#and take us to a place where we would be redeemed of our base and corrupt need for light and warmth''

[softichill]

The Dark is one of my least favorite fears, not bc of any writing problems but bc if you become a follower of the Dark you literally just become catholic

[fsfghgee]

Bi-Han and Sektor's Relationship in MK1. They are a couple now? Why?

First of all, I give my honest opinion based on analysis here, regardless of what people are repeating out there. I will never say something I don't believe just to please a loud part. That said, I like the expansion, I like the story and I like the couples (more precisely, Sektor/Bi-Han and Rain/Tanya). Tanya and Rain have a certain past and I enjoyed getting a glimpse of what they would be like in a relationship. Bi-Han and Sektor were a couple that surprised me positively, I didn't expect Sektor to be so affectionate with Bi-Han and much less that Bi-Han would reciprocate like a man in love, I enjoyed seeing this softer side of Bi-Han with her…

I admit that when I saw this scene I was like " own :3 " And then like "Liu Kang, you killjoy〴⋋⋌〵 !" haha

I thought that him watching over Sektor's body in mk11 would be the most of a soft side of Bi-Han that I would ever see in my life. And although I already knew because of the leaks that Sektor and Bi-Han would have a relationship in mk1, I never imagined that they would do it so explicitly. I was surprised, but positively. Because as I said in some previous analyses, a relationship with Sektor would give more depth to Bi-Han as a character. I knew that a relationship with Sektor would be their way of showing us a softer side of Bi-Han, showing that he has feelings and his actions are not only justified, but validated in the clan. I already expected Sektor to support him. They wouldn't make Bi-Han and Sektor so close since Sub-Zero's ending (where she was mentioned as a genius that he seeks advice from and even shares the leadership of the clan, since he refers to everything as "we", "our" and such) for nothing.

 "I had broken the Lin Kuei free of Liu Kang's enslavement. We were now masters of our destiny and could take our place among Earthrealm's greatest nations. But taking and holding territory would require a vast army. I needed more fighters to make our presence felt. Then I recalled Shang Tsung's dragon warriors. An army of them would be unstoppable. But trafficking in such strong magic would surely draw Liu Kang's attention. Sektor advised that we avoid detection by building our army using science, not sorcery. We've invested much time in this endeavor, and we are beginning to see results. Once again proving the depths of Sektor's genius. When we are done, all of Earthrealm will honor our desires and heed our demands. If not, they will face the Lin Kuei's wrath."

And as I've been saying since the day this game was released (and I'll keep saying it even now that he's been turned into Noob Saibot) Bi-Han is not a villain, but an antagonist. He's not good, but he's not purely evil either. He's a morally gray character.

I know a lot of people want one, but I don't care about a redemption arc and I don't see why it would make sense for him to have one. To me, neutral/morally gray characters are much more interesting. I like how they play by their own rules, how they're not easily influenced, how determined they are and all that.

And after Bi-Han saved the timeline, he already redeemed himself and the only thing that really didn't make sense in his story was fixed (which was allying with outsiders just for the promise of receiving power to rule, neglecting the safety of his own clan since their base is in Earthrealm). I've already highlighted intros that prove that even though he didn't participate in the battle against Titan Shang Tsung to free Shao from prison in OutWorld. After he helped Shao in battles in OutWorld and Shao failed to fulfill his side of the agreement, he returned to defending Earthrealm (more precisely, he returned to defending his clan):

*In MK1, all endings and intros are canonicals (with the exception of guest characters like Homelander, Omni Man etc).

"Though I had returned to the temple after Titan Havik's defeat, I remained livid. Livid with Bi-Han's foolishness, Kuai Liang's betrayal, and Cyrax's defection to his Shirai Ryu. So when Quan Chi arrived to parley, offering to eliminate the upstart clan, I listened... For his services, Quan Chi asked that I retrieve an amulet that was locked away in the Temple of the Elements. No small task, given its wards and guardians. Though one worth understanding, if it would finish the Lin Kuei's rivals. But before I could find the amulet, I found Bi-Han. There he was, imprisoned and forgotten, when Liu Kang had promised to restore him! As I rescued Bi-Han, all thought of retrieving Quan Chi's treasure was quickly forgotten. I will never forgive Liu Kang for this betrayal. That he is a god will not stop me from seeking vengeance."

