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alyblacklist · 4 years

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Do you think the keenler storyline is going anywhere? I used to be sure that it was, I mean why else would they have them kiss and have sex. However now that Liz has been gone for five episodes and she is being quite mean to Ressler (the whole pointing a gun to his head and pretty much telling Cooper about them sleeping together) I feel like a relationship between them will never happen and the writers are just trying to make us forget or dislike Keenler.

Ok, on to the asks about Ressler/Keenler in 8x09 where things were said, but only through contact lenses and earpieces. Thoughts below the jump, because it’s a long post that will (hopefully) address all of these at least in part.

I do think it was Liz speaking through the doppelganger at all relevant times. They haven’t given me a reason not to think that at this point. She knew things only Liz could know. So I assume (unless we get new info) that everything Mia Collins said to Ressler was actually Liz telling her what to say to him (and likewise to Aram and Cooper). I did express to BlacklistRoom on Twitter that they were evil for having faux-Liz call Ressler “Donald” on screen before real Liz does. And at first, I thought maybe that was some sort of signal to Ressler that things were amiss because real Liz wouldn’t do that, but in the end I think it was just the writers playing their usual games. NOT because they hate Keenler or Keenler fans (they’re the ones who made Keenler canon, for God’s sake), but just because they love to toy with fan emotion. They give you a Wing Yee birthday nugget one ep, they throw in a loose “Donald” in another from the lips of a faux-Liz. They know exactly the emotional points to hit if they’re paying attention to social media (and they certainly are, to a point).

I did catch that accurate observation on Twitter that the doppelganger did not have her finger on the trigger while pointing the gun at Ressler’s head. I’d like to think the actress and crew are careful enough to catch such things as her finger was nowhere near that trigger (and she knew how to shoot that unnamed FBI agent during the chase) so I hope that was purposeful, perhaps as a small signal to the audience that Liz never really intended to hurt Ressler, even though he of course couldn’t see what was going on behind his head. A nod, at least, to the idea that Liz doesn’t really mean to hurt him.

Before I get too much deeper into my personal impressions of the scene, I want to specifically address the anon who wonders if she’s alone in finding it hard to root for Liz or Keenler in all this.

Of course you’re not.

Darker Liz isn’t for everyone. If I had a dollar for every time someone has told me Ressler deserves better than Liz over the past five years, I’d be able to buy you dinner (even at NYC prices). Never mind how many have abandoned the ship over that exact issue or related issues over the seasons. But I also think you know that I don’t share your viewpoint. Maybe that’s why you send me asks, or maybe you’re just using my inbox as an outlet to find those who agree with you. I don’t know and it doesn’t matter (although I admit if it’s the latter, publishing your thoughts on your OWN page rather than in my inbox might be preferable because as much as I enjoy asks to a point, I’m a little tired of ship hand-holding asks. I like what I like and trying to explain it or defend it gets a little tiring.)

All I can say is after five years of deep investment in this fandom and these characters, it takes a LOT more than an absent female lead and a bumpy episode to capsize my ship and send me into the pit of despair. For me, this is the expected price we pay for the ship being canon now versus only at the very end of the show. The Blacklist has never been about showing smooth, happy, relationships. Angst, drama, tension is the name of the game. You have to decide for yourself whether you can stomach that on a week to week basis and especially this season because they warned us – “good AND difficult” – difficult! - for Keenler. I reconcile the conflict by the fact that Ressler still WANTS Liz and BELIEVES in Liz despite her flaws and if he does, then so do I. The man has some blinders when it comes to Liz, certainly, but not the sort that they love to mock him for on screen. He’s not thinking solely with his male parts brain, he’s thinking with his actual, in his head brain and he LOVES this woman despite her crazy and I love that about him. He’s smarter than most people give him credit for. And I am also of the view that real life and ships do not need to be equivalents. You can love two flawed fictional TV characters without being a person who wants to see those things manifest in real life. (I also ship Wanda and Vision for the record).

So I think we can all agree that this episode – and Liz’s absence generally – has been more “difficult” than good Keenler-wise. Ressler himself told us in those early episodes before her departure that it’s different if you see her, and it certainly is. We’ve been robbed of Liz’s thoughts and emotions entirely ever since she last graced our screen in Ep. 8x04. (And of Ressler’s reaction to said departure, for the most part). At the same time, I think Liz recognizes that too as she hasn’t to our knowledge directly engaged with Cooper, Aram OR Ressler since she left except through surrogates. Purposeful choices on the part of the diabolical writers.

As I said in my earlier ask response tonight, I remain of the view that Liz is in control of her actions and is doing her own risk/benefit assessment in how she responds to the situations she finds herself in.

I do NOT think that means she has lost all emotion or feeling for Cooper, Aram OR Ressler, but as she explained to Townsend, “Reddington has an army on both sides of the law. I can’t do this alone. I need a partner.” She believes that the Task Force – all of them – are tied to Reddington in their own way, including Ressler, and she doesn’t expect them to violate those arrangements/principles for her. She’s moving outside the boundaries of those relationships to shed light on the secrets that she believes are being kept. Did she involve them this week? Yes, but I think only because Townsend forced her hand on dealing with his sister. I doubt she would’ve sent her double to the Post Office otherwise. (I totally agree that the Post Office needs better security protocols btw – the idea that Liz can continually breach their defenses has become absolutely laughable at this point).

But, part of that is personal relationships. She needed Ressler to give her the door codes and he did. Why? Not because he’s her patsy or her f--- boy or whatever derogatory term someone wants to slap on him (!), but because he loves her, flaws and all. The whole letting her go/letting him go thing has always had double meaning, back to S2.

Cyranoid Liz: You should let me go. Ressler: Those days are over. Cyranoid Liz: Why? Nothing’s changed.

Has nothing changed? He let her go in S2 and then she shot Tom Connolly and he beat himself up over it. Then, the “I can’t let her go” (Ressler pointing the gun in S3 outside the Russian embassy), followed by that car chase and then Red in the next episode, Eli Matchett:

Red: Ressler is a law-enforcement robot. The FBI winds him up– Liz: That’s not true. He’s a person. He’s a good person. Red: Look at me. You need to let that go, Lizzy. I have survived for a very long time now, and I assure you, I didn’t do it by relying on the goodness in people.

I’d submit it has and it hasn’t. All these seasons later, she is once again having a hard time letting him go and so is he (with respect to her).

Ressler: Why’d you call? Liz: I don’t know. I guess– because every time we say goodbye, I’m afraid we might actually mean it.

Both with eyes open wider this time and yet, still wanting the peaceful night, free of all the distractions.

Yes, he let Liz’s double go physically without much protest. Emotionally? He hasn’t let go of Liz. Not one bit. And Liz saw that, through her cyranoid. He’s still on her side. He still wants to believe in her, no matter what she’s putting him through (and poor Ressler, he’s really enduring a lot – though I hope the tide will turn on that at some point). He had no reason to open that door, and yet – he did. He doesn’t want that one night to be just ONE night and deep down, I don’t think she does either.

“I won’t give up on you.”

He hasn’t, yet. “But I still need to do my job, Keen.” She better not push him too far because the day he does is the day I worry. He’s desperate not to repeat the mistakes of the past, he’s desperate to trust her this time. Not because he’s thinking with his small man-part-brain, but with his HEART. He loves her. He’ll do anything he can for her within the limits of his conscience. They are each others’ second chance.

I don’t view Keenler or Ressler’s feelings for Liz or Liz’s manipulations of Ressler as fatal to the ship because I accept that this whole thing – Liz’s mission – is the battle for her soul that the writers have teased for years . Which side will win? Hopefully the right one. The hopeful one. The one that makes second chances happen.

Cheers.

#keenler #anon #anons

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kiss-my-freckle · 3 years

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8x16 Rewatch: Nicholas Obenrader

IRS storyline. Red’s friendly thief talks about someone going to Boston University. Another one going to college. Agnes will tie into their college storylines somehow. I love Red’s comment about Ressler. “Black shoes, cheap suit, flat stomach, regulation cut - don’t get me wrong, he’s bent, just not as bent as we’d like him to be.”

“Why must you always be early?” This ties in Ressler’s comment to Liz in Brothers. “Not on my watch.” Whatever happens, he’ll be early. Ressler informs the team. He knows a great deal about the Yakuza because of Mako Tanida.

Espinosa was building his golden parachute like The Director did. He takes a 10% cut from the 40% cut the crew is supposed to get. Red’s friend informs Neville. He’s boxing Espinosa just like he did Rudigger. Neville’s people have no reason to doubt Liz. He already knew she was an agent.

“She’s really good. But I think we’ll all be a lot better when this is done.” A nice hit to the note the woman from Paris left for Red. “You’re good. I’m better.” The worst has yet to come. “Liz’s mom abandoned her. She would never do the same to Agnes.” Aram has no clue why Katarina gave Liz up for adoption. She had no choice. Liz will realize this soon enough when her own child ends up in danger because Neville wants to kill her. Katarina didn’t make a mistake, Liz did.

The whole brother of Charles at the lake house reminds me of Liz’s comment about Ressler’s lake house when she spoke to Laurel Hitchin in 4x19.

Liz is so disrespectful. Anyway... Cooper sent Aram to Paris because he’s still unofficially working with Liz. Ressler last week, Aram this week. Cooper basically knew Aram would be meeting with Liz. I will blame the entire task force along with Liz for whatever happens to her and/or Agnes and/or Jennifer because they failed to arrest her and chose to work against Red instead. He’s their CI. Liz is not. Red put her on the blacklist for a reason. Panabaker put her on the wanted list for a reason.

“If I were you, I’d like the finish line.” Red’s comment is a nice kick back to his comment to Liz in Devlin’s episode, S5. “Our sprint to the finish. The bag is just out of reach now.”

I love Aram’s care for Agnes in this episode, but I laugh at Liz’s comment. “Where we live is quiet and peaceful.” A nice kickback to the scene cut in 7x13 for their War and Peace theme. Ressler's "But maybe this will help us." US being Keenler. A hearing aid that blocks out sound. Cut to Agnes' name on her passport meaning Peace. “Your daddy just always taught me to be ready for a rainy day.” This runs through The Freelancer in 8x5. “There's a number pre-programmed. You ask for Charlotte. You tell them you got caught in the rain and need to dry off.” It won’t be quiet and peaceful for long. Charlotte’s web is about to get tangled.

“I’ve done some awful things.” Liz kicking back to S3... again. “I have done... so many terrible things. I have hurt so many people."

“Whoever said crime doesn’t pay wasn’t very good at it.” When crime nearly costs Liz her daughter... she’ll understand what that truly means. It’s a dialogue that kicks back to The Ethicist in S6. “He did a cost-benefit analysis on these people, figured that the cost outweighed the benefits, and killed them because of it." Liz believes the benefit outweighs the cost. It doesn’t.

Finally, some Ressler action in a lake house.

Sikorsky’s official name is Ivan Stepanov. Red’s friend in the East. Officially, he’s SVR. Unofficially, he’s a high-ranking member of Zaslon. running black-ops around the globe. “Mobilize assets.”

Red doesn't expect Obenrader to reveal anything meaningful about Neville's organization. Obenrader knows the blowback it’ll have on his loved ones if he does. This is what Liz will have to worry about later. The blowback on her loved ones. More specifically, Jennifer and Agnes.

Whoever their inside man is, it’ll be a low-level agent like The Director’s friend in Zal Bin Hasaan’s episode. I’m expecting someone outside the task force, but close enough to tap the phone. They know Liz is using burners, so they had to tap Ressler’s. Yeah, another kickback to S3.

The task force can’t arrest Stepanov, so they’re letting Liz extract him. Because they chose to work with Liz and Ressler contacted her about Stepanov while having a tap on his phone, Neville’s own people got their hands on him first. Precisely the point. They just put Liz in the direct line of fire because Katarina was N-13 and she’s very much alive. I thought it’d be Paula who got into his line, but it was Neville’s people. Guarantee Stepanov can prove Katarina was N-13, and knows the identity of imposter Katarina. This knowing will be Liz’s downfall. He’s going to protect Red at all costs (tortured or not) because he and Red have been working on this project together for the past 30 years.

“Oh, my stars” is a common quote from Red. He used it in Lord Baltimore with Yaabari. "Let me guess, I stole something from you. A painting, jewelry.... your heart." Red’s new asset is gorgeous as hell. Priya Laghari.

“I want to be your angel.” - Red

Red pulls a fake shooting on Ressler and Park so as not to look like a CI in bed with the FBI. “Of course, a mystery is only as good as the story around it.” Red saying exactly what I’ve been saying about his real identity. It has to fit the story around it.

Alina Park is pretending to read Just Fly Away by Andrew McCarthy. “A powerful story about family secrets, first love, the limits of forgiveness, and finding your way in the world.”

“Like taking candy from a kid.” A hit to Rizal’s episode. This is where Agnes falls in, along with the dialogues about spoiling her rotten.

“You think you’re giving her a rope to hang herself. I fear you may be giving her a rope to hang all of us.” A nice hit back to 8x14. “I’m responsible for Mary Bremmer’s murder, Dembe’s torture, and I got nothing to show for it, except for another reminder that no matter how tight the noose, Reddington will always cheat the hangman." To be clear, Liz fully accepting responsibility for the murder of Mary Bremmer, so what comes to Jennifer will be on her. That whole washer necklace choking Mary through Liz’s Cyranoid. She didn’t specify that it brought her good luck, only that it brought her luck... because Tom Keen is bad luck.

A noose for Jennifer Reddington. Then Liz will have something to show for it.

Red is worried about Priya. He hired her to assassinate Neville.

He should be worried. This focal shot is a kickback to Roy Cain's episode in S7. His "knock on wood" will push back to Liz and her fate.

Purposeful stuff.

A kiss of death... like the woman from Paris kissing Red before injecting him. It also makes me think of The Apothecary, the Scotch. Just throw it in the bottle while he's gone and be done with it. While she may not kill Neville, I do think she’ll be the reason Red’s friend Ivan will survive. She’s a thief. "Items” include people. That's what Neville wants Priya to steal. She's gonna steal Ivan Stepanov. "Item" is how Red referred to Raymond’s bones in S5 and how they referred to Karakurt when he came in country in S2... items. Rakitin wasn’t worth the save.

The Stranger by Albert Gamus. The book Dembe was reading that Red starts to read. The novel is famous for its first lines: “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.”

"Katarina Rostova was N-13. And Katarina Rostova is dead." Ivan Stepanov speaks truth. Red is N-13 because he's Katarina. SHE has been dead for 30 years. Of all people, the person who created the archive can prove who stole it in 1990. Expect Neville to be pissed because he's been chasing the wrong woman for 30 years. Ivan can reveal it all without revealing Red's real identity.

Neville’s comment about her innocence. “But Katarina Rostova was framed. Which means I dedicated my life to the hatred of an innocent woman.” This pushes back to Red’s comment in 8x2. “Is that the story she told you? She's a victim? An innocent wrongly accused?" What Ivan will be revealing to Neville. The real Katarina Rostova was no innocent. He knows Red is Katarina and he knows he’s dead either way because he created the archive that took Neville’s family. "Do you know who I am? Because I know who you are. You're the one who created the archive that destroyed my family." He’s gonna put Liz on the chopping block. "And I asked you to fly here so I could look you in the eye and tell you: I agree... for now." Because he has no idea she’s Katarina’s daughter, which means he has no idea she’s Red’s daughter.

Full drive through the rest of the season. The first person Neville would kill... is Liz.

#Anti-Tom Keen #Anti-Keen2 #Rederina #rewatch

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trishvaylar · 4 years

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Maybe I just got lucky or maybe not, but I had a post in my drafts, a long one, written in two parts, about Rederina, I finished writing it, posted it but...it just got deleted, with no way for me to get it back unless I am to write it again right now. Well, seeing as there are only a few hours left until the Blacklist return with season 8, episode 03, and I am emotionally very uplifted right now (I was granted someone I love more then life, and that is inspiring, so much so writing a post I just spent over an hour finishing, from scratch, is not an ordeal at all, at least does not look like it anyway🤗) -I shall just do it again!

So, this Rederina post will contain two parts, the first about all the wrong reasons antis hate Rederina and the second about the sheer logic and inner magic and beauty of Rederina!

Shall we begin?

So, the first and foremost reason why there are Rederina-antis is that James Spader is a Man! Oh, of cause, he IS a man, there is no doubt in my mind about this and he has a great sex appeal, which we, women all around the world, feel very acutely. Yes, he is a man, but apart from that, he is although a great actor, whose gift comes from God! He could perfectly play a man who used to be a woman, no questions asked. Why would anyone object to that, if, when James'characters kissed a man in screen in Crash and in TV in the Office, I heard absolutely no objections to his chatacters' bisexualism. I see this as hypocricy and huge double standarts. I could also include an anti reason here that Rederina is anti-transgender. That is just stupid as fuck, because this is about love (Katarina's real reasons for changing her identity, which comes first, and gender switch comes in second, but I would elaborate on this in the second part of the post), not transgender rights I hugely respect.

So, I believe we are done with this reason, lets explore the others. And the top after mentioned above is the Daddygaters' reason. They believe Red is actually the real Reddington, Liz' Father. They create alaborate proofs of their theory, to explain why would Red make Liz believe she murdered her Father by shooting him when she was 4, why his remains were burried then dug up and then burned, if he, Red, was her Father all along. What Daddygaters do not recognize is that their elaborate explanations not only take the sound logic out of the show, but also make Red someone towards Liz he never was - a monster!

I really think this is enough talk about Daddygaters hating on Rederina.

The other reason for the antis is that we had The Witch listed as Katarina Rostova, number 3, on the blacklist. Oh well, this one is a piece of cake. It is a writing ruse used by many writers, ours just used this trick too. The moment I knew Red was an imposter, I knew we had to have an imposter Katarina, making her the name on the blacklist, very high up.

