#and mona is just bald

[earlyyfebruary]

odd assortment of turtle doodles from earlier this yearrr it thinkkkk

[littlelightfish]

Ok, I have this relative (5 ½ yr old) who saw me playing basically all of Zelda Skyward Sword on the Wii. Every weekend I would sit and play like one dingeon or so. They started painting Link at some point and sticking the art to the wall. All I wanted to say is that on the first one link is holding a key in the da-na-na-naaa pose, and that the last one was painted after that cutscene when Zelda gets sealed on ambar for many years while she sleeps.

The Sad Link breaks my heart. I needed to share.

:(

[tadhannahj]

Honda Odyssey scene but instead of fighting, it happens like that scene in Mona Lisa Smile where Betty was insulting Giselle and she realizes that Betty was only projecting so she just embraces her.

"That bald chick was right about one thing, you will never save the world, you couldn't even sav— What the fuck are you doing?!"

Wade, enduring the claws stabbing him just to hug Logan: "Shhh. I'm an empath."

[ghostsprettymama]

MONA LISA

"All the time in the world"

Warning: mommy/daddy kink,bondage,blindfolding,knifeplay,slight degrading,edging,mentionings of murder, gang violence, weed , guns. situationships. posessive sex. MDNI 18+

Pairing: gang member! Shuri x reader, childhood crush shuri x childhood crush reader! wlw, dom and sub. fuckbuddies.

Word count: 4,939 words 26,120 characters

ALL CHARACTERS ARE 18+ UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE

part one. part two

A/N: the chapters late due to some technical issues but i still hope you like it

---------------------------

(f/f) = favourite flower

(y/f/c) = your favourite color

xhosa translations -

Nkosazana - my girl.

umntwana wam - my baby

Le intombazana izoba kukufa kwam-This girl will be the death of me

----------------------------

Y/n Pov

She woke up with an aching headache, luckily it was the weekend. She turned on the tv taking her braids out letting her natural hair breathe.

soon she got up to washing n blow drying her hair, her mind full of thoughts. She styled her hair, cleaned up her room going back to rest in her room.

Damn. These two days were a lot she thought to herself running over the things that happened in two days. Am I just forgiving shuri for doing dumb shit to me? Im just letting her walk over me at this fucking point. you sighed, getting on her for being a playgirl and tryna control her from fucking people when we aren't together, fuck do I look like acting pussy crazed? you made a face while watching your favorite tv show.

You sat there thinking, lost in your thoughts deciding to get your shit together. You can't be out here in ATL crawling on all fours for shuri. You got dressed in a presentable fit, putting jewelry on, fuck I forgot to brush my teeth. You sighed brushing your teeth and putting makeup over the hickeys.

you left your phone at home going next door to the Udaku household you knocked once and T’challa answered, there were people in the back. And your brother. “Shuri isn't here,” T’challa said closing the door but you stopped it with your hand. “Not here for her. thank you.” you said staring up at him “Erik is- “not for him either nigga damn. Where is your mother?” you said getting annoyed with him.

“She's out back but aren't you too dolled up to be in a garden,” T’challa said raising an eyebrow and trying to get smart with you” boy I don't have the time or energy to deal with you today, either you move or im climbing that bigass fence out back, “ you said being deadass serious, they never took you seriously till you got pissy with them.

“ ight ight chill ma damn,” said T’challa letting you in. You see a woman with locs, she smiled and waved at you, a skin-bald woman focusing on talking to a man who looked like he lived breathed, and worshiped the gym, he made eye contact with you and you shivered walking faster to the back.

You opened the door to the garden seeing Ramonda drinking tea, she was waiting for you. “What's wrong umntwana wam?”(my baby) when you got to her table you sighed sitting down.

“I'm just so lost ever since we left Georgia.” You said holding her hand “well I'm here to listen, tell me everything, whatever you don't tell me I know already, honesty is key.” Said Ramonda smiling softly but being dead serious, ever since you were little she knew everything that happened as if she had eyes everywhere and you didn't know.

You took a deep breath and Ramonda nodded. “Well ever since we were moving here so fast without me being told this I've been so stressed. Because the day after I didn't go to school, T’challa and Erik cut connections with each other at 14, and for 3 years we kept fucking moving from school to school and then we came here??” you sounded so fucking confused “ And I was so happy to see shuri, I even ignored how I felt when I was with her because she made me feel so happy and good, then when I spent the night we did something, and I couldn't even wake up next to her I woke up in my room, no note no nothing just a text telling me to dress pretty for her like I'm some fucking doll” you expressed your frustrations while Ramonda watered her plants. She was listening, no matter what she did, she told you to continue either way.

“Then she smacked my butt? Idk why she keeps doing that I never understood the shit. And when I yelped because it hurt Erik and T’ just acted weird telling me not to scream or they're gonna make sure someone stops breathing?? Like and they were reaching for something too ?? Were normal highschoolers I don't get why it's like this Maam” you said face planting onto the glass table. “umntwana wam, don't do that it'll bruise your pretty face.” she went behind you taking care of your hair while you spoke to her about what happened.

“ And in school, these girls approached me at Gym trying to tell me to avoid shuri cause she's a playgirl, they call me fat like being fat is a bad thing? Then proceed to flirt with shuri in front of me and I guess shuri was ‘lost in the moment “ you said doing air quotes causing Ramonda to make an mm-mm sound . “and said hurtful shit and I didn't know what to do so I did what I did at other schools when I'm overwhelmed, I went to the bathroom but then ran there when the girl's friends ran after me to just give me a panic attack by yelling things and banging on my door” you said huffing you felt Ramonda braiding your hair but she was gentle and made sure not to hurt you.

“And then the girl I met when I was going to class with Shuri OH NO ABOUT THAt. Her name is Riri, right? She was so nice to me for some reason and we clicked instantly” you smiled at the memory “she helped me hide the gifts.. Shuri left” you rolled your eyes and Ramonda smacked your head, you hissed in pain “ow!” you say “ if you keep rolling those eyes you're gonna roll them to outer space,” she said, “ continue.”

You continued “ then this weir- I mean odd white boy” Ramonda never liked the word weird, she doesn't find people weird she finds them misguided. “he kept staring at me, then the teacher Ms. Romanoff was digging for information out of me, I was so confused because normal teachers don't fucking do that?? And Riri and Shuri already were shaking their heads no, even though I didn't know how to respond. nothing interesting about my family they are just farmers and accountants" she sighed " and then peter, that's the white boy's name btw, he was saying I don't know shit I should, Riri and shuri told him to shut up and just told me to hurry up to gym" you said confused as hell " Peter is right you don't" she said nearly finished with your hair, she was so relaxed while listening, a bird even landed on her shoulder.

"and that led to what I said at the gym, but I ended up crying so hard I threw up, and then Riri offered to help me fix my makeup or make it better, and she did." you smiled again at the bonding moment," she said she was gonna 'air this bitch out ' if they don't leave me alone whatever that means," you said shrugging, the motion made the bird leave.

"then yk the three musketeers came in looking like riri killed someone even though ik she wouldn't, that's illegal and only bad people do it.” you said confidently from what your “mother,” told you.

“ then they overwhelmed me, especially Erik trying to question me when I was already WAYY too overstimulated,” you said rubbing your temples while Ramonda did your edges. “I went to the library to fall asleep, I only wanted to skip through lunch, but I skipped 2 whole periods.” you said in a confused manner not knowing you were that tired “ Dont do that again, skipping is harmful to your grades.” she interrupted, showing care for you.

“and then shuri for some reason even if she was mad laid her head on my lap, and we ended up doing that. And I forgave her for some reason... That's all Maam” She nodded sitting down but yelled for Nakia, the girl with braided hair came out “ Yes ma'am? “ she had a nice voice, and she was pretty too..” could you take this set inside? We're done with our tea” Ramonda asked not breaking eye contact with you.

“Of course Ma'am" she nodded taking it inside not batting an eye at you. "so before I get into it and be honest with you, I want to meditate with you to make sure you're calm," Ramonda said, getting up placing two mats in the grass. you got on your mat sitting down crisscross applesauce style, Ramonda doing the same.

She guided you throughout the meditation with deep breaths and clearing your mind, you closed your eyes Repeating the steps and doing what you were told.

T’challa pov.

I don't know what the fuck her problem was when she came but I kept my cool.

I locked the door closing the blinds, everyone's phone was in a basket with their locations off.

“Who was that? “ M’baku said, with a smile on his face”nunya damn business nigga leave my sister alone” Erik Gave a stank face to M’baku, that dude always was a straight up weirdo to him.

“or what ??? You ain’t touching me" M'Baku said knowing it was the truth. Erik rubbed his temples " NIGGA SHEES GAAAY." Erik said tired of this beefy ass man. "oh" M'Baku said adjusting himself. Okoye bursted out laughing as Nakia chimed in laughing their asses off. "HAAA HE WAS GONNA TRY TO FUCK ON A GAY GIRL" Nakia laughed wheezing so hard she sounded like she was on life support.

When the two were done laughing like hyenas, the tv turned on as T'challa was presenting " So wbk gang and plug business that's how we thrive here." Everyone nodded some going like mhm, yea. " Recently our shipments have been going missing when in manhattan"T'challa had shown photos of 8 people A Man that look like he was freshly 50, with brown hair and a small beard, a long mustache, at the first incident with the touch passing through Greensboro, North Carolina. the truck driver was shot and the goods were taken.

then a woman that looked like Y/n's teacher, in a black jumpsuit, skintight. The truck was just barely through Charlottesville, she appeared in front of it causing it to crash off the course and blow up.

another one played, this one was familiar to Erik, it was the silhouette of his classmate peter parker. “T’ where these people from?” Erik looked at T’challa who looked at Nakia, she came back from outside putting the tea sets on the counter. “ They're from manhattan New York, working with Stark industries under stark directly” she turned on her computer and connected it to the tv, clicking on google docs.

“These docs are 67 pages in the counting of the information I collected on them including employee information. and ally information" Nakia said, her voice sounding like candy.

“Get to the point,” M’baku said, growing impatient with this talk, okoye rolled her eyes tired of this sassy ass man.

“I messaged you all your targets as the district leaders, you know what to do, quick, clean quiet” Nakia ended her presentation sitting back down as the lights came back on T’challa came back to the center.

