#selah speaks

[isleofdarkness]

Selah wasn't originally my OC. She had a page on the wiki as an official character so I thought she was an official character and incorporated her into my beliefs system.

She is not an official character

[hiphopheadspodcast]

Speak the Rebel - Selah (video)

Speak the Rebel – Selah (video)

Speak The Rebel comes through with his new video Selah, this one’s a Firestarter.

[leikeliscomet]

Racism in the ace community is seen as a joke from the outside and a confusing concept in the inside but it's pretty bait tbh:

Barbie, Wednesday and Elsa are ace-coded but not canon aces but they're widely accepted as ace icons in the community. Lacking genitalia, disliking romance and being single are not inherently asexual yet the community happily claims them as ace solely on those reasons. But Selah Summers? Nah she actually didn't say the words "aroace" even though the director confirmed it so she didn't really count. Abbi Singh? Nah she had a girlfriend and her superpower is being a succubus and it's not like the Imperfects actually addressed the themes of an asexual lesbian South Asian woman and her sexuality or anything. Fei Hargreeves? Well yeah the actress and producer confirmed it but she never said it on screen. Ace characters of colour always get held "screened" for approval to be "real rep" in a way white aces aren't its so weird (this also happens to gay aces but that's another post)

Almost anything involving Yasmin Benoit. The reason she's unacceptable ace rep is because of misogynoir. She's spoken so many times about never dating and not having sex (which mind you is none of our business and she shouldn't need to explain herself in the 1st place) and yet she's "too sexual" to represent the community. Again with the nitpicking, popular white ace accounts were so quick to dogpile her for not-so-good takes but when she speaks about racism? Crickets. When she spoke about sexual harassment? Crickets and not only that but they defended her harasser. The main ace activists that defended her were other Black aspecs.

Not understanding how desexualisation affects POC. Specifically, Black women are excluded from representations of love and sex because we're seen as undesirable. It's common for TV/Film to pair up everyone but the Black girl, or have a rebound Black partner for the non-Black main character who's disposed of when they're ready for their "real" non-Black partner again. This isn't done for Black aspecs benefit. It's a form of dehumanisation. Friendship especially in m/f is needed but exclusively pushing for friendship between Black women and non-Black men when there is romance coded or confirmed and shaming Black women in fandom or in show for shipping the Black female character is not doing what you think its doing.

Not understanding how sexualisation effects POC. Again linking to Yasmin, POC, especially Black people have been sexualised due to white supremacy. The "allosexual privilege" framework fails to acknowledge this because Black people's sexual attraction and sex is seen as aggressive and animalistic. Black people aren't "allowed" to be ace because of this sexualisation and why Yasmin regardless of what she wears or does is seen is too promiscuous.

Not acknowledging ace POC as ace rep. Again, where was the acknowledgement of Selah and the Spades as groundbreaking rep? The first aroace darkskin Black girl as a lead in any film? Sherronda J Brown spoke about Big Mouth's Black ace character and someone said it didn't count just bc they dislike the show. Again with Abbi and Fei the community didn't make noise for them like they did Todd from Bojack Horseman or Florence from Sex Ed (mind you the gap between how they did Florence vs O is jarring in itself) Isaac from Heartstopper was inspirational for many aspecs and I wont take that away but the way he's instantly credited for ace representation when he has so little screentime compared to the others is wild.

Just tired tbh. "Listen to POC aces!" "POC aces are valid!" Prove it then...?

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Transmission and Deflagration (The Kwamis' Choice)

Well, it only took until almost halfway through the fifth season, but we're finally getting a two-part episode that isn't a season finale. There have been a few episodes I think could have benefited from having an extra part, like “Cat Blanc”. So obviously, after all this time, there has to be a reason for putting a two-parter here. The story told here has to be big. It has to be huge. It has to be something that will alter the very way we see the plot and these characters, and—it's more Love Square stuff. God dammit...

Let's get into the tenth and eleventh episodes of Miraculous Ladybug's fifth season: Transmission and Deflagration

“Transmission” starts with Marinette having another depressive episode, which seems to be worse than usual, with her offering her Miraculous to Tikki so she can choose someone else. While Tikki tries to remind her of all the good she's done as Ladybug as footage from earlier episodes plays, Marinette points out how she's a terrible Ladybug, once again referencing how she lost the Miraculous because of her feelings for Adrien.

Tikki: You’re overreacting, Marinette!

Marinette: Really? Then, how come I lost the Miraculous I was entrusted with all because of love? Love only ever causes problems. I’ll never fall in love again! Love is weak! And I can’t be sad about it; otherwise, I might get akumatized!

Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. We're ten episodes into the season, and whenever Marinette brings up her failure at the end of the last season, it's the same song and dance: She feels guilty about it, she needs someone to try and make her feel better, and she doesn't change anything about the way she and Cat Noir operate. If it isn't that, it's a complete strawman or character who we know already hates Ladybug like Chloe or Lila calling out Marinette for her failure specifically so any negative feedback she gets can be easily brushed aside. The whole point of a hero having to comprehend a major failure is to see how they deal with the consequences to their actions and find a way to improve to make sure nothing like that ever happens again. If Marinette came up with new ways to strategize with Cat Noir, or seriously reevaluate the way she sees Adrien that isn't just brushed aside, I'd get it. Instead, all she does is whine about how much her life sucks over and over, which is the same problem I've had with Adrien for the past few seasons.

And once again, for a show with the lyrics “The power of love always so strong” in its opening, it seems like the writers want to make a bigger point in favor of showing how love can only ruin things. Yes, getting emotional can cause someone to make more impulsive decisions, but at the same time, feelings of love and kindness can get good results, like Ellen Ripley's maternal instincts motivating her to save Newt in Aliens. The problem is that we never get a lot of arguments as to how love can benefit the heroes, not only when we see how much it screws up Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership, but once again, how Marinette's romantic feelings for someone led to her greatest failure. The closest we get to an argument in favor of love is whenever Marinette and Adrien's friends try to make their OTP come together without considering if it would actually make things better or not.