There is another reason, closely connected with the previous one: that Red and Katarina could not be one person, they have to be two people. I think this is very simple - The Witch is not Katarina, because WE KNOW KATARINA LOVES MASHA MORE THEN HER OWN LIFE! The Witch only cared for herself and her own survival, not about Liz. Mothers do not change like this, ever! Who else on the show loves Liz like this? Red, no one else. By that logic Red could ONLY be Katarina, Katarina could ONLY be our Red.

There are other, emotional, or plot-wise reasons for the antis to list, but they are minor and boring, we just talked about everything of any importance at all.

So we could light-heartedly pass to the second part of the post - the logic and inner beauty and magic of Rederina canon.

First and foremost Rederina is beautiful and logical because it tells the story of the greatest love of all, the Mother's love for her child. Look at what Katarina did in order to ensure her Daughter's safety - she forfeited her own identity, her personality, her self, not mentioning her Father, who never accepted the change and saw it as murder of who his daughter was, of her gender, her right to be Masha's Mother, to be with her. She entrusted Masha/Liz to Sam, who would ensure that Liz grew up emotionally safe, well protected, loved, taken care of, growing in the normal, non-criminal environment, with plenty of advise, money, guidince, smoothing the path done by Rederina. Because Katarina never planned to fully dissapear out of Liz' life. As Red (she chose to become Reddington for a few reasons - Reddington already existed, was dead, she knew everything about him, he was the Father of her only Daughter she literally adores, he was a man, by becoming him she could build that criminal Empire to counter any threat to Liz and to keep her, that is, Red, free and a very formidable enemy even in the eyes of the Cabal or anyone ever to try to topple Red or to trace Liz) she still influenced Liz' life, all aspects of it, but to Liz Red was only a notorious criminal, an he had to start from scratch in his relationship with the Daughter. When, in the end of season 7, Red answeres Liz' question by saying "you are the Daughter of Katarina Rostova", that sealed it for me. Liz inherits the Empire as the Daughter of the Mother, not as the Daughter of the Father, because, yes, Red has his name and face, but the soul is the Mother's!

In Cape May, where Katarina went alone 25 years ago, she tried to decide how to protect Masha. She was there alone. After "loosing" Liz Red goes to Cape May to try and find the spirit of the Woman, to ask one question - had his becoming Red to protect Liz failed to keep her from dying. His inner self, Katarina, could not answer that question, so Red goes to Dom, to THE PARENT, to try and get that answer. Eventually Dom and Aram lead Red to a belief Liz did not die as the result of that faithful choice.

We know Liz did not die, she tried to protect her own Daughter - Red understood, forgave without any discussion (but he did not forgive Mr Kaplan for hurting the Mother's heart), just stopped calling her Lizzy, for she is trully an adult in his eyes now. Red keeps forgiving, understanding, accepting Liz as only a Parent would. Those who wish Red to emotionally abandone Liz, they would never have their way.

I decided not to mention the romantic anti-rederina reason because that is soooo perverted in my mind I just can not bring myself to counter that with serious arguments. Romantic love is keen2 on the show, with the potential keenler, but romance between parent and child? No thank you! But having started the thread of emotional abandonement, I had to mention this one moment too.

So, Red seeks emotional support and advice from KATARINA'S FATHER? When it is a Parent Red needs? I mean, how more obvious could this get?

Then there is the fact that everything Liz ever finds out about her Mother, comes from Red. He tells Liz about what Katarina feared, how she loved Liz' Father, what she felt while being pregnant, what she felt after Masha was born, the photograph, of her and Masha, that her Mother is in her, even the diary and the time machine Liz got from Kirk - Kirk only came back into Liz' life thanks to seeing Liz and Red on TV together while they were on the run. The way Kirk and Red talk about Katarina is also very telling - Kirk tells what he remembers, and Red just adds personal details to what Katarina did, things only Katarina would really know. And Kirk would only accept help, the cure, from Katarina, for he knows - in her own way she cared...she cares still. That was one huge clue for me as to Rederina canon; Cape May was another; Dom was the next; even The Witch was just another clue.

Liz will know, eventually, who Red really is, and I hope she will hear it from him and all of us will:

I AM YOUR MOTHER!

That would be the most epic moment in the history of all the TV-shows in the last thirty years. Because that would prove the existance of the greatest love of all - the transending, unconditional, sucrificial, all-encompassing love ever existing in the world! The Blacklist, the show which is an ode to what makes our world worth living in: this kind of love which makes us human!

@katarinas-redemption with love and gratitude

#the blacklist #raymond reddington #rederina #Katarina Rostova

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takadasaiko · 4 years

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Love Me Twice: Chapter Eight

FFN II AO3

Summary: Reddington throws a wrench into their case, Liz chooses to trust Ressler with a secret, and TomJacob demands answers from Gina.

Chapter Eight

Trust was not something that came easily to her these days. Every time she started to put her faith in someone they flipped it around on her, and while Cooper had been known to walk that line professionally with her, she never would have dreamed he was capable of lying to her about something like this.

She'd been over it again and again. Reddington had told her first, and while he was far from a paramount of honesty, she had gone to Cooper directly. He had been there when Tom flatlined and they had taken him back to identify the body. Cooper had been kind and he had been gentle, but there had been no room to misinterpret what he'd said. He had been clear when he had told her that her husband was dead.

But that had been Tom in her mother's custody. Bruised and beaten, sure, but she knew him. She would always know him.

That meant that her boss had lied to her or someone had pulled a very, very convincing one over on him. Either way, someone powerful had made sure Elizabeth Keen had thought her husband was dead and had done something to him to keep him from remembering her. She'd be damned if she didn't find out who, and that trail started with Cooper.

Liz hadn't been able to sleep after getting back home the night before. She'd tossed and turned before finally rolling out of the bed she used to share with him and digging around in her closet. She'd moved nearly everything that reminded her of Tom to storage except a box that she kept in the very back for those dark days. They'd become fewer and fewer the longer she survived without him, but every now and again she needed to hold onto something.

Her fingers touched the lid of the old filing box shoved back behind her clothes and she pulled it out, tossing the various odds and ends that had piled up ontop of it back into the closet and removing the lid. There wasn't much inside. A couple of his favourite books, a jumpdrive with his interview with the adoption agency from their first marriage, a smaller box that held their wedding rings, and a few photos. She reached down, pulling the framed photo from a trip to Boston years before from the top and found herself staring at his smiling face. She missed him. She hadn't stopped missing him.

A sharp buzzing from her phone by the bed shattered the moment and Liz jumped. She shot it a glare before unfolding from her place on the floor, placing the photo back in the box and standing. A text from Ressler was lit up on the lock screen:

Cooper needs us in early.

Good. She needed to talk to Cooper too. If he'd lied to her, if he'd hidden the fact that Tom was alive for any reason, she needed to know.

Mornings at the Keen household were chaotic on a good day, but Liz had a cup of coffee down her throat and breakfast on the table before rousing Agnes a good hour before she normally would have. Her daughter moved sluggishly - late night tea and glitter parties with Uncle Donnie causing her to drag - as Liz made her way through her second cup and put her school bag together for her, reminding her once again that Shelly's mom had been willing to drop by early for carpool so they shouldn't make them wait.

Ten minutes later Agnes was out the door and on her way to school and Liz was speeding towards the Post Office, her focus on the question she needed an answer to.

It was everything Liz could do to stand still as the old, creaking lift sent her down to the basement level of the facility that they worked in, and she was through those faded yellow doors as soon as they started to open.

The Post Office was already buzzing with activity, other agents able to drop their lives and come in more quickly than she was. Liz barely heard Aram's chipper greeting as she barreled past him on her way to their boss' office. She knocked once and opened the door before Cooper had a chance to say if she should or not, halfway through, "Sir, we need to talk about-" before she realized that he wasn't alone. Ressler and Park stood at his desk, Park stopped mid-explanation, and Aram followed up behind her and excused himself as he entered as well. So much for a private conversation before everything started.

"Keen," Cooper greeted, "thank you for coming in early. We've had Krause move the meet to first thing this morning."

"Why?" Liz found herself asking. "Everything was in place."

"Reddington was insistent on being allowed to meet with The Collector before we transferred him in for questioning. A little too insistent."

"Not that he'd ever have an ulterior motive," Ressler grumbled, taking a sip from his to-go coffee cup clutched greedily in his hand. Right. He hadn't gotten a ton more sleep than Liz had.

"Do we know what he wants?" Park asked.

Cooper's dark gaze shifted over to Liz. "I believe it may have something to do with your mother."

"Why?"

"A hunch. Until Krause confirmed his existence, The Collector was a myth in the Cold War-era intelligence community. A man that moved secrets around like currency."

Aram shifted nervously. "So you think Mr Reddington is gonna… what? Use him to hurt Agent Keen's mother?"

"We don't know," Cooper answered. "He's insistent that he has no interest in harming Elizabeth's mother, but I'm not willing to risk it. We couldn't change the location without tipping him off that something was happening, but we were able to move up the time table. That should allow us to get in, take The Collector, and get out before Reddington realizes it."

Liz stared at him. It would have been easier to have just given Reddington whatever time he'd requested with the man rather than risk the whole op, but Cooper was going out of his way to protect her. To protect someone she loved. She swallowed hard, trying to push the guilt down with it. She shouldn't have questioned Cooper on Tom. He would never intentionally hurt her like that. She knew better and she was embarrassed to think that, even for a few hours, she'd questioned that loyalty after everything that they'd been through.

"Agent Keen, was there something that you needed to speak to me about before you roll out?" Cooper asked, pulling her attention back around.

She shook her head. "No sir. It can wait."

He hadn't known. He wouldn't have betrayed her like that, which meant someone else had. Someone with means and motive, but she couldn't think about that now, no matter how much her mind wanted to wander to the new mystery. They had a job to do.

--------

Jacob had been fourteen years old when he first stepped foot on the St Regis campus. He had been young and angry and bitter at the hands life had dealt him. His first memories were of foster care and no house lasted long. He'd land in one and be gone again in a month or two. Sometimes it was his own choice and other times they shoved him out the door the moment they realized that he didn't fit their image they had cooked up in their minds. And then, when he finally landed in a house that wanted to keep him enough that they made it official, it was all he could do to survive the experience.

Bud has saved him though. He hadn't cared that Jacob couldn't connect, that he couldn't empathize. He had taught him to use it. To outgrow the childish dream that said you had to have a family. He didn't need one. He didn't want one. And even if he had, they wouldn't have wanted him anyway. That's how he knew that Elizabeth Keen had to be lying.

He just didn't know how she'd gotten ahold of the kind of details that she had had. That's where everything fell apart. She was a fed. Maybe she had caught him? Investigated him? He had no way to know with a blaring decade's worth of missing memories, but he knew who would. And that's what had led him back to St Regis' home campus in upstate New York.

Jacob dropped the stolen car off at the gate to have them dispose of it before limping his way in towards Gina's office. He caught a few glances along the way, having only done the bare minimum to clean himself up and not catch attention. Various cuts had reopened on his trip upstate, leaving a newly dried smear of blood down the left side of his face from the cut along his eyebrow. Only the cap he'd snagged from the backseat of the stolen car did anything to shield him from curious eyes.

Gina wasn't in her office. It took some searching, but he finally found her at the far end of the campus on the training grounds. She watched from a secluded spot as students she had recruited ran drills, practiced skills, and were whipped into shape by a former drill sergeant.

It felt familiar. Mostly.

"Whatever happened to old Higgins?" Jacob asked by way of greeting. "You remember he used to run us into the ground when we were kids. I thought he'd never leave."

Gina turned, surprise clear for the barest of moments. "You look like shit. What happened?"

"Hit a snag."

She stood, motioning for him to follow her. "What kind of snag? I haven't heard from you or Tremblay since you left."

"She pay you?"

Gina's brows drew together questioningly and she led him into an old shed and out of the way of prying eyes. She turned towards him, her voice sharp. "What happened?"

"Tremblay knew a hell of a lot more than she was saying."

That didn't seem to help clear it up. "So what? Clients lie all the time. She pays and she-"

"Elizabeth Keen." The name stopped her mid sentence. "You know her? Because that's who Tremblay's been having me watch. Some fed on a task force that uses Raymond Reddington as her CI. And get this: the woman says she knew me. Married me."

"Tremblay said that?" Gina asked carefully.

"Keen. I got pinched by a woman she's been meeting with. Maddie Tolliver." That name didn't seem to ring any bells. "Had a chat-" he motioned to the cuts and bruises on his face - "and Keen showed up. Who is she?"

Gina cleared her throat. "A job. She was a job."

"She knew things."

"It was deep cover. You made her believe she was…. everything." She reached forward, fingers surprisingly gentle against his face. "Let's get you cleaned up."

"No, you don't get it. When I say she knew things, I mean real things. Things a mark couldn't have known. Did she investigate me?"

"Yes," Gina said a little too quickly and leaned forward, pressing her lips against him. "Forget about Keen and about Tremblay. I'll take care of it. Let's-"

"Why are you lying to me?"

A pair of soft brown eyes blinked hard. "I'm not."

"C'mon, Gina. I know every tell you've got." Little lies between them weren't unusual, but they were honest when it counted. They could trust each other even if the whole world was against them. That had always been the deal. "What the hell happened?"

He didn't like the look in her eyes. Indecision. Pain. Fear. "You married her," she said at last, her voice more unsteady than he'd ever heard it.

"As a job?"

She didn't answer, but the way her eyes darted said everything.

"I married her… for real? A fed? Bud would have…" his chest tightened dangerously and Jacob staggered back. "No."

"It doesn't matter."

"Bud gone, the new staff…. Did I-?"

"No," Gina cut him off, stepping closer again.

"Did she?"

That struck a nerve. "All she did was get you into trouble. I bailed you out. When the Major came for you, she wasn't even there. I was. I protected you, not her, and you still-" She sucked in a deep breath to steady herself. "It doesn't matter. You don't even remember her."

"Why is that?" Jacob managed, his tone more desperate than he would have liked.

"I don't know."

He studied her for a long moment. "How the hell am I supposed to believe anything you tell me? You lied to me."

"I protected you."

"No…." He winced, looking at the woman he'd grown up with, the only person he thought he could trust. "You got what you wanted, however you had to get it. It's my turn."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I want answers."

"Jacob…"

"I need answers, Gina, and I don't trust them coming from you. You're gonna let me walk."

"You can't just-"

"Watch me." He turned, leaving her standing in the shed alone. He'd given her more than two years of loyalty with nothing to show for it and he was done. He needed to know what happened in those missing years.

Jacob pulled his burner phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial. "Tremblay, it’s Phelps. We need to talk."

--------

It was early, but sleep was difficult to come by these days anyway. Dr Clemons had managed to regulate his new dose of medication to keep the tremors at bay. The side effects were troublesome though, a particularly irksome one leaving him with the most vivid dreams he'd ever had, and that was a high bar to reach. Some were good dreams. Bubbles and laughter and gentle touches. Red hair tickled his cheek and a pair of blue eyes that he hadn't seen in too many years peering into his. Then others, often more frequent than the more kinder dreams, left his heart racing. Death and destruction and failure. He didn't dare try to sleep again after those.

So Dembe found him awake, despite the orders to rest more. He had had Chuck and Morgan shadowing Bruno Krause as best they could and it had paid off. He'd hoped Harold would be willing to work with him, to trust him, but hopes weren't all meant to pan out. Instead the assistant director thought he was pulling a clever one over on them by switching up the time table.

"Cooper is not going to allow you to meet with him," Dembe mused as Reddington handed the phone back to him after giving Morgan their instructions.

Reddington sighed, shifting uncomfortably in his chair. "No, and that does complicate the matter. I'd hoped for a better outcome than this."

"I'll make the call and have Bernard meet them at the site."

"Yes," Reddington agreed. "Call me when it's done."

--------

"Everything okay this morning?" Ressler asked as they pulled up to meet Park and a handful of other undercover agents onsite. "You just about took Cooper's door off the hinges when you got there."

Liz glanced over from the driver's seat. "It was…." She pulled in a steadying breath. She wasn't very good at friendships. She knew that. It was easier for her to express that she cared by helping a friend hide a body than it was to admit to something personal when she wasn't backed into a corner. This was Ressler though. If anyone had proven himself trustworthy it was him. He was a steady voice of sound reason. An island of calm in the midst of her chaos. He could help her if she'd let him. He wanted to help her.

A tap on the window made her jump and Park stood there, waiting impatiently. Liz motioned to her and turned back to her partner. "Let's get this guy, then I'll tell you."

"I'm holding you to that, Keen."

She offered him the barest of smiles before piling out of the SUV to be met by the Metro PD officer that was explaining where his men were set up and, in turn, were ready to take orders to better assist the FBI.

His people were set up in a perimeter with two undercover inside to watch Krause. The plan was to have him signal them when he spotted The Collector. They would approach The Collector outside, arresting him before he ever made it into the coffee shop that Krause was sitting in. Simple enough.

"Hey? Hey guys?" Aram's hesitant voice came over their closed comm system. "Mr Reddington is not involved with this, right? No one told him or anything?"

Liz pushes a frustrated breath through her nose. "Why would we have?"

"I'm looked into their security cameras inside and Chuck is in line to get coffee."

"No way that's a coincidence," Ressler huffed.

"You think he'd try to take him?" Park asked.

Liz pursed her lips, frustration pulling at her. "Wouldn't be the first time. Captain Reynolds? We need to make sure that-"

"There's our signal," Reynolds said and Liz turned to see a man approaching. He fit the vague description of the former KGB officer that could have been The Collector. "Move in to-"

A gunshot rang out and the man dropped on the sidewalk.

Liz didn't wait as she sprang forward, even as others dove for cover. She knew who had taken that shot, even if his finger hadn't been on the trigger, and she wouldn't catch a bullet from the sniper.

The bullet had struck him in the chest, but hadn't killed him upon impact. He lay there, choking on his own blood as Liz skidded to his side on her knees. She reached forward, palms pressed against the wound uselessly. He didn't have long.

"Look at me," she demanded and his attention swiveled to her. "I know who you are. Why would someone try to kill you?"