“Do not by any means involve bystanders that aren't mentioned. “ T’challa said “ T’challa I don't get it, if the Kid was born into this why isn't she involved,” Okoye asked leaning against the wall and staring at the 6-foot man, Okoye definitely wasn't for this babying nonsense, she's grown, time to put her work in. “ shes soft, she’d fuck up,” Said T’challa deflecting her statement.

“Like Erik hasn't fucked up? He fucked up taking territory, and shipment deals ain't that why you petty ass niggas ain't friends no more because of that? But * she mocked T’challa babying y/n* ‘oh she's just a baby’” Okoye rolled her eyes to mars and back “if it's too much on her then that's that but you need to see her as a grown ass woman, not a child” Okoye said clearing T’challa

He looked at Nakia for help and she shrugged him off “she's right, shuri literally controls a district” Nakia seconds Okoyes point “but you do need to stop.” Nakia and Okoye sighed in unison “ But as you said don't involve bystanders right? Don't involve her in this” Nakia said, it was a threat to T’challa, and she didn't wanna see that kid in the business they were in.

Y/N pov

When You and Ramonda finished our meditation she sat me down explaining everything.

“you had to move from your last home because Erik had messed up a deal, he accidentally left the backpack full of the goods he was selling, and you know how that goes.” Y/n looked at Ramonda, not believing her, this shit sounded like the stuff that’d be in the movies. “You moved because it was trouble and would threaten your life since you hung around the customer, and they knew where you lived” she said "Don't believe it? read "

she tossed the newspaper to me and y/n read it. she couldn't believe it all when she got done reading she looked at Ramonda. "Is this gonna affect how you see us and your family?" Ramonda looked at her, hoping the girl wouldn't have said the wrong answer. “No. I know you guys aren't bad. But I have a question” Y/n said causing Ramonda to raise her eyebrow “ have any of you killed anyone?” Y/n said and Ramonda nodded.

“Justified in our eyes, they killed our members so we killed theirs.” Ramonda sipped her drink “ you won't be involved due to your heart being soft, and your little entanglement with shuri.”Ramonda said, wanting to avoid problems and issues in her business "oh, and about shu- "don't put all your peas in the pod, and shuri is just misguided and confused as are you, find your path." Ramonda interrupted "Oh and go to the store with The kids and their friends yeah? Here's the list. Use the car too" Ramonda handed me the list, wow that's a lot to unpack.

when I went in the house shuri was in the kitchen, she smiled at me, I wasn't gonna ignore her, I smiled back at her" Cmon Ramonda said we need to go to the grocery store" everyone turned their heads to me as I said that, T'Challa came over to me grabbing for the list but I smacked his hand. “I'm not a baby, don't baby me. I can get the stuff too, I'm a grown-ass woman T’challa” you snapped, stored anger coming out “She told me to drive too so cmon” you said walking through the living room and heading outside, the crew near the couch and shrugged not caring who drives. Everyone had come out with masks n hats on, shuri too.

You saw how good she looked, biting your lips and looking her up and down, but you shook your head not giving in to the temptations of that woman, Okoye, M'baku, and nakia hopped in their cars. you used the keys to unlock the car hopping in, shuri hopping in next to You, the two boys that were left sitting in the back.

“Ma, can you not crash this car ? We need it “ shuri said to you joking “before we drive im saying this to all of you” they looked at y/n confused as hell. “ Dont baby me. The shit is weird and im grown Aight?im not little anymore, babying me makes me uncomfortable, so treat me seriously" you said starting up the car , you drived infront of the other three, them following behind.

"What makes you think we baby you Y/n?" Erik said geniunely not noticing. " you treat me like i cannot handle my own situations, do everything for me and not let me do anything, when i want space you invade it and comfort me like im a child throwing a tantrum. dont do that shit anymore, this includes you shuri" you said with a monotone voice finally setting boundaries.

Erik nodded looking at T'challa, he also nodded accepting what y/n said. Shuri nodded slowly kissing her teeth.

You loved the sight of her being pissed off, she doesn't like being called off on shit she did as a mistake. you parked in front of nakia got out of the car taking the keys.

you hummed getting a cart, "wait get inside it" shuri said to me, with a smile on her face. "hmm.. alright ill go with your idea." You said hopping and sitting in the cart.

Shuri, pushed the cart with me inside, T'challa had split the list up for us to split up and get the items so they weren't in this store for long.

First me and shuri went down the dairy isle, we picked some things out , mainly eggs, then she span me around fast causing me to grip the cart tight. she giggled looking at me " stop taking everything seriously, have a little fun"

shuri said playing with my braids "mmmh my mom did this?" she tugged on it causing me to smack her hand.

"yeah she did and I look pretty." you took her advice and improved, you felt so free now, Shuri would grab seeds tossing them in. "I'm still mad at you though," you said, shuri kept going saying mhm “ because every time I'm upset you comfort me and we end up fucking, like I enjoy us fucking but when I need space I expect you to give it, and ill do the same." you looked back at her and she gave a kiss on your lips.

"im sorry my Nkosazana, ill take note of that to make your experience with me better." she gently strokes your face causing you to melt. "mmh hate when you just do that" you crossed tour arms pretending you weremt affected, you werent gonna let her she the affect she has on you. "what its just a kiss? am i not allowed to do that now mami?" Shuri smirked putting more stuff in the cart.

"Ah my legs are asleep, i wanna get out." you got out the cart with Shuri's help, wobbeling abit since your legs were asleep for 5 minutes. Shuri cackled at how you wobbled getting some ideas for later.

"Not today satan!" you said walking away from her as you heard her say so damn loud the entire store good hear almost " damn i love to see you go but hate to see you leavee.." she said without any shame in the world.

you walked faster bumping into Riri at the store, shuri was behind you but Riri wasnt paying no mind to her.

"Oh thanks for redoing my makeup i needed that yesterday" You said smiling at riri. "oh no problem, youre the world to me so id do anything to stop a friend crying" Riri smiled.

You gave her a hug, Riri's head laying in between your breasts, when you finished the hug she raised an eyebrow. "god damn i almost got suffocated between them bitches." Riri laughed causing you to laugh so hard you hold your stomach " god damn Ri your laugh is fucking contageous " you Sighed feeling eyes on you, you turned to shuri and man she wasnt happy, you dont know how but you wanted her to feel like how you felt yesterday.

"byee riri, oh wait! "you put on red lipstick, dark from your bag. "stay still f'me " you crouched, Riri taking offense to it, looking you up and down but her eyes wandering to your breast, then her eyes moving to shuri whose eyes were burning through her skull watching Y/n kiss her forehead.

“Damn Y/n thats all the love i get? I see now you js dont love your new bestie then.” Riri said, she was smart enough to know what you were doing, you planted kisses all over her face before going back to shuri, at this point your lipstick was off.

"okokay im done now lets check out!" you said with a smile,Shuri remained silent,moving to checkout. The cashieer didnt look at Shuri neither did the bagger. you hummed helping them , you looked at shuri seeing her text someone, you shrugged going outside.

You used the keys to T'challas car to unlock the trunk safely putting all the goods inside, closing the trunk.

LATER

You took a shower at shuri's, for some reason Ramonda told you to stay the night, out of curiousity, You sat on shuri's bed wearing a big T-shirt,no panties.

Shuri came in late, your eyes were on the tv hearing her close and lock the door,in this house when doors are locked no one goes upstairs, especially when its Shuri.

"Oh? how was your little buisness trip?"you looked at her with a innocent smile"buisness trip? ma i didnt go on no damn trip." Shuri said looking at you, she was already frustrated and upset yet you pushed further.

"oh dont lie to me i already know , your mother told me, so how was it." you looked back at the tv hearing shuri get close , her sweat going past the chains she waas wearing.

"do i need to teach you to mind your fucking buisness?" she gripped my jaw roughly turning me to face her,her eyes staring at me like i lost my damn mind " who are you talking to because it isnt m-" before you could even finish, her hand moved to your throat, turning your pussy into a pool. she was nearly choking you if she didnt have restraint.

"Say something smart and i will fuck you till you cant even think of some smart shit to say t'me, im most deffinently not the one bitch. you already pissed me off and im not in the moods for your games" She said, her accent coming out as she looked down at me as if i was a mere pet to her.

" takes a bitch to know o-" Again i couldnt get a word out, Shuri would let go of my throat and jaw flipping me over to where im on my stomach.

She got ontop of me whispering in my ear. "give me your verbal consent and ill pleasure you better then no woman can. ill have you wishing you were mine. ill even have you knowing who this pussy belongs to yeah?" She said in my ear, her accent turning me on. I'd nod and she yanked my hair back causing me to look up "Verbal.

I don't do that nodding shit." she said spitting venom at me “ Y-yes..” I whimpered out “yes what? Am i gonna have to teach you proper manners?” She said tilting her head, id only know this from the mirror she's forcing me to look at. “Yes mommy,” I said the shame leaving my body.

“atta girl. I wanna try somethin’ new” she unhooked my bra with one hand “sit up.im gonna get something right quick.” You sat up, your body acting against you once more.

You heard the Drawer open, looking at the stuff shuri pulled out, yet her back was blocking you from seeing, she left the room coming back with a clean strap on, rope and a blindfold.

“Shuri i dont thi- “i know you dont think, speak when youre told to.” She said

Tying you up making sure all you could move was your lower half.

Shuri blindfolded you tying it around you,you felt something graze against your skin, something sharp, you were scared yet aroused. "I dont get it Sthandwa.(my love) you know damn well im better than every bitch you could be with" she said, her eyes following your body. "You trying to make me jealous with Riri is crazy. You know damn well that girl cant do what i do." she kissed down your body, you felt the pretty marks she left.

"You aint catch what i said last time.." she whispered in your ear biting it gently, she left kisses and hickeys everywhere, every corner and area was covered.

she pulled me closer to her, flipping me onto my back facing her. i kicked her back putting up a challenge, she moved catching my leg. " i hope you dont fight this messy, you'd get your ass beat baby" she went to my wet pussy putting two fingers in, slowly thrusting them, I arched my back moaning, the way she thrusted and curled them made eyes roll back.

The squelching was heard causing Shuri to give a seductive 'mmh.' in response, she thrusted faster causing me to rock my hips with the thrusts my eyes watering , "ffuck im gonna cum soon Shurii.." Y/n moaned.