I had hoped that after the expansion, because of what Liu Kang said to Bi-Han, they would come to an agreement about his desires. But they turned out to be just empty words and he refuses to even listen to Bi-Han's vision. Which I find quite ironic. Because it's so reprehensible that Bi-Han wants to rule Earthrealm while Mileena sits on the throne of OutWorld with her family ruling for generations…

Why is it only Bi-Han and his clan that have to settle for just serving as Liu Kang's lackeys? Because at the beginning of the story mode that's all they did....

Why should they settle for this fate of sacrifices without any reward forever? Because Liu Kang said it has to be so? I don't blame Sektor, Bi-Han and others for rebelling against this.

 "As I regained consciousness, I regained my memories: My transformation into a creature of chaos, my defeat of Titan Havik, and my failed confrontation of Liu Kang. Sektor was obsessed with finding the means to purge my soul of Titan Havik's corruption. She was shocked when I told her she should do no such thing. Infusing my soul with chaos did not damage me, it enriched me. By embracing randomness and chance, I have unlocked vast new powers. My kombat is less predictable, more formidable, and radically more lethal. Titan Havik gave me these gifts to use in fomenting his chaos. Instead, I will use them to fight for the Lin Kuei. Liu Kang, the Shaolin, my brother, and his clan will yield in terror when confronted by my perfection."

The only things that really disappointed me in the expansion was the lack of dialogue about Bi-Han's mother. I really wanted to know more about her and why Bi-Han reveres her. And the length, of course. There were a lot of things in a short space of time and I think that if it weren't for the amount of cuts they made, we could have had a longer expansion.

Regardless of what some people wanted or expected to happen, Mortal Kombat 1 was promoted since its release as a New Era that would present major changes made by Liu Kang in the destinies of iconic characters in the hope that everyone would find peace, but as the slogan "It's in our blood" said… It was never meant to last. In other words, although some characters ended up taking similar paths, others also took completely different paths. But the most important thing to know is that the Era of Peace is over.

And although Liu Kang has no control over the choices of those he has created the new destiny for, he has redesigned everyone's destiny and this has resulted in consequences…

Sektor and Cyrax being born female in this New Era and having a considerably different personality may have been both part of Liu Kang's plan, or just a consequence of his changes in the destinies of these two.

We never knew who Sektor's mother was and only his father was known, Oniro, the Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei. In the New Era, Sektor is the daughter of Madam Bo (a former Lin Kuei warrior leader) and Longwei (retired master armorer of the Lin Kuei), in addition to having siblings, while og Sektor was an only child.

Sektor is literally not the same person, but she kept the fighting style and the codename Sektor. While Cyrax was not even born in the same country and unlike the og Cyrax, she did not choose to serve the Lin Kuei, she was born into a Lin Kuei sub-clan and was trained since childhood to defend Earthrealm like all Lin Kuei.

Cyrax's change of country and the fact that she was destined to be a Lin Kuei and did not become one by choice is hard to understand. But Sektor not having the same parents or the same position is completely justified. First, because it was not og Sektor who had the idea of ​​Cyber ​​Initiative, it was og Sektor's father, the grandmaster. Sektor just obeyed the grandmaster by voluntarily undergoing the transformation into a cyborg. And the way Liu Kang tells them not to doubt Sektor's zeal for Bi-Han and tries to manipulate her love for him in favor of his plans to restore Bi-Han…

May indicate that Sektor was destined to be by Bi-Han's side. And knowing that nothing in the previous timelines points to Bi-Han or Sektor as homosexuals and that both were extremely individualistic men in the past who only joined forces for pragmatic reasons…

And the fact that the Lin Kuei are a real clan in this New Era (a group of close-knit and interrelated families. They literally grow the clan by having children among themselves, not by kidnapping children from the streets as in previous timelines) and an ancient clan of warriors with a long lineage whose roles in the clan are passed down from generation to generation (almost like a caste system). Sektor being born a woman makes total sense. And since she does not actually have the same parents as the og Sektor, it is entirely possible that she was born a woman who, although cold, is able to develop feelings and feel love for someone without Liu Kang's interference (especially for someone like Bi-Han, a kindred spirit). In the same way that Bi-Han developed a great attachment to his mother and began to trust in the abilities of the women in his clan because he had a warrior mother this time.