He blinked heavily at her. "Don't know," he gasped, coughing hard and Liz winced as she felt the blood leaking through her fingers. "So many secrets."

"Only one. What secret would Raymond Reddington kill you for?" His eyes widened a little at that and Liz's narrowed. "Answer me. Please."

There was a long moment, sirens sounding in the distance, and she thought he would take the secret to his grave. Finally, he drew in one painful breath and loosed a single word on it: "Sikorsky."

And then he was gone.

--------

It had been a hell of a day. Metro PD had helped with corralling the civilians and they had been able to at least ID the name that The Collector had been living under: Michael Kowlaski, though it didn't take a lot of digging to find that that was an alias. Until Aram uncovered more, it was the name they had.

Liz had shared the word that Kowlaski had given her with his dying breath, and while it meant nothing to Ressler it clearly meant something to her. It was a blackmail file, she explained. One that her mother had been accused of stealing. Had she? She said she hadn't. She also said that Reddington knew who had and that he refused to give the name up to save her life. Looked like they had their motive, even if all they could really do about it was unleash Liz and let her see if she could get Reddington to reveal even the slightest piece of information that might be helpful.

He hadn't and she returned to the Post Office as Ressler was finishing up a call with Metro PD and half collapsed into the seat at her desk across from his. She looked exhausted. Worn. As he hung up the phone, he wrestled with if he should ask her again what had happened the night before that had bothered her so much.

"Tom's alive," his partner whispered from her place, her voice so quiet that he thought he'd misunderstood her at first.

"Come again?"

She cleared her throat. "Can you close the door?"

"Yeah." He stood, swiveling around to close the door behind him and turned back to find her staring at him. "Did you say that Tom's alive?"

Liz nodded tiredly. "Last night when my mother called… her people had found a man outside my apartment building. He'd planted a bug in her hotel room and had followed Simms to my place. They'd taken him to her and she was questioning him. When I got there…."

"Holy shit," Ressler breathed. "How?"

"I have… no idea. He doesn't remember me. He doesn't remember us or anything that…."

"But somehow he ended up after your mother? That's a hell of a coincidence."

"It can't be, no, but I have no idea what's going on. He said he was missing time and working for some woman. I don't know who and he didn't stick around long enough for me to really find out."

"He's gone?"

"Wouldn't you be if some woman you didn't know said that you'd had a life together?" She reached up, hands against her face and Ressler had no idea how to help her. "He ran. That's what he was good at… before me. He said he spent his whole life running, so he ran from me." She swallowed hard and tears started to build. "I don't even know where he -"

Ressler stood at that and circled their desks. Liz was on her feet in a second and latched around him. He pulled her in, at a loss. Wasn't this just their lives though? The most bizarre, horrible things happened to her. The last seven years of her life had been… what had she called it? A FEMA disaster of a life? That was about right. "Liz," he tried, hoping he was saying something that would help more than hurt. "We'll find him, if that's what you want. We can find him."

She pulled back. "I want to, but he doesn't know me. It's like he never met me. Even if we did find him, what good would it do?" She sniffed hard, running the heel of her hand under her eyes and she cleared her throat. "It's late. I need to go pick Agnes up."

He watched her as she circled around, grabbing her purse out of her desk drawer with practiced stoicity. "Liz, if you need anything…."

"I know," she cut him off. "Thank you. Just… Let's keep it between us for now?"

"Done."

She tried for a smile and started out the door, leaving Ressler standing in their office with the weight of the new knowledge barreling down on him.

--------

The storm outside fit her mood. It was everything Liz could do to plaster a smile on her face when she picked Agnes up and nod and uh-huh wow at all the right times as Agnes babbled on about her day in jumbled sentences and excited rambles. By the time they pulled into the garage at the apartment building thunder was rolling overhead and Liz was glad that, if nothing else, they could go straight from the garage up to the apartment and they wouldn't get drenched. It was the single saving grace of the entire day.

Dinner, bath time, and a story later, Agnes was finally in bed and the storm still raged on outside. Liz spoke to her mother briefly, filling her in, before she poured herself a glass of wine and slumped onto the couch. Part of her thought she'd start crying again, but she was too exhausted. Too spent to work up the emotional energy to do more than stare blankly towards the kitchen, which only held her gaze because it was in her direct line of sight.

Kowlaski could have led her to answers - for mother and then eventually for herself - but Reddington hadn't dared let her have that. When Cooper wouldn't hand him over he'd sent a man to shoot him dead in the street. Whatever the Sikorsky Archive really was he didn't want her anywhere near it. He didn't want her saving her mother's life. Even when people came back to her they left again. Tom didn't remember her and while Ressler had been sweet in offering to help her look for him it wouldn't matter anyway. If he didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be. He was gone. She'd never see him again, and if she couldn't find out who really stole the Archive, her mother wouldn't be far behind him.

A sharp knock at the front door made her jump and Liz drew a breath, surprised at how unsteady it was. She blinked hard, clearing tears that had somehow crept up on her despite the exhaustion, and started for the door. She tipped up on her toes to peek out of the peephole, eyes widening at the sight.

Liz stepped back and quickly undid the deadbolt, throwing the door open to see Tom standing there. He was drenched, eyes rimmed red like he'd been crying too, and he looked worn down and terrified. "I…. didn't know where else to go," he managed, voice trembling and rough. "Can I come in?"

She nodded, sure if she spoke she would wake up to find it was a dream. So instead she reached out and carefully took his hand. He didn't pull away, but let her guide him inside and close the door behind him. They stood there in the hallway for a long moment and he was shaking. "She lied to me."

"Who?" Liz managed, but he was still there after the world left her lips.

"Gina. She said she didn't know how, but she knew… She knew your name." He swallowed hard. "I don't know who to trust."

"Me," she breathed, holding his gaze. "You can trust me."

Tom nodded and suddenly he was folding into her, her arms wrapped around his neck. They stood there for a long moment, frozen in place. It felt real. Solid. His breath against her ear and the way that his fingers wrapped into the fabric of the back of her shirt. He choked on a sob and she whispered soft encouragements. She had him. He could trust her. He was safe.

Outside the storm raged on, but in their home she held onto him like she might never let go again.

--------

TBC

Notes: Well, at least you didn't have to wait as long as you usually do for the Keens to be reunited?

This is where we're really going to hit the ground running. I've always preferred a 'them against the world' approach with the Keens (and, really, any badass couple like them), so watch out, world. By the end of it, all the cards will be out on the table, but it'll be a hell of a ride getting there.

Next Time: Tom re-meets Agnes, the Keens track down some information, and Liz gets hit with by an unexpected emotional blow.

#the blacklist #Tom Keen #Elizabeth Keen #Donald Ressler #Raymond Reddington #Gina Zanetakos #Aram Mojtabai #Dembe Zuma

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redxdrifter-blog · 6 years

Text

{ Shimazu Toyohisa TV Tropes }

Absurdly Sharp Blade: His nodachi and wakizashi.

Anti-Hero: The Unscrupulous Hero. He revels in battle and is a Blood Knight, but he's an honorable person and is genuinely willing to help the elves, unlike Nobunaga.

Bearer of Bad News: Since he lived 18 years after Nobunaga's death, Toyohisa breaks the news rather harshly that everything that Nobunaga had striven for had collapsed and Toyohisa himself died in the last battle of a crumbling era.

Beat the Curse Out of Him: Toyohisa does some form of this to Joan by throwing her into a well while pounding her, as seen when her pyrokinetic powers fade and her madness subsides somewhat. Unusual in that Toyohisa had absolutely no wish to do that (he had honestly no way of knowing that would happen), and that he left her alone after that, because he believes there is no honor in killing a woman.

Berserk Button: Doing something dishonorable like killing innocents or raping prisoners. Dissing the Shimazu clan is a more comedic one.

BFS: That nodachi is almost as tall as he is.

Blood Knight: If his usual slasher smile wasn't already a dead giveaway, take note that his first kill on the battlefield was at age 14.

Brilliant, but Lazy: In terms of combat tactics, Toyohisa is right up there with Nobunaga. However when it comes to long term political strategies and conspiracies, many consider him an incapable idiot. However, Nobunaga believes it's not a matter of Toyohisa being incapable of such cunning, but rather he just decided not to bother trying in the first place and focus solely on combat. Nobunaga goes on to say that this was probably a trait he got from the rest of the Shimazu clan, as he states they had a lot of talent and potential in many fields of governing, but combat was always their top priority above all else.

Catchphrase: When going for the kill on someone in particular, often a commander of some kind, he'll demand that they "Leave [their] head here!" This is lampshaded by Olminu when she's discovered by them as she freaks out over the "'Leave your head here' Ghost".

Combat Pragmatist: Certainly not to the extent of Nobunaga; but in their duel, Hijikata states that, Toyohisa has no samurai honor since he keeps using hit-and-run tactics. Toyohisa rebukes his claim by stating that there is no such thing has honor in a true fight to the death, and that going all out against opponent, while using whatever resources or tactics at your disposal, is a sign of respect.

Contrasting Franchise Main Character: Toyohisa's outfit is prominently red, as opposed to Alucard's black one. While both are eager for a fight, Alucard has this tendency to play with his food while Toyohisa's good side is much less ambiguous. While Alucard is an Invincible Hero with New Powers as the Plot Demands, Toyohisa is a Badass Normalwho is usually outmatched.

Covered with Scars: Given how we're first introduced to Toyohisa and his near constant suicidal tendencies in fights, is it any wonder his body is riddled with battle scars? And after his bout with Hijikata Toshizō, his growing collection shows no signs of slowing down.

Expy: A Hot-Blooded and slightly dense young samurai in a red leather jacket brings to mind Sanada Yukimura from Sengoku Basara.

Fearless Fool: Much to the lament of his comrades. They are constantly vexed at how Toyohisa can be such a highly competent general and such a reckless battle idiot at the same time. Everyone develops their own pet theory behind his behavior with most his close allies believing he was raised like this, and with most enemies believing he is genuinely insane. In truth it's a little from column A, a little from column B, and a whole lot from column C.

Genre Savvy: Toyohisa surprisingly realizes that the Drifters propping themselves up as rulers is likely to end really badly (particularly since the Orte Empire they are overthrowing is, like them, human and it's unlikely that the Elves are going to be happy exchanging one set of human rulers for another).

Honor Before Reason: He'll show mercy to any enemy that discards their weapons and will never kill a girl. Unless they've done something like raping prisoners.

Humble Hero: A rare seinen version. It's clear to everyone around him that, Toyohisa has the talents and skill of a great general, but he himself has never, and probably will never, view himself this way. No matter his accomplishments he has always seen himself a "brat of the battlefield" unfit to be held in such high regards.

I Shall Taunt You: Olminu comments half-seriously that although he doesn't do it deliberately, Toyohisa is a genius at provoking his enemies into fits of rage and frustration, as Joan of Arc, Hijikata Toshizo and even the Greater-Scope Villain EASY found out the hard way.

Idiot Hero: Not that it stops him from being a scarily competent strategist when he wants to be.

Improbable Age: At only 30 (and, this being a seinen manga, that's acknowledged as pretty damn young), he's an odd choice for commanding La Résistance, compared to the much older Nobunaga... however, you have to remember that Toyohisa has been fighting wars since he was a teenager, and thus already has over 10 years of experience under his belt, which make his talents more believable.

Katanas Are Just Better: Toyohisa's katana can easily cleave through armour and even break the swords of the Orte Empire without losing its edge.

Loophole Abuse: When fighting a soldier of the Orte Empire, Toyohisa snaps that anyone who doesn't speak Japanese should die. Yoichi snidely asks if that means he's going to kill the two elf children, so Toyohisa promptly teaches them to say "Help me!" in Japanese.

Magnetic Hero: A seinen version of types 2 & 4 for demi-humans, with type 5 reserved for the OCT members and his fellow Drifters. It's shown early on that despite most people seeing him as a terrifying killing machine (which he definitely is on the battlefield), Toyohisa posses a natural talent in breaking down cultural barriers and turning almost anybody he meets into an ally (and even they are scared of him at times). The first example of this was when he convinced the elven serfs to kill the Orte knight for massacring their people despite not understanding Japanese. He gets along best with the Dwarves however since they both have similar traits thanks to both belonging to a warrior clan/race.

Morality Chain: He serves as one along with Yoichi for Nobunaga. And is slowly becoming one for Yoichi as well.

Not Afraid to Die: Toyohisa's main mindset, which borders dangerously close to that of a Death Seeker, what with his repeated use of suicidal attacks, remarks about wanting to die a glorious warrior's death, and his belief that his death would be used as fuel for his comrades to achieve more in their pursuits. This outlook on his own life has unnerved friend and foe alike. His companions are especially fearful of this, knowing that without him all their plans will fall apart, and are constantly trying to talk him out of this way of thinking.

Not So Different: Olminu thinks that the way he fights makes him no different from the Ends.

Off with His Head!: Likes to do this to his enemies in battle.

Pet the Dog: Toyohisa tells an elf not to kill an unarmed soldier.

Proud Warrior Race Guy: Toyohisa is extremely proud of his Shimazu lineage and any sort of dissing of the clan is a huge Berserk Button for him, though it's mostly Played for Laughs.

Pure Is Not Good: Oda calls him pure when he doesn't want Toyohisa to dirty his own hands, yet he's an Anti-HeroBlood Knight who loves cutting off his foes' heads.

Replacement Goldfish: Played with in Chapter 13, with Nobunaga hinting that he may see Toyohisa as a replacement for his lost son. He's quickly shot down by Toyohisa. So he promptly ribs him about being a replacement for his father instead. This pushes one of Toyohisa's many Berserk Buttons, leading to an improptu Big Ball of Violence Yoichi joins in for absolutely no reason.

Rousing Speech: Prone to giving one of these before each battle. Nobunaga mentions that one of Toyohisa's greatest talents is to be able to get people to willingly follow him onto the battlefield. A good example is when he gives an epicTired of Running speech to a bunch of desperate refugees and soldiers begging for the Drifter's help to stop the, Black King's genocidal army. Most of it involved him flat out challenging their resolve to fight for survival, the result of which gains him more manpower for the cause.

Samurai: He is a member of the Shimazu noble family, who fought in the Sengoku period's civil war.

Sheath Strike: Aram is on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown with Toyohisa's sheath.

Shirtless Scene: Barely three chapters in and the only things covering his torso are a few bandages.

Shut Up, Hannibal!: How does Toyohisa deal with the trolling garbage spewing from Rasputin's mouth? Why he just kills his soldiers and beats the crap out of his political pawns in front of him. That would shut most evil manipulative bastards up. Not that Toyo was really listening in the first place.

Sword and Gun: Toyohisa's weapons of choice are his katana and a flintlock firearm.

"Well Done, Son!" Guy: In a sense. He's not as obsessed about it as some other characters, but although his father is already dead Toyo is determined to make him proud by killing as many enemies as possible. It's hinted that this may stem from his dad being so pleased with him when he killed an enemy in his first battle.

Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He wouldn't kill one, as is his personal code, but he does kick Joan in the gut, then knock her out with a headbutt when she refuses to surrender.

#「 heart of a warrior (HC) 」#[ tv tropes ]#ayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

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dfroza · 4 years

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A peace beyond what the world can give

is what Love offers within. and Paul writes of this in the closing of his Letter of Philippians for Today’s reading of the Scriptures

[Chapter 4]

For this reason, brothers and sisters, my joy and crown whom I dearly love, I cannot wait to see you again. Continue to stand firm in the Lord, and follow my instructions in this letter, beloved. Euodia and Syntyche, I urge you to put aside your differences, agree, and work together in the Lord. Yes, Syzygus, loyal friend, I enlist you to please help these women. They, along with brother Clement and many others, have worked by my side to spread the good news of the gospel. They have their names recorded in the Book of Life.

Most of all, friends, always rejoice in the Lord! I never tire of saying it: Rejoice! Keep your gentle nature so that all people will know what it looks like to walk in His footsteps. The Lord is ever present with us. Don’t be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all of our human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One.

Finally, brothers and sisters, fill your minds with beauty and truth. Meditate on whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is good, whatever is virtuous and praiseworthy. Keep to the script: whatever you learned and received and heard and saw in me—do it—and the God of peace will walk with you.

I could hardly contain my joy in the Lord when I realized you have started to show your care for me once again. Since you have not had the opportunity to show how much you cared until now, I want you to know how it touched me. I am not saying this because I am in need. I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances. I know how to survive in tight situations, and I know how to enjoy having plenty. In fact, I have learned how to face any circumstances: fed or hungry, with or without. I can be content in any and every situation through the Anointed One who is my power and strength. Nevertheless, it was admirable of you to participate in my affliction.

You remember, Philippians, at the beginning of my gospel journey after I left Macedonia, no church offered me the financial assistance I needed to do the Lord’s work, except you alone. Even when I took the message to Thessalonica, you sent provisions to me. Twice even! Not that I am looking for a gift—I am just looking toward your reward that comes from your gift. With what Epaphroditus delivered to me from your generous pockets, I have even been blessed in excess. I am fully satisfied. I know God is pleased with your dedication and accepts this gift as a fragrant offering, a holy sacrifice, on His behalf. Know this: my God will also fill every need you have according to His glorious riches in Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. So may our God and Father be glorified forever and ever. Amen.

Greet every saint there in Jesus the Anointed One, for my brothers and sisters and I send our greetings to you. All of the saints, especially those serving in Caesar’s household, also send salutations to you. May you all continue the journey with your spirits strengthened by the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. [Amen.]

The Letter of Philippians, Chapter 4 (The Voice)

A point of friendship from the same chapter:

My dear and precious friends, whom I deeply love, you have truly become my glorious joy and crown of reward. Now arise in the fullness of your union with our Lord.

(verse 1 in The Passion Translation)

A simple “hello” is read in this line from The Message:

Give our regards to every follower of Jesus you meet. Our friends here say hello.

