made following on Jesus’ fulfillment of very old biblical texts of the Messiah to come, some in the yet future in the resurrection. The Messiah must engage and confront faith before one finally realizes that he is the Messiah, and then that he is God, and there is no way to do that but to know the words of the prophets, put them as the most important motivations of your religion, fairly examine them in light of Jesus, and make the decision a decision. All of the oracles have to have been fulfilled that speak of messiah’s office as a healer, the minister of the Good News, discloser of hidden truths, and his death and resurrection. Its the fulfillment of all the texts that are in the first place here. That is the entire corpus of the messianic oracles. Jesus = the words of the prophets, the Word the father of the PW of God before he is God to faith.

The cart before the horse

It is a critical error of the Church to put the conclusion of God before the certainty that, to faith, Jesus must first be the Messiah. If he fails to have the credentials of Messiah he is neither. If he is God he is the Messiah, but he is not God or Messiah to faith unless God enters the world and fulfills the messianic mandates. The regard for the office of Messiah stands between the potential believer in God and God himself,  but that regard can come only from that unique revelation that stands between the Messiah and the believer.

When reading this, lets just experiment and follow what I assume to be Jesus’ parabolic logic pertaining to him as the Word of God. If Jesus was equating himself biblically with the Prophets and faith of the Prophets, the religious motivation by the words of the Prophets alone, Jesus wants us to transpose his personal symbol with its meaning of the whole testimony of the prophets concerning him, the Prophetic Word (PW):

John 8:52-56  Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that [the fulfillment of the PW] has a devil. The [human faith father of the PW] is dead, and [his faith children in the PW]; and [you, the PW] sayest, If a man keep [my, the PW’s] saying, [he, those who believe the PW] shall never taste of death. Art [you, the fulfillment of the PW]  greater than [the human faith father of the PW], which is dead? and [his faith children in the PW]: whom makest [you, the fulfillment of the PW]? [the fulfillment of the PW] answered, If I, [the fulfillnent fo the PW]. honour [myself, the fulfillment PW], [my, the fulfillment of the PW] honour is nothing: it [my, the PW’s]  Father [of the PW] that honoureth [me, the PW]; of whom [you, those who do not believe the PW] say , that [the Father of the PW]  is your God: Yet [you, those who do not believe the PW] have not known him; but [I, the PW] know him: and if [I, the PW] should say, [I, the PW]  know him not, [I, the PW] shall be a liar like unto [you, those who do not believe the PW]: but [I, the PW] know him, and keep his saying. Your [faith human father of the PW] rejoiced to see [my day of the fulfillment of the PW]: and [the faith father of the PW] saw it, and was glad.

“Before [the faith father of the PW] was, [the PW was established as the only basis for the religion of man].

This renders the meaning of this and hundreds of other passages that are taken for granted as to claims of theological propositions and turn them to the scriptural bases of all theological propositions, the oracles themselves.

There are 6 parties: the Father, Jesus, the mainstream religionists the Jews, Abraham and the Prophets. These are symbolically rendered, respectively, the Father of the Word of God [the PW], the fulfillment of the Word of God [the PW], those religiously unmotivated by it as an ultimate concern,  the human faith father of the Word of God [the PW], and those motivated by the Word of God [the PW]. When we look at it this way, the entire confrontation is about Jesus confronting not a claim around a  religious conclusion, but around confronting a whole prophetic premise. That premise states that it is preferable that the entire driving interest in any religious conclusion is to put’s as its main justification that which is not required to be scripturally and miraculously demonstrated.

Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s Word, and therefore the Son of God, and therefore he is that Word. Abraham, who lived long before the Law was founded, was the original prototype of the future prophetic faith that Jesus preached, of a new religion, established and driven exclusively upon the anticipation of that future Savior. This made Abraham the father of many nations of people who would come to faith by that Word. In like manner, Abraham’s children after him included the prophets. But the world’s religious intelligentsia and constituency effectively reject this interpretation. In fact, their aim is not only to deny these scriptures through their pretended support but to kill them.

