#not turn the other cheek and

[twst-mer]

jackyuuta

[cinamun]

Pro Tip: No matter what size your bed is, get your blankets one size up. Of course your sheets should be true to size, but if you're in a full size bed, make sure your duvet/comforter/quilt is a queen size. If you're in a queen, go up to a king. Thank me later.

[notmusa]

feeling unpredictable.... might rewatch moral orel.....

[lesbianrecorderplayer]

Using my skills as a musician and composer with four grade 8s in various different instruments to transcribe one of my favourite Bloberta moments, I hope you all appreciate my contribution.

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

ajax with dimples and foul legacy with two dips carved into either side of his intricate lil mask face

*holds mic up* YOU. KEEP TALKING

you met Foul Legacy before you meet Ajax, somewhere out in the mountains of Liyue when he's finishing up a training session, the sight of a giant Abyssal monster making you freeze in your tracks, blood turning to ice when his faceted gaze lands on you. your heart drops, squeezing your eyes shut as heavy footsteps approach you- only to blink when something solid and slightly cold bumps gently against your forehead. the creature whines quietly, sitting on his heels to make himself seem smaller, less threatening, and slowly you reach out and set your hand on top of his head, your finger sinking into his fluffy hair. the beast brightens, odd, gem-shaped eye gleaming as he promptly leans in and begins sniffing your jacket and bag, letting out curious chitters and leaning against your palms with happy purrs. all you can do is laugh in surprise, fingers tracing the edges of his mask-like face, eventually falling on two small divots where his cheeks might be, serving seemingly no purpose. you poke them, and tilt your head, and your new friend simply tilts his head in mimicry and trills

it's not until you meet Ajax, or Childe as he goes by when doing his Harbinger work, that you understand. he's loud and boisterous and a bit playfully rough, almost the exact opposite of his Abyssal counterpart you come to know as Foul Legacy, always greeting you with a tight squeeze or a pat on the head and swinging your hand cheerfully as you walk. there's a certain charm to him when he spontaneously twirls you around or lifts you off the ground to carry you, like today, and you stare down at him with a good-natured smile as he grins up at you, oceanic eyes creased shut. you blink, then gasp, and Ajax's eyes fly open as he looks at you worriedly, but you merely laugh and poke his cheeks in delight, your fingers nudging familiar divots, except in soft skin rather than a tough mask

"Ajax! You and Foul Legacy have dimples!"

[loveerran]

Lusterware, Disillusionment and Discipleship

While sitting in a Sunday School class recently, listening to my LDS-scholar friend Calvin Burke teach, I was touched by an article he referenced, titled "Lusterware" in Wayfare magazine, written by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. Dr. Ulrich is also LDS and won the Pulitzer prize for A Midwife's Tale. She is perhaps most famous for the quote "well behaved women seldom make history". Her article in Wayfare relates the following poem by Emily Dickinson, likens the poem to our faith journey, and then gives a brief history of lusterware:

It dropped so low— in my Regard— I heard it hit the Ground— And go to pieces on the Stones At bottom of my Mind— Yet blamed the Fate that flung it—less Than I denounced Myself, For entertaining Plated Wares Upon my Silver Shelf.—

Lusterware is a type of pottery, thinly glazed with metal. In the 1800's, a thin coating of platinum that made the piece appear to be solid silver became a popular, cheap option for the middle class. However, unlike solid silver, lusterware shatters if knocked off a shelf.

Lusterware pieces are the poem's 'Plated Wares'. They are beliefs, once held in high esteem and placed upon a 'Silver Shelf', that have fallen and shattered - proving that they never truly belonged there in the first place.

"Sooner or later," Dr. Ulrich writes, "most of us are forced to confront our shattered beliefs... There are lusterware missions and marriages, lusterware friendships, lusterware histories, and yes, lusterware visions of ourselves."

It is often in the testing, as a belief falls and shatters, or falls and remains true, that we learn the nuances of that which endures and that which was only previously assumed to endure. Dr. Ulrich continues:

"I read the nineteenth chapter of Leviticus and find the second greatest commandment, 'thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' side by side with a sober command that 'neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee' (Leviticus 19:18–19). Every dispensation has had its silver and its lusterware."

"Sweeping up the lusterware, we sometimes forget to polish and cherish the silver, not knowing that the power of discernment is one of the gifts of the Spirit and that the ability to discover counterfeit wares also gives us the power to recognize the genuine."

The church and many of its members are in a period of testing, of looking for the true silver in different approaches to complex theological questions and practices. I have faith that God knows the answers, and have found it wise to embrace the second greatest commandment myself, even when others take actions that hurt me and those I care for. Perhaps, as has been too often the case in human history, it is ultimately the suffering of the innocent that will show the true path forward. We hope that the God who sees the fall of the sparrow will work all things together for our good, and that we may, as a people, find our way to that which matters most.

Love, Erran

[mxtxfanatic]

Was gonna say that I’ll probably delete all this when the fun’s over, but I think that actually I should keep it up. Let it serve as a reminder that this is who I could be and actively choose not to be except in extreme cases.

