#Constantine sells his soul way to often | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

deadsetobsessions · 1 year ago

Text

Summonings

Ever since Danny Phantom became the Ghost King, he’s had to deal with an endless amount of crap. An eternity of it, actually, and it was constantly causing him unending amount of existential crises and stress.

First, there was the paperwork. Pariah Dark, the incompetent asshole, had left him decades worth of bureaucracy to painfully sift through. He ended up hiring some ghosts with paperwork obsessions to sort some of that out. Who knew ruling the infinite realms would require this much paperwork? He’s lucky each section of the underworld had their own systems to report to their own rulers who, in turn, report to him.

Secondly, there were the Observers. And other ghosts, like his own rogues, but they were the main issues. Eyeball menaces. They protested his appointment, something he actually agreed with. Putting a fifteen year old on the throne is rarely a smart decision. But the Infinite Realm values strength, the only type of currency that matters in the land of the gods and the dead. Danny? Phantom? He’s got strength in spades. With only a few months of being a ghost, Danny had managed to defeat Pariah Dark, who had cowered gods and struck fear into the hearts of ghost heroes.

But Danny hasn’t quite realized the significance of that yet, too focused on the realization that he was about to be in charge of the infinite realms. The Observants, since his reluctant and extremely limited coronation, has been up his ass about doing things the “proper way.”

Danny’s main problem lies with the ridiculous amount of paperwork though. It’s fine. Tedious. But fine.

But if he gets one more fifteen page essay style complaint form about some guy named Constantine, Danny might seriously reconsider donning Dan’s ruthlessness and offing the guy himself. Perhaps grab the man by his shoulders and shake him like a rag doll and ask who the fuck told him it was a good idea to sell his soul out like that? Danny eventually just sent out Skulker to hunt down the contracts and trade minor services for them. He owns most of the soul now, and perhaps he’ll hunt this guy down and force him to do paperwork.

Regardless, paperwork was just often tedious. He’s worked out a system for himself. The halfa, true to his teenage form, had better things to be doing. His homework, for one. Hanging out with his friends and logging in hours for Doomed 2 would be another. But no, he’s here, twirling a pen as he glared down at a stack of forms for a zone expansion. What the fuck does Zeus want to expand his zone for? The current share space of the sky domain is literally a perfect balance with respect towards the other gods. For the love of- Danny slams down a red ‘REJECTED’ stamp on top of the stack. His hair flickers wildly in annoyance, the iced over Crown floating above his head emitting concerning levels of frost. To anyone else but himself, of course.

He then feels a soft tug on his core.

Right. The third most annoying thing about becoming King: the fucking summoning. Danny taps his pen against his lips, clicking it against his fangs, as he considers the summoning circle that calls him. Huh. Desperation. Mildly bloody. Fear. Resignation- ah, fuck it, it’s not like he’s too enthusiastic about staying to do work with the Observers poking around. He takes the summoning, allowing his regalia to overtake his normal hazmat-clad form, and approves the summoning.

Oh hey, Danny thinks he recognizes that ugly ass trenchcoat.

—-

John Constantine has had more than enough practice summoning things that would give people nightmares. But there are things he normally refuses to touch, refuses to even entertain the idea of trying. As usual, desperation made John its bitch and the Justice League’s battered and bruised faces tugged on his shriveled heart.

He’s going to summon something from the Infinite Realms. Oh, but he wasn’t just summoning any old ghost. No, he thought, I’m just going to summon the one being that’s guaranteed to be able to crush our universe without breaking a sweat. Bollocks.

“Is it ready?”

“Untwist your pants, spooky,” John snaps, wishing he had a crate of whiskey he could down. “We’re trying to summon the Ghost King, not your average demon.”

“What do we know about him?” Batman’s gravelly voice demanded.

“Powerful enough to take us all out without even breaking a sweat. Defeated the bloody tyrant who ruled over the Realms last I heard.”

“That’s it?”

“You could ask Deadman, but I heard he’s on the outs with the Infinite Realms on the fact that he’s made of pure magic, not ectoplasm.”

“There’s no guarantee the king will work with us.” Zatanna says, pressing her fingertips together tiredly. She had been at the forefront of the battle and had paid the price for it. “But he’s supposedly more benevolent than his predecessor… and we’re out of options.”

“Hm.”

“Just make sure to shut up and let me do the talking.”

“Hn.”

John rolls his eyes and takes a fortifying breath, something that does not go unnoticed by the League. They all tense up, preparing themselves for a battle. Another one, seeing as they all got their ass kicked by a ghost only ten hours ago. The League is spread thin, running interference to distract the ghost in question and evacuating civilians.

John Constantine started chanting, the glow of his magic lighting up the circle as he spills his blood into the circle.

He waits, heart in his throat, for the summoning to work.

“Is it supposed to take-” Red Robin asks, only to cut himself off as the circle flares once more. Power pulsates outwards from the circle. Frost crackles on the frost resistant floors, spreading outwards as a green portal rips open the fabric of time and space. Long, spindly imitations of a hand grabs the edges of space and pulls, heaving the rest of his celestial body out of the tear in reality. John does not look away. He can not look away, not from the eerie green pallor of the King, not from his torrential white wisps of hair, not from the black-hole like material of his outfit, not from the nebulas and beginnings and endings tailored onto the King’s cape. John could not look away from the ice crown that floated like a bastion of power above the king’s head.

His mouth is dry. What price will he have to pay to save the world? What price will this being demand of him, of the Justice League, to save the world?

John desperately needs that drink.

—-

Oh! He’s in his home dimension! His core purrs at coming home, at the close proximity to his first haunt.

He was expecting cultists, or even the Winchesters again, but this is nice.

The Justice League- summoning him. Sam and Tucker are going to flip when they hear about this.

They’ve been staring at him in silence for a bit now. It was getting awkward.

“Why have you summoned me?” He asks, softening his tone. By their winces, he didn’t get it as well as he thought. Danny grimaces. At the first sign of discomfort though, the man in the trenchcoat- is that fucking Constantine?!- launches into a nerve filled tirade.

“Your, uh, Majesty.” He starts. “One of… One of your subjects is wreaking havoc on the world. We would be extremely grateful if… if you could reign him in?”

Danny’s face sours, only to quickly clear his expression as he realized how much even a small hint of displeasure causes the jumpiness in Constantine and the others.

“To do that, I will have to make a contract with you, seeing as you’ve summoned me.” Danny drawls, letting his overly long digits wave at the summoning circle in question. He could break it, of course, but Danny’s bored and trying to draw this out. He’s not saying he’d take a batch of cookies as payment but that’s exactly what he’s saying.

“The price… you could always have my soul?”

Danny pauses. “Your… soul?”

Oh, he did not say what he just said.

“Yes. My soul.”

Oh, he did.

Fuck it. Danny’s flashbacks of suffering through the reports pushes green into his irises and urgency to his action.

He breaks out of the circle, hands lunging and gripping Constantine’s jaw tightly. Danny ignores the shouts of alarm as he allows the thrown weapons to pass through him.

John Constantine is panicking now, struggling in the air as Danny lifts him an inch off the floor in agitation.

Good.

“Your soul, little wizard? The one you’ve split eight ways till the thirtieth of February? The one that caused,” he tightens his grip, no doubt bruising the man. “An insane amount of paperwork that I’ve had to suffer through. Your soul, John Constantine?”

Danny hisses his name. The man makes a warbling noise that Danny takes as acknowledgement. Danny bats away the weak spell Zatanna sends at him with a hand.

“You’ll find that I am in the possession of most of your soul contracts. To simply put,” he grins, teeth made of dying stars on display. “I own your soul. My soul, now.”

He drops the wizard who collapses onto his knees to stare up at him in horror, eyes flicking between the circle that was meant to contain him and Danny, who is very much not contained. He crouches down- something necessary but disjointed as he’s not used to this taller form- and speaks to Constantine in a slow, dead serious, drawl.

“If you ever sell your soul again, you and I are going to have issues. Is that clear, John Constantine?”

“Uh- yeah, yes, yes, your majesty.”

Patting his cheek condescendingly, Danny gets up and sighs, stress relieved. He’s starting to feel bad, though, so he allows his form to ripple back to his normal teenage Phantom self.

“Well, it’s not like anyone will buy it, since they know they’ll have to go against me.” He chirps, flipping 180 from his terror inducing eldritch voice. “So, what’ll you pay me to get rid of whatever ghost you’ve got?”

“…. Nothing?”

Red Robin holds out a bag, eyebags betraying his exhaustion. “I’ve got fifty dollars and a bag of cookies.”

Phantom beams at him. “Throw in a couple of autographs and you’ve got a deal.”

“That’s- yeah, okay.” Red Robin says, inching forward cautiously to hand him the bag.

“Great. I’ll be back for them later. You can call me Phantom. ‘Your Majesty’ gets annoying after a while.”

“Thank- thank you for your mercy, Your- Phantom.” Wonder Woman says.

“Sure. Make sure this idiot doesn’t make any more deals with demons while I’m out, yeah?”

With that, Danny Phantom grabs the bag of cookies and fifty dollars and flies through the wall to do his job.

John slams his head onto the space station floor.

“Fuck.”

—-

Danny: lol I’ll do it for the shits and giggles

Constantine and the League: he’s terrifying, a bastion of pure power and authority

Red Robin, Young “we commit war crimes bc it gets shit done” Justice leader and fellow gremlin: he’d probably do it for cookies. I would.

#dc x dp #danny phantom #john constantine #batman #Bruce Wayne being tired af #ghostly shenanigans #bamf Danny phantom #ghost king danny

4K notes · View notes

zeroheroaero-blog · 2 months ago

Text

Dp x Dc : Card game soul edition

Ok I got an idea for a ghost king Danny au this is inspired by the idea that hell use souls as currency (from that one Ao3 fic I cant remember the title of) and that Danny is now aware that souls are traded use and stuff for forever he really doesn’t like that, but he can’t stabilise the economy of hell, so he now has create something to replace hells currency or change how the soul contract works.

The idea he comes up is simple give soul contracts and expiry date and that expiry date is dependent on what they sold their soul for away for if somebody sold their soul to save their wife, the amount is different from somebody who sort their soul for $1 billion, but the issue of doing this is that a lot demand might be unwilling, and that might be a riot I mean sure Danny could just squash them, but it will be annoying and they could continuously do that a lot, so we have to create a way that the Demons were willing to change to the expiry date.

So that he heard about how the demons where calling John Constantine trading game, and he thought and had an idea he should make it all a game, so contracts would become a cart that reflects the person soul their states would be based on personality, how they die, and what they sold their soul for, and demons could use them to battle and trade also people who sold their soul multiple times would have multiple lesser copy cards that when combine creates a full card and items that belongs to them and can be used with them.

Also there is going to be an infinite realm game shop to buy the souls in exchange for artifacts and sell item cards in exchange for souls or artifacts of the demons.

How the gameplay could work

Every card that is played in the game winner takes all

You could boost a card by sacrificing some of its lifespan

You could unlock a second form of the cards when sacrificing 50% of its current lifespan unlocking unique skills, boasting current skills and double stats

You could sacrifice the card using all the lifespan, for a four times boosts of everything of the cards the unique skills and boosts all cards on play

Certain cards when on the same play boost each other they are mostly people who where connected in life

Certain cards are one time use such as the souls of sacrifice (as specially if they are unwilling), depends on personality, how it affects the board and players

Some mechanics

Personity: affects type, and stats and what items affects them the most and least

Sold soul for what: affects skills and how long must they be a contract before they are free

Death: affects skills, type and stats including weaknesses and immunities, if any

Life achievement: affects stats mainly and skills movement also how often they can use their skills and cooldowns, and special conditions and skills that appears if specific things pertaining to their life happens on play

Items: found either via collecting soul related via if they sold their soul multiple times when combining sometimes there is a item card given, or if bought via the IR Card shop in a blind box manner, cards can also be traded in for special higher powered items

I think Danny after thinking all of this he would 100% go to John to ask for his opinion, cause as much as a headache he is right he is still his soul he’s talking about and John will be like fine as long if it’s not forever and not torture

So what do you guys think? And what do the gameplay looks like, and what

100 notes · View notes

probablyasocialecologist · 2 years ago

Text

It’s worth reminding ourselves just how often and insistently the New Testament hammers home its anti-wealth message.

Notoriously, the sayings of Jesus himself include some of the strongest language. He urges unstinting giving to anyone who asks (Matt. 5:42), forbids storing up wealth (6:19), discourages caring for the next day’s food and clothing (6:31), and warns that to serve both God and money is impossible (6:24). He pronounces blessings on the poor and woes on the wealthy (Luke 6:20–26). His counsel to the rich young ruler to “sell all” is thus of a piece with a broader agenda, which draws on the Hebrew prophets. Although it’s often noted that in this particular case Jesus’ call to total renunciation applies to just one individual, in Luke’s Gospel he addresses almost identical words to all his disciples (he uses second-person-plural verb forms): “Sell your possessions, and give alms … and you shall have treasure in heaven” (Luke 12:33–34). Two chapters later, he doubles down with an even more categorical statement: “None of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions” (Luke 14:33).