Shuri stopped towering over y/n, a frown over her face "Forget the name you know me by." Shuri demanded " when im pleasuring you, when im making love you, you will adress me as Ma'am, mommy, daddy wtv." She stared at me, you knew what she wants you to say, you dont wanna say it though. and yet my body yearns for her touch"Please Mommy . please can i cum from your fingers?" you whined out for her, soon enough she inserted her cold fingers back into your pussy abusing your G spot.

You arched your back to gour best abilities, unable to do it as well as you wanted due to the velvet ropes on your your body.

Your fluids went all over her fingers, you panted as your chest heaved up and down "mmh you look so pretty right now" shuri coo's tracing my figure with her knife.

" i dont 'preciate you kissin on other women baby." she frowned mocking me.

HOURS LATER.

You were shaking, your fluids dripping down youd legs after youve been edged so much. you could barely even think about anything, your words slurred as you were a moaning mess.

Shuri turned off the vibrator as soon as you were so close to cumming.

"now who are you thinking of hm? is it me? Sthandwa" (my love) she smiled at you, gently caressing your face.

"My brain is only full of you Mommy, please,I wanna cum" you begged and whined grinding against nothing, your fluids leakinf on her silky white sheets.

Her strap teased your folds as you whined "say the magic words." She said with a chuckle. "please fuck me, I deserve it, I deserve it so much" you wanted to reach for her but you couldn't, maybe if you weren't bratting, you wouldn't be tied up.

Shuri entered you slowly causing you to bite your lips, “it hhurts dont mmove” you whinced in pain “ ‘s okay baby, tell me when i can. Ill be gentle with you , for a short amount if time of course” she said, after a while the pain was gone “ you can move now i promise” you said nodding .

She thrusted slowly inside of me. Keeping the Rythm, she knew what she was doing, You wiggled in your restraints wanting to touch and hold her desperately.

“ Aww y/n wanna touch? Too bad. Maybe if you kept your lips to yourself this wouldn't have happened” she hissed out, she thrusted faster pleasuring you, her fingers circling your clit.

Your stomach turned into a knot as you bit your lips moaning louder, your sweet moans echoing throughout the house.

“Gonna cum again baby? Go ahead, ill let you ride your high” she set faster turning your brain into mush, you squirted uncontrollably as you twitched, panting,your senses were so overstimulated yet so deprived.

Shuri untied you ,gently removing your blindfolds,she picked you up carying you to the bathroom sitting you in the bathtub, once the bath was full, and (y/f/c) with (f/f) petals in it thanks to shuri.

“mmh. That was... A new experience” Y/n said sinking into the tub,”why dont you get in shuri, its big enough for two of us.” You said with a tired smile.

“Mmm.. Nah im good, jus’ let me take care of you ma” Shuri said dismissing the idea of being taken care of. “Mmm please mommy?” you said smiling .

“ Le intombazana izoba kukufa kwam.” she said looking up to any god that was left to help her. (This girl will be the death of me ) she undressed what left she had on, getting in.

LATER.

The two girls laid in bed together cuddled upon eachother, ofc y/n was the little spoon.

“Why cant i have you?” Y/n said looking up at shuri, she yawned trying to keep her eyes open. “ were both not ready yet. “ shuri said kissing my head. “Shit we havent had an actual kiss yet and you want us to- You interrupted her by kissing her passionately on her lips. Shuri kissed back moving y/n to ontop of her.

“Y/n if you want me take your time with yourself and me. Do you even know if you like me?” Shuri said, pulling y/n close and hugging her.

“I dont know... I dont even know what liking feels like.. Im too tired to think right now...” y/n said falling asleep.

shuri looked at her shaking her head.

“I'll give you all the time in the world.” shuri kissed her head before shutting her eyes.

[sssammich]

day 22: art

for supercorptober2023

read on ao3 instead

this is a long one (~6.4k) idk what happened tbh but here we are

summary: kara buys a portrait of lena luthor in an estate sale

---

After finishing her work early, Kara made her way to Noonan’s for their afternoon cinnamon buns. While she waited for her order, she stood by the community bulletin boards to pass the time when a particular flier caught her eye. It advertised an estate sale on the outskirts of town today at 2pm. She normally never paid attention to these things, but something about the image of the mansion printed on the paper gave her pause. 

When she checked her wristwatch, she gasped when she found that it was due to start in half an hour. She quickly opened the maps on her phone and calculated how long it would take for the bus to get there and found that if she left now, she could catch the bus right down the street and make it there, even if a little late. 

Kara had no idea why she felt compelled to go, just that she was and she wanted to find out what was out there. Either way, she’d convinced herself that this was what she was going to spend her free afternoon. 

A surge of determination coursed through her and she quickly swiped the bag of pastries from the counter with her cup of coffee before rushing out, her messenger bag hurriedly slung over her shoulder. She ran to the bus stop just as it was pulling up, and she tried to mask her out-of-breathness as she tapped her card. 

She started eating one of her three cinnamon buns during the bus ride, helping to settle her nerves. Eventually, she got to the last stop and rushed towards the mansion, the biggest one on the street.

When she arrived, there were already plenty of people milling about. She took a bite out of her last bun as she perused, nudging her glasses up on her face as she tried to get out of people’s way. She wasn’t sure why she was even there, to be honest, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her and after having spent 45 minutes on the bus, she wanted to see what was happening. 

Kara finally made it inside and quietly walked through the halls, each one oozing a kind of coldness she couldn’t quite shake off. The mansion was grand, it looked very much like the people who lived there were wealthy and affluent. She saw different trinkets and items all laid out around the home itself, various people trying to pitch them to potential customers. Eventually, she made it to a large room upstairs devoid of anything save for frames of various sizes with all sorts of art. She watched over people’s shoulders as they rifled through the frames, but none of them really stood out. 

Until she came across a portrait of a family: a father and mother sitting in their respective armchairs, and a daughter and a son standing behind them. The man was a large figure, his features stern and intense. Beside him was a woman with dark blonde hair with pursed lips and a critical eye. The man behind him, who Kara guessed was the son, was a bald man with a full beard, his smirk apparent. Finally, Kara’s eyes landed on the younger brunette woman behind the sitting man, a small polite smile on her face. 

When she made a comment about the portrait, wondering aloud who they were, a gruff man came over and responded. 

The Luthors, he said. A corrupt family full of heathens and criminals. 

She took another glance at the bald man with his hand on his mother’s shoulder before looking away. 

The customer continued to rifle through the portraits until they reached the end with a simple portrait of the daughter. This was a closer image of the woman now sitting on the armchair, her hands folded on her lap as she looked straight ahead. The small, polite smile was there—very Mona Lisa, if Kara thought about it—yet there was something else about her appearance. She was wearing a forest green dress that further emphasized the light green of her eyes. Her dark, almost raven hair was down in beautiful waves, and her lips painted red. 

Simply, she was a vision, and Kara was amazed at how well the artist was able to capture the woman’s beauty. Yet there was something off about her image: a sadness, a sullenness in her expression, despite the smile. 

Kara understood. Or, as much as she could with a painting of a woman she’d never met  before. 

“Who’s she?” she asked aloud, her fingers delicately fiddling with the frame. 

“Lena Luthor. She’s the bastard daughter.” She frowned, not liking the way he was so dismissive of this woman. 

“How’d you know that?” 

The man stared at her, his gaze quickly souring. “Learn to read a newspaper, kid. Now, are you gonna buy or what?”  

Resolute in wanting to protect this woman in the portrait, Kara eventually haggled him down to a measly $50, a far cry from the $150 that he’d originally asked for. Kara had an inkling that she’d aggravated him enough that he was ready to let her and the portrait go. 

She quickly handed over the last of her bills from her pocket and hoisted the frame of the Luthor daughter out of the estate and into a taxi where it took most of the legroom of the backseat. 

When Kara hooked the frame on her wall just to the right of her t.v. console, she did so with pride and satisfaction, placing her hands on her hips in appreciation. It had been an ordeal getting the frame up the stairs, but she’d done it without tearing or messing up the frame or the painting. It wasn’t like the frame itself was terribly immense or unwieldy, but there was something about maintaining the beauty in it that Kara forced herself to be as careful as possible—fighting every atom in her body to not be her regular clumsy self. Luckily, the universe seemed to have been generous with her that day. 

“Ok, Lena Luthor. Welcome to your new home.” She laughed to herself, feeling silly for talking to herself. Her inquisitive mind typed in Luthor and found news articles of Lionel and Lillian Luthor coming into power in business and real estate and creating the Luthor empire, by any means necessary. How their son Lex was poised to inherit said empire until he was discovered to be the serial arsonist that had wreaked havoc in Metropolis, setting multiple buildings ablaze in the course of a short month, injuring dozens and killing a handful of tenants. 

There weren’t many words written about Lena in these articles, mostly mentioning that she had been residing out of the country in London when much of the crimes took place. Her eyes landed on some comments blaming Lena for not being responsible enough to stop her brother’s actions, and that was when she closed her browser down. 

She read about Lena’s ways to distance herself from her family as much as possible, staying far away from the limelight and the lavish lifestyle that the rest of her family participated in. She was doing some type of medical research or engineering of some sort, yet reports of her were rather sparse and elusive. 

She decided that was enough for her, and despite how her fingers itched to know more, Kara shut her laptop down. Strange as it may have been, she wanted to prove her faith in the woman—this stranger. She decided then and there that she’d learned all she wanted to know and that she was going to leave that woman alone and appreciate the portrait for what it was. For all Kara cared, the less she knew about this woman, the better. 

“I’ll stop looking,” she said aloud, as if a silent gesture of good will towards the portrait. “Pinky promise.” 

—

Kara found herself spending the following couple of weeks after her impulsive purchase greeting Lena throughout the day. She’d wish the portrait a good morning when she first walked into the living area and when she was on her way out the door to work. Then she’d greet the portrait when she came home and a good night when she got ready for bed. All the while, she giggled to herself as she did so—both feeling silly and endeared at the thought of connecting with the woman in the portrait. It certainly helped to make her feel a little less lonely, especially after Alex had moved out to the suburbs with her wife so they could start a family. 

Lena was the same as ever in her formal pose, a small smile on her face that Kara had quickly known and loved. The portrait became a highlight of her day, and Kara couldn’t help but smile at that. Every night, she hoped that Lena was doing well wherever she was, that she was safe and cared for and loved. That someone was making her smile the way Kara smiled at her portrait. 

