#and also like 10 other poor people who were in this man's line of fire

[wingsofhcpe]

huge kudos to the priest in our local church who thought it was a good idea to mix a bunch of different essential oils, perfume and rubbing alcohol into one bottle and then start spraying the churchgoers with it, btw. Genius behaviour.

[spinchip]

Could you please tell us more about your thousands of years into the future next gen kids plus potential world building for what ninjago is like in the future? This is such a cool concept!!

Thanks for asking! it's Under the cut ✌️

So basicalley the idea is that in present day ninjago a big portal opens in the sky over the monastery and spits out Cryptor, right into the middle of the ninjas training grounds. Understandably they are confused and immediately go to attrack, assuming that was his intent but as they surround him 5 more people are thrown through the portal, all of them coming to Crys defense (Except Kenna, who cryptor stands in front of to protect) so the ninja start to fight them and are shocked when 4 of them start using elemental abilities.

the ones the ninja already have.

Someone else comes through the portal but they're all too busy to notice lol UNTIL. the floor of the courtyard is covered in a thick sheet of ice and everyone slips around, unable to fight. Our ninja are like ??? Zane this is not helpful. and Zanes like "it was not me..."

"Yes it was." Says a voice... it's future zane ! oh snap! and hes like "can you all chill please."

The future ninja all realize theyre wasting time and spin around to try and go back through the portal, but its too late. it's already closed and now... they're trapped in the past. They all turn to Old!Zane (who we will call Julien to make it easier) and are like Master Julien what should we do!?

Our ninja are openly confused and they all end up going inside for tea so Julien can explain everything. He tells them he and his team are from 1000ish years in the future and they were sent back by the newest elemental master of time, who had gone mad with grief after losing someone close to her. they have to get back before she destroys the timeline out of pain. he also warns his team not to say ANYTHING about the future, and tells current ninja not to ask. time travel was already fucking with everything, they couldnt go compromising reality by telling them about any key events in the future... even if he really, really wants to.

All he tells them is that, at some unknown point in the future, cryptor came back and changed sides and they're cool now. he fights with zane instead of against him. now to tell you abt these guys v

Wyatt- Master of lightning, oldest and the leader of the group. Master Juliens yes-man, always agreeing with him and following him around. Hes a great leader in his own right but he still feels like he has so much to learn from Juliens wisdom. Super helpful when he can be, not one to sit around and do nothing.

Flint- Master of Fire. Awkwardest man alive. a poor meow meow. Crazy powerful moves when he fights though, becomes super fluid and confident in the field fighting. In day to day life he trips over his own feet, in training and practice he always messes up his moves, in an actual fight he's like John Wick. Carries around a tamogotchi and will be visibly upset if it dies

Phoebe- Master of earth. Nindroid. Social butterfly. Really chipper and positive to the point where it can be really annoying. always sees the brighter side of things and is a rock the others rely on. shes very sensitive to the emotions of others and always tries to cheer people up or try and fix things. Like a big sister to Kenna

Kenna- Master of Amber. The youngest by several years, around 10-11? shes a sweet girl who always means well. She wants to be seen as a warrior, not a child, but Master Julien wont allow her to fight. Shes really close to Phoebe and Cryptor, no matter how much he denies it lol... Shes extremely intelligent for her age and great at reading people, able to subtly manipulate situations to her advantage

Noelle- Master of water. A recent addition, shes still learning her space in the team. a little quiet and unsure. determined to a fault and willing to lay her life on the line to help others. Listens and notices things others dont. Not confident in herself but always tries her best.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the only DIRECT descendant from our ninja team is jay & Nya -> Wyatt. Jay and nya are his greatX40 grandpa and grandma. The other elements have been passed around in non linear ways (due to their masters passing them to people who arent family or dying before passing their elements on)

I would definitely design them differently now a days i think

let me know if you have any other questions!

[darklinaforever]

TG and their stupidity :

The link for this post :

https://www.tumblr.com/princessyuue/746484212352319488/rhaenyra-choosing-to-not-have-a-relationship-with?source=share

These people really don't watch the same show or read the same book as us. Or their brain has a problem.

Rhaenyra did not explicitly ask for torture, but for Aemond to be questioned more harshly, because his insult directly put his children in danger. How dare Rhaenyra protect her children ?!

And she treated Alicent like shit ? Really ? Does ignoring her at most in episode 3 mean treating her like shit ? When she literally became queen by seducing a grieving Viserys ? Rhaenyra has no right to be angry ? Serious ?! Rhaenyra literally realized that while she was confiding her insecurities to Alicent, Alicent was preparing to become queen. She has right to be angry. And again, even if she is angry in episode 3, she clearly has positive moments with Alicent all the same. Worrying about moving Alicent who is pregnant / if the journey is going well for her and smiling at her when they were out hunting talking under the aunts. I think it's okay for Rhaenyra who supposedly treats Alicent like shit. She's just cold to her ! And she has the right to do so ! Oh and if that's treating poor Alicent like shit... Alicent who publicly declares war on Rhaenyra during her wedding and who harassed Rhaenyra (treated her like shit) for 10 years, what is that ? Oh but I guess it's nothing since Rhaenyra had children out of wedlock, and lied to her about losing her virginity in episode 4 ! She deserves to be harassed ! Not as if the show (since we're talking about the show) that Rhaenyra tried to have children with Laenor but was unsuccessful and therefore turned to Harwin, a trusted man, to have them ?

Another stupid argument that Daemon is a pedophile ! (While it is Aegon II who in the book sleeps with a woman considered a child for the society of Westeros and have a subtext / and has a symbolism about pedophilia in the episode 9 of the show...)

And also say that he kills people, as if we didn't know that Daemon was a gray character capable of doing bad things ? What about all the murders the Greens committed ? It does not count ? No, of course they have the right. (#irony)

And then, these people really have no knowledge of history or Fire and Blood, or do we need to rewatch the beginning of HOTD perhaps ? Dragonstone is the seat of the future heir to the throne, the heir must live there. Rhaenyra only did her duty by going to live there. (And then I remind you that in the show, Rhaenyra decides to finally move in partly because of Alicent and her harassment. But no, everything is always Rhaenyra's fault. Especially since normally, in the book Rhaenyra leaves to live sooner that's in Dragonstone from what I remember, and she doesn't run away. She just lives there because she has to. On the other hand, she settles there permanently after the event where Aemond lost his eye)

Also, the TG really aren't tired of always stating that Rhaenyra had 3 children out of wedlock, as if that were a real reason for her usurpation and problems ? Rhaenyra was still being impersonated in an old version of GRRM from Fire and Blood. Rhaenyra could have had children from her marriage that she would still have been usurped, because as the message from Fire and Blood makes clear, and the line from HOTD in episode 3, all that matters is that Rhaenyra is a woman. She could literally be Jaehaerys recussiter, she's a woman.

Anyway... the TG is really stupid.

[fantasyinvader]

I think what Batman Caped Crusader is doing is kinda... I mean, in a world where Homelander, Omniman and Injustice Superman exist and made people accepting of the idea of Evil Superman, My Adventures with Superman is a show trying to get us to trust the Man of Steel again. Caped Crusader, by contrast, seems to be more about making us question Batman.

Batman takes down Penguin, but the episode treats it as him screwing up at the end because he realizes someone else will roll in and take over her territory when in jail. He talks about how he needs to be better. Her treatment of her kids could also foreshadow the distant relationship between Bruce and Alfred in this continuity.

In episode 2, he fights Clayface who is called out on using makeup and chewing the scenery to elevate his performances as a villain in movies. Considering how Batman uses fear and at one point duels Clayface in a movie-like swordfight, it could be taken as calling out how Batman tries to make himself appear scarier than he actually is. Not to mention, Clayface's motivation in the end is revenge.

Episode 3 portrayed Catwoman as someone who steals for the rush of it while mistreating her maid. This also shows how affected Bruce was by the death of his parents, him wanting to make criminals pay while Alfred is along because he was the driver the night the Waynes were murdered. This is also a Bruce who isn't as close to his Alfred as other Bats. Episode 4 continues this with Firebug, a genuinely disturbed guy in a suit, before episode 5 shows Harley as a villain who goes after those she believes are the problem with Gotham, the rich, whereas Gentleman Ghost in episode 6 believes the poor don't deserve any sort of wealth and therefore believes he is justified when he steals from them.

In 7, he fights Onomatopoeia, who only makes comic book sound effects. Combine with Clayface, it highlights how things that would be okay in a fictional story take on different tones in reality. Those sound effects may be cool in a comic, but instead seem really goofy when people are calling them out during what is meant to be a more grounded story. It makes Batman look absurd and over the top.

In 8, we see Batman nearly preyed upon by Nocturna like the kids who are all Robins in other continuities and even needs to be saved by Carrie. Bruce is just like a big kid perhaps? Or maybe he's meant to be like Nocuturna's brother, who turned her into the vampire in order to help her before she got addicted to it. Combine that with Catwoman, and there's a case Bruce is addicted to being Batman.

In 9, we have Harvey seeking revenge for his disfigurement, and 10 we have the crooked cops again after episode 4 with Flass acting like being a cop makes him a good guy before Bruce empties a gun around his head over him killing Harvey.

Put this together, and the show depicts Batman as someone with issues dealing with his parents' deaths and is seeking retribution against the criminal element he blames for it. However, this puts him into parallel with the likes of Harley, Gentlemen Ghost and Harvey, characters who are meant to have crossed some form of line. He may be Batman to let out his repressed anger, getting something out of it like Catwoman, or because it gives him strength like Nocturna. He's not close to anyone, not even Alfred like Selena is with her maid. His fear tactics come across like those of an actor in a bad movie, like Clayface, or he may just be a manchild in a suit. His actions may simply cause more criminals to come in and take over those he's stopped. There's also the threat of elevation, as the show's closing hints that the Joker is coming. Not everything he does can be justified by him being the “good guy,” as the cops are supposed to be good guys as well. He fires at Flass without intent to kill, unlike when Flass tried to kill Catwoman, but the fact he did so could indicate that Bruce is on a slippery slope. After all, him using Harvey is what caused him to snap and begin killing people.

This Batman is a very flawed version without going into Goddamn Batman territory, but the ending when he refers to Alfred by his given name rather than family name shows he may be learning to treat people better. It established this version of Bruce better than I initially thought through his antagonists, but also highlights how much he still needs to grow as while there's a glimmer of hope for him but he's not bringing hope to Gotham yet.

[waitingforwinterwinds]

A Clash of Kings - 69 Bran VII (pages 862-873)

Summer catches Bran up on the sack of Winterfell, so the team stops hiding in the crypts and splits the party for a road trip.

Chapter 69? !!! that's the funny number!!!

-

Yet as one smell drew them onward, others warned them back. He sniffed at the drifting smoke. Men, many men, many horses, and fire, fire, fire. No smell was more dangerous, not even the cold smell of iron, the stuff of man-claws and hardskin. The smoke and ash clouded his eyes, and in the sky he saw a great winged snake whose roar was a river of flame. He bared his teeth, but then the snake was gone. Behind the cliffs tall fires were eating up the stars.

Oh that sounds so apocalyptic. And in a way I suppose it kinda was a small apocalypse, Winterfell set aflame and razed. I love the way Summer refers to human stuff, "man-claws" and "hardskin" instead of swords and armour, it feels organic, not overly forced, which I know can be a bit of a balancing act between what an intelligent creature would know, versus what an animal would really understand and contextualize human things.

also, correct me if I'm wrong, but this is the scene right? the one that people say "oh this is what Dany's vision meant re: a great beast taking wing and breathing fire"?

"From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire..."

I'm... not sure this is the moment, tbh. I dunno, something about the wording just doesn't go 'click' for me. Mostly because Summer is seeing it and and thinking 'snake' not 'beast' (the 'stone' part is understandable to leave out, regardless of if it's relevant or not) and I get that that is an incredibly strange thing to get caught up on but... given that we had wildfire pseudo-anthropomorphized by Davos as a demon, I just get the feeling it's more in line with that than with Dany's vision. Also that her vision called it shadow fire specifically...

I mean it could be the vision moment, I might just be reading it from the wrong angle, but ... *shrugs*

Heck, the vision might not be a single moment in the series but a repeating motif.

well now i kinda want to print off all the "prophecies" and paste 'em to my walls to use like a checklist. XD

anyway, moving on~

He closed his third eye and opened the other two, the old two, the blind two. In the dark place where all men were blind. But someone was holding him. He could feel arms around him, the warmth of a body snuggled close. He could hear Hodor singing "Hodor, hodor, hodor," quietly to himself.

Oh poor Hodor. You're doing amazing sweetie. (all these kids are doing amazing, let's be honest.)

His tongue felt thick and strange in his mouth. One day when I come back I won't know how to talk anymore. ... "Too long. you'll starve yourself. Meera dribbled a little water down your throat, and we smeared honey on your mouth, but it is not enough. ... "The wolf ate," Jojen said. "Not you. Take care, Bran. Remember who you are."