In addition to not being a random and meaningless couple (since Bi-Han and Sektor have always been Lin Kuei and the most loyal ones), they made an effort to present a background for this couple and give it a foundation. Since the end of Sub-Zero (where he praises her a lot, always referring to everything as "our" and "us". And although I was one of those people who thought that the random Lin Kuei there was Sektor, as soon as these speculations started it was confirmed that that guy was not Sektor and I should have guessed, since Sektor has always had red as his characteristic color in the games), then in the expansion it really shows that there are no secrets between them, that thing about Sektor bowing was all just part of their act to deceive Cyrax (a very funny performance in my opinion, because not even pretending to treat Sektor as just another subordinate he could keep his hands off her or stop sucking up to her lol), throughout the expansion it becomes clear that they have a very deep and strong connection as mentioned in Sektor's bio….

A relationship that goes far beyond that of a simple subordinate and boss...

I like their succinct personality differences, where Sektor, despite using fire in combat, is much colder and more rational than Bi-Han, while Bi-Han is reckless and explosive. They are a dangerous couple and likely to cause problems for the good guys. But they are not evil for the sake of being evil, they are doing everything they can to make the Lin Kuei rule. They fight for it. And the way they support each other unconditionally, share beliefs, goals and dreams. Their relationship is anything but simply pragmatic. There's love between them

Cyrax: Love for Bi-Han has made you blind. Sektor: It is you who can't see the Lin Kuei's future.

Geras: If you love Bi-Han, return him to Liu Kang. Sektor: It's because I do that I cannot.

Quan Chi: You were supposed to retrieve the amulet. Sektor: Saving Bi-Han was all that matttered.

Sektor: I won't let you near Bi-Han. Ermac: You are one. One cannot stop Us.

Liu Kang: You should have trusted me, Sektor. Sektor: Why?! You left Bi-Han to rot.

Sektor: I couldn't leave you locked away in the Temple. Noob Saibot: You were right to be impatient.

Noob Saibot: Your mother concerns me, Sektor. Sektor: She knows nothing which can hurt us.

Ashrah: Your ardor for Bi-Han is -- Sektor: I don't need a demon's advice.

Sindel: Your 'beloved' should never have crossed me. Sektor: He doesn't fear you. And neither do I.

Shang Tsung: Bi-Han will pay a steep ransom for your return. Sektor: Just how are *you* planning to abduct *me*?

Shang Tsung: This hostility is unwarranted, Bi-Han. Noob Saibot: You tried to abduct Sektor!

Noob Saibot: It is time you answer for Sektor. Shang Tsung: For what, exactly? She escaped me unharmed.

Noob Saibot: You tried enlisting Sektor against me?! Quan Chi: Not against you. To help you see reason.

Noob Saibot: Leave. Before this gets ugly. Quan Chi: I am here to haggle but if we must fight, so be it.

Quan Chi: Sektor refuses to abide our agreement. Noob Saibot: I won't force her hand, sorcerer.

Liu Kang: Sektor should have trusted me to heal you. Noob Saibot: You should not have made her wait.

Noob Saibot: If Liu Kang seeks to punish Sektor -- Geras: It would be his right to do so.

Kenshi: So you and Sektor, eh? Hm. That tracks. Noob Saibot: If that is mockery, you are a dead man.

Sub-Zero: Together we will make the Lin Kuei immortal. Sektor: I am honored to fight by your side.

Sektor: You've been purged of Havik's magic?! Sub-Zero: Not exactly, Sektor.

General Shao: Sub-Zero sends his woman after me? Sektor: He sends his most skilled warrior.

Sektor: I couldn't leave you locked away in the Temple. Noob Saibot: You were right to be impatient.

Sektor: If Liu Kang continues to stand -- Noob Saibot: We will neutralize him.

Sektor: Is it best for you to remain this way? Noob Saibot: It is best for the Lin Kuei.

Kitana: I have to question your taste in men. Sektor: Please, Princess. Share your thoughts.

Reiko: Do you share Bi-Han's power? Or just his bed? Sektor: Careful, Reiko. Disrespect can be fatal.