(verse 21)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 5th chapter of 2nd Kings that documents the miraculous healing of Naaman:

Naaman was general of the army under the king of Aram. He was important to his master, who held him in the highest esteem because it was by him that God had given victory to Aram: a truly great man, but afflicted with a grievous skin disease. It so happened that Aram, on one of its raiding expeditions against Israel, captured a young girl who became a maid to Naaman’s wife. One day she said to her mistress, “Oh, if only my master could meet the prophet of Samaria, he would be healed of his skin disease.”

Naaman went straight to his master and reported what the girl from Israel had said.

“Well then, go,” said the king of Aram. “And I’ll send a letter of introduction to the king of Israel.”

So he went off, taking with him about 750 pounds of silver, 150 pounds of gold, and ten sets of clothes.

Naaman delivered the letter to the king of Israel. The letter read, “When you get this letter, you’ll know that I’ve personally sent my servant Naaman to you; heal him of his skin disease.”

When the king of Israel read the letter, he was terribly upset, ripping his robe to pieces. He said, “Am I a god with the power to bring death or life that I get orders to heal this man from his disease? What’s going on here? That king’s trying to pick a fight, that’s what!”

Elisha the man of God heard what had happened, that the king of Israel was so distressed that he’d ripped his robe to shreds. He sent word to the king, “Why are you so upset, ripping your robe like this? Send him to me so he’ll learn that there’s a prophet in Israel.”

So Naaman with his horses and chariots arrived in style and stopped at Elisha’s door.

Elisha sent out a servant to meet him with this message: “Go to the River Jordan and immerse yourself seven times. Your skin will be healed and you’ll be as good as new.”

Naaman lost his temper. He turned on his heel saying, “I thought he’d personally come out and meet me, call on the name of God, wave his hand over the diseased spot, and get rid of the disease. The Damascus rivers, Abana and Pharpar, are cleaner by far than any of the rivers in Israel. Why not bathe in them? I’d at least get clean.” He stomped off, mad as a hornet.

But his servants caught up with him and said, “Father, if the prophet had asked you to do something hard and heroic, wouldn’t you have done it? So why not this simple ‘wash and be clean’?”

So he did it. He went down and immersed himself in the Jordan seven times, following the orders of the Holy Man. His skin was healed; it was like the skin of a little baby. He was as good as new.

He then went back to the Holy Man, he and his entourage, stood before him, and said, “I now know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no God anywhere on earth other than the God of Israel. In gratitude let me give you a gift.”

“As God lives,” Elisha replied, “the God whom I serve, I’ll take nothing from you.” Naaman tried his best to get him to take something, but he wouldn’t do it.

“If you won’t take anything,” said Naaman, “let me ask you for something: Give me a load of dirt, as much as a team of donkeys can carry, because I’m never again going to worship any god other than God. But there’s one thing for which I need God’s pardon: When my master, leaning on my arm, enters the shrine of Rimmon and worships there, and I’m with him there, worshiping Rimmon, may you see to it that God forgive me for this.”

Elisha said, “Everything will be all right. Go in peace.”

But he hadn’t gone far when Gehazi, servant to Elisha the Holy Man, said to himself, “My master has let this Aramean Naaman slip through his fingers without so much as a thank-you. By the living God, I’m going after him to get something or other from him!” And Gehazi took off after Naaman.

Naaman saw him running after him and jumped down from his chariot to greet him, “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, but something’s come up. My master sent me to tell you: ‘Two young men just showed up from the hill country of Ephraim, brothers from the guild of the prophets. Supply their needs with a gift of 75 pounds of silver and a couple of sets of clothes.’”

Naaman said, “Of course, how about a 150 pounds?” Naaman insisted. He tied up the money in two sacks and gave him the two sets of clothes; he even gave him two servants to carry the gifts back with him.

When they got to the fort on the hill, Gehazi took the gifts from the servants, stored them inside, then sent the servants back.

He returned and stood before his master. Elisha said, “So what have you been up to, Gehazi?”

“Nothing much,” he said.

Elisha said, “Didn’t you know I was with you in spirit when that man stepped down from his chariot to greet you? Tell me, is this a time to look after yourself, lining your pockets with gifts? Naaman’s skin disease will now infect you and your family, with no relief in sight.”

Gehazi walked away, his skin flaky and white like snow.

The Book of 2nd Kings, Chapter 5 (The Message)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for Thursday, december 10 of 2020 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible, along with Today’s Psalms and Proverbs

12.9.20 • Facebook

A set of posts by John Parsons about divine Light:

For each of the days of Chanukah we light candles, kindling one for the first day, two for the second, and so on until we reach the climactic eighth day, when all shine together. Some of the sages say the word “Messiah” (i.e., mashiach: מָשִׁיחַ) may be regarded as an acronym for the phrase "we light throughout the eight days of Chanukah," i.e., מַדְלִיקִין שְׁמוֹנָה יְמֵי חֲנוּכָּה: madlikin (מ) shemonah (שׁ) yemei (י) Chanukah (ח). Indeed, the central lamp of the Chanukah menorah is called the shamash (שַׁמָש), the “Servant” that bears the original flame that kindles all the others. The salvations, wonders, and solace that God performed for us "in those days, at this time" therefore prefigure the greater deliverance we have in Yeshua, the Suffering Servant and Light of the World... [Hebrew for Christians]

12.9.20 • Facebook

** Holiday Alert ** This year the eight days of Chanukah begin on Thursday, December 10th at sundown (1st candle) and will run through Friday, Dec. 18th (until sundown). The tradition is that on the first night of Chanukah one flame is lit, on the second night two, and so on until the eighth night when eight flames are lit. In this way we remember the 'growth' of the miracle. See the link below for more information about Chanukah. [Hebrew for Christians]

12.6.20 • Facebook

The holiday of Chanukah reminds us that we must remain committed to Torah truth in a godless, and therefore insane, world. After all, since reality is the "handiwork" (i.e., conscious design) of an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving, morally perfect, purposive, personal, and spiritual Agency who has been revealed in the Jewish Scriptures, those who deny this reality are living in a state of ongoing delusion. In a sense, the history of humanity - especially as it has been expressed philosophically and politically -- has been nothing less than the conscious design to redefine reality as something that it isn't. "The kings of the earth station themselves, and the dignitaries take counsel together against the LORD and His Messiah" (Psalm 2:1-3). Spiritual warfare is therefore the fight for sanity and truth in a world that prefers madness and self-deception.

In a prophetic sense the story of “Epihpanes” foreshadows the coming time of the “Messiah of Evil” (antichrist) who will one day attempt to “assimilate” all of humanity into a “New World Order” (Dan. 9:27, 2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 13:7-9, etc.). At first he will appear to be a “world savior” who will broker peace for Israel and the Mideast, but after awhile, like his archetype Epiphanes, he will savagely betray the Jewish people and set up a “desolating sacrilege” in the Holy Place of the Temple (Matt. 24:15). His satanic rise will occur during acharit hayamim - the “End of Days” - otherwise called the period of the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24). The Final Victory of God will be established when Yeshua returns to destroy this Messiah of Evil at His Second Coming. The Holy Temple will then be rebuilt and dedicated by the hand of the true Messiah of Israel.

The Gemara says that Javan, the descendant of Noah's son Japheth (Gen. 10:2), became the founding father of ancient Greece who inherited Japheth's blessing: "May God give beauty to Japheth (יַפְתְּ אֱלהִים לְיֶפֶת) and let him dwell in the tents of Shem" (Gen. 9:27). This blessing gave him the special ability to found the arts, philosophy, and science, though if these were exercised apart from the influence of Shem, that is, apart from a Torah perspective, such pursuits would ultimately become vain and even dangerous. In other words, even though "all truth is God's truth," human learning must be contextualized in light of the divine revelation. The humanistic mindset deifies knowledge and technique; it understands to believe, instead of believing to understand. For this reason, among others, the spiritual war between Zion and the secular world rages to this hour... [Hebrew for Christians]

https://hebrew4christians.com/

12.7.20 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

December 10, 2020

A World of Books

“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.” (John 21:25)

It is difficult to understand how it could be literally true that a complete biography of Christ’s works would be an earth-filling library. However, we must realize that His works did not end with His return to heaven. The events of His 33 years on Earth were only what “Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). When He prayed, it was not only for His 12 disciples, “but for them also which shall believe on me through their word” (John 17:20). When He sent the Holy Spirit, it was so that each believer could know that “Christ liveth in me” (Galatians 2:20) and that by His Spirit, He could fulfill His promise: “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). He also promised to “build my church” (Matthew 16:18) in which each believer becomes a member of “his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:23).

Thus, the life and work of every believing Christian is, in a very real sense, an extension of the life and work of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and an endless series of thrilling biographies could be written about them. In fact, the apostle Paul referred to his Christian converts as living books: “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).

Each of our own lives, therefore, becomes one of “the books that should be written” about the “things which Jesus did.” How important it is that the deeds and words we record in our books are worthy of our divine Biographer! JDM

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miss-musings · 7 years

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Why I want to stop watching the Blacklist (a.k.a., A Rant by Me)

This used to be my favorite show. Hands down. I would legitimately schedule things around it; I would leave events early to make sure I could watch it live; I would post about it on Tumblr and read other people’s posts the rest of the evening; I would search through multiple review site’s posts the next day.

I loved the dynamic between Red and Liz. I loved the mysteries and the little morsels of answers that we would get. I loved how, in the S1 finale, it felt like no one was safe: Meera got killed; Harold got attacked and nearly killed; Tom was shot and left for dead.

But, over the past few seasons, this show has become the bane of my TV-watching experience.

(EDIT: this post, which quietly keeps gaining notes, was written post-S4, pre-S5. So, there’s still plenty of relevant things in the post, but just keep the timing in mind.)

I would watch it, sure. But that was because I didn’t want the folks on Tumblr spoiling it for me. It was because I thought we were finally getting answers – which is what they teased us with every other week – only to feel so disappointed.

This last year, I made reaction videos for a friend of mine for every single episode. You know what one of the most commonly said things in those videos is? “Well, at least next week’s preview looks good.” Only to be disappointed in that episode, and to say the same thing about next week’s preview, and the cycle repeated itself until we actually got a half-way decent episode (which was usually some kind of finale or premiere, because that’s the only time actual shit can happen – during Sweeps Week).

Over and over again, both online and in person, I compared this to those scenes in cartoons where someone puts a carrot on a fishing pole in front of a donkey, and the donkey runs so hard to reach the carrot, only to never get there.

That’s how this show has felt the past season or two.

It’s only a shadow of what it once was, and I’m tired of it. I wish I could stop watching it.

So many other people I follow on Tumblr have said they’ve either stopped or thought about stopping. By comparison, Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and the Walking Dead seemingly increase their viewership every season; the Blacklist has been NBC’s lowest-rated show in the demo for the last year, IIRC. The ratings for the Redemption spin-off were so low, the showrunners tried to pass it off as a one-off miniseries, when it was ALWAYS intended to be its own full-length show.

I understand that the show does well in DVR viewership numbers, and it was the most expensive TV show that Netflix had purchased when Season 1 was released.

But, this show continues to disappoint me. There’s hardly anything I like about it anymore. Hell, even James Spader, who’s a master at his craft, seems to be bored with it. His monologues are becoming more and more cliche, and even his amazing performances can’t save this dumpster-fire.

Its protagonist, Liz, is all over the fucking place in terms of characterization. First, she was naive and learned her “husband” had used and abused her. Then, she went to the dark side, chained him up on a boat and said she’d never forgive him for what he’d done. Then, she apparently forgave him, slept with him, had his kid, tried to remarry the guy, and then faked her death to get away with him and is now living her happy dream life with her little girl and her ‘perfect’ husband.

What happened to the dark, morally questionable, grungy Liz? What happened to the Liz who was jaded and afraid after being on the run for several weeks, or months?

She just settled down with a guy who she used to hate and she’s living the dream.

What in the literal fuck?

And, for all the time that has been invested in Liz, she has made little to no progress in her characterization these past few seasons. In fact, she’s done more of a 360. She’s right back where she started, more or less.

Why should the audience give a shit about her journey if she’s not making any progress? Why should we care that, halfway through this show, she has everything she’s ever wanted?

The side characters, like Aram, Samar, Ressler, Cooper and others are there just to serve the plot. Any time there’s a semblance of some character development or plot progression, the showrunners regress everyone back to Stage One so we can do it all over again. Aram and Samar look like they’re making progress in their possible romantic relationship? Fuck that, we’ve got to make sure Aram runs back to his abusive girlfriend and string this thing along another season! Remember when Ressler got shot, had prescription drug problems, and was in Narcotics Anonymous? Yeah, me neither.

Mr. Kaplan, who was best when she was on-screen to sass and help Reddington once every few episodes, gets pushed into the spotlight for some made-up bullshit reason that had never been discussed or hinted at previous to the “Mr. Kaplan used to work for Katarina Rostova” storyline. And while Susan Bloomaert is a fantastic and underrated actress and did her absolute best to make those scenes between her and Liz feel emotional, I didn’t really care about their dynamic at all because it felt so forced, underdeveloped, and out-of-nowhere.

Whereas the relationship that I care the MOST about – that between Red and Liz – that has been the most built-up and developed over the course of the show keeps getting thrown under the bus as Liz does the whole “love Red, hate Red, forgive Red” song-and-dance routine. She claims she agrees with Red when he tells her not to go back to Tom in Season 2… only to go back to Tom later in Season 2. She’s totally down with asking Red to help her whenever she’s a criminal on the run… but the minute her wedding gets shot up, she yells at him and says it’s his fault.

And now, as far as the Lizzington fans go, which I count myself as one of them, the show has written itself into a corner. Because all the amazing chemistry and romantic tropes throughout the show feel incredibly creepy now that Liz believes Red is her dad, regardless of whether he actually is or not. I don’t care how they try to pull themselves out of the ginormous hole they’ve dug for themselves on that one – why the hell would a woman ever end up with a guy that she once thought was her dad, even if it turned out he actually wasn’t?

And the only real way out of it is the Impostor Theory – a well-written and well-researched theory, but one that makes people have to do fucking mental gymnastics for it to work. You have to assume a lot of people like Naomi and Reddington’s former roommate from the Naval Academy who’s now an admiral, are in on it. Whereas dudes like Finch or the Director aren’t…

Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s a wonderful theory and it explains a lot. But, if it ends up being true, it means one of two things:

1) The writers didn’t plan this from the beginning and lucked their way into it

2) The writers DID plan this from the beginning, which means they have the ability to be really good writers, but then they fell into all this other bullshit – like Liz’s weird arc and other things – which really means that they’re not that good of writers; they just had the one good idea.

And if the Impostor Theory DOESN’T end up being true, in some form or fashion, that means that Red really IS Liz’s dad, and this whole fucking show – Red’s entire characterization, his relationship and dynamic with her – has been a lie. Canon can be throw out the window to rot in the sewer and fuck itself in the interim, because the writers don’t even care any more.

Which, I realize is unfair, because I know there are hundreds of people who work really hard to make this show happen, and while it’s not, like, the worst show of all time, the fact that it had such potential and has fallen so far, almost makes it seem worse than a show that was so bad from the beginning I never invested time in it.

And what makes it even WORSE is that the showrunners continue to act like this is the most groundbreaking show on television, and put it on a pedestal On High, along with the likes of Game of Thrones, The Americans, and The Sopranos… you know, actually good shows.

That would be the equivalent of the Taken director demanding that his movie should’ve gotten an Oscar. It’s like, you know it was a fine movie, and I had a good time watching it, but like, bring yourself back down to earth. Taken is okay, but it is NOT Oscar-worthy material, so get off your high horse, dude.

I guess, if nothing else, it shows that the showrunners, writers and actors are so talented that they got me to invest in the show to the point where I can’t not watch it, even though it’s fallen so far and I feel like it’s nowhere near as good as it used to be. They hooked me and got me to care about these characters and their dynamics so much that, even though it frustrates me week in and week out, I will still keep watching it.

It’s just that, now, I might be doing it with a bottle of vodka, taking shots every time:

Red has a monologue that proves James Spader is too damn good for this show;

Liz is bitchy to Red for little to no reason, while continuing to be lovey-dovey with Tom;

Ressler survives a fight or car accident or some other action sequence with no injuries whatsoever;

Harry Lennix is completely underused as Harold Cooper in an episode, because he only tells his employees to do the obvious… and literally nothing else;

Samar and/or Aram take a step back from getting together, despite hints that they’ve liked each other since Season 2.

So, bottoms up, Blacklist fans!

#blacklist #nbc the blacklist #the blacklist #raymond reddington #lizzington #keenler #elizabeth keen #harold cooper #aram mojtabai #donald ressler #samar navabi #dembe zuma #mr kaplan #katarina rostova

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tripsterguru · 5 years

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Faces of Yerevan - 11 most interesting places

New Post has been published on https://tripsterguru.com/faces-of-yerevan-11-most-interesting-places/

Faces of Yerevan - 11 most interesting places

The city, located in two landscape zones on the left bank of the Araks River, is the oldest city in the world. Its history began with the Erebuni fortress, which was founded by the king of the ancient state of Urartu – Argishti I. Reliable information about this was found during the dismantling of the ruins: a cuneiform text on the massive stone slab contained a message about the construction of the fortress. Judging by the serf remains, Erebuni was in the place where the southern outskirts of Yerevan is now located. Having experienced more than one tragedy, the city of unique buildings made of multi-colored tufa began to actively develop and grow after joining the USSR, having turned into the beautiful capital of Armenia over decades. The unique sights of Yerevan, embodying the past and the present, attract the lively interest of tourists.

Grand Cascade

Not every capital of the world can boast of such a unique structure as the Grand Cascade architectural and staircase complex in Yerevan. The incredible beauty and originality of the grandiose design is a bright modern landmark of the capital of Armenia. A multi-stage staircase made of tuff of noble shades descends from the top of the Kanaker hills to Tamanyan Street, where a monument to the national architect of Armenia A. I. Tamanyan is installed in the square.