Sometimes, she’d imagine how Lena in the real world was doing. What she was working on, what her job was. What she liked, what got on her nerves. What peeved her, what made her laugh so hard it gave her hiccups. If she had a lover, if she had a pet, if she thought about where these portraits were of her family. If she was happy. 

Kara hoped she was happy. 

—

“Kara, why do you have some random woman’s portrait on your wall?” 

Her back stiffened and she stopped searching for her scarf in her closet when she heard her sister’s voice. She’d completely forgotten that nobody had been to her apartment in a month, so that meant that nobody knew about Lena. Finding the red cashmere scarf, she quickly wrapped it around her neck and walked out of her bedroom with her head held high. 

“Got her at an estate sale.” 

“That doesn’t explain anything.” Alex was staring at her now, one hand on her hip as she quirked a brow expectantly. Kara only rolled her eyes and tried her best to usher her sister out of the door. 

“It does! Now come on, I thought you didn’t wanna be late to the movies.” 

With a quick glance back at the portrait, she mouthed a see you later! to the portrait before closing her door. 

—

When it was Kara’s turn to host game night with her friends a couple of weeks after Alex first saw the portrait, she’d been nervous about what her friends would say. She’d even said so as much to Lena. 

“I just don’t want them to make fun of you!” she reasoned aloud, only to be met with the same silence that she was always met with when she talked to the portrait. She shook her head and laughed ruefully to herself. “God, I’m talking to myself.”

Unsurprisingly, each one of her friends made some type of comment about the portrait that ranged from comments she expected like wow she’s hot (Nia), she’s very pretty but she looks a little sad, doesn’t she? (Kelly), is this an oil painting? (Brainy), to one she should have expected, yet didn’t, why do you have a portrait of Lena Luthor on your wall, Kara? (James). 

All eyes were on her when James asked his question, and she opened her mouth even if no sound came out. Finally, thankfully, “Uh, estate sale?” 

Their eyes all then turned to James when he pressed forward. “Do you even know who the Luthors are?” 

Like a tennis match, the rest of them turned their sights back on her. 

“Yes.” 

A volley. 

“So why would you support that family?” 

Another volley. 

“I’m not supporting her family.” 

Another. 

“Her portrait says otherwise.” 

Another. 

She clenched her jaw. She knew where he was coming from; he’d covered the news during his time in Metropolis when this was happening. He was there. Yet, she didn’t believe in his blanket judgment, especially over Lena. 

“She’s not her brother, James. She’s not the one who committed the crimes. I’m going to judge her on the merits of her character instead of sweeping her in with the rest of her family.” 

He pursed his lips, though she could tell there was a part of him that didn’t approve. 

Yet before he could try to push her, Alex clapped her hands. “Alright, we can listen to this nonsense or you guys can lose to me in Pictionary for the third time in a row.” 

The tension dissipated, mostly, and the rest of the group seemed all too eager to move on. Alex threw her a reassuring glance and Kara smiled at her sister, happy for the assist. The rest of the night went on without a fuss, and Kara couldn’t be happier. James would sometimes stare at her, his mind definitely thinking, but she pretended not to see. 

Eventually, she was alone again, cleaning up the apartment before plopping on the couch where she had a perfect view of Lena and her small smile. 

“Sorry about James,” she said. “He means well, but…it’s personal to him, I guess. But I meant what I said earlier. I wouldn’t ever judge you for what your family had done. I can only imagine what you’ve been going through all this time. I hope wherever you are, you’re taking care of yourself. And people are kind to you. I think you deserve that kindness in your life.” 

She yawned, and further sunk into the couch, pulling the small blanket over her and letting sleep take over. 

—

Over the course of the following year, Lena’s portrait became a permanent fixture on her wall. Her friends lost interest over time and Kara sighed in relief. Even James finally let the topic go. 

She continued to greet Lena in the mornings and at night. She talked to her silent companion as she recounted her days, her work, and the things that she experienced. Lena became a sounding board as Kara processed through facets of her life. It was like talking to a plant, Alex had observed once, and Kara had agreed. But Kara knew that in her heart of hearts, it wasn’t like talking to a plant at all because it felt like she was talking to Lena the person and not the portrait. She kept that thought to herself though, not sure how her sister or her friends would take it. 

In some ways, she considered Lena’s portrait as a friend. 

And, like always, she wished good health and happiness for Lena, wherever she may be. 

—

One day, on a day like any other, Kara’s life changed in a way she never would have guessed or anticipated. 

Because on that day, Kara would meet Lena Luthor. 

She was covering for a colleague to do the technology beat about Spheerical Industries.

Kara was on her way to freshen up just before the press release when she collided with a woman with black hair and green eyes and red lips.

“Oh! I’m so sorry—I can be, uh, very clumsy,” she said, grabbing hold of the woman’s arms to keep her steady.

The woman looked up just as her own hands grabbed onto Kara’s elbows. The two of them stared at each other. 

“Quite alright,” the woman said, a reassuring smile on her face. “Are you okay?”

“Never better,” she offered, her mouth dry when her mind caught up to her brain. In front of her was the woman she'd been having a one-sided conversation for over a year. This time, her hair was pulled up in a low bun and she was wearing a collared satin shirt with a pencil skirt. “Uh, Kara.”

She'd moved her hands off of the woman before offering one to shake. The woman placed her hand in Kara’s, arched her brow slightly just as her mouth slanted with a curious smile. “Lena.”

There, a confirmation of what Kara both hoped and dreaded. 

“It’s, ah, nice to meet you. Sorry about the collision.”

“No harm done. Now, are you here for the press release?”

Kara took her free hand and lifted her badge up. “Guess so.” 

“See you inside then,” Lena said. It wasn't until that moment that Kara realized that they'd still been holding hands, their handshake extending longer than either of them seemed to realize. 

“Right, yeah. Sorry about the—” she gestured in the air between them. Yet Lena only smiled, the curious smile widening to an amused one. The image of it wrapped Kara’s heart in a vice grip when she realized that her mind easily replaced the small smile in the portrait with the livelier one in person. 

She watched as Lena walked away and headed back into the main space where the press release was set. Kara took a deep breath and slowly curled her fist, savoring the remnants of warmth on all the points where their skin touched. 

Lena was every bit as Kara imagined her to be. No, actually, she was more and better! Her imagination paled in comparison to whoever this woman was who stood in front of her—who so generously gave Kara the time of day. 

She groaned to herself, turning around so she could rest her head on the wall. 

“Shoot.”

—

Kara’s desk at work was full of flowers courtesy of L.L. from Spheerical Industries a day after her article was released. She snagged the card out of the biggest bouquet just as Nia and James walked in, hiding it in her palm and quickly pocketing it. 

Nia whistled before she spoke up. “Someone’s got a secret admirer.” 

“It’s not like that.”

“Who’s it from?” James asked. 

“Uh, Spheerical Industries sent them, I think,” she offered with a scratch on her forehead. “Guess they liked my article.”

She didn't meet their eyes as she started to move the bouquets off of her desk. Nia eventually left as soon as Snapper started yelling for his reporters. James followed suit, but not until he took another sweep of her office until his gaze landed on her. She grabbed hold of her pad and pen before bypassing him at the door. 

When she went home, she brought the largest bouquet with her before giving away the rest to her colleagues and random strangers. 

She placed the vase on her counter and sank into her couch staring straight up at the portrait of Lena with her small smile. 

For the first time in all the time she had the portrait, she thought about bringing the frame down. 

—

Kara did her best to steer clear of Lena Luthor, maintaining as much professionalism as possible between them. Though it seemed that her best laid plans were simply that: plans. 

She had been standing at Noonan’s for their afternoon cinnamon buns when she spotted a familiar brunette woman standing just two people ahead of her. She quickly ducked, trying and failing to hide behind the tiny elderly woman in front of her who seemed to struggle reading the menu in her hand. 

Said elderly lady turned around and squinted at her. “Hi, dear, can you do me a favor and tell me what they have on the daily specials up on the board. I can’t quite see what’s up there.” 

“Uh…sure, okay.” She grimaced despite herself before offering the older woman a quick rundown of the specials. Kara went on to list the specials on the board and ended up ordering for her and the lady who thanked her profusely for her help. So distracted by this older woman that she had momentarily forgotten about Lena Luthor and her presence until she heard a velvety voice call for her. 

“Kara? Is that you?” 

She stilled in her spot and took a deep breath before pasting on a bright smile, as genuine as she could muster, when she turned to face Lena. 

“Lena, hi,” she greeted as she anxiously pushed her glasses up. 

“You were quite the Samaritan back there,” Lena said, motioning towards the older woman who had taken residence at the end of a long table. 

“Oh, you know,” she said with a quick dismissive wave of her hand. “I was just…trying to help.” 

Lena tilted her head, those sharp eyes studying her. So Kara ducked her head before glancing back at the counter to see if her order had been made knowing it hadn’t. 

“So, uh, my desk was overflowing with flowers,” Kara started to say, making small talk. So accustomed to talking to her Lena—a strange thought that she did not have the time to investigate at this moment—that she couldn’t help when the words came tumbling out. “Wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?” 

Lena grinned, as if sharing a secret with her, and Kara couldn’t help the way her heart parachuted from her chest and into her belly, the swoop so exhilarating to watch. The portrait’s smile was beautiful and ethereal, but nothing would beat the shades of smiles and grins and joy that appeared on Lena’s face in real time. “I wouldn’t, no. But if I did, I bet it might have to do with your refreshingly even-keeled and fair assessment of our new technology.” 

“Right,” she intoned, Kara nodding along as she got swept up in Lena’s charming orbit. “But you don’t know anything about that.” 

Lena shook her head, but there was a glint of mischief in her eyes and Kara knew without a shadow of a doubt that she was a goner. For what, she wasn’t even sure herself. But whatever Lena Luthor was selling, she was buying. 

The baristas eventually called for the both of them and they walked in tandem as they picked up their order. 

In retrospect, Kara knew this was the one exit strategy the universe had given her to take—her one shot of coming out of this unscathed so she could proceed with her life as she had been.

Yet, Kara threw that escape plan out of the window as soon as she opened her mouth and asked Lena, hey what are you doing right now? Wanna take a walk to the park and try out this cinnamon bun? It’s the best in the city. 

To which Lena would respond with, I suppose I can spend a little while out of the office. Do you mind if I just text my assistant? 

She shook her head and urged Lena to please, go ahead. 

And that was that. 