Speaking of which, after the episode's obligatory pointless Chloe line that's only there so Selah Victor can pay her rent that week, Ms. Bustier asks Alya to deliver Marinette's homework to her, only for Nino to convince her to have Adrien do it instead. Somehow, she thinks this minor favor will help Marinette and Adrien realize their true feelings for each other. Because it's not like Alya learned that she shouldn't choose who she thinks Marinette would be best with last episode, right?

Marinette and Adrien talk and it seems like they're starting to grow a little closer, but Tikki and Plagg panic, trying to intervene so they don't know each other's identities. The attempt fails, but Marinette kicks Adrien out anyway. It's a pretty somber scene, so let's cut to something stupid instead, like Marinette and Adrien's classmates throwing a party under the assumption that Adrien simply delivering something to Marinette means they'll get together now.

All of you are really gunning for the Biggest Idiot Award today, aren't you?

Of course, even though she went along with one of these weird “force Marinette to do something she doesn't want to” schemes before in “Crocoduel”, Zoe seems to be the only one with a smidgen of common sense.

Zoe: Alya, did you hear Marinette’s voicemail message?

Alya: Yeah, but that was before, Zoe.

Zoe: “Before”? Before what?

Alya: Before when Marinette was a complete wreck.

Nino: But Alya sends her the perfect mechanic.

Alya: Adrien!

Nino: He’s fixing her up as we speak.

Rose: Wow! When they come back to school, they’ll finally be an item!

Marc: A perfect plan!

Zoe: But... you guys don’t actually know for sure.

Alya: Trust me. This is it this time!

I'm starting to think that maybe Marinette should reconsider who she chooses to be temp heroes once she gets the Miraculous back.

Adrien starts crying as he leaves Marinette's place, which attracts the attention of Monarch... who then immediately backs out as soon as he senses him, transforming back into Gabriel. Meanwhile, Tikki and Plagg discuss Marinette and Adrien's situation.

Plagg: Sugarcube! Having to force them to choose between love and their mission is just awful! Maybe Master Fu was wrong to choose them.

Tikki: No, they’re made for each other. Love is what gives them their strength.

Plagg: But the impossible part of that love is destroying them, and I know a thing or two about destruction.

Tikki: (sighs heavily) What can we do?

Plagg: We must free them of that impossible choice. We must... free them of us.

Yep. This is the titular Kwamis' choice. They seriously think that Marinette and Adrien's romantic problems are more important than them being superheroes, so their best option is to just take away their Miraculous even though Monarch still has fifteen more of them. I'd be more forgiving if this was towards the beginning of Marinette and Adrien's superhero careers, but this is Season 5, where the stakes have never been higher thanks to Monarch's arsenal. Oh yeah, I also forgot to mention that MARINETTE IS STILL THE FUCKING GUARDIAN, AND TAKING AWAY HER MIRACULOUS DOESN'T CHANGE A THING! IT'S NEVER EVEN MENTIONED IN EITHER EPISODE, SO HOW THE HELL DO YOU FORGET SOMETING THAT IMPORTANT?!?!

It doesn't even make sense that only now are Tikki and Plagg against Marinette and Adrien actually getting together when they were never shown to have any problems with it in earlier seasons, and just last episode, Plagg encouraged Adrien to go after Marinette after doing so as Cat Noir didn't work out. It comes across as the writers struggling to come up with new ways to have opposition to the Love Square, even if this idea somehow leads to a minuscule amount of progress in that department. Yeah, you figure that out...

Also, it's pretty weird how after four and a half seasons of Marinette suffering from the burden of being Ladybug, only now does Tikki decide to relieve her of that responsibility, but only because of how it affects her love life.

We get another scene showing how stupid Marinette and Adrien's friends are as they talk about how happy Marinette and Adrien must be now, interspersed with scenes of Marinette and Adrien crying their eyes out. Just like that one scene in “Evolution”, I don't get the setup. Is this meant to be a joke, or a serious moment? After Nathalie takes a call for Adrien telling Nino that he can't be bothered at the moment, Gabriel comes into the room to comfort him, giving him an Alliance ring in the process.

Tikki and Plagg talk to their respective holders and tell them how they feel that the burden of being heroes is crushing them. Marinette and Adrien obviously bring up the situation with Monarch, but as soon as their Kwamis mention that not being superheroes means that they can pursue their love lives with no stress, they immediately take off their Miraculous and give them back. After five seasons that this episode confirmed happened just under a year, and this is what causes them to give up their Miraculous: a bad case of heartache. We're supposed to see this as the breaking point that causes the two to not want to be superheroes ever again? They don't consider the innocent lives that could be in danger, or the fact that this heavy burden will most likely be forced on two new and inexperienced schmucks who will struggle even more than they did thanks to Monarch possessing powers of the other fifteen Miraculous.

I'm sorry, but I don't see this as an emotional scene. All I see is what I saw with Adrien in “Kuro Neko”: these characters simply giving up because of how much they're prioritizing their personal feelings over the lives of others. If this was something Marinette and Adrien came up with and made an agreement to quit at the same time (even choosing their own replacements), I'd sort of get it, as they'd at least be on the same terms, but neither of them ever learn the other quit until later on in the episode.

After Adrien breaks down even more, we learn that the whole reason Gabriel hesitated to akumatize Adrien the last time was because he didn't have an Alliance ring on, so now that he does, he's taking a mulligan. However, the Akuma is stopped at the last minute when Adrien sees the homework he was supposed to give Marinette, so he runs off as his negative emotions fade. Instead, Monarch chooses to akumatize someone else with five different Alliance rings.

Monarch: Rejoice, dear Kwamis! Five Alliances enables as many Miraculous powers to transfer at the same time! This villain promises to be exceptional! (laughs manically)

Pretty sure you hyped up Style Queen the same way three seasons ago, yet you still didn't get the Miraculous then, so I wouldn't gloat too soon.

The next scene with Marinette and Adrien is actually a really nice one. Marinette starts stuttering as usual when she tries to talk, but Adrien comes up with another idea: He'll ask a series of yes or no questions, and Marinette can raise her right or left hand to answer them. Adrien asks Marinette about her feelings for him, and Marinette accidentally answers no before changing her mind. Before Adrien leaves, he asks Marinette if she wants to spend more time with him in the future, to which she accepts. This scene was handled really well, and nothing really felt forced here.

