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manga-and-stuff · 3 years ago

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Interview with the English and Japanese voice actors for Asuka from Neon Genesis Evangelion

TIFFANY GRANT

Some time in early 1998, Matt Greenfield encouraged me to write an essay defending Asuka from her critics. I did, and you can read it on my website. At that point, as I recall, about half Of the Eva TV series had been released on home video (two episodes per VHS about every other month for around $30).

Please keep in mind that I had only recently finished recording the TV series. There was as yet no English release of Death & Rebirth, End of Evangelion, Director's Cut Platinum Edition, and there most definitely were no proposed live-action or "Rebuild" films.

Back in 1998, I had not yet read any Of Sadamoto's manga. Having now read all Of it, I was very excited to be able to participate in this project. One especially impactful moment I experienced reading Sadamoto's books was Yuko Miyamura's own essay in volume 4, which touched me deeply. When we first met, I had her autograph it for me!

For this volume, Carl thought it might be interesting if I shared with you how my thoughts about Asuka have evolved over these many years. First, my perspective on Asuka was changed dramatically by working on EOE and even

more so by the Director's Cut footage. I said, "If these scenes had been in the TV show to begin with, people would've had a lot more sympathy for Asuka."

But the main thing that has happened since 1998 is that Neon Genesis Evangelion has become an international phenomenon. When I started recording this loud, assertive character that often swore in German, I knew I was having a great time with the role and that it was enjoyable for me as an actor. There was no way any of us could've known then what lay in store. Eva became a cult phenomenon.

The enormous popularity of Eva is, I fully understand, the primary reason I get invited to conventions around the world. In this way alone, my association with Asuka has forever altered my life.

But I also feel something deeper than the obvious frequent flyer miles is at work here. For several years, I actually denied that I was anything like Asuka—a period I refer to as my "l Am Not Spock" phase. I wrote "In Defense Of Asuka" during that time.

Once I fully embraced my "inner Asuka," I realized the many ways that I related to this complex, flawed character. In the past twelve years, I feel I have become even closer to Asuka emotionally.

I think Shinji behaves in the way that most of us actually would react, but I believe we all wish we were a little more like Asuka—speak your mind, consequences be damned!

I find that I don't just defend Asuka now. I actually admire her. I don't know how I'll feel in another twelve years, but if you don't like Asuka just a little bit, I have only one thing to say : What are you—Stupid?

YUKO MIYAMURA

To be honest, a long time ago, I used to hate Asuka and Evangelion.

If I were to comment using Asuka's words, I would hate, I hate, I hate EVERYBODY!"

As to why I felt this way, well, I think the best way to describe it is to say that it was close to the feeling of being bullied. If a person has been bullied, would they want to remember it? I don't think they would.

Acting the part of Asuka was lots of fun at first. However, as Asuka started to mentally break down, acting her become quite tough.

The part that I disliked the most was during the scene when Asuka finally understood the meaning of the A.T. field. Just when she was able to mentally become strong and confident again, she was attacked by the mass-produced units and brutalized. That time

In the film is really cool and there are lots of characters that I like in it. For Asuka on the other hand, it's the worst situation ever.

Furthermore, after that scene, she is strangled by Shinji with such apathy, and that's where the series ends. The mass-produced units, the Angels, their destiny; it just ends with all of them being defeated.

I closed the Asuka inside Of me deep within my heart. While she was inside there, I didn't really like to bring her out. Remembering my complex feelings for Asuka and Evangelion was quite hard for me, and I didn't like it.

This all changed when I first met and talked to Asuka's English voice actor, Tiffany.

Tiffany, as another person who acted as Asuka, was the only one who could understand the pain that I felt acting as Asuka. We both understood all the difficult emotions about

Asuka and her complex personality, and we talked about many things. After this, the feelings within me toward Asuka became more caring and understanding.

Even though at first I felt anger and dislike for Asuka, I now hold her close to my heart and I think of her like a daughter. Up until then Asuka had to deal with all the pain, sadness and sorrow by herself. Now it's different—I'm with her.

Today I'm a mother myself, and I'm raising my own daughter. The feelings I have for my child are similar to what I feel for Asuka. Even though it's different from my own real-life situation, Asuka is an important existence to me and I feel that I am able to accept her Into my life.

What destiny lies ahead for Asuka?

Furthermore, what choice will she make?

Whatever happens, I will accept everything about Asuka. I will cheer her on because I feel I am close to her. No matter what, I will defend Asuka.

It has been about ten years since the time when the other Units took Asuka and Shinji and tried to strangle her. Now, a new Evangelion has begun!

In the new movies, the once-complex Asuka is now happier. I'm excited to see how Asuka stands and faces her destiny in the new movies, compared to Asuka's fate from ten years ago of being defeated.

If I were to say a comment in the new movie in Asuka's words, it would be: "You hurt my pride... I'LL GIVE IT BACK TO YOU TEN TIMES WORSE." I like this confident side of Asuka.

Whatever becomes of Asuka in the world of Eva, I will always love Asuka the most!

Source: Neon Genesis Evangelion | Shin Seiki Evangerion | 新世紀エヴァンゲリオン

by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

#Shin Seiki Evangerion #Yoshiyuki Sadamoto #Manga and Stuff #Mangacap #Manga #Art #Genesis Evangelion

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ace-of-pythons · 4 years ago

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Proceedings of the Men Of Letters on Angels

The following text will examine the Biology, Culture, and Psychology of Angels. These creatures have not been observed since 1901 [See Recorded Angelic Sightings by Matt Powell, pg. 893] and remain mysterious. Many would suggest that Angels are presented well in religion and are covered in their entirety. On the contrary, many paintings from the 1700's and journals from the 1800's depict another side of Angels that show many contradictions. This text is meant to be a compilation of many of the different literary records of the Men of Letters American [A31d], British [B85g], Mongolian [M59u], and Egyptian [E93k] chapters.

Compiled and written by Sebastian Outlander of the Men of Letters British Chapter

1963

Biology & Physiology

Angels are beings that inhabit the waves of light in multiple parallel spaces, or dimensions. The theoretical reason that they are able to exist between spaces, is that they travel at too high a speed for humans or our technology to detect. It is assumed that the energy Angel's are made of is faster than light. Using this speed, a massive amount of Kinetic energy is formed and is possibly how Angels get their power. The light that makes up their incorporeal forms is often referred to as "Grace". [The Journal of William Greyson, The Murder of Grace (painting by Brianna Colt)] The collection of an Angel's Grace is know as a "True Form" as seen in both numerous journals and the Bible. [See Biblical Accurate Angels, sketches by Juliet Robinson] Angel True Forms are too bright for any one person to lay their eyes upon. There have been several accounts of people being found dead with their eyes burned out of their skull. Whether Angels were the cause of these deaths or not is still up to debate.

Angels can not show their true forms to the creatures of Earth but many take a mortal vessel to communicate. These vessels are usually devout followers of the Lord and will follow an Angel's word. Angels need to have the vessel's permission to enter, unlike demons who can possess a person unwillingly. [The Vessel (1875, Mia Partens)]. These vessels may or may not be able to contain the Angel's full power, and in that case, their body will start to disintegrate and their mind will be null and void. This is, in fact, more desirable than meeting an Angel out of their vessel. An Angel's true voice alone is able to shatter glass, make ear drums bleed, and shake the earth. Seeing an Angel's true form is securing a sure destruction, as the image can burn a victim's eyes, and even brain, out of their skull.

Angels are known to be more like soldiers than expected. The Men of Letters Egyptian [E93k] chapter recovered a silver blade with markings of an ancient language. Upon further investigation, it was discovered to be Enochian, the language of the Angels [See Angelic Culture and Rankings] . The blade of the Angel is safely stored in the Egyptian [E93k] chapter house [Building 4, Row 28, 13b]. Other weapons have been recovered from dig sites across the globe. A long sword believed to be used by a subset of Angels [details unknown, American chapter, Main bunker, Room 24, 58c], a curved spiral blade believed to be used for ceremonial reasons [British chapter, Chapter house, A37b], and a peculiar spear also carved with Enochian [Stolen from the American chapter house in 1958]. Angels are believed to be fierce fighters, and precise in their attacks. According to the Daily Musings of a Wanderer, [Mary Wanderer, 1253] a female Angel was able to throw a silver blade around 50 feet and hit the direct center of her target. It is unknown if this Angel was trained for ranged weapons or if she had the same skill as the rest of the Host. [The Heavenly Host, all Angels known in heaven]

One of the oldest books that has been acquired by the Men of Letters is an untitled journal from both an unknown author and unknown date, although our scientists believe that it dates back to before Christ. This book contains information on Angel wings and culture and was discovered somewhere in Africa by townsfolk. A few of the illustrations have been recreated for this index, so in event of disaster, the information in the book will not be lost.

Angel wings are mostly held in the Ether and are rarely brought into our plane. Although they are rarely brought here doesn't mean they can not be. It is unsure how an Angel does this, but a common theory is that they either use an Enochian spell or that they are intrinsically able to control what plane their wings are on. An Angel is extremely vulnerable while their wings are out, so it is understandable that it is a rare occurrence.

The diagrams that have been found [The unknown book, A Complete Study of Angels (1901, Lily Sunder)] are almost exact to the structure of bird wings. It can be assumed that God created birds to mimic his first creation. The diagram shows that Angel wings have primary feathers and secondary feathers, primary coverts and secondary coverts, marginal coverts, and an alula on each wing. While each of the individual parts of the wing are depicted on the diagram, each section will be described in detail.

The largest feathers at the tips of the wings are grouped as the primary feathers, which help the Angel gain thrust. The long feathers on the rest of the wing are called the secondaries, which help the Angel gain lift. The next layer of feathers up is called the covert. The primary coverts cover the primary feathers and the secondary coverts cover the secondary feathers. The top most layer is called the marginal coverts. All sections of coverts are meant to stream-line the wing as to reduce the amount of drag. The alula is the thumb-like feather that is used during flight to lessen the speed of sharp angles and dives.

According to the text, Angels have created a culture around their wings, [See Angelic Culture section of text] as many have different shapes, sizes, and even colors. Not all Angels have white wings like many paintings portray them as. Each color represents a different personality trait, some being more common than others. The book goes into detail on what each color means. It is unsure if this is accurate or not. Below is the paraphrased section on wing colors from the text.

"White represents Heaven and purity, shades of purple represent logic and the ability to use it well, red represents anger and a tendency to lash out, yellow represents bravery and fearlessness, the lightest blue represents intelligence and one's ability to use it in battle, and silver represents loyalty. All of these colors are the most common among Angels.

Indigo represents an Angel's resourcefulness, orange represents an Angel with a cunning nature, dark green represents stealth, jade represents an Angel's stubborn nature, and cyan represents high prowess. These colors are uncommon wing colors in Heaven.

Dark brown represents Earth, rose represents ruthlessness, coral represents power and pride, tan represents compassion, and the darkest blue represents curiosity. These colors are rare and not seen often in Heaven.

Gold, grey, and black are rare enough that only a handful of Angels are known to have them. Gold may represents a flair for the dramatics in such a way that an Angel would go above and beyond to impress. The only Angel known with this coloration is the Archangel Gabriel. Grey is believed to be independence and doubt, as it is noted that before an Angel fell, grey feathers were seen mixed in with their normal colors. Black is the most unknown color. According to the unknown book, Angels have differing opinions on what it means or what causes it. Black could represent an Angel who has been to the deepest pits of hell, or could be what a Fallen Angel's wings would be. Rebellion was also noted frequently."

Angels can display multiple colors at once, or can change their colors during their next molt. Each Angel has a slightly different molt period. It is said that "An Angel will shed their grace of physical form every millennium and begin anew with colors unable to be perceived by the humble human mind." [Life of Light (1534, Leo Morris)] The estimate of one-thousand years between molts may be 100 or more years off, depending on the individual, the state of an Angel, or the inevitable change of an Angel's colors.

Angelic Culture and Rankings

Angels have been a prominent piece of religion for centuries, and many different types and ranks have been presented. Some put the Powers as the highest rank, others have Principalities, while some have Archangels. [Rings of Heaven (1904, Anthony Stine), Angelic Omens (1800, A.Z. Fell), The First (1734, Eve Heartt)]. When averaging all media in the Men of Letter's possession, we can create an accurate ranking system.

Archangels are the highest ranking Angels and the first to be created. There are four documented Archangels. Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, and Lucifer, who was cast out of heaven. The next rank is Seraphs or the Seraphim. They are the commanders and leaders of Heaven's army. There are different sub-categories within the Seraphim, similar to those who lead battles and those who order the battles to be fought. Then comes the common ranking of "Angel". They are the soldiers, the writers, and the guards. They are meant to fill any role given to them. The lowest ranking Angels are the Cherubs, as they are the ones meant to deal with humans and human relations.

Within these ranks many Angels will create some form of sibling bonds during molt. Molting is believed to be quite painful and difficult to deal with, so Angels will help each other. The painting labeled "The Bond" [1634, Paul Theos] depicted two Angels sitting while one is combing through the other's feathers. Outside of molting, it is believed that the partners will fight together and spend much time in each other's company. From a first-hand account of an Angel [Host, (1102, Akobel)], it is known that Angels see each other as siblings. Molting partners seem to have a closer sibling bond with each other then with the rest of the Host.

Due to Lily Sunder's book [A Complete Study of Angels (1901, Lily Sunder)], we now know more about the way Angel's age and train, although it is much different then how humans grow. Because Angels are created from God Himself, they are incapable of being infants or children. The youngest Angels are referred to as "fledglings" when they are first created. Fledglings are not children but are still inexperienced in relation to their older companions. Any fledglings that were created were positioned with an older sibling, to help train, teach, and care for them. The reason that these Fledglings had older siblings to begin with is that not all Angel's were created at the same time. There were multiple generations of Angels created. The first Angels were the Archangels, as they are God's oldest and they represent power. The second generation, or first choir, was meant to represent defense. The third generation, or second choir, was meant to represent agility. The fourth and final generation, or the third choir, was meant to represent endurance. Eventually there were no new fledglings created and the ones that did exist grew older. Today, fledglings are essentially an extinct species.

The fledgling's guardian would care for their needs, help with the first molts, and teach them how to fight and follow orders. Fight training would include training in defense, offence with weapons such as spears and swords, battle strategy, and learning about their enemies, such as demons and monsters. Not all fledglings would be warriors and commanders, but all would receive basic training and knowledge. Many of these Angels would become archivists and shepherds. In regards to care, the guardian would show them how to take care of their wings, help them heal any injuries, and teach them how to fly and properly use their powers. Molting would also be taken care of by the guardian until the fledgling could find a molt partner.