The staircase connecting the upper areas of the city with the lower ones is the center of the entire cultural and architectural complex, which includes fountains, monuments, obelisks, museums, parks and squares of amazing beauty. The construction of Cascade began in the 80s of the last century and was completed only in 2009. The objective reasons for this long-term construction was the terrible earthquake of 1988, the collapse of the USSR and the problems that piled on the country. The stopped construction was resumed in 2002, when the rights to it were acquired by an American with Armenian roots J. Gafeschyan.

According to his plan, rooms for the gallery of ancient art were equipped under the stairs, and the upper part of the Cascade became a place for demonstrating the works of modern artists. Now there are interesting sculptures of modern avant-garde artists, in particular, Fernando Botero (South America). His expressive sculpture “Black Cat” evokes rave reviews from the public.

The whole decoration of Cascade is an unusual originality of innovative solutions: the water jets of fountains form the symbols of Armenia when they fall, the bright flower beds also carry a certain symbolic load, as well as a spectacular night illumination. For the convenience of visitors, the cascade is equipped with an escalator; observation platforms are equipped at the top with breathtakingly beautiful views of Yerevan and its environs. In general, the Grand Cascade is a huge museum of amazing beauty and charm in the open air, which is a great luck to see.

Blue Mosque

The symbol of Iranian-Armenian friendly ties – the Blue Mosque, so named because of the color of the cladding of the dome, was erected in 1766 by order of the governor of the Erivan Khanate Kajar on an area of 7 thousand square meters. m. Now it is the largest functioning mosque of the whole Caucasus. The original building of the mosque had 4 minarets, of which only 1 have survived to date. 3 domes towered over a Muslim cathedral, faced with blue faience tiles with majolica.

The 24 m long minaret is located in the southeast wing of the mosque, there are also pavilions (28); in the north wing there is a library where people are studying the Persian language; and an exhibition hall where various products of Muslim applied art are displayed. The southern part of the cathedral is a large prayer hall, where Yerevan Muslims come for holiday prayers. The courtyard of the mosque, overshadowed by a centuries-old mulberry tree, a beloved place of genius of Armenian poetry Eghish Charents during his lifetime. In the Soviet years, the building of the mosque was occupied by the Museum of History and Nature of Yerevan, then the planetarium, but since 1995 the Blue Mosque has again become an active center of spiritual Muslim culture.

Aram Khachaturian House Museum

It is so appointed by nature or God that every nation glorifies itself with one or more geniuses who become people of the World. This is the man of the world who became Aram Ilyich Khachaturian, whose musical works are the priceless treasure of the whole planet, mesmerized by the immortal sounds of expressive music. Khachaturian’s music incorporated Caucasian temperament, oriental sadness, sincere tenderness, fiery passion, majestic restraint and the brightest expressiveness.

It is enough to recall his uniquely exciting waltz to Lermontov’s drama “Masquerade” in order to catch in his sound all shades of feelings that make one admire and cry. Is it possible to listen with indifference to the truly magical “Saber Dance” from the ballet “Gayane”, whose minting rhythm is combined with the lyrical beauty of the sound ?!

All the music of a great musical genius will long excite the hearts of listeners. Despite the fact that the composer, conductor, musician and arranger did not always live in Armenia, he did a lot for the ancient folk Armenian music, breathing new life into it. Grateful countrymen opened the Khachaturian Museum in the year of his departure (1982) in the house where his older brother Vaginak lived

After the opening, the museum has been replenished over the years with exhibits related to Aram Ilyich. Literally from all over the world, they are presented by admirers of the talent of the brilliant composer. An example is the story of a piano of the brand “Playel”. During the composer’s tour in Brazil, he was invited by the famous São Paulo antique dealer, Mostijian, who bought a musical instrument on this occasion. Khachaturian played it, and then, at the request of the owner, he scribbled his autograph on the piano lid.

From Brazil, the piano “moved” to Argentina to the daughter of an antique dealer, and in 1988 he was taken from Buenos Aires to the Yerevan Museum. You can still give examples of how touching the whole world collects objects related to our great composer. For many years, the museum has been run by a passionate and devoted fan of Khachaturian’s talent – Gohar Harutyunyan, who strives to make the Museum a hotbed of musical culture, comfort and beauty. Bright blooming roses of a perfectly maintained courtyard are a symbol of people’s unquenchable love for their genius Son.

Yerevan Zoo

The most picturesque place in Yerevan with rich flora and fauna is the Yerevan Zoo, founded in 1941 on the proposal of Professor Sarkisov. The war stopped large-scale construction for 4 years, but then active work began on equipping the zoo on 25 hectares. As a result, a beautifully formed area was formed with aviaries, pools, sculptures, fountains, and children’s carousels. About 2500 of the most diverse trees, 3000 ornamental shrubs and perennial flowers were planted here. Now the zoo is a real oasis, where almost 3,000 individuals of three hundred species live, including mammals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates, fish.

The composition of the inhabitants is constantly expanding: in honor of the 70th anniversary of the zoo, capricorns, mandrills (a species of monkeys), lemurs, flying dogs from Egypt, which now give healthy offspring, were purchased. Zoo workers are trying to create an environment as close as possible to the wild: treats for animals are hung up or packed in cardboard boxes so that the animals move actively, “getting” food. On holidays, the zoo turns into an arena of interesting performances, attractions, animated performances and various shows. All visitors, regardless of age, expect only positive emotions and unforgettable impressions.

Erebuni Fortress

Like any city with an ancient history, Yerevan has its ancestral home in the form of millennial ruins of the prehistoric fortress Erebuni, located on Arin-Berd hill and covering an area of 100 hectares. Judging by the remains of the fortifications, the fortified city was created on a grand scale worthy of a powerful influential ruler, such as King Argishti I (782 BC) in the ancient state of Urartu. This conclusion can be drawn from the largest buildings of Erebuni – the royal palace and the Sushi temple, where luxurious highly artistic paintings, exquisite ornaments made with expensive paints were preserved.

The most valuable exhibit is a piece of plate, on which a text informing about the laying of a fortress is stamped with cuneiform writing. Many ancient relics illustrating the civilization of Urartu are located in the Erebuni Museum, located on one of the hillsides. In the ancient fortress, everything is permeated with mysterious riddles that are not completely solved, so it attracts thousands of pilgrims.

The way up is not so easy, so you need to calculate your physical capabilities. There is still no developed infrastructure: water and food must be taken with you, rising to the fortress. Despite these inconveniences, touching the distant past leaves a deep emotional mark in the soul.

Monument “Mother Armenia”

The Second World War did not pass by Armenia, which sent to the front many of its citizens who had sacrificed their lives for victory in the war against fascism. The “Mother Armenia” monument is a logical embodiment of the idea of peace expressed in the theme of majestic sculpture. Once upon a time there was a statue of Stalin at the site of this monument, crowning the avenue of the same name, which replaced Armenian Street.

1-story and 2-story mansions were demolished and 5-story Stalinist houses were erected. But after debunking the cult of the leader, the statue of Stalin was removed, leaving a mighty pedestal. Later they decided to put a sculpture on it like the Volgograd Motherland. The designer of the monument was the sculptor Harutyunyan, famous for other monuments. The 22-meter statue (height with a pedestal 54 m) is presented in the form of a majestic female figure holding a sword in her hand.

Unlike the sculpture of Mamayev Kurgan, “Mother Armenia” sheathes the sword, but does not hold it above itself. This gesture and the shield lying at her feet are symbols of peace, a conditional call to life without war. Unfortunately, at the end of the 80s of the last century, Armenia again had to survive the horrors of the terrible fratricidal war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

At the foot of the monument, the Museum of the Armenian Ministry of Defense is opened, where military trophies, personal items, uniforms and portraits of war heroes are exhibited. Unique archival documents, weapons, front-line letters from soldiers are presented. Next to the sculptural monument is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, on which the Eternal Flame burns. A huge number of people of different ages flock here on memorable dates for Armenia.

Museum of the Armenian Genocide

A memorial museum of genocide has been opened on one of the green hills in the vicinity of Yerevan, dedicated to the unprecedented atrocities displayed by the Turks against the Armenians from 1915 to 1922. Over the years, nearly 1.5 million Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire died in a bloody massacre. It was a cruel revenge of innocent people for the defeat of the Turks in the battles near Sarykamysh with the Russian troops, which were helped by the Armenians. The whole world recognized that it was genocide by the Turks and condemned the Young Turkish government for insane cruelty.

On the 80th anniversary of the terrible tragedy, a 2-storey building was constructed, symbolically almost completely located underground like a funerary crypt. Allegorical is the form of the internal structure in the form of circles of hell, which the unfortunate victims of genocide, who died under knives, had to go through. Semi-basement premises on the ground floor are reserved for administrative and technical services, a library, an archive and a storage. There is also a conference room with a capacity of 170 people.

All museum exhibits are located in 3 rooms of the 2nd floor with a total area of 1000 square meters. m. It is impossible to see mournful photographs without emotional excitement; read newspaper headlines; flipping books about cruel executions. Among those who come to the Museum of Sad Memory there are descendants of those who died innocently. Each item on display, each piece of paper with text simply screams that genocide against Armenians is the greatest villainy that should never happen again. When the picturesque Ararat Valley, illuminated by the bright sun, is seen from the flat roof of the Museum, only the good future of the long-suffering people is believed!

Museum of Sergey Parajanov

The name of the extraordinary artist and director Sergey Parajanov became widely known to the Russian public only at the beginning of perestroika. Prior to this, the avant-garde works of a talented creator with an unusual artistic worldview were not popularized in the USSR. His film “Shadows disappear at noon” was an emotional shock for moviegoers, as was “Color of the Pomegranate.”

The future genius in Tbilisi was born into a family of Armenians and, although he did not live in Armenia, he glorified the homeland of his ancestors in his masterpieces and bequeathed the entire Armenian heritage to the Armenian people. Grateful fellow countrymen a year after Parajanov’s death opened a Museum in his honor – a copy of the house in Tbilisi, where he was born and lived. The exhibits of the museum – 600 works of art by the master, his personal belongings, photographs, documents, scripts – all that reveals the outstanding personality of the bright avant-garde artist.

The house-museum is located on a high cliff above the gorge, from where you can see the enchanting surrounding landscapes. A 2-storey building was built specifically for the artist, who did not have time to live in it. One of Parajanov’s close friends – Sargsyan, becoming the director of the museum, is painstakingly working to expand the collection. Sargsyan’s photographs of the last 14 years of his life give a wide picture of the great son of Armenia. His original collages, paintings, installations open up the artist’s rich inner world, help to more deeply realize the meaning and ideas of his works. Here, gray reality from the angle of the artist’s special vision turns into a bright, joyful, life-affirming atmosphere.

Singing Fountains

A delightful sight in the center of Yerevan – Singing fountains, a man-made miracle of Armenian design engineers and architects, who adorned the capital’s main square with their brainchild. The water-musical extravaganza, beginning in the evening, attracts crowds of Yerevan residents and visitors. Fascinated by the magical play of light and sincere music, in which a multicolored stream of water moves, people look as if spellbound at the perfect creation of the mind and human hands.

The merit in creating a unique structure belongs to a group of enthusiastic engineers under the guidance of a well-known professor in the country, Doctor of Technical Sciences Abrahamyan. They took the “singing” fountains of Germany as a basis, adding their technical “zest” and created a real masterpiece of this kind. The musical accompaniment includes magnificent examples of classics, national motifs, rock and pop music in its best manifestations.

The stunning evening show at the end is accompanied by the immortal chanson of the great compatriot of Armenians Charles Aznavour “Eternal Love”. We must pay tribute to the French diaspora of Armenians for the restoration of fountains in 2007, in which a lot of money was invested. Thanks to this, the wonderful “Singing Fountains” continue to captivate and captivate the residents of Yerevan.

Sculpture “A man of letters”

As in other European capitals, in Yerevan, along with classical monuments of the past, there are avant-garde sculptures by modern authors, installed at the foot of the Grand Cascade. One of these sculptures is The Man of Letters by the Spanish sculptor-modernist and artist Jaume Plens, already well-known in Europe for his unique works. Yerevan “Man of Letters” is a small copy of a French sculpture 8 m high (there are several such copies in the world).

The sculpture of a seated man is made of metal (stainless steel) letters of the Latin alphabet, randomly connected into a single unit by welding. Unusually beautiful unusual sculpture, when it shines, permeated by the rays of the sun, as a light of reason and knowledge. This is precisely the meaning the author put into his creation and did not fail. The sculptures installed in Moscow, Paris, Andorra are of constant interest to the public. Yerevan residents have a reverent attitude towards their “Man of Letters”.

Zvartnots Temple

Those who visited Yerevan and saw the main attractions believed that everything interesting was behind. But when he saw the Zvartnots Temple, he was shocked to the core by the magnificent architecture of the ruins. The monumental beauty of the structures of the archaeological reserve, which is now Zvartnots, is simply stunning. It seems that there is nothing more beautiful in architecture than these ancient remnants of the Heavenly Angels temple (as Zvartnots sounds in translation).

Excavations carried out here exposed the priceless ruins of temple buildings erected during the Catholicos Nerses III in 641-661, known under the nickname “Builder”. Judging by the preserved magnificent columns with numerous decorations, this nickname was fully justified. According to legend, during the visit of the Byzantine emperor, he was so impressed by the majestic beauty of the temple that he immediately wished to erect the same in Constantinople. On the way, the invited architect died, and the emperor’s plan did not materialize.

The temple was a round domed building of light gray and black tuff, with three tiers with a total height of 49 meters and a diameter of the 1st tier of 35 m. The temple was built on a huge stepped pedestal, which has been preserved in some places to this day. A semicircle of 6 columns formed a cross inscribed in a circle, which symbolized the World. The lower tier of the temple was surrounded by a frieze with an intricate patterned bas-relief depicting pomegranate branches and vines, symbolizing the development of the world and man.

There are parts of the premises of the Catholicos Palace, which can be used to judge its former greatness. The ruins of the winery with large ceramic tanks indicate the scale of wine production. Now on the territory of the ancient temple, archaeological and restoration work is ongoing so that such beauty does not irrevocably become a thing of the past.

#Mother Armenia #A man of letters #Aram Khachaturian House Museum #Blue Mosque #Erebuni Fortress #Grand Cascade #Monument #Museum of Sergey Parajanov #Museum of the Armenian Genocide #Sculpture #Singing Fountains #Yerevan Zoo #Zvartnots Temple

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notesandcoffee · 7 years

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Opinions 4.19

Psychotherapy is hard to write well, Gale continues to provide more entertainment than any TK plotline, and I try my hand at figuring out how to forget things.

There was so much going on this episode that it was actually hard for me to start somewhere. Everything is just such a good idea. The execution ranges from questionable to excellent, but there's nothing I would consider irrevocably "bad", as we've seen in some previous episodes. Definitely stuff I feel could be improved, so I guess we'll start there.

The "therapy" that's the centerpiece of this episode, where Dr. Krilov stages an abduction and then implants memories in Ressler's memory is okay, given what comes afterwards is both absorbing and entertaining. The payoff is worth the suspension of belief for this part, but I feel like the therapy could have been done better and closer to, you know, actual science. In the scene in question, Krilov goes from narrating Panabaker's language in Ressler's "dream", for lack of a better term, immediately to explaining to his colleagues what exactly he's doing.

I feel like this was done for time purposes, rather than believability, but that doesn't really make it better. Combined with the cut idea that Ressler's memory was supposed to be triggered by Sriracha scent rather than auditory input. There's no real way to do that on-screen without losing at least part of the audience or taking up a lot of time, so I understand why it was cut. But immediately going against a rule that was just made doesn't really seem cool either. It would have kept the audience enrapt if Krilov had only voiced Panabaker in the "dream", and maybe if the colleagues had spoken to themselves, quietly, off to the side. It would give the impression that Ressler is completely hypnotized to the sound of Krilov's voice and is inputting memory rapidly (which he would have been, according to the scene).

That's my strongest real criticism, though. I wasn't really feeling the tension at the beginning, but I also didn't realize quite what the plan was for Ressler and to have him go directly against Panabaker by himself, but it ultimately brought about something that I hadn't expected. Again, there's a bewilderment and a payoff that was more than worth it for me.

Ressler, while trying to talk Gale out of pursuing Reddington through the bodies on the ice rink, receives a call from a detective in Philadelphia about the Reven Wright case, which of course he pursues. Jailing Panabaker for Wright's murder has been a longtime goal of Ressler, one that we've seen him struggle with numerous times in the show after Wright's demise. There, he meets Linda McFadden, who saw Hitchin carrying a body out of Wright's house, presumably her body. Shortly after, the area is SWATted, and everything goes dark. Ressler is picked up by a flip Panabaker shortly after, and pushes her for answers on Wright and McFadden. The two go back and forth for a while, before Panabaker excuses Ressler and instead calls in a threat against McFadden from her own cell phone.

The cell phone Ressler drops doesn't ever payoff, though. I don't think that's really worth pursuing, in this case.

Gale continues to impress with his relentless pursuit of the truth, and he finally meets Liz, after trying to reach her by phone numerous times. He wants her to see the body-filled ice rink to guilt her into telling him where Reddington is and the story. He's already got a great grasp of what happened, complete with memorized dates. He's made a timeline with dates and evidence, all of it through records and without the characters we've known and fallen deeply in love with. He's an acknowledgement that Reddington is still a criminal, in addition to all of the other things we know him to be. He's not a direct threat to Liz, but presents a threat to Reddington, which puts Liz in yet another conflicting position.

However, unlike previous scenarios with TK, the conflict isn't based on Liz's romantic feelings for anyone., something that the audience cannot share. It's about Liz's loyalty, and what she wants to find meaning in. She either protects Reddington and values him as more than an informant, or she finds justice for the victims on the ice rink and turns him in properly. For the first time in years, the audience is asked questions that aren't centered on "what is abuse?" but rather, what's morally more meaningful. Murciano is great at speaking quickly and not allowing Liz or Ressler enough time to think about a reaction before his next statement, even if it caused problems for me personally when I tried to watch the episode sped up.