Back with Alya, she and the others are once again coming up with a plan to get Marinette and Adrien together (because none of them have lives outside of the Love Square, I guess), when Nora suddenly calls.

Nora: Geez, sis! You never pick up the phone when I like, actually need your advice!

Alya: I couldn’t pick up. I’m at school!

Nora: Yeah, right. So, you see, I had no choice but to deal with it myself.

Alya: Oh, no... Nora. I told you before, you gotta talk before you act!

Nora: Yeah, but I did talk, like, I said stuff in front of Kouki's bros.

Alya: Nora! Not “talk” like that!

Yeah, outside of a few references to Nora trying to call Alya earlier in the episode, I didn't skip anything here. We're just thrown into this plot with little to no explanation as to what's going. What Nora and this Kouki guy were arguing about, much less what Nora said to his friends is never explained. I don't even known if they're supposed to be in a relationship or not. It's not like in “Sandboy” or “Oblivio” where the motivation for how the person got akumatized was only explained near the end of the episode. The episode acts like we're supposed to know who Kouki is and why he and Nora are fighting when this is the first time Kouki has ever appeared on this show.

As the conversation goes on, Tikki chooses Alya to be the new wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous and Plagg chooses Zoe to be the new wielder of the Cat Miraculous. Okay, outside of Zoe being the only one in this episode who isn't a complete idiot, I can see why Plagg would choose her, since she has experience as a superhero, and her identity wasn't exposed. As for Tikki choosing Alya? Yeah, Alya did a good job as Scarabella in “Hack-San”, but she doesn't mention that A) She and Cat Noir still needed Marinette's help to stop Robustus, and B) Alya's already had her identity exposed twice, to the point where she was the one to suggest she not be trusted with one before Marinette lost the other fifteen Miraculous at the end of the last season. Alya's not a bad hero, but these factors don't exactly make her an ideal successor to Ladybug. Also, it's pretty dumb how the whole reason Marinette and Adrien quit was for romantic reasons, yet the whole reason Alya blew her cover last season was for romantic reasons (Rocketear).

Back with Adrien and Marinette, the former plans to leave, but is interrupted by the akumatized form of Kouki, named Kikou.

Kikou's design is... I mean, it's not terrible, I guess? Putting aside the fact that this is the second Akuma in the series to go with the “black boxer” stereotype (who is also a dumb brute like Anansi was), the gold jewelry is a decent touch, and it makes sense that he has the five Alliance rings to show off his wealth. As for his powers, because he has five rings, he has five different powers, the Tiger Miraculous' Clout to power his Gum-Gum Pistol-esque punches, the Turtle Miraculous' Shelter to protect his head where the Akuma is obviously hiding, the Horse Miraculous' Voyage to move around quickly and make up for his size hindering his speed, the Ox Miraculous' Resistance to protect the aforementioned Shelter, and the Mouse Miraculous' Multitude to clone himself with. This is the Akuma that really made me realize that the gimmick of every Akuma this season having the powers of whatever Miraculous Monarch gives them is just an excuse to half-ass writing any new Akuma powers in favor of the same fifteen abilities the other Miraculous have.

Kikou attacks the city, but Alya transforms into Scarabella, soon being joined by Zoe, AKA, Kitty Noire.

Kitty Noire's design is... pretty weird, all things considered. The green lipsick just doesn't look that good, I don't get the green hair extensions, and why are they eyes like that when even Lady Noire's eyes stayed green? At the very least, the hair looks marginally better than Catwalker's, and I like the detailing on the suit itself.

While Scarabella and Kitty Noire quickly get to know each other, Marinette and Adrien get used to being civilians again pretty quickly as they watch them fight off Kikou, the two new heroes struggling to keep up with Kikou's five Miraculous powers. Of course, Marinette and Adrien only look mildly concerned, not even regretting their choices in the slightest.

Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen.

Scarabella uses her Lucky Charm, getting a parachute, which is totally different from the kind used in the final episode of the first episode. Scarabella and Kitty Noire taunt Kikou, Scarabella drawing Kikou's fire while Kitty Noire recruits a bunch of firefighters, who then get some paint from the art store Socqueline runs. The firefighters then load the paint into their truck's hose, which is then used to fill up the parachute. Kitty Noire cuts the rope, and the paint blinds Kikou, and as soon as he deactivates his shield, Scarabella breaks his headgear, freeing the Akuma.

Scarabella de-evilizes the Akuma, sort of helps Kouki and Nora make up, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix all the damage, while Marinette and Adrien compliment the new heroes from afar before promising to meet up at school tomorrow.

The first episode ends with Gabriel's Alliance recording the unusual data in two Alliances, meaning that Scarabella and Kitty Noire's identities have already been exposed... even though Tikki should have known this since “Jubiliation”. Yeah, you all know where this is going.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... TIKKI

While the competition was tough, Tikki was able to get the win for going along with this asinine plan in the first place that prioritized the personal feelings of two people over the fact that Monarch was at his most dangerous. Not only that, she forgot Marinette was still the Guardian, she forgot that Alya's identity was already exposed twice, and that even if she didn't know the Alliance rings were a front for Monarch's plan, forgot that these hi-tech rings track the everyday movements of its users, not even telling Plagg this before he chose Zoe.

The second part, “Deflagration”, immediately starts off with Kitty Noire saying that Ladybug and Cat Noir have nothing to feel guilty about even though they essentially abandoned Paris when Ladybug was shown to be getting backlash for her failure, but of course, that isn't mentioned here.

Kitty Noire: We’ll accomplish our mission just like they did, because the goal we all share is to defeat Monarch, isn't it?

News Reporter: Or perhaps Ladybug and Cat Noir renounced their mission so they could finally live their love story?

Scarabella: They were never in love or in a relationship, and neither are we.

Kitty Noire: (in a flirtatious tone) So far anyway!

I'd make a “The Ambiguously Gay Duo” joke here, but we all know Alya is already in a relationship.

Alya and Marinette meet up, the former congratulating her successor on another great job. The two talk about Adrien, and Alya once again encourages Marinette to focus more on pursuing a relationship with him, no doubt planning another stupid party in her mind.