How were his followers to put such teachings into practice? Luke suggests the answer in the sequel to his Gospel, the Book of Acts, when he describes the founding of the first church in Jerusalem after Pentecost. Here, at the very moment of the Christian movement’s birth, common ownership of wealth figures as an original mark of the church:

All who believed were together and had all things in common; and they sold their possessions and goods and distributed them to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44–45)

Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. … There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32–35)

As the theologian David Bentley Hart sums up: “Simply said, the earliest Christians were communists … not as an accident of history but as an imperative of the faith.” This was a communism arising voluntarily from mutual love, not from state-enforced conformity. Even for believers, it’s presented as an exemplary model, not a legalistic rule. All the same, this “communism” is hardly just a spiritualized ideal, but rather a practical economic reality. The apostle Paul strikes similar notes in his repeated exhortations to the Gentile churches to practice koinonia – the generous sharing, including economic sharing, that for Paul is central to the Christian way (2 Cor. 8:13–15).

This anti-wealth message didn’t disappear from Christianity after the faith was legalized by Constantine. On the contrary, as Charles Avila shows in his 1983 study Ownership: Early Christian Teaching, bishops of the fourth and fifth centuries – notably Clement of Alexandria, Ambrose of Milan, John Chrysostom, Basil of Caesarea, and Augustine of Hippo – preached fiercely and often on these very scriptural passages. The church fathers went on to root the New Testament’s teachings in nature itself. As Ambrose put it:

Nature has brought forth all things for all in common. Thus God has created everything in such a way that all things be possessed in common. Nature therefore is the mother of common right, usurpation of private right.

The Milanese bishop seems to have anticipated by fifteen hundred years Proudhon’s maxim, “Private property is theft.”

All this helps explain why in Pinianus and Melania’s day, there had been no “Constantinian shift” on wealth, no abrupt relaxation of primitive rigor. (By contrast, in those same years the church jettisoned another of its once-widely-held convictions – that Christians may not kill – rather more rapidly and thoroughly.) Long after Christianity had become a majority faith, as McCarraher observes, “a barely repressed desire for communism … lurked as the political unconscious of medieval Christendom.”

#christianity #inequality #liberation theology

44 notes · View notes

windsweptinred · 2 years ago

Text

So I decided to stick with Johanna for Faith, paired with Death. But thank you to everyone who made a suggestion!

Why Johanna as Faith? Is she the walking personification of faith? No... Does she have innate faith in humanity...Well, kinda. But she's also an incurable cynic. However if she is based on John Constantine, and we can apply his traits to her, then what she has is an unquestionable faith in herself. John/Johanna Constantine is the representation of the Fool Card. The 'leap of faith'. They face down deities, devils and death. All with an unparalleled sense of faith in their abilities to come out of it fine and dandy. And whether it's their intent or not, this inspires faith in others.

Why with Death? Well, as the saying goes, Death is the ultimate test of Faith. I admit, this is a ship thrown together for convenience. But... I genuinely don't understand how these two haven't been paired up already? Here are two women who desperately seek companionship, in a life where fate often imposes isolation on them. Death constantly seeks connection, through the mortal lives she touches. With her siblings... But to be Death of the Endless, feared and unwanted by mortality, is a lonely existence. Johanna doesn't fear death, atleast not for herself. She's outmanoeuvred it several times. (In the comics, John sells his soul to three seperate demons, meaning when his time is up, all three refuse to relent their claim. Since their dispute can't be resolved, he ends up living on instead. Which I think should totally apply to Johanna as it means she technically conned her way into immortality.) But Johanna does fear her love will cause death. Friends and partners inevitably suffer or are outright killed simply by being in her life. So she holds herself apart. There's a great sense of poetry in Johanna, who equates love with death, finding love with Death. And Death, finding love with someone who skillfully bypassed her gift.

....................

So a bit more explanation on the Virtues ... I love Hope!Hob as a concept. There's no doubt he embodies it. But I also think the Endless are the Endless. Maybe hope could be something else? So...The Virtues. Not in the Christian theological way per say, more the three symbols that capture the essence of life.

'Death is the ultimate test of Faith'

Does this even have a ship name yet?...Constantdeath, Deanna.. Deathine? Anyway, Death and Johanna Constantine (Faith)

'Desire is the hunger, Love is the banquet.'

Desunity... Desire and Unity Kinkaid (Love)

" Hopes are but the Dreams of the those who wake. "

Dreamling... Dream and Hob Gadling (Hope)

Are Hob, Johanna and Unity the absolute glowing examples of Faith, Hope and Love? No. They're always tested, but they never abandon these qualities. The tragedies and many examples of humanities brutality Hob has seen makes him question his hope for the future many times. But he endeavours on. The horrors Johanna witnesses (and blames herself for) can leave her faith in tatters. But she makes herself carry on, never truly gives up. And after everything Unity has been put through, to love must be a perpetual trial. Yet love she does, to the point she will die for it. Unlike others, they face ruin and come out the other side swinging. They're exceptions to the rule (No Endless can love a mortal). Not because they were born to be, not because they were granted a get out of jail free card with immortality. But beacuse they willed themselves to be with Faith, Hope and Love.

Corinthians 13:13

“Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love. ”

"The three virtues (faith, hope, and love) represent the finest qualities of humanity. Through which, man can share in the nature of the divine. These three virtues allow true believers to merit eternal life."

Having another play with the virtures headcanon beacuse it keeps niggling away at the pack of my brain.

The show gives us two human characters who beautifully encompass Hope and Love...And strangely enough mirror their Endless partners beautifully. Obviously Hob is Hope to his core, so we have Dream and Hope. And throughout her entire arc Unity represents Love. Romantic love for Desire, maternal/familial love for her grandchildren. All perpetual and true. Thus Desire and Love.

But who would be the final pair of Faith and (....) be? My thoughts were Death/Johanna Constantine... Based on, 'Death is the ultimate test of Faith'. And boy does that lass face death. But I'm not 100%... 🤔

#dreamling #desunity #death x johanna #hob x dream #desire x unity #hope!hob #The Virtues #sandman meta #dream the endless #hob gadling #johanna constantine #death of the endless #desire the endless #unity kinkaid

52 notes · View notes

that-shamrock-vibe · 5 years ago

Text

TV Review: Crisis on Infinite Earths (Spoilers)

Part Two: Batwoman

Spoiler Warning: I am posting this review the day after the episode airs in the U.S. so if you haven’t yet seen the episode or are waiting to watch the crossover all in on, don’t read on until you have.

Overview:

I was right, and I’m so annoyed they couldn’t keep the high momentum of the first episode here. Where Part One felt like an epic and grand high-stakes crossover opener, Part Two feels more like the typical and somewhat formulaic Arrowverse episode. The problem with that is, it’s supposed to be both! I don’t quite get how the episode that had the most elements I was looking forward to fizzled this much.

But now with the true enemy finally revealing himself, and the promise of more Paragons to find, can Crisis save itself while it destroys the Multiverse?

Avenging the Fallen:

So the episode opens with the three main women of the Arrowverse, Kara, Sara and Kate, drinking in memory of Oliver. I have to say, I know this is a Batwoman episode and these three women in particular do often preach girl power and all that, but the fact Ray isn’t there at least does just make it seem like they wanted this girl power moment, and as Kate said, the Multiverse is still in danger.

As I mentioned when talking about Batwoman in my Elseworlds review, there were problems that fortunately have been fixed by Batwoman the TV series mostly, I still don’t like the fact she’s not a red head, I still don’t like how similar Ruby Rose and Erin Richards look because it’s distracting to me. Even a choppy bob style as Kate has in the comics would differentiate the two more for me.

That being said, Ruby Rose sold the dry cynical humour here as she does in her own series. I loved how she left the drink here but later wished she hadn’t, in that same scene when the Monitor reveals Batman’s secret identity how she demands discretion from the team was funny, Kara finding Earth-99 Luke Fox attractive and Kate finding it weird I thought was hilarious and Ruby Rose sold that very well for me.

Also, for all Kara’s mourning about her lost planet, there was no confirmation on where Alex, Brainy, J’onn, Nia, Kelly or Lena were after the climax of Part One. I know Brainy and I think J’onn are in future parts of this crossover but it would have been good for a side comment saying where they are.

Speaking of mourning, my god Mia goes hard here. It’s funny because in last week’s episode of Arrow, Oliver was all for Diggle finding a way to get Mia and William back to 2040, yet Mia is still around and making understandably emotion-driven but drastic decisions and both Barry and Sara, who are supposed to be older, wiser and more level-headed particularly in this area, are going along with it.

Barry especially, I believe, feels that if he can help Oliver cheat his fate then maybe he can as well considering that Iris has now got the idea that with The Monitor being wrong about how Oliver died maybe Barry won’t die either, that’s just stupid to give someone who has already accepted his fate and has been known to make the stupidest decisions going (Flashpoint) when he feels he can change it.

Mia decides to use a Lazarus Pit to resurrect Oliver and, like I said, both Barry and Sara agree. Sara does need some convincing I grant you and Caity Lotz does sell that she is never fully on-board with the idea, and why would she be because she knows first hand what the pits do.

I did appreciate the Nyssa mention, I just wish she had been their guide to the pit on Earth-18, instead we get a mini-fight between Mia, Sara and an unaltered Jonah Hex.

I did kind of guess Hex would appear as soon as the location was revealed as North Dakota, and to be fair I didn’t really see where Jonah Hex would fit into this crossover, so I am glad they found a space for him.

I also like that Constantine has something to do finally, because I am tired of just seeing Sara and Ray, as much as I love Sara and tolerate Ray, it’s called Legends of Tomorrow and currently I think has the biggest main cast out of these shows...so why am I being drip-fed Legends with now the addition of Constantine and Mick...again I do enjoy both of them but give me the god damn team.

Barry and Constantine bring Oliver to the Lazarus Pit and, as expected, Oliver emerges as an out of control rage monster that Stephen Amell does not sell quite as well as Caity Lotz or Willa Holland previously have.

I guessed Oliver would somehow be brought back, because while the Arrowverse execs try to say “We killed him off in part one to show no one is safe”, it was an eye-roll for me because you’re not going to kill the original main star of the Arrowverse in the first part.

My only issue with it is it happened so quickly, there was no time really to miss him because he was dead at the end of part one and suddenly they’re talking about bringing him back.

Sara had an entire season between death and resurrection and Thea’s resurrection came with great sacrifice on Oliver’s part joining the League of Assassins. Here, we had Constantine saying that the antimatter was making him lose his magic so he couldn’t bring back Oliver’s soul like he did for Sara, which only makes me wonder why they’re wasting time trying to bring someone back rather than stopping existence from dying.

Paragon Pursuit - Bat of the Future:

Okay so, apparently The Monitor has recently discovered seven Paragons across the Multiverse that can come together to defeat the Anti-Monitor. He knows this from retrieving the Book of Destiny from the timeline which was the McGuffin in Elseworlds last year.

Fortunately four of these paragons are known to The Monitor, the Paragon of Hope is Kara Zor-El and the Paragon of Destiny is Sara Lance. I got why this worked because Supergirl’s main brand is all about hope and she’s from a parallel world while Sara is of Earth-1 tying into the fact these seven Paragons are spread across the multiverse.

The Monitor tells the team that two more Paragons are to be found on different Earths, the first is the Bat of the Future on Earth-99 which Mar-Novu name drops as Bruce Wayne, much to Ray’s surprise and Kate’s annoyance.

Again I am actually enjoying Brandon Routh in this crossover, and cannot understand why he isn’t at this level on his own show.

Kate and Kara go to Earth-99 where they come across a dilapidated Wayne Manor, which looks more dishevelled than the one from the DCEU, and meet Earth-99 Luke Fox...who I had to double-take to ensure it was in fact Camrus Johnson partly because of how different he looks not geeked up and also because he is the only other main character of Batwoman to appear in this Batwoman episode.

Now I get that none of the other supporting players are vigilantes at this point, but not even Earth-1 Luke Fox making an appearance is slightly unfair, and you could argue that during Invasion! None of Supergirl’s supporting players were involved, but Supergirl still had an episode in that week which featured its main cast.

Again also Kate’s reaction to Kara finding this Luke attractive was probably my favourite moment in the episode.

Once forcing their way inside, Kate and Kara meet Earth-99 Batman, Mr. Kevin Conroy. I was so looking forward to seeing this veteran Batman voice actor in live-action and when you don’t see him talking, he sounds a lot like Batman of the DCAU, the only problem is I was promised Kingdom Come Batman and didn’t really get that.