Kenshi: You and Bi-Han deserve each other. Sektor: I couldn't agree more.

I particularly like how she imposes limits too…

Even though, everything indicates that she loves bold and dominant men…

Or more specifically a bold and dominant cryomancer who has won her heart and tested its strength several times with his foolishness and stubbornness. And despite this and the mockery of some, she and Bi-Han lead the clan together in perfect harmony and won't stop until the Lin Kuei rule Earthrealm.

I like a powerful couple. I like this couple. I like Sekhan.

tks @kermitthegod ^~

.....

[idontknowreallyidontcare]

KÖNIG HC’S FOR MY KÖNIG GIRLS.

- I HC him as being definitely taller than your average man, but not his fanon height. Many people go with the narrative that he’s 6’10/2m 08cm’s, for what I understood this is a made up data, nowhere is it specified that he’s actually 6’10, so what I actually assign him is a height of 6’7, we know how Ghost is somewhere between 6’4/6’5 which it’s still pretty tall (1,89 cm), but we also know by comparing the models, that König is a bit taller, so I am kind of basing his height on this difference between him and Ghost. Also, knowing he could not be a sniper because of his height motivates me even more to think that he is indeed a guy bigger than your average. Again, it’s a personal HC, may or may not be shared, it’s not a canon attribute.

- As I already specified in some of my other posts, I view him as a clean individual, in a sense than he has a routine and will try to maintain it even on duty. Being at the barracks will not obstruct his routine, he washes his hair with shampoo and conditioner, he uses a particular face soap, made for his type of skin, and he uses body lotion instead of a bar of soap. It has to be said that he wasn’t always this organized, for example, thanks to you he got to buy the face wash that he now brings everywhere he goes, you kinda talked to him about using a bar of soap for all the body and explained to him how unhygienic was to use the same towel for face, body and cock/ass, because despite you being ‘clean’ after the shower, you’re still dragging bacteria form around your body onto your face and hair, overall you kinda motivated him to uplift his already good habits. He sometimes lets you do his skincare too, and when he remembers, he will actually put some face cream on. He’s still a bit fearful of coming as not very masculine, but you’re making him work on it, so he can accept that taking care of himself will never be a turn down for you, not when he’s already so hot for his age, he better maintain himself!

- Another critical point about our Köni is his age. We have a vague idea of how old he could be, many HC’ing him from 35 to late 40’s. My guess is he could be somewhere between 38 and 43, I do prefer him as a 39/40 years grandpa tho. Again, personal HC, do not take it as canon! I’d be happy honestly if they would reveal his age, probably because no matter what, I’d still simp even if he turned out to be 50 years lmaooooo.

- Yes, he does come from a village in the country side, but he did join military pretty young, so I HC him as being actually a pretty open minded individual. Remember he gets to work with technology every day, he knows what’s going on around the world, and him joining young actually was a benefit, because he got to form his own opinions in a place that welcomed every kind of human beings. He didn’t get to grow up from the hate he received at school so he kind of escaped a life where he could’ve easy became what we call an inc€l today. He grew some balls, got his priorities right. He was for sure subjected to some kind of morally wrong opinions that grew into him, that’s why you’re spending time on him, being patient and trying to explain to him many things he considered undeniable reality until he meet you. The classic ones are: males should not cry because only girls do, women can work but they would be better at home, men don’t pay attention to their physical appearance that’s for feminine boys, and many similar things. He’s slowly getting out of his habits, and you’re proud of him.

- Listen, people have mixed feelings about this one but imma say it, aside from shipping and all, König is not and will never be Homophobic. He does not have any problem with lgbt+ nor is he disturbed by couples openly showing affection in his presence. Early access to internet and a very religious family could have created the worst possible outcome for him, but he was never big into religion, already redeeming it a waste of time at a young age, but still attending church because of his mom. He knows some recruits are openly gay, he doesn’t see a problem nor does it bother him knowing he could be someone’s crush. Now I do HC him as completely straight, but again it’s MY way of imagining König, I still think that in an orgy or threesome with reader, if he trusts the other male part, he would not be against having their cocks in the same hole, rubbing against each other, or in general he would not be against having some skin to skin contact with another male because at the end he does it because it only benefits you.