Angels are known to have both the first spoken language and the first written language. It is known as Enochian. The Angels have many weapons and tablets carved with this language. It is unknown what these carvings and texts mean, as no one can decipher them. All songs and communication between Angels is conducted in Enochian, although they understand all of the worlds later languages.

Psychology

Not much is known about how an Angel's mind works, or even how much free will they display. Their culture is based upon worship of God and following orders. Loyalty is an important trait in Heaven, and is rewarded. The Archangels are the highest rank, and by that default, they are the ones depicted to have the most autonomy. There is no room for mistakes in Heaven and it has been seen that free will creates disorder in many cases.

Although loyalty is desired and autonomy is frowned upon, there are Angels who dislike the system of Heaven. These Angels are referred to as the "Fallen". Angels who wish to have more free will can flee from the host to Earth in what seems to be two ways. An Angel can flee to Earth and take a human vessel and use the many Angelic wardings to help avoid the Host. The second way is more dangerous and precarious. An Angel can rip their own Grace out to be born as humans with no memory of Heaven. This has not happened often according to the book Host. [1102, Akobel] The Fallen have been associated with black wings and Lucifer although only one of which is remotely true. The few Angels that have fallen have been seen with a few black feathers, but there is no guarantee they are working with or for Lucifer.

There is much more information now then there was back a hundred years and it is much easier to find. Although an Angel may never step foot on this planet again, it is a curious thing to learn about their culture and biology. They are celestial creatures we may never understand completely, but we live in their world. It is my hope that this text can be of use to understand both Angels themselves and spell work that revolves around them.

-Sebastian Outlander

This work is inspired by many wing fics and Flight by northernsparrow.

#supernatural #supernatural lore #Spn #spn lore #supernatural headcanon #angel headcanons #angel lore #men of letters #this is a project ive been working on for a while #and im so excited i actually finished it #its basically a collection of my angel headcannons #but in a outsider pov #i might make another post showing the details and nods to the show and a little easter egg #i just hope someone finds the interesting or enjoyable

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banana-with-a-bow-tie · 4 years ago

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The purpose of this post is not to argue that Biden was, or was not, fraudulently elected in the 2020 president election, but to keep a biblical perspective.

Sources report that 47% of American voters believe that large-scale fraud handed the election to Biden/Harris. Nevertheless, 49% say that fraud was unlikely. A recent NPR/Ipsos poll reported that 67% of Republicans and 11% of Democrats surveyed believe that voter fraud gave Biden election. However, the same survey showed that 19% of Republicans and 85% of Democrats disagree. In either case, dozens of millions of voters believe that there was fraud, and dozens of millions believe that there was not. Numbers do not prove whether or not it happened. The point here is that a huge swath of the US population believes that voter fraud helped usher in the next president.

It’s likely that someone you sing next to in church believes that there is ample evidence of fraud, and is grieved about it. Disdaining them as crazy conspiracists is not the best approach (cf. 1 Cor. 13:4-7, Col. 3:12-17). After all, if you’re a Christian, you believe that a peasant Hebrew crucified as a vile criminal will one day appear in the sky standing on clouds.

So for those who do feel that there was fraud, what would Scripture suggest you do? Even if there was, here are a few considerations from God’s word on the issue.

God is sovereign over unrighteousness

“In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man will not discover anything that will be after him” (Eccles. 7:14).

Though he is not pleased with it, God is sovereign over all sin. If there was fraud, though it would grieve God, he is sovereign over it. God remains in control even in the most wretched times (Lam. 3:37-38). He was sovereign over the wretched rule of Egypt (Exod. 2:23-25), the wicked rule of Israel’s enemies in Judges (Judg. 2:14), the evil of the Assyrian deportation (2 Kings 17), the wickedness of the Babylonian exile (2 Kings 25), the unrighteousness of Herod and the Romans (Matt. 2:15), and he was even sovereign over the treacherous treatment of His own Son: “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23). Despite all of this evil—often committed by governing authorities—God was never de-sovereigned by it.

“His sovereignty rules over all” (Ps. 103:19).

2. The Lord is still on the throne

No evil agenda, large or small, has ever successfully removed God from his throne. And evil men and nations have tried. They’ve done everything in their power, with satanic and demonic reinforcements, to dethrone God. It hasn’t happened and it never will (Ps. 93:1-5). The permanence of the Lord’s position on the throne of the universe is laughably unthreatened by even the greatest evils of man.

“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!’ 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them” (Ps. 2:2-4).

The sovereign, supreme rule of the God of the Bible is no more threatened by unrighteous doings and agendas of earthly rulers than his rule is threatened by a cockroach coughing in a Los Angeles sewer.

“The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble; He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!” (Ps. 99:1).

3. God will use unrighteousness for good

One of the ways that God proves he is sovereign is by orchestrating evil for good. We have history to prove that: Joseph’s suffering and saving a nation (Gen. 50:20), Pharaoh housing the messianic nation and its growth, the cross of Jesus Christ, and countless examples since then. Throughout history, God has masterfully moved the evil of man and government to accomplish his purposes, the greatest of which was the cross. Jesus was the recipient of unprecedented civil corruption, and God did a pretty decent job at ensuring that worked out well. We might not see how God orchestrates evil for good this side of heaven, but he’ll take care of it (Rom. 8:28). God is trustworthy.

4. Jesus is still building his church

The church has survived the harshest storms wicked men have to offer. She was birthed into the Roman Empire, who actively opposed her existence. Despite three centuries therein of persecution, her growth continued. Satan and his world have always hated and resisted the church. Even so, she has spread from Israel, to the Roman Empire through the Apostles, and to places like Africa through the Ethiopian Euncuh, the New Hebrides through John Paton, Burma through Adoniram Judson, China through Hudson Taylor, the middle east through Samuel Zwemer, and the list goes on. It’s almost like unrighteous circumstances helps the church thrive. Whatever the case, the church will never die out because Christ builds it (Matt. 16:18).

5. We are still to be about the kingdom of God

Unregenerate enemies attempted several times to distract Nehemiah and God’s people from sticking to the essential task of rebuilding the wall (Neh. 6:4). What they did was wicked. But Nehemiah and crew stuck to the main thing (Neh. 6:3-9).

In these New Covenant days, there are no less enemies and distractions that seek to pull us down from the wall. But we must keep the main thing the main thing. The kingdom of God is that thing. Regardless of what happens, our sovereign God would have us give ourselves completely to involvement in our local churches, godliness, disciple-making, prayer, love, and the word. Let us not get down from the wall (1 Cor. 15:58).

6. God will uphold justice perfectly

God is a perfect, omniscient God. Nothing escapes his notice. He is perfectly good, too, which means evil will not prevail. Regardless what someone appears to get away with, they will stand before God in the judgment (Rom. 12:17-21, Rev. 20:11-15).

7. We are all liars and sinners

An election fraud allegation is to say that lying occurred; massive, consequential lying. Among the list of things God hates, lying is mentioned twice (Prov. 6:16-19). However, people are lying every day; politicians, employers, employees, nobodies, and neighbors. Everyone lies. Lying can no more be separated from humans than their shadow. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). That means we, too, have lied. No one is exempt. God is the only One who has never lied nor will ever.

Our lies may not be as socially consequential as others, but God is the one we stand before. On top of being liars, we are all atrociously unholy before the holy God of the universe (Rom. 3:10-19). This God requires perfection (Matt. 5:48). So, we have nothing to offer God except wickedness and weakness in and of ourselves. Due to our nature and doings, we stand guilty and unacceptable before God. Since we have all sinned against a holy God, an individual who never orchestrated widespread voter fraud deserves to spend eternity in the same hell as someone who did (Rom. 2:1-5).

8. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave

However, God did not leave us to ourselves. Moved by his own compassion on sinners, and not because of anything good or righteous in us, God looked upon us with pity (Rom. 3:10-12, Eph. 1:3-6). Incredibly, our offenses against God in thought, word, nature, and deed did not move him to justly boot us all into hell. No, far from it. He radically humbled himself by joining human nature to himself and was born a baby (Phil. 2:5-7). Though he deserved unceasing worship from every human, Jesus received scorn, hate, and a humiliating and brutal crucifixion (Phil. 2:8). He received all of this on purpose in obedience to his Father’s plan to atone for the sin of his people (John 10:18). Though thoroughly sinful, Jesus so loved his people that he referred to them as, “My sheep” (John 10:26-27). Jesus then rose from the grave victorious, validating his saving work for his sheep. This is a great love, indeed. And it has everything to do with those struggling with the unrighteousness around them: we’ve all sinned, Jesus died and rose for us, and our greatest need has been met.

9. We are to pray

As every human nation and government will be filled with unrighteousness, God now calls his people to pray.

“First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity” (1 Tim. 2:1-2).

We are to pray for so many encouraging reasons: God hears (Ps. 65:2), God answers and works through prayer (1 Sam. 1:10-11, John 15:7), we are commanded to (1 Tim. 2:1-2), it shows that we are depending on our sovereign God (Luke 11:8), and it is an act of worship whereby God brings glory to himself (Rev. 8:3). If we find ourselves in the rut of angst at times, let us pray. We are to pray and pray and pray, and not lose heart (Luke 11:5-8, 18:1-8; Thess. 5:17).

10. Heaven will be great

Jesus often mentioned that we are to live for our permanent, future, unseen, and eternal home with him and all the redeemed (Matt. 16:24-27). While being present and prayerful, this world is passing, visible, dying, and temporal (1 John 2:17).

In heaven, there will be no voter fraud. They’ll be no voting, for that matter. Why should there be? The forever King will be the single most loving, wise, righteous, just, and perfect Individual in the universe, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ (Isa. 9:6-7, John 1:17, Phil. 2:8-11).

“And the Lord will be king over all the earth; in that day the Lord will be the only one, and His name the only one” (Zech. 14:9).

Of course, more could be said here. As God’s people, we are abundantly furnished with what we need to face these rocky times in a manner pleasing to him. Whatever happens, may the Lord’s church abound in faithfulness and fruitfulness.

#long post #but an important one

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theotherjourney7 · 4 years ago

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“I was gonna leave The Week In Tory until Friday the 2nd October but at their current rate it'll be very long by then, and I'm worried about you, mate.

It's OK to get drunk on at 5pm on Monday the 28th of September, isn't it? Well, that's my recommendation anyway. Here goes...

1. In June UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said to Black Lives Matter protestors: “I hear you”, and acknowledged the “incontrovertible, undeniable feeling of injustice” that “we simply cannot ignore”

So obviously, 40 Tory MPs refused to take part in unconscious bias training

2. The government shut pubs an hour early, seemingly under the impression coronavirus (an inert, sub-microscopic infectious entity with no brain or nervous system) can tell the time.

The government demanded we all follow the rules

The government exempted House Of Commons bars from the rules

3. Health Minister Helen Whately said “people who get drunk and leave the pub to keep on partying should remember their responsibility for the nation’s health”

Helen Whateley, who is *actually* responsible for the nation’s health, was sober when she said this. Presumably

4. After 6 months of world-leading “throwing apps in the bin but taking the cash anyway”, the government finally proudly released an NHS Testing App

It didn't work with NHS tests

Or on 18% of phones

Or in Scotland or Northern Ireland

And a report said only 10% of the us will use it, cos we don’t trust Dominic Cummings with our data

Nor should we: the Data Commissioner said Cummings' proposed changes to privacy law will see the UK barred from sharing global data, and cost the UK economy "up to £80bn"

5. Meanwhile the promise of 500,000 tests per day won’t be reached because, in news that should shock nobody, the government failed to order enough raw materials

So the government stopped releasing evidence of how many are being tested, cos if you don't look at it, it isn't real

6. The government, which only weeks ago was demanding we go back to work or all get sacked, now demands we all stay at home

7. Them the government said the reason the UK had the worst Covid response AND worst economy in Europe is because we are “freedom-loving”

8. And then government freedom-lovingly banned schools from using any materials that criticised capitalism

Not content with this, they also banned schools discussing “victim narratives”, which is going to make it tough to maintain their national anti-bullying strategy

9. And then a leaked report said the government was planning to freedom-lovingly deploy the military on the streets

10. Meanwhile, the government announced only 24% of businesses have done any preparation for Brexit, and only 30% of cross-channel HGVs have the correct paperwork

11. The government finally admitted what they’d been told repeatedly since 2016, and said Brexit would create 2-day queues of 7000 lorries at Channel ports

7000 lorries (at the average 16.5m each) is 1155km. That’s a queue over 70 miles long. Every day.

To solve this, the government announced a new internal border in Kent, helpfully relocating 70 miles of queues to London, Essex, Surrey and East Sussex instead

A month ago, Tory MP Sir Edward Leigh was demanding we “take back” Calais. Now we’re essentially abandoning Kent.

Because we only had 4 years to plan for this, our lovely new border will start on 1 January and be controlled by software that – and you should probably open a second bottle around now - won’t be ready until at least 4 months later

Oh, and border checks won’t be ready in Northern Ireland either

But we might not have a problem anyway: it was revealed there are just 2000 EU haulage permits for our 40,000 UK hauliers. That’s 5% of what we need, for any Govt Ministers struggling with the maths

12. And we don’t even have enough pallets for the goods we import, cos we currently rely on a supply we share with the EU, and have neither the wood nor the treatment plants, nor the required chemicals to make and treat our own

So now the government has to make a 200m border, a mechanism for policing it, an internal passport system, software, admin, buy 38,000 permits and grow enough trees for 700,000 pallets. In 3 months.

It had 5 months to add up some A-Level results, and that went swimmingly

13. I’m sure supply-and-demand won’t force prices sky high, cos it never does when you have 5% of the food the nation needs and a govt which boasts about breaking the law, but it was also announced tariffs will add £3.1bn to the nation’s food bill in Jan 2021

14. As a mark of confidence, Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man and a leading Brexiteer, buggered off to Monaco

15. And an unnamed minister was quoted: “We are stuck in a bind. If we try to cancel Brexit we destroy ourselves; if we go ahead with it we destroy the country”

16. The London School of Economics reported the long-term cost of Brexit will be 2-3 times the cost of Covid

So Rishi Sunak cancelled the budget, cos once again, if you don’t look at it, it doesn’t exist

17. JPMorgan shifted £200 billion out of the UK and into Germany calling it “a result of Brexit”.

At least 22% of our entire national economy depends on international banks based in the City of London, so when the largest one fucks off, it's a relaxing development

18. Former Prime Minister Theresa May said the government’s bill to break international law is “reckless” and “risks the integrity of the United Kingdom”

19. The Attorney General, who takes an oath to parliament, the Queen and The Bar to observe the law, said she was “very proud” to be breaking the law

The UK is a signatory and legal guarantor of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to the island of Ireland after 3600 violent deaths. The Attorney General, who is sworn to maintain peace, says Brexit will break the GFA, and she is “extremely proud” of that too.