—

Kara went home with a spring in her step and a skip in her heart after having spent a part of her afternoon with Lena. She walked into her apartment with a wistful sigh until she was faced with the portrait on the wall. 

“Oh, Lena,” she groaned as she walked towards the living room and plopped down on the couch. “This is weird, isn’t it? I never expected to meet the real you. Did you know she’s so smart? That you’re so smart? And so charming and just so good. You’re nothing like the things people have written about you. I mean, I could already tell that, but it’s nice to see it with my own eyes.” 

She shook her head, so many confusing thoughts swirling in her mind. 

“How do I tell her that you exist?” she asked aloud, a contemplative frown painted on her features. “What if I just…don’t?” 

Kara stared at the portrait and then shook her head. “No, you’re right. She deserves to know. It’s weird. But, for now, you’re going to have to come down. Sorry.” 

With a heavier heart than she thought possible, Kara took the portrait down and gingerly placed it by the far bookshelf until she figured what to do with her. 

Then, she decided she would tell Lena once she sorted out how to do so. 

—

Unfortunately for Kara, she never figured out how to tell Lena. 

In her defense, their friendship blossomed swiftly, Kara chasing after it to catch up. It started with regular trips to Noonan’s and taking walks after. Then to visits at each other’s offices, always with snacks in tow. Then there were the takeouts for late dinners, usually at Lena’s office. 

Before Kara knew it, Lena Luthor wasn’t just a woman in a portrait she bought in an estate sale nor was she just a lead engineer in Spheerical Industries, she was Kara’s friend. 

Lena used to just be someone that Kara wished was safe and cared for and loved. But now, she had the power to be a source of all those things for Lena: safety, care, and love. 

So Kara never got around to telling Lena. She’d gotten careless, pushed her luck to its limit, stuck her head in the sand until it was much too late. 

Which meant that the truth revealed itself out of Kara’s control. 

—

She’d invited Lena to her apartment, letting her know that she had a pretty healthy library of fiction and nonfiction alike that Lena was welcome to peruse after they’d spent hours talking about ways they passed the time with books and movies. 

So Saturday morning came and Lena appeared at Kara’s doorstep with an offering of bagels of morning cinnamon buns from Noonan’s as well as two steaming cups of coffee. Best of all, she presented it with a bright smile of her own, one that Kara never got tired of. 

“Come in,” Kara said, a bright smile of her own as she pulled the door back to let the engineer in. 

“Cool place,” Lena offered as her eyes swept the space. 

“Thanks. It used to be my sister’s apartment back in the day. The power of nepotism, you know what I mean?” 

Lena snorted and cut her a look that made Kara giddy inside. 

They camped out of the coffee table as they chatted, mouths stuffed with delectable carbs. 

“Feel free to peruse the library while I go pick up some of the books I have on my nightstand, I’ll be right back.” 

Kara hummed to herself as she quickly rifled through her stack of books by her bed before piling them in her arms. 

However, as she walked back to the living room, she almost dropped them where she stood when she found Lena standing in front of the portrait. 

Lena twisted her head to face Kara, her eyes brimming with tears even as her face steeled in anger.

“I can explain! It’s not what you thi—”  She took a step forward, but Lena took a step back and Kara’s heart sank, a cinderblock tied around it. 

Lena shook her head, an errant tear escaping before she quickly wiped it. “I don’t know what cruel joke you’re playing here, but I never thought it’d come from you.” 

“Please, Lena,” she begged, attempting to take another step forward. “I can explain. It was—there was a sale a couple of years ago. Like, um, it was in the mansion on the edge of the city, and—I didn’t think I’d meet you or anything. And it just happened, but—” 

Kara was gesticulating wildly, wanting to put her words in the order she wanted them just so she could explain properly. But the panic that engulfed her at the thought of losing Lena tied her tongue, her words coming out a garbled mess. 

“If you’re some kind of Luthor fanatic—” 

“No!” she cried out. “Please, Lena. I’m not—you’re getting this all wrong!” 

Kara tried to take another step forward, but Lena stepped back again, a dance they were doing six feet apart. Lena rushed to the door without a glance back and slammed the door on her way out. 

Kara covered her face with both hands and screamed before the tears flowed past her fingers. 

—

Kara persisted for three weeks to reach Lena, but to no avail. 

Her access to Spheerical Industries was revoked and all of her messages were left on read. 

She’d sent in one last message, a final plea where I just want to explain myself. I’ll tell you everything you want to know and I’ll answer any questions. And after that, I’ll leave you alone and never bother you ever again. So whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here. 

—

She hadn’t wanted to accept defeat, but even she knew that if Lena ever considered giving her the time of day, perhaps incessantly reaching out was not the best move.

“She’ll come around,” Alex offered when Kara took the trip out to her sister’s suburban home just to get away from the city. She nodded along, but she felt the hollowness in those words. “And if she doesn’t, well, she’s an idiot.” 

She smiled weakly, and rested her head on Alex’s shoulder, accepting the loving pat on her thigh. “Yeah.” 

At the end of the day, she returned back to her apartment, trudging up the stairs one step at a time. As she reached the landing, she almost lost her footing when she discovered Lena leaning against her door, a contemplative frown on her face. 

Lena stood on her feet, pushing herself from the door, and stuffing her hands in her jacket pockets. Kara wasn’t sure what to do, but she was half tempted to walk straight back down and take a cab all the way to Alex’s house and hide. 

“Hi.” 

Kara watched her carefully, afraid to make any sudden movements. She jutted her chin in greeting. “Um, hi.” 

“You weren’t answering your phone, so I thought—”

Kara pawed at her pocket and found two missed calls from Lena. 

“Not that I’m not happy to see you,” she said as she took a few tentative steps closer. “But what are you doing here?” 

“You said you’d explain yourself.” 

“Oh. Right. Okay, yeah. D-did you wanna come in?” 

Wordlessly, Lena nodded. Kara then rushed to her door, fumbling as she tried to open the door. It took a few tries as she used her body to shield herself from Lena watching her miss the keyhole a few times. 

They stood by the entrance, Lena hovering by the door as if ready to bolt. She’d hated that the one and only time Lena got a chance to share her space, it had caused this chasm between them. 

“Can I get you something to drink?” 

“No, that’s fine.” 

“Okay, I’ll just…I’ll just get myself some water.” 

She opened the fridge door and took a deep breath, taking a few precious seconds to herself as she attempted to center her breath, appreciating the cool air from the refrigerator to help with her nerves. She took the pitcher out and poured herself a glass of water. Lena, in the meantime, had moved from the foyer to the opposite end of the kitchen island. 

She shakily laughed to herself, awkward and uncomfortable. “I don’t—I’m not sure where to start.” 

“From the beginning?” Lena offered, her voice soft, kind. 

“Um, okay. So I got your portrait from an estate sale a couple of years ago…” As soon as she spoke the words, they continued to pour out, so she explained everything from the estate sale and finding the portrait of Lena’s family before finding Lena’s portrait. Then how she reverently placed it on her wall and began greeting it like a friend.

How it became a source of relief just after her sister had moved to the suburbs and Kara felt lonely without her sister immediately available like she’d always been. How Kara had appreciated the safety and comfort that her portrait provided, like a friend. How she never thought to meet Lena, and stopped looking at information about her, wanting to give Lena the privacy she deserved after having gone through a rabbit hole learning about the rest of her family. How their meeting at the Spheerical Industries had irrevocably changed something in Kara’s life. How she’d talked to the portrait for some guidance before putting it away and letting that suffice even knowing that it wasn’t enough. How their friendship was something that she treasured and that she was sorry for having kept this piece of information to herself and costing her one of the most important people in her life. 

“I should’ve told you from the start,” Kara said. “But how do I tell someone I just met that not only did I know who she was, but that I have a portrait of her and basically talked to her portrait doppelganger on a regular basis. That I imagined what her life was like instead of the rumors being spread in the news about her.” 

“What did you imagine for me?” 

She shrugged, slumping back on the back counter, her arms drawn around herself. “That you liked your job. Before I knew you were officially working at Spheerical Industries, I just imagined you doing odd jobs here and there. It changed every day, depending on how I felt, but that you always liked it. Then you’d come home to a lazy cat who only liked you. That you spent time with your friends on game nights that you liked to host.” 

“That sounds nice. Definitely better than the life I’d been leading before.” 

She swallowed, feeling more vulnerable and exposed with the following words than any of the things she’d revealed before. “But above all else, I just imagined that you were happy and loved. That’s all I ever wished for you.” 

Though there were still hints of uncertainty and caution in those green eyes, Kara found that Lena was no longer as standoffish as she’d been when she first came in. “Why?” 

Kara shrugged again. “Because I saw a bit of myself when I looked at you. I guess I wanted the both of us to make it, you know?” 

Lena seemed baffled by this, the tension between them shifting ever so slightly that Kara felt okay taking a deep breath as Lena seemed to mull her explanations. 

“How much did the portrait go for?” 

Surprised at the turn of their conversation, Kara momentarily blanked until, “Uh. Fifty dollars.” 

That surprised Lena, her eyes widening slightly. “You paid fifty dollars for a portrait of me?” 

“I haggled the guy down for $150. That sounds bad, sorry.” 

“I didn’t think it’d even go for any money at all,” Lena huffed. 

Silence enveloped them further, so Kara figured that their time together was coming to a close. So she took one more deep breath and pushed off the counter so she stood directly across the kitchen island from Lena. “I’m sorry I never told you. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret, but it became easier to pretend until it was too late. I promise to leave you alone if that’s what you want. You can keep the portrait, too. Whatever will make you feel most comfortable.” 

She expected many things to happen, but Kara didn’t expect Lena to slump down on the bar stool beside her. 

“That’s not—I don’t want you out of my life, Kara,” she huffed. “You’ve been the best thing to come into my life in a long time, so I freaked out when I saw that not only did you have a secret portrait of me, but that it was something that reminded me of the life I’d tried so hard to escape. Those portraits weren’t exactly fun memories.” 

“I’m sorry, Lena—” she started to say, but Lena just put her hand up to stop her.  

“No, I’m sorry. I should’ve let you explain yourself. But I panicked and thought the worst of you because of the insecurities that I carry. So I’m sorry, too, for what it’s worth.” 

Emboldened by the words that she was hearing from Lena, she quickly walked around the island and took residence in the bar stool right beside Lena. 

“So are we…good?” she asked, her tone cautiously hopeful.