There isn't enough Aram in this episode. Aram and rest of the P.O. sans Ressler take a backseat, though they're next in line as Gale continues to rip through the task force in order to get to Reddington. With Ressler sidelined, it's anyone's guess as to who Gale targets next. Cooper would be an interesting choice to go after next, as he could use the task force as a shield or insist on taking on Gale himself.

We did get a peek at how Saram is doing, with Aram's line: "... and these days, [Navabi and I] don’t really agree on anything so, you know, it’s gotta be good advice." They've been fighting about a lot, and as colleagues, that's not particularly good for the P.O. as a whole. But because they can come to at least this agreement without much of a conflict, they both care about Liz (and by extension, Reddington) enough to want her to stay away from Gale.

Based on what we know from the Katai Fellowship ordeal and Janet's appearance in the P.O., Navabi has had issues addressing Aram plainly, something Aram isn't comfortable with at all, stuttering and peppering his speech with more fillers than usual in this particular line. I'm still a bit unclear as to why Navabi has such a distaste for her colleague, but it's nice to know that something that trivial will not break up the team... yet. With the pressure Gale is using as a weapon in this arc, it'll be interesting to see how that affects Saram, which it ultimately will.

Red mentions how Kaplan's personality has changed, something longtime fans have noted since the beginning of the arc. It's an acknowledgement that it's not quite the same Kaplan we've seen in previous episodes of the show, for better or worse. Now that it's a noted adjustment of Kaplan's personality, we can start looking as to why her personality changed drastically so quickly, and what changes can be retroactively made to the flashback episode, if any. Last Opinions I theorized that the new personality was the result of an untreated TBI, but because we're working slow closely with memory, I thought it was worth a second look.

But we see something new here -- Krilov mentions that he saw Liz two years ago, not twenty-five. And he doesn't seem to be lying about it either. @eaglechica19 has a great thesis on Caul hiring Krilov and how it intertwines with Red's relationship with Liz, and if you haven't read it yet, open a tab for it here.

And because I was curious, I wondered if Kaplan remembered things differently than how they actually occurred, inspiring her change in personality and autobiographical memories being disjointed. If that were the case, it would be similar to how Krilov's implanted memories in Liz and Ressler worked. Except, as I mentioned previously, Kaplan's access to medical attention, be it nefarious or not, was incredibly limited. If Kaplan's fake memories weren't implanted by Krilov or Orchard, how did she get them? And could we use that to learn about Liz's memories?

Disclaimer: I am not a neuroscientist. I'm a fucking nerd with an internet connection. Please consult actual fucking medical attention if any of these things might apply to you.

This is on the Mayo Clinic's website for amnesia:

Another rare type of amnesia, called dissociative (psychogenic) amnesia, stems from emotional shock or trauma, such as being the victim of a violent crime. In this disorder, a person may lose personal memories and autobiographical information, but usually only briefly.

Reading this looks like a terrible plot device, I'm aware, but this is a real thing that happens to real people. It's worth reading up on, in my opinion, for that reason alone.

But in our world of fiction, we've been exploring two different people's memories. Both of whom have survived traumatic incidents -- plot-dependent incidents -- that we've only seen in that autobiographical memory. Liz's memory was toyed with intentionally, at least once by Red. If those memories are wrong, then we’re not viewing the story completely. So where can we find that story?

From WebMD, emphasis mine:

Dissociative amnesia is not the same as simple amnesia, which involves a loss of information from memory, usually as the result of disease or injury to the brain. With dissociative amnesia, the memories still exist but are deeply buried within the person's mind and cannot be recalled. However, the memories might resurface on their own or after being triggered by something in the person's surroundings.

This fits with what we've seen so far from Liz, in her shooting Connolly. We also see this in how Kaplan recalls her past, with bits floating in and out as she goes on her grotesque road trip to dig up bodies. The memories themselves are shattered, and while certain parts of the memory are intact, some of the most crucial bits are fuzzy. As @eaglechica pointed out, we don't know for sure who is fighting in Liz's memory. Certain parts of Kaplan's memory are missing as well, such as the long time gaps that were barely covered by a cut on-screen.

As noted, Krilov's psychotherapy is a bit of a farce on Ressler, easily broken by Liz, which leaves me to wonder what exactly he did to Liz to make her forget... whatever he was told to. When successful, how does his psychotherapy actually work, and can we learn anything from it? Is there any way for someone to completely forget something happened?

It's tempting to say "repression" in the same way Freud imagined it -- that is, traumatic experiences were sealed off but left behind a specific behavior associated with it, like depression, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, etc. This concept has largely been disproven by the scientific community. Long story short: victims telling someone they forgot what happened was more beneficial than coming out with the truth for a incredible amount of time. Likewise, I wasn't able to find a psychotherapist who specialized in making people forget experiences, but an incredible amount of hypnotherapists who specialized in dealing with the effects of trauma.

As far as I can tell, there hasn't been a documented experiment where a person was able to successfully completely forget an experience. However, it's well-documented that every feeling you have, every thought, is a result of a series of neurons firing off at the right time with the right signal. Mess with the timing, mess with the signal or how its carried, mess with the part firing off in the first place, and the results can be vastly different. The closest to having someone intentionally forget an experience that I was able to find in academia was an experiment in 2010, where a drug was able to block "fear" signals when mice encountered a loud noise. Because our communication with mice is limited, we don't know if they "forgot" what a loud sound means in the same way that humans might forget a phone number or a grocery list. We do know that when we drug mice, they don't have the same chemical reaction that would cause them to feel fear or anxiety after they've had a bad experience. For our purposes, they know what happened previously when there was a loud noise, but they excuse it and continue with their day, while on drugs.

If Kaplan's working with a traumatic brain injury that's fucking with her memory, Liz needs to be on drugs consistently to wholly forget hers. We haven't been with Liz 24/7, but I'm going to go ahead and say she hasn't been on memory-altering drugs for most of that time. Instead, Krilov has used a combination of hypnotherapy and drugs (as seen in Ressler's "dream") to make the emotions associated with that memory less traumatic and harder for her to recall.

If Kaplan is suffering from dissociative amnesia, we might be able to get the whole story soon, similar to how Liz is revealing her memories. If Liz happens to hit the right trigger, we'll get the memories that we desperately want to see.

#the blacklist #opinions #gale needs a nickname so bad #cinnamon roll hacker supreme

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ciathyzareposts · 4 years

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Missed Classic 84: The Pesach Adventure (1993)

Written by Joe Pranevich

Happy Passover! For the last five years, we have had an annual tradition of a Christmas adventure, a special one-off look at a festive game for the holiday season. I love playing and documenting these games, but the truth is that Christmas is not a holiday that my family and I celebrate in the traditional way. While I was raised with Christmas, my wife was not, and we have decided together to not make it an integral part of my son’s upbringing. We still celebrate the Yuletide with my family, but his only idea of Santa Claus comes from watching Christmas episodes on Youtube Kids.

A few years back, my wife challenged me to find and play a Jewish-themed adventure game. At the time, I didn’t realize that it was such a tall order. Jews account for only 2% of the United States population today and so naturally there is a smaller audience for games about Jewish holidays. Now that we have made it to 1993, I can finally play the first known game about a Jewish festival: The Pesach Adventure! (“Pesach” is the Hebrew name for the holiday. Fun fact: English is rare in that it uses different words for Easter and Passover; using the Hebrew name makes it clear you are referring to the Jewish holiday.) Don’t get used to annual Passover games (or Hanukkah, Purim, Sukkot, or anything else) because this is the only game about a Jewish holiday that I know of until the modern era.

If you are unfamiliar with Passover, never fear! I’ll start today with a brief overview of the holiday and its history before jumping into the game itself. If you only want to hear about the gameplay, feel free to skip it. Passover is a beautiful holiday and one of the most important in Judaism, even if it has been overshadowed in the popular culture by a certain winter present-giving holiday.

“Let my people go!” – Moses

Passover 101

Many Jewish holidays can be defined by the expression, “They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat!” Passover is no exception. Trying to summarize the history and traditions of the holiday in a couple of paragraphs will be difficult, but I hope you can get the flavor. I apologize in advance for any errors, omissions, or if I seem to make light of any tenets that you hold dear.

In Judaism, one of the most important stories is the Exodus from Egypt. While the book of Genesis tells of the patriarchs and the mythic underpinnings of the world, Exodus begins with the Israelites in bondage in Egypt, before revealing the story of Moses and his encounter with God, leading to the miracles that allow the Israelites to flee captivity and begin to cross the desert towards Israel. (It will take forty years and three more books– Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy– for them to reach it, but that is a story for another day.) It is difficult to explain how central this story is in Judaism. Throughout their lives, Jews are asked to think of themselves as if they have personally been delivered from Egypt. This is not only to impart a sense of gratitude, but also an obligation to help those less fortunate and lift them out of their own personal enslavements. You are likely familiar with these stories already as they include the Ten Plagues, the Golden Calf, the Ten Commandments, and the occasionally funny notion that it took 40 years to cross 150 miles of desert.

Passover celebrates the first part of that story: God reveals himself to Moses who returns to Egypt to negotiate with an unnamed (and likely ahistorical) Pharaoh for the freedom of his people. Pharoah does not let them go willingly so God sends, through Moses, a series of increasingly punishing plagues beginning with blood (the contamination of the Nile), an infestation of frogs, and then of lice. Each plague is more terrible than the one before, but still Pharaoh’s heart is hardened and he does not relent. (In fact, his own magicians duplicate the plagues, which certainly would not have made things any easier for anyone.) Eventually they reach the worst plague of all: the death of the firstborn. God commands the Israelites to mark their doors with lamb’s blood so that the death would “pass over” them. For the Egyptians, it did not matter whether you were royalty or a slave; all firstborn sons must die. This drastic measure forces the Pharaoh to relent and free the Israelites, but they must leave so quickly they do not even have time to bake bread for the journey. Once they are gone, he has a change of heart and sends the army after them all the way to the Red Sea (or Sea of Reeds, or any number of other translations). In that dramatic confrontation, Moses performs his most memorable miracle as he parts the sea and permits the Israelites to cross, before drowning the Egyptians that followed. It’s not a “fun” story. Later rabbinical commentary addresses this by saying that God himself mourned the death of so many Egyptians and chastised the angels for celebrating the deaths of “His children”.

Drown like an Egyptian?

One key facet of this narrative is that the Israelites had to carry unleavened bread with them, essentially crackers which would later become known as matzah. Once they were safely on their way, God revealed Himself at Sinai and started issuing rules. Lots and lots of rules. Several of those rules included commands to remember and honor the Passover (Exodus 12:14, 13:3) as well as the “feast of the unleavened bread” (Leviticus 23:5). Once the Temple was built in Jerusalem, Passover was honored yearly through a family meal consisting of a sacrificed lamb as well as matzah and bitter herbs (maror). Eating these “foods of affliction” connected these early Jews to the original Exodus and laid the foundation of our modern Passover Seder.

Many years later (around 30 CE), these traditions were still being followed when a certain former carpenter sat down for a final meal with his friends. There is some debate whether the Christian “Last Supper” was an example of a Passover “Seder” or not. I have had some religious teachers say “yes!”, and that our traditions began even prior to the destruction of the Second Temple. Others draw a firmer line between the literal eating of a Passover meal (which would have included lamb) and the metaphorical Passover Seders that would come later. I could go on for some time, but suffice it to say that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke all state that the Last Supper was a Passover meal, while John states that Passover came after Jesus’s death. I’ll leave working that out as an exercise for the reader.

After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, everything changed for Judaism. With no more Temple, there were no more sacrifices. Scholars wrestled with and codified Jewish laws and customs into several works. One of these was an early haggadah, instructions and prayers for the ritual Passover Seder, now emerging as something distinct from the previous sacrificial practice. Perhaps the most notable of these rabbinic works is the Babylonian Talmud. One of my rabbi friends called this the “New Testament of Judaism”; it is 2,711 pages of Hebrew and Aramic text that covered all aspects of Jewish life but also transformed it from a religion of literal animal sacrifices into one of metaphor that could spread throughout the world. One of the tractates (“Pesachim”) specifically deals with the traditions of Passover, the rules about leavened products (chametz), and many other customs that are still followed today.

And that is where we finally get to the modern holiday of Passover. While only the most observant still follow all of the rules to the letter, most Jewish families keep some aspects of the tradition. Prior to the holiday, a family is supposed to rid their households of chametz, bread products and things connected to them, to honor that original flight into the desert. In traditional homes, this is taken quite literally with a mad scramble to clean every crumb in the house. On the day of the holiday itself, the family gathers for a ritual meal. (Outside of Israel, for reasons that are too complicated to get into, the ritual meal is held on the first two days rather than just the first day.) Throughout the meal, the family follows a formula recorded in a haggadah which describes which prayers to give, what rituals to follow, and onward through the eating of the passover meal itself. There are many such haggadahs today, each following the same formulas but interjecting their own voice or explanations into the proceedings. At the center of the passover experience is the Seder Plate that includes all of the symbolic foods, including a shankbone to symbolize the sacrifice. During the meal, there is a point where a piece of matzah is broken and hidden for the children to find later. This is the afikoman, which will be important as we play the game, and the kids need to find it in order for the meal to end. It’s a fun activity after a long night of praying, eating, and retelling the story of the flight from Egypt.

Bob Newell circa 2016.

Building the Adventure

The story of The Pesach Adventure starts where you might expect: with a realization and a bit of free time. As we have already seen, by 1993 there was no shortage of Christmas-themed adventure games. I’ve played six of them already and am nowhere close to running out. And yet, in all this time there had never been (as much as I am aware) an adventure game about a Jewish holiday. The closest may be Game of the Maccabees (1983), an action game for the Commodore 64 and other systems which could (if you squint) be called a game about Hanukkah. In early 1993, Bob Newell, an MIT-trained electrical engineer, programmer, and interactive fiction enthusiast came to precisely the same realization. He was living in Bismarck, North Dakota at the time and as far from the center of American Jewish life as it is possible to be. And worse for him (although lucky for us), he was also ill and home sick from work for a couple of weeks with time on his hands.

Let me pause there because while we have already looked at a few tools for building “amateur” adventure games in the 1980s (most notably “The Quill”, used for A Spell of Christmas Ice, and “AdvSys” used for Elves ‘87), the state of the art by 1993 was considerably more advanced. The “Adventure Game Toolkit” (AGT) was getting long in the tooth, but newer options such as the “Text Adventure Development System” (TADS) were maturing (TADS2 was released in 1992) and “Inform” (released in 1993) was just around the corner. These systems were complete enough that a competent and professional-quality game could be written, tested, and released in weeks rather than months with little care needed by the developers to build their own engines or cross-platform compatibility. Sure, text adventures were long in the tooth already, but as Curses (1993) would soon reveal, there was still a market and a community for the next generation of interactive fiction. Newell, whether he realized it or not, was one of the pioneers in this new generation of game designers. He selected TADS2 as his environment and set out to plot and write his holiday-themed text adventure.

“Game of the Maccabees” just screams “Hanukkah”, doesn’t it?

Beginning as he was in late 1992 or early 1993, Newell had a choice of holidays to cover. Purim was the first possibility, falling that year in early March. That holiday features costumes for the kids and heavy drinking for adults (the religious commandment is to “drink on Purim until that person cannot distinguish between cursing Haman and blessing Mordechai”; Haman and Mordechai are the villain and hero of the Book of Esther respectively), but it is not a major holiday in quite the same way. Shavuot, a holiday celebrating the granting of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, fell in late May but that holiday is barely observed by all but the most religious. Passover in April, would be the ideal choice for a game both because it is celebrated even by most secular Jews, but also because it already included game elements: bedikas chametz, the search for hidden leavened products, and the seder-night search for the afikoman. Although Newell had been raised in New Jersey, he patterned his game not on his own upbringing but rather on Jewish life as presented in the works of Chaim Potok, a well-known author who beautifully (and sometimes tragically) depicted the lives of Jews living in New York.

With a plot and setting established, Newell set to work and completed the first pass of the game in an astounding two weeks, sharing it with a few “beta” testers and uploading the completed game to local BBSes in February 1993. He asked his players to share the wealth and “upload like a meshuggah!” to get it the broadest audience in time for Passover. The game was not freeware, but rather “charity-ware” where you were requested to donate $5 (around $9 in today’s world) to a tax-deductible charity of your choice. A walkthrough and teaching materials could be purchased from Newell’s company, Avi Gobbler Publishing, for the low, low price of $2 plus a self-addressed stamped envelope. Initial playtesting on the game wasn’t perfect; by his own admission he made the game too difficult for his target audience of schoolchildren. He formulated plans to expand the game for a 1994 release, but ultimately never completed the work.

“Courting Jane”, his first novel, is a Hawaiian time-travel Regency romance; several words that I never knew that I would use together in a sentence.

Newell relates that he received very little feedback on his game, except for one email from a young developer that was inspired to write interactive fiction of his own. That developer was Nathan Cull. While that name may be unfamiliar to most of you, he was an award-winning interactive fiction designer of the late 1990s. I already had an (ahem) “secret” plan to play his Frobozz Magic Support (1996) as part of an “Inspired by Infocom” series I hope to do following my Infocom marathon.

Following work on The Pesach Adventure, Newell’s career and other interests led him away from game development, although he continued to have a strong connection to Judaism as well as games in the abstract. For the former, I have to congratulate him for completing dav yomi twice! Each of those is a seven and a half-year cycle of Talmud study. In 2005, he founded The Checker Maven, a weekly newsletter devoted to checkers and draughts. In 2007, he briefly returned to gaming by creating GGZC, a front-end for playing interactive fiction on Linux. He has also studied and written about board games, Linux, Emacs, and other things. He runs a local Jane Austen society, was president of the Hawaii Chess Federation, and clearly manages to keep himself busy. After his retirement from electrical engineering, he wrote and published two novels, as well as a collection of short stories about checkers. He’s a fascinating individual and I am glad that I have been able to meet him as part of this series.

Time to play the game!

It’s educational. How hard can it be?