Turns out, the advisory Professor who told her she should go ahead and break the law and endanger peace in Ireland is the partner of Michael Gove’s special advisor. It’s amazing, these coincidences. Almost as if they don’t want to listen to anybody else

20. Speaking of which, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s old friend and unfailingly irrumating backer (google it) Charles Moore, who has spent his life demanding the end of the BBC, and said the BBC causes "human misery worthy of Dickens" (does he mean Mrs Brown's Boys?) is in line to run the BBC

And it was reported ex Daily Mail Editor Paul Dacre, who shouts c*unt so much his meetings are called “the vagina monologues”, and whose paper is banned as a Wiki reference cos it lies so often, is going to be put in charge of Ofcom: ensuring decent and honest broadcasting

Oh yeah, and Boris Johnson tweeted “a free press is vital in holding the government to account”, which is probably why the people holding his govt to account are being replaced with his mates and cheerleaders

21. Tory MP and successful conscience-donor Andrea Jenkins got paid £25k from a thinktank that doesn’t exist

22. And because no list is complete without a disturbing nocturnal visitation from the smirking angel of death, Home Office Secretary Priti Patel was accused of incitement to racial hatred

23. Whilst Patel, Jenkyns and the Attorney General were busy redefining “the party of Law and Order” the rest of the govt took a wild swing at “the party of fiscal responsibility”, when it was revealed the government has wasted £3,895,556,000 since March.

This includes unsafe testing kits; face masks that don’t work; broken tracing systems; useless antibody tests; cancelled ventilator challenge; and inexplicable contracts to sweet manufacturers and dormant companies with no employees, to provide PPE that never arrived!

24. The government, which insisted schools and universities reopened, said it was now vital to lock down students and prevent them from mixing in large groups

And then the government said it was sanctioning class sizes of up to 60 which ... remind me, is that more or fewer than 6?

25. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said “we’re giving up to 11,000 iPads to care homes to enable residents to connect with loved ones”

“Up to” is a bit telling, but even if it’s 11,000, there are 21,700 care homes in the UK. I guess they’ll just have to share. Goodbye forever, nana!

26. And finally, if you feel all alone in despairing at this: you aren’t. Belief in Britain as a ��global force for good” has fallen 10% since 2019. I, for one, am shocked to the core....”-Russ

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britesparc · 4 years ago

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Weekend Top Ten #474

Top Ten Characters Who Came Back from the Dead

I am stunned – stunned! – that I’ve not done this one before. I mean, come on! It’s right there.

So there’s obviously a thematic resonance going on here. This weekend – the weekend you’re meant to be reading this – is famous where I come from because of a story where someone came back from the dead. Unlike other holidays – Christmas, Halloween, the release of a Star War – I’ve actually been a little slow off the mark in making lists that celebrate Easter. I’ve done eggs and bunnies, but incredibly I’ve never done resurrections, which really is the day’s whole deal. I mean, if you get down to brass tacks, it’s kinda the big selling point of the entire religion really. I hesitate to say “USP” because, well, it’s been done elsewhere, but it’s still supposed to be one of the big Christian takeaways (there’s definitely a chain of Christian takeaways in the States, isn’t there?).

Anyway, resurrection. It’s actually more common than you might think. Certainly in terms of comics there are probably more characters who’ve “died and come back” than have never “died” at all. But! And this is where I get pernickety. Most characters who “die” don’t actually die. Take Batman for instance: he’s shot in the face by Darkseid, and then Superman ups and finds his charred corpse, but – shocker! – he’s not actually dead, he was just sent back in time, where he Quantum Leaps his way back to the present day, accumulating enough Omega Energy with each leap that by the time he reaches the present day he’s blow a hole in reality. Or something, I’ve not read that story for quite a few years. Anyway: he wasn’t dead. Neither was Sherlock Holmes, or for that matter Dirty Den. Generally speaking, if someone dies in a story and then reappears, they’re not dead. Not really.

So this list here is supposed to be people who actually died. Now, even here, it’s debatable; I mean, is E.T. dead, or does his body just go into some kind of hibernation? If Optimus Prime’s brainwaves survive, does he ever really die? Is a clone someone coming back to life or not? It’s all a bit wishy-washy really, which kind of makes sense when you’re talking about resurrection. And let’s not get onto the chief resurrector, the Doctor; do they die every time they regenerate? Or is the regeneration itself a way of staving off death? When David Tennant turned into Matt Smith, did the Tennant-Doctor die? “I don’t want to go,” and all that; there’s always a subtle (or not-so-subtle) change in personality. Does that count? Well, for the purposes of this list, I’ve kinda decided it doesn’t. But it’s an interesting discussion to have, if you’re a big old nerd like me.

So yeah: people who have died – properly, I suppose – and then come back to life. That’s the list. No fakery, to mistaken identity, no alternate universe shenanigans; they were dead but they got better (no Chev Chelios either; sorry, Stath stans). No zombies either! Or vampires! They’re not undead; they were dead, and now they’re alive again. That’s the rule. Also I’ve seriously tried to limit comic book characters. And I’m sure there are some big omissions (like, I know there’s one from Game of Thrones that’s not on here, but that’s because I’ve not seen that far into the show yet; I know, I know). But I reckon these are the best at being back.

Optimus Prime (Transformers franchise, from about 1987): OP is the OG when it comes to coming back to life. Dying and then stopping being dead is pretty much his thing. Technically the first time he came back from the dead was in the original animation; famously being offed by Megatron in The Transformers: The Movie (1986), he came back to life a year later. Subsequent media have frequently killed him and brought him back, even in the live-action movies, but I want to talk about the comics. Because the original Marvel run killed off Optimus at a similar time as the cartoon; he’s blown up in slightly contrived circumstances, but his brain is saved on a floppy disk. Two years later he has his body rebuilt and his brain restored and he’s off to the races once more. Then in 1991, when facing down planet-eating mega-bastard Unicron, he sacrifices himself again, but this time his personality has begun to merge with that of his ostensibly-human companion Hi-Q. Hi-Q/Prime is converted/rebuilt into a new body, and he wins the war. So there you go: even in this one sliver of continued continuity – not including off-shoots or spin-offs, let alone other iterations of the overall franchise – Optimus Prime died and came back to life twice. Beat that, Easter.

E.T. (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): not much to say here that we don’t already know from the Book of Spielberg. E.T., doddery little alien magic-man, grows sicker and sicker as he’s stuck on Earth, until in a thrillingly-edited set-piece he seems to expire, human doctors unable to help him. “I know you’re gone,” says best bud Elliot, “because I don’t know what to feel.” But then! His heart glows! His colour returns! And he positively yells, “E.T. phone hooooooome!” – and Elliot’s euphoric laugh is just devastating. The whole sequence – what is it, ten minutes? Fifteen? – is masterful in every way, from the technical to the performative to the emotional. Bloody magic is what it is.

Gandalf (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 1954): Gandalf the Grey famously leads the Fellowship of the Ring across the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, where he faces off against a Balrog. After a bit of “you shall not pass” and all that, they both fall from the bridge, battling each other on the way down, before both perishing at the bottom. Gandalf, though, is not really Gandalf, but Olórin, one of the Maiar – basically a kind of angel, I guess. He is returned to Earth by the powers-that-be to complete his mission, and is promoted to Gandalf the White, supplanting the corrupt wizard Saruman. This new iteration of Gandalf is a bit more serious and steadfast, although he does retain his fascination with hobbits. Regardless, he gets a terrific death scene and a triumphant resurrection, and how it ties into Tolkien’s wider mythology is interesting.

Superman (DC Comics, 1993): comic book characters die and come back all the time; it’s pretty much a staple of the medium. I guess Jean Grey/Phoenix is probably the most famous, but they’ve all done at some point (even if, like in my Batman example earlier, sometimes they don’t actually die). Anyway, Superman died, very famously, after getting into a tremendous barney with genetically-engineered super-git Doomsday (as famously, and atrociously, depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). The whole “Death of Superman” arc is interesting and entertaining as an example of mid-nineties big-panel EXTREME storytelling: as the issues tick down to the fateful scrap in Metropolis, the number of panels-per-page is reduced until the final issue is basically just full of splash pages. It’s a terrific, exhilarating rumble, really selling the heft of the confrontation. Interestingly, the comic spends a lot of time afterwards dealing with life without Superman, as a raft of imitators/wannabe successors emerge from the woodwork; these include the best-ever Superboy, Conner Kent, and Steel, who’s basically Superman meets Iron Man. Eventually, of course, Superman comes back, his body essentially having been sent to a Kryptonian day spa to recuperate; he emerges clad in black and with a mullet, so death obviously has some lasting repercussions. Overall, it’s a whopping arc with long-term consequences, and whilst it’s easy to make Christ parallels when discussing Superman, this story doesn’t really hew that way (unlike the Snyder-verse which really goes all-in on that plot point, much to the films’ detriment). One of the better aspects is how, even in death, Superman is an inspiration, which in itself has a long trail; leading, eventually, to Batman’s famous withering diss, “the last time you inspired someone was when you where dead.” Anyway, I’ve gone on about this far too long.

Spock (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984): let’s start by acknowledging just how great Spock’s death is in Wrath of Khan. As a plot point within the film, as a piece of staging and performance, and as a landmark moment in this franchise, it was seminal; a death for the ages (as an aside, it’s crazy to think Star Trek as a whole was only sixteen years old when Spock died; the MCU was eleven when Tony Stark clicked the bucket). Anyway, they built an entire film around how to bring him back, and Spock as we know him is absent for much of it; a presence looming over everything as he rapidly ages, going through his Vulcan super-puberty and everything. It’s actually a rather sombre film as Kirk’s son is killed and the Enterprise blows up; bringing back Spock comes with a very real cost. Trek III is not one of the top-tier films – in the loose trilogy that comprises Khan, Spock, and The Voyage Home it’s certainly the weakest – but it’s still pretty good, often underrated. And, of course, it brings back Spock, which is nice.

Agent Coulson (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., 2013): Coulson’s death in Avengers comes as a huge shock, one of the fan-favourite characters being brutally offed in surprising fashion. In a film chock full of super-people, it’s the ordinary guy who buys it tragically. However, did any of us really think he was dead-dead? And so barely a year later he pops back up in the TV series Agents of SHIELD. However, his reincarnation became a recurring plot point; his references to spending time in Tahiti (“It’s a magical place”) becoming increasingly sinister as we come to understand even he doesn’t know how he’s back up and running. The eventual truth – Nick Fury using painful and transformative alien tech to basically bring Coulson back to life – may be a bit underwhelming, but it gave Clark Gregg a lot of meat to chew on dramatically speaking, and it underscored a lot of his character development going forward (especially when he, yes, died again, and then sort-of came back, twice).

Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 2001): full disclosure: I never watched Buffy religiously. I think I just missed it at the start and it was only when all my friends were talking about how great it was that I started tuning in more regularly. Weirdly, I think the most I watched it was around the time Buffy died and came back. It’s fascinating, really, and full credit to the show for the way they explored it; in a series full of magic, the afterlife, and the undead, bringing a character back to life isn’t too shocking. Willow, Buffy’s witchy mate, resurrects her with magic; but in an excellent twist, it turns out that she was in Heaven, and is super pissed off to be pulled out of paradise and stuck back on Earth, leading to her feeling depressed and alienated all season. That’s a great hook for bringing a character back, and leads to some meaty stuff for Sarah Michelle Geller to do.

Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded, 2003): do you ever feel that The Matrix has slipped from popular culture a little bit? Twenty years ago it was ascendent, rivalling Lord of the Rings for the title of “the new Star Wars”. Everyone was copying it. but now hardly anyone talks about it. probably because it hasn’t had a multimedia shelf-life comprising dozens of games and spin-off shows. Maybe the new film will change that. But I digress; Hugo Weaving is tremendous as Agent Smith in the first film, and is exploded at the end (spoilers) by Keanu Reeves’ Neo. Unsurprisingly – especially as he’s, well, just bits of code – he’s back in the sequel. However, he’s now been corrupted; he becomes, basically, a virus, self-replicating and threatening not just our heroes but the Matrix itself. This builds across two films, as Neo has to fight dozens of Smiths in the famous “Burly Brawl”, before the final conflict in The Matrix Revolutions when it seems everyone in the program has been Smithed. It offers Weaving a lot of scenery to chew on and makes for some great set-piece battles, even if the films themselves are a little disappointing.

Olaf (Frozen II, 2019): let’s not beat around the bush here – Olaf carks it in Frozen II. Okay, maybe Elsa dies; maybe Anna dies in the first film. They’re frozen, right, but I feel like it’s “magic ice” and there’s something going on there. Do they come back to life or were they ever really dead? Anyway, Elsa is effectively “gone” but we get a protracted death scene for the comic relief talking snowman. He literally fades away, slowly dying in Anna’s arms, and melts into a flurry of snow that blows away. People talk about Bambi’s mum all the time, but mark my words; “Olaf’s death” is going to be cited as a major traumatic incident for twenty-year-olds in 2030. His resurrection, truth be told, is slightly less great, Elsa just straight-up bringing him back to life, reminding us that “water has memory” to let us know that it’s the same Olaf and he remembers everything (including, presumably, dying? That’s creepy). And that, to be honest, is where I draw the line; sentient wind and rock monsters I can handle, but we all know homeopathy is bollocks.

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019): look, I hate this. But let’s deal with it anyway, because I have a funny feeling it’s going to lead to some quite interesting stories being told in spin-off Star Wars fiction. I personally feel quite strongly that Palpatine should have stayed dead. And maybe he did? We are led to believe that the Palpatine we see in Rise is a clone; there are jars of stilted Snokes floating in the background. He’s all knackered and broken, eyes blackened and fingers dropping off; clearly he’s not well. So is he really the same character at all? Is his Sith essence somehow fed into this new body, the way Prime’s mind is downloaded from a floppy disk (“run prime.exe”)? Let’s say it counts, let’s say he’s the same slimy Palps we know and love. He is, at least, a sinister presence, and like I say, the whys and wherefores of how he came to be back is quite interesting. There’s a fascinating story to be told about the rise of Snoke and the seduction of Ben Solo – a more interesting story than anything told in The Rise of Skywalker, for starters. Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian seems to be researching cloning and seeks to extract midichlorians from a Force-sensitive being; are we to conclude that this in service of making a new body for the Emperor? All this – stuff hinted at but not explored in the film itself – is, like I say, interesting if not outright fascinating. And I agree, there is a certain degree of circularity in bringing back the series’ Big Bad for the final instalment. But I still feel, hand on heart, that it undoes a lot of the victory of Return of the Jedi (as did The Force Awakens, if I’m honest), as well as throwing away all the development of Rey and Kylo in The Last Jedi. So: Palpatine is cool, his presence and backstory in Rise of Skywalker is suitably creepy and interesting, but on the whole it’s crap and they shouldn’t have brought him back. The end.