It really has been all about Identity for the Stark siblings this book, about the loosing of self, or the threat of it anyway.

Also: warging is super dangerous. (Modern AUs, do you think they'd have little clinics and wards set up with stuff so Wargs could do their astral possession thing while their bodies are doing their best impersonation of a coma patient?)

Bran had to squint as the pitch began to burn, filling the world with orange glare. The light woke Rickon, who sat up yawning. When the shadows moved, it looked for an instant as if the dead were rising as well.

Nice. But not yet.

They need a red glass case for their torches if they're going to be down in the dark for so long. Red light is one of the best for doing dark cave tours, I went to one of the glow worm caves once, Arachnocampa glow worms, not firefly larvae glow worms, by the way (fun fact, glow worms of the Arachnocampa Genus are only found in like, 10? places world wide iirc, and they are all in Australia and New Zealand, and also they glow blue not yellow/green) and we did the tour with red light torches/flashlights, which allowed us to see everything after a small adjustment period, but the didn't spook the glow worms because many cave dwelling beasties cannot see the red light wave length, but also we didn't point the torches directly at them, they were plenty bright enough on their own. Anyway, because of the wavelength, red light can be used to see, without wrecking your night vision, and going from full dark to red light doesn't hurt your eyes as much as things in the orange, yellow or white light spectrum.

Osah carried her long oaken spear in one hand and the torch in the other. A naked sword hung down her back, one of the last to bear Mikken's mark. He had forged it for Lord Eddard's tomb, to keep his ghost at rest. But with Mikken slain and the ironmen guarding the armory, good steel had been hard to resist, even if it meant grave-robbing. Meera had claimed Lord Rickard's blade, though she complained it was too heavy. Brandon took his namesake's, the sword made for the uncle he had never known. He knew he would not be much use in a fight, but even so the blade felt good in his hand.

I am having feels about them being armed by Starks past. By his ancestors, by the dead.

also: " Meera had claimed Lord Rickard's blade, though she complained it was too heavy." You know who has a nice light Valyrian steel sword that was originally a lady's blade? Brynden Rivers, Three-eyed Raven.

#Let Meera Have Dark Sister 2023!!!

... I feel like there was some kind of intent behind Theon Stark being known as 'the Hungry Wolf' when Theon Greyjoy has such a hungry personality, always wanting things but never satiated.

"Open the door, Hodor," Bran said.

Why do you hurt me like this?

They stood in the shadow of the First Keep, or what remained of it. One whole side of the building had torn loose and fallen away. Stone and shattered gargoyles lay strewn across the yard. They fell just where I did, Bran thought when he saw them. Some of the gargoyles had broken into so many pieces it made him wonder how he was alive at all.

This feels symbolic, both in terms of Bran and Winterfell, but also like a call back to the dream of falling where all those other dreamers were pierced or shattered on the stony spikes below but Bran managed to fly.

... post apocalyptic cityscape indeed. Shit.

Good catch by Osha, the signs that Theon hadn't done this. Like he crossed some lines, but he would never have done this.

LUWIN!!!!! oh gosh.

The maester smiled. "Hush now, child, I'm much older than you. I can... die as I please."

Nooooooo, no, no , nonono! You can't! You're the MVP of the North.

(But also before you go: good job on sussing out the ruse from the dead child's non-atrophies leg muscles. see, this is why you're MVP.)

The stone is strong, Bran told himself, the roots of the trees go deep, and underground the Kings of Winter sit their thrones. So long as those remained, Winterfell remained. It was not dead, just broken. Like me, he thought. I'm not dead either.

Well, I'll say this for GRRM, he sure knows how to sucker-punch me last minute with these books.

I really like the hopeful tone in this, ("I'm not dead either.") not just for the future of Winterfell, but from Bran's personal arc, it feels like even though all this horrible stuff has happened, he's finally ready to take the first few steps out of the dark part of his recovery arc, and actually start mental and emotional recovery in regards to his fall.

... actually, hang on, I just need to check something...

ahhh, that's what's pinging, I think.

GoT, Bran II: [Winterfell] had grown over the centuries like some monstrous stone tree, Maester Luwin told him once, and its branches were gnarled and thick and twisted, its roots sunk deep into the earth.

-

okay, tomorrow is a 'rest' day, because it's the appendix, and then the day after we'll start Steel and Snow. (aka: A Storm of Swords Part 1)

Two books down, yay!!

[riearchivistfornow]

Hot or Cold

TeensXcite 2015.03.21 Hot or Cold

“To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

The book of Revelations is about Jesus Christ. Jesus loves us, that is why he wants us to know what we are doing wrong and what needs to change.

Lukewarm: -(usually a liquid) that ought to be warm but is only moderately warm -(the attitude of the person) saying that he is unenthusiastic

A lukewarm Christian makes Jesus sick. This is how serious it is about being lukewarm. Jesus cannot stand Christians who are lukewarm and he wants those of us who are lukewarm to wake up and change.

This is what Jesus wants us to do: 1) We need to take a stand.

Revelation 3:15 NIV

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other!

Jesus wants us to be either 100% with him or against him. He wants to draw a clear line, whether we are with him or against.

Luke 14:33 NIV

In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.

Luke 9:59-60 NIV

He said to another man, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 10:37-39 NIV

“Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

Jesus had an extreme commitment to die for us, and He wants us to have the same attitude. Jesus has set us requirements, but a lot of us are unwilling to do it.

Hot: there is an abundance of heat. Cold: the lack of heat.

What is lukewarm? It is neither an abundance or a lack of heat. We are neither here nor there, in that sense, we are nowhere.Jesus wants you to be either hot or cold. We like to moderate everything. Jesus calls us to be extreme and he cannot accept being lukewarm. Jesus hates lukewarm people because it means that we have not taken a stand. God cannot stand it. Lukewarm and claiming Christ's name simultaneously is completely disgusting.

Revelation 3:17a NIV

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’

What will cause is to lose our salvation is that self sufficiency.

Laodicea was very successful. They had a lot of gold and were rich, they also had a great textile industry and finally they were also extremely successful in making eye medicines. They had been hit by an earthquake, paid from their own pockets and had still enough money to be filthy rich. This is why Jesus said that they needed gold, clothes and medicine for the eye.

If you do not stand for something, you will fall for anything.

"Many pastors criticize me for taking the Gospel so seriously. But do you really think that on Judgement Day, Christ will chastise me, saying, 'Leonard, you took me too seriously.' ?" – Leonard Ravenhill

2) We need to make a choice.

Revelation 3:20 NIV

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

A lukewarm Christian does not have Jesus in their lives.

Matthew 7:21-23 NIV

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

You can do all "christian" things and still not have Jesus in your life. Our lives will be transformed when Jesus in our lives.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

Do you want Jesus in your life? It is possible to serve God but still lack Jesus in our hearts. This is a message that he has for us.

We have to take a stand and make a choice. Are you willing to open up your hearts?

Are you a lukewarm Christian? If you are, God says that it is time to change. He wrote this letter to Leodicea, as a way to give them a chance. He says that those that He loves He will rebuke.

Mark 10:17-27 NIV

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ ” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

This man was unwilling to change His life, as a result, he was not saved. Only God can change us, so are you willing to allow God to change you? Good works will not change you, but only God's work can change you.

Are you serious with God?

[mattanaministry]

Mattana Ministry

Welcomes YouTo:

Weekly Bible Study: 13 August 2024

Theme: Bible Basics Explained/Ten Commandments (3)

Scripture: Ex.20:8-11;

Rom. 4:4-8; Heb. 4:4-10 & Rom. 14:5

Message:

Rest

Welcome back to our journey through Exodus. We're slowing down here in chapter 20 as we continue through the Big Ten. The Israelites are gathered at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Fire has descended upon the mountaintop; thunder and lightning crack the sky, the great mountain trembles, and the voice of Almighty God speaks the Ten Commandments.

Now, recall that the Ten Commandments represent the moral law, though we should clarify that the Bible text does not make a clear distinction between which laws are moral, civil, or ceremonial. Those categories were added by commentators, and they can be helpful. Although we might not all agree on where to draw such lines here, it is clear that these Ten Commandments are set apart by the simple fact that they were spoken by the voice of God to all the Israelites. Because of that, many scholars believe that the Ten Commandments apply to all people throughout all time (though the Sabbath is somewhat controversial).

Also, Romans 2 reminds us that all mankind has been given a conscience—a God-given sense of right and wrong. So even those who have never read this law still have a law from God. And these ten are right at the core of morality: no murder, no adultery, no stealing. So here, God clarifies for His people: these are the essentials.

So let's jump back in at Commandment number four in verse 8:

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns” (Exodus 20:8-10).

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11).

Sabbath day. Rest. Rest is a gift from God. Rest is one of the basic needs of the human body and the human spirit. And rest will prove to be one of the Bible's core themes, from Genesis to Jesus, from creation to Revelation.

Thank God for the weekend. Work is a gift, and rest is a gift. So work hard, then rest in Him. Now the original sabbath was on our Friday night and Saturday day—the seventh day. And the rest wasn't just time off, it was "a sabbath to the Lord." Time off from work to rest in Him, and keeping that day holy helps us learn just what holiness is. The Sabbath is a day set apart, belonging to God. It is holy.

And that gift was for everyone. Young and old, rich and poor, servant or boss—everyone rests. But what exactly counts as rest, and should everyone take it on day seven? The Sabbath has proven to be perhaps the most controversial of the Ten.

Jesus stirred up controversy when He healed people on the Sabbath, and even told some to carry a mat. Jewish leaders didn't like that because He violated their definition of rest. But Jesus explained: the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Controversy today centers around which day of the week to take our rest. Jews start Friday evening; most Christians take Sunday off, but some disagree. However, Romans exhort us to stop arguing and stop judging others regarding Sabbath day.

"One person considers one day more sacred... another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind” (Romans 14:5).

If that confuses or concerns you, please read Romans 14, Colossians 2, and Galatians 4.

But there is a greater issue at hand here. Hebrews 4 explains that the Sabbath rest is about more than just a break every weekend. Hebrews says that...

"...there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God" (Hebrews 4:9).

That is, our ultimate Sabbath is found in the truth that we do not work for salvation. Jesus completed the work on the Cross, and our hearts can rest in Him. That is our Sabbath—no earning, just trusting. And that is better than a thousand Saturdays.

That's it for number four. We'll pick it up at Commandment Five next week.

MM

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[swisselytyson]

Oh laaawd these people

I've been on the anti-religion choo choo for about a decade consistently. No falls off the wagon out of fear back to the one true loving God who will smite me for all eternity in a lake of fire if I don't stroke his ego and talk about Him all the time to everyone I meet. Today, has been another entry in the annals of "you people are hideous". As a a healthcare minion there are some demographics of my patient population that I struggle with caring for and I'll be honest - people who exhibit violence toward others especially those of us tasked with helping them stay alive and well, perpetrators of sexual crimes, and probably anyone involved in systematic genocides. I mean, I'll take care of them and do the best job that I possibly can because that speaks to who I am NOT who they are. It's in spite of who they are and what they may have done. It still makes me gag internally, but I won't show it either.

I do get discouraged and frustrated with the people that can't move forward because they don't give a shit to take care of themselves and just expect me and other staff to do it for them for potentially YEARS. However, I digress, because I wanted to share something that happened because of the warm fuzzy accepting Christian religion.

My coworker had some not very interesting, appealing or appropriate things to say about a patient who is gay and HIV+. I went from 0 to 10 in about the time it takes to say "Did you hear what XYZ said about Patient ZYX?" and I said I did not hear that. ZYX had a LOT of health issues and was also suffering from some serious brain fade due to those issues. I would be completely confused as fuck and overwhelmed if I was in ZYX position. I wasn't even frustrated by ZYX lack of knowledge and understanding. I was gutted at his suffering and I wanted to do something about it and fix it. It broke my heart ZYX got to the health status they were at because we're supposedly a first world country and have first world problems so what the fuck is with all this preventable sequelae? Meanwhile, this born again twit is waxing theologic about this patient's partner being the same sex and what virus they have.

Her hair from the 1980s looking like some Duggar bullshit so I guess it makes sense her reaction to a health issue is also from that decade. She believes if she isn't servicing her man that he will leave. The patient has a virus that untreated could take their life but their partner is by their side and doing the best they can to provide care. The partner drives the wheelchair and helps them stand, carries their heavy bags of supplies and didn't act irritated or distanced from the person. The coworker's husband told her to wash dishes with cold water because he didn't want to spend money for a plumber to repair the hot water line in their kitchen. She finally got her way by holding her pussy hostage before her hysterectomy date which he knew was going to sideline him from hittin it for at least 10 weeks. MANS GOT THAT SINK FIXED SO QUICK. She said she "just asked him" and "he said yes". Bitch.... okay. She also the one that drops abominable farts on coworkers that smell like a fresh dog turd sizzling on hot pavement in summer time. You know who didn't drop an SBD on me, that poor patient who is fighting for his damn life.