I don’t know Kingdom Come that well but I thought Batman was supposed to be the main force of good left in the world, yet not only is he killing his rogues as displayed in his trophy case, including a Riddler cane which I also own, but he also killed Superman.

It’s at this point that Kate and Kara realise that this Batman is not the Paragon of Courage they were sent to retrieve and at that point Batman turns on Supergirl apparently hating Kryptonians.

Now this is where it gets interesting because before this, there is actually some good character moments for Bruce and Kate where Bruce tries to make Kate see that where he is in his mindset is where she should be, not trusting anyone, not believing in anything, just becoming the night basically.

It echoes similarly to what Lex Luthor tried to install in Lena last season which eventually worked as we know and it apparently maybe worked here because, even though Kate saved Kara from her doppleganger cousin, she still kept that Kryptonite wrist strap of his...what does she plan on doing?

Anyway before the Kryptonite reveal, we see Kate and Kara return to base where they tell The Monitor they failed retrieving the Paragon, but The Monitor reveals that the Bat of the Future and the Paragon of Courage is in fact Kate herself.

I don’t know how to feel about this, I love the fact Batwoman is being spotlighted even though she is the new girl, however, it does seem like the only reason she is the Paragon is because this is her show.

Also to have two Paragons from the same Earth? Not exactly far spread out.

Paragon Pursuit - Reign of the Supermen:

While Kate and Kara are on Earth-99, Earth 38′s Clark and Lois, and Iris for some reason, scourer the Multiverse for the Paragon of Truth, which is revealed to be a Superman...but which Superman.

Well just before they head off a spanner is thrown into the works in the form of Earth-38s Lex Luthor. We knew Jon Cryer would be back, I thought he would have returned in the Supergirl episode but we also see at least three other versions of Superman here so why not.

Anyway Lex steals the Book of Destiny because the Monitor apparently brought him back to be duped by the supervillain, shocker, and Lex travels the Multiverse killing off Supermen.

Clark, Lois and Iris first arrive on Earth-75 where they are too late because Earth-38 Lex has already killed this version of Superman who lies dead on the big screen with his Lois mourning the loss.

Their second attempt sees them arrive on Earth-167, which is the vaguest Easter-Egg reference going as it refers to Smallville co-producer Al Gough’s year of birth 1967...

When Tom Welling said he and Erica Durance were only in one scene they weren’t kidding, however I loved it. I am a massive Smallville fan, it was my proper Superman introduction, these versions of Clark and Lois are my Clark and Lois and that’s not going to change.

The decision for Clark not to have powers here is a weird one because they highlighted the fact that the Smallville Comics which followed the TV series would count as canon, yet aside from returning to the Kent Farm nothing we learn about Clark and Lois here was mentioned in the comics.

Also Clark and Lois have daughters, I’m not sure who they’re supposed to be but I’ve only ever known them to have a son...Jonathan...and since when did all the Supermen need to be Superdaddies anyway?

Anyway Earth-38 Lex shows up and Clark has the great confusion of wondering why Jon Cryer doesn’t look like Michael Rosenbaum, it is again sad that Rosenbaum didn’t reprise the role, but to have a Lex Luthor going up against multiple Supermen was still quite cool.

When Clark reveals he gave up his powers, most likely to be a father and family man, it did just seem like a cheat way for the writers to say “Yeah we have Smallville’s Clark Kent, but he won’t be part of the action”. Which as a Smallville fan is painful because I wanted to see Tom Welling in the tights, flights and action!

Also once Lex and the heroes disappear, Smallville’s Lois arrives and I have to say, she looks exactly the same as she did back in 2011 but different to how she looks as Alura Zor-El. Maybe it’s the choice of farm clothes as opposed to regal dresses but this is Lois Lane I had through my teen years, everything from the fashion to the hair, to the voice. I wasn’t crazy about the laugh because it seemed a bit forced, but she called him Smallville straight after and spoke in her high-energised way so I was happy.

The final stop was on Earth-96 which is a reference to the year the Kingdom Come storyline came out, it was confirmed that Brandon Routh would be Kingdom Come Superman but also the version of Superman from 2006 Superman Returns which Routh starred in.

We meet, or are reacquainted with,Routh’s version of Clark Kent. I have to admit I never much cared for Superman Returns, possibly because Smallville was on at the time and that version had already won me over. But I do know that Brandon Routh drew a lot of inspiration from Christopher Reeves and his portrayal of the character and you can clearly see that in both his fashion and acting.

I want to say it’s sad to see that pretty much all of Superman’s supporting staff at the Daily Planet are dead, Sam Huntington in my opinion was a decent Jimmy Olsen, but if this was Smallville’s Daily Planet staff all killed I’d be distraught.

Again I am comparing a lot but they are literally scenes apart from each other here.

Anyway, just as it’s confirmed that Brandon Routh’s Superman is the Paragon of Truth, Lex Luthor appears and decides he’s fed up with killing Supermen...we’ve only seen him kill one but there you go, and decides to turn Kingdom Come Superman against Earth-38 Superman in order for his now puppet to kill the other one.

I have to say, this was another weak battle sequence, I know it’s really CGI with two Supermen flying around, but neither Brandon Routh or Tyler Hoechlin have really sold flying as Superman to me that well anyway.

Lois finally does something and knocks Lex unconscious while she and Iris, who I cannot understand why she even came along at all, try to use the Book of Destiny to fix Kingdom Come Superman.

Eventually Lois gets through to KCS by appealing to his love for humanity and for his lost Lois. This breaks him free of the book’s control just in time before he snaps Earth-38 Superman’s neck.

With Lex detained, the heroes all return to base where they set up a machine to search for the rest of the Paragons.

Harbinger’s Headache:

This sounds stupid but genuinely is what happens, since the start of the episode when Mar-Novu reveals the Book of Destiny, Harbinger starts to get headaches, this does alert her to the fact Lex Luthor is stealing the book but also puts her in the pathway of the Anti-Monitor.

Yes we finally see the big bad of the crossover in all his...glory? He looks ridiculous! His concept artwork does make him look like Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse but the actual thing we get just looks ugly.

I will give a minor positive and say it is better to see him in the show than he looks on the promotional images because I get the feeling lighting is not this guy’s friend and we meet him in what looks like the hallway of S.T.A.R. Labs.

Mick Rory, Baby Whisperer:

Again, this sounds stupid, but I wanted to highlight this for a couple of reasons and to spotlight Legends of Tomorrow because it doesn’t look like this crossover is doing that.

Firstly, this Mick Rory isn’t our Mick Rory, this is in fact the Mick Rory of Earth-74...why is it called Earth-74? I don’t know because originally there were only supposed to be 52 Earths, then Earth-X came about and now we have Earth-167 so I’m making my peace with them making it up as they go along.

Anyway, Dominic Purcell has grown on me since he was first introduced on The Flash. I think once you accept the fact that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is essentially a piss-take because that is what it’s become then you accept why the characters do what they do, and not only turning a Flash rogue into a hero/legend is understood but also having him be a writer, have a rat as a pet and be good with babies is also understood.

We see that Earth-74 has a Waverider and did have its own version of the Legends before they all disbanded, Mick has taken command of the Waverider as seemingly his home where he is a struggling writer and his only companion is the Waverider’s A.I. Leonard...Wentworth Miller is back! As a disembodied voice, I would have liked to have at least seen his floating blue head but no we get the voice which is fine by me to be honest.

Once Harbinger commandeers the Waverider ad brings it to Earth-1 with Mick on board, he seemingly becomes the only person on board who Jonathan won’t cry for...not his mum, not his dad, not his aunt...a gun wielding alcoholic hot-head...great choice kid.

It is the lowest form of comedy side-story going but it is still nice to see them at least attempt to include the Legends and particularly Wentworth Miller in some form.

Easter-Eggs:

Superman III:

Alright so this is a clever throwback as this version of Superman Brandon Routh is portraying may be repackaged as Kingdom Come Superman, but he is also the same Superman Routh portrayed in 2006′s Superman Returns, who in turn is the same Superman Christopher Reeve played during the 80s, one movie Reeves was in was Superman III where Superman’s human and Kryptonian sides physically fought each other.

This plot point has also been done in Smallville briefly during the opening episode of Season 4 but not to the same degree as here or Superman III.

Smallville:

So many Smallville Easter-Eggs in one small scene, the first was the mention of Smallville’s Lex Luthor being the President of the United States of America. In a vision of the future Lex Luthor was indeed president and during the flashforward epilogue of the Smallville finalé he was running for president.

I also appreciated the time joke that Lois made when she said that it’s taken about a decade for Clark to “make a funny”. In real-time it has been almost a decade since Smallville finished as it was 2011, whereas now it is 2019.

Captain Cold:

Some things never change and whether he’s a doppleganger of the original or an A.I. version of the man, Wentworth Miller’s charm oozes out.

When Harbinger arrives on the Earth-47 Waverider, she notes that she is aware of who the A.I. is and he responds with his classic line “Always pleased to meet a fan”, this he has said a couple of times firstly in Season 1 of The Flash and then again with the Legends.

This was a great episode on reflection but in terms of ramping up the drama and grandeur of the crossover it did need work. Hopefully it’s only a minor bump before tonight’s third part, which promises a sizeable cliffhanger before the Christmas break.

So that’s my review of Crisis on Infinite Earths: Batwoman, what did you guys think? Post your comments and check out more DC TV Reviews as well as other TV Reviews and posts.

18 notes · View notes

477static-wool · 5 years ago

Text

Halloway, Constantine, Pelkey

Portrait of Henry Halloway, a pre-T, post-op trans man, armed with a katana and a face mask, leader of a cell of queer terrorists intent on overthrowing the white supremacist regime that has decimated and consumed New York City:

Henry was the burning, hurt, angry drive to press through pain and forge a better life — something kinder and more loving to the people around me — through pushing back on the world. He’s so much that I feel I’m not; decisive, stoic and leaderly, persistent and self-knowing and cool under pressure. He’s also so much that I was and am, every day: furious, grieving, disillusioned, determined. Henry, a wrathful guardian angel. I identify with him; he gave me direction and decisiveness when I felt like I was floundering — but I don’t think that fury serves me anymore. It did, for a time. And that was beautiful. Henry protected his friends, and his transness as a fact of who he was — one he would righteously, angrily, and physically fight for.

I’ve had different characters to cling to for survival all throughout my life. When I was a kid I created hopeful Chosen orphan Joediatha Rose, whose energy and optimism in the darkest times lit up her anxious, depressed teammates, even though she herself was alone. I got a little older and I leaned on girl-next-door Holly Pacer, a very similarly alone optimist, but one whose more-available despair and emotional vulnerability drew people to her, united them in their awe of her survival. Grappling with myself — and likely my gender — in late high school fractured my reference character into distinct, still tortured lean-ons. Julie Harmon, a brutally observant, heartachingly anxious, depressed stormcloud of a high school student, wanting to love and be loved, and getting neither at the end. Meg Tidas, a rarely-smiling sorceress determined to dedicate her life to healing — both an accidentally destructive past and any wounded in her path. And Wool, the bright spot of stubborn optimism — she frantically worked to soothe her frightened and self-doubting heart by providing light, inspiration, and energy to the rest of her team. I coped with feeling unable to love or be loved, with feeling unable to be authentic, through imagining Meg’s resolve, Wool’s violent joy, Julie’s tragic soul-beauty, coursing through me.

A timetraveler named Kat Constantine climbed into my subconscious in college. Kat was harsh, brutally independent, sharp, clever. Prone to breaking the law, disobeying the rules to pursue her own curiosity or solve a problem Her Way, and intentionally taking lives when she’d exhausted all her options. Kat was in many ways the precursor to Henry. But her femaleness was the kind that felt unwilling, bitter. “All sex, no woman”, I once wrote about her. She was horny and pansexual and big-titted and manipulative. And often nasty to her partner in the force, but he knew she was a tortured soul, so he loved her all the same (and clapped right back, like an old married couple). I knew Kat didn’t fully deserve the things she had — the many genuine lovers and hot sex partners, the best friend who wouldn’t leave her behind no matter how many times she left him behind, the magnetic and imposing confidence. But she had them. And I wanted to be her. I felt so broken, so destructive, but I needed to know that people saw me as deserving of redemption nonetheless. I would take a deep breath, throw my shoulders back, and imagine I was KC saunter-marching into a battle, or a crime scene, or up to someone she wanted to fuck.

In contrast, Henry is humbler. He is angry, but he uses it to protect his transness and his friends. He is kind to everyone he can be, and he even lets himself be jerked around by someone far more bitter and fearful than him, simply because he can no longer afford not to love. Kat is an antihero; Henry is a real hero. When the man who eventually sells everyone out is left unarmed in a fight, Henry, armed only with a melee weapon, steps in front of him without a thought.

But there is still a martyrdom about him. Henry isn’t in a position to give himself the love and respect HE deserves — to treat himself like Not A Freak but a Human.