Ten people who definitely died and definitely un-died! What could be more Easter-y? Honourable mention goes to the episode of Red Dwarf where Rimmer changes history and ends up not being a hologram, only to accidentally blow himself up in the final seconds.

#top ten #dead characters #alive characters #easter #back from the dead #resurrection

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bittybattybunny · 3 years ago

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Did Kai have any sort of family after losing her foster family and becoming the Demon King? Or did she only have her husband?

Yes actually!!! A lot of Kai’s own story involves her own found family collection (i say collection just. cuz she tends to outlive them)

I’ve briefly mentioned she has a few kids and you see them in one of my sketchbook tours

but she also has a group of friends who she was close to

and the opening chapter of one of her ‘stories’ involves her dealing with the loss of a close friend she considered family (she even tried to go through legal means to see him but when humans turned around and said fuck you she snuck in. I can actually post this writing if people wanna read it?)

She also has some of her adoptive family still alive tho the bloodline is thinner. The Hellsing family she was raised in still exists to a point in her story (before the great catastrophe at least) Her whole ‘became the demon king’ thing happened when her uncle attacked her but she was able to get her sister in law and unborn nephew to escape while she distracted the rest (i have a whole ass animatic planned for this to the song “monster” from frozen’s musical. someday. someday I’ll be able to sit down on it weep)

This nephew was the one who hired Ren to help find “the king of fear” as she was known at that point. Alex is a good boy. His son was the one who went to find his great aunt after Ren’s death and she fully became a fallen god and offered her a place to stay and just. try to relax. She ended up falling into a deep sleep for a while and his family was the ones to build the ‘tomb’ she normally rests in when ever she has these extreme ‘low energy’ periods which can last between 5 years to her longest one was 5000. Typically she’ll rest for between 20-50 years at a time. and there’s a legit reason she does this too. But that’s not about family---

Point is that family is still very fond of their matriarchal demoness and she helped them found “Prometheus” a group to help humans deal with monsters and monsters live in peace. (cuz boy howdy do people have trigger fingers) there are other groups in their world with either similar goals or ones to ‘suppress’ monsters (example: The Order is a group who sees monsters as tools and lesser beings. sometimes Prometheus is forced to work with them and normally they send strong demons or dragons and such so that The Order can’t do anything to their operative. it was on one of these collaborations that Kai kidnapped Booberry from them. she regrets nothing.)

Kai often just refers to the current descendant as just “her nephew” as she’s too lazy to shove the amount of “great” in front of it because she’s old. there’s only one case of a niece and that’s where the bloodline ended (again that’s another story all together)

When Kai woke up after the Great Catastrophe alone she ended up meeting a young man named Leo (who if you look in Kai’s tag on my blog you can see him!) Who she bonded with and she likes hanging out with (and there’s other things but I’m not gonna talk about it)

There’s also her ‘generals’ and a few of them are gonna show in TLC soon (just a brief cameo) A group of 4 who’ve met Kai in a few incarnations and they always tend to get along. Original names were Matt, Trisha, Faith, and Maki is Maki (she’s an elf so she lives longer) Current names are Byron, Tiffny, Jacob and Maki. These four actually form Ren’s party when he’s trying to find his wife at the actual start of “Nightmare’s Dream” and you learn they each have a connection to Kai through the story.

Matt/Branden/Byron; he’s featured in the writing I mentioned up top, he’s kinda similar to Leo in the way he interacts with Kai as an almost human morality pet for Kai. He used to be Kai’s student when she was teaching, and his father was the warden at the jail her friend Sammy was in (this is the friend she lost) Matt can see through her disguise when she’s showcasing nightmares. Kai can cause hallucinations on targets using her ‘fear’ hence her title “king of fear” and normally they are only visible to her and her target. But Matt can see them.

He ends up getting in trouble a few times; once with a tribe of demons who want to turn children into imps, once with the literal Anti christ, once with a haunted house. And each time Kai was there and ends up saving him.

Matt later is in an accident and ends up reincarnating as a winged human named Branden and has all his past memories. So when he starts working at Prometheus as one of their ‘informants’ (aka he goes to gather information in both human and supernatural affairs. he’s referred to often as the angel of trust because of his silver tongue) and he meets her again he shouts something from one of his classes with her causing her to snap back on reflex until she realizes (running joke is Kai loathes Julius Ceaser and if you say his name she always whips around shouting “WAS A SLUT AND A HARLOT” in a very aggressive tone. It makes people laugh when she does and she always gets embarrassed afterwards)

The two of them end up working together for a while and become good friends (and maybe a bit more but they never state really) but then when with his new work partner Trisha (nicknamed angel of death, she works in the sector that deals with cleanup) he ends up betraying Prometheus and Trisha rips his wings off and kills him (this is the context between the ‘redraw’ meme I do every few years of a man with a bleeding back drowning)

Trisha is also someone who grew close to Kai (hence she killed Branden because his folly led to Kai nearly going berserk) but she was killed by a sleeper agent from the order. And this is how Kai lost two of her close friends.

Now backing up to Sammy the inmate one; he was with her when Kai met her first child, the young moon goddess Artemis. Arty is a constant for the demoness ever since she picked her up in the woods (her arc also has one of my favorite kai lines: (which i can’t find the direct line but)

Sam shuddered as he looked around the woods, “Do you ever feel like there’s 100 eyes watching you?”

“Yes but it didn’t work out so we broke up.” The demon responded flatly as she looked around with a deep set scowl.

While she was out with Sammy when he was hunting they ended up finding a little girl who turned out to be a new goddess and her elder sister was kidnapped by the embodiment of Greed in his attempt to become a god. Kai ends up stopping this but also kinda ends up becoming Arty’s mom. While she doesn’t raised Arty fully she does do a lot of teaching and such for her and does refer to her as “her daughter” and Arty calls her mom. when the great catastrophe occurs, Arty is one of the few gods who remained when the rest went to new ‘realms’ or simply vanished and is considered one of the main gods of their world because of this.

And then there’s her son Ganon, an Orc Lord she adopted when his village was ruined. he currently poses as her ‘demon king’ while she pretends to be the chancellor (this is the ruse she uses. normally heroes will fight the ‘king’ and lose but if they actually are a threat or have poor reasoning she kills them from behind. this is also how the story starts as someone found a spell to try and incapacitate her buttt)

There’s also morte and her daughter demeter (I’ve shown them before, a set of necromancers) who she’s very friendly with. Demeter even calls her aunty Kaya and loves to sit on her lap and such during meetings. (i have one snippet when Kai was recruiting someone to their side but hadn’t told her yet she was the REAL demon king and Demeter was sitting on her lap laughing) Morte is thankful to Kai for saving her circus (Morte runs a circus that helps those stuck in limbo pass on but at one point demons of sin over took it in a way to gather souls)

There’s also her friend Ciera, the daughter of the girm reaper. she’s Kai’s best friend for the most part of her life, and is the one who helps Ren when the gods of life and death try to prevent him from reincarnating again (which is like other things a whole other story) (she also briefly shows in Bone Stealer at one point. While visiting bunny’s sick grandmother, Bunny and Steve run into Ciera as she’s leaving. Steve stops Bunny from attacking her) She’s over all chill.

There’s also Nicki. Kai’s ‘twin’ brother. He’s the ‘bad guy’ through the arc that contains Leo and sets up ‘the great Split’ that Kai will cause (this is lore/plot stuff) He originally was raised to hate her by their maternal Uncle who’s a arch mage like Ren however he’s fallen due to his hatred of Kai’s birth. Nicki is not really her brother (in the first life) but a failed clone of the demoness. When Kai is reborn Nicki gets to actually be her brother and the two get along really well and he’s very protective of his sister now that he understands what her actual deal is and not the bs his uncle fed him. Before the rebirth too Nicki helped kai solve some stuff and worked with her until his death (unlike her, he was not immortal)

And then Kai actually has two bio children with Ren! Akito her son takes after her and he’s the one who takes over her role as the true demon king of Tir-Na-Nocht so she’s able to die and try life again, and a daughter, Rei who takes after Ren in looks but... she’s a himbo. pure moron. she got her grandpa’s himbo gene strong. She’s a cat girl who works with her brother and she is the head of the guard.

Aki actually has his own story where he grew up in a ‘mundane’ world but then his entire class got ‘isekaid’ to another. it gets shown that this isn’t truly the case. the great ‘split’ mentioned above was Kai literally broke the world in two realms. She made one primarily humans and high tech and then the other was magic and mostly monsters. there are a mix of both but it cut down heavily on the murder. She raised Aki in the human side for his and Rei’s safety due to them being the children of a fallen god (mama worries) and Aki inherited his mother’s odd ‘status’ ��Hero/Demon King” so he has to not expose his demon nature and also stay below the radar (it turns out the person who summoned them was attempting to break a centuries old treaty) until his mother and father can figure out what happened to him (thankfully he can go to a church and his older sister Arty can act as a messenger but there’s a bit of a time split in the worlds) That world is actually the one “Fae Rules” takes place in o7o.

She also is friends with a dead prince named “Shade” (yes this is who you think it is) as well as her ‘cousin’ Sena (who she loves to give shit to)

And in her second life she obvs has her brother, cousins, her father (her father’s boyfriend/her manny), aunt’s etc!!!

So yes; she had family other than her husband!!!! And she cherishes them all.

#ask #anon #nightmare's dream #sorry this got long #but i have so much stuff on kai's story and lore and just sfjdokjfkdsgsf #SHES MY BABY OKAYYYYY #KAI HAD FOUND FAMILY BEFORE I EVEN KNEW THE TROPE NAME #also i have a wip animatic of her dad's bf #when she was a kid after rebirth #and she just abused the guy unintentionally

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astonishinglegends · 4 years ago

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Ep 195: The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts Part 2

“Only when the struggle was far advanced did I finally comprehend the meager state of my resources as well as the might and swiftness of the unseen enemy. Let this be a warning to us all.”

– Joe Fisher, from page 307 of The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, published by Paraview Press

Description:

In tonight’s Part Two of our discussion of Joe Fisher’s book, The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts, with Special Guest Rich Hatem, we continue to examine the narrative of Fisher’s interactions with Spirit Guides through channeling and their troubling results. With the messages and guidance becoming increasingly confusing, frustrating, and seemingly misleading, Fisher and those in his channeling group start to doubt the intentions and purpose of voices from the other side. Even as the entreaties grew insistent and hopes turn to dubiety, the Guides would provide unknowable details beyond rational explanation, which only served to fuel the desire for understanding. As Fisher followed just one more breadcrumb after breadcrumb down a blind alley, we’ll never know if he found his answers in the afterlife or if the truth was there all along amongst the living. When it comes to finding meaning through channeling in Fisher’s case, the pertinent answer is that the medium is often the message.

Reference Links:

Joe Fisher, investigative journalist, and author

Billy Bunter

Catechesis

Catechesis on the Angels, authored by Pope John Paul II

“In Search of Hungry Ghosts: The Mysterious Death of Joe Fisher,” by Louis Proud in EdgeScience, Issue 43

Vroman’s Bookstore, in Pasadena, CA

The Vickers Wellington, a British WWII medium bomber anti-submarine aircraft

“The Vickers Wellington And Its Defensive Ring” on WorldWarWings.com

The “Submarine Reincarnation” episode from Unsolved Mysteries, Season 6, Episode 1

Newmarket Racecourse – where the soldiers slept due to a lack of accommodations

Photos of the Newmarket Racecourse grandstands

Related Books:

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CREDITS:

Episode 195: The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts Part 2. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Special thanks to Rich Hatem; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2020 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

#The Siren Call of Hungry Ghosts #Ghosts #Medium #Channeling #spirits #Toronto #investigative #journalist #Past Lives #Soulmate #Suicide #Spirit Guides #angels #demons #trickster #Akashic Record #seance #194 #195

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loquaciousquark · 5 years ago

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E83 (Nov. 5, 2019)

A day late and many dollars short, but we’re here! Tonight’s preroll: minifigs & what I assume are tonight’s guests of Liam & Matt:

which is followed by lazy susan rotating the D&D minis from eldritch-foundry.com for the rest of the cast. Cute! Anyway, Dani is back and ready to rumble! Brian is briefly lambasted for only getting through mumblemumble questions last week, but it’s all smoothed over soon enough and we move right along.

Tonight’s announcements: Undeadwood finale is delayed one week due to some post-production tech issues. Should premiere Friday, Nov. 15. Brian marvels over Matt’s speech about God being just as feral as what he creates. Matt is also surprised. Marisha is apparently the living dice Snitch of both campaign 2 and Undeadwood - everyone wonders if it’s the seat, the chair, the floor, or some innate karmic sense Marisha herself creates. CR is also partnering with Operation Supply Drop for the month of November to support veterans. Matt announces (re-announces?) that they are partnering with Amazon to create a full second animated season, as well as two more episodes to the original season one. All backers will be able to still watch the full season one for free. Everyone is so excited & I’m excited for them. Good job, tiny D&D friend group. More details on the CR Kickstarter Updates page.

And now! Episode 83: Dark Bargains

CR Stats: Liam poured wine for 49 seconds. Brief sidebar as Liam expresses genuine nervousness being on the couch beside Matt; he normally talks behind his back on TM, since he’s not sure if Matt ever watches it, but now he has to watch what he says. Caleb’s smell has been mentioned 60 times. Matt acknowledges that he is clean and washed. [doubt] Nott’s death was the 60th knockout and 8th player death of C2. Half of those deaths were Frumpkin. Liam calls Frumpkin a magic fart with a weak wifi signal.

Our first question (23 minutes in, NOT THAT ANYONE’S COUNTING), reveals that Matt did design the HFB with some “big red buttons” for the characters to press, or want to press. He expected more group approval before some of them were pressed, though (the dreadnought). Liam wanted to clear all the corners of the Baldur’s Gate map.

Caleb fears Halas because he’s one of the most powerful mages ever, he fears the lab setup/experimentation angle, he still fears the siren song, and is scared of the grains of similarity he sees between the two of them.

Liam knows they’ve continually seen fun stuff come from shitty situations, but Caleb sees the story of the HFB as “you’re not welcome here; this is going to suck for YOU! You thought you were going to have fun here? Fuck you!”

Matt loves those climactic moments though, because he loves it when the dice tell the story. Liam loves that there was a day where Matt rolled terribly in Undeadwood and played it as being embarrassed to be around all these amazing people.