Lena’s face split into a toothy smile, and Kara was struck with how enamored she was with all facets of Lena’s smile and joy. 

“I always thought your smile in the portrait was nice, but I have to tell you the real thing blows it out of the water.” 

“Charmer,” Lena commented, even as she ducked her head. 

She cleared her throat. “So what now?” 

“I think it’ll take some getting used to knowing that you have that portrait of me, but I guess if there was anybody I'd trust to ever have bought it, I’m glad it was you.” 

Her brows shot up to her hairline. “Really?” 

“Yeah, really.” Lena’s features relaxed and she laughed slightly, placing a hand on Kara’s knee. “I missed you.” 

Unbidden, Kara’s eyes brimmed with the threat of tears, even as she smiled up at Lena. “God, I missed you, too. So much.” 

Lena raised her hand and used the back of her hand to wipe the single tear that managed to escape from the corner of Kara’s eye. 

“Sorry.” 

Kara shook her head and offered her best smile, her hand coming up to cover Lena’s. “Water under the bridge.” 

—

The portrait stayed facing the wall in Kara’s apartment for another year until she and Lena finally moved in together. 

She’d been given the blessing to put it up in her office, Kara’s surprise so apparent on her face that Lena could only roll her eyes. Kara showed her appreciation by showering Lena with kisses that the brunette woman was all too happy to indulge in. 

When they got engaged a year after that, Lena surprised Kara with an appointment to get their portraits done together. Kara had laughed, hearty and infectious, before she took Lena in her arms and asked her why do this if portraits were bad memories? 

Because, Lena would respond, you knew me and you loved me before you even met me because of that portrait. So what better way to celebrate? 

Kara only kissed her fiancée with glee. 

The portrait of the two of them with identical smiles hung beside the first one. Those two portraits would then be accompanied by a third one of them at their wedding. 

Kara loved all three, proudly adorned their walls with them. But every now and again, she’d go back to the portrait that started it all. She knew she would always have a soft spot for the portrait of the young woman with green eyes and red lips, a small smile on her face.

[blubberinganarchist]

I don't know if I can pick a single favorite but the one I've hyperfixated on the most is probably Elm Street and Tucker and Dale. My brain eats up anything cheesy and stupid.

Now that we're here, could you please take a moment of your time to at least read Sahar and her family's story and or donate if you have extra cash? Even 5$ can be the difference between life and death in Gaza.

Here is their story in their own words:

"My name is Sahar Shehab. I am 14 years old from Gaza. I ask you for urgent help in evacuating my family from Gaza to a safe place. We need help, our friends all over the world. We are 8 people: my father Fahed (38 years), my mother Reem (32 years), my sisters Dana (13 years), Mona (9 years), Malak (6 years), my brother Yahya (2 years), and my grandmother Mona (60 years).My aunt's family (my father's sister) also need to leave with us. My father cannot leave his sister here in this danger and this war. My aunt's family consists of 5 members: my aunt Mona, her husband Muhammad, and their children Othman, Tariq, and Iman. My aunt and her family are besieged in Gaza, just like us, and surrounded by danger. Her daughter, Iman, is an infant, only 5 months old, and was born during the war in very difficult circumstances. My father and my aunt are trying to save our family, get out of Gaza, and live in peace with our family.To date, my family has been displaced over 15 times, enduring unimaginable hardships along the way. We left to Rafah then to Deir-al-Balah when the invasion there started, then to Nuseirat when Deir-al-Balah was attacked. We were constantly in danger there, narrowly escaping death from the shooting and bombing. We went to Mawasi, and are living in terrible conditions, and under constant threat of death. There are no safe places in Gaza.

Since our home was destroyed we have been living in a tent, and it is very difficult because there is no protection from the weather. Because it's winter now, it's very cold and the tent doesn't provide protection from rain. There is no running water and not enough food. My little sisters and my baby brother have all gotten very sick many times. It's also very, very hard for my parents and my aunt to find baby products for Iman and Yahya. When baby formula and diapers are available, they are very expensive and don't last a long time.my family can evacuate from Gaza. Your help and donations will give us hope throughout the dark times we live. The money we collect will be allocated to cover the expensive travel expenses of my family, providing them temporary shelter, and provide the necessities for me & my family during this difficult period."

$955 CAD raised of $100K goal

This campaign is vetted: click for details

Heres the familys social media accounts:

Tumblr @fahedshehab-new

Instagram @fahed.shehab52

Facebook Fahed Shehab

If you cannot donate please please share their fundraiser and socials!! Free Palestine 🇵🇸🇵🇸♥️♥️

[surveillance-0011]

Hey what if I *draws your alien that hates humans as humans* lol

These are all a little old (from jan-march) but save for giblets I feel like I’ve got everyone pinned down nicely. Notes under the cut!! Don’t repost, feel free to tell me what you think 💕

1-2: Krubis. I hope you see my vision here. Mostly just trying to figure out if I like this hair texture for him or if I go curlier. I’m set for his work outfit though and I like the idea of him wearing glasses or shades 24/7. But yknow. I think this captures his essence. This is the sort of person he is in my eyes.

The second doodle is kind of rushed but I think in a human au maybe he’d forgo a prosthetic in most circumstances. Hell I think if he can remove the drill at all in canon then he does so when it comes to paperwork and shit. I think he was born without the arm so hes learnt to get by without any sort of prosthetic. I need to do more research into the matter though

3: Douglas. The shorter cut is more in character but I do like the (VERY SPLATOON INSPIRED BTW) braid idea. I think he’s on the younger side alongside the Skrendels? But also he’s very baby faced I think. To mirror the whole “actually Douglas was the silly blue goober the whole time” thing

4: Dr. Giblets. As I said before this sketch is a bit old but I did touch it up. A bit too lanky his face needs to be rounder. I think he’s the oldest of the officers maybe older than Garm. Probably? Not by much. Also 5 Torg in the corner but I didn’t like how she came out so she’ll be in the next batch of whatever 💔💔💔

5: Angela + Jonathan in armor bc for a human/more anthro au I think they’d all have these helmets that mirror the one big eye(and headcanons for what happens when they argue: Angela mediates between Jonathan and Mona, Jonathan does the same when Angela argues with Mona, and Mona just straight up leaves the two to beat the shit out of each other then tearfully apologize .). Also nipulon weezer blue.

6: Garmantuous. Idk if he should be bald or not. Also like 40? Could be a bit older maybe even younger… extra eyes HAVE TO be plugs though I have decided on this. I feel smart for this.

7: more Mona ^_^ more developed sketch of the same hc that he just dips if the other two ever argue + fem presenting alt design + probably what went through his head by the time the BH took out his other brothers during the fight. Also his hair would be bleached blonde 👍🏼 but all the Skrendels have very dark hair naturally.

(On that note: as mentioned before Krubis’s hair is all grey now to mirror the drill. Douglas not sure probably brown or strawberry blond/gingery but dyed blue. Giblets. Uh. Idk it’s pink ish but that way naturally somehow and greying obviously. Garm also blonde but probably bleached? And like I said Skrendels all have black or brown hair but Mona bleached his and Jonathan dyes his hair every now and then

[boxeboxer]

SAMYA (SAMANTHA) AMARI

Origin: asalee (human facsimile)

Status: organic

Nationality/Ethnicity: British, Pakistani-Uzbek

Age: 31 (date of birth July 1st, 2011)

Occupation: N/A

About:

Samya Amari is the Mallory clone of Mia Safarova and Oman Khurshid. She was raised as their daughter, and doesn’t know how she was actually created.

As a Mallory clone, Samya is part of the conjugate family, and has a Base of 5. This gives her the ability to use clairvoyance, which includes mind-reading, a primitive form of hypnosis, and manipulating electric fields. Though she knows how to use her powers to some extent, she was discouraged by her parents from exploring her full strength, out of fear that she may not be able to properly control them and as a result hurt herself or others. Due to being a Mallory clone, she has weakened bones and muscles in her left hip down to her ankle. A shortened achilles heel and atrophy in her calf resulted in her developing club foot, and though it was later corrected with surgery, she cannot walk long distances unassisted. She uses a forearm crutch.

Samya is a socialite as a result of her clairvoyance, and gets along with almost everyone. However, she has trouble reading social cues and expressions. While stubborn, she is also easily frustrated, and is prone to paranoia; she tries to keep a cautiously optimistic attitude despite that. Samya enjoys needlepoint embroidery, anything apple flavored, and collecting long scarves.

Background:

Samya was created and born in the Mallory’s Liverpool lab. For the first six months of her life, she lived there with Mia and Cassandra, and was subjected to numerous tests of her clairvoyance. Even as an adult, she has a bald spot on the back of her head from electrodes implanted into her brain as a baby, though she does not remember it.

After Oman got her out of the lab, him and Mia tried to give her as normal of a life as possible, although she had a very lonely childhood. She was homeschooled to hide her from the Mallorys, then as she was set to begin at a small university in London, the war broke out. While she still attended virtual classes and graduated with a degree in physics (with focus in material science), she still found herself with little to no social life or friends. Worse yet, she also finds out around this time that she’s incapable of having children. Shortly after she’s told her mother has died, which worsens her already building depression.

She lives quietly with Oman until 2040, until she discovers that her mother might not actually be dead. Oman refuses to answer any questions about his or Mia’s past, or even how Samya got her clairvoyance. Angered by his silence, they have a rough falling out and she leaves to finally live on her own. For two years she follows loose threads on the Mallorys and her mother, but grows discouraged when all she gets are dead ends. In 2042, she suddenly gets the tip that Mona Nibhanupudi, who was closely involved with the Mallorys, has a daughter living just a car ride away.

[regexkind]

I wake up in a hospital bed, with no memory of how I got there. In a wild voice, I cry out: "is it the past? or the future??"

Leaning over me, shunting an unknown ampoule into my IV, my former best friend, my one-time bedfellow, my current sworn enemy—though he doesn't know it—smiles an enigmatic smile to put the Mona Lisa to shame. "This will wake you up. Now come on, we've got to go and visit the one lawyer who has ever believed everything about me."