This is easily paraphrased:

John 8:52-56  “Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that thou hast a devil. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. Art thou greater than our father Abraham, which is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom makest thou thyself?”

Paraphrase: “Those of the religious principle and an interpretation of the scriptures that go against the authority of the messianic prophecies inquired of those same prophetic scriptures, ‘now we know that you, the oracular religious principle, are an evil to religion. The prophecies state that the father of that faith in the oracles is dead, and those that preached exclusively a faith founded on them are dead, and did not see them fulfilled. But you, those same prophecies, propose that they are being fulfilled now. Is the mere claim of fulfillment only by some miracles greater than the scriptures that promised them? To what level of authority in religion do you assume? You cant be of such importance unless you fulfill them in a way that supports our faith paradigm, which demands that we see only the prophecies of a messiah triumphant messiah who takes the Law as the way to righteousness.”

But the fulfillment is not just a claim now, its a reality. Messiah must fulfill the prophecies of his office of Redeemer, priest, and preacher of good news before he comes as a conqueror.

“Jesus answered, If I, honour myself, my honour is nothing: it is my Father that honoureth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God: Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.”

Paraphrase: “The prophetic scriptures said, if the PW makes a claim that is not demonstrated in its entirety, the claim is nothing. If the PW comes to fulfill itself by the force its own power, as you take the Law, the claim of the fulfillment of King Messiah is nothing, just as your claim of righteousness by the Law. It is the Author of these scriptures that honors them in his power to bring them to fruition. This is the same Author that you say is your vital religious center. You don’t know the Author, but the real Oracles that have come to pass, and are coming to pass now, speak of Him authoritatively, and if these same oracles should be interpreted to say that he is not their Author, they would be false prophecies, like you are false prophets. The Oracles know that Author, and they are fulfilled in their entirety and alone prepared for for the faith. The one whom you claim to be your personal faith principle, the biblical type of Abraham, is not your father as the Author is my father, because that faith principle saw in that same oracular Word of God that which is being fulfilled now, and expressed great joy in it.”

V. 58: “Before [the human faith father of the PW] was, [the PW was established as the only religion of man].

This whole exchange, and all of them, are Jesus’ teaching of a certain kind of spiritual and religious law (Jer 31:31) or his confronting its detractors. He is not making claims of himself by himself, but all claims are made through the prophets (Luke 24:44, John 5:39, John 14:10), as all the prophets were told what to speak not by their own authority (2Pe 1:21), but by the Father Author of the scriptures (2Pe 1:21). Moreover, he expects faith not to take to itself righteousness by force (John 16:30-32, Mat 11:12-19,), but only thorough the messianic predictions fulfilled in Jesus.

The Word of the Prophets is Jesus. So is our faith.

There is nothing about either Jesus the person or the Word of God of the prophets that cannot be taken as interchangeable, and the invitation by Jesus to do so is by his use of parabolic speech. This is why John’s logos theology was divinely codified and works flawlessly. The PW can be abused, humiliated (John 19:2), spat upon, tortured (John 19:1), killed (apparent failure of fulfillment, John 19:30), and it can rise again (vindication of God’s righteousness) when all of it is fulfilled. It can be incarnated (fulfilled), it can speak, it can walk (is carried through the world by its relational power), it can heal, and, by being realized hundreds of years after declaring the future, miraculous. Jesus is its Person, its reason for existing, its originator, its Author, its maintainer, its interpreter, its ultimate steward, its fulfiller. If we are his,  what we are, or should be, are the people of the Prophetic Word. Not our own word, not the word of other people, or the culture, or a denomination, or our feelings, or any doctrinal conclusion that we use as an idol.

Everything is a parable, even “you do the works of your father.” Fail to see through that one and repent and nothing is more fatal.

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