Matt enjoyed getting to dig into the backstory of his world. He’s had references to pre-divergence stuff before, and it was a big joy to give more context to some of the things the M9 have been encountering.

Liam: “[Caleb] is gambling big when he thinks there’s something of worth to gain.“ He’d heard of a long-vanished mage who was messing with time stuff, and thought there might be a chance this was him. Then, once they found the gem, he started feeling this might be the real chance he needed to start messing with the crazy stuff he wants to do with time.

The bound devil was a general temptation, but in hindsight he can see why Jester was drawn to him. Matt often builds scenarios and has no idea how they will react to them (and acknowledges that the M9 did not fully read the poem that would have given them more info here), and sometimes he’s right and sometimes he’s very wrong.

Caleb is very distrustful of other arcanists and always assesses their level of threat to the group. Liam does think Caleb has come a long way since the start of the campaign. “A lot is changing for him. He’s very reactive in a lot of ways. Whatever is laid out for him in the moment that he can take advantage of, or that he cares about...I don’t know. The Betrayer Gods coming back is so much more important, and I don’t know if it’s going to make him let go of that stuff. He has to re-evaluate. He has to. He’s like an addict who has a weak day.”

Brian comments that Caleb seems to be a clinic in self-forgiveness. He wants him to do well, but at the end of the day he wants him to forgive himself. He also points out that it’s possible to get addicted to grief, and he sees that in Caleb; he’s choosing to stay in that space, and we are watching what that does to a person. Brian feels that he forms an attachment to the grief because it is the only emotional connection he has to the family he lost.

Liam nods and says these are things he’s been thinking about for months and months. He does not and did not have the answers when he created the character, and is looking forward to seeing where he ends up. He is not railroading his character; he’s letting the other players affect his character so that Caleb can remain malleable.

Matt loves how it reflects how real people inform the lives and actions of their friends in real life.

Cosplay of the Week: @suchamantis on twitter for a Caleb/spellbook cosplay. It’s gorgeous work!

Brief derailment into Liam pulling a Bane out of his mug and Matt hypersensually smelling the winner’s dice vault. I don’t even know what’s happening.

Revivify in this campaign is being used as a CPR/AED type thing. If they fail, the DC goes up and a longer-form raise dead spell must be used out of combat.

It did occur to Liam that this is the second time his bestie has been killed by a treasure box. Would Caleb make the same sacrifice? Liam says in a spooky voice that nothing is as strong as the twin bond...but when Caleb goes into full-on survival mode where all emotions are pushed to the side, he doesn’t know what would happen. He knew he was with two very magical people who could work miracles and was focused on just getting her up the steps to them. Matt was sure everyone would figure it out and was shocked when no one checked it for traps.

The effect of the diamond on Nott being different from the diamond on Cad was flavor related to the Power Word Kill trap that was on the chest. He built the revivify around that imagery in the moment. A lot of Matt’s flavor text around spells is built around the moment, the characters themselves, their gods, etc. as much as possible.

Caleb is glad to find the signs of magic that may be able to return Nott to a halfling, but was way too concerned about the gem to think about anything else at that time.

Fanart of the Week: @acemasters4 on twitter for a beautiful pastel stylized portrait of Caduceus and mushrooms.

Ashley is almost here! Brian allllmost tells us how many days but refrains. COME BACK ASHLEY.

The Angel of Irons thread has been planned since the very beginning: everything with chains and hunger was planned. He pulled it together with Yasha when he realized they would mesh well. She had created her backstory, and as the campaign proceeded he was able to marry some threads together to make story points. Liam compliments Matt’s ability to weave character & world backstory together; specifically, the crystals in Caleb’s arms were Matt’s idea after Liam sent the first draft of his backstory to Matt. Liam loved it and ran with it.

Everyone is so excited that she is coming back and Matt won’t have to plan for her to be suddenly absent again.

In a moment that shakes my world, Matt is discovered to be wrong about what class of magic Cure Wounds is in 5e. The question is about how Halas’s comment on healing being necromantic is a throwback to older editions of D&D where CW was a necromancy spell, and Dani reveals to us all that in 5e it is now Invocation. Matt chooses to accept this as a deliberate throwback to older editions to emphasize that “man out of time” feel.

Chris Perkins apparently once described BWF’s personality as “Power Word Kill for someone’s joy.” He also apparently did MMA & figure skating, because why not.

Caleb’s reference to Jester suffering in the ruby was purely coincidental regarding her mother. He didn’t realize until it popped out of his mouth.

BWF talks about how he likes where the campaign is at. He has a weird gut feeling that something exciting is about to happen. “I’m finally invested in this campaign after 83 episodes.”

Everyone pauses to talk about how beautiful Matt’s hair is blowing in the wind. BWF tells a story about how based on how they were sitting in Undeadwood filming, Matt’s hair would blow ever-so-slightly in the A/C and people thought they did it on purpose.

Matt had a good time at Blizzcon! He was glad to see people gathering for the Hong Kong protests; he understands it’s a very complicated situation where the initial punishment was way too harsh and caused a ripple effect, but he was glad to see the space where the activism was welcomed in response.

Matt enjoyed cosplaying again for the first time in a long time, both at Blizzcon and as McCree for the Halloween episode. When he was buying adhesive a shop worker upsold him on an inferior product, which is why his beard started falling off during the show. Sad times, Matt. :(

And that’s all! Is it Thursday yet?

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long post for ts

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snowregent · 5 years ago

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I feel like there’s a lot of people that don’t know that much about this version of Elena and I wanted to share a look into who this character is and my own opinions on her and the way I write her on this blog. As a forewarning, this post is rather long.

“Elena had been like a force of nature: take her or leave her for the passionate, cynical, idealistic, self-centered, generous-to-a-fault, girl that had been her mortal self. A wild tropical storm rising in a millpond. An orchid in a field of daisies; a gryphon in a herd of sheep. Elena had never been like anyone but herself.”

Elena is the quintessential golden girl, the girl next door. Initially, she can come off as selfish, competitive, proud, and headstrong, however, that does not take away from the fact she can still be considered a good and decent person below the surface-- her general alignment being chaotic good. To this end, she has referred to certain students as ‘minions’ as they would readily do bidding for the most popular girl in the school and had been willing to spread rumors to further her own agendas. That said, Elena also showed a willingness to help her friends and protect others when various threats arose which would see them harmed. Some of Elena’s more positive traits are that she is: outgoing, confident, brave, optimistic, ambitious, loyal, protective, and strong-willed. She is a very good leader and as a result, is good at leading most situations that require solid leadership.

“Noblesse oblige”, Meredith said softly. “If you’re going to be queen of the school, you have to put up with the consequences.”

________________________________________________________

“Somewhere in the middle of it, Elena realized that she was going to be all right. She was herself again, not lost, not a stranger, but Elena Gilbert, the queen of Robert E. Lee.”

Elena cares about her social status, willing to do research and find out details in order to use them against enemies if need be. At times, this means Elena may be willing to manipulate for what she deems is a greater good or to maintain her social standing, however, in most cases, she still has lines she will not cross to achieve these specific goals. Elena is a girl with a plan for everything, sometimes not as readily willing to accept other's motives as pure unless she knows them well. She is a Queen Bee, bossy at times even giving edicts from the grave. Still, she would never change herself or do something she did not think was right (by her definition of the term).

The girls in the senior class, even the ones that had been nastiest and most spiteful, were crying and holding hands. Girls Elena knew for a fact hated her were sniffling. Suddenly she was everybody’s best friend.

There were boys crying, too. Shocked, Elena huddled closer to the railing. She couldn’t stop watching, even though it was the most horrible thing she had ever seen.

Frances Decatur got up, her plain face plainer than ever with grief. “She went out of her way to be nice to me,” she said huskily. “She let me eat lunch with her.” Rubbish, Elena thought. I only spoke to you in the first place because you were useful in finding out information about Stefan. But it was the same with each person who went up to the pulpit; no one could find enough words to praise Elena.

________________________________________________________

“A lot of people weren’t nice to Elena after Halloween,” she said, wiping her eyes and going on. “And I know that hurt her. But Elena was strong. She never changed just to conform to what other people thought she should be. And I respected her for that, so much…” Sue’s voice wobbled. “When I was up for Homecoming Queen, I wanted to be chosen, but I knew I wouldn’t be and that was all right. Because if Robert E. Lee ever had a queen, it was Elena. And I think she always will be now, because that’s how we’ll all remember her. And I think that for years to come the girls who will go to our school might remember her and think about how she stuck by what she thought was right…” This time Sue couldn’t steady her voice and the reverend helped her back to her seat.

In fact, Elena is intensely protective of her friends and town and will typically not betray a loyalty unless she has been betrayed first. Even then, as seen with Caroline, even though Caroline had stolen her diary, plotted against her, and even tried to turn the town against her and Stefan, Elena still was compassionate toward her and wanted to help her. Another example of Elena's ability to be compassionate can be found in the final book when Elena goes back in time and, knowing what will happen to Vicki, makes the choice to include her within her friend group as the girls get ready for the dance. When she goes back in time, she puts aside her popularity, she has matured and only seeks to make things better for everyone that had been doomed in the original timeline, even if it means she has to give up her connections with them. Elena also always fulfills her obligations, as Stefan has said ‘even to the undead’. She is fully aware of the dangerous game she plays at times, her being very emotion-driven can, at times, lead to her taking action without considering others or the fallout from her decisions. That said, she is usually willing to take responsibility for these actions and choices and she is not above admitting when she is wrong.

“…she had been a different person then. Ice-cold outside, manic inside—or was it the other way around? Still numb from the death of her parents so long ago. Jaded by the world and by anything to do with boys…A princess in an icy tower…with a lust only for conquest, for power…”

While having been nicknamed “The Ice Princess”, “Ice Queen”, and “Snow Queen” by many, for she sometimes possesses the impression of appearing cold, distant and aloof towards those who do not know her well, as time goes on her character evolves, learning to sacrifice for those she cares about and becoming a warmer and more mature person as Elena and her friends face various trials. She demonstrates a willingness to put her life at risk to protect others though is also, at times, willing to risk the majority to save one. This was seen in the series more than once including when she threatened a guardian (angel) that she would not use her powers to save humanity if they didn’t change her mission (which had been to kill Damon). She is extremely stubborn, so much so that when presented with the doom of those she cared about and her own death, she literally refused it and convinced a guardian to allow her to go back in time and alter the chain of events which led to this, thus changing the entire course of the series and resetting the timeline.

“I’d better stop writing now. Stefan’s leaving, and Matt and Meredith and Alaric and I are going to see him off. I didn’t mean to get so into this; I’ve never kept a journal myself. But I want people to know the truth about Elena. She wasn’t a saint. She wasn’t always sweet and good and honest and agreeable. But she was strong and loving and loyal to her friends, and in the end she did the most unselfish thing anybody could do. Meredith says it means she chose light over darkness. I want people to know that so they’ll always remember. I always will.”

While Elena has openly admitted at the beginning of the series that she always used boys and treated the opposite sex as if they were prizes and trophies to boost her confidence and self-esteem none of the boys that she has ever encountered, met, or dated (including Matthew Honeycutt) has ever had an enormous, unusual, life-changing or highly influential impact on her the way that Stefan Salvatore, in canon, and in other specifically featured verses on this blog, Archie ( @skeletcnkey ), who has drawn out more of Elena's kinder side, and Kol Mikaelson ( @psychotickol ), who has drawn out more of Elena's true nature and tempted her by her own darker traits, have had. While having developed on her own, it must be acknowledged that, at least in part, Stefan, Archie, and Kol have inspired her to become more open-minded and spiritually awakened.

“I wanted to ask you something and it’s a little embarrassing. I remember one thing Elena told me, and that was that you used to—well, to take on her discarded boyfriends for a little while, to comfort them, before turning them lose in the world again. And I was wondering—could you think of me that way?”

Meredith’s eyes flew open and her held breath exploded in laughter. “You!”

“I fulfill all the requirements, I’m sure. Low self-esteem. Can’t sleep, can’t eat. I think about Elena night and day. I can’t picture myself—ever—wanting another girl—”

Meredith laughed and laughed and the tension that had been holding her rigid broke. “All right, all right. You’re an Elena’s-ex. Join the very large club. But what can I do for you?”

In respect to Elena's loves both in canon and on this blog, many are driven by a key concept of the novels: THE SOULMATE PRINCIPLE which is an ancient theory frequently used in most of L.J. Smith's trilogies and book series. "It is the theory that two people who are true destined soulmates are connected by a 'silver cord', only visible to the destined soulmates themselves." It does not always mean that your connection to that person will be a romantic one, but could be that of a friend as well. The key point is, they are destined to be a part of your life in some fashion, to challenge you and to impact you in a profound way. Your soulmate can awaken more of yourself through your interactions with them. "Through the silver cord, soulmates can often feel what each other are feeling if the person concentrates through the strength this connection and how long it takes to uncover may vary... Exchanging blood is one way for a person to find out they are soulmates. Soulmates can often enter each other's mind and see their memories, thoughts, and feelings. Thoughts and memories can be blocked, though this takes concentration-- if the concentration lapse during the time that one person is in someone else's mind, the blocks will fall down to allow the other person to see everything. It is the idea that for everyone in the world, there is ONE soulmate who is perfect for them. You don't have to look like your soulmate, act like them, be the same age as them; you don't even have to like them at first, but from the moment you meet them, you know that you'll never be completely happy without them."

“Involuntarily, Stefan glanced up. Yes, he’d had the strong feeling of her presence here tonight, too. Elena. Still scheming from the spirit world. Elena couldn’t help him any longer with her blood, but that wouldn’t matter to her. She had three humans that she could still influence, and that was fine. It wouldn’t matter to her that Meredith got a bit of a shock or that Bonnie might be playing with fire, or even—well, she wouldn’t have done anything to destroy his friendship with Matt, but he hadn’t known that before.”

All in all, Elena is a complex character who many often misjudge both within the series and by readers. She may not be perfect, is not always agreeable, and she even may not be the character that everyone even roots for right off the bat, but she does evolve. And as it's often said, she is not anyone but herself. She does not apologize for being who she is but she does own up to who she is and the choices she makes. Elena is capable of making the hero’s choice but is not always the hero of the story. Elena knows loss and is challenging and daring and brave. She learns and grows and becomes a woman who can be vain but giving, who can be selfish, at times, but still willing to sacrifice.