[baldguy-fight]

the teenage mutant ninja turtles all 4 of them i think they should share a single space on the bracket.

im not sure whats the limit on nonhuman characters but here is my explanation on why i think they qualify: shrek and megamind are on the list and you could say ogres in the shrek universe can have hair (like fiona) as for megamind.well the only other of his species we see are his parents in a flashback who are also bald but he and his dad have facial hair so im gonna assume its not impossible for his species to grow head hair. but anyways the ninja turtles CAN actually grow hair. like in rise of the TMNT theres an episode where leo literally gets discriminated against for being bald and he gets kicked out of a spa (bald ppl are the most oppressed minority /j) and so he grows hair super quickly with magic gel and u could say well he used magic for that but in the rottmnt movie we see a future version of leo and mikey and MIKEY HAS HAIR. this is not the first time we’ve seen a future version of the turtles with hair as in the 2012 series we see a future raph with a full blown beard. also other non-mammal mutants have hair such as pretty much every version of baxter stockman (a fly mutant) and plenty of characters from the 1987 show like mona lisa (a lizard)

in conclusion the teenage mutant ninja turtles are bald as fuck. they can grow hair they just choose not to which makes them ultra bald. please let them in the competition they are so bald and i will slap them on their bald heads

I have received a nomination for Leo, but I'll group all the turtles together if I get more for the others

[updateaustria]

von Christian C. Pochtler

Jede Partei behauptet, im Namen „aller Menschen“ zu sprechen. Vielleicht wäre es an der Zeit, der Bevölkerung auch einmal zuzuhören.

Seit Monaten wird in Österreich kampagnisiert, dass es endlich „gerechter“ zugehen müsse. Außerdem brauche es eine weitere Reduktion der Arbeitszeit, mehr Urlaub. Ach ja, und die steigende Überschuldung ist natürlich kein großes Problem, das können später „die Reichen“ zahlen. Alles realitätsferne Forderungen, die nur mit einer stark eingefärbten ideologischen Brille erklärt werden können.

Nachdem das just in einer Zeit passiert, wo uns die verpassten Strukturreformen der vergangenen Jahrzehnte auf den Kopf fallen, wo wir die Kontrolle über die Ausgaben vollends verloren haben, wo unsere Lohnstückkosten so stark gestiegen sind, dass mittlerweile ausgerechnet die Industrie, das Rückgrat jeder dynamischen Volkswirtschaft, schrumpft? Man schüttelt nur noch den Kopf.

Schrumpfender Wohlstand

Seitens der Industrie haben wir auf den Wust an Forderungen verständlicherweise harsch reagiert. Denn gerade wir in der exportorientierten Industrie spüren die Folgen einer fehlenden ambitionierten Standort- und Wirtschaftspolitik. Wenn aber die Industrie schrumpft, qualitative und hochbezahlte Arbeitsplätze nach und nach ins Ausland verlorengehen, dann sollte das allen Sorge bereiten.

Österreich verdient (noch) jeden zweiten Euro im Export! Schrumpft die industrielle Basis, schrumpfen auch die staatlichen Einnahmen an Steuern und Abgaben – und damit unser aller Wohlstand.

Jetzt aber die Botschaft für die Politik: Die Österreicherinnen und Österreicher wollen, dass zuerst einmal die Politik mit den Steuergeldern sorgsamer umgeht und dass sich ihr Fleiß und ihre Leistungen wesentlich mehr lohnen. Eine unlängst im „Standard“ veröffentlichte Umfrage zeigt: 82 Prozent der Wahlberechtigten wollen, dass die nächste Bundesregierung die Ausgaben in den Griff kriegt! 64 Prozent sind sogar für eine ausschließlich ausgabenseitige Budgetsanierung. Magere fünf Prozent sind für rein einnahmenseitige Maßnahmen, also Steuererhöhungen.

Die Bevölkerung scheint einen viel klareren und nüchterneren Blick auf die Realität zu haben als so manche Vertreter der Politik. Das gibt Hoffnung. Als Interessenvertreter der Wirtschaft hatte man zuletzt nämlich ein gewisses Gefühl schleichender Verzweiflung: Kann es sein, dass niemand sieht, in welche Misere wir zusteuern?

Kann es sein, dass niemand versteht, dass wir nicht auf ewig bestehende Probleme mit immer mehr Geld zuschütten und verbergen können? Dass die Schulden irgendwann zu einem Problem werden? Alle relevanten Argumente, Fakten und Berechnungen wurden öffentlich breit debattiert, ich will sie gar nicht wiederholen – muss man wohl auch nicht. Denn Umfragen wie diese zeigen: Die Menschen verstehen die derzeitige Situation ganz gut.

Dramatische Lage

Die Lage ist zu dramatisch geworden, um noch die Augen vor den drohenden Konsequenzen zu verschließen. Aber in der Politik tun manche weiter so, als sei eh alles bestens. Die Mehrheit der Menschen weiß es besser. So ist auch eine Mehrheit gegen eine Erbschaftssteuer. Denn der Griff in die schon versteuerten Gelder im Börserl trifft rasch einen größeren Kreis der Leistungsträger, die sich ihr Haus und Ersparnisse hart erarbeitet haben.

Kolportiert wurden bei entsprechenden Vorschlägen immer Vermögensgrenzen von einer Million Euro. Ein Blick auf aktuelle Immobilienpreise wird da viele nachdenklich machen. Nehmen Sie an, Sie arbeiten Ihr Leben lang, zahlen einen Kredit ab, um für sich und Ihre Familie eine Eigentumswohnung zu finanzieren.

Dann denken Sie an die Inflation jedes Jahr. Die Millionengrenze ist da bald geknackt. Kein Wunder, dass viele Menschen heute gar keine Chance auf eigenes Wohnungseigentum haben, weil der Staat ihnen Monat für Monat zu viel wegnimmt.

Die Menschen scheinen verstanden zu haben – aber welche Parteien werden ihnen das richtige Angebot machen? Welches Sparpaket, welche Reformagenda könnte Österreich wieder zurück auf einen erfolgreichen Kurs als Wirtschaftsstandort, als Industrie- und Exportnation bringen? Welche Anreizsysteme werden die produktiven Kräfte wieder entfesseln?

Explodierende Schulden

Passieren muss jedenfalls etwas. Ohne Reformen würden unsere Staatsschulden sonst weiter explodieren. Je nach zugrundeliegenden Annahmen laut OECD auf 171 Prozent oder laut BMF auf 121 Prozent des BIP. So oder so: Wollen wir den Weg einer schuldenfinanzierten Staatswirtschaft noch mehr auf die Spitze treiben?

Die erwähnte Umfrage zum Thema „Budgetsanierung durch Sparen oder neue Steuererhöhungen“, gibt dennoch Anlass zu Optimismus: Jede neue Bundesregierung wird einen schweren Job vor sich haben, die Zeiten werden notgedrungen rauer. Dessen ist sich die schweigende Mehrheit sehr wohl bewusst. In Abänderung eines Zitats von Bruno Kreisky kann man der Politik nur zurufen: „Lernen Sie doch Volkswirtschaft!“

DER AUTOR

Christian C. Pochtler (*1952) ist Geschäftsführender Alleingesellschafter der Pochtler Industrieholding GmbH/iSi Group und seit 2019 Präsident der Industriellenvereinigung Wien.

[lilacastar]

Lonely thoughts//missing

Alexia.

I thought of you today. I don't know why. Often times I think of you when I'm missing my friends, or thinking on what used to bring me comfort through college years of being miserable at home. I'm not at Bald Cypress or even the Gables anymore, nor am I in college, and I made another online friend.

You missed my graduation. You also missed my voice dropping on HRT. You missed me learning to love the way I look, and I never got to send you more photos of my new life. You missed my break up, and you missed me learning to love someone else and learning how to be loved.

But I still think of you. Every time I hear a Taylor Swift song I think of you. Every time I see poetry from a book, or Mary Oliver on my dash I'm thinking of you. When I remember the way I felt in college, it reminds me of you. Even my Mona Lisa socks make me think of you.

After the messages you sent, I deleted the collage I made for you. I regretted it a year later missing you. But if I had it I'd probably just feel awful all over again. I'm sorry the messages I sent were about how much everyone would miss you and the things that were dependent on you, instead of making it about you yourself. I was afraid.

But I still can't forgive what you sent.

I think about sending you a text sometimes in hopes that you ended up alright somehow. But if that were true, I think it'd be best to leave us apart. We wouldn't be able to go back to how things were.

I miss my friends and I miss you tonight.

Alexia.

[jdgo51]

How Jesus Saves

Today's inspiration comes from:

How Jesus Saves

by Joshua M. McNall

The Lost Father

"Abdulfattah Jandali ran a Mediterranean restaurant in California. He was a Syrian immigrant, balding and intelligent, with fierce eyes and round, wire-rimmed glasses. After coming to America, Jandali earned a PhD in economics. He got a job as a professor at the University of Michigan. He began dating a woman named Joanne, and she became pregnant. But despite his brilliance, Jandali was a flawed and restless man. So with Joanne still pregnant, he abandoned both his family and his career. The baby boy in Joanne’s womb was given up for adoption.

Jandali later reunited with Joanne, they were married (briefly), and the couple had a daughter. But when the child was young, Jandali once again grew restless. He left and never returned. The baby girl grew up to be a famous novelist named Mona Simpson. And as an adult, she decided to seek out her long-lost father. What was he like? she wondered.

Why did he leave? Simpson hired a private investigator who tracked down Jandali, managing an eatery in California.

In a corner booth, Jandali told his daughter proudly of the places he had managed over the years — especially the Mediterranean one near San Jose. “That place was wonderful,” he remarked. “All of the successful technology people used to come there. Even Steve Jobs. He was a sweet guy and a big tipper!” Mona Simpson’s mouth fell open. What she never told her father was that Steve Jobs — the brilliant billionaire and founder of Apple Computers — was the baby Jandali had abandoned in the womb. And despite never knowing one another outside of those brief, oblivious encounters — the two men shared uncanny characteristics.1

Fathers shape us even in their absence. We inherit things. Like a sharp mind, a set of piercing eyes, and maybe even a taste for round-rimmed wire glasses. There is a mystery in what gets passed down. But in the case of Jobs and Jandali, the similarities do not stop there. Eerily, the founder of Apple Computers would also abandon his own firstborn child, Lisa, in the womb, at the exact same age Jandali had been when he left. What should we make of such surprising recapitulations? My claim is not that every aspect of our fate is predetermined by our past or our genetics.

We can make choices — with God’s help — to break certain cycles. But we are often more tied to others than we think as modern, Western individuals. In other words, as Jandali demonstrates:

We are mysteriously bound up with our fallen forerunners.