We then get a scene that actually reminds the audience that Chloe and Zoe are supposed to be sisters. I understand if you might have forgotten, but don't worry. I'm pretty sure the writers did too. Of course, I think the writers might be running out of new ways to make Chloe mean to someone, because this time, she just yells at Zoe for being near her and not being in the “half-of-a-sister zone”. In order to appease her sister and make sure she doesn't call their mom, Zoe offers to wash all of Chloe's shoes. Plagg talks to Zoe about possibly standing up to her sister.

Plagg: How about I Catacylsm that sister of yours instead?

Zoe: It’s pointless, Plagg.

Plagg: Zoe, you can't let them treat you that way; no one speaks to me like that! Just ask the T-rexes... That is, if you can find one! Because they're not so smug anymore now, are they?

Zoe: It’s best to stay out of trouble in this family if I'm going to protect my secret identity.

Plagg: You start by giving up cheese, and then you end up giving up on dignity, freedom, and justice!

Zoe: I feel like you like to blow things out of proportion, don't you?

Plagg: Yes... especially when I’m starving.

Talking about standing up to your mean sister, contemplating murder while casually discussing genocide. Same thing, right?

We cut to Gabriel, who's over the moon about the recent revelation regarding Scarabella and Kitty Noire, even dancing a little. He tells Nathalie and heads to his lair to plan his next scheme, but not before chatting with Emilie's body once again. Gabriel transforms into Monarch and gives himself the powers of the Bee, Mouse, Rooster, Ox, and Horse Miraculous, traveling to the school himself.

Meanwhile, we cut to the Resistance, where we see Max has set up a system where, through the use of the Alliance rings and their phones, the members can alert the school to whenever there's an active Akuma... even though one of the features included in the Alliance includes an Akuma alert (Multiplication), and there's also been an Akuma alarm since Season 2 (Riposte). So once again, this brave and totally important Resistance has contributed absolutely nothing. Okay, there are some other parts, like some of the members planning to fight off the Akuma with paintball guns if there's no other option. You know, this is proof that this show takes place in France, because if this was America, they would most likely have actual guns.

At lunch, Marinette and Adrien get closer, to which Lila uses as an opportunity to manipulate Chloe into trying to break up the moment, but not before we get a joke where Chloe needs Alliance to define the word “generous”. Okay, I'm not sure if the joke was that Chloe is so selfish, she doesn't know the meaning of the word, or if the writers are now resorting to using “dumb blonde” jokes for Chloe now, which totally isn't a cliche that was overused twenty years ago to the point where there was an entire movie starring Reese Witherspoon made to subvert it. Either way, NOT FUNNY, DIDN'T LAUGH.

Chloe tries to ruin the moment by telling Adrien Marinette is in love with him, but he's not having any of that. She tries telling jokes that are supposed to be unfunny, they're funny, but it lacks the charm of something like Hank Hill attempting to tell “yo mama” jokes. Zoe stands up to Chloe, which pisses her off so much, she willingly accepts an Akuma from Monarch (currently invisible thanks to the Rooster Miraculous), turning into Sole Destroyer.

Sole Destroyer is... wow... Just... WOW... they didn't even try with this one. At least Miracle Queen made sense as an upgrade to Queen Wasp, but this? They literally just took Sole Crusher, whose design resembling Chloe made sense thematically in that episode, gave her a new pair of sunglasses, some more gemstones and spikes, and made her eyes glow as if she was a character in an episode of The Nostalgia Critic. Why go to this effort to make a new Akuma when so little is done with the new design? Wouldn't it make sense to bring back Antibug, given Chloe has been against Ladybug since the end of Season 3? As for Sole Destroyer's powers, it's just Sole Crusher's magic kicks, only instead of growing bigger in size after absorbing each victim and making her more of a threat, they transform into singing shoes. You know, guys, it just dawned on me how... how weird this show is. Kinda goofy...

Alya and Zoe attempt to transform, but Monarch, using a combination of the Mouse, Bee, and Rooster Miraculous' powers, stuns the two and steals the Ladybug and Cat Miraculous from them. Plagg attempts to Cataclysm Monarch, but Monarch uses Resistance to block it, immediately going to unify. Before the process can be completed, both Tikki and Plagg use Lucky Charm and Cataclysm respectively, Tikki summoning a trash can with the side effect of creating a new Eiffel Tower, and Plagg destroying the Cat Miraculous. Doing so ends up creating an endless cycle of things being created and destroyed, and unlike in “Dearest Family”, they don't reuse footage from “Style Queen”.

Marinette gets the trash can, and realizes what's happening, and while Adrien and Nino plan to have the Resistance try and stop Sole Destroyer, Marinette works on making her own Ladybug costume. Monarch orders Tikki to tell him what the hell's going on, Tikki explains that since Plagg destroyed the Cat Miraculous, he lost his only method of communicating with the physical plane, and all Monarch needs to do to get what he needs is to take back the Lucky Charm Tikki created. Just then, Marinette arrives, dressed up as Ladybug, and seemingly having the Lucky Charm in her hands, only for Monarch to steal it, unifying into Monarbug.

Given how stupid he looked as Shadow Noir last season, it's not exactly surprising to learn that Gabriel looks just as stupid unified with the Ladybug. The red and black polka dots just don't go with the black and purple. The one thing I'll give them credit for is that the eyes look kind of cool.

The Lucky Charm turns out to be a fake, and Nino jumps in to save Marinette from being hit with Venom. The rest of the Resistance also arrives, somehow having beaten up Sole Destroyer off-screen and turning her into a battering ram. Monarbug undoes the Akumatization, but Rose, Ivan, and Kim dogpile Monarbug, leaving Adrien to steal back the Ladybug Miraculous for Marinette.

Marinette transforms back into Ladybug, and uses Miraculous Ladybug to fix the damage and fix the Cat Miraculous. While Ladybug fights Monarch, she learns that he reforged the Miraculous before Monarch uses Multitude and Voyage to make his escape, swearing that he'll beat Ladybug someday, “We'll meet again, Spider-Man”, yadda yadda yadda.