So anyway, I hope she has the rest of the week she deserves at the very least. I'm glad she has the peace and assurance of her final resting place and she's so balls deep in that fantasy that she needs to feel superior shitting on other people without knowing anything except 2 damn pieces of information - gay and HIV+. Makes me nauseous just having to be polite and work place courteous to someone like that.

[the-firebird69]

So John remillard is out back cleaning a rabbit or chicken or something and yelling and the sun says so what I killed fish and gutted them and other stuff I need to go hunting is there like a big deal cuz he's yelling and screaming for attention like a little kid. Where do you know the great white Hunter you going to take on Tommy Allen who took on the White Buffalo. You're f****** weird person okay now it's easier it's a lazy man's way of doing things and so what his dog kill the bunny cuz the bunny is a f****** pain he's like that. All right little baby again. So we got your order for the light cycles and put something payment someone's sending it. And it's one of your people and you don't want any chicken you're killing a f****** rabbit for Christ's sake don't you know Kevin yeoman doesn't like you who the hell is that guy. And the sun was just saying well that's pretty gross Kevin I suppose you have to eat something and he kept on saying it after while I said why don't you shut the f****** all the f****** stupid rabbit. I might go back to Sherry was trying to threaten him into having a baby and they say the Dead Bunny or something and by the way that rabbit might have been dead over by Stan's and healed up and came all the way this way probably it's kind of rancid but you know how that goes.

But seriously kind of a waiting payment

He's backing out. Again.

No deal sweet enough no deal good enough no machine will work for him he's attracting tons of attention thinks nobody knows about a stupid robots once again that's you and I robot. Is yelling and yelling and yelling you can't get to me looks like that's ridiculous you're a poor slob who gets arrested every day and you get shot every day or every other day who you yelling at

Regardless We Begin the attack momentarily the Midwest evacuation has continued $150k octillion last night, about 80k octillion today thus far. 230,000 octillion so far in the past couple days and it was still remaining in the midwest about 70,000 octillion people. But John rimelord is saying is don't fire the fish and game people and his women are nuts and think they can make a giant army and don't give a s***. Eve 6. The captured a lot of robots we have to otherwise they would have launched and taking all the cars hostage oh f*** you John remillard. And he put the robots under the cars some of the stacks like 300 high. Level by level and yeah that was sinking like one foot every month they're done 5 months was down 10 feet it was a little faster didn't affect it much or the tunnel was not matching up with the entrance so we made a ramp we took all the robots out

Because

WHEN THE BUNKER SUNK THE LINES WERE CUT

HAHAHA HAHAHA LOL BOY THIS COULD BE BECAUSE THE GUY IS STUPID

Thor Freya Zeus and Hera said the last part and Tommy F was seen nearby and Mac I couldn't figure anything out why wouldn't someone have redundant system like 10 ft of line.

Mike goodhue came up to him his son and said you made a mistake in construction I want to know what it is I said I did not but I think I did and it's very bad we have to go out there regardless I said I want to know what it is he knows I have a sinking feeling that we're wrong about everything we said and his smiled and said there's no way out of it it could be that stupid he started laughing I stole these robots and put hardware in them and reprogram them no I just reprogram them that could be wrong too but this makes sense I'm a stupid person so also he says I just have to go activate them by hand and you're coming with me cuz I have nobody with me is I don't want to go with you to that stupid job where they probably hit me and he left and John even large wept and said I'm screwed try going out there and couldn't and just sat here. So you see why you're dumb people should not be in control of anything mac

Thor Freya

Wow that's a huge mistake I can't believe it that's terrible this guy's as dumb as a rock the sitting there cleaning a rabbit and he should be cleared out of there I'm calling the cops to get him out of that stupid idiot messed up

They're not even his robots and tell me if it's at them there's a screwball could be f****** up everything hanging over to Tommy f because he's an idiot

Mac

Oh but he's a superstar hero Will Smith and he's a superstar superhero and he probably puts brand in a robot so it looks like he has robots that are his ;-) nudge nudge pictures pictures give me a break I don't believe it I believe you're torturing Brad to death and he hates you and people who do that to kill you because that's what we heard from the experiments

Zues Hera

Then we do it on our own people Trump says you doing on us and you're dead you stupid a****** piece of s*** you piece of dead meat dan says

Oh yeah this a****** would make a perfect president of what Papa New Guinea no Pretoria that his own version

Zues Hera

Man if that's true that's stupid twice good Lord we have to fire him

Mac

It's probably a plan mistake by Tommy f who had him do it had him steal the stuff had to move it and is in The matrix no one can be that stupid well they can and he has his moments

Zues Hera

[stevelovegood]

Magic exists to serve man and never to rule over him

Perhaps, the most known line from the Chant of Light. And something you hear more often than anything else, when you're a mage in a Circle.

Most of her childhood Marka Khristyna wasn't a mage at all, so she used to look at magic like at something she isn't involved directly in.

But her foster parents knew that Marka's mother is a mage and they always have been waiting for that one day magic in their youngest child will show itself. Of course, this wasn't necessary to happen, but you can't be prepared too much. Also, even you're not a mage yourself, there are many ways where you have to deal with magic, especially if your life related with the Chantry.

The first thing Lucia-Oleena and Willemu taught Khristyna is that magic is neither gift nor curse but a part of a nature. The second - that it is dangerous like any other powerful thing is.

Dealing with magic always means to be at risk, but you can't let it to control you in any sense. You can't always prevent a disaster like forest fire or poor crop, but you can take steps in advance to reduce the damage. And like this strong will and sincere faith must be such measures that will protect your mind and soul against demons, possession and harmful intentions of maleficars.

At the age of 15, later, than many others, Marka Khristyna became a part of Circle, as she thought, for the rest of her life. She was grateful to her parents, who support her, cause there among others she saw abandon children, who was told that they're monsters, cursed by the Maker, sinners, who could be compared with magisters of the old; those, who was taken from their families at such young age, that they could barely remember anyone from their previous lives.

Being kind and tender person, Khristyna was trying to help to these young mages, teaching them the same things her parents told her.

Magic exists to serve, she said, so how can be such thing, which purpose is to help people, be a curse? Magic shouldn't rule over man, that's why you shouldn't be afraid of it, cause if you're afraid, you allow your fear to control you.

Of course, some of Chantry Sisters and Mothers weren't totally agree with Marka and would like her thinking in more traditional way, but there were also others, who was sympathetic for young Trevelyan. Even more, some of them were the Trevelyan's relatives. In few years everyone, who could harm Tyna in the Circle, were transferred or convinced to review their thoughts about magic and mages.

Lord and Lady Trevelyan said that carry a magic can be hard enough for their child, and if there is a way to evade additional troubles without harm, then why not to use it?

For next 10 years thanks to her family and name Circle became a comfortable place for Khristyna. Not like home, but like a prestigious boarding school. Until the rebellion started.

[swordgayist]

cultural appropriation in ATLA (hinduism edition)

i’m sure there’s already a ton of posts about this, but whatever, i’m still making one idc. 

ATLA’s cultural appropriation, everyone knows about it, the white people don’t speak about it, and the asian and indigenous people get ignored. we know the cycle. but i wanted to come here and highlight some of the most prominent examples of ATLA abusing hinduism, as i am kinda sorta hindu (i was raised in a hindu household, i go to chinmaya mission, that kinda shit). i might forget some things so keep that in mind.

this is gonna be divided into 3 main sections, since there are different ways that they disrespect hinduism that i don’t wanna lump together.

and i’d say i know a lot about hinduism but that doesn’t make me an expert, obviously, so if other hindus have anything to add and/or correct then please do !! and if anyone else wants to share how their cultures were appropriated then please do that as well !!

so let’s get started shall we?

appropriating hinduism

1) the avatar

we’ll start with the most obvious example: the avatar itself

i know that there are parts of the avatar mythos that are taken from other cultures as well but the idea of the avatar itself is primarily from hinduism.

basically in hinduism, the term dashavatara refers to the 10 reincarnations of lord vishnu (the god of preservation), with avatar(a) meaning form or incarnation in sanskrit, and das(a) meaning ten. it was said that whenever the world was out of balance, lord vishnu would come down to earth in a certain form to restore balance. Each reincarnation is considered a different life with a different story. the avatars of lord vishnu are often considered the saviors of the world.

so basically, the central idea of the show and the actual name of the show is largely based on hinduism.

2) chakras

many different indian religions have a concept of chakras (chakra meaning wheel or circle in sanskrit), but hinduism is the one that primarily preaches the system of seven chakras, the version used in ATLA.

chakras connect the physical body to the ‘subtle’ body (referring more to the spirit and the psyche) by connecting parts of the body to aspects of the mind. the idea is that through different forms of steady meditation you can manipulate the different chakras and allow the pure flow of energy through the body.

the whole idea of chakras on ATLA is that aang has to unblock them all to let the cosmic energy flow through him so that he can go into the avatar state at will. so yeah, pretty much that whole idea was taken from hinduism.

3) terminologies

these are just a few terms that were taken from hinduism. i’m pretty sure there are more that i can’t think of right now but yeah.

“agni” kai 

i’ll be honest i don’t know where the ‘kai’ part is from, i don’t think it’s from hinduism but if it is well fuck me i guess.  ‘agni’ in hinduism is the god of fire, so the creators used it in ‘agni kai’, the name for a firebending duel.

“bumi”

this is in reference to the hindu word for ‘earth’, which is bhoomi. this is also in reference to our goddess of earth, bhoomi devi. also this doesn’t really bother me but i wonder if the creators knew that bhoomi is a name typically used for women (as are most hindi names ending in ‘i’/‘ee’).

in general, concepts like having multiple complex gods (the spirits) who are capable of good and evil and the reincarnation cycle are prominent in a lot of asian cultures, including (and arguably primarily) hinduism.

mocking hinduism

now we get into the mockery of hinduism in ATLA, because it is very much there.

1) whoever the fuck that baboon guy in the spirit world was

now what the fuck was this.

i mean i wouldn’t say this is the most egregious example of them making fun of brown people but lord why did this even need to be there? this random guy from the spirit world has an indian accent ? and is fervently chanting ‘om’ for some reason, and it’s clearly meant to be seen as comical. also portraying brown people as monkeys....... really.

2) combustion man/sparky sparky boom man

when rewatching ATLA in 2019 i actually had no idea that this was a thing, because the last time i had watched it was as a kid and i didn’t finish it.

so lord was i in for a surprise when i saw...

now... now what.

if you didn’t know, combustion man’s ‘third eye’ is designed to replicate the hindu god of destruction, lord shiva. right down to the vibhuti on his forehead (referring to the three line markings around the third eye).

in hinduism, lord shiva’s third eye is used to reduce people to ashes, though as far as i can recall, not very frequently. the primary significance of the third eye is that it represents the ability of higher spiritual thought and higher consciousness.

the ATLA writers take the ACTUAL significance of the third eye, throw it out the window, and then take its destructive abilities to make a super duper cool and dangerous new firebending technique.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, the actual person who uses this technique, and is meant to emulate a GOD who is PRAISED, is a scary, burly, half metal man who is a villain and an assassin. not to mention the design of his facial hair replicates that super duper scary “terrorist” depiction of brown people, particularly of muslims, that white people are so thoroughly terrified of for no reason. 

this is a parody of a god, and they portrayed him as this terrifying, maniacal fucking assassin who, along with p’li, the combustion bender from LOK, is constantly referred to as a “third-eyed freak”. i’ve made this analogy before and i’ll do it again, this is like making jesus into a hitman.

now onto my favorite example...

3) guru pathik

ah, this motherfucker.

i don’t really have any problems with him as a character, i mean hell, must’ve taken a fuck ton of patience to handle aang’s “why would choose cosmic energy over katara” bullshit.

but we all know it, we see it plain as day, don’t even try to deny it.