Playing the Game

It’s the night before Erev Pesach. Tomorrow night is Seder night, a time of year you always enjoy. You and Imma and the rest of the family have worked really hard to get the house clean- Pesach clean, Imma always calls it. You live in a good, observant home, and Abba and Imma have removed just about all of the chametz in preparation. Of course, you and your family always spend some time on this night searching the house for chametz that might have “escaped” Imma and Abba’s watchful eyes. Abba and Imma are full of tricks, and they’ve made a game out of this. It’s fun, though, and every year you look forward to this night.

Your job is to go through the house and grounds, making sure everything is in order for Pesach. You’ll need to say the right blessings, find the right objects, and remove the things that shouldn’t be kept around over Pesach. Good luck!

I don’t even finish the introduction before I start to worry: If this game is a treasure hunt, just with chametz instead of loot, I’ll be fine. But if I have to “say the right blessings”, I’ll be up a creek because frankly I don’t know them. I am less concerned that I may be called upon to make judgements about what is and is not Kosher for Passover since I am unafraid to use Google, but knowing the correct blessings may be another matter altogether.

My concern is amplified immediately because the first action of the game is to answer a trivia question asked by our Abba (father): what is the Hebrew name for the search for chametz? I have no idea so Google comes to the rescue with the term “bedikas chametz”. Fortunately, it is correct and we can start the game properly. (Insightful readers may observe that I knew this term only a couple of pages ago, but the introduction and research was done after playing the game so as to minimize spoilers.)

“Abba” is pretty much every Hebrew learner’s first word as it uses only the first two letters of the Aleph-Bet: אבא

We start the game in the dining room:

Dining Room

You are in the dining room. You can see that Imma has begun to prepare the large table for the Seder. There is a chandelier hanging over the table, and a buffet sideboard set up. Through the window, you can see into the back yard. A doorway to the south leads to the kitchen, and a doorway to the west leads to the living room.

Nu, was ?

Exploring the room, we quickly discover a flashlight under the table and a prayer book on the buffet. Inside the prayer book is a bracha (blessing) which I read for a further five points. With luck, that will be the extent of the blessings I was supposed to say. I head south to discover that the dining room is pitch black. I try to turn on the flashlight, but apparently I cannot do that because it’s too dark. What the heck? I have to head back to the dining room to turn it on before resuming my journey… to the kitchen.

Let me interrupt myself here because I did not fully realize what was going on. It initially seemed asinine that the kitchen (and every other room) would be dark and unexplorable without a flashlight. I live here! I know where the light switches are! The real life bedikas chametz isn’t just a weird type of spring cleaning, it is a “game” where the search is to be conducted by candlelight using a feather to dust the evil crumbs out of their hiding places, not to mention the deliberate bits of chametz that your parents hid around the house just to make sure you were paying attention. The fact that we have to use the flashlight makes perfect sense in that context and I suspect a player familiar with the tradition would have known that already. I’m not the target audience!

And since I interrupted my narrative once already, I’ll interrupt myself a second time to point out that the command prompt in this game is a bit strange: “Nu, was?” “Nu” is an interrogative word in Yiddish, sort of like “well?” or “so?”. I do not know what the “was” means in this case. In context it’s obviously something like “what’s next?” but I welcome any Yiddish speakers to elaborate.

Not having grown up hating matzah, I don’t mind it so much.

Kitchen

You are in the kitchen. There is a doorway leading north to the dining room, a stairway going down to the basement, and a sliding door leading east to the patio outside. There is an old refrigerator here, as well as a kitchen table, a cupboard, and a storage drawer. You can also see Imma’s stove here in the kitchen, and the big double sink. One side is for meat, the other for milk- this IS a good kosher home, you know- Imma takes pride in that.

I discover my first mini-puzzle in the kitchen. Inside the refrigerator are two boxes of matzah, one red and one blue. Reading the labels, I learn that the blue one is Kosher for Passover while the red one is not; it will have to go! But what do I do with the chametz that I find? The introduction didn’t say. I continue searching through the drawers and cupboard to locate a plastic sack; the game is kind enough to let me know immediately that it is the correct receptacle for our discoveries. There’s also a spoon in the sink, a broom in the drawer, and a nearly-empty pack of matches on the table. A pile of crumbs on the stove offers a surprising challenge, but I figure out that while I cannot sweep them directly into the sack, I can sweep them into the spoon and then dump them into the sack. I later learned that this use of the spoon (with a broom substituting for the feather) was also part of the ritual and would have been well-understood by the target audience. Even though I’ve now collected two bits of chametz, my score has not gone up any further. Am I doing something wrong?

It’s a little thing, but I love the detail that this is a traditional Kosher kitchen. A properly Kosher household would have needed two sets of nearly everything, one for preparing and serving dairy and one for preparing and serving meat. I’ve even been to homes with two dishwashers! Although I expect that many people are aware that pork and shellfish are not Kosher, those two examples make up only the tip of a huge set of rules and customs around what can be eaten when and which utensils you can use. It’s a nice detail and a reminder that interactive fiction can put you in someone else’s shoes. I’d better hurry up because Abba is already getting upset that the search is taking too long, and I’ve only explored two rooms!

Maintaining a kosher kitchen is much easier for vegetarians.

I won’t narrate every room with the same level of detail, but you can see the pattern already: as we traverse the house, we must carefully search through (and under) every object in every room to find all those little bits of chametz. Time pressure becomes the hardest part as Abba will stop the search after 100 turns. This means that I have to iterate over the house in multiple playthroughs to find everything then plot out the optimal path. More on that in a bit, but here’s what I find when I explore our household:

Beneath the kitchen is the basement with three rooms. There is an oil can at the bottom of the stairs. Off to the west is my bedroom (graham cracker crumbs!) while the furnace is to the east. Hidden in the furnace is a bag of beans. You might be surprised to learn that while beans are not leavened, it is tradition among many Jews that rice, corn, and similar foods are not kept on Passover because of the risk that they have been stored in (and contaminated by) facilities containing flour.

Outside the sliding-glass kitchen door is a patio and a small yard. A grill outside seems like a perfect place for crumbs to hide, but it is empty. Instead, I manage to nearly blow up the house by starting the gas and not being able to turn it off. Not very safe! A shed in the yard has a rusted door, but we would be poor adventurers if we didn’t know to use the oil can. Somehow there are cookie crumbs for me to clean on the lawn mower. I can also lose a point if I come back into the house without shutting the door; I end up starting over just in case that would prevent a win.

The living room is off to the west and its sofa, reclining chair, and table offer many places to search. We find cake on the table and a cracker under the sofa cushions, but there’s also a key that we can discover if we sit on our father’s favorite reclining chair. What could that be for?

The remainder of the first floor consists of a hallway leading out to a small yard and the street. Like any good Jewish household, there is a mezuzah on the front door. Heading outside, we learn that we are in Brooklyn! Other than spying a trash can outside and another chance to lose a point by not closing the door when we come back in, I discover nothing of interest.

Jewish households, even non-observant ones, often will have a mezuzah near the door.

Working our way upstairs, we find my two siblings’ rooms. My brother’s room has a locked closet containing a pile of scandalous… er… religious magazines, but he’s only using them to hide a box of cookies! Similarly, my younger sister has hidden a candybar in her bed, and not even a properly Kosher one. Into the sack for both!

In the bathroom, we find a piece of pie crust hidden in a butter dish in the shower.

The final room is my parents’ bedroom, a place where curious little ten-year olds probably shouldn’t go very often. Looking in the mirror on their dresser reveals a gum wrapper on the floor. Since the gum was packaged with flour (which we can see in the ingredients list), it is chametz and has to go!

As I stated above, all of that happened over several playthroughs because the 100-turn limit is shockingly limiting for a game that has tons of objects to “search”, “look in”, “look under”, and “move” in every room. I set myself the task of building a “script” to move around the house as efficiently as possible to collect every treasure, but even that requires a bit of cheating as we cannot read the labels or search things. I have to pick up the spoon, for example, before I look into the sink. The game knows it is there and let’s me do it, but wrecks the suspension of disbelief. Even by being as absolutely efficient as possible, it still leaves me with only a handful of turns at the end to solve the final puzzle: what am I supposed to do with this stuff once I collect it?

My first thought is to toss it in the trash outside, but for some reason that doesn’t seem to work. I end up Googling to discover that the typical ending of this ritual is to burn the chametz (usually the next morning), so I resume trying to work the grill. This is one of those embarrassing cases where the command was just “light grill”, but I spent more time that I care to admit trying to “light match”, “remove match from matchbook”, and that sort of thing. Once the grill is lit, I stick the sack on the flames and… lose.

Abba tells me that not only did I fail to find all of the chametz, I also burned something that I wasn’t supposed to. I search through every object that I found and none of them seem ambiguous as to their Kosher for Passover status. I eventually work out that it was the sack itself that I was not supposed to burn, but I can dump the contents out onto the grill easily enough. I still lose, but this time only with a message that I did not find the chametz, not that I burned something incorrectly. A little more mucking around and I realize that the sack was too full for the last couple of items. I have to modify my script to dump our findings on the grill the first time we pass as well, giving me enough room for the rest. Once I burn everything, I win!

I did it!

Winning the first part of the game advances the story to the next day. Our family has celebrated the Passover Seder and we are getting close to the end where the kids have to search for the afikoman, the special piece of matzah that a subtle adult hid during the meal. Unfortunately, this is where I become stuck as I cannot find it. My two siblings, now implemented as roving NPCs that search the house on their own, never find it either. This whole bit unfortunately feels less like an endgame puzzle and more like an incomplete part of the game. Even though it’s now Passover and the meal is nearly at its conclusion, room descriptions have not been updated and many of the explorable items from earlier in the game are broken or not present.

I give up and decide to cheat. The TADS2 development system prevents easy cheating by encoding the text, so I cannot learn anything by using a hex editor like I did playing A Christmas Adventure. With that avenue closed, I look at various paths to decompile the game or otherwise learn its secrets. I’ve been playing with a DOS executable version but eventually discover that someone archived a .GAM version of the game which would have been playable on any system with a TADS2 interpreter. With that in hand, I manage to get an old TADS2 decompiler to work and voila! I have something close to the source to the game.

I discover the issue: the afikoman is placed in a random room at the start of the endgame. The other kids move around the house randomly and you have to try to find it before they stumble on it. Unfortunately, the routine appears to have a bug where sometimes the prize can be placed in an inaccessible room. I play the game over again and this time the ending is simple as the afikoman is just sitting on the floor in my bedroom. Just by luck, I get there before the other kids and win!

I won for real!

Time Played: 3 hr 55 min

Final Rating

We’ve reached the end of our first– and likely our last– Passover special. I hope that this has been an enjoyable and educational trip. The game itself isn’t perfect, but it is well-written and provides a look at an aspect of Judaism that I was unaware of. It’s also a fantastic little slice of life about an observant Brooklyn family on one of the year’s most important holidays. Interactive fiction has the power to take us many places and I love that Newell’s game took us to a place that so few games go.

That said, for a game targeted at ten-year olds, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. Mr. Newell says as much in his release notes:

News flash: beta testing, in addition to shaking out the usual bugs, revealed that the game as it now stands is both too simple- for an adult with adventure game experience- and too hard- for children with no such experience. A new, expanded version is in the works, with a much richer story line and environment. It won’t be done in time for Pesach 5753 but we hope to have it out for Pesach 5754.

That is a great summation of how I feel about the game. Solving the timing puzzle was challenging even today and there was surprisingly little slack. A more kid-focused game might have removed the time limit or made it easier to find all of the objects, but in the end I struggled more with the traditions around an unfamiliar holiday (or rather, an unfamiliar tradition in a familiar holiday) than I did with the search or optimization. Unfortunately, Newell did not come back to the game the following year.

Before I do the numerical score, let me remind everyone that these reviews are based on an adventure game ideal that is somewhat like the world’s most perfect Monkey Island game. A low score doesn’t mean that a game is bad or unappreciated, merely far from an arbitrary (and imaginary) benchmark. Since this is a holiday game, our normal PISSED rating scale just won’t do. Rather than crack out the EGGNOG, I’ll be using our new and suspiciously-similar “MENSCH” rating system. I’m sure you’ll see how it works very quickly.

The less said about this “suspiciously similar” Hanukkah tradition, the better.

Mental Challenges and Solutions – There are only two traditional adventure puzzles in this game, but there is a lot to be said for the slow searching and the determination of what products to keep or throw away. I struggled to work out the trick with the crumbs, broom, spoon, and sack, but perhaps that would have been more understandable to the target audience. For me, the most glaring issue remains the tight timing and the necessity to plot out every action carefully. That sort of puzzle was okay in 1980 with Zork and Colossal Cave, but by 1993 there were better ideas. I also have to deduct some for the hour that I wasted trying to search in vain for the afikomen. There is a lot here that is great, but I wish Newell had come back in 1994 to strike a better balance. My score: 2.

Engagement and Objects – The TADS2 interpreter is powerful and provided a near-Infocom level of functionality with very little overhead. I was shocked how easy the code was to read and understand! That said, the game lacked a bit of polish with commands like “search room” not working anywhere except the one room where you have to use it, plus rough edges around the flashlight, using the spoon, and figuring out how to turn on the grill. I also found bugs where the game would not completely reset state when you saved/restored the game, resulting in things like the flashlight not working. My score: 2.

Narrative and Neighborhood – Newell was right: bedikas chametz is a great topic for a short kid-focused adventure game and it is nice to play with low stakes. Even so, there isn’t much of a story here and no plot progression. That said, I love the setting, the design of the house, and all of the fantastic details that Newell littered throughout the prose. The game is elevated by these inclusions and I only wish that Newell had had more time to polish. My score: 3.

Sound and Graphics – As a text adventure, we have neither sound nor graphics. Sadly, we have the usual “penalty” here. My score: 0.

Circumstances and Emotion – The “atmosphere” category in our rating system continues to bedevil me, but I love so much about the game even as it frustrates me. It feels right, like a real lived-in space by a real Jewish family. I love learning that Abba has never quite gotten around to fixing the cracks on the stairwell, or that I selected the basement room for privacy but regret the long walk to the bathroom. Newell has a talent for prose details that are in evidence here and I may check out one of his novels to see how he matured over a few decades. My score: 4.

High-Concept Text – Although I love those details, the text is sparse at times and I was let down quite a bit when the rooms were not updated for the final afikomen search. It’s difficult to let that slide when the endgame should feel like a culmination of what came before, not as an incomplete epilogue. This category also factors in NPCs, but the two siblings are not sketched in anything more than the most basic way and exhibit no individual personality, especially relative to all that we learned about them by exploring their rooms. Again, I am positive that Newell could have improved this had he continued with a 1994 version. My score: 2.

Let’s add all of those up: (2+2+3+0+4+2)/.6 = 22 points! I will grant a bonus point for being a rare and beautiful look at an Orthodox Jewish family and for reminding us that interactive fiction can take us to unexpected places.

This score fits right along with some of our other holiday-themed games such as Crisis at Christmas and Elves ‘87, both of which share some fundamentals with this game in terms of being a largely amateur (as in non-professional, not poorly made) effort and built to a deadline. I am positive that Newell could have learned from this in later games, had he chosen to do so.

I’d like to thank Mr. Newell for his patience in providing commentary and background on a game he wrote on a lark twenty-seven years ago! Several of his books are available on Amazon, including Courting Jane, a time-travel romance featuring a modern day Hawaiian man courting Jane Austin; Hanai, a retelling of Austen’s Mansfield Park in contemporary Hawaii; and a short story collection.

If you enjoyed my commentary on the holiday, you are welcome to check out my now-defunct blog, Coat of Many Colors. I spent a few years writing about bible stories, mostly in Genesis, and the posts are all still there waiting to be read. I gave it up in 2015 thanks to a lack of readership, comments from well-meaning readers that made me uncomfortable, and a newly discovered hobby writing about and researching games. Check it out.

And finally, I hope all of you are staying safe in our current worldwide health crisis. It seems the world is now divided between people that are stuck at home with too much time on their hands, and people so busy that they are unable to think or breathe. I fall into the latter category as my wife and I balance homeschooling / child care against two full time jobs that are suddenly remote, and all without resorting to excessive use of “screen time”. I count my blessings, but my writing time and energy has been significantly curtailed. I have a few things half-baked which I will try to finish, but depending on timing I may need to either delay Space Quest V or delegate it to another reviewer. Expect a few more one-off posts like this as I burn off my backlog and we’ll see how the world fares in a few weeks.

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/missed-classic-84-the-pesach-adventure-1993/

#retro games #dos games #retro #crpg #adventure #amiga #oldcomputers #8bit #16bit #blog #repost

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newsnigeria · 5 years

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Check out New Post published on Ọmọ Oòduà

New Post has been published on http://ooduarere.com/news-from-nigeria/world-news/resistance-report-syrian-army-offens/

Resistance report: Syrian Army offensive stalls as both sides trade blows

by Aram Mirzaei It’s been over a month now since the Syrian Army launched it’s long awaited Idlib offensive. The Syrian Arab Army and the jihadist rebels of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham are involved in the deadliest battle of the month in northwestern Hama. What began as a successful month for the Syrian Army has since turned in a blood bath with all warring parties trading heavy offensives along the Hama-Idlib axis. This week alone has resulted in well over 100 casualties for the jihadists while the Syrian Army has suffered almost 40 casualties. It is quite noticeable that Ankara has a hand in this since Turkish made weapons have been found on several frontlines in the hands of these terrorists. On top of that, Ankara manages to yet again negotiate a short lived ceasefire which Moscow agreed to, yet as per usual, the dishonourable jihadists used this opportunity to regroup and rearm in preparation for their massive counter offensive.