I didn’t realize I’d already created something new. Henry has been my reference for so long, nearly my physical analog, sexy and FtM. It’s hard to move on. And rage as a motivator is so tempting — in this world where I feel implicitly spat upon, where my own family seems to seek to control or mitigate my transness, where I feel at odds with my body and the expectations placed on it, it’s easy to let that hurt become indignant anger, and let it become the thing that fuels who I am. But I don’t know if I want that anymore — not because I don’t hurt, but because I do. Because I want to grow out of defining myself by that pain.

The Something New: Carson Pelkey, a gorgeous, unapologetically femme-via-neither nonbinary teleporter — AMaB, pansexual with preferences, mischievous yet kind, wry, cool and able to be vulnerable. They take they/them and are commanding of their own space and where they give their respect and trust. When we first meet them, they could do to trust a little more easily, and they learn. I think they are amazing, I admire them, but I don’t know if I can or even want to embody them. Is it because I decided to make them decisively AMaB? Or maybe there’s more to it.

Perhaps it’s because, now, I am aware that I’m not them, and can’t be — I’m myself. And I’m incredibly like Carson. Like Henry, too. But maybe I’ve finally reached the time in my life when I take a deep breath, throw my shoulders back, and walk into the room like Ira.

#Writing #meditation #work

1 note · View note

aliypop · 5 years ago

Text

Eye’s Without A Face

So this is a bit of a trial story between Yonah (my oc) and John Constantine based off of two Billy Idol songs, It was pretty fun to work with the concept of a Young John so with further ado enjoy! (I honestly recommend listening to both Rebel Yell and Eyes Without A Face while reading they’re both good songs!)

Word Count: 2,393

Warnings: Abusive past relationship, feels trip

A/N: some parts are based on a RP with @demonologist-jconstantine

Last night my little dancer came dancing to my door

Last night my little angel came pumping on the floor

"Drinks on me," Catalina said sitting next to him, John had yet again found himself at Gothams elite club the kitten's corner where the alcohol was hot, but the girls were hotter,

"You're too kind!" one of the men at the bar said touching the young woman, she looked as though she was about 19 years old at most, but then again he wasn't that old himself he was only 25, but that wasn't the issue, he had cares he wanted to get rid of.

"Only to the ones I adore.." Catalina said sitting in the young man's lap, it was a routine that the Owner, her girlfriend Myra trained her to do, be seductive and the money comes flowing in, She had to make them want her and know that they couldn't have her,

She said, 'oh come on baby, I got a license for love!

And if it expires, pray help from above,

But there was one man she had her eyes on, he was a regular that much she knew, yet something was telling her to be courageous tonight. As she made her way to him, John could only see the looks of an Angel walking her way to him or at least he thought,

"Come here often?" she asked, sitting next to the empty seat beside him,

"Yeah.." he replied, trying to keep his eyes on his drink,

"You're not much of a talker, are you?" she asked, looking at his features, "Has anyone ever told you, that you look a lot like Billy Idol," she suggested as he looked up at her,

"I usually get told Sting," he smirked at her, "But thanks love," he said, picking up his guitar from beside him, he knew to ask her for just one night with him would give her just as much heartbreak then she could endure, "Wait.." her big brown eyes staring up at him, as she placed a hand on his thigh. "Stay.. " she asked, rubbing slow circles "For me at least,"

"Innit something love, I was gonna ask ya the same thing."

She don't like slavery, she won't sit and beg But when I'm tired and lonely, she sees me to bed What sets you free and brought you to me, babe What sets you free, I need you here by me,

"Catalina sweetheart," Myra said walking towards her, gripping on her arm hard,

"Yes snookiecakes?" she replied, John, snarled at the other woman before taking his guitar and walking out the club, he never liked being apart of drama besides he had his own to deal with, "What were you doing with that blond man.." she squeezed her arm harder, "You're hurting me.." she looked behind her noticing that he was gone.

"What did I tell you about "Your ways" " she asked as her girlfriend only trembled in fear of her,

"Y- You'd kill me.."

"Excellent love, now get your sexy ass in the back someones waiting for you." her smirk sinister.

I walked the ward, for you, babe

A thousand miles, for you

I dried your tears, of pain, babe

A million times, for you

Coming from the closed building was a dripping wet and badly bruised woman, John who hadn't let yet was smoking a cigarette as usual, under the Gotham moonlight when he saw the young woman walking towards him bloody and beaten it nearly broke him,

"Shit .. do you need help?"

"No need to fuss over me." she turned away from him, revealing a fresh cut on her neck.

"Let me at least help you?" he offered her his hand.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked glancing at him, then at his hand, "How do I know you're not like them?" she pointed towards the club, as she turned her back towards him, he noticed something on the back of her leather jacket.

"She's a fan.," he mumbled to himself.

"What was that? " she asked him wanting an answer to her question,

"Names Constantine, John Constantine .." he said, her face in complete shock, "Yeah, the one from Mucous Membrane love." he winked at her, "And what about you? "

"I'll tell ya when the times right." she cracked a little bit of a smile at him, "I love a girl of mystery" he smiled leading her back to his car to get her some help,

I'd sell my soul, for you, babe

For money to burn, for you

I'd give you all, and have none, babe

Just to, have you here by me, because

"Yonah.." she mumbled, as they drove back from the hospital, her head laying on the window of his car, the city lights passing by as the radio played softly behind them a bit of 80's rock,

"Hmm?" he said, he was in his own world contemplating on maybes and what can be,

"My names not really Catalina, it's Yonah .. Yonah Shanel Wayne.." she sighed as he blinked at her,

"What's a rich girl like you doin around someone like me then?" he asked with a cheeky grin, "Innit unladylike for a girl like you to be-"

"I'm a rebel myself," she smirked, her hand on his chest, as she snapped her fingers lighting his cigarette with it, biting her lip the moonlight illuminating her perfectly,

"Do you have any idea what I want to do to you right now? "

"Depends on what's in it for me, Mr. John Constantine."

In the midnight hour, she cried more, more, more

With a rebel yell, she cried more, more, more

I'm all out of hope

One more bad dream

Could bring a fall

"Maybe one day in my dreams, I'll find that perfect person." Yonah joked as she was sitting on the floor of their shared hotel room,

"Well, you must be dreaming, cause I'm right here," he said, watching her strum a few chords on her guitar, it had been a few months since they met and the two couldn't be happier, or so she thought

"Hey don't think about her," he tilted her chin up,

"I see you're letting your hair grow out," she said, strumming the guitar again looking away from him, "You're changing the topic love, " he teased, trying to get her to pry open, but nothing would work she was always dedicated to writing new music and performing alongside the band, and John knew it, but he didn't want to lose her to his hectic world.

When I'm far from home

Don't call me on the phone

To tell me you're alone

It's easy to deceive

It's easy to tease

"Go on tell me you don't love me," Emma said to him "John..." she said, as he hesitated,

"I.. wish I could say-" and with that he watched her leave out of his life,

John had his secrets that he didn't want to talk about, one that he thought he hid very well, but apparently not enough,

"Yeah, I've been thinking about cutting it," he said standing up as she still kept going with the blasted pink guitar, "Look when you're ready love, talk to me.." he said as she said absolutely nothing to him,

(Les Yeux sans visage)

Eyes without a face

Got no human grace

You're eyes without a face

"John," she said, hours had passed, and it was dark out. She couldn't find him anywhere, and then it hit her, he'd be exactly where he always was on a Saturday night. Somewhere at a bar, putting on her leather jacket and heading outside she saw something that she wished she hadn't, lips locked together, hands wrapped around another woman's waist was John Constatine,

"Well, I guess I should go .." he pulled away from the other woman as he turned his head to see Yonah running off crying, "Shit.," he mumbled to himself knowing he had a lot of explaining to do,

I spend so much time

Believing all the lies

To keep the dream alive

Now it makes me sad

It makes me mad at truth

For loving what was you

"Yonah what are you doing?" he sighed, watching her pack,

"Maybe we're just meant to be alone.." she turned away from him, "I thought I could trust you... I thought I could love you .." as he walked towards, her she only began to back away, "let me explain!" he asked,

"I gave you, your chance and you stabbed me in the back with it!" she growled using her fire powers as he blocked it, catching her off guard, "How did you ..." she looked up at him, a bit confused but intrigued,

"It's a long story .."

" Well, I would have listened if you didn't," she was stopped by the taste of cheap booze and cigarettes, her words caught in her throat as her eyes closed shut, feeling the heat between the two rise, John lead her over to what felt like a bed behind her, her head landing on a pillow, "John.," she whispered still a little mad at him.

"Yonah you have no idea how much I need you, in every shape of the word, emotionally, physically .." he smiled seeing her crack a smile too, " and at this exact moment, sexually," he whispered in her ear,

"Are you trying to seduce me?" she asked, "Cause it's working.." Yonah smirked kissing him hard,

When you hear the music, you make a dip

Into someone else's pocket then make a slip

Steal a car and go to Las Vegas

Oh, the gigolo pool

Hanging out by the state line

Turning holy water into wine

Drinking it down, oh

I'm on a bus on a psychedelic trip

Reading murder books, trying to stay hip

I'm thinking of you and you're out there, so

Say your prayers

"Pull over let me drive magic man," Yonah laughed sitting in the passenger seat of the possibly not stolen car, It had been a year now that they'd been together, they were partners in occult crime and becoming lovers at the next, "I'm sure I'll last a couple hours," he began nodding off, "Are you sure about that?" she asked, "You were nearly beaten by a bloody demon!" she said as he pulled over to a gas station, letting her take over,

Pulling over in a motel for the night, Yonah couldn't help but worry about John, feeling beside her, she noticed that he wasn't there, looking outside the window, he was sat outside playing the guitar.

"It's three in the morning, what's on your mind?" she asked, taking him by the hand,

"The fact I love you.." he mumbled, "Just never mind don't matter what I say really," he sighed turning away from her,

"You're thinking about her aren't you?" she asked,

"Why don't you get some rest.." he kept strumming away,

"Maybe a trip to that one vegas pub could help?" she smirked.

"Well, would you look at that, it's John Constantine been awhile mate... " Chas said, as he then looked over at Yonah, "Who's the girl?" he asked,

"Yonah .." she smiled, "Nice to meet ya.."

Now I close my eyes

And I wonder why

I don't despise

Now all I can do

Is love what was once

So alive and new

But it's gone from your eyes

I'd better realize

It was another moonlit night in Gotham, Yonah was sitting on the rooftop of Wayne Manor strumming her enchanted guitar, it was something she did when she was missing a certain demonologist, bright lights were shining from a car turning into the driveway of the said mansion. "You know there's a certain tug right ere," he said pointing towards his heart "When ya miss someone so bloody hard," he shouted from the rooftops just so she could hear him, "Why don't ya come down Juliet," he smirked watching her flip off the building and land on her feet,

"Impressive..." he mumbled to himself,

"What brought you to Gotham city Romeo.," she asked, noticing his new change of clothes, she was 25, and he was now 35 figuring out the whole demon business still,

"You did, I was driving an suddenly I know I'm headed towards Wayne manor," he kissed her, "It was that damned Guitar of yours.." she kissed him back laughing hard, the taste of a life she missed once more lingered, "You wanna maybe go out for a few drinks or something.." she groaned looking to see the Bat-signal "Good for nothing hero ! " she shook her fist at it,

"What about our old spot on 7th street?" he suggested as she got in the car.

"You know me so well," She said looking over at him, "Treat to myself for sobriety for a year, when you left I.." she stopped talking as he held her hand "I already know what happened,"

When they arrived at the bar it reminded him of the night she first walked into his life, Gotham cold air blowing, and gothic buildings everywhere, Yonah placed her hand on top of his, "It feels like it's been ages, you and me alone. everything just has gone wrong since I made my return and when it hasn't it's been press conferences and the damn spotlight in my face everywhere I go!" she slammed her fist

"I missed the taste of you on my tongue, the way you feel so smooth and hard an-" she then stopped talking,

"You really do miss my lovin." knowing that she meant the whiskey rather than him, "Well, get your ass out the spotlight then,"

"I can't, it's in my name, the way I walk and talk." she sighed, " I was born into it, to be wild and free the daughter of a playboy millionaire.."

"Runaway with me then, Hellblazer.." he winked looking back at the door "We could go to Florida, fall in love, "

"We can't John, I'm not a rebel like you." she sighed, seeing Alfred outside the pub window,

"I thought .."

"I'm sorry... I can't.."

You're eyes without a face

Such a human waste

You're eyes without a face

"Love you.." John sighed,

And now it's getting worse

#fanfiction #oc x canon #John Constantine #yonah shanel wayne #DC comics

5 notes · View notes

douxreviews · 6 years ago

Text

Legends of Tomorrow - ‘Terms of Service’ Review

"The power is in the Palm(er) of your hands."