“guru” literally just means teacher or guide, so i don’t really know why pathik needed to be referred to as “guru” so distinctively from aang’s other teachers and guides, but that’s just extremely trivial compared to all the other issues with this character.

first of all what is this character design? what is he even wearing? if they’re trying to replicate the clothes of swamis and priests and stuff this is already wrong, realized people don’t dress like this. and why the fuck does he have an indian accent? and why was this indian accent done by a non indian (brian george)?

once again, the poor but extremely heavy indian accent is clearly meant to be mocking, if it wasn’t, they wouldn’t’ve gone out of their way to get a non indian person to DO an indian accent, and instead they would’ve just gotten an actual indian person to play the role. 

and oh yeah, the onion and banana juice. because hindus just eat weird shit right.

whether it’s actually weird or not, the show certainly portrays it as weird. and as far as i know no hindu actually fucking drinks onion and banana juice.

ironic because brown people can absolutely destroy white people in cooking. but i digress.

i know what you’re all waiting for. because the guru apparently didn’t have enough fun with guru pathik, so they just had to come back to him in book 3:

where do i begin.

so this is obviously john o’bryan’s super funny and hilarious depiction of pathik as a hindu god.

usually when a god has multiple arms it’s to carry an array of things, from flowers to weapons to instruments, and one hand is typically free to bless devotees (ie. goddess durga and lord vishnu respectively):

but of course white people see this as weird and so they make fun of it, hence guru pathik having multiple arms just flailing about aimlessly (save for the two that are being used to carry the aforementioned onion and banana juice).

then there’s the whole light behind pathik’s head which is usually depicted in drawings of hindu gods to show that they are celestial.

also what the fuck is he holding? is that supposed to be a veena? because this is what a veena looks like:

and i assume the reason this was added was to mock the design of goddess saraswathi, who carries a veena:

but that right there in the picture of pathik looks more like a tambura than a veena. 

and it also just kinda looks like a banjo?

but i guess the animators just searched up “long indian instrument” and slapped it on there. actually no, that’s giving them too much credit, they probably didn’t search it up at all. 

and then the actual scene is pathik singing crazily about chakras tasting good or something while playing the non-veena and it’s all supposed to be some funky crazy hallucination that aang is having due to sleep deprivation. just some crazy dream, just as crazy as talking appa and momo sparring with swords or tree-ozai coming to life.

our gurus and swamis and sadhus and generally realized people are very respected in hinduism, they’re people we look up to and honor very much. and our GODS are beings that we literally worship. and the writers just take both and make caricatures out of them for other white people to laugh at.

4) other shit

before we move to the next portion i just wanna mention there are also smaller backhanded jabs that i can’t really remember now, but one example was when zuko was all “we’ll be sure to remember that, guru goody goody”. or when a character would meditate and say “om” only when the meditation is supposed to be portrayed as comical or pointless. or in bitter work when sokka was rambling on about karma. small things like that. but moving on.

south asian representation, or lack thereof

now i finally get to the “losing” hinduism part. by this i mean the lack of actual representation there is of south asians (the region where hinduism is primarily practiced) despite the fact that hinduism plays such a big role in the show’s world design.

i think it’s safe to say that broadly the main cast consists of aang, katara, sokka, zuko, toph, azula, iroh, mai, ty lee, and suki. 

a grand total of none of these characters are south asian. the writers don’t even attempt to add any south asian main characters. 

there are characters with dark skin, like haru and jet, but a) they’re not confirmed to be south asian and don’t have any south asian features or south asian names, b) they’re side characters, so they don’t count as representation, and c) even if they were south asian and main characters, jet wouldn’t even count because he’s portrayed as a terrorist.

the ONLY truly south asian character we get is fucking guru pathik. so yeah. not representation.

i don’t get how the creators of this show rip off of hinduism (among many other south asian cultures they rip off of), mock indians, and then don’t even have the decency to HAVE a main character who is south asian.

i’ve never gotten a chance to compile all this, and this definitely isn’t all the creators have done, but i hope this was somewhat informative.

[scorpionyx9621]

Do you think Jason Todd fandom is kinda toxic? Because it seems like NO MATTER what DC do, there'll always be complains. Forget the bad adaptation like Titans. Even Judd Winick cannot escape the criticism with how he potrayed Robin!Jason. They just never satisfied.

SORRY, IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO THIS. I just moved from Washington D.C. to Seattle, which, for my non-American friends, that's 4442km away. And I DROVE THERE ALL BY MYSELF. And now I'm trying to find new work in a new city and trying to stay mentally healthy and positive. Life is exciting but hard and scary.

*sighs*

As someone who was a fandom elder with V*ltr*n. I've seen some of the worst when it comes to fandom behavior. I'm talking people baking food with shaving razors and trying to give them to the showrunners. I'm talking leaking major plot details and refusing to take it down unless they make their ship canon (I am looking at you, Kl*nce stans) For the most part, DC Comics has had a decades-long reputation of treating their fans like trash and not caring what they think so from what I've seen, we all just grumble and complain in our corners of the internet about how we don't like how X comic portrays Jason Todd.

The challenge with Jason Todd is that he's your clinical anti-hero, the batfamily's Draco in Leather Pants, he's a jerkass woobie, and on top of all of that, he's a Tumblr sexyman. It's a perfect storm for a very fun but frustrating character to be a fan of. It doesn't help that every writer decides to re-invent the wheel every time Jason comes up so his canon lore is confusing at best and inconsistent as a standard.

I guess starting with a general brief on who Jason is and what is uniform about him with every instance he's appeared in comics/media.

Grew up in a poor family in Gotham with a dad who was a petty-mid-level criminal, and a mother who dies of a drug overdose.

Survives on the street on his own by committing petty crimes and potentially even engaging in sexual acts to keep himself alive.

Is cornered by Batman and taken in after Dick Grayson quits/is fired

Becomes the second Robin, but is known for being the harsher, more brutal Robin.

Is killed by Joker after being tortured, but somehow comes back to life and regains senses through the Lazarus Pit

Resolves himself to be better than Batman by basically being Batman but kills people.

Where there has been a lot of conflict in the fandom is the fact that Jason Todd is not a character that is written consistently. DC Comics loves to go with the narrative that Jason was "bad from the start" and was the "bad robin" when, yes, he has trouble controlling his anger, but he also still is just as invested in seeing the best of Gotham City and trying to be a positive change for the world as any other DC Comics hero.

Where I get frustrated with the fandom is its ability to knit-pick every detail of a comic they don't like while completely disregarding everything that makes the comics great and worth it to read. My example being Urban Legends. To which most people had pretty mixed reactions to. I was critical of the comic at first but as it went along I ended up really liking it. I have a feeling DC Comics went to Chip Zdarsky and told him he had 6 issues to bring Jason back into the Bat Family, and honestly he didn't do a bad job. Did it feel rushed? Absolutely. I wish there was more development of Jason and Bruce's characters and their dynamic as a whole. However, where I see a lot of people being angry and upset with Urban Legends is that they feel Zdarsky needlessly wrote Jason as an incompetent fool who needs Bruce to save him.

Whether or not that was the intention of Zdarsky is up to debate. However, and this may be controversial, but I don't think he wrote Jason Todd out of character at all. For as fearsome, intimidating, and awesome as Red Hood is. Jason is a character who is absolutely driven by his emotions. Why do you think he donned the role of Red Hood? As a response to his anger towards The Joker for killing him, and towards Bruce for not taking action against The Joker and for seemingly replacing him so quickly after he died. Jason didn't care about being the murderous Robin Hood or for being the bloody hammer of justice against N*zi's and P*d*ph*les. He only cared originally about making The Joker and Bruce pay. It wasn't until he trained under the best assassins in the world and realized most of them were horrific criminals who trafficked children and were p*dos that Talia began to realize that the teachers that she sent Jason to train under started dying horrific and painful deaths.

The entire story of the Cheer story in Batman Urban Legends was started because it finally forced some consequences upon Jason. Tyler, aka Blue Hood's father was a drug dealer who gave his supply to his wife and kids. And when Tyler's father admitted he gave the drugs to Tyler, it immediately made him fall within the self-imposed philosophical kill-list of Jason Todd. And Jason, well, he proceeds to kill Tyler's father. When this happens, Jason is in shock. Tyler's dad fit the bill to easily and justifiably be killed by Jason. We've never seen Jason having to deal with the consequences of being a murderous vigilante on a micro-level. When Jason realizes what he's done in that he's murdered Tyler's dad, he's shocked. He tells Babs the truth. He does a rational thing because he's in shock. He doesn't know what to do, he never has had to face the consequences of his actions as Red Hood and now the gravity of befriending a child as a vigilante hero who kills people just set in when he killed the father of the same child he was just introduced to.

(Oh here's a little aside because it had to be said, Jason would not have been a good father or a good mentor to Tyler and absolutely should not have been his new Robin. Jason is a man who is in his early 20's (not saying men in their early 20's can't be good fathers at all) who is a brutal serial killer using the guise of a vigilante anti-hero to let him escape most of the law. the complications of having the man who murdered your father adopt you and make you his sidekick are way too numerous for me to explain in a long-winded already heavy Tumblr essay post. There's a reason why we don't advocate for a story where Joe Chill adopted Bruce Wayne or one where Tony Zucco took in Dick Grayson.)

The next biggest argument is that they feel that Jason is giving up his guns as a means to just be invited back into the Bat-Family. To which I will tell anyone who has that argument to go actually read Urban Legends. Already have and still have that argument? Please re-read it. Don't want to? That's okay, I will paste the images from the comic where Jason specifically says that he doesn't want to give up his weapons for Bruce and his real reasoning down below since the comic isn't exactly readily accessible.

Jason gave up the guns because he felt the gravity of what he had done and knows how it'll effect Tyler. Thankfully his mom is alive and in recovery. But Tyler doesn't have a father anymore. And Jason killed Tyler's father. It may have been in accordance to Jason's philosophy, but it was a case where it blurred the lines. Jason Todd isn't a black and white character, just very dark gray. He doesn't kill aimlessly like the Joker. If you are on Jason's list you probably have done something pretty horrific, and also just in general, being in his way or being a threat to him. Mind you, in early days of Red Hood and the Outlaws (Image below) Jason almost killed 10 innocent civilians in a town in Colorado all because they saw him kill a monster. That being said, Jason isn't aimless in his kills.

(Also can we just take a moment to appreciate Kenneth Rocafort's art? DC Comics said we need to rehabilitate Jason Todd's image and Kenneth Rocafort said hold my beer: It's so SO GOOD)

That being said, the key emphasis in the story of Cheer asides from trying to introduce Jason Todd back into the Bat Family and give an actual purpose for him being there, other than him just kind of being there ala Bowser every time he shows up for Go Kart racing, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and the Olympic games when Mario invites him, is that Jason and Bruce ultimately both want the same thing. Jason wants to be welcomed back into the family and to be loved and appreciated. Bruce want's Jason back as his son and wants to love and protect Jason. Both of these visions are shown in the last chapter of Cheer while under the effect of the Cheer Gas. It's ultimately this love and appreciation they both have for each other that helps them overcome their challenge and win.

Jason Todd is a character who, just like Bruce, has been through so much pain and so much hate in his life. The two are meant to parallel each other. While Bruce chose to see the best in everyone, giving every rogue in his gallery the option to be helped and give them a second chance, hence why he never kills, Jason has a similar view on wanting to protect the public, but he understands that some crimes are so heinous they cannot be forgiven, or that some habitual criminals are due to stay habitual criminals, and need to be put down. But at the end of the day, the two of them both try to protect people in their own ways.

I am aware that through the writings of various DC Comics authors such as Scott Lobdell and Judd Winick, the two have had a very tumultuous relationship. And rightfully so, I am by no means saying that Scott Lobdell writing an arc where Bruce literally beats Jason to within an inch of his life in Red Hood and the Outlaws, nor Judd Winick's interpretation of Under the Red Hood where Bruce throws the Batarang at Jason's neck, slicing his throat and leaving him ambiguously for dead at the end of the comic is appropriate considering DC Comics seems to be trying everything they can to integrate Jason back into the family. That being said, a lot of these writings have shaped the narrative of Jason and Bruce's relationship and have an integral effect on the way the fandom views the two. It doesn't help that Zdarsky acknowledged Lobdell's life-beating of Jason by Bruce at the very end of Cheer by having Bruce give Jason his old outfit back as a means of mending the fence between the two of them. That does complicate a lot of things in terms of how they are viewed by the fandom and helps to cause an even greater divide between the two.

Regardless, I want to emphasize the fact that Jason Todd is a part of the family of his own accord. Yes, he's quite snarky and deadpan in almost every encounter. However, Jason is absolutely a part of the family and has been for a while of his own will. There's a great moment in Detective Comics that emphasizes this. Jason cares about his family because it is his found family. Yes, they may be warry about him and use him as a punching back and/or heckle him. At the end of the day, we're debating the family dynamics of a fictional playboy billionaire vigilante whose kleptomania took the form of adopting troubled children and turning them into vigilante heroes. Jason Todd wants a family that will love and support him. This is a key definition of his character at its most basic. This was proven during the events of Cheer and is being reenforced by DC Comics every time they get the opportunity to do so.

Now, none of this is to say that I hate Judd Winick. I do not, I don't like the fact that in all of his writings of Jason, he just writes him as a dangerous psychopath, and Winick himself admits to seeing Jason as nothing much more than a psychopath. Yet Winick is the one who the majority of the fandom clings to as the one true good writer of Jason Todd because 'Jason was competent, dangerous, smart' Listen, friends, Jason is all of that and I will never deny it. However, what I love about Jason isn't that he's dangerously smart of that writers either write him as angsty angry Tumblr sexyman bait or that they write him as an infantile man child with a gun. There's a large contention of this fandom that has an obsession with Jason Todd being this vigilante gunman who is hot and sexy and while I definitely get the appeal. It is very creepy and downright disturbing that all of you hyperfixate on his use of guns and ability to be a murderer. It is creepy and I'm not necessarily here for it.