Tikki and Marinette talk about finding new holders, only for Marinette to choose to take back the Miraculous, figuring that since Monarch doesn't know their identities (once again forgetting what the Alliance rings can do), that's the best option. Plagg takes back the Cat Miraculous and goes to say goodbye to Zoe, reassuring her that she was still brave enough to stand up to Chloe, because I guess to hell with the people who somehow managed to restrain Chloe while she was Sole Destroyer. And so this episode, and by extension, this two-parter, ends with Ladybug and Cat Noir talking about how their Kwamis saved the day... even though they were the reason Monarch almost won in the first place.

THE BIGGEST IDIOT OF THE EPISODE IS... CHLOE

In addition to somehow not knowing the definition of the word “generous”, she failed to come up with a good comeback against Marinette, chose to get akumatized to get revenge, failed at that, betrayed Sabrina and Lila, her only allies, for no good reason, and somehow got defeated off-screen by a bunch of civilians with no superpowers, not even getting to fight either of the new heroes, including her sister.

But yeah, in case you can't tell, these episodes were pretty bad. The entire premise of Tikki and Plagg deciding that Marinette and Adrien's love lives were more important than stopping Monarch was a hard pill to swallow, especially since their replacements didn't get to do anything outside of a single Akuma fight. You'd think that with the buildup Zoe got standing up to Chloe, she'd at least play a role in stopping Sole Destroyer, but instead, she and Alya are benched for almost the entirety of “Deflagration”. It's also really dumb that the ending tried to make them out to be the MVP's of the fight, when their idea was what caused Monarch to almost get the Miraculous.

Even Marinette and Adrien didn't really make a lot of progress here. All they did was talk a little, but even after “Deflagration”, not much else happened. Yeah, Adrien stood up for Marinette, but they still haven't officially started dating yet, even when they had every reason to after giving up their Miraculous. It's still better than nothing, but after four and a half seasons, I think we're allowed to want a little more development with the Love Square Wouldn't it have been interesting to see Marinette and Adrien try to start a relationship during their brief retirement, only to struggle to maintain it after becoming superheroes again? We're almost halfway through the season, and the Love Square is still progressing at a snail's pace. Then again, I guess it's better than nothing at this point.

“Transmission” was pretty boring, all things considered. Other than the first act, nothing really happened. The Akuma fight was like the others, just with two new heroes, and Marinette and Adrien got to bond for a few minutes. Nora and Kouki's drama wasn't interesting, and it wasn't even properly explained like the motivations of other Akumas.

I will say that “Deflagration” was the better of the two, if only because Marinette, Adrien, and Gabriel made some smart choices here. Unlike in “Evolution” and “Destruction”, there's no gloating or wasting time. Monarch cuts straight to the chase, and Marinette comes up with a quick plan to trick him with. Also, while I still don't really care about the Resistance, I like the idea of the civilians standing up to Monarch, and think it was executed better than it was in “Heroes' Day”. Even Sole Destroyer got a few reactions out of me for how exaggerated her facial expressions were. I don't know why they decided to give her One Piece levels of weird faces, but kudos to the animators on that front. Of course, Sole Destroyer was still one of the most pointless Akumas in the show's history, as you could take her out of the episode and nothing would have changed.

Overall, while I appreciate the effort to try and tell bigger stories, this was a really weird choice of an episode to make a two-parter.

[poweredinpeace]

What does evil have, nothing! Why? Because evil cannot exist without stealing good. Evil has nothing to offer people but evil, so it must

steal mimic good to exist.Subsequently, if we go to evil to get something we want, what to we actually get?

Nothing, but greater evil! Easy does not exist without evil stealing good hard work; easy is why evil exist. Good exist because it takes the hard road instead of accepting evil.

Psalms 10:15 Break the arm of the wicked. As for the evil man, seek out his wickedness until you find none.

Psalms 52:3 You love evil more than good, lying rather than speaking the truth. Selah.

Proverbs 4:27 Don't turn to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil.

[turnwashingtonsbaddies]

To the jury, I submit perhaps my greatest evidence - Rogers threatens multiple times to kill Mister Abraham Woodhull. Rogers, a man who has no personal stake in the life of this farmer-turned-spy, a man who has done little to wrong him except merely existing.

And what does Mister Selah Strong do? Selah, a man who's marriage was damn near ruined by Mister Woodhull? A man who's wife was a known adultress with Mister Woodhull? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. (A mark of weak character, if you ask me.) Mister Strong, who had personal reason and could benefit greatly from threatening Mister Woodhull did... nothing. He hardly even speaks a poor word against the detested man. I ask you, jury, is that truly the mark of a sexy man? To allow Abraham Woodhull to get away scott free?

obsessed how multiple of these propaganda pieces have just devolved into abe woodhull slander. iconic. and very on-brand for the turn fandom

[mental-health-and-jesus]

8-14-2024 | Heart Dive ❤️ Day 125 | Psalms 1: 2: 15: 22: 23: 24: 47: 68:

Book I Psalms 1-41 The Two Paths

‘But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.’ Psalms‬ ‭1‬:‭2‬-‭3‬

“God will make it happen whenever it’s supposed to happen” ~ ❤️

The Triumphant Messiah

‘Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.’ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭2‬:‭11‬

“Submit to Him that is going to bring that Abundant Life” ~ ❤️

Who May Dwell on Your Holy Mountains?

A Psalm of David.

‘He who walks with integrity and practices righteousness, who speaks the truth from his heart, who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend, who despises the vile but honors those who fear the Lord, who does not revise a costly oath,’ Psalms‬ ‭15‬:‭2‬-‭4‬

“So whenever we speak truth it’s got to be covered with Love” ~ ❤️

The Psalm of the Cross

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Doe of the Dawn.” A Psalm of David.

‘In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You delivered them. They cried out to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disappointed.’ Psalms‬ ‭22‬:‭4‬-‭5‬

“He let go all of His power all of His glory so that He could be become a Man for us.” ~ ❤️

The LORD Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

‘He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.’ Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭3‬

“He leads us to repentance, He purifies us He gives us a new beginning, gives us a new name.” ~ ❤️

The Earth Is the LORD’s

A Psalm of David.

‘The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein. For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.’ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭2‬

“Not only does creation belong to God but everything within it.” ~ ❤️

Clap Your Hands, All You People

For the choirmaster. To the Psalm of song of Korah.