Is it rude to point out that the Emperor has no clothes, if you point out at the same time that the Emperor is super ripped and has been clearly doing a lot of cardio?

Because.... Damn, Emperor. You got it going on.

Which is, of course, my frivolous and subtextually homoerotic way of saying that there's an embarrassment of riches in this episode when it comes to things to like, but they all kind of rely on some serious glossing over of problem spots.

The problem in a nutshell can be boiled down to one thing. The basic opening foundation for this episode doesn't match at all with where things were left at the end of the previous one. I'm tempted to assume that I'd missed an entire episode worth of plot development, except that I know perfectly well that I didn't. It's almost as if the writers room broke a 17 episode series of stories and then just completely excised one of them when they found out they were only getting 16 to air.

For the love of God, CW, please start giving Legends a full boat of 22 episodes. It's getting embarrassing.

OK, so here's what I mean. A not insignificant portion of the plot development tonight entirely relies on the fairy godmother currently being under Gary's control. That's actually an inspired plot development, and his relationship both with Tabitha and with the next inheritor of the fairy godmother mantle were pure gold as far as both comedy and plot development goes.

The problem is, when exactly did Fairy Godmother bond herself to Gary? He calls to her at the end of the previous episode and she saves him from Mona as if their relationship was an established thing, but unless I missed something significant completely, that was not a thing they'd ever set up.

I'll be fair. I drink a lot of wine. If I missed something that explains this, please do let me know in the comments.

Additionally, at the end of 'Nip/Stuck,' Mona ate off Gary's evil nipple – not a sentence you get to type every day – and Gary was rushed out of the Time Bureau with unconscious Mona, Tabitha, and Neron in Ray's body. The implication strongly was that Gary's nipple was behind the mass hypnosis of the Bureau, and now that it had been destroyed the bureau was saved. Left behind to witness the bad guys escape was Nora, Ava, and Sara.

This week we open with the bad guys still in possession of the Bureau, only now it's due to Gary's influence over the fairy godmother rather than his fancy hypnotic nipple. Not only do we see no evidence of the bad guys leaving the bureau together, they aren't even all in a group anymore. Mona is imprisoned in the Bureau cells, which makes no sense if they were fleeing with her body ten minutes earlier. Neron and Tabitha aren't even there anymore as they're busy setting up 'PalmerX 2019,' a low key tech con with only one panel and one guest. Ava and Sara are back on the Waverider as if they'd never liberated the Bureau in the first place, and Nora is Die Harding her way to rescue Mona with no mention of how she got separated from them.

I'm sorry, show, but I have to ask. Did you smoke a gigantic bag of crack between these two episodes, or what?

It's all very frustrating, because I said earlier, where they take all of those plot threads is fantastic. Neron's plan to create fear using the monsters so that people will download an app in order to locate the monsters and in doing so sell their immortal souls through a lengthy terms of service agreement is both goat-shit crazy and completely brilliant. What's more, it would absolutely work. If you doubt it, just consider how much none of us noticed when the guests of PalmerX were shown agreeing to a terms of service agreement that they didn't read. Seriously, go back and look. The camera shots practically luxuriate on people swiping through the TOS as fast as they can, but nothing about that reads as unusual or sinister to us anymore and so we just blanked it out.

Similarly, Tabitha's plan to trick Nora into taking on her fairy godmother mantle was inspired, despite being lifted pretty completely from genie-lore, particularly Disney's Live Action Aladdin Soon in Theaters Near You. And God bless the show for keeping Jane Carr around as Tabitha. I absolutely expected that they'd find an excuse to recast Tabitha into the body of someone younger and sexier as soon as they possibly could, because that's the kind of gross thing that network execs tend to insist on. I love, love, love that they're keeping her around as Neron's love interest. And while we're talking about it, it's such a good choice for them to show that Neron and Tabitha do genuinely love each other. It would have been so easy to tumble into the cliché of a villain team eager to backstab one another.

But the best choice this episode made was in the nature of Gary Green himself. Wonderful reveal that Gary was perfectly aware the entire time that the fairy godmother was trying to get him to wish hurt on the Legends and so he was deliberately just focusing on wishing to hang out with them as a way of defying her. Even when 'Dark Gary' finally gets called forth, his glorious flow of vengeance never goes further than acne and tap dancing. Gary is a good man, fundamentally. And he's absolutely right, he does not deserve to be laughed at. I've been saying since the beginning of the season that the Legends need to face a consequence for the way they're played Gary as convenient bait that can be had for a little flattery. I think they finally learned that lesson here.

Which brings lastly to John Constantine, in a plotline I like to call, 'This should absolutely have been an entire episode all on its own.'

When they mentioned Hell's Triumvirate I briefly entertained the thought that they might be about to do the good parts of 'Dangerous Habits' that everybody always leaves out when they try to adapt it, but alas, no. It felt right that he chose Astra over Ray, as much as it broke my heart, and it felt equally right that Astra betrayed him. Can't wait to see what will happen there when Nora gets to Hell to rescue John. I do, however, which that they'd gone with the imagery from the comics and had Astra only have one arm.

Everybody remember where we parked:

There was actually shockingly little travel this week. The Waverider just hung around Washington D.C. in 2019, and a couple of our heroes went to Hell, which may or may not equate to the same time zone, it's hard to tell.

What is interesting is the reveal that Zari grew up a little outside of D.C. Did we know that already, or was that a reveal of convenience this week? Zari appeared to me to be in the 8-10 range, although I am a notoriously bad judge of age so she might be a bit older. That actually answers a couple of longstanding questions I was pondering last year about what baby Zari might be up to in our time period.

Zari mentions that it's only a few years away from when ARGUS takes over everything and creates an anti-Meta, anti-Muslim Dystopia. We're all kind of assuming they're just never going to deal with that, aren't we?

Quotes:

Sara: "Mick, Nate, do you think you can handle Tabitha?" Mick: "Granny’s dead."

Sara: "OK, can you guys stop being dragon baby crazy right now?"

Gary: "And now I have three nipples, because a spare never hurts." Having a third nipple was historically a sign of witchcraft. There is a zero percent chance the writers don't know that.

Calibraxis: "You’re dead, demon hunter!" Constantine: "I was gonna be a demon proctologist, but the pay wasn’t as good."

Calibraxis: "I’m a demon, not a pirate, John."

Zari: "It’s a demon app. I’m gonna read the fine print."

Charlie: "If I die, I’m gonna come back and haunt you." Zari: "I would love a ghost friend."

Nora: "Gary, you dick!"

Bits and Pieces:

-- This season has for some reason brought up a lot of embarrassing confessions from me. Adding to the list that already contains my love of semiotics and the assembly of flatpack furniture, this week I have to tell you how much I love logo design. Honestly. I bring this up because the PalmerX logo is a masterwork. The solid 3-D cube implied by the background framing device conveys an unspoken implication of solidity and dependability with the third implied square breaking the frame and shooting 'toward' the viewer implying a daring willingness to work outside conventional rules and by implication 'think outside the box.' The coloring, meanwhile, subtly underscores the 'Palmer' portion of the name, thus reinforcing the higher brand. Honestly, and with no ironic joking involved, the PalmerX logo is a f*cking masterpiece of work.

-- I actually have a startling number of opinions on the quality of logo design. Feel free to ask, but I warn you that the answers get lengthy.

-- I get that they were underscoring the connection between Tala Ashe and Zari's younger self, but that hairstyle just fundamentally did not work for her. That's actually kind of rare and notable for her. Just about every hairstyle they've ever given her has looked gorgeous.

-- Looks like Wixtable the dragon is hatching in time for the season finale.

-- I went back and forth on whether or not it was smart or stupid for Zari to have brought the egg with her on the mission. Ultimately, I think there was no guaranteed safe place for the egg, given how often messed up stuff happens on the Waverider when they aren't there.

-- I hope Nate is understanding about Zari leaving the egg behind.

-- So many questions about why Nate has a 'Kid Steel' costume hanging around. And why Gary picked it.

-- This week's fabulous dress watch. Jane Carr looked stunning in that evil black number she adopted once she'd ditched her godmother duties. Also, the designer of that asymmetrical sheath number that Nora wore to PalmerX is underpaid. Regardless of how much he or she is paid, they are underpaid. That dress was amazing. Please, please, Courtney Ford, tell me that you stole that dress and have it in your personal collection. Also, call me. We'll brunch.

-- They're really getting their money out of the Stein puppet. Bless.

-- Hell's triumvirate included Satan, not Lucifer. Which means a crossover with Lucifer is still possible. Fun fact, in the comics the triumvirate in Hell stepped in to rule when Lucifer left to go open up his nightclub in LA. Which means it all totally works together if they can get Tom Ellis to make a stop in the Waverider. And then possibly he and Matt Ryan could share a torrid embrace and... I'm sorry, what were we talking about again?

-- That's like the third episode in a row where they've mentioned Damien Darhk. Dare we hope to see him again next season?

If you squint at it and assume that we missed an episode of plot development, this would easily be a four. Sadly, we can't, and so I can't in good conscience give it more than three out of four fantastic logos.

Mikey Heinrich is, among other things, a freelance writer, volunteer firefighter, and roughly 78% water.

#Legends of Tomorrow #Sara Lance #Ray Palmer #John Constantine #DC Comics #Arrowverse #Legends of Tomorrow Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews

2 notes · View notes

gospelmusic · 4 years ago

Link

Catholic Daily Reading + Reflection, 9 November 2020 We Are The Temple Of God

Readings at Mass for Monday November 9, 2020 and Reflection

Weekday (32) ordinary Time Vestment: White Today’s Rosary: The Joyful Mystery Dedication of the Lateran Basilica (Feast) Theme of the Feast: We Are the Temple of God. The readings help us understand that all baptized members of the Church are called to be the temple of God, and to bear fruits of charity and holiness for the good of all humankind.

Entrance Antiphon cf. Rv 21:2

I saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Or: Cf. Rv21:3 Behold God’s dwelling with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself with them will be their God.

Collect

O God, who from living and chosen stones prepare an eternal dwelling for your majesty, increase in your Church the spirit of grace you have bestowed, so that by new growth your faithful people may build up the heavenly Jerusalem. Through our Lord... Or: O God, who were pleased to call your Church the Bride, grant that the people that serve your name may revere you, love you and follow you, and may be led by you to attain your promises in heaven. Through our Lord...

FIRST READING

I saw water running from the temple, and all those to whom the water came were saved” (Ant. Vidi aquam). A reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 47: 1-2.8-9.12) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); In those days: The angel brought me back to the door of the temple; and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple towards the east (for the temple faced east); and the water was flowing down from below the right side of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me round on the outside to the outer gate, that faces towards the east; and the water was coming out on the right side. And he said to me, “This water flows towards the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah; and when it enters the stagnant waters of the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature which swarms will live, and there will be very many fish; for this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. “And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food and their leaves for healing. The word of the Lord.

RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 46:2-3.5-6.8-9 (R.5)

R. The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, the holy place, the dwelling of the Most High. God is for us a refuge and strength, An ever-present help in time of distress: So we shall not fear though the earth should rock, though the mountains quake to the heart of the sea. R. The waters of a river give joy to God’s city, The holy place, the dwelling of the Most High. God is within, it cannot be shaken; God will help it at the dawning of the day. R. The Lord of hosts is with us: The God of Jacob is our stronghold. Come and behold the works of the Lord, The awesome deeds he has done on the earth. R.

SECOND READING

A reading from the first Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 3:9c-11.16-17) You are God’s temple. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Brethren: You are God’s building. According to the commission of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another man is building upon it. Let each man take care how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are. The word of the Lord.

ALLELUIA 2 Chronicles 7:16

Alleluia. I have chosen and consecrated this house, says the Lord, that my name may be there for ever. Alleluia.

GOSPEL

He spoke of the temple of his body. A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (John 2:13-22) The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers at their business. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all, with the sheep and oxen, out of the temple; and he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; you shall not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” The Jews then said to him, “What sign have you to show us for doing this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But he spoke of the temple of his body. When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had spoken. The Gospel of the Lord. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Today’s Reflection

When Jesus spoke about destroying the temple of his body, the Jews misunderstood it to be the physical temple. The church celebrates the dedication of St John Lateran Basilica because it was the first of all the churches in the world to be built. The church operated for about 300 years without any church building. Fanta, the wife of Emperor Constantine, gave her Lateran palace to Pope St Miltiades. Pope St Sylvester consecrated it on 9 November 324 AD. This was the first public consecration of a church. Afterwards, it became the residence of the popes and venue of many ecumenical councils. In the gospel of today, we have the incident of Jesus cleansing the Temple of Jerusalem. We should keep our body, holy, pure and cleansed of all sin because our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lateran Basilica, built by the Emperor Constantine on the Lateran Hill around the year 320, is the cathedral of the Pope who is the Bishop of Rome. This Basilica, dedicated to the Saviour, to Saint John the Baptist and to Saint John the Evangelist, is considered the Mother of all the Churches. The feast of its dedication reminds us of our calling to live in deep communion with the successor of Peter, the rock on which Jesus built his Church, and the one who confirms us in our faith.