#;headcanons #snowregent #DO NOT REBLOG OR REPOST #this is strictly for use by this blog #tw; long post #sorry this is so long but i feel it's important to put out there

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eugene114 · 4 years ago

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Redemption And Salvation In The Book Of Tobit based on 14 ratings (rate this sermon) | 3,779 views

Contributed by John A. Peck on Nov 3, 2009

Scripture: Matthew 22:25-28

Denomination: Orthodox

Summary: A short sermon on how the Septuagint Old Testament book of Tobit tells of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Tobit is an astonishing book. It is a part of the Septuagint Old Testament, and therefore only in Orthodox and Roman Catholic Bibles. Until 1929, it was included in Protestant Bibles (in the section called "apocrypha" or "hidden things." I don’t know why they thought it was hidden.) It is a very Christian book. Most of you probably have never read it, so let me summarize.

In a nutshell, it’s about a man named Tobit, and his son Tobias. Tobit is a righteous man, who apart from his other work, labors to take care of the poor and needy. He even leaves his dinner, hot on the table, to go and bury the dead whom no one else cares about. That’s righteousness. One day, in an interesting way, he suddenly goes blind (How? read it for yourself, I can’t spoil everything). Tobit, old and blind, wants to find a good wife for his son before he dies.

Sent by God, the Archangel Raphael appears, and posing as a distant relative, agrees to take Tobias to find a wife. He takes him to a woman who has been married seven times, but on the wedding night of each marriage, a powerful demon appears and kills the groom, leaving the new bride a virgin maid. No one will marry her now, and it’s not hard to understand why. Tobias arrives, and bravely announces that he will marry her. When the demon appears, Tobias forces the demon to flee, and takes her back home. Raphael dramatically reveals himself as an angelic visitor, and they live happily ever after.

Whew. That’s the condensed version. It’s a fun read, though, so please don’t take my word for it.

What does this have to do with redemption and salvation from a Christian perspective? Why did the early Christian teachers and Fathers hold this book in such high esteem? They certainly considered it important enough to be in the Bible. Why is it even in the Bible at all?

Let have a look at this situation.

A loving Father, sends his only Son, accompanied by a holy Spirit, to rescue a helpless Bride held captive by an evil spirit who fills her life with hopelessness and death. This Son defeats the evil spirit, saves the Bride, and takes her back to live with Him in the Father’s house.

This is the story of the Incarnation, isn’t it? It’s the story of Christ, and one that every one of us who attended Sunday School knows deep in the depths of his heart.

There’s more than that, though. This story is actually referenced once in the New Testament. Nonsense, you say?

Remember when the Sadducees (they did not believe in the Resurrection) came to Jesus posing him a conundrum about the Resurrection, hoping to trick Him, and humiliate Him? Y’know, the "let’s make him look stupid," kind of questions that they often tried to catch him with.

They ask Jesus, "Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. Finally, the woman died. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?" (Matt. 22:25-28)

This is a reference to the seven dead grooms in the Book of Tobit. Unfortunately for the Sadducees, they didn’t understand the story.

Jesus tells them as much. "You know neither the Scriptures, nor the power of God." (Matt. 22:29)

In other words, they didn’t get it. They missed the point. They just wanted to make the belief in the Resurrection look foolish and unreasonable. Little did they know who they were talking to - the living Resurrection Himself.

The Book of Tobit is a powerful telling of, and a typological foreshadowing of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, accompanied the power of the Holy Spirit, to rescue humanity from the devil, and take us back with Him to His Father’s House.

What a powerful prophecy! What a great story!

I love a happy ending.

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the-zodiacs-written-in-the-stars · 5 years ago

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Chapter 24: The Zodiac Alliance

Mike woke up sleepy. Not really motivated to get up, feeling like he should just pull the blanket over his head and go back to sleep. He pulled the blanket higher and buried his nose in Matt's neck. Today was Sunday, so that meant that Matt was going to be home all day. Smiling contently, Mike wrapped his arms around Matt's midsection and pulled him closer.

“Cuore, it's time to wake up, come on”, whispered Matt softly. “No more hogging me.”

Mike grumbled and buried his face in Matt's shoulder-blades. “Please, just... five more hours?”

“...Hours”, echoed Matt amused, shaking his head. “No, babe. Come on, time to see if the house still stands. We're not living alone anymore. Don't you wanna go see Jamie?”

Damn it. Matt knew exactly what to say to get to him. Mike perked up at that. Quickly, he crawled out of the bed and made his way out of their room. Jamie's room was right next to theirs. It was very tempting to check in on Jamie. The brunette probably slept like a kitten – all curled together. That was how he watched TV too. It was really cute. But no. Privacy. Boundaries. All that stuff.

Instead, Mike skipped down the stairs and right into the kitchen. Maybe he could surprise Jamie with breakfast today? It was hard, because Jamie was a notorious early riser. Most of the time, Matt and Mike woke up to Jamie already showered and cooking an elaborate breakfast.

“Morning, Mike! We're making breakfast for dad!”

Mike paused, eyebrows raised. Ally and Andy were in the kitchen, doing something alright. But Mike would definitely not go so far to call that 'breakfast'. Putting on his nicest smile, he quickly took the pan from the nine year old boy before the bacon would be total coal.

“That's... very... nice of you”, drawled Mike amused. “But... uhm...”

“Dios mio, he didn't actually teach you how to cook, did he?”, sighed Matt as he entered the kitchen. “The effort is appreciated, but we had your home just torn down, maybe let's not burn down ours too, I don't know anyone with enough room to take us all in.”

Ally smiled sheepishly, tucking her long braids behind her ear. Andy pouted a bit as he sat down.

“It's very sweet that you guys want to do this for your dad”, assured Matt, patting Andy's shoulder. “It really is, but Jamie would be very sad if you would burn yourself cooking for him.”

“Yeah. Why don't you two go and wake your dad up?”, suggested Mike.

“It's real weird that he isn't up already”, noted Ally. “C'mon, Andy.”

“It really is”, whispered Matt with furrowed brows. “Did he sneak out for patrol?”

“No, last night was Angel Fish's turn. We made a schedule for a reason”, grunted Mike. “So we can all get rest. And Babs says that while reckless, he is at least reasonable enough to not go all alone. You know Babara, she would definitely not let him go all alone.”

Matt grunted at that, though didn't say anything else. Mike didn't really feel right about it either. It wasn't like Jamie to go all alone, that much was true. They had made team schedules, so one set of four heroes would be patrolling the streets at night. During the day, it was a bit of a who was available kind of situation. They couldn't well go by teams, considering their own work and private life, however they did try to put two heroes on each attack.

“Dia duit ar maidin...”

Mike adapted a dopey smile at that. He loved the way Gaelic Irish rolled off Jamie's tongue. He didn't speak it often, but sometimes a phrase, curse, or nickname slipped out.

“Buongiorno”, countered Matt amused. “Slept well?”

The question answered itself when Mike and Matt turned to look at Jamie. He had dark bags beneath his eyes. He looked exhausted. Ready to keen over. That at least explained why he hadn't been awake before them. Concerned, Mike went to take Jamie by the arm, guiding him toward a chair to sit down on. What was currently happening was weighting everyone down, the more often they encountered the... bad guys (who really needed a cool name to be referred to. This bothered Mike a lot), the more people got hurt, the more often they failed to end this mess...?

“You got any plans today, kids?”, asked Jamie, trying to ignore his exhaustion.

“I'm hanging out with Julio and Cleo”, stated Ally with a shrug.

Mike grinned a little bit. Julio and Cleo were the younger cousins of Mike's partner and best friend Rick. They were about Ally's age and with the whole chaos going on, Mike had suggested for Rick to bring the teens along one time when they had still been building Ally and Andy's rooms. Apparently, she had really hit it off with the two siblings. Which was good, because according to Jamie, she didn't make a lot of friends. Andy, he just shrugged.

“Dunno. Video games?”, offered Andy after a moment. “What about you guys?”

“I'm spending all day at the bar. We're so short of it being ready to open again”, stated Jamie.

“You're gonna work yourself to death”, noted Mike with a pointed glare. “Take a day off.”

“And do... what exactly?”, asked Jamie with a glower.

“Relax. Sleep. Watch TV. Read a book. Play video games with your son”, suggested Mike.

“Oh, I second that last one!”, exclaimed Andy with a broad grin.

And with that, they got Jamie. He really couldn't say no to his kids. Mike grinned victoriously. He just... he worried so much about Jamie. Because he had feelings for Jamie. Real feelings. Not just a crush on a pretty bartender. But even in a ratty shirt, hair messy, bags beneath his eyes, Jamie was absolutely beautiful and Mike wanted to make sure he slept better. Turning a bit, he exchanged a look with Matt, knowing his fiance felt the exact same way. Ever since Jamie and the kids had moved in with Matt and Mike, things had become far more real.

~*~

Tanya smiled softly as she chanced a glance at Melanie. The oldest Maguire looked so gorgeous when she was deep in thought, her nose scrunched up, glasses perched on the scrunched up nose framing her brilliant blue-green eyes, her long black hair in a perfect bun today. Usually Melanie wore it loose, no hair out of place. But with how much they were running around the library, she had let Tanya put it up in a bun. Tanya was good at research, she often times did it for Matt, so she had offered her services with their little research department. Melanie Maguire, Sebastian Weinberg, Sander Hancock and Joss Parker. They were working well together – all of them, in general. They had formed their three teams to go out at night, they teamed up even outside their teams to take care of attacks, they tried to spend much time together outside of official missions to get to know each other. Training together, sparring together, talking. Because if they knew each other well, they would fight better together. They could trust each other.

“You know, I liked our book-club better when it was not about this”, sighed Sebastian.

“Shush, Sebastian”, chided Melanie without looking up. “This is important.”

They were going through history, trying to figure out the past of the Zodiac Alliance. How they had operated before, when they had operated before. Gods. They had been gods before. Their supernatural power and strength, things no one could explain. It figured that in ancient times, they would have the status of gods. They were supposed to be the forces of good though, the thirteen of them. Including Serpentarius. Yes, he had a bit of a shady past – Loki, Seth; not always fully good. There were always monsters to be fought; the constellations being used to possess people. A lot of fairy tales proved to be true too – talking animals, right here next to them. Guardians, fairy godmother like figures. Regular humans who were bestowed with magic.

Robin Hood, the legend based on a carrier of Sagittarius the archer. Supposedly, his entire crew had been carriers who had fought back then. Figures and forces of good, turned into myths just like the gods of ancient times. Tanya had to admit, she was fascinated by it all.

“What do we gain from this though?”, questioned Joss with furrowed brows. “I now know that Gemini had been handled by Odin when she had been the leader of this team. So what?”

“Odin was the god of knowledge, war and death”, offered Sander, smiling charmingly at Joss. “If nothing else, this is... going to show you what your power-set is capable of.”

The way Sander smiled at Joss made Joss blush a soft pink. Whatever kind of love-triangle nonsense was going on over there, Tanya was definitely going to keep her nose out of it. Drama had always been one thing Tanya didn't want in her life. She liked things easy and orderly. Again did her eyes find Melanie. She was, well, certainly not easy, but definitely orderly. Well, her apartment – the first day Tanya had met her – had been a mess, however that had been due to stress and thinking she was going crazy. If given sleep and a support system, she was actually very tidy, which pleased Tanya; she needed things orderly, everything had its place.

“Mikey is worried about James”, noted Melanie softly, turning toward Tanya.

“Mh...?”, grunted Tanya confused, leaning in a little so they could talk quietly.

Melanie flushed as the two stood so close. “I... It seems he's not been sleeping a lot. I figured, I mean you were... dating him... so I guess you do know him better. Is he... alright?”

“The best to ask about that would be Varya, but...”, drawled Tanya, eyebrows drawn together. “He's a complicated man, Lanya. He's had... There are things he doesn't talk about, with no one. It's why our relationship didn't last for every long and wasn't very deep.”

“Wh... What are you saying?”, asked Melanie, cheeks even darker at the nickname.

“That there are things in his past that he doesn't talk about and the fact that our best bet right now is that these attacks are linked to him and his sister... it brings back memories of whatever he keeps buried. I don't know what it is, but I assume not good”, offered Tanya gently.

“Wouldn't it be best if someone confronted him upfront then?”, injected Sebastian as he looked up at the two women. “I mean, this is about more than him. It's about... the fate of Los Angeles at least, if not the world – and I'm not trying to sound dramatic here, however there is an alien attack.”

“I don't know him well yet, however from everything I've seen, I gather that he is the kind to run when cornered so maybe cornering him is not the best plan”, offered Joss seriously.

“So what? We wait and hope he'll talk to us on his own?”, snorted Sebastian.

“Better than having him run off”, argued Tanya softly. “Maybe... Maybe we should just... send Varya to go and try talk to him? Far as I can tell, she may just be the only one able to get through to him. Just the two. The question is if Varya will do it.”

“Oh, she will”, sighed Sebastian. “She's worried about him too. Babs and Jamie are best friends and when my cousin cares about someone, she does so rather fiercely.”

“So we sic Babara on him. Good attack-plan”, nodded Melanie bemused.

~*~

“There you go, gorgeous. And an additional doughnut for you.”

Babara flushed and blinked a couple of times as she accepted the order from their barista. A pretty redhead wearing green. Her name-tag said Kit. Thanking her, Babara carried their order over to the table. Jamie sat there, glaring. He looked worse for wear these days. She knew he was having nightmares of his past these days. Ever since it had been suggested that someone may be after them, his fantasy was running wild with worst case scenarios.

“Talk to me, James”, ordered Babara softly as she sat down.

She tucked her neon-green hair behind her ear, leaning forward some as she placed his coffee in front of him. He glowered and nearly emptied the whole mug in one go. Sighing, Babara started picking on that free doughnut she had scored. Purple icing. Her eyes went to the redhead once more.

“Nothing to talk about”, grunted Jamie gruffly, not looking at her.

“Jay, come on. It's me. If not anyone else, at least talk to me”, pleaded Babara.

“What... if he comes back? What if it's him?”, muttered Jamie, looking at her desperately. “I can't-”

So that was it. That was where his mind had gone. If someone was targeting him, and his sister, then his biggest fear was that it was him. Sighing softly, she reached out, squeezed his hand.

“Jay. Maybe you should tell the others, to prepare the whole team for the possibility? So they know who to look out for?”, suggested Babara gently.

“No. Absolutely not. Jessie can't, shouldn't know any of this”, whispered James, shaking his head.

Babara heaved a sigh and shook her head. What was she supposed to say to that...? How could she help him? Part of her thought she should tell the rest of the team, but the majority of them were still kind of strangers and they shouldn't be entitled to something so personal from Jamie. Besides, they didn't have any actual lead just yet. This was all wild speculation.