- He is a perverted dog, not only because he is ‘old’ and has fucked young girls (not minors! He is not morally fucked up like that), or generally his sexual history is pretty normal for a man that age, he was just always eager to see, learn and search for what he felt was exciting to him. He had threesomes before us, he has sex, he did many things that gave him the skills and experience he’s been using on us, but yes overall I HC him as being the one that always had a porn journal under his pillow, he would even lend them around the barracks.

- He loves pussy. He eats it for HIS own pleasure okay? He would die between your legs. He cums only by eating you out. He gets drunk on pussy. Pussy is what he lives for. He’ll never die on field, living purely out of spite, because he’ll no! What do you mean he’s never gonna enjoy your pussy again if he dies! ABSOLUTELY NOT! He’ll get home, beaten, cut, stabbed, whatever, but he’ll be home to you, and he will lick your pussy for the rest of the night saying “this what’s keeping me alive honey”. And truth is you can’t deny it to him, because it’s so good, no matter the circumstances, it always brings him back home.

[bird-inacage]

Only Friends: Can Ray be Redeemed? Is Sand the Solution?

I know Ray has upset a lot of people in Episode 8. I do find it really fascinating how quickly the tide has turned on him, especially when you compare his actions to those of our villains of the first arc: Boston and Top. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I still choose to believe that Ray does care. He's hugely misguided but not heartless.

Let me firstly preface that none of what I'm about to say excuses Ray's behaviour but is an attempt to unpack why I still hold hope.

A child lost with no anchor

Ray is emotionally immature (which as cliché as it sounds, is a direct product of his upbringing - or lack thereof). He largely operates on basic needs, as a child would: 'I want. I need'. It's all based on serving the self. He seems wildly incapable of thinking very far beyond that. Like a child, he can barely take care of himself, let alone anyone else. He's pretty helpless on his own in a lot of respects. Most people grow out of this. Through knocks and hardship, we learn the world doesn't revolve around us and how to equip ourselves with healthy and appropriate means to navigate through life. Ray however, still seems to be stuck in his infantile box.

I often joke that Ray is a bit feral, but there is some truth to that. Ray's been left to his own devices for the majority of his life. So it's no surprise he's developed this 'me against the world' attitude which is volatile and defensive, but ultimately keeps him caged in said box.

These traits are abundantly apparent in his relationship with Mew. Ray is the vehicle for Mew's self-destruction, but all he sees is the exhilaration of having a 'partner in crime', someone to be in 'cahoots with'. Like a pair of naughty school kids getting into mischief, rather than an adult partnership. Ray is all about immediate gratification over long term fulfilment because (as children do), they don't possess the wisdom and experience to think ahead. Ray seems unable to grasp repercussions or consequences in his decision making. It's always act first, think second.

To put it simply, Ray hasn't been taught boundaries and how to respect them. He just gets criticised for crossing them which doesn’t help him learn. No one has had the patience to teach him why and how. To guide, to steer, to direct, to mentor. To educate rather than scold. Prevention rather than cure. As a result, everyone around Ray serves to clean up his messes rather than equip him with the ability to not create them in the first place. He falls into patterns of behaviour that no one has seriously attempted to break which has only amplified with adulthood. The longer those habits prevail, the harder they are to change.

Does Ray harbour ill-will or bad intent?

Is Ray the worst? In my opinion, no. (Not yet anyway - I might eat my words later, who knows). I've said this somewhere before but intent makes all the difference when judging someone's actions. Choosing to actively cause harm whilst being fully conscious of the impact versus triggering damage to occur as a symptom of your behaviour is vastly different. This is where Ray and Boston differ. Boston acts without remorse, he purposely and calculatingly makes choices that will cause the maximum degree of suffering. Whereas Ray's a loose cannon. He leaves a trail of destruction where he goes, due to a lack of control and means to channel how he feels in a constructive manner. Boston's victims are targets, whereas Ray's victims are collateral.

I don't think Ray means to purposely hurt or harm the people he cares about. Because in doing so, he'll push them away - which is precisely what he doesn't want. (Though saying that, Ray doesn't seem to give as much of a damn if it's people he isn't invested in, such as Top). Ray's world consists of what Ray needs. It's not that he doesn't care about a single person besides himself, he's just so wrapped up in his own needs to even gauge the bigger picture.