Blessing for the New Week

Thank you Jesus for the gift of today. It has pleased you to give it to me and my friends. May your name be praised both now and forever. Amen. May your grace accompany us as we go out, work and do our businesses. Be with us always and help us to overcome every challenge we may face. Give us a generous heart that will always think of the good of others and work to help them grow in their faith commitment to you. Protect us from every evil and may your presence around us ward off every attack of the evil one. May our efforts today not be a waste, but through your grace may we be fruitful and may we have testimonies to share at the end of the day. My dear friend, cheer up go out with confidence, put in your best, share love and kindness and may God help you to succeed, with God by my side I will succeed! Amen. Do have a fantastic day and week ahead. God is in charge, no need to be afraid for he will take care of you. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Bless my new week Lord and let all I do praise your holy name! Amen.

Personal Devotional

Prayer of St. Pio of Pietrelcina

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have you present so that I do not forget you, you know how easily I abandon you. Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak, and I need your strength, that I may not fall so often, stay with me, Lord, for you are my life, and without you, I am without fervor. Stay with me, Lord, for you are my light, and without you, I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me your will. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love you very much, and always be in your company. Stay with me, Lord, if you wish me to be faithful to you. Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I want it to be a place of consolation for you, a nest of love. Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes; death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need you. It is getting late and death approaches, I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need you, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers. I need you. Let me recognize you as your disciples did at the breaking of the bread, so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness, the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart. Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to you, if not by communion, at least by grace and love. Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it, but the gift of your presence, oh yes, I ask this of you! Stay with me, Lord, for it is you alone I look for, your love, your Grace, your Will, your Heart, your Spirit, because I love you and ask no other reward but to love you more and more. With a firm love, I will love you with all my heart while on earth and continue to love you perfectly during all eternity. Amen. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

Follow us on social media: Facebook: @hottestnaijadotcom Twitter: @wherehot Instagram: @hottest9jablog Disclaimer: This post contains links by our advertisers. Presence of such links does not warrant endorsements by HottestNaija. Your use of their services, is subject to their terms of service. Click here to take a look at our posts on gospel music download or click this link to see all posts that include gospel music lyrics You may also like our gospel worship songs page which contains, the best, coolest and hottest Nigerian Gospel Songs, and Foreign Gospel Songs. Whatsoever is the mood, we've got you covered. Do you feel like dancing, rejoicing, shouting, screaming, or you're filled with jubilation because of the Mighty things the Lord has done? Then look no further, cos our gospel praise songs page, containing the hottest Nigerian and foreign praise songs collection, was prepared specifically for you. Peradventure you need the lyrics of the songs you are downloading now, just downloaded, or have downloaded before, our lyrics page is the best place to look. What more could be more helpful and entertaining than seeing the lyrics of your most favourite song before you, as the music unfolds unto the climax. Hey we've been there before, and still encounter it from time to time when the vocals get lost in the cloud of heavy orchestration. Are You a Classical Music lover, our classical music page, contains the best of classical songs, composed and written by composers like G. F Handel, Bach, Joseph Haydn, etc. As you listen to your best gospel song, you may also want to get some more insight and knowledge about the word of God, from eBooks written by God's servants, or you may want to learn something new or build yourself up in some way. Then our eBook Page is the right place to look. You may be in need of entertainment, and probably want to watch a video too. We understand that as well. You can get entertaining music videos from our videos page.

#Music #Lyrics

0 notes

jeffersonhairpie · 7 years ago

Text

@melamungous was talking about constantine/joker but that got me thinking about constantine/bruce and I just...really like the idea of this ship for so many reasons

Like john being a cheeky shit and ragging on american society constantly (because he’s a brit that’s what we do) BUT ALSO john getting semi-ironically ragey whenever bruce or alfred says some dumb classist shit like he doesn’t care but he cares but he doesn’t care, ya know? And when he stays over at the manor he’s trying to play it cool but is also totally overwhelmed but hos much stuff bruce has and how much it all must cost and honestly he could steal like a candlestick and live off the proceeds for a year

(john has absolutely stolen candlesticks from wayne manor but he’s convinced himself it’s not that bad if he doesn’t sell them on)

and bruce being his usual gruff self and john just not caring? john chats with demons on the regular he ain’t scared of a guy dressed up as a bat no matter how often that guy may hit the gym.

bruce not wanting to have anything to do with the supernatural but he starts hanging out with john and immediately has five million questions about the hauntings/curses littering the manor and he wants to KNOW so he tries dropping subtle hints but john sees right through him and winds up doing massive sweeps across the ground

wayne manor is cursed as fuck john is simultaneously terrified to ever step foot there again and really impressed that bruce manages to just live there like it’s a normal house or whatever

the batkids fucking adore john and that’s how bruce is sure that he’s a good guy (bc let’s be real bruce would be suspicious as fuck of a guy who claims to fuck about with actual literal hell he would need a lot of convincing) and at first he thinks it’s just dick over exaggerating but even damian likes him because john knows so much shit that the kid’s not learning anywhere else and really when you’re an al ghul it would be ridiculous to not believe in demons just a little bit

bruce tries to learn some spells on the downlow but he can’t keep it secret for very long because john can feel the way energy changes around him and totally has to save his ass like three times from some very sticky situations before bruce accepts that he should not be fucking with this shit

clark wants not one single thing to do with john so bruce starts letting him tag along to jla meetings just to watch fucking superman cowering in the corner because supernatural shit makes him want to implode

john is obviously aware of the jla but bruce knows nothing about justice league dark until they’ve been dating for three years or something and he just...doesn’t know what to say and feels like an idiot for all the times he’s droned on about teamwork and leadership and really what is he doing john leads a squad of supernatural entities one of which is literally judas still pining after jesus?

eventually john gets round to telling bruce about the time he met god and bruce fuckin chokes

whenever a case is proving really hard to crack bruce starts to seriously wonder if demons did it and pesters john into sweeping crime scenes. demons never did it

even though bruce knows he shouldn’t be touching magic with a ten foot pole he speaks to a lot of people and a few years down the line has a crack at ending the curse that sees john’s soul damned to hell when he dies. john is furious but touched when he finds out but mostly just pleased that bruce botched the spell so bad nothing it didn’t even get off the ground to hurt him

bruce has met exactly three demons face to face and that’s quite enough thanks

it takes bruce a while to work out that john doesn’t just specialise in self deprecating humour he actually has some pretty serious self esteem issues and that’s about the time that he starts introducing him with ridiculously long streams of adjectives to describe how highly bruce thinks of him and everyone thinks its weird and john sees right through him but also it does kinda help and he really appreciates it

bruce has done the whole over the top unnecessary praise to the tabloids as bruce wayne a couple of times that shit was weird

it takes john five minutes to work out that bruce has some serious issues processing trauma and this is why he’s extra super keen that his bf have nothing to do with the supernatural that’s a whole other level of traumatic

not to mention the kinky sex these two would have. whoooooooooo boy

#idk what this ship name is #bruce wayne/john constantine #shitty text post #headcanons #dc #bruce wayne #john constantine #long post #way too long

37 notes · View notes

angelofberlin2000 · 8 years ago

Link

This is one of the most beautifully written characterizations of Keanu and his work I have ever read!

“... It’s these stars who can rise above being engaging and charismatic to become an elemental force. Reeves is one of them. ... There is a sincerity he brings to his characters that make them human, even when their prowess makes them seem nearly supernatural. Reeves is at once vulnerable, lonely, yearning, and ENDLESSLY WATCHABLE! He’s an actor who bridges divides — between masculine and feminine, visceral action and human emotion ...”.

______________________________

Hollywood action stars are often tied to a sense of time and place. From early figures in this canon, like the dashing Errol Flynn in 1938’s The Adventures of Robin Hood to the oiled-up stoicism of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s and 1990s, they’re intrinsically linked to the eras they’ve born into and the Western tradition they work within. The same can’t be said of Keanu Reeves.

Reeves was born in Beirut, moved around the world frequently in his youth, and was raised in Toronto. His background (he has a mix of white, Native Hawaiian, and Chinese ancestry), along with his upbringing, mirrors how difficult it is to pinpoint his place in action-movie history. That he’s endured over the years in ways many of his 1990s contemporaries haven’t is a testament to his unique skills as an action star. From the unabashedly ridiculous Speed to the laconic cynicism of Constantine, Reeves’s work is most informed by two very different influences: Hong Kong action flicks and classic Hollywood. His return to the action genre with John Wick: Chapter Two, now in theaters, is perfect timing — the genre needs him now more than ever.

The best way to understand how Hong Kong action films influence Reeves is to look at his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi. The film is anchored by a performance by Tiger Chen, a martial artist and fight choreographer who met Reeves in the late 1990s training him for The Matrix. As critic Priscilla Page notes in her appraisal of the film, “There are no stunt doubles. Like John Wick, the action is fluid, a pleasure to watch — no frenetic, Bourne-ripped shaky cam, most of the fighting was filmed with Steadicam.” It has a great understanding and reverence for the visceral, kung fu films Reeves watched in his youth, particularly Enter the Dragon, whose ethos snake through Reeves’s career as an action star particularly post-Matrix. (Reeves has also pointed to Fist of Legend, Twin Warriors, 5 Fingers of Death, and The Matrix, a film that synthesizes a variety of different inspiration, as influences on Man of Tai Chi.) Take this scene from the 1973 film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usdcpWXPaDY

Once the fight starts between Lee (Bruce Lee) and O’Hara (Robert Wall), there is little dialogue. The way the actors move and fight informs the animosity between them. It’s entirely different from the way American action stars, who make time for quips between blows, interact in such moments. The best sequences in Enter the Dragon are when the film operates in wide shots, finding a kinetic energy as Lee dances around his opponent. Man of Tai Chi and John Wick: Chapter Two adopt a similar philosophy, which speaks to both the intelligence of their directors and the skill of their stars. For fight scenes in films like these, the men at the center need to be well-trained, charismatic, and understand the relationship between their bodies and the camera. It’s something that’s largely missing in the performances of modern action stars, who are most regularly seen in superhero epics. The problem with how superhero films are crafted and acted is they often rely on the mythology of the source material without giving audiences who know nothing about these characters enough of a reason to care about them. They’re poorly shot and overedited in ways that make what should feel like grand action scenes forgettable. (DC’s recent critical failure Suicide Squad is the most damning example of this trend.) The men at the center, like Chris Hemsworth and Chris Pratt, often lack an understanding and reverence for the genre they are moving within, which shows in their surface-level performances. They’re charming, sometimes even charismatic, but it’s hard to say they’re memorable in way the way Bruce Lee is in Enter the Dragon or Reeves himself.

John Wick: Chapter Two’s director Chad Stahelski spoke to Empire about the film’s influences. “You go watch any of the great Hong Kong guys. [You’re watching] wider shots; you’re watching an extremely talented individual. If you’re using fast editing to hide things, I call bullshit,” he said. “That’s cheating. Luckily, we have a cast member that can do it. Reeves been doing martial arts for 25 years. He’s been trained by us, he’s been trained by Yuen Woo-ping. He’s been trained by Chen Yen.” Reeves is not an actual martial artist like the men who center many of the works he names as inspiration. But he has a work ethic and respect for the form that John Wick: Chapter Two takes advantage of. His dedication and love of the genre puts him more in the lineage of Asian and Asian-American martial arts stars like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, and Jackie Chan than it does Western action stars. An extravagant mirror scene climax in John Wick: Chapter Two, for example, in which Wick and his opponents crash through glass, is a direct reference to Enter the Dragon. But this isn’t the only classic Hong Kong film the sequel draws on. The gun-fu in John Wick: Chapter Two, and Reeves’s handling of it, owes a debt to films like 1992’s Hard Boiled starring Chow Yun-fat. Gun-fu is a style in which the gunplay in a fight scene is choreographed to make it feel balletic and graceful. Director John Woo can be credited with popularizing this style in films like 1986’s A Better Tomorrow, which also starred Yun-fat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdQJWPOkNdA

Watching John Wick: Chapter Two next to films like this, we can see the influence — wider shots, longer takes, unfussy editing. This gives the action room to breathe and amps up the tension. Violence takes on a soulful quality. But for this to work, you need an actor like Reeves who has the presence to make such scenes be more than just an exercise in physical prowess. Watching Reeves, I am reminded of what director John Woo said about Chow Yun-fat in an interview: “I wanted to create a new kind of hero, a hero who can stand for me, can speak for me, and also can speak for the audience, someone close to the audience, not like a superhero.” That Woo later compared Yun-fat to classic stars like Cary Grant and Paul Newman isn’t a coincidence. It speaks to the way Western and Eastern films have always influenced each other, as well as the brand of stardom necessary for action films to have meaning beyond the craft that goes into them.