What I love about Jason Todd is that despite all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the betrayal, and bullying, and death, and anguish. Jason Todd is one of the most loving and supportive characters in all of DC Comics. Jason has been through so much in his life, but he still chooses to love. He still chooses to see the bright side in people. Yes, he takes a utilitarian approach and chooses to kill certain villains, but at the end of the day he wants to see a better world, and he wants to be loved. It takes so much courage and so much heart to learn to love again after one has been abused or traumatized. I would not blame Jason at all if he said fuck it and just went full solo and vigilante evil. He has every right to, but he still chooses to be with the Bat Family of his own accord. That's something that I see a lot of in myself. I have been through a lot of trauma and yet I try to be a better person myself in any way that I can. It is extremely admirable of Jason to allow love back into his heart when he really doesn't need to. He kills and he protects because he has this love of society. It may have been shaped by anger and hatred, but Jason has found his place amongst people who love him and value him. I think Ducra, from Red Hood and the Outlaws put it best in the image given below.

To end this tangent, I love Jason Todd and all of his sexy dangerousness, but it's far more than that. As much as Jason may be dangerous and snarky, he loves his family without a shadow of a doubt. I look up to Jason Todd because despite all of his pain and all of his trauma, he still choses to love. Jason Todd is a character who is someone I love because despite all of his flaws and having a very toxic fandom, he still serves as a character filled with so much heart and so much passion. I wish more writers would understand that. But for now I will live with what I have. Even though the fandom may be vocal about it's hatred for his characterization, I choose to love Jason regardless because he is a character who chooses love and acceptance regardless of his pain. Jason Todd is by no means a good person in any sense of the word. He has easily killed upwards of 100 people by now. He is a character who is flawed and complex but ultimately is one who powers forwards and finds love and heart in a place from so much pain and anguish. That is what I love about Jason Todd. After all, to quote a famous undead robot superhero, "What is grief, if not love persevering?" Jason Todd chooses to love despite all of the trauma and pain and grief. Yes, he is hardened in his exterior, but inside there is a man with a lot of love to give and someone who deserves the world in my eyes.

[stormblessed95]

Memories 2016: Disc 4

So I asked awhile ago when I said I was going back to watch every memories DVD they have released so far, if you would be interested in commentary from me as I did so. There were a lot of people who said yes, so here we are! I have officially watched BTS Memories of 2016. Here are my thoughts as I went. There were 4 DVDs in this one. The posts over first 3 discs is already up and on my masterlist. Reminder that these aren't going to be smoothly written out thoughts. You get these like I'm live reacting, texting my bestie or live tweeting. Lol it'll be in like bullet point format sort of, just... a commentary post as I go. Lol Hope you enjoy anyway! Let's go!

Disc 4:

On Stage Asia Tour:

They went to 10 cities (Seoul / Taipei / Macau / Nanjing / Osaka / Nagoya / Beijing / Manila / Bangkok / Tokyo) for this tour. It was an extension of their 2015 HYYH tour. The tour kicked off in Seoul on 160507.

Track List:

1. Run

2. Danger

3. Autumn Leaves

4. Tomorrow

5. Butterfly

6. Outro: Love is not Over

7. Outro: House of Cards

8. Intro: What Am I To You?

9. Boy In Luv

10. Save Me

11. Fire

12. WAB pt 2

13. Cypher pt 3: Killer

14. If I Ruled the World

15. Silver Spoon

16. Dope

17. Boyz with Fun

18. Attack on Bangtan

19. No More Dream

20. Epilogue: Young Forever

21. Whalien 52

22. Miss Right

23. I Need U

We start in June with the boys in Taipei. A minute into the video and we have jikook playing games already. Lol little wrestling robots game. Jimin bragging he won too much and JK saying it's only because I let you win (something he started doing with frequency in 2015) and then doing a rematch where he wins super quickly. Lmao poor Jimin.

This was also the same time as rehearsals for this concert that we see jikook practicing their COA performance. And JK mimicking Jimin on his 333 dance and immediately turning to check to see if he made Jimin laugh (he did 😊). Maknae line crazy dance times together in between stages 🥰

In Macau is where we get the iconic Sope skit with the recorder music that Hobi plays with his nose and Suga can't help but giggle over. And they thank their fans for the gift of such a luxurious recorder

I will never understand why they film them eating meals or snacks right up in their faces. I really don't need to see it and dang, let them eat without risk of accidentally inhaling the camera too with how close they get 🤣 the dance party from how good the snacks were though and excitement for the concert was adorable.

In Nanjing (July), Love seeing Jihope help the others perfect the choreo and picking out little things they can do to make the overall performance better. Main dancer things 🥰 and then vmin taking a break between rehearsals and the concert to play basketball together!

Jin dancing to ARMY singing songs before BTS even takes the stage 🥺 I love that they get to feel so much love. RMs inspiring little speeches before they go on to his members, do our best! And then we just got clips of total chaos and I want more please! Lol taekook piggy back ride, everyone hyping Suga up for his verse by patting him all over and jumping, Jimin swinging in between TaeJin, Tae on JKs shoulders, Tae's Boyz with Fun dance... I'm noticing a common factor in this craziness being Taehyung 😂 love him.

Tae2Seok proposing to ARMY during their ending mentions. Lmao dangerous idea to give out my guys. 😂 followed by their talks to the camera at the end with Jin continuously proposing to Jimin (somewhat aggressively lmao) before JinJiKook all ask ARMY to marry them too. What is this?! What was the joke? 😂

In Osaka now! They were all so excited during rehearsals and cutesy teasing Tae about how often he said "now" during his VCR recording. (He did say it a lot lol.) Man, rhey also are making Jimin dance on every show! Either showing parts of Fire and the 333 dance before, but now it's Butterfly 😂 and ahh the way JK looks at him while he sings so Jimin can dance everytime. So fond. Such a big smile. And this time Jin did it too!

Jimin jokingly holding Jin back from giving the camera kisses for the end of show mentions. And then Jikook have been doing so many of their camera talks together lately. Lol "the youngest teased me so much today everyone" lol okay Jimin. They are so cute. Followed by Jin and Jimin reacting to JKs celebrity bromance show, which I have already made a post over here too.

Nagoya concerts! Yoongi being so professional and working with the sound techs over what should be higher/lower for instruments and Members voices. Being so knowledgeable and so cool. And then JK following him around in tiny and mimicking everything he says giggling softly to himself and at the camera 🤣 "suga hyung won't scold me" indeed.

Lmao right before the concert. JK is trying to talk to the camera and Tae is just belting his lungs out across the room everytime he tries to talk 🤣 jin sharing how backstage is like a war zone as they have all 7 members trying to get changed and their hair/makeup freshened up in just 3 minutes but that he always finishes first.

Jikook playing together before rehearsals on day 2 with silly dances 🥺 Jin proposing to ARMY AGAIN and the editors being savage lmfao "Jin became cringeworthy" rude omg 🤣 everyone teasing Joonie for his Day 1 Day 1 chant the day before. Lol and at the very end, Jimin jumping onto JKs back when they are leaving the stage before giving his ending mentions to the camera. 🥺

Beijing concerts. I'm not sure what Jimin was dancing too in the middle of rehearsals but JK was loving it. Jimin was going hard too! Lol during their rehearsal break we saw Jimin cracking up laughing while filming a video of Hope, which he later posted to Twitter for us. And the way they have meetings together before every show to hash out exactly what minor things need to be changed depending on where they are performing and give reminders on how to give the best show. They work so hard it's crazy.

Beijing is where we had RM, Jin and Jimin all take turns dancing part of the Butterfly choreo to either JK or Tae singing acapella. Something they have been doing this whole tour, switching it up. But this was the iconic one where JK was watching Jimin dance with all the love in his eyes while singing

RM ended up suffering from over heating and having trouble breathing and couldn't finish the concert. It was heartbreaking but also very touching watching JK and army fill in for his rap verses and Suga take over for the speeches. They did a really good job though. And they were all so worried and concerned when talking to the camera afterwards, especially Jungkook, who couldn't even really think of anything to say, just kept looking off to the side, like he was wanting to be able to just go check on his hyung. They love each other so much. It's never the same if one isn't there.

Manila shows, end of July finally. Jikook walking to the stage with their arms around each other 🥺 and Jin is always acting the cutest on his way to their stages!

Lmao JK playing around with sunglasses and acting silly while the stylist Noona is trying to shove clothes at him and help him get dressed quickly for the encore stage. He is NOT making her job easy. Lmao these stylists all the patience of saints, I swear! The rapline hyping each other up on stage will never not get to me! And they were all so hype for the NMD dance break too!

Everyone was soooo excited by the crowds reactions. JK saying ARMY was his energizer. The hyungs all smiling super hard and being so thankful. Tae just shouting love you to the camera for army over and over. Jimin crashing his interview and jumping on Tae's back this time. Lol they were all so happy after this show!

Bangkok shows now! (160806 now). The amount of Thai food they had on a spread looked amazing and the short impromptu eat jin video we were gifted as well! Jungkookies smile hearing ARMY screaming before they go on stage 😭 Tae giving using his hand to give flying kisses from Jin and JK both. So cute

Yoongi walking off stage so tired he basically just skips saying anything to the camera. 😭 someone let him take a nap soon! We also see the staff taking JKs mic off and him holding his arm like it hurts. Then when Jimin comes up while he is talking to the camera to give him a back hug, he knocks his arm a bit and JK is obviously in pain. Jimin then practically forgets all about the camera, trying to figure out what happened and what hurts. While JK spends just as much effort trying to pretend he is fine and to distract Jimin from it, including teasing him and when Jimin says he is getting old going, but you are only 22? Lol before they walk off together. I'm sure Jimin did not forget about his arm and wanting to find out what happened either. It was cute the way JK wanted to not worry him over it though.

Toyko tour stop! Hoseok, our dance leader, scolding JK for not properly checking his in ears and sending him off to fetch them again. Lol I love that side of Hobi too. Jimin spent almost this entire video with black hair, and is now back to blond for Toyko! And Yoongi has darker auburn type of hair now!

Hobi dancing to JK singing Tomorrow this time! And TaeJin dancing to Fire! And Jin is letting the whole "Nikonikoni" thing GO. Lmao TaeJin are sitting back stage with their arms around each other and Jin is STILL going on with "Nikonikoni" into the camera and during when he danced Fire. Lmao is this where Tae picked it up from for his iconic line in the middle of Attack on Bangtan that sent Jimin into a laughing fit so hard he missed his lines to sing after that? 🤣🤣

Day 2 shows everyone preparing to get on stage, stretching all serious. Captions "everyone relieves stress in their own ways" cuts to Jin acting a fool and big smiles all silly. Lmfao Jimin walking up behind him watching him with the fondest smile, and trying not to laugh. And JK practicing the choreo the same exaggerated way with Namjoon walking up behind him with a smile and then a nod to the camera 😂

Taes voice during Boys with Fun will always be one of my favorite things! Plus his improvised dance moves that the rest of the group then copies afterwards! And Tae being RMs biggest fanboy during his Save Me verse!

Jin and Tae hanging out under the stage waiting for their cue to enter, Jin blowing kisses to Tae and Tae rapping along with the verses above.

The way that everyone encore stage included Miss Right where they passed out little merch balls from baskets, throwing them into the crowd was adorable. Even more so watching them skip around stage with the baskets and half the time someone ended up wearing said basket on their head when it was empty. Lmao surprisingly, it was usually the rapline who wore the basket hats so proudly!

The utter CHAOS that broke out right after Hobis ending mentions to ARMY and Otsukare started playing and everyone went crazy on stage dancing and jumping around to it. Lol just for RM to bring it back down after a bit with being the last to give his greetings and making everyone cry saying "we would have no most beautiful moment in life without you." And Jimim giving his backup dancer friend a big hug when they all came out before everyone joined hands for the final bow😭

Hobi ending the DVD off with a super sweet speech about the tour admist all the staff cheering like crazy for the members so sweetly.

And that wraps up Memories 2016! This was amazing and their hardwork, as always, is so highlighted and soooo admirable. One of my favorite things was seeing Namjoon greet ARMYs in their language everywhere they went. The dedication he has in making everyone geel welcomed and special is so beautiful. In conclusion, I love them. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts! 💜

(No Gifs/photos are mine)

[kiribaku-queen]

The Blood King and his Queen [6]

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Romance, Angst, Drama

Word count: 2.2K

Summary:  From being a mere servant girl to marrying the scariest prince in existence, your world changed right before your eyes. Exchanging places with the princess, you knew, wasn’t going to be easy. But could you have found love on the way? Or was it never meant to be?