[madaramail]

when ur in a fucked up siblings challenge and the moriyamas are ur opponents

[many-sparrows]

[bisupergirl]

just saw someone say that cw supergirl stole the last name "danvers" from post crisis linda danvers and that cw kara should've been called linda lang instead..... i don't necessarily disagree with that last part but how about you read some real fucking literature before speaking on my princess:

[asamiontop]

That kiss. It was… so close to the corner of her mouth.

Beatrice has learned to expect them—the cheek kisses. She’s learned how to accept them from Ava. The Halo Bearer’s zeal for life, the way she carries her love for the world in open arms, it all bolsters Bea’s faith in the Halo’s choice of host.

But Beatrice has no explanation with which to shield herself when the blinding light of Ava’s affection shines on her alone. Nothing to write off the suffusing warmth that burbles inside when Ava flashes her that megawatt smile and mutters a soft ‘Bea’ inside her airy laugh.

Beatrice is defenseless for the first time since she’d sworn never to be defenseless again.

And yet.

She stands in the muggy attic above their tiny dive bar, reeling from yet another assault—this one that much closer to catastrophic. She reaches up, measures the distance between her lips and the lingering warmth of Ava’s mouth by the width of her tremulous fingertips. Just one finger’s breadth away this time. Last time it was two.

Beatrice sighs. She is both terrified and thrilled. Ava is her undoing, that much she’s able to admit. A foe she cannot, will not, fight. She can’t say when it will happen or what more will occur, but she and Ava are a ticking bomb and all Beatrice can do is wait.

Beatrice is defenseless for the first time since she’d sworn never to be defenseless again. But for the first time in forever, she thinks that maybe—maybe it’s okay.

[squorttle-pox]

please. i need alastor with his hair up so we can see the side of his head. second set of ears or smooth flesh prairie?

[lynx-224]

rip pre tlo annabeth you would’ve loved the casual tiktok trend

[sysig]

Hello! I feel like rereading Vargas these days so, I'd like to request some Edgar, Scriabin interaction (maybe one of them being vulnerable), if that's okay?

Day 14 - Stop making your lack of imagination my problem ò///q

[autistichalsin]

The statements:

Halsin cares about the sanctity of life and prefers not to fight/to show mercy when able, and;

Halsin will not hesitate to kill someone who poses a threat to him or others, and will not feel guilty about putting his life above that of someone threatening him

Are not contradictory. The right to self-defense is sacrosanct to Halsin. So much so that if the player, tricked by Orin into thinking Yenna is the imposter, has her killed, Halsin STILL says that it was Orin's fault, and not the player.

If the player tells Halsin they killed his Druids, but adds that they had to defend themself, Halsin is heartbroken, but agrees, softly saying that they forgot their principles, the player had no choice, and he will mourn them when possible.

Halsin sums it up when he discusses killing the leaders of the goblin camp. "Killing is never my first choice, but they were too dangerous to be left alive."

Halsin prefers peace, but he's a not a true pacifist. If violence will save lives, including but not limited to his own, then violence it is. If more lives can be saved with peace than with violence, then of course he will choose peace.

But he does not, and never has believed that accepting violence against himself in the name of preserving peace is the right way to go. The right to self-defense is (no pun intended) absolute.

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

When I read your blog I can't help but feel cute aggression go through my veins. And ohh It's bad. Like.. I know foul legacy is not like my cats but he's a cat! He just acts like a cat PLEASE. HE'S JUST A CAT.

and i just want to take him in my hands and squeeze his cheeks like I do to my cats, like how i pet their soft furr and kiss their little cat tummy. Ow but sadly he's not really a cat.. he's not squishy with his armor and he's so big i can't take him in my hands:( so I will just hug him and cling to him for dear life, so tight, till I'm satisfied

YES EXACTLY HE IS SUCH A CAT. BIG FLUFFY ABYSS MOTH CAT!!!!!!!!!

and i have excellent news... Foul Legacy may not be squishy, but you know who is? or at least, who's a little squishier? Ajax. he's mostly muscle, but he still has some softness here and there, especially around his cheeks and a little around his tummy. one of your favorite activities is smushing and pinching his cheeks, much to his dismay and your delight, counting every freckle that falls beneath your fingers. "I'll get you back for this." he mutters, crossing his arms and pouting as you chuckle and continue gently prodding the soft skin. you know that he will- or rather, Foul Legacy will- but you can't resist the urge to squish and caress his cheeks, and Ajax's pouts fade away into a blissful smile when you begin peppering his face with kisses

Ajax wasn't lying, though. the moment he shifts back into Foul Legacy your cheeks are immediately captured in a gentle grip, his claws carefully squishing and squeezing them as he rumbles happily. he nudges his head against your own hands, asking for the same treatment, so you do your absolute best to cup his face in your palms and swipe your thumbs over the dips and ridges until Legacy melts into your touch, gently pushing you over and snuggling down on top of you with a sleepy rumble. if you try to get up he'll look at you imploringly, slow blinking and letting out a soft, questioning whine until you sit back down and he happily nuzzles his face back against your neck <33