Reeves is particularly unique as an action star because he’s also able to use physicality to communicate story outside of action sequences in ways that Lee, Chan, and Li often weren’t. Part of the reason for this is constraints of the Hong Kong industry itself, which had no tradition of acting schools like its British, and to a lesser extent, American peers (even Keanu, for example, has been onstage in Hamlet), as well as these films’ interest in visceral action over emotional plot dynamics. Even within John Wick: Chapter Two’s dazzling, over-the-top world, Reeves keeps his character grounded by communicating his exhaustion, pain, and grief simply in the way he walks through the frame, never letting you forget how bruised John Wick is physically and emotionally.

Reeves in John Wick: Chapter Two. Photo: Niko Tavernise/Summit Entertainment

At the very beginning of John Wick: Chapter Two, projected onto a New York building is a clip of a Buster Keaton film. It appears so briefly you could easily miss it. But it nods to the other tradition Reeves is working within: silent film and classic Hollywood stardom. This is evident in Reeves’s relationship with the camera, which embraces his object-of-desire status without making it seem self-involved or an outright punch line. While in many action films the weaponry takes on a near fetishistic glow, Reeves becomes the camera’s main interest, as lovingly shot as the glamorous starlets of classic Hollywood.

The language of the body is one that American audiences, no matter how far removed we are from this country’s Puritan beginnings, may not know how to speak. It’s a language that was far more common in classic cinema because the industry saw beauty not only as a selling point, but a thematic tool worth exploring. The Hong Kong action stars that Reeves drew from for Man of Tai Chi, the John Wick films, and The Matrix trilogy understood how to convey the bliss and beauty of a fight scene, making violence into a dance. The greatest classic Hollywood actors, on the other hand, understood how to make every moment a dance within itself. They used their bodies to convey character and presence in a way that enriched the film. As actor Mitchell Fain said in a conversation about Joan Crawford, “The stars were the architecture [and] their shape meant something to a camera.” For all of cinema’s growth over the last several decades, modern stars lack the same sort of intimacy with the camera you saw in classic Hollywood that can elevate even the most slapdash film into something watchable, even entrancing. These were people who knew their angles, how the light hit them, and used stillness as a profound storytelling tool. It’s these stars who can rise above being engaging and charismatic to become an elemental force. Reeves is one of them.

What makes Reeves different from other action stars is this vulnerable, open relationship with the camera — it adds a throughline of loneliness that shapes all his greatest action-movie characters, from naïve hotshots like Johnny Utah to exuberant, “chosen ones” like Neo to weathered professionals like John Wick. The best way to understand how Reeves expertly deploys this strategy is to compare him to his action contemporaries from the 1990s and today. Turn the films on mute and study how these actors move. This isn’t meant to insult Reeves’s line readings, which many still can’t seem to separate from his Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure beginnings. Half of what makes John Wick: Chapter Two work as a sequel is its surprising humor, anchored by Reeves’s deadpan delivery and notes of exhaustion. But watching him on mute, it’s clear how much he’s able to communicate without saying a word. A downcast glare, a clenched jaw, the sudden sloping of his shoulders in the rare moments he relaxes in the sequel say more than any of the dialogue. Compare this to his fellow 1990s action heroes, who ranged from the overwrought machismo of Arnold Schwarzenegger (Terminator 2) to brutal everymen with a joke for every situation they find themselves in like Bruce Willis (the Die Hard franchise) to the more purely comedic like Will Smith (Bad Boys, Independence Day). Nineties action stars represent the physical peak of the male body taken to, at times, cartoonish limits. They’re strong jawed and overmuscled. Their very bodies harden them to the world and shield them from any hint of emotional vulnerability you might glean from watching them move across the screen. Reeves isn’t masculine so much as he is beautiful. His work throughout the years in films like Speed, Point Break, and even the much maligned Johnny Mnemonic, have a sort of sweetness, approachability, and vulnerability that stands out from the work of his peers.

Action stars, past and present, speak profoundly to the American id (or at least Hollywood’s conception of it). In many ways, the shifts in how masculinity is presented in action films also speaks to the kind of men this country seeks to uphold. By and large, action heroes espouse the ethos of traditional masculinity, arguing for a fairy tale time in American history when “men were men.” The action stars we see today typically mix swagger, quips, and time-honored sexism along with their heroics (chart the arc of any character Chris Pratt has played recently). There are a few examples to the contrary like Chris Evans’s kind Captain America, who is nearly moralistic to a fault. But his vulnerability lacks the nuance and intimacy that Reeves excels at. The closest parallel to Reeves is perhaps Tom Cruise, considering how his career as an action star has stretched from the late 1980s and shows no signs of slowing down. But unlike Reeves, he’s never allowed his characters to be vulnerable in quite the same way. For Cruise, his charm is a weapon to deploy, not a human quality that entices.

By and large, Hollywood action heroes revere a troubling brand of American masculinity that leaves no room for displays of authentic emotion. Throughout Reeves’s career, he has shied away from this. His characters are often led into new worlds by women of far greater skill and experience (Point Break and The Matrix being great examples). There is a sincerity he brings to his characters that make them human, even when their prowess makes them seem nearly supernatural. From his everyman hotshot in Speed to his isolated occult detective in Constantine to his transcendent work in John Wick: Chapter Two, Reeves is at once vulnerable, lonely, yearning, and endlessly watchable. He’s an actor who bridges divides — between masculine and feminine, visceral action and human emotion, classic Hollywood grace and Hong Kong action-film brutality — in a way Hollywood would do well to learn from.

(x)

#keanu reeves #john wick 2 #angelica jade bastien

36 notes · View notes

jesusvasser · 6 years ago

Text

Automobile + Watch Guide

PALM SPRINGS, California — Rocks slide all around as I look out of the Range Rover Velar’s window. The professional driver in the passenger seat is an ex-Camel Trophy terrain-challenging competitor; he tells me to move the wheel a little to the left, then a little to the right, and then to give it a shimmy as we plow through rutty roads high on San Gorgonio Mountain.

On my wrist is the newest collaboration between watchmaker Zenith and Land Rover, the $8,700 Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Velar. With its black ceramic-coated aluminum case and brushed gray dial offsetting copper-colored hands, it’s a handsome piece. This watch is all the more special because it’s powered by a classic movement, the El Primero, which in the watch world is akin to a classic Porsche flat-six and is one of three movements that changed the modern watch industry.

The Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Velar features the classic automatic El Primero 400B movement housed in a 42mm case made from black ceramic-coated aluminum.

Later that evening, chatting about cars and watches, Land Rover’s nattily dressed chief design officer, Gerry McGovern, who sported a gold Audemars Piguet Royal Oak on his wrist, remarked: “People don’t really need these things—cars and watches—but they desire them.”

That desire and connection between watches and motoring began in 1919 with Vacheron Constantin. Vacheron was one of the first manufacturers to the flip the movement and crown 45 degrees so drivers could better read the time while keeping their hands on the wheel. In 1919 the dial was aligned to the left, and then in 1921 it flipped to the right. Although these driver’s watches couldn’t time laps like a chronograph, they sure looked good behind the wheel of a Bugatti Type 30. They still do; Vacheron Constantin has sent out a slew of reissued Historiques American 1921 over the past few years, which dazzled even the most jaded collectors.

Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern sees similarities between the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the cars he helps to create.

Not until the 1950s, though, and the launch of the hand-wound Valjoux 72 chronograph movement, did the idea of watches and cars begin to burrow deep into the minds of watch and car collectors. That movement powered, among other things, early Rolex Daytona, Heuer Carrera, and Universal Geneve Compax models, classic and much sought after automotive-themed watches from the golden age of hand-wound chronographs. Later—but before the quartz-watch revolution of the 1980s put the classic Swiss watchmaking industry under threat—the 1970s saw the release of the workhorse Valjoux 7750 and ETA 2824 movements, many of which power the grail watches now on collectors’ wrists. Although many high-end watches have shifted toward in-house-developed movements, the vast majority of today’s watch internals are still based on the design of these two movements. The situation isn’t much different than Pagani or Aston Martin using engines sourced from AMG, as these movements, like the engines, feature their own custom parts and tuning.

Although these objects’ mechanical souls have much in common, anecdotal evidence suggests a car person is often a watch person, yet watch people are rarely into cars—and not for lack of trying on the part of watch brands.

“Like a lot of car dealers, my first big watch purchase in the mid-1980s was a Rolex Presidential, in yellow gold, of course,” says Ed Tonkin, an affable Portland, Oregon-based watch collector. “It’s a wonderful watch but very cliché, as every car dealer has one strapped to his wrist.” From there, Tonkin amassed an insane collection of more than 400 rare watches from Greubel Forsey, Audemars Piguet, and the first “super watch,” a Ulysse Nardin Freak #1.

Tonkin’s family owns the oldest Ferrari dealership in the U.S. and also collects cars, including a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTS, a 1986 Ferrari 288 GTO, and a two-tone red and black 1953 Ferrari 212 Vignale Coupe.

Tonkin also has an affinity for automotive-themed Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore models, like his pair of F1-themed examples—one each for drivers Rubens Barrichello and Juan Pablo Montoya. “I like to collect watches that appeal to me aesthetically, and with the APs, I love the connection to cars—where the pushers look like brake pads and the movements like clutch pieces,” Tonkin says. “I had a visceral reaction to these watches when I first saw them.”

It is in this tempest that car and watch companies keep launching collaborations. Sometimes it’s as simple as choosing colors, dials, and case materials and calling it a day. Other times, watchmakers develop new tools and technologies to appeal to car enthusiasts. Take, for example, British brand Bremont’s range of Jaguar watches or the long-standing Bentley and Breitling partnership. Each stands on its own as a wonderful example of watchmaking, even if you don’t own one of the cars. Bentley, though, has extended the collaboration from the wrist to the dashboard with the Mulliner Tourbillon by Breitling, the optional and over-the-top $168,100 diamond-studded mechanical clock available across the Bentayga SUV range.

“The art of handmade British carmaking and the tradition of great Swiss watchmaking have much in common,” Alison Lacy, senior licensing manager at Bentley, says. “There stretches an invisible connection, a common appreciation of mechanical perfection.”

What’s so special about a red dial? A lot in this case: Ed Tonkin’s F.P. Journe got its paint directly from Ferrari, courtesy of ex-F1 team boss Jean Todt.

Eneuri Acosta, COO of the popular online watch publication Hodinkee, says that “it’s a new fairly new phenomenon, this idea of using watches and cars as a way to build off each brand’s ethos.” Acosta worked in marketing for Cadillac before moving into the watch industry. “Look at the classic watches of the ’60s. These were plain and simple tool watches. Now the watch, along with the car, is viewed as a luxury, aspirational product.”

Spike Feresten, who hosts “Spike’s Car Radio” on PodcastOne, wryly says he has “more than some, less than others” when asked how many cars he owns. But when it comes to his watch collection, which he’s pared down to a single watch box, he says, “It could be tool watches or tool cars, the first thing I am drawn to is the aesthetic. It’s all about the patina. Look at a vintage Rolex 5513 or 1680—it’s the patina that makes me feel good for some reason. That aged dial, that creamy lume, they make me nuts.”

Like many collectors, Feresten doesn’t like when his watch matches his car too closely, but there’s always something for those who do. “I think Hublot did what it took to have a Ferrari-labeled watch that a Ferrari guy actually wants to wear,” ablogtowatch.com founder Ariel Adams says. “You also don’t need to be a Ferrari owner to enjoy it.”

Like Spike Feresten says, well-preserved vintage watches like this Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 often wear patina as proudly as some Pebble Beach entrants.

Ultimately, car-branded watches like the Zenith Velar exist to highlight the two companies. “Why do fans of beautiful cars often also have a pronounced weakness for high-quality wristwatches?” Zenith CEO Julien Tornare asks. “Maybe because they always exhibit their owner’s taste and values everywhere they go.”

For those who forge their own way and aren’t beholden to the past, there is one small watch company that holds an outsized presence on the wrists of, shall we say, higher-net-worth individuals around the world.

“I want to be the best. With McLaren, I wanted the world’s lightest chronograph Tourbillon. We start with these concepts.”

Richard Mille is the founder of his eponymously named brand and the maker of the Richard Mille RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1, whose name is as long as its $1 million price tag. “Even when I was young, I always loved cars and aircraft and bikes,” Mille says. “Though I am not a technician, I love extreme technique, and I always thought the high-end watch business was a little boring—you know, where they just copy watches from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries.

“I was always captivated by high-performance and racing cars, and I thought that it would be very interesting to have a more drastic and cutting edge, something sharp, and something without any compromises,” Mille continues. “Where a lot of brands approach watches and cars in a first-degree manner—you know, a strap that looks like a tire or hands that look like a steering wheel—I always felt that was a gimmick, and I don’t like gimmicks.”