‘He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves. Selah’ ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭47‬:‭4‬

“Why was I Chosen by God.” ~ ❤️

God’s Enemies Are Scattered

For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A song.

‘O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wasteland, Selah’ Psalms‬ ‭68‬:‭7‬

“Think about all of the things that He did, why He did it, how He did it.” ~ ❤️

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Shadows Without Hope 

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

=========================

+ 1 Corinthians 2:5 So that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

=========================

VERSE OF THE DAY 

========================

+    2 Chronicles 29:15 We are foreigners and strangers in your sight, as were all our ancestors. Our days on earth are like a shadow without hope.

=========================

SUBJECT: Shadows Without Hope 

=========================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM FOCUSING ON GOD 

I AM A STRANGERS 

I AM LOVING 

I AM HOPEFUL

========================

READ TIME: 7 Minutes & 18 Seconds

========================

THOUGHTS:

=======================

    We often hear that we must be careful when handling things because we never know when our last day will be. We never know when we will see someone again. Sometimes, we take stuff like this for granted when we argue about things with family, especially since we never know when we will see them again, so we must be careful with what we do and speak. 

     I can say that sometimes looking over certain things is hard, and I immediately go to God and say, God, I can't get past this. Show me how to deal with this , and he would, and he’ll guide me through. The verse tells us we are strangers, foreigners, here, no matter how many ways we say it or see it, we got a home and a car and this and that, but if something happens today, we will be gone. The word says we are like a shadow, a vape, a mist; having any of theses things matters the disagreements we have all of is meaningless.

 

•James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

 

•Psalm 39:5 You, indeed, have made my days as handbreadths, and my lifetime as nothing before You. Truly, each man at his best exists as but a breath. Selah

•Psalm 144:4 Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.

 

 Since we don’t know what day what hour Jesus will return and we don’t know what our last day is here, even in our verses today, it tells us we are like a breath, and because we aren’t sure we must live a life of holiness yesterday, we talked about holiness and being a special instrument of God. Still, if we are going to continue to live any way when we die, we will go to hell.

   Many people don’t want to hear this apart; they want it sugar-coated, and they want this part made up, or they can’t dare hear any of it, and they want to believe  everyone goes to heaven, but friends,  I won't lie to you if you're not living a life of holiness if I am not living a life of holiness we aren’t going to make it to heaven, but it's up us, and a lot of people say well it’s no way God is sending me to hell for this, or it's no way he is sending me to hell for that, in our word it tells us who will make it and who won't, and he’s not sending us we are sending our selves. 

      •Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

     •Revelation 21:8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

    •1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

     This devotional is packed with scriptures because I want everyone to see this and know this is coming straight from the word of God. A lot of people say they don’t read the bible because they don’t want the bible to show them why or what they are doing wrong; we can go to any preacher to fill our itchy ears, but getting someone to tel us something we want to hear versus what we need to hear won’t help us in the long run.

  If you or I don’t live a life of righteousness   neither one of us will make it to heaven; we have to start getting it right and ask God to give us strength to let go over our fleshly ways and not hold on to every slight bit of bitterness, the word says to flee from it, and I know that some of us have had a lot we have went through. Still, we also must know that holding on to bitterness doesn't help us grow; it stagnates our growth in God. 

    ***Today, we learned that having all the things in the world cant keep us from hell; everything we do that’s not right in God's sight, we need to fix it, and to do this, we go to him; a lot of people don’t like devotionals like this because it’s stating we have a problem and a lot of people think how they are is just fine in the eyes of God but if you haven’t asked him to clean you with hyssop , do so by saying this “ Father if it’s anything in me that you don’t like please show me it can be selfishness, bitterness, lustful ways whatever it is I want to be pure for you, cleanse me like hyssop father.

  We never know when our time will be, so when we have arguments with anyone, we need to go to them and fix it; we always want to be ready and prepared, but this isn’t saying. We did nothing wrong, but we must go to them and say I am sorry if I offended you, and it’s up to them to accept. However, in everything we do, we must do it in love. God wants us to understand that certain things won’t be accepted in heaven: sexually immoral, thieves, greedy, idolaters, murderers, the faithless, etc. We must strive for perfection and holiness, and to do this, we must do it in his strength, not in ours; everything is impossible for us but not God; that’s why we do this in his strength. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

========================

PRAYER

========================

Heavenly Father, we thank you for everything; we ask you today to be with us and show us the way.  Father, we are struggling right now, and we ask you to give us the strength to walk on the narrow road. Father, every day, we try, and it’s tough. We ask you to help us not to fall, but if we stumble, please help us to keep holding on to you, in Jesus' Name, Amen 

========================

REFERENCES 

========================

+ Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

 

+ Exodus 34:6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

 

+ Zephaniah 3:17 The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love, he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.”

========================

FURTHER READINGS 

=========================

Proverb 20

Leviticus 20

Jeremiah 26

Ephesians 3 

=========================

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Why Should I Fear in Days of Evil?

For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A Psalm.

1 Hear this, all peoples; Give ear, all inhabitants of the world, 2 Both low and high, Rich and poor together. 3 My mouth will speak wisdom, And the meditation of my heart will be discernment. 4 I will incline my ear to a proverb; I will express my riddle on the harp.

5 Why should I fear in days of evil, When the iniquity of my supplanters surrounds me, 6 Even those who trust in their wealth And boast in the abundance of their riches? 7 Truly, no man can redeem his brother; He cannot give to God a ransom for him— 8 For the redemption price for their soul is costly, And it ceases forever— 9 That he should live on eternally, That he should not see corruption.

10 For he sees that even wise men die; The fool and the senseless alike perish And leave their wealth to others. 11 Their inner thought is that their houses are forever And their dwelling places from generation to generation; They have called their lands after their own names. 12 But man in his honor will not endure; He is like the animals that perish.

13 This is the way of those who are foolish, And of those after them who are pleased with their words. Selah. 14 As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death will shepherd them; And the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, And their form shall be for Sheol to consume, Far away from his habitation. 15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, For He will receive me. Selah.