A/N: I really need to stop writing so late at night... I finish writing sometimes at 2 or 3 in the morning but I have to wake up at 5:30!! God, why do I do that to myself?! But its all worth it because I love reading your comments and seeing your likes and shares <3

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You waved your arms in the air, signaling to his men where you were. How worried and concerned they looked couldn’t be explained with words. It was like they didn’t even look at him as their prince. They viewed him more as a close family member than their future king.

Everyone crowded around Bakugou wanting to be the one to help him up. But ultimately, it was Kirishima and Sero who supported him, one on each side as they helped sling his arms over their shoulders. Bakugou growled in pain every time he moved or took a step. Your eyebrows furrowed in concern and you couldn’t take your eyes off him. You deeply wanted to help him, but what more could you do? Sure, you helped stop the bleeding a little bit but surely there was something else you could do. You wanted to be the one he leaned on. You didn’t want to feel useless. And it was frustrating because you knew you could be of more help. You didn’t want to look like a princess who didn’t know how to do anything.

Mina happened to glance over at you while you mentally criticized yourself. Your hands were balled up in fists in front of you, your pouty lips were quivering, and you couldn’t take your eyes off the wounded prince. Mina’s eyes softened. She came up to you, took your hands in hers, and gave you a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry about that drama queen. He’s going to be fine. He can handle a small cut like that. He’s not called the infamous Blood Prince for nothing,” Mina assured you, making you feel a little bit better but no doubt, still worried.

You all stopped to rest about that ambush. No one else was hurt and nothing had been taken, just a few broken carriages but that’s all. One soldier was setting up a fire to heat up some drinks, two of them were looking at a map and depicting which route was safest to cross, and another was tending to Bakugou’s wounds. Thankfully, there was a whole cart of medicine. They applied medicine skillfully to his cut. This must happen a lot that they know exactly what to do without a doctor. You could only watch as you sit next to him, your eyes never leaving his cut. As his soldier was about to cover his wound back up, you held your hand out to stop him.

“May I?” you offered. The soldier was taken aback at the request, not expecting you to offer your assistance but gladly let you after seeing your determined face.

“As you wish, princess,” he backed off to leave the rest to you. You took hold of the bandages and began to wrap them around his torso.

“You let me know if it starts to hurt again,” you demanded as you finished wrapping him up.

“I’ll be fine,” he grumbled. You didn’t like his answer so you tightened your knot a little too tight for his liking and he winced in pain.

“I’m serious,” you pouted. Bakugou could laugh at your reaction but decided against it.

“Is her highness upset with me?” he questioned and you couldn’t hold back your thoughts.

“How could you get hurt like that?” you exploded. “You had me so worried. What if you had gotten killed? What would I have done then? You shouldn’t let yourself get distracted, especially not because of me.” You were scolding him but Bakugou’s lips turned into a deep frown. He grabbed you by the wrists, making you face him.

“Surely her highness isn’t saying that she is not of importance?” his deep voice whispered, raising one eyebrow in curiosity. Having his face so close to yours made you flustered.

“Well…” you tried to say but couldn’t finish.

“To me, you are the most important person here. I would battle a hundred swordmen and lose all my limbs if it means that you are safe,” he said, seriously. Your lips parted in surprise by his sudden confession. When Bakugou snapped back to his senses, he was the one to become flustered this time.

“B-Because you are the future queen… o-of course,” he tried brushing off, looking away like it was nothing. Any feeling of happiness that you had slowly turned into disappointment. Of course, he was only protecting you because he thinks you are the princess, his future bride. If it was you, you were sure he wouldn’t be saying these things. But you tried to not let it get to you.

“Bakugou, princess!” you heard Sero’s voice behind you. You both turned to see Sero running towards you with two cups in his hands, careful not to spill its contents. “Freshly made. Drink it before it gets too cold.” He squatted, carefully giving you both a cup.

“Thank you,” you gave Sero a smile.

“Ah, also,” Sero stopped to pull out a map from his back pocket. “Kirishima was looking at the map again and if we go through this route, we can probably avoid any more bandits.” He said while showing Bakugou the new route.

“Can we still make it there in two days time?” Bakugou asked.

“Yes sir,” Sero said confidently.

“Good man. We’ll leave in 10,” Bakugou gave Sero a nod of approval. When he left, Bakugou attempted to get up from his position. He held onto the tree for support and grunted in pain as he started to stand.

“What are you doing?” you questioned, puzzled on what he was doing. Instinctively, you grabbed hold onto his arm to help support him.

“Leaving. I have to make sure everything is intact,” he said and still tried to stand tall. You pushed him back down and shoved the cup back in his hands.

“At least finish this. I’ll go do it for you,” you say. Before Bakugou had the chance to refuse your offer, you were already on your feet, running to the group of soldiers. Bakugou watched while you were frantically making sure that you had all the supplies and checking everything like he would. Although, being a rookie, you were bad at your job. The soldiers laughed, making you feel embarrassed yet welcomed by them. They told you everything you needed to check so that next time, you could do it yourself. With a smirk, Bakugou watched in amusement.

You traveled on the new route Kirishima had set for you all. But because it wasn’t the normal road they took, it was a bumpy ride with the ground being uneven. You thought you would be fine continuing on, but you became a little jumpy due to the recent events that just happened. Every snap of a twig or rustle of the bushes, you turned your head to make sure that no other bandits were sneaking up on you.

“Scared, princess?” Bakugou whispered in your ear. You huffed and crossed your arms.

“No,” you denied.

“Like I said, I’ll protect you no matter the cost,” he reminded you. He was loud enough for his other soldiers to hear. Mina gushed over his comment while the others had their mouths wide open. Bakugou? The Blood Prince? Saying these romantic remarks to a woman? Now this was a new sight to see. Kirishima, on the other hand, was smiling softly at the new couple. He couldn’t wait to see your relationship bloom into something beautiful.

Being that the road you were on was so uneven, you had to hold on tight so that you didn’t fall off the horse. At one point, the horse became scared, lifting on his hind legs. You gasped out loud and closed your eyes to brace yourself for a fall. But Bakugou had swooped his arm around your waist and stabilized both of you to stay on the horse.

“See, gotcha,” the prince teased. You covered your face so he couldn’t see how flushed your face was. Bakugou chuckled because he knew. He could tell you were flustered and that’s the exact reaction he wanted to get out of you.

As promised, in two days time, you made it to your next destination. What you saw wasn’t a lively town, filled with vibrant colors and a chorus of people. There were no food stands that sold a variety of foods and desserts. No whiff of saliva-inducing smells. No entertainment on the street for you to enjoy.

You saw a poor village; with run-down houses and starving people all over the streets. The atmosphere turned sad, like a gray cloud was constantly over this place. The life out of this town was completely sucked out. The image was so heartbreaking that you could break down in tears this very instant.

“Bakugou,” your voice cracked.

“I know,” he said, just as sad and disappointed you were, probably even more. “This is the other side of the kingdom that no one gets to see. Most of this kingdom is living in poverty. Everyone knows of the more lavish side, but in reality, what you are currently seeing is most of my kingdom. There are two completely different worlds here but no one, not my brothers not the kind, is doing anything about it. I don’t even know how to fix it.” He explained. You reached a certain, open area and Bakugou got off, so did every soldier. They began unloading all their supplies. You could see a line starting to form not far from you guys.

“And this is the only way I can think of to help,” he said, offering his hand to you. You took it, hoping off the horse.

“How often do you do this?” you ask, still in shock with what you were seeing.

“Every month or so? I try as often as I can,” he replied as he also started unpacking the crates from the cart. Food, medicine, spare clothes, they had it all. The realization hit you. So that’s why they packed so many things in the beginning. It was for his people. His men were almost done setting up, getting ready to pass out rations to his people. But you were standing to the side awkwardly.

No. There was no doubt in your mind that you wanted to help him. You moved to stand next to Bakugou, proactively helping to pass out food rations.

“You don’t have to do this, you know. Aren’t you embarrassed as a princess?” Bakugou asked without sparing you a glance.

“Never. I want to help,” you said as confidently as you could, giving him eyes of determination. Bakugou finally looked at you, his heart skipping a beat again. He coughed, beating on his chest a few times.

You smiled at everyone who came in line, welcoming them without a single judgment. You looked down the line and all his soldiers were doing the same thing. They do this so often that the people recognize them and are laughing and having a good time. For living in such poor conditions, their spirits weren’t down.

After every single person had gotten their rations, you thought the work was over. Oh, how you were wrong. Once that was over with, his men started carrying out more things from the crates. This time, it was wood. They were going to help repair some homes. You were going to find Bakugou but immediately turned around when he took his cape and you saw him completely shirtless.

“You can sit this one out princess. This’ll get a little messy,” he advised. But you shook your head, still facing away from him.

“No, I want to help!” you were still determined. He chuckled at you.

“If you want to help, you’re gonna have to face the other way,” he pointed out. You took a deep breath and had the courage to face him. But only, your stare was straight down at the floor instead of him. How could you? With him being shirtless and all. Was that even necessary?

Bakugou took an axe and started chopping some wood. Your job was to bring the chopped wood to his soldiers who were the ones building the houses.

You eventually got tired bringing the wood back and forth, so you took a seat next to Bakugou who was nonstop chopping wood. The sweat was glistening his body in a godly matter. You couldn’t take your eyes away from his chest, that was heaving up and down. And then add some sweat? Phew, it made you feel hot.

“How long as this been going on?” you started a conversation.

“Ha?” he turned to you, not expecting you say anything so he was a tad out of it. “Ah, all my life.” He said. He decided that he’ll take a break too. He put down the axe and sat down next to you.

“If my father didn’t lie, these people probably wouldn’t be living like this,” he commented.

“Your father lied?” you asked curiously. Bakugou couldn’t believe that he was actually saying this, but he felt comfortable enough with you that he did.

“When he became King, he promised that he would protect every life in his kingdom. But look at all these people. They are suffering and dying because they are not getting the help that they need. And my father is neglecting them! He is a liar who couldn’t commit to a promise!” Bakugou started getting heated up. “That’s why I hate liars. I’ll ruin anyone who lies to me.”

And when he said that, your heart physically dropped.

A/N: Can I just say, you're gonna LOVE the next chapter. I literally just know it because I LOVE IT!

Also, does anyone else just read these chapters and think of it as an anime? No? Just me? Honestly, if I'm the only one that does this I'm gonna feel like such an idiot.

If you want to be added to the taglist, please comment or DM me and I'll gladly add you!!!

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[sweetkingdomstarlight-blog]

plastic smile

Pairings - dark Charles Blackwood x Reader

Word Count - over 4.7k

warnings - oral (f and m receiving), major character manipulation

A/N - huge thanks to @buckyownsmylife @bestofbucky and @supremethunda for beta reading this. Thanks also to @eurynome827 for helping me to choose the gif. The poem in this is by Vinicius de Moraes and might be one of the most beautiful things I've read. As usual this is 18+ only so please don’t interact if you are a minor

It had been a long day at the diner and you only started two hours ago, your usuals were the only thing getting you through it. You lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone so when the red sports car arrived that morning it’s all anyone could talk about.

Charles Blackwood walked into the diner and sat at the counter like he owned the place, his aura was the kind that everyone was drawn to; he was domineering and confident but friendly. You turned his coffee cup over and filled it up with the dark liquid. “Can I get you anything to eat today?” Smiling at him as he looks over the menu, you observe his features; strong jawline, soft curly hair, thick pouty lips and large uncalloused hands.

It takes you a moment to realise he’s asking you for pancakes, you blush and smile sweetly writing his order down and passing it back to the kitchen. Earl, one of your favourite regulars, asks for a refill, beckoning you over. “You be careful with him, don’t go getting any thoughts. He’s a Blackwood,” he tells you in warning.

The Blackwoods were almost an urban myth in the town, you only ever saw Merricat once a week and never her sister since the ‘incident’. The whole town was terrified of them, people always fear what they don’t understand. You however, thought they must be lonely and always tried to make an effort to speak to Merricat when she came in for her drink. Sure, she was a little odd but she was always polite and never forgot to thank you before she left, you always thought some of your other customers could learn a thing or two from her.

Passing Charles his pancakes, you catch your breath when he looks up at you with those big, blue eyes of his and smiles at you, grabbing your hand to ask you to stay. You stood chatting while the diner was emptying, feeling butterflies at how attentive he was, he asked you so many questions about yourself and actually listened to the answers. After finishing his third cup he pays, leaving you a hefty tip, and winks saying he’ll see you again tomorrow.

Watching him drive past in his flashy car, you can’t help but wonder why on earth he spent so much time getting to know you, you come from very different worlds. Wiping the countertop down and finishing up, you grab your bag and shout through to the kitchen, letting them know they’ll see you tomorrow.