When others do point out to Ray that he's hurt them, he does tend to look guilty and taken aback, as if he's thinking, 'But I didn't know. No one told me. I had no idea my actions would cause you to be upset'. Painful levels of ignorance. But I also see a huge amount of internalised frustration. 'But why? Why didn't anyone explain this to me? How was I to know?'

Ray is capable of showing remorse, of displaying guilt. He's not cold-blooded. Anyone who can demonstrate compassion is capable of redemption. Ray is seen to be genuinely appreciative and grateful when people are good to him. He's fiercely protective over people he cares about. Ray was also willing to jump in when Sand gets a call from his mum being in trouble.

One thing I do have to stress is the difference in Ray's demeanour when he's severely drunk/high versus when he's sober. His addiction tends to amplify his most primal desires, his most 'childlike' traits. The uglier sides of Ray presented in their worst light, set to maximum. The raging tantrums, the absurd and unpredictable demands, an explosive and dangerous impulsiveness. People often refer to addiction as a form of sickness, which is worth noting when the person under scrutiny is effectively not well.

Learning by Example

Now let's talk about the huge importance of Sand in this equation.

Let me be clear - it's not Sand's responsibility to teach Ray how to grow up or behave more like a functioning adult. It's neither his duty to be a stand-in parent or caretaker. The unfortunate truth is that Ray doesn't have anyone in his life who plays that role. Who is the voice of reason. To keep him on the straight and narrow. In order to actually incite change, Ray needs to be receptive to whoever is trying to help him. We've seen he doesn't respond particularly well to the majority of people in his life. He's defensive with his father, his friends, deflective and pandering with Mew. The only person he's seen to show any signs of actually listening to and registering is Sand.

Whilst it's not fair on Sand, he might be the only person who has any real chance of encouraging healthy and positive growth in Ray. Because Sand loves Ray, he genuinely wants to see improvement for Ray's own good. I don't think it's a coincidence that we tend to see Ray's more endearing side when he's with Sand. His childlike qualities take on a sweeter, more harmless, playful tone.

He needs someone with an almost parental level of unconditional love to not give up on him, where others have thrown in the towel. Ray's character is essentially a personified cry for help. His mother was unable to cope. His father seems chronically exasperated and far too busy to actually be present. His friends have always seen him as bothersome and too much of a handful.

I personally don't want to write Ray off as a lost cause. Ironically, Sand may be the saviour he didn't ask for, but the one he really needs. Someone who can save him from himself.

[cowboymater]

controversial opinion maybe:

I KNOW. i know. hear me out

i saw a couple edits on tiktok of mcspirk to soldier poet king and like. i’m not putting anyone on blast but good lord some of those choices made my head hurt. it’s taken me a couple days to synthesize my reasoning for the superior choice (as pictured above), but here goes:

the problem with assigning characters to soldier poet king comes when you take it at face value, flattening the paradigm to angry-sad-tired or violent-artsy-authoritative. if we want to get down to the root of it, the song is based on the threefold office of christ as priest (soldier), prophet (poet), and king. like i’m not christian, but on a textual level it gives us context: the concept that as prophet jesus gave us counsel and words of wisdom, as priest he sacrificed himself to redeem us, and as king he provides for, defends, and forgives us

maybe the most famous priest/prophet/king (& thus soldier/poet/king) allegory in all of literature is frodo, gandalf, and aragorn. frodo bears the burden, though he wishes he did not need to; gandalf offers words of wisdom and mercy; aragorn is a born leader, on the front lines with sword in hand, ready to die with his men if he must

KING: capt. james t. kirk is the easiest one to place. it is a burden and a privilege, an honor and a horror to have the lives of so many depend upon you to make the right call under fire. he makes the call. he leads the landing parties, he puts himself at the head of the charge because by god he is not about to send his men into a battle he wouldn’t fight himself. he leads—with heart when he can, steel when he must—and people follow him. bones and spock are always right behind because they believe in what he believes in, and more than that they believe in him