An Apple with a Bite out of It

Steve Jobs’s famed logo was an apple with a bite missing. Yet there is another bitten fruit that figures prominently in Scripture. In Genesis 3, humans reject their calling to reflect God’s character in the garden they were called to “guard” (shamar; Genesis 2:15, author’s translation). This Hebrew word implies that though Eden was very good, it was not yet perfect. Hence the garden needed to be ordered and protected. That was Adam’s job.

Some scholars picture Eden like a beachhead of shalom (“peace”) carved out by God in a broader world that had already experienced a cosmic disruption. Why else would it need guarding? Why else would there be a talking Tempter who we now know as “that ancient serpent, who is the devil” (Revelation 20:2)? The first humans occupy a territory that is good but dangerous. And by falling for the serpent’s temptation, the head of humanity (Adam) is severed. Adam is cut off not just from the tree of life but from the future God desired for his people.2 Just as with Jandali, fallen fathers cast long shadows. Poisoned water flows downstream. The roots affect the branches. No one sins in a vacuum.

It didn’t have to be this way. Back in Genesis, humans could have done what they were commanded to do: guard the garden. After all, God gave them authority to “rule over” animals (Genesis 1:26). And here was one blaspheming the Creator (Genesis 3:4). Adam could have done precisely what young David did when he heard Goliath blaspheming Israel’s God. He took the fate of the people upon himself as their anointed head and soon-to-be king. What happened to David in that showdown with Goliath (in either failure or triumph) would carry over to the whole nation (1 Samuel 17:8–9). And in this case, as it was with Jesus, it was the Enemy’s head that was severed.

Jesus is the rightful head of an interconnected human family.

Recapping Fallen Adam

This brings me back to Jesus. We have seen how Jesus is connected to Adam as the true head of all humanity. But how can this be? Christ was born long after Adam. And Jesus had no children. Wouldn’t this make Him more like the elbow of the human race? How can Jesus be the true head of all humanity? It’s time to tackle more specifically the nature of our bound-togetherness.

Enter Irenaeus. Despite his strange-sounding name, Irenaeus was a Christian leader just after the time of the apostles (c. AD 180). Like Julian of Norwich, he was fascinated with the connection between Christ and Adam, and he saw this relationship as revealing something about how Jesus saves. Irenaeus noted that God made all humans in His image (Genesis 1:26). And despite sin, we retain that image even now. Since all persons have been stamped in God’s likeness, our bodies have intrinsic value regardless of race, gender, wealth, or shifting beauty standards.

But the image of God is not just something we have — like blue eyes or an intolerance to dairy. The image of God is also something we do.

Humans are called to “image” (or reflect) God to those around us. It is a vocation and not just a possession. For these reasons, the image of God is one of the most important concepts in the Bible. Why is each human life precious beyond price? The image of God. Why is stewardship of the environment a sign of Christian maturity? The image of God. Why must racism, abortion, and sexual immorality be treated together as offenses against the way of Jesus? The image of God.

The image of God also explains how Jesus can represent all humans even though He is just one man.

It’s because even Adam was made in the image of God’s Son — Jesus. The New Testament speaks of Christ as the true and perfect Image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15). Though we are flawed reflections of God’s character, Jesus is the perfect Image. As the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God preexisted Adam. Jesus is the eternal Son and the creative Word by which God made everything (John 1:1–3; John 1:14). To use the analogy of a copy machine (which sounds pretty sacred, right?), we might say Jesus is the original Image that is used as the pattern to create all subsequent images. Every human who has ever lived was patterned and printed in the image of the true human — Jesus Christ.

This matters for atonement. For Irenaeus, since even Adam was made in the image of Christ, that makes Jesus the true head of all humanity. This means that at the deepest root of our expanding family tree — deeper than your grandparents, your weird uncle, or your ancient ancestors — there is not a fallen father. At the deepest root there is an obedient and perfect Son.

Jesus is the image in which all people were created, and the head of His body, the church (Colossians 1:15). Consider this rough diagram, which took thousands of research dollars to create, and an entire team of artists and geneticists.

the human family The drawing shows that Christ is the founding head of the entire human race, like the unseen headwaters of a long and winding river. Because while Jesus was born near the middle of the human story, even Adam was patterned on the image of Christ.3 For this reason, Paul states that just as Adam’s disobedience led to the many being made sinners, so also through Christ’s obedience “the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Ultimately, Jesus isn’t just one disconnected human individual. Jesus is the rightful head of an interconnected human family.4 No matter what your past is like, this is good news. In the words of Nichole Nordeman, God’s love doesn’t “get hung up on the branches of family trees that bend and sometimes break under the weight of our painful histories. It’s too busy at the roots. Where the soil is soaked in mercy.”5 This is true because Jesus comes not just as one perfect individual in the middle of history, but as the new and true Adam who can empathize with our pain and suffering, while lifting us out of the dirty ditches where we’ve fallen."

Quotations cited from Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2011), 257. In Genesis, God makes clear that Adam and Eve were not created immortal. It is the tree of life (and their ability to continue eating from it) that makes it a possibility for them to “live forever” (Gen. 3:22). See Joshua M. McNall, The Mosaic of Atonement: An Integrated Approach to Christ’s Work (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2019), 78–79. Irenaeus, Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, trans. Armitage Robinson (New York: MacMillan, 1920), 22. Nichole Nordeman, Love Story: The Hand That Holds Us from the Garden to the Gate (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, 2012), 50. Excerpted with permission from How Jesus Saves by Joshua McNall, copyright Joshua M. McNall.

This is very long and wordy, but does give you some messages to consider.

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

watched the playthrough. thoughts and spoilers:

ryuji is really sweet but the game does him so dirty. for real

also funny how ryuji's persona progression was pirate (ok makes sense) >> the monkey king (i suppose it works thematically?) >> diego (mr worldwide?)

i shouldnt judge personal progression based on pokemon evolution but it is silly to me. just a bit. like makoto's was a bike that became a transformer that went back to being a cooler bike...haru's was a lady -> skull lady -> big dress lady

i wish ann's persona fit didn't. look. like that...i get why it could be justified narratively but like. come on

makoto is crazy useful gameplay wise but an absolute shit driver narratively

it's so funny how every single big bad here can be traced back to the biggest bad, a bald man with a political agenda

actually how most of the bad people from behind the scenes are just old rich men. accurate i suppose

also funny is how akechi is depicted as ultra handsome but he's just a cookie cutter anime twink

the protag is also a cookie cutter anime twink but because he wears glasses he just looks normal. superman clark kent type physics

he doesn't even need those glasses. what's the point

the gameplay itself was fun to watch. it was overstimulating in its excess of anime and sometimes bewildering in its mechanics but the music was good and i like the menu ui design

the romance options piss me off. why does the protag have the option to romance his teacher and not ryuji. sigh

poor haru. her confidant line involves her admitting she may or may not have a crush on the protag and the options essentially boil down to 'i want you' to 'die'...is there not a nicer way to let her down please

i love futaba she is just like. me. i want nothing but the best for her she is like a sister tome. also her splash art is so cute

the voice acting is really good. like i was watching with the english dub but the voice acting is really very good, especially akechi's va

they never explain how a phone app suddenly started letting people into the mind palace system. was igor busy typing out java on his thinkpad. did development get outsourced

akechi???

also i dont understand how exactly shido's support team somehow manipulated the metaverse to make everyone forget about the phantom thieves...there was some stuff about a god in there and a big cup but i think i blanked out during this part. or maybe they had nothing to do with it and im just jumping the gum

mona gets three fakeouts about his death so everyone has to feel sad about him three different times. ryuji gets one fakeout and they all beat him up in the street can we give this boy some justice

i like how p5royal gives the protag back his annoying ass toxic boyfriend but also a mentally ill girlfriend yayyy <33 diversity win your polycule is fucked up

mona only just finds out he can turn into things other than a bus in literally the last arc before they all lose their powers for forever, further proving his status as the most useless player on the team

i like how the last confrontation with dr maruki involves just slugging him as hard as you can

dr maruki's hair looks way darker to me in the anime cutscenes than in the game

'me and my emotional support toxic tulpa situationship boyfriend'

i finally understand why i kept seeing heartwrenching yaoi fanart every february second now with themes around departure death betrayal and guns etc

the ending is very sweet. though im a little confused on why they had to take separate cars to get to the train station so they wouldn't get tailed...who is tailing you? and why?

akechi???????????????

fuck that cat

tl;dr: it was fun. i am now sick in the head

watching a persona 5 playthrough

[osmiabee]

I get that Terry Crews is an older black man who's grown up making observations on how lack of paternal figures through mass incarceration often damages children and communities. However it's just so grim the way he acted as if black women should keep their mouths shut about raising black men.

The article he flippantly dismissed because it was written by a woman, highlighted the ways that Obama makes stereotypical and degrading remarks about black men and black culture, used the idea of closeted gay black men as a punchline, and often presents women as a dichotomy of "perfect wife" and "faceless thot". Crews immediately sided with the man raised by a white mother with no significant influence from African American culture, (actively having to distance himself from it to gain the presidency) on how to raise 'successful' black men ignoring the well voiced opinion of a black woman on how black male role models should aim to raise strong black men through uplifting their communities rather than degrading them to seem sophisticated.

On top of that and the obvious spiral down Malnourishment Lane™ it's just extra ironic that his 'apology' tweets talked about listening and learning from others when he did the fucking mOsT to ignore and belittle people that were politely calling him out on his bs. Sure, his opinions were shaped by his experience as a black man but a grown ass 50 year old pulling the "oh well!! I'm cancelled!!! Guess I'll dig my heels in and self-victimise as if I didn't make openly mysogynistic and homophobic comments!! Actually everyone is criticising me because I'm black!!!" like we Just don't have time to unpack all that.

Tl;dr This absolutely isn't a call to "cancel Terry Crews" he's a great actor, these views were obviously deeply internalised and his intention was not to hurt people with his comments. However it's doesnt change the fact that people are rightfully frustrated when public figures uphold a mysogynistic and homophobic status quo. It's especially disheartening when they dismiss criticism by playing the victim. Celebrities are people and are absolutely allowed to make mistakes and learn and grow, but those comments were hurtful and unnecessary and overall, we're allowed to be disappointed in celebrities and hope that they do better.

[maliwarm]

I was wiggling my feet under my blanket just now and this furry doofus just. She was enraptured by it.