Everyone around town seems to be talking about the Blackwoods today, you go to the library and hear Mrs Conners talking on the phone with goodness knows who about how Charles has come back, you then go to the park to sit and read when you hear two mothers gossiping while their children run around. You can’t understand the fuss but nothing ever happens in this tiny town, people talked for weeks when poor Sarah got flipped off her horse and broke her leg.

The next morning went the same as usual, you filled coffee cups, brought eggs and wiped down tables, that was until Charles came back and sat down in the same seat as the day before. He smiled at you and you held your fingers up to let him know you’d be right there, he grabbed a newspaper and read patiently refusing a drink from Barbara while he waited for you.

You flipped his cup round and poured him a coffee. “You know she has the same coffee as me,” you teased him, passing him the sugar and pulling your notepad out to take his order.

“Yeah but yours is so much sweeter,” he says, pushing the white crystals away and taking a sip of the bitter drink.

You try not to smile at the strange compliment but fail quite spectacularly when your mouth practically splits your face in half. “I’ll go and order your breakfast Mr Blackwood”.

Turning to add his ticket to the wheel. “It’s Charles.” You look back at him curiously.

“I’m sorry what was that?” You walk back over to him.

“You can call me Charles darling, Mr Blackwood is too formal. That’s my fathers name so please call me Charles.” He stares at you as though he’s staring through your soul, you lean forward and flip the paper over, grabbing your pen and passing it to him.

“I’m stuck on 10 down.” Pointing at the half finished crossword puzzle.

The diner has emptied again and you’re sitting laughing with Charles while you wait for the lunch crowd to show up, he is cute and funny, nothing like the other guys in town, the butterflies never really go away when he’s around you.

After your lunch shift, you grab your book so you can go and read in the park again when you see him across the street, leaning against the car. “Wanna go for a drive?” He opens the passenger door and gestures for you to take a seat, you don’t even think about it before skipping over and climbing in.

“So darling, tell me where you want to go,” he asks, grabbing your hand and kissing the back of it. You almost melt into the seat, not able to speak for a moment before clearing your throat and pointing him in the direction of the beach on the outskirts of town. You talk for hours, you tell him about how your parents both died a few years ago, how you’re trying to save up enough money to move to the city and how you’re trying to write a book.

He’s such a good listener, you feel like you’ve talked for hours about yourself, which is refreshing because usually you’re the one people talk to. You could charge an hourly rate in that diner, listening to people’s troubles. He smiles that big beautiful smile at you and leans in to kiss you, it’s soft but demanding, grabbing the back of your head to deepen it, you moan into his mouth as he pushes his tongue in and strokes the top of your mouth.

Pulling back and rubbing his nose against yours, he looks down at you. “You’re so beautiful, I could just keep you forever.” Blushing at the cute compliment, you hide your face in the crook of his neck. He gives you a moment before tipping your chin up with two fingers and staring into your eyes. “I can’t believe one little compliment makes you so shy, you should be told everyday how precious you are my little dove.”

Dropping you back off at the diner for your evening shift, he waits for you to get through the door before waving goodbye and driving away. You float around on cloud nine for the whole shift and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by your boss, who has watched everything from the moment Charles first walked into the diner.

Calling you into his office, he asks you to take a seat. “Look, your private life is none of my business but please just be careful with him, he’s not what he seems. The whole Blackwood family is bad news.” You nod and smile at the elderly man who has always looked after you since your parents passed away. You respect him but he doesn’t know Charles very well, if everyone took the time to understand him better they’d see what a sweet person he was.

The end of your shift comes quickly and once again he waits across the street, leaning against his car and smiling at you. “Need a ride home?” You walk across to him and throw your arms around his neck. “Oh, someone is happy to see me,” he chuckles and kisses the top of your head.

Directing him to your house, he drives with one arm wrapped around your shoulder, running his fingers over your neck gently, setting your whole body on fire. Such a soft, gentle touch and you’re already absolutely desperate for him. Pulling up to the front of your little cottage, he switches the engine off and pulls your face up for another deep, soul clenching kiss. Leaning back you look at him bashfully. “Would you like to come in for a coffee?” He nods and kisses your forehead softly before telling you to stay put, running around the side of the car, he opens the door and holds out his hand to help you out.

You show him around before going to the kitchen and making coffee, taking out your best mugs, most of your kitchen stuff comes from the diner, and grabbing some snacks. You’re just leaning up to pick something out of the cabinet when you feel him pressed up against your back, he grabs the packet you were reaching for and sets it down on the counter. “It’s almost like I’m made to be here, looking after my little dove,” he whispers in your ear before planting soft kisses down your neck.

You breathe out softly as he takes his time finding all of your sensitive spots before turning you and holding your head in his big hands and desperately kissing you. Grabbing your ass, he picks you up and sits you on the counter. “Can I touch you?” He smiles as you nod quickly, moving your skirt up slowly, teasing you. You’re practically begging him by the time he pulls your ruined underwear down, he looks at them and sniffs the wet patch smirking at your embarrassment. “Looks like someone is needy”.

Shutting your eyes, you’ve never felt so absolutely mortified before, but he grabs your chin. “Look at me.” You slowly stare at his face as he grabs your hand and puts it on his hard cock. “Don’t be embarrassed, I want you just as much.” Holding your panties up he smirks. “These are mine now though.” Pushing them into his back pocket he pulls you closer to the edge of the counter and kisses around your thighs, tracing a line closer and closer to your wet folds.

You’ve read about this before but no man has ever done it to you and you’d never ask. His tongue is so firm and warm, he knows exactly what to do with it and you feel a new sensation slowly building inside you. He sucks on your clit and pushes what feels like two fingers into your tight wet hole, angling them up, setting your whole body on fire. You moan out loud and grab his thick hair, holding him right in place as you explode, moaning out his name, your voice echoing around your small kitchen.

Pulling your skirt back down to cover you up, he licks his lips and sucks his fingers clean while you catch your breath. “I’ve never tasted anything better before.” Your cheeks warm up again and are about to look away when he softly grabs your face, running his thumb over your lips and jawline. “You are so precious, don’t let anyone tell you any different. I’m going to go now, you need some sleep. I’ll come by in the morning and drive you to work”. You see him out and get cleaned up, pulling the blankets up, you don’t need to read to help yourself fall asleep tonight. You still feel like you’re floating.

You and Charles have been inseparable for the last month, he pretty much lived at your place so you could see more of each other. Every morning he’d wake you up with gentle kisses and touches that set your body on fire, he was so attentive driving you to work and taking your books back to the library when they were due, sitting in the diner doing the crossword puzzle while you work.

It was the best month of your life, so that weekend, when he got down on one knee to propose, you didn’t hesitate in saying yes, sliding his grandma's ring onto your finger, you made love that night and he made you feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

The next day, you wake up and see a white dress hanging from your wardrobe door, confused you go downstairs to find Charles and see him preparing breakfast for you. Eggs, coffee, orange juice and a flower in a glass just for you, walking up behind him you wrap your arms around his waist and kiss the freckle between his shoulder blades. “Is all this for me?” He turns around in your arms and kisses the top of your head.

“You weren’t supposed to wake up yet, I wanted to surprise my beautiful fiancé.” You kiss his lips and smile running back up the stairs and jumping into bed.

Following you up a few minutes later, he places the tray over your lap. “I have a proposal for you”. You slowly drink the bitter coffee and try not to let your disgust show on your face, he’s clearly never made coffee before but somehow that makes him even cuter to you, now you get to look after him forever.

“Let's go down to the courthouse and get married today, I don’t want to wait another minute to make you mine forever.” It was too soon, you know that, but the look on his face was so cute, you didn't want to hurt his feelings so you agreed, almost crying at the look of happiness on his face. “I found this dress in your closet, it's perfect, you’ll look like my own personal angel.” That was it, that's all it took, your own personal kaleidoscope of butterflies flew around your body. You were so happy you could almost cry.

After breakfast and a little bit of fun, he ran out to get a haircut and grab a few things for the ceremony. You got dressed and pinned your hair up in a simple style. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you felt sad that you didn’t have any family to be with you, you didn’t really have any friends either but you did have Charles and honestly that's all you wanted. Writing down a poem you wanted to say to him after your vows, you tucked it into the hidden pocket on the side of your dress and smiled when you heard the car pull up.

Charles walked in and looked at you like you hung the stars in your soft cotton dress, he passed a small hand tied bouquet of pink roses to you, smiling at how happy you were. “I got us an appointment with the judge, can you be ready in 15 minutes?” You looked in the mirror and nodded, picking up a lipstick to match your bouquet, you swiped it on and went to find your future husband.

An hour later you had said your vows, Charles was smiling so wide when you recited yours, squeezing your hand when you said honour and obey. The judge looked at you and you pulled out the poem, dropping Charles’ hands for a moment before you began;

I know that I’ll love you

My whole life through, I know that I’ll love you

At every farewell I will love you

With desperation I know I’ll love you.

And every verse i write will be my chance to say

I know that i'll love, love you my whole life through.

I know I’m going to cry,

Whenever you’re not here I’m going to cry.

But each time you return will make up for

The loss I felt when you weren’t at my side.

I know I’ll have to bear

A never ending feeling of despair

While waiting for this chance to be with you,

With you my whole life through

A tear rolled down your cheek and Charles wiped it away with his thumb. The judge pronounced you husband and wife and you kissed, his tongue softly caressing yours before he rubbed his nose across yours, your own secret love language.

Climbing into his car, Charles looks over at you smiling. “Shall we go to the diner now so you can quit?” Turning your whole body to look at him, he smiles that big grin that makes you melt. “I’m your husband now, I’ll take care of everything and you will take care of me and our children. I can't wait until you’re swollen with our children,” he says while rubbing your stomach. “You want that, don’t you my little dove? You want to honour and obey me.” Nodding, you turn back and look out the window at the passing scenery.

He stops outside the diner. “You’ve got ten minutes to grab your shit, don’t take all day.” Your stomach drops at the tone in his voice, you can’t think of what you’ve done to upset him but you want your happy and loving Charles back. Gathering your things, your boss tells you he’ll always have a space for you and not to be a stranger, he watches as you cross the street and climb into the car.

You slide up to him like you usually do but he pushes you away. “I’m driving, sit over there” the rejection stings but it makes sense he needs to be safe especially when driving. You sit and play with the roses he got you earlier, sniffing them and smiling at the sweet gesture, in no time at all you’re back at the cottage and he storms off into the house without even waiting for you. Your stomach drops, you must have upset him but you can’t think how or when, you walk into your house and call out for him wanting to apologise and fix whatever happened.

He’s in the bedroom sitting on the bed waiting for you “hey there little dove, come over here, it’s our wedding night don’t you want to make your husband happy?” Nodding you walk over to him and move to kiss him but he pushes you back and opens his legs “kneel down for me” pushing your shoulder down with force your knees hit the floor and you wince at the sharp pain. Undoing his belt and pulling his cock out he gently grabs your hair and pulls you over “make me feel good, be a good wife for me” you nod, licking and kissing his length before sucking the tip into your mouth.

He moans out and the fist in your hair tightens as he pushes you further down, choking you and bringing tears to your eyes. You slap his thighs to get him to ease up but he thrusts up into your mouth even more and groans out before spilling down your throat. Pushing your head back you stumble backwards and hit the floor “mmmm well done” he says lifting you up and sitting you in his lap. “How about you go and make us some dinner and I’ll clean up your mess in here?” He says as he kisses your neck, nibbling on the spot that he knows makes you putty in his hands, you stand up and he slaps your ass making you jump “make something nice for me and fix your hair it's a mess”

A few hours later you’re sitting reading on the sofa when the phone rings, Charles jumps up to grab it and grins a kind of smile you’ve never seen before. Staring at him as he sits back down he looks over at you and smiles “Constance has invited us over for dinner, she must have heard our happy news. It's all coming together my little dove, I’m going to be so rich I won’t have to talk to anyone in the family ever again and people will respect me all across the city”. You look at him confused “what do you mean? You’ll be rich?” But he just ignores your questions and reads the paper.

You wake up the next morning and find a dress hanging up waiting for you, sliding your feet into your slippers you go downstairs to find Charles sitting waiting at the dining table “finally you’re awake, I’ve waited for hours for you. I’m absolutely starving” grabbing the eggs and bread you look at him sitting reading his newspaper, he hadn’t even made himself a coffee. “I need you to look nice for Constance, we need to make a good first impression” you nod your head and give him breakfast trying to kiss him on the cheek but he pulls away.

On the way to Blackwood manor you’ve already been told to be on your best behaviour and you feel tense, sensing your feeling Charles pulls you close and hugs you like he used to, kissing your head and squeezing your shoulders “I’m sorry darling I just want them to love you as much as I do, I didn’t mean to make you nervous” you relax into his side and smile feeling the little flutters in your stomach again.