16 Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house increases; 17 For when he dies he will not take any of it; His glory will not descend after him. 18 For while he lives he blesses his soul— And men will praise you when you do well for yourself— 19 But his soul shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will eternally not see light. 20 Man in his honor, but who does not understand, Is like the animals that perish. — Psalm 49 | Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. Cross References: Genesis 2:11; Genesis 4:17; Genesis 5:24; Genesis 15:15; Numbers 12:8; Numbers 32:42; Deuteronomy 29:19; 1 Kings 10:1; Job 31:24; Job 33:24; Job 33:30; Psalm 10:3; Psalm 16:10-11; Psalm 22:29; Psalm 23:4; Psalm 33:8; Psalm 37:7; Psalm 37:30; Psalm 50:7; Psalm 56:13; Psalm 62:9; Psalm 73:22; Psalm 82:7; Psalm 119:130; Ecclesiastes 2:14; Ecclesiastes 3:18-19; Ecclesiastes 5:15; Isaiah 2:9; Jeremiah 17:11; Matthew 16:26; Matthew 25:8-9; Mark 10:24; Luke 12:19-20; 1 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Timothy 6:7; Revelation 2:26

[pugzman3]

Psalms chapter 77

1 (To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of Asaph.) I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me.

2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.

3 I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah.

4 Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

5 I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times.

6 I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.

7 Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more?

8 Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore?

9 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah.

10 And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.

11 I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.

12 I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.

13 Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?

14 Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared thy strength among the people.

15 Thou hast with thine arm redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah.

16 The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths also were troubled.

17 The clouds poured out water: the skies sent out a sound: thine arrows also went abroad.

18 The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.

19 Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.

20 Thou leddest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. the years of the right hand of the most High.

[honorhearted]

TURNsgiving2023 Day 2: Least Favorite Ep/Season

Honestly, Turn is one of those (very rare) shows where even if I'm not overly invested in an episode, I still don't dislike it. The only reason I'm voting for S02E07 is because of a simple answer: no Ben. I have a very low bar, apparently, 'cause no Ben automatically means "least favorite" for me lol. I also don't find Turn's GWash terribly interesting or likable, so having an entire episode focused on him makes the temptation to skip pretty strong.

Sorry, sir.

By that same rule of thumb, S2 features Ben the least, and harps on that snooze-worthy love hexagon (Mary x Abe x Anna x Selah x Simcoe x Hewlett) that I couldn't care less about, so I've gotta vote for S2 as my least favorite. Historically speaking, Anna was a very cool gal, so I hate that she was reduced to "resident love interest" for any top-billing male character. She had so many spying opportunities in the tavern and Strong Manor, so Idky instead, we were forced to watch "romantic" tug-of-war for three seasons. I only truly started liking her character in S4, which is when she was FINALLY free of any romantic plotlines, and thus, able to shine as her own person.

As I said: I don't dislike 2x7 or S2! I just return to these eps the least, because truly, the primary Ben moment I flat-out love from S2 is 2x4. It was the only time he seemed genuinely light-hearted, so I kind of cling to that scene and shape my pre-w.ar Ben characterization around it.

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Sargassa by Sophie Burnham

Release date: 8 October 2024

Genre: adult speculative fiction

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

In a world where Rome never fell, an unlikely group of protagonists are ready to burn down the empire in the first of this new speculative trilogy.

Selah Kleios is twenty-two years old and suddenly one of the most important women in the empires. The role of Imperial Historian is her birthright, something she’s been preparing for since birth--but she was supposed to have more time to learn the role from her father, the previous Historian. In the wake of her father’s sudden and shocking assassination, Selah finds herself custodian of more than just the Imperial Archives. There’s also the question of the two puzzling classified items her father left in her care—an ancient atlas filled with landscapes that don’t exist, and a carved piece of stone that seems to do nothing at all.

Soon, though, it becomes clear that the Iveroa Stone is more than just a slab of rock. With the reappearance of an old lost love who’s been blackmailed into stealing it for an unknown entity, Selah finds herself in a race to uncover the mysteries the Stone holds. But she isn’t the only one with an interest in it—she’ll have to contend with the deputy chief of police, an undercover spy, and her own beloved half brother along the way. What begins as an act of atonement and devotion ultimately pulls her into the crosshairs of deep state conspiracy, the stirrings of an underground independence movement, and questions that threaten to shake the foundational legitimacy of Roma Sargassa’s past, present, and future.

Content warnings

Death, murder, violence

Sexual assault, sexual harassment, mentions of rape

Slavery

Classism

Misogyny, patriarchy

Unintentional misgendering

Enbyphobia, slight homophobia

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Not gonna lie, the beginning is pretty rough. The first 20% introduces brand new PoV chapters one after the other, with each PoV character being in a different place doing different things, plus time jumps, which made it hard to understand who's who and what's going on. I seriously considered DNFing, but I am so glad I decided to push through.

Once all the main characters have been established, the book kicks into gear. The plot is fast-paced and engaging, the story beats are on point and the build-up leading to the reveal at the end was so well-executed, I couldn't put it down. Speaking of the big reveal, looking back, there are elements that make so much more sense in hindsight, which shows how the author really thought everything through.

One part that was kind of lackluster for me was the characters. There isn't anything wrong with them, and objectively, the character work is great! But I just couldn't connect with any of them. The romance sub-plots are also kind of meh. I didn't dislike them, but I also didn't root for them.

At its heart, though, this book is about classism and injustice. The author does an excellent job of tackling these themes with the portrayal how the caste system works, as well as how the system is built to discriminate against the lower class while protecting the upper class. I find this especially timely, with everything going on in the world right now. This book is brimming with visceral rage, from rage against the system of oppression, to rage against personal injustices.

Besides the rough beginning, this book is fantastic, with a brilliant plot and well-developed world-building and themes. I cannot wait to read the sequel!

[orthodoxadventure]

Psalm 77 (NKJV)

I cried out to God with my voice— To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah

You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search.

Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed forevermore? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His tender mercies? Selah

And I said, “This is my anguish; But I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High.” I will remember the works of the Lord; Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds. Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; Who is so great a God as our God? You are the God who does wonders; You have declared Your strength among the peoples. You have with Your arm redeemed Your people, The sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

The waters saw You, O God; The waters saw You, they were afraid; The depths also trembled. The clouds poured out water; The skies sent out a sound; Your arrows also flashed about. The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. Your way was in the sea, Your path in the great waters, And Your footsteps were not known. You led Your people like a flock By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

[faithhearted]

@honorhearted {x}

For heaven’s sake. Anna could swear up and down to God Himself that Benjamin loved to hear himself yell and reprimand, as if he were any less guilty of taking risks when the situation demanded it. 

“I have a hard time believing you’d be this cross if it were one of your own men who’d done it.” she countered, her fists balled at her side as she defiantly stared up at him with her jaw stiffened in opposition.

“And do you think me so incapable that I would have allowed myself to be caught with intelligence on my person? I might not be a soldier, Ben, but I’m not stupid.” 

“Have you learned nothing these past several months?" he accused, his expression still red hot with anger. 

“How dare you!” she seethed in response, reaching up and smacking him across the face, not caring if his subordinate officers witnessed the scene, “I’ve been in this from the beginning, you know that! It’s all been to see that my Selah’s death is justified!” 

It’s revenge I’m after. Her own words echoed in her head. And I’ll see it done. 

“Now will you speak to me with the respect I’m due, or must I strike you again, like a petulant child?” 

She wasn’t being entirely fair. She knew that, and yet she was so livid, so relentlessly riled, that she was becoming more and more irrational by the minute. Anna was tired – tired of being talked down to, and tired of this bloody war.

[betterpathoflyfe]

Boldness In Our Assignment! - 4/27/24

Listen…you know the running joke about how God’s favorite prayer to answer is, “Lord, if this person is not for me, please remove them”?

Well…I’m convinced that His other favorite prayer to answer is, “Lord, I want to be used by You! Please use me in this place and give me the boldness to tell others about You.”

Like bro!

Near the end of January, on a Sunday, after church specifically, my best friend came by my house and near the end of our hangout, she prayed for me and this desire I had.

The NEXT. DAY.

I head into the office early as usual and I’m just praying about desiring to be used in this workplace, right? To truly have an impact in this place for His Kingdom.

Well, a student ends up stopping by as a walk-in to explain why he decided to withdraw from a course. But as I’m pulling up his schedule, he randomly mentions, “and you know, Ms. Nock, I really want to be a man of God, you know?”

I freeze and turn towards him saying, “Really?”

He says, “yeah, you know? Like I’ve been serving at my church in with the middle school students, but I just want to make sure I’m good with God myself, you know?”

And I’m like, “yes, absolutely! Like you definitely want to have Jesus in your heart so that you can be most effective in helping and teaching these students!”

And he’s like, “exactly.”

NOW…we’re at a key moment.

So…I say a quick prayer, asking the Lord for boldness, and then I ask, “do you want to accept Him into your heart right now?”

And he was like, “seriously?”

And I was like, “yes!”

And he said, “yeah, okay, sure!”

MAN.

Long story short, we prayed and he said the prayer of salvation! After we prayed, he said, “I feel like running again, Ms. Nock!” as he had recently went on a run earlier that morning.

He asked if we could pray during our meetings, and now it’s something that we do for the majority of them that he attends.

THAT BEING SAID!!!!

EVER SINCE THAT DAYYY????!!!

I’ve literally had meetings with students back-to-back where they either have a desire to talk about God, ask me questions about God, or have the openness to allow me to pray for them when they discuss stressful situations.

Like…this is an entirely different ballgame than last year.

And it ALL STARTED FROM THAT PRAYER!!!!

Selah.

All of this to say, the Lord can truly use you anywhere — it’s just about your willingness and true desire to be used! But as the Bible says, “The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few” (Matthew 9:37) — it’s time for us to be intentional about our laboring for the Lord!

Oh, even in saying that! I was reading John 4 this morning and verse 37 discussed sowing and reaping — “For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’”

And the study note went into the verse a bit deeper, pointing out how “it may take several encounters with the gospel delivered through more than one messenger before a person believes it. One Christian explains the gospel to an unbeliever, and later another Christian eventually leads that unbeliever to Christ.”

Therefore, it’s really just another reminder that even if we do not see the end result or the fruit of our evangelism, that doesn't mean that God has not already begun a work in their lives, you know? We simply sow the seed, but the Lord is the one that grows it.

Even yesterday (I’ve had so many examples and testimonies of this recently!), one of our front desk student workers came by my office to ask for advice about something. Now mind you, she and I began to speak about God probably a few weeks ago (like 1-2 weeks ago), but we haven’t spoken about Him again since.

Naturally, I…prayed I didn’t overwhelm her with info or scare her off — I just get so excited talking about Jesus, you know? 😅

But when she came by my office yesterday to ask me a question, she prefaced it with, “I prayed to God about it and just asked Him for a sign of how to move forward.”

And…the fact…that she…prayed first…about her decision?

FRUIT!!!

So it’s just little things like that — little wins, little joys of seeing Christ work in someone’s life. But being a witness to these victories starts with a decision. A decision to go deeper with Christ. A decision to be bold in our faith. And a decision to obey.

So yeah — just wanted to share that for tonight’s blogpost :)

“I want to be tried by fire. Purified.” ~ lyrics from “Refiner” by TRIBL

~ May the Author

[hiswordsarekisses]

If I say: “I won’t mention Him, or speak any more in His Name,” then it is like fire burning in my heart ~ shut up in my bones ~ I weary myself trying to hold it in ~ indeed I cannot.

For I heard the whispering of many: “‘Terror on every side?’ Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”

Even all my close friends are watching for my fall: “Perhaps he may be deceived, so we’ll get the better of him, and we’ll get our revenge on him.”

But The Lord is with me like a dreadful and mighty warrior!

Therefore my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.

Since they are not insightful and not wise, they will be utterly shamed ~ an everlasting disgrace, never to be forgotten.

Yet, The Lord of Hosts is with me ~ testing the righteous, seeing the mind and the heart. Jeremiah‬ ‭20‬:‭9‬-‭12

The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our strong tower. Selah Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭12‬

I love You, O Lord, my strength! The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress and my Deliverer. My God is my rock, in Him I take refuge, my Shield, the Horn of my Salvation, and my Stronghold.” Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭2‬-‭3‬