~*~

Savitri was sipping her wine slowly as she sat on the couch in her own apartment. Considering that Matt, Mike and James had the two children living with them and Elizabeth had her fiance, this was the largest apartment apartment available to the team to meet up and operate from. Sonia Gold had offered, however... that seemed to draw too much attention – she was famous, her villa was off to the beach so the distance also made a difference. Savitri lived relatively central, everyone having definitely less distance to travel to get there. Savitri liked this, liked being their home-base of sorts. Her apartment was definitely large enough to hold meetings for twelve people.

Right now, it was a smaller circle. Angel, Jessie and Lizzy were over, Angel having brought the research their 'book-worms' had done (as Jessie liked to refer to their research group). Together, they had rearranged Savitri's living room, put a large white-board onto a wall and the couches facing it. A conspiracy-theory wall. The compilation of Joss' and Tanya's original gathered evidence, to be edited along the way. It was terrifying and fascinating at the same time.

They did have themselves on it. Well, pictures of their gems, with a list of powers, element infliction and prior carriers below, so they could keep track of them. They were still getting used to them, still learning about themselves and to be quite honest, Savitri couldn't be asked to remember all twelve Zodiacs' powers just yet; she still struggled with names sometimes. It was a lot!

On the other side, they had their enemies though. Nicely named the Snake Nest Villains, by Tanya and the rest of the team had just adapted it; it was as good as anything, really.

“So we had Serpentarius at the top so far”, started Lizzy, moving the purple magnet with a cute snake drawing (they had not met Serpentarius yet and had no good picture). “Below, he have Serpens on the second rank, Hydra and Hydrus.”

“Now, we're suspecting someone else is even higher. That makes me wonder if Serpentarius is... equal to Serpens then? Or still higher because we have had contact with Serpens already”, offered Jessie thoughtfully, head tilted. “I mean, maybe Serpentarius isn't even active and maybe more of like a... messenger between the Biggest Bad and the... uh... underlings? Minons?”

“Not minions”, requested Lizzy and made a face.

“At the top of the food-chain... on... on either side are the Crowns”, stated Angel as she hopped up and put two cute crown-images up. “Corona Australis, the Black Crown, and Corona Borealis, the White Crown. The ancient rulers, behind the screen. Very exciting.”

“Question: Why don't we just... get help... from that White Crown?”, asked Jessie.

“Oh, you know how it is. Superiors never do the work themselves”, huffed Lizzy dismissively. “This White Crown is like some higher up deity who just supervises.”

Savitri furrowed her brows. Highest priority would be to take out the Black Crown – they are the one who gives the power to those beneath them. If the Black Crown was taken out, those under their control would lose the influence. As it was, they didn't even know who Serpentarius was and barely had seen Serpens; the bad guys were playing things close to their chest.

“We're at a disadvantage”, mused Savitri, gaining the others' attention. “We can barely name the five higher ups but haven't even seen the two most dangerous ones. Meanwhile, the bad guys know... all about us. I mean, not our secret identities, but... but they know exactly what Zodiacs they have to face and they know exactly what powers we have.”

“You're right”, agreed Angel with a sigh. “Oh well, we're going to... do this. Somehow.”

“The optimism is overwhelming”, huffed Lizzy amused. “I need more wine for this.”

“I'm coming with you”, agreed Jessie, gathering glasses and following to the kitchen.

“How are you and Joss doing?”, asked Angel curiously, turning toward Savitri.

“Right to the point”, laughed Savitri. “I mean, we were busy enough with work already, but now with all this superhero business? They took a mission with Babara and Tanya two days ago and was too exhausted for our date, I was out late with you and Sebastian yesterday and had to postpone.”

“It really is straining”, agreed Angel solemnly. “Bastien is spending a lot of time complaining too. But that wasn't what I meant. Uh... I meant to very subtly ask how you are doing with... Sander.”

“Truly subtle”, agreed Savitri amused, her legs pulled up.

Daisy barked as she hopped up onto the couch, first sniffing her human and then turning toward the new, more interesting human, her tiny tail wagging. Angel cooed and picked the tiny dog up to hold her above her head and then kiss her little head just below the pink bow.

“Oh, you are a precious tiny thing”, whispered Angel, placing the puppy on her lap.

“Okay so, I admit I was very nervous about meeting Sander for the first time. Joss had been upfront about their feelings from the get-go, told me about their crush on Sander, so I would know what I was signing up for. I... knew that, at one point, I would get to meet the guy they had a crush on, however... I didn't expect these circumstances”, sighed Savitri. “So that changes things, because we didn't just meet about Joss, as friends. We... We're working together now.”

“That changes the dynamic from 'romantic rival' to 'working as a team'...”, agreed Angel.

“Yes, exactly”, groaned Savitri. “We're working together rather well. He is a very brilliant and... very handsome man. I understand where Joss is coming from. And it is evident that Joss has a type... I mean, I am only four years older than Joss, but Sander is about five years older than me.”

“Ye—eah”, giggled Angel delighted. “I mean, Joss is thirty-four, they can make their own decisions. But yes, definitely a type. Intellectual, older, gorgeous.”

Angel winked playfully at Savitri, making her laugh. Angel may be heterosexual, but she was definitely a flirt regardless. Angel called it 'being French', which had only made Savitri laugh even more. She really liked Joss' best friend a lot, the tiny blonde was delightful.

“I do think that saving Los Angeles has higher priority than sorting our... relationship out”, sighed Savitri softly. “And in the end, it's up to Joss anyway. If they... enjoy our relationship enough to stay with me, or if the feelings they have for Sander are... too strong.”

“It's okay”, smiled Angel, reaching out to pat Savitri.

“And it will be even more okay now that we have more wine!”, exclaimed Lizzy. “What are we talking about? You two look so serious. We were out for like five minutes.”

“Nothing, just... hand me that wine”, demanded Angel with a smile.

~*~

“The place is looking good”, praised Matt as he looked around.

Jamie couldn't help but smile pleased at that. He knew it was by far not all him. Honestly, if not for the whole team – and the more than generous 'donations' Matt had done (Jamie knew it came from him, even after Jamie had said that he wasn't going to just accept the billionaire's money). Thanks to everyone actually working together, they had been able to rebuild it like this.

“I'm gonna reopen tomorrow”, declared Jamie. “But... it'll be a while longer before the apartment is... livable again. I prioritized the pub, because it's... my place of business. Income.”

“Of course. You and the kids are welcomed to stay as long as you please”, assured Matt.

It really did mean the world to Jamie. He startled a little when Babs clasped a hand on his shoulder. Babs was smiling broadly. Jessie and even Chess and Ryuu stood on his other side. His cook and barkeeper both smiled encouragingly. They too relied on the income from the pub, after all.

“It really looks good. Let's hope there won't be any more attacks on it”, chuckled Chess.

“Well, at least insurance covers monster-attacks”, offered Ryuu dryly.

“Séamas! Hah. There you are. I knew it. Séamas!”

James froze, eyes widening. He slowly turned toward the source of the voice, while Ryuu reached out for the man who had spoken. The blonde man laughed startled as he was being stopped.

“Excuse you, sir. We are not yet opened. Grand reopening is tomorrow”, informed Ryuu.

“Ye—eah. Saw that in the newspaper. It's why I'm here”, laughed the blonde.

James swallowed hard, feeling like he was swallowing a whole rock as he stared at the man. He was aware of Babs and Matt looking curiously at the stranger, who was trying to get past Ryuu.

“Then you can come back tomorrow”, grunted Chess pointedly.

“Not here to drink. Just here to see Séamas.”

“Well, tough luck then because there is no... whoever here”, countered Chess.

“Nonsense. He's literally standing right there.” The blonde grunted and pointed at James.

“You're mistaking me for someone else”, hissed James as he walked briskly past him.

~*~

“Your brother's been avoiding me since yesterday”, sighed Matt with a frown.

“Mhmh”, grunted Jessie, kicking the possessed giant lizard in front of her. “Can we like maybe talk about my brother after we took out the constellation at hand?”

“That would be much appreciated”, agreed Melanie loudly, irritated.

Matt bit his lips. He just couldn't shake it. Yesterday had been weird. That stranger, that weird blonde with the Irish accent. The way Jamie had frozen up, how much seeing the man had upset him. Matt really didn't like the way Jamie had reacted to this guy. Still, Jessie had a point. Concentrate on the fight for now. Squaring his shoulders, he notched another arrow.

With the right amount of pressure – Melanie was using her vines to hold their enemy down and Jessie and Matt were quite literally bringing the heat – they managed to separate the person from the constellation that had possessed them. Melanie pocketed the gem.

“Okay. Now, what was that?”, sighed Jessie, wiping her face. “Taurus?”

“Yeah, my place to regroup and... clean up”, muttered Melanie, wiping goo off her face.

The trio headed to Melanie's place together and, once inside, Matt had to note that it looked surprisingly clean. She was a bit of a chaotic scatterbrained professor, really. Matt wondered a little if it had anything to do with Tanya and her obsessive orderliness. Melanie and Tanya had been spending a whole lot of time with each other lately, after all. And Melanie was not exactly the subtle kind of lesbian, she was more the heart-eyed, pining with a loud sigh kind.

“Okay. I bite. What about my brother?”, asked Jessie with furrowed brows.

“There was a guy at the pub yesterday”, offered Matt as they started cleaning themselves with some towels, all three crowding into Melanie's bathroom. “Blonde white boy, about our age.”

“Blonde white millennials in LA. Shockingly rare sight”, nodded Melanie sarcastically.

“He had an Irish accent”, continued Matt, glaring at his future sister-in-law before he turned toward Jessie again. “He... called James by a weird name. Called him... Sean? Or something, I think.”

“Séamas?”, offered Jessie, eyebrows raised.

“Yeah. Yeah, that was it”, nodded Matt.

“That's the same name”, stated Melanie casually, waving a hand at Matt's confused look. “Séamas and James, it's the same name. Like... Matteo and Matthew. Just... regional difference.”

“Ye—ep”, confirmed Jessie with a shrug. “Séamas is Jamie's name. Actual name. Birth... name.”

“...Oh”, whispered Matt, feeling even more confused now. “Wh... Why? I mean, why...”

Jessie gave him a thoughtful look and then shrugged once more. “When we came to the US, Jamie said we should change our names. Ain't nobody got time to hear Americans try and stumble over it. You heard yourself there? Remembering Sean like Séamas is too hard. The thought of any ignorant American trying and failing to spell my name feels like pulling teeth.”

“...What is your name?”, asked Melanie curiously at that.

“Seasidh. S-e-a-s-id-h. Didn't see that spelling coming, huh?”, snorted Jessie playfully before shrugging. “So yeah, James and Jessica seemed easier.”

Matt nodded slowly, warily. “So... that means... this man, he was... from your... past?”

“Must be someone my brother knows from Dublin, yeah”, shrugged Jessie.

Matt sat down heavily, eyebrows drawn together.

~*~

“Babe, you are working too hard.”

Lizzy startled a little, but then she smiled softly and tilted her head back to look at Rick. Rick returned her smile as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders after putting down a cup right in front of her, the scent filling her senses. He was so sweet.

“You made me chocolate”, sighed Lizzy pleased. “You're amazing.”

“I am going to call Miss Gold personally one of these days though”, grunted Rick seriously. “You... You have been working so hard, even at home. And all of the after-hours. We barely get to see each other in the morning anymore... and in the evening, we just fall asleep. It's... I miss you.”

Lizzy took a very slow, long sip from the hot chocolate. “It... It's just this one... project. It's... very important, not just to the firm, but to me, personally. This is huge for me, babe. I'm not just a designer on it, I'm head on this project.”

It was only partially a lie. The project was something that kept her busy, but mostly, it was the mission. Lying to Rick was awful, but she was also confident that this would be resolved soon. If not, she would be telling him the truth, she couldn't endure lying to him for forever.

“He—ello, roommates”, called Jessie out as she walked in. “How are you?”

Lizzy was partially relieved to hear her best friend and how awful was that? She was relieved to have her alone time with her handsome boyfriend interrupted like this? Horrible.

“Well... I am tired and what about you?”, sighed Rick.

“Full of energy”, offered Jessie with a broad grin. “Wanna watch a movie?”

“Yes!”, exclaimed Lizzy eagerly, scooting over.

Rick heaved a sigh, but he followed after all. Even if it was just a movie, at the very least it was spending time with his fiance. Looking at him, Lizzy leaned in to kiss his cheek.

“I promise, once the project's done, I'll have all the time in the world for you, babe”, whispered Lizzy gently before snuggling up to him. “Be patient.”

“Of course”, huffed Rick, nearly offended. “I mean, you were all patient for me when I trained to become a detective. I'll always have your back and support your career. You know how proud I am of you, Lizabella. I'm just... concerned about you, my love.”

Lizzy smiled faintly before snuggling up right between her boyfriend and her best friend. Closing her eyes, she leaned back to relax after a long day of work and fighting evil.

Read here on AO3!

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#Own Story #Story: Written in the Stars #Project: Written in the Stars

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butterfly-on-my-love · 6 years ago

Text

Misfits Digimon AU!

No one asked.

I did this with the Creatures and the Derp Crew way way back so why not? I had images for those, so I might do some here but not now.

~Matt~

Partner: Falcomon Digivolution line: Puwamon-Pinamon-Falcomon-Peckmon-Crowmon-Ravemon-Ravemon Burst Mode Crest/Digi-Egg: Reliability

Matt met his perfect partner when a large black egg came out of his computer one late night. He had been editing the podcast, half asleep, and only really realized something was going on when the screen froze and turned whiter than an angel’s wings. The egg formed and appeared on his lap with a small device. He hadn’t been high or drunk, and was almost positive he was dreaming. It wasn’t until all the other guys, and some others online, had eggs, too. He made a joke about turning it into breakfast. “Think we can turn it into breakfast? How do you like your eggs, guys?” “I am not food!” A tiny voice had stated loudly. Angry little eyes on a brown tuft of fur glared up at Matt, then softened with joy. “I’m Puwamon, your partner!”

As Puwamon grew to Pinamon and then Falcomon, Matt learned to care for and love the creature. It wasn’t until Falcomon turned into Peckmon to save Matt that he realized just how much he cared for the ninja bird. Their bond only strengthened as they grew together.

~Jay~

Partner: Gatomon Digivolution line: SnowBotamon-Nyaromon-Salamon-Gatomon-Angewomon-Ophanimon/Mastemon (w/ BlackGatomon) Crest/Digi-Egg: Light

Jay’s partner transcended the regular Rookie stage, going to full Champion. Jay and Mason were the only two to have permanent Champion-level partners. They’re also the only two with partners that DNA digivolve to Mega level together. Jay fell in love with SnowBotamon from the start, especially knowing his best friend had the same Digimon. She only got cuter as she grew, eventually branching off from her sister and becoming a white angel. She and Jay sing together all the time. Like Jay and Mason, Gatomon and BlackGatomon tend to encourage each others’ antics.