Constance and Merricat welcome you into their home and congratulate you on your recent wedding “I’m sorry you weren’t there, we were just so excited to tie the knot” Charles says hugging you tight and smiling at his cousins. Merricat pulls you into the garden while Charles and Constance catch up “why aren’t you at the diner anymore?” She whispers, hoping Charles doesn’t hear her, you smile at her knowing she likes her routine “I’m sorry, Charles wants to take care of me so I don’t have to work anymore. We’ll be starting a family soon so I won’t have time for anything else” that’s not what she wants to hear so she storms into the house and barges past Charles while you call after her.

You help Constance prepare lunch and try to get to know her better but she seems to be wary of you, probably because of Merricats reaction earlier. “Charles can you open the wine for the table please” you ask, passing him the corkscrew and biting your lip when he winks at you and blows a kiss. “You two seem to be enamoured with each other” Constance observes as you smile to yourself, grabbing the plate of vegetables “Thankyou, we love each other very much, neither of us wanted to wait too long before making it official”. She nods her head and smiles “I wish we could have met before you married, I want to get to know my new cousin. Merricat speaks so fondly of you” she says as you both walk into the dining area

Merricat comes back for lunch sitting at the opposite end of the table from you all, sneering at everything Charles said. You could see he was getting more and more annoyed with her and you tried to diffuse it before something bad happened by constantly interjecting and getting her talking. Dessert is served and you all sit discussing the weather, which is the safest subject between you all, you’ve discovered, when Charles suddenly changes the subject. “So Constance you sent me a letter saying that I was entitled to some of the family money” you all look at him in shock but he doesn’t seem to care.

“Yes but there were some conditions Charles” she says softly trying not to make a scene. Exhaling a loud breath through his nose he starts “I needed a wife” he nods at you, your face burning with rage as you start to put the clues together. He continues “I need a home, I have that now. So where’s my money” you stare at him with tears in your eyes, before excusing yourself and going to the bathroom.

You take deep breaths to not let your panic take over. Trying to focus your mind on something you grip the edge of the sink and don’t hear him enter, until he leans over your body growling in your ear “don’t you dare fuck this up for me and I’ll make it worth your while”. Staring at each other in the mirror for a moment, the only way out of this is if you nod in agreement and follow him back to the table.

Merricat jumps up and sits by your side gripping your hand “are you ok?” You turn and smile at her nodding your head “I’m fine thankyou I just needed a little air” you take a sip of your wine and turn back to Charles glaring at him but he just smirks “I brought a duffel bag we can fill with my share, we can do it right now get it over and done with”.

Agreeing with him Constance takes him to the safe, leaving you and Merricat alone “you should leave him, he’s just using you” she says quickly and quietly. Shaking your head at her “now Merricat it’s not like that, he loves me he just shows it differently that’s all. He wants to start a family with me” you fake a smile and play with the ring on your left hand.

Once he has his money, Charles quickly makes excuses to leave, hurrying you out of the door with a hamper of food from the pantry, you wave at the sisters and smile as he drives away. Not attempting to get closer to him you sit in silence for the rest of the journey. Getting out before he’s even stopped the engine once you pull up at the cottage, slamming the door in his face and marching up to the bedroom to change.

He walks in a few moments later and picks you up pushing you against the wall, trapping you “listen to me, I needed a wife and you were an easy target. You fluttered your eyelashes the moment you set eyes on me, I knew I could get you exactly where I needed you, now I’m rich and I don’t need you anymore but I am willing to give you a couple of months wages to tide you over but you have to be a good fucking wife until I can get things sorted back home” you smile and nod at him “ok, that seems fair how long will you be here?” Raising a brow at how quickly you agree he contemplates his answer “about a week, maybe more” nodding again you push him back gently and move away from him “I’ll set up the guest bedroom for you, I would prefer it if you would sleep in there”.

He takes a deep breath and leaves the room watching you as he goes, as if he expects you to do something silly behind his back. He has no idea what’s about to happen and you’d almost feel sorry for him if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a shitty person who deserves everything that's coming to him.

The next few days you play it cool, you want him to be relaxed around you and not raise any suspicion. You cook and clean and play the dutiful wife in all areas but the bedroom, not that he doesn’t try everyday, kissing your neck, rubbing your shoulders while you cook, even whispering filthy things in your ear like he used to but you always say no and turn him down.

Wednesday rolls around, nothing exciting ever happens on a Wednesday. Charles goes for his afternoon nap leaving you downstairs reading your book, you wait 20 minutes before hopping to action. Running to the pantry where he’s kept his duffel bag you quickly unzip it and check it’s all still there, satisfied he hasn’t moved anything you grab it and throw it in his car. Running back to the cupboard under the stairs you grab your suitcase, slip the note out of your book and place it on the end table next to his wallet.

Climbing into his car you start the engine and wait a moment to see if he wakes up, watching the window until you see him, there he is, his face burning with rage as he spots you. You blow him a kiss and speed off, laughing to yourself that you managed to fuck him over once and for all.

He runs downstairs hoping to catch up with you and screams when you’ve already gone, walking back into the house he spots the note you left him “Dear Charles, you were an easy target. Have a nice life”

[fireemblems24]

Post Grondor Field AM Analysis

I'm prefacing this by saying that I'm still not sure I can write a good analysis of this scene for two reasons:

1. I don't know what comes after, and

2. I'm very emotionally involved in what happened.

But I tried my best. One thing is for sure though, what happened in Grondor in AM was an incredibly significant turning point for AM and Dimitri and my thoughts and analysis on it will definitely expand as I keep writing about and playing the game.

Part of me is just so happy I got to see Dimitri's supports, have the inevitable turn around, and get to do things like tea and dinner time again that it's hard to be objective about this scene.

And by "this scene," I don't mean that actual fight at Grondor, but everything from Fleche's attack to Byleth's words in the rain later.

It wasn't all about Byleth . . .

Given how poignant Dimitri's character arc has been so far, I had a deep rooted fear player-pandering would ruin it. Byleth, as a concept, isn't bad, but too often the heaps of praise feel underserved and other things (like Claude's intelligence, Edelgard's relationships with everyone else) get ignored to make more room for player-pandering.

Thankfully this did not happen. Byleth, throughout the early chapters of AM's part 2, failed to reach Dimitri. And, honestly, seeing Byleth actually struggle for once has done wonders for how I view her character. Still, I worried that player-pandering-power, rather than something that felt earned, would cause the inevitable eye-opener for Dimitri.

But it wasn't just Byleth. Fleche's vengeance kicked everything off, what veered Dimitri away from his fate in other routes. He accepted his death at her hands, not bothering to defend himself. Rodrigue stepping in the way and his parting words forced Dimitri to confront things he'd ignored. Throughout AM so far, people have posed questions to Dimitri who refused to answer them because he didn't want to face what they asked. But Rodrigue dying for him, spending his final words telling Dimitri to live for himself - combined with Fleche's attack - forced Dimitri to confront things he avoided. It wasn't until after all of that when Byleth steps in.

And Byleth didn't "fix" him either. Dimitri's supports show a young man who's still very much struggling with his mental health, poor self-image, his previous actions, and wondering if he deserves not only to live for himself - but if he even deserves to live. Byleth didn't hand-wave Dimitri's problems away.

Everything about the scene is stronger because it didn't fall back on player-pandering, but more earned, realistic, and dramatic actions and consequences - including Byleth's involvement which felt far more earned than usual because of prior failure.

But I wish Dimitri's friends played a bigger role.

Not everything was perfect though. I wish we got a little more than we did from Dimitri's house mates - especially his childhood friends Sylvain, Ingrid, and extra special mention to Felix and especially, especially Dedue.

Throughout all of AM, none of the above mentioned characters feel utilized to their full potential. This isn't a problem exclusive to AM, and by all means it's far from the biggest offender, but given how close all the ties are in AM, it's felt when it's not there.

I still don't know what exactly I would've done with them. Maybe I'd need to make the game an actual novel to do it, and you can't forget how perma-death has historically held back games at times, limiting major moments to a select few "retreat" candidates.

Still, though, getting a bit more from Ingrid, Sylvain, Felix, and Dedue would've made the scene even more powerful.

I actually really liked the scene in the rain.

I haven't made it a secret that I dislike Byleth. Or maybe disliked is more accurate. Lately I've been rethinking my stance on Byleth, in part because I've heard from people who like her or found ways to make her work and from my own thinking about the game while planning future write ups.

I don't think it's Byleth I really dislike, but the player-pandering. Separating the two isn't easy, but it's easier since I've starting coming around to seeing Byleth as her own character.

There's been a few moments that made me care for Byleth, and this scene in the rain was one of them. Because she didn't just fix everything. She tried and failed for months to reason with Dimitri, and despite everything she never gave up on him or failed to keep offering her hand.

I'm not going to lie. I got all the bubbly, heartwarming, heartbreaking feels the writers wanted me to in this scene. Seeing Byleth reach for something and fail, and then finally, finally get through was rewarding in a way many of Byleth's prior accomplishments aren't because this one felt earned. And by God did she earn it.

Some people will likely disagree with that last point, but I disagree with them. She asked Dimitri hard-hitting questions, forcing him to come to unpleasant conclusions rather than trying to force him into anything. She kept Dimitri from veering to far off course, even at expense to herself when she killed Randolph. She saved Dimitri from Fleche when he refused to save himself. She quietly supported him, coaxing out the good she knew was still there and refused to give up on.

I'd never in a million years say someone in real life should put up with Dimitri's toxic behavior and verbal abuse, even considering his extreme trauma and aggravated mental illness. But seeing someone fuck up so badly still get forgiven, still get supported, still struggle but honestly change for the good, still get loved, start to accept and forgive himself through the power of love and forgiveness from others is very powerful, especially since media so often downplays those "softer" things as weakness in comparison to the "badassery" of ambition and stoicism. Using Byleth, who previously had little experience with feelings, who was encouraged to experience them in healthy ways by Dimitri, return the favor isn't really the worst choice.

It's cliche, but cliches aren't always bad.

The mentor dies. Redemption in the rain. Revenge against the protagonist's actions opens their eyes. Etc . . . This scene was chuck full of cliches, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Tropes serve an important narrative purpose because a writer can rely on them to convey a message to the audience that either saves time or sets them up for something unexpected or even expected. Fire Emblem has always and will always be incredibly cliche and full of tropes. It loves tropes so much there's in-universe ones that make some unit or character discussions sound like a foreign language to people outside of or new to the fandom, talking about "Ests" and calling someone a "Camus."

What matters is if a story pulled something off well, not if it's terribly unique. A mentor dying is powerful because it forces the student to grow. Redemption in the rain is high symbolic of water washing things away + the somber atmosphere rain creates. Someone trying to get revenge against a character provides an eye-opening experience about the ripple effect of their actions. We see these things in fiction all the time because they work.

All the tropes worked like expected in this scene. Using images instead of cut scenes did make less of an impact, but more on that later.

Tl;dr: There's nothing unexpected or terribly unique about what happened. It was honestly painfully predictable, but that doesn't make it bad and is in a series that does this all of the time.

The voice acting carried because those images can't.

A major downside to this scene is that it used vague images instead of a cut scene. I get that budget and time were likely concerns, but many cut scenes from earlier in the game seem rather trivial. Did we really need that dance one? Really? I don't think so.

This was a hugely important, action heavy moment. Using one or two still images to convey everything that's happening and all those emotions, really makes it less than it could've been.

That said, the voice acting saves it. I've raved about how amazing Chris Hackeny is as Dimitri, so nothing new here. Rodrigue's and Fleche's VAs also did a fantastic job. No one oversold or undersold the emotions. Even without the cut scene, you felt what happened thanks to the skill of the actors. This scene would've been so much harder to engage with without them, if this was an older FE game where all you got was text. This is 100% one of the moments highly elevated by the decision to have a fully voiced game and choosing high caliber talent (let's not talk about Radiant Dawn's voice acting).

Questionable support timing.

One issue I had came right after the scene when I viewed Dimitri's supports. The nature of some - like his with Raphael and Alois - didn't quite line up with the character I saw in dialogue right after. I wish they staggered them a bit more or got picker about what you could get in part 1 or 2.

This isn't limited to Dimitri either. In the same support batch, I also got a Marianne B support where she still had no confidence or self-worth. And then like 10 minutes later I talk to her in the monastery and she mentions about how seeing all the death in Grondor made her value her life even more.

In the past, I've also received entirely valid opinions that Dorothea in part 2 is hard to understand because she's cherry and flirty in her supports, and morose and hates the war in her monastery stuff, making her seem inconsistent.

It's a bit jarring. It's not really an issue for characters who don't change much like Edelgard or Raphael, but even for characters with more subtle differences than Dimitri, Marianne, and Dorothea - like, say, Lorenz - you get a lot of weird stuff because of supports. I just think Dimitri's stands out because he's a main character with a really prominent, important turning point for his growth.