It has to be said, Moscow keeps getting fooled for some reason to agree on these damned ceasefires, that keep prolonging the inevitable doom of the monsters occupying the Idlib province. This time Moscow, Damascus and Tehran have had a golden opportunity to finish the jihadists off as Washington seems rather uninterested in getting involved with this offensive. I say this because Washington has been unusually quiet this time around, save for some Sunday evening Trump tweet claiming that he was “hearing word” that Russia, Syria, and to a lesser extent, Iran, were indiscriminately bombing the Idlib province. Even the western media that usually gets all fired up about their beloved terrorists in Idlib have been relatively quiet, could it be that they are losing interest now that Washington has its hands full with a coup attempt in Caracas and building up for a full scale war in the Middle East?

Washington seems to have other things in mind as Bolton and Pompeo seem hell bent on starting wars with the Islamic Republic and Venezuela, while Europe seems too busy fumbling in the dark over the JCPOA.

This leaves the jihadists with few allies except for Ankara which I am convinced is playing a double side game with Moscow and Washington. The opportunists in Ankara have for long played both sides in Syria as they claim they are allied with Moscow and Tehran yet keep supporting terrorist forces against Damascus and her allies. It is deeply frustrating to hear Ankara strike a deal with Moscow over Syria’s survival and preservation only to hear the Turkish president or foreign minister the very next day claim that “the Assad regime has killed 1 million people”. At some point Moscow must force Ankara to stop with this insane approach and choose sides once and for all, or this war will continue for another decade as Ankara will only get bolder by the day.

Elsewhere, ISIS terrorists hiding in caves in eastern Homs are taking advantage of the massive Syrian Army build up near the Idlib-Hama axis to launch hit and run attacks and kidnapping operations on inexperienced garrison units near the Palmyra front. I really never could understand why Moscow and Damascus always allows a few of these terrorists to remain after every major operation they launch on their territories. It always comes to bite them back later on as these terrorists never seem to back down or capitulate anyways. Meanwhile, terrorist benefactor Israel has been active over Syrian skies once more after claiming that shells were fired into the occupies Golan Heights from the Syrian side. Not that I ever believed in what the Zionist state has ever claimed as an excuse for attacking Syria, but there has been no fighting in the Quneitra province for almost a full year now since the jihadist militants were expelled from the entire southern parts of the country last year. Of course the Zionist state doesn’t ever bother to provide any evidence for their claims so it can be concluded that the pretext was totally made up to cover their true intentions, to target any advanced weaponry Syria might possess. The attack targeted Syria’s strategic T4 airbase, known for being used by both Russian and Iranian military personnel. Israel very likely informed Russia before the attack, which is why they were able to avoid the latter at the T4 airbase.

Since the start of June, the Israeli military has conducted at least two attacks on Syrian military installations, resulting in the death of at least a half dozen soldiers. Fighting in Syria intensifies while Washington is targeting any oil shipments coming into Syria in its campaign to cripple Syria financially. Pressure on Tehran and Hezbollah is also intensifying as the threat of war still looms in the region with Washington and Tel Aviv’s continued posturing and Saudi Arabia’s pathetic false flag attacks in the Persian Gulf region which they as per usual try to blame on Iran.

It looks like it’s going to be a very hot summer this year for the Resistance Axis. It will take much effort and strategic planning to counter these foul plans hatched by the Zionist Empire.

#Syria #Syrian Army

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kiss-my-freckle · 4 years

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8x9 Rewatch: The Cyranoid

“I can see it's not Keen. But what I can't figure out is why it's not Keen.” Couple this episode with The Wellstone Agency. Aram and Ressler have what they need to find Liz. They just need to put their heads together.

This episode gives you everything you need for the rest of the series. If you want my summation, skip to the bottom because I included every pertinent dialogue.

A parallel to Pete in 5x7.

Man on the phone: They know. I don't know how, but they know.

Pete: They knew I put in a request with CODIS. I don't know how, but they did.

A parallel to Aram in 7x1. The Seventh Seal, for those who don’t know.

Red: You all look like you're in a Bergman film playing chess with Death.

Aram: Now we are both eating Polish sausage and playing chess with Death.

If you haven't noticed yet, they've got a coffee cup theme going on. This is like their 4th or 5th time with the coffee cups. To understand this, you have to go to the opening diner scene in 2x21.

Tom: Alright, dream scenario. We finish our coffee...

Bremmer’s statement pushes back to 8x3 and 5x9, for a reason.

Bremmer: He'll never forgive you for this

Cooper: What you did to her, what you did to Katarina, I don't think Elizabeth will ever forgive you for it. Red: She might. Some day. But before then...

Liz: Can you forgive me? Red: Yes. Will you be able to forgive yourself?

Red: I fear she may do something that she can never recover from. And of all the tragedies that you and I have experienced together, that would be the most tragic. We have to do - do everything in our power to prevent that from happening.

Apparently, Neville is the reason Liz lost 30 years with her mother.

Red: Make no mistake, Harold. By going after Townsend, Elizabeth is putting her life in grave danger.

I like the pest control van Ressler and Park use for their surveillance. The majority of Ressler's scenes push the idea of him turning to Red for help.

Gina: They say two things will survive a nuclear holocaust - cockroaches and twinkies.

A lot of their dialogues push back to Ressler's storyline with Prescott. Turning to Red now to help Liz ... it’s the kind of favor that wouldn't put Ressler in his debt because it's not for him, it's for Liz. if he ended up saving her by pulling her back in, Red would consider himself in Ressler’s debt just as he did with Aram.

Aram: A war criminal and an international fugitive. Your parents must be proud.

This line of dialogue leads me to believe Neville is an international fugitive because Mary is the war criminal. Aram talks about her crimes later on in the episode. Everyone is led to believe Townsend got his hands on Liz.

Cooper: You know Townsend. What hope does she have? Red: He's a very dangerous man. Elizabeth kidnapped his sister, and now he has Elizabeth. If I were her, I'd feel pretty hopeless.

Neville knows what Elizabeth looks like, which means he likely saw her in the news when she was on the run in S3. As you watch how Liz controls her Cyranoid, understand this is how much Tom and the woman from Paris have been controlling Liz. It's an emotional hostage-taking.

Liz: No, I know who I am. I am the puppet of some high-functioning sociopath.

Liz: A marionette with a high-functioning sociopath pulling my strings.

When you have someone who controls what Liz believes, and therefore, what she feels... you have someone who has taken Liz emotionally hostage. Period. That's why no one recognizes her.

Red: I'm not worried about my hide. I worry about Elizabeth's. I strongly suggest you do the same.

Cooper automatically assumes Red killed Rakitin's patsy, and because of that, basically reveals he's the one who has Red's thumb drive. This gives Red his open to demand he return it.

Liz: You believe my mother was murdered by the Kazanjian Brothers. That never happened. They betrayed you, cut a deal with my mother to fake her death and buy her the time she needed to clear her name. Neville: I don't believe any of this.

William: Well, whoever I am is irrelevant. Katarina Rostova is dead.

Neville: Katarina Rostova is N-13.

William: Assuming, for the sake of discussion, you are who you claim to be, what proof could you possibly have? Woman: I have the identity of N-13. William: You're N-13.

Neville Townsend and William Heidegger shared the same belief. Katarina is N-13 and she's dead. By using “N-13″ as an unidentified codename, it allows them to drag out Red's identity reveal further and evens the war with Townsend. Both Katarina and Red are N-13 because Red is Katarina. Liz thinks she's avenging her mother when she's putting three generations at risk... her mother, herself, and her daughter. Using N-13 also makes it possible for Red to survive this war. If they didn’t do it this way, Red wouldn’t, that’s a guarantee. I told people this when they first brought up the idea of Neville being the big bad. If Red’s real identity got outed to the world, he wouldn’t survive it. He’d have to hide out on his island for the rest of his life.

Neville: Are you saying Reddington killed her to hide the fact he's N-13? Liz: Yes. And I can prove it. That he's the reason your family's dead.

Ilya Koslov is the only person who can prove the identity of N-13 because Dom is dead. It's likely Sikorsky can prove it, but I don't think Liz will be able to push that far.

Rakitin: The witch hunt is over and there's one less government knob sticking his nose into our business. You should be thanking me.

Red had his witch trial in S6. He’s a witch because he’s Katarina. Rakitin comes off a lot like Tom Keen, and I do think it’s purposeful. He's one of Red's assets.

Red: You tricked them. For a day. Maybe two. But they'll see past it, and when they do, they'll come looking for you.

Katarina: The news of my death would fool most. It won't fool Velov.

I believe his 30 year project is the Devry map and the blacklist, and it's a shared mission because Red is Katarina and Liz is Masha. A mythic battle that he and Liz are central to because they're mother and daughter Rostova. I think he's trying to remove the threats that separated them for 30 years. They've already cleared out the Cabal. Their affiliates likely went blue, so Red and Liz still have a massive blue player war to fight.

Liz: I wouldn't have gone to the effort of taking your sister, luring you out, of making this pitch unless I was certain. Raymond Reddington killed my mother because she had uncovered the truth.

Most people don’t see it yet, but this war is on the opposite side of S5.

Liz: You can trust me.

That’s why Liz is telling Neville he can trust her. For the same reason Tom told Red he can trust him. Because Red couldn’t trust Tom, and Neville can’t trust Liz.

Tom: You can trust me. Red: No, I can't. I hired you to do a job. The rules were explicit, and you violated them. You're unreliable.

Red KNOWS Neville can’t trust Liz.

Red: Elizabeth Keen is not to be trusted.

Neville is gonna find out she’s unreliable. She’s STILL Red’s daughter lol. This is where Liz's hopelessness will come in that Red spoke of earlier.

Red: He's a very dangerous man. Elizabeth kidnapped his sister, and now he has Elizabeth. If I were her, I'd feel pretty hopeless.

This Cyranoid changed everything when she surrendered herself.

Cooper: We don't have to find her because she found us. She surrendered herself out front five minutes ago.

A quick gather of dialogues to show you what I mean.

Ressler: I can see it's not Keen, but what I can't figure out is why it's not Keen.

Cooper: Seven years ago - she was kind, enthusiastic, decent. Under your tutelage - she's become someone I fail to recognize.

Red: I'll tell you what she's not doing - behaving like you would.

Aram: Who are you? Liz: You know who I am and why I have to do this. Aram: You forged my signature to get 16 ounces of Semtex. You nearly killed Mr. Reddington and Ressler. I knew who you were, Liz. But I don't recognize who you've become.

Ressler: I'm just saying, if she did reach out to you, if you actually saw her, you might think differently. Aram: Did she reach out to you? Ressler: No, she didn't. But if she did... I'm just saying it might make a difference.

Aram: He didn't "say," he ordered. Ressler: Yeah, but I told you, if you saw her you'd think differently.

Aram: You were right. It is different.

THIS is exactly what the task force needed. To change Liz's face so they can know what they're seeing - a completely different person. Liz IS an imposter. She’s been an imposter since she stepped off Tom’s boat in 2x22. The task force still believes Red is Ilya, but this is where Liz parallels Rederina and both parallel the Deer Hunter. All that’s left for Liz is a gender change.

She's becoming Tom Keen, but keeping her face. A Pinocchio wife and daughter because they’re holding her emotionally hostage. Tom, by making her believe he’s the father of Agnes. The woman from Paris, by making her believe she’s her mother. Tom and the woman from Paris are pulling Liz’s strings. She’s a fucking marionette.

Cyranoid: I told you, it's me. Ressler: No.

Cyranoid: Why don't we start with what happened between you and me the night before I went on the run? Ressler: Who the hell are you?

Just like Reddington. “Who are you?” The entire fucking point. Imagine Liz changing her face to look like her Cyranoid. They'd never see Liz again. THIS is what Katarina did by permanently changing her face to become Raymond. You might as well Consider “Raymond” to be Katarina’s Cyranoid.

Dom: Last time I saw my daughter was in this rearview mirror nearly 30 years ago.

Put this entire Post Office playout in 2x22 context and you can see my memory wipe theory. You just have to consider Mary's death like Connolly's. That gif set is here. Liz is wrong. “Almost everything” has changed because she had her memory wiped. The only thing that hasn’t changed is her face. That’ll be left for Agnes.

Cyranoid: You should let me go. Ressler: Those days are over. Cyranoid: Why? Nothing's changed. Ressler: No. You ordered your puppet to murder Bremmer. Now you're helping her escape. Cyranoid: I've missed you. Ressler: Well, how about we get together? Have a little chat.

I love how Panbaker says this when they haven’t even told her Red is Ilya.

Panabaker: Which is why I give you a perilously long leash. But it's not so long that I'll approve granting immunity to someone whose identity I am unaware of. Cooper: Ressler, go over the forensics again. Facial recognition, prints. See what you can find. Panabaker: Be good if that included your dignity.

Ressler doesn't see that he has the power to make Liz surrender. They need to stop their physical search and start an emotional one. They lost her in S2.

Red: She's the master of her own puppet. An avatar of herself.

Liz is a puppet controlling her own puppet.

It makes her Grendel’s mother. Little Red Riding Hood.

Liz: Before we had Agnes... I thought Tom and I were gonna adopt.

Tom: Tonight, you are finally gonna see what this little monster looks like.

A parallel to 3x17.

Neville: You need me on your team. This is my price. Are you willing to pay it?

Red: Do you really want your child to pay the price for that mistake for the rest of his or her life?

A parallel to 7x10.

Cyranoid: Your brother loves you very much.

Woman: But she asked me to give you a big hug and tell you how much she loves you.

I believe this will be the means of Agnes’ hit. Revenge for Mary Bremmer.

Mary: I've done nothing wrong. Aram: Except use chemical weapons on men, women, and children.

Aram: Have you seen what she's done? Chemical Mary. The way her weapons have been used. Against civilians... children. The Agent Keen I know wouldn't use someone like this to get to Townsend or anyone else. She'd arrest her and make sure she couldn't hurt anyone again.

Aram: Whoever she is, she is not our problem. Now, this... this is our problem. Douma and Khan Shaykhun. Syrian children victimized by chlorine gas. We have a war criminal in custody. I am going to confront her with her war crimes.

For the same reason Victor Skovic took over Dr. Krilov’s business when he got arrested. Neville knows his sister. He’ll tailor his revenge to fit her.

Separating this section. A parallel to 7x10.

Aram: She'd arrest her and make sure she couldn't hurt anyone again.

Ressler: You scrambled my brain, and I'm here to make sure that you never do that to anyone else.

Separating this section. A parallel to 3x15.

Aram: Whoever she is, she is not our problem. Now, this... this is our problem.

Red: Tom is your Tom problem.

You basically have to put Agnes in Red’s place. She’s the one in danger.

A parallel to 5x8.

Cyranoid: I don't expect you to understand, but I am doing what is necessary to end this. To stop Reddington.

Garvey: I like to think I'm the kind of man who'd politely ask you to stop this, to let this end here, but I can tell you're the kind of guy who won't get the message and stop.

These bits sell Liz’s surrender should Ressler turn to Red.

Cyranoid: That's why I have a Cyranoid. To eliminate your control.

Cyranoid: You really think you have power over me, don't you?

Cyranoid: I am not surrendering myself to you.

Red: When you love someone, you have no control. That's what love is. Being powerless.

A parallel to Dr. Fulton.

Neville: Uh, it turns out that you're due for a reckoning.

Fulton: Closure requires a reckoning.

Because Red is Liz’s mother. So run this opposite.

Fulton: A widow. A mom. A cop. Liz: And one more thing. Fulton: What's that? Liz: A daughter.

A parallel to Ruin.

Blake: Try and get some sleep. Neville: I always try. And I never do.

Liz: What matters is that I did it and I was good at it. And I didn't lose any sleep over it. Red: You will. One of these nights you will. It's just a matter of when.

Summation.

They’ve covered most of my predictions for this season. Had I grouped these dialogues, you'd see it even more. With Neville, Liz pushes the danger to Agnes. With the task force, she pushes her second memory wipe and her possible surrender later on. A culmination of things for their first hit on my Tom Domino theory, and I do believe this very arc will lead to that reveal. Agnes’ hit is coming and everyone is falling in parallel with each other. They’ll have more coming, so expect a lot of parallel gif sets from me as they do.

Liz: I want revenge. Alice: You have my full attention.

Liz is seeking revenge for the death of the woman she believes was her mother. That's it. She's not seeking truths, but feeling quite certain Dom framed her mother and set her up as a patsy. Don't confuse a woman willing to break the rules to seek revenge as a woman who's in control of her life. There's no control to have in seeking revenge, only a poisoned soul. The difference between 3a and 8a shows you where they're heading. The only way Liz can gain control of her life is by getting to the truth rather than seeking revenge for what she believes is the truth. Once those truths come to light, Liz will have the power she needs to take control. Because she’s seeking revenge for what she believes is the truth, Agnes will end up in parallel with Red. Liz and Agnes willl basically fall on the other side of The Djinn's episode. She's harming her own daughter by aligning with Neville, and she was stupid enough to take Agnes on the run with her.

Consider Liz no different than Bahram because this is where they're heading.

Red: Look at that. Pinned like a swallowtail.

Red: I need an ambulance. A man's dying on a cross.

Ressler: So, you go ahead and you nail yourself to a cross...

You simply need to change Ressler's position from the Deer Hunter episode.

Ressler: Don't. Don't ask me to feel your pain, Liz. I got more than enough of my own.

Liz: But if she isn't who I thought she was, if she's a threat - Ressler: Then we'll deal with it.

Because Agnes is his daughter and he’s gonna feel that pain with her.

Bahram: I wanted to protect you, Nasim.

Tom: We were trying to protect Agnes. Red: I guess that didn't work out.

I’m predicting Neville runs opposite William with the ducks.

William: There's a park on the corner of Wabash and Grant. I take my granddaughter there to feed the ducks.

Duck, duck, roasted goose. Fire for Agnes. Burn scars like the makeup on the woman at the costume shop. Fire like Alina’s friend. Burns to the face like Mary Bremmer. I think that’s why they’re on the carousel with the unicorn. Unicorns are good luck. Washer necklaces are bad luck. I think he’s gonna drop a deadly weapon through Liz’s skylight on behalf of his sister.

#Rederina #Anti-Tom Keen #Anti-Keen2 #memory wipe theory #tom domino theory #Keenler baby theory

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