~Mason~

Partner: BlackGatomon Digivolution line: SnowBotamon-Nyaromon-Salamon-BlackGatomon-LadyDevimon-Minervamon/Mastemon (w/ Gatomon) Crest/Digi-Egg: Hope

It’s no surprise that Jay’s partner and crest match perfectly, and they match him, but Mason didn’t think his matched at all. He had a black cat that turned into a lady demon, and his crest was Hope. How had he managed that? He wasn’t ever hopeful of shit. Okay, he was, secretly. The little black and purple creature was hopeful, too, but never showed it. They complimented each other perfectly, as they did with Jay and Gatomon. BlackGatomon was the brains to Mason’s brawn, helping him keep a level head and not run head first, stupidly, into danger, like he so often wanted to.

~Toby~

Partner: Lalamon Digivolution line: Nyokimon-Budmon-Lalamon-Sunflowmon-Lilamon-Rosemon-Rosemon Burst Mode Crest/Digi-Egg: Love “Fuck yeah! I get a sexy woman as my partner!” That’s the first thing Toby said as he faced almost certain death in a big fight. Lilamon rivaled LadyDevimon and Angewomon, but Rosemon’s appearance was Toby’s proudest moment. “I’m a proud mother.” He had commented after the fight was over. He and Lalamon are always out shopping together. He often gets her matching accessories. The two are always looking after the others, too.

~Cam~

Partner: Renamon Digivolution line: Relemon-Viximon-Renamon-Kyubimon-Taomon-Sakuyamon-Kuzuhamon Crest/Digi-Egg: Courage

Cam’s perfect partner was a fox, but one that was even taller than him. A small furball grew into a towering beast that he loved more than anything. He enjoyed when she moved to all fours in her Champrion form. He was taller than her again, but her ultimate form and mega form towered over him again. Her “extra-mile” evolution, Kuzuhamon, scared him at first. Had he been too prideful in her and made her dark digivolve? She had become almost scary with her dark color scheme, but she assured him that she could only achieve this form with his help. It was the best form she could turn into, and very few of her kind did.

~Swagger~

Partner: Kotemon Digivolution line: MetalKoromon-Kapurimon-Kotemon-Gladimon-Knightmon-Crusadermon Crest/Digi-Egg: Friendship

As the only member of the group to not have a partner with an “extra-step” in their evolution line, he was lucky enough to get a borderline God as his partner. Despite his pink coloring, Crusadermon identifies as a male that gives no fucks. “I am pink because it’s a cool color.” He always says when Toby asks and when Mason makes fun of him. He shuts shit down like Negan would, proving to Swagger that he is his perfect partner, through and through. It was cool to have a tiny little guy with a mask hiding his face and a stick to fight with. It was cooler to have a little fat knight, and even cooler still to have a bigger knight. Yet, Crusadermon took the cake in all his pink glory. It was like his childhood fantasy coming true.

~Bee~

Partner: FanBeemon Digivolution line: Pupumon-Puroromon-FanBeemon-Waspmon-CannonBeemon-TigerVespamon-Grademon Crest/Digi-Egg: Sincerity

Obviously, Bianca was gifted with a Bee Digimon as her perfect partner. FanBeemon was adorable, but definitely bigger than the average human bee. She and Bee quickly became best friends and did everything together. FanBeemon formed a crush on Kotemon, sometimes getting into trouble just so he could save her. She enjoyed becoming Grademon just to prove she was better than he was, though.

~Brodie~

Partner: Palmon Digivolution line: Nyokimon-Tanemon-Palmon-Togemon-Lillymon-BanchoLillymon-Rafflesimon Crest/Digi-Egg: Knowledge

Palmon and Lalamon were as good of friends as their human partners were. Palmon, however, had quickly formed a crush on Falcomon. Unlike her other friend, FanBeemon, she didn’t try and get into dumb situations to be saved. She admired from afar, but proved her own strength, too. She once saved Falcomon and Matt, but they, too, had once saved them. Palmon would never forget the moment Crowmon had swooped in and saved her, as Matt leaped off of his back to catch a falling Brodie. Lillymon and Lilamon were close in design, but BanchoLillymon was “epic,” according to Toby. She was a gothic beauty that became even more gorgeous when she took the extra step to becoming Rafflesimon. Much like her other female counterparts, all the boy Digimon swooned over her. Except the one she wanted most.

~John~

Partner: Vorvomon Digivolution line: Mokumon-DemiMeramon-Vorvomon-Lavorvomon-Lavogaritamon-Volcanicdramon-AncientVolcanomon Crest/Digi-Egg: Vanity

What’s better than a goddess for a partner? A dragon that is made of lava and smoke. Vorvomon is adorable and fierce, and a little vain. He often steals John’s rings because they are “shiny” and he likes them. The two also have contests to see who can blow more smoke. John’s vape tricks amaze the small dragon, but in his final form of Volcanidramon, he out smokes anyone. He’s proud of this fact, too.

~Jaren~

Partner: Gomamon Digivolution line: Pichimon-Bukamon-Gomamon-Ikkakumon-Zudomon-Vikemon-Plesiomon Crest/Digi-Egg: Desire

What’s more Canadian than a seal? One that turns into both a Viking beast and a mythological Cryptid dinosaur. Jaren refers to Gomamon as “Bappo” from time to time, for no other reason than to piss the little guy off. Gomamon hates the nickname, but he loves his partner too much to truly be mad. He’ll never admit it, but after a while, he gets used to it. The two are a perfect pair, and match John and Vorvomon. Vorvomon is a fire monster, while Gomamon loves the water. They’re perfect best friends.

~Ezra~

Partner: Patamon Digivolution line: Poyomon-Tokomon-Patamon-Angemon-MagnaAngemon-Seraphimon-ShadowSeraphimon Crest/Digiegg: Kindness

Okay, so you’d think the kind of Raccoons would get a Raccoon as a partner. Sadly, none exist, so he is stuck with an orange hamster with wings. Patamon turns into an angel, and by his “extra step,” is dark and beautiful. Ezra jokes he made him this way with his dark humor, but the idea of the angel of kindness and hope forming into a shadowy fallen angel terrified him at first. It made up for not being a Raccoon and for being a literal religious being. Ezra wouldn’t admit it, but Angemon had better hair than he did.

~Grizzy~

Partner: Bearmon Digivolution line: Punimon-Tsunomon-Bearmon-Grizzlymon-Pandamon-BanchoLeomon-Callismon Crest/Digi-Egg: Guts

Nelson was surprised to get a partner at all. But Bearmon, with his cute little snapback, was perfect. He couldn’t be happier to have him. How the little bear turned into a grizzly, then a panda, than a goddamn lion in a suit, and then to a bigger grizzly bear with guns for hands, he didn’t know, nor care. He loved his little buddy more than anything.

#misfits #misfits and associates #gay baby gang #inotorious #swaggersouls #goodguyfitz #mccreamy #Zuckles #tobyonthetele #grizzy #smii7y #KryozGaming #raccooneggs #bordie #heyimbee #digimon #crossover

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darkarfs · 5 years ago

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Street Hunter

A film so mired in obscurity it doesn't even have a Wikipedia page. One of several films I own that never even got a bootleg DVD release, and you can probably only watch it if you find a Portuguese subtitled version on Dailymotion, or own the VHS and requisite VCR. Before we dive into this film, I should mention that the only reason I own this movie in the first place is that, around 2010-2011 (a simpler time, really) I became stone-cold obsessed with the career of one Reb Brown. Reb, for the MST3K set, played David Ryder in the South African railing-kill-fest that was Space Mutiny. You know, that guy. Tall, beefy, had all the acting range of an airhorn, looked kind of like a retired football player? He's actually had a storied, odd career, one that traverses a lot of genres and a lot of roles. Mostly, he did Italian knock-offs of movies like Terminator, Predator, Rambo, that sort of thing. A lot, and I mean a LOT of war movies, mostly ones taking place during Vietnam. But then he was also in things like Uncommon Valor with Gene Hackman, the Howling 2: Stirba Werewolf Bitch with Christopher Lee and Sybil Danning, and was actually the first ever Captain America, even before that really goofy one with Matt Salinger in 1990. And for some reason, I was more than entertained by watching him do what he does, and what he tends to do more often than not is...well, yell and fire machine guns into the jungle. He does that...a LOT. And he's in this film! But first, if I may reflect for just a moment. As soon as I put this into the VCR, it gave me the sneak previews of other movies made by the same distributor. I'm not a nostalgia sucker, I don't agree with things being better in the old days. But I genuinely, truly miss these. The previews on DVDs are always for the big blockbuster releases, but the ones on VHS? Who fucking KNEW what you were getting! The previews on B-movie VHS tapes are often how I found the next movie I was gonna watch! Turns out, tho, that the first preview was for the aforementioned 1990 Captain America with Matt Salinger. The 2nd was for a movie I really wanna check out now, though, and it's a ream of unconnected nonsense called the House of Usher, with Oliver Reed! This was before bad movies became that self-aware kind of bad. As a friend of mine once said; anyone can knowingly shit their pants, that's not funny. A person *not realizing* they shit their pants...that's comedy. The hero's name is Logan Blade, a name up there with Snake Plissken and John Matrix for "most action-hero name of all time." Not played by Reb (he's actually the weird, semi-warped villain in this piece), but instead by the late Steve James, who usually ended up playing the hero's sidekick in a lot of movies like this one. And you'd probably recognize ol' Frank Vincent, aka the White-Haired Guy with the Black Eyebrows in Every Movie About the Mafia. The movie starts with a bunch of heavily-armed garbage men raiding a gravesite to steal a mountain of cocaine from a guy’s casket. And they’re led by...John Leguizamo?? Yeahp. That’s him.

The guys kick over a tombstone that is 100% made of styrofoam...(one guy’s foot is all it takes, and I wish I could gif it, because it bounces)

and then are suddenly flanked by a bunch of Italian mobsters. Turns out Leguizamo’s gang are Colombian drug lords, and they’re here to steal the mob’s cocaine from this grave. The Italians have them surrounded, until Luigi’s group is flanked by 7 more dudes, led by...

Ah! There’s my dude. He immediately shouts and he and the goons shoot them all dead. THEN Logan Blade shows up, and I gotta admit, he looks like a seriously legit, badass dude.

You know, you’re kind of destined to become a renegade cop or bounty hunter with a name like Logan Blade. You don’t run into many wedding photographers with that name. He takes out all of Luigi’s goons and takes him in alive, and then maybe the weirdest, most sincerely funny thing about this film to me.

An 80s action movie where the police chief and the renegade bounty hunter...get along great! Like, uncharacteristically well! “Dammit, Blade! The mayor’s been all over my ass about those 6 bodies you left in the cemetery! You’re making my WHOLE department look great! You keep this up, and I’ll promote your ass to lieutenant so fast it’ll make your head spin!” Then we meet Blade’s friend, an avuncular grey-haired guy who may as well say “I’ve reunited with with my wife after 3 years and the guys at the precinct are throwing me a giant retirement party tomorrow” for how quickly and seamlessly he telegraphs the fact that he’s next to die. He calls Blade “paranoid” and insists that he “worries too much.” Gets shot in the next scene, and frees Leguizamo’s character (named Angel, should have mentioned that.) Reb cautions Angel that he should “always follow orders.” Y’see, Reb his basically a mercenary who stone-facedly pines for the days of the greatest generals, your Alexander the Great, your Genghis Khan, your Napoleon. He even tells Angel that “you should be as Philotas was to me, Alexander the Great.” (Alexander the Great had Philotas falsely accused of an assassination attempt and then had him beat to death with fucking rocks. Your references won’t get past me, movie!) Then we get to maybe my favorite scene in the entire movie. The Diablo gang send a crew of 3 guys to assassinate Blade’s girlfriend, which will either make him surrender in terror, or drive him into an insane murder fury. Now, I have real issues with this in films, when someone kills the girl to get to the guy. Happens in all the big action films where the good guy is muscling in on the rival gangs or the mob or whoever. She’s being held by one guy, and defiantly spits in his friends’ face. My face fell the first time. “Oh, no.” I thought.

He goes to slash her face with a switchblade...

...she ducks, and he accidentally slits the other guy’s throat. She then takes out the one guy with a candle holder, and the third...well, thank God she was using a cast-iron pan to cook...something...when they show up. She throws the hot food in his face and then bashes his head in with the pan. ...my man Reb has not trained these men well. But it turns out, a cop was on the mafia’s take! (This guy was in one scene, eating a donut, not a single line. You’d never have guessed a man you’d assumed an extra would be working for Don Hermano!)

So they take his girlfriend, and then Blade gives chase...

...in what looks like a 1979 Ford Econoline. Not exactly great for catching bad guys.

...unless he had a fucking HYPERDRIVE installed. What?! Yeah, okay, I’m on board! Blade closes in on the corrupt cop and Reb, who are...where else? A warehouse on the outside of town. Blade brings his dog, a nameless Doberman (he never calls it anything but “boy”) to help the fact that he’s outnumbered. Reb then tells one of the bad guys to “shoot that mutt!” I again braced myself to be disappointed and sad. The bad guy fires three shots and misses with all three as the dog runs away. He turns to Reb. “Sorry, jefe,” he says.

Reb immediately shoots him in the head. Got a genuine laugh out of me. A thing used by the villain 3 times in Sudden Death as a punchline just made me sad. Here, actual laugh. Dunno how these things work, but I imagine it’s a matter of tone. There’s some weird, “what we saw in ‘Nam” undercurrent through the whole movie. It’s what hardened Blade and made him a bounty hunter, but also what made Reb the general-worshipping lunatic merc he ends up being. It’s not but touched on, but I guess it’s as good a theme as any for a hero and a villain in one of these movies. The problem I have with this now...is that the movie ends really anticlimactically. Blade disposes of the goombas and the diablos in basically one fell swoop, and then challenges Reb to a one-on-one fight. He handily whoops Reb’s ass (a little disappointing, seeing how all he does is talk a great big heaping game about how the generals inspired his military tactics and how he fights) and then...leaves. No, really. Blade wins the fight and then leaves Reb behind. Reb goes to find him, but it turns out Blade has, for no reason, a block of C-4. Dunn where he got it. Reb trips over it, and it literally makes a squib-like “PUFF!”

and he falls through what amounts to a perfect square hole he was standing on. Blade essentially set up a trap door for him, and then Reb just stepped on it. Blade punches Angel, restrains him, and then...the movie just kind of ends.

A movie with a lot of promise, but with an ending I couldn’t help but find flat. But they used by boy Reb real well, and that’s got to account for something.

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