Mille’s approach is working, as he can’t keep stock on dealers’ shelves.

“In 2015, I sold 3,500 pieces,” he says. “[We did] 4,000 in 2017 and [will do] 4,600 pieces in 2018. The demand is much higher than what I can produce. The more I raise my prices, the more I sell. I went to one of my boutiques, and I only had eight watches to sell. It’s a good problem to have, but I can only sell what I can produce, and I can’t sell the watches until they are complete. I won’t prostitute myself.” Then, Mille admits with a laugh, “That said, I didn’t know when we launched that we would sell. At the price—starting around $180,000—there was no information on the segment.”

But Mille thinks he knows what is behind his company’s success. “The pillars of most high-end watch brands are very boring, where they are always contemplating the past, which is nonsense,” he says. “All modern watches are made with computers. From day one I have been open to sport and to niche lifestyles, and every time I do something and with every segment I go into, I want to be the best. With McLaren, I wanted the world’s lightest chronograph Tourbillon. We start with these concepts.”

Mille is also the sponsor of one of the greatest automotive events in the world, the Chantilly Arts & Elegance just outside of Paris. “I am a car collector, too, and I think this is why my wife wants to kill me sometimes,” he says. “I have a collection of [race] cars from the 1960s to the 1990s, including a Porsche 917. When it comes to my clients, 90 percent of them are crazy about cars, and we all share that same crazy, crazy passion.”

The post Automobile + Watch Guide appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk WP Feed 4 https://ift.tt/2opNYTk via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk WP Feed 4

0 notes

eddiejpoplar · 6 years ago

Text

Automobile + Watch Guide

The Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Velar features the classic automatic El Primero 400B movement housed in a 42mm case made from black ceramic-coated aluminum.

Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern sees similarities between the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the cars he helps to create.

What’s so special about a red dial? A lot in this case: Ed Tonkin’s F.P. Journe got its paint directly from Ferrari, courtesy of ex-F1 team boss Jean Todt.

Like Spike Feresten says, well-preserved vintage watches like this Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 often wear patina as proudly as some Pebble Beach entrants.

“I want to be the best. With McLaren, I wanted the world’s lightest chronograph Tourbillon. We start with these concepts.”

Mille’s approach is working, as he can’t keep stock on dealers’ shelves.

The post Automobile + Watch Guide appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger 6 https://ift.tt/2opNYTk via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger 6

0 notes

jonathanbelloblog · 6 years ago

Text

Automobile + Watch Guide

The Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Range Rover Velar features the classic automatic El Primero 400B movement housed in a 42mm case made from black ceramic-coated aluminum.

Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern sees similarities between the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak and the cars he helps to create.

What’s so special about a red dial? A lot in this case: Ed Tonkin’s F.P. Journe got its paint directly from Ferrari, courtesy of ex-F1 team boss Jean Todt.

Like Spike Feresten says, well-preserved vintage watches like this Rolex Submariner ref. 5513 often wear patina as proudly as some Pebble Beach entrants.

“I want to be the best. With McLaren, I wanted the world’s lightest chronograph Tourbillon. We start with these concepts.”

Mille’s approach is working, as he can’t keep stock on dealers’ shelves.

The post Automobile + Watch Guide appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

from Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4 https://ift.tt/2opNYTk via IFTTT

#IFTTT #Performance Junk Blogger Feed 4

0 notes

thewalkingchurch · 7 years ago

Text

Prophecy Still Happens

The fact is that we can sit here all day long and show images of the decay or the prosperity of a nation, this behavior is called confirmation bias where people seek out evidence to support their beliefs; if you believe that Africa is a shithole, then you will find evidence to support that Africa is a shithole. Putting your opinions into the meme format doesn't render them true, and half truth is still deception; I could just as easily post a meme of photos of the urban decay of America and claim it is a shithole country, and it would be partially true; rude and inconsiderate, but true. I'm sure that people will take things out of context, intentionally misunderstand, and such as they discuss how wrong they think I am; most of them won't do it here, as they already know they won't win their arguments based in false perception and understanding against me. Earlier tonight I attempted to educated a misguided and very self righteous friend in Africa about his error in judgement, as well as about his own country and it's people; he was talking about what Trump said about Africa is true, then began putting down Africans for not standing up to their corrupt leaders. He apparently didn't realize why Africans have such an independent and strong will, that they have overthrown corrupt government after corrupt government, only to have that government become corrupt as well; such is the power and influence of wealthier corrupt nations, that because of the theft of resources and forced slave labor, utilizing paid Africans to enslave poor Africans, they have had to learn how to survive without the help of governments, gangs, militants, thugs, or even the wild predators of the actual jungle where they may reside; why do you think the "Negro" slaves of the colonial United States were so difficult to "break" in their strong willed pride, even with nothing but a name? Especially if they came from one of the British slave trade colonies that still exist and do trade to this very day in Africa, because those slaves knew it was the influence of the rich white man that their brothers were selling their brothers and sisters; are you getting how deeply embedded this programming is yet, they knew that these wealthy nations they were being shipped off to were exploiting their resources, and they understood they were one of the resources. This was not the first time I have had to correct this brother's behaviors or words, and he constantly argued against everything I said and even inferred I was evil several times; yet we remained friends, and my unfriending him had nothing to do with this participial incident, it had to do with his chronic behaviors and constant denial of any wrong doing whatsoever. He chose to berate me, challenging my understanding of Africa and African culture, not knowing that I was standing in solidarity with South Africa during Apartheid in the 1990's; he wasn't even born yet, nor did he seem to bother going through my friend list and filtering my friends that live all over Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. I actually pay attention to my brothers and sisters on the continent which contains the Garden of Eden, I think I have a pretty good understanding of the modern everyday life in the constantly developing infrastructure of Africa, much less life further out in the country of Africa, in many nations of Africa; I also read and share many articles about the developing African nations, recently the west African nations are discussing banning or have banned used clothes from America, it seems that those Goodwill donated clothes that aren't fit for the American consumer is just fine for the African consumer. There are many African companies, industries, and technologies developing all the time, as the African people are choosing to take their independence to a state level and investing in one another; there have been many American rappers returning to invest in Africa over and over again, how do you think 50 Cent went bankrupt? There are people all over the world, especially China, investing heavily in the future of Africa; being ignorant or in denial of these facts while laying the blame and guilt trip on your fellow Africans is not cool brother, while there may be some truth to what you and Trump had to say, partial truth is still deception. The plight of the African people is not because of their lack of standing up to corruption, it is losing faith that the next won't just replace the last corrupt leader; they have been paid to enslave their own neighbors by those nations you are applauding for "speaking the truth" with deception on their lips, if Africa were fairly compensated for the resources stolen from all of the nations for generations, the African people would be drenched in gold and worshiped like gods. Africa has the potential to be the greatest Unified Nations in the world, the power and resources there is why civilization rose from the Nile valley; research Michael Tellinger and you can learn all kinds of wonderful things about the hidden ancient (modern) culture and understanding of the ancient Africans, it is a wonderful revelation which even many Africans are unfamiliar with, but in some remote locations still utilize. I do plan to travel the world before I pass into the cycle and am born again, and I do plan to be born again; the suffering is well worth the experience, and I really don't get to get out of my home dimension very often, it is like an extended vacation here in this life. I have repeatedly told this brother that I am a messenger of the revelation, of which he denied and argued against me, offering to pray for my "lost soul" and I must pause to laugh out loud; if he only knew my true Spiritual form, he would bow and want to revere me as someone special, not realizing we are all special and unique while being the same. You cannot win every soul and you cannot force the blind to see, it is like the horse which is put out to pasture and refuses to eat or drink, no matter what you provide it is never enough to those who desire to starve themselves to death; absolute truth is called so because it is an absolute constant, it cannot be proven wrong, it stands on its own merit, the only argument which defeats it is ignorant denial. How can I say this any more plainly, my desire is for hypocrites to take the name of Jesus off their tongue and stop calling themselves Christians; they are giving my spiritual beliefs and teachings a bad name, a house divided against itself cannot stand. The divisions of the ministry of Christ are the foretold prophecy of the divided church, the literal division is called denominations, and their faith is a Roman abomination unto God; the Beast is the nation of the United States, the Eagle which comes from the West, what is it that your wolves in sheep's clothing have been telling you about the signs and prophecies? Did everything happen as they said it would, or were they wrong in their predictions and assumptions; they use beautiful imagery for such blind fools, standing in their stadiums, casting their guilt trips, passing their offering where you render unto them, praying to a ceiling, worshiping idols, vicariously indulging in sinful and carnal desires if not actually indulging; screaming how you are forgiven but no one outside of your denomination/church, and even some that are, are not forgiven. Did they explain to you that you are a part of the One World Religion, that your main purpose is to spread the Good News about the authoritative and unquestionable WORD of the LORD and convert all non-believers into their version of what a Christian should be; or that the Holy Bible was commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century AD (after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Christo) as Rome's adaptation of Christianity (their enemies of the state which had caused a decline in tribute and temple attendance) into their culture; which was something they already did with the cultural histories after they conquered a nation, and even ordered the destruction after demonizing the original order of Christianity (who had come out of hiding and surrendered their texts in good faith) and ordering all roots of the Gnostic Christian Fellowship of Brotherhood destroyed? Did you know that your religion is rooted in the blood of saints, that what you are taught from is considered to be the greatest weapon of mass control ever conceived; the greatest trick the Evil One ever pulled was convincing the world the he was their personal LORD and Savior, the AntiChrist of the Roman Church of Hypocrisy, they aren't even hiding it anymore, it has become normalized and accepted in modern culture. Do you not still not See that you are living to See the Tribulation, or the Tribunals; SEE, the Day of Judgement approaches, NONE shall be blind NO MORE, ALL shall see and behold the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. The Sages come from all Tribes, there are no preferred tribes over the other tribes, and then comes the Battle of Armageddon; when ALL NATIONS turn against this Cursed Israeli lie, SEE, on their flag flies the symbol of the witches hex! This is not the promised Hebrew Nation, nor shall that ever be given again; the time of private property rights is over in the old ways, the new paradigm demands a different respect to property as well as humans. Do you not SEE the Revelation unfolding, unraveling before your eyes, the truth cannot be hidden; you will soon understand, crimes against humanity must end now! Did you miss the Rapture? Don't worry, that wasn't all of the souls to be harvested, that was just the first round of the living good souls; they must be reaped first, by the hands of those who desired their sacrifice to stave off the unveiling, as if they could put off what is destined. I know several people that personally realized that many good people were suddenly dying in freak accidents, suicides, and murders; it's kind of difficult to take that many people out of the matrix without someone noticing or catching on, sorry the reality isn't as dramatic as the imagery of the Preacher-Man, but the concept is low key and incognito. Believing isn't the same as knowing, I cannot stress this enough, what you have been taught of heaven and hell don't physically exist; they are places you reside within your mind, you create your own heaven or hell on Earth, I also cannot stress this enough. You are an expression of the Living God, created to be a creator; it is up to you what you create, good intentions don’t always equal good actions or outcomes, be aware of true intentions. Speak to one another in truth and honesty, for what lies are told will be revealed; the veil is being lifted, none in humanity will be spared the transcendence into the new human being consciousness; the 46 & 2 update is near completion, the light workers have been working overtime, if only they got to rest when they sleep they should be well rested, God bless their weary souls. We are moving further into the light cloud, more people should start feeling the uneasy deja vu creeping in, beginning to have serendipitous synchronizations; you will begin to wake up to the truths that have been before your eyes all along, you will remember what you forgot. You may have noticed a strange feeling lately, like a vibration, a harmonious joyous feeling or perhaps uneasy feeling if you are a stranger to joy and it causes you fear and panic; do not be afraid, the harmonious frequencies are being raised, it is preparation for the ascension, the Rapture will continue throughout ahead of the evil and dark souls being culled from the harvest. Look to the Indigo Children to guide you, they are very old and wise souls in rather young bodies, even as they age they seem ageless; they are well preserved, you are what you eat. They like to indulge in the simple pleasure foods, they enjoy life regardless of circumstances, they are the guides of the new souls which will be introduced into the new world, to create paradise on Earth, as it was 20,000 years ago only with new technologies and understandings; at least for the next 20,000 years, until the solar system passes outside of the cloud system again, civilizations will strive, thrive, and advance in a peaceful coexistence. Once back into the darkness and lower vibrations, there is no telling what will happen, probably the amnesia effect again; unless we find a cure this time, the dark and evil souls cannot survive in this paradigm, they will be taken out and cleansed of their ego to be returned as new souls. This message I leave with you, these other things must pass, the suffering is nearing an end, it wasn’t exactly what you were lead to believe would happen, but it is the reality of what is happening.

0 notes