POET: bones serves as kirk’s emotional sounding board, his moral peer review. he lends an ear, and the word of an old country doctor who’s seen much and understands more. man has ascended to the heavens, to hurtling through the void in a glorified tin can, and it would be no great hardship to forget that our place in the universe is not that of higher life—we are not as quasi-gods, moving pieces on the great three-dimensional chessboard, but flesh and blood, and we must attend to each other. bones tempers the pure logos and rationality offered by spock; he offers grounding in this age of technology that wrinkles the fabric of reality, offers the kind of emotional intellect that cannot be taught, and has always been sorely needed

SOLDIER: this is the one where you really get tripped up by surface-level analysis. yes, spock is reserved and collected. yes, vulcans are pacifists (as you may recall, so are hobbits, and yet frodo remains the soldier in allegory)

the thing about vulcans, though, is that despite the vegan pacifism, they are warriors. it’s tangled up in their history and their DNA. the koon-ut-kal-if-fee survived through centuries of analytical dogma for a reason; even now, they cannot wholly escape their inheritance of violence. their forefathers ran the sands of vulcan green with blood. they venerate logic and condemn emotionality so that they will not

your average high-achieving vulcan, probably on the path to kolinahr, commits their lifetime to the pursuit of knowledge at the vulcan science academy. it’s a measured, rational decision. a controlled environment, where there will never be any logical reason to resort to violence

spock joins starfleet

he joins starfleet, and pursues knowledge in the vast unknowable universe. there is reason for violence, frequently. and sure, the purpose of their mission is peaceful. it’s true that spock would rather resolution be reached without force. but a soldier needs not want to be a soldier. he only needs go to war

when it comes down to blows, he will match them. he makes the sacrifice play, jumps on the grenade, goes into the radiation-soaked engineering room alone. it’s only logical, after all

spock is there to pick apart the universe, unravel the threads of logic until it all makes sense. bones is there to stitch it up. kirk is the hand that holds it all steady, the gravitational field that binds the people of the enterprise to their purpose. soldier-poet-king, commander-doctor-captain. it’s a story old as dirt, and we’ll keep telling it, i think

edit: my bad vulcans have. green blood

[wannaeatramyeon]

i just saw that you are biased towards vasco tabasco as well 👀👀👀👀 i beg for anything, i have read all the fics on this app twice and im getting withdrawals from my bit tit himbo 😭

Tell me who isn't biased towards our baby Tabasco and I'll fight them!!

Ty for the ask! I just love Vasco so much. He's THE ride or die and has always treated little Daniel so kindly from the start.

He doesn't always get it right but he tries and he learns and his heart is in the right place 😭😭

I feel like there's just SO much I want to read and know about Vasco. HC, x reader, drabbles, novels. But here you go anon, take some wordvom instead

Vasco Headcannons

The Burn Knuckles said they started the gang just cos they like him. Vasco was probably just shouting about protecting people and being all pure then attracting all these macho dudes that were going down the wrong path. He has a sense of justice that is just... Irrefutable. The kind that kids have before they grow up and get cynical and corrupted and he reminds them of a simpler time.

Also he's strong af so if you don't want to die, you come around to his view pretty quickly.

Damon Goh the rubber ducky guy hid away his ducks until Vasco saw them one day and was like 'omg!! These are so cute!!' with his typical heart eyes and asked for one. Since then, Damon just unapologetically carries them around.

No idea Leonn Lee is a girl. Doesnt care if she is, Burn Knuckles membership is open to all.

Doesn't know there's a tool council, thought it was something for architect class. Never made the connection with the Tool nicknames either.

Unapologetic crier. You've seen his tears. Encourages Burn Knuckles to show their emotions. They hold therapy sessions like a confessional but apart from Jace - Vasco and the rest of the gang share 1 braincell so no good can come from this.

Makes friends everywhere he goes. We've seen Vasco make his own crew out of the Homeless, and that's just how he is. He's made friends with BEARS like cmon.

Not that great with names or faces though, and he's just a general clown so he doesn't actually remember a lot of people.

Has a rather childlike and innocent view of the world with justice and lookism. It used to be pretty black and white but he learns and is understanding of the shades of grey pretty quickly. Let's be real, if Vasco was leader of the world - we would all be a lot better off.

Toxic masculinity who? Gender roles what? Zero interest in subscribing to men can't do this or women shouldn't do that. Will be the best provider or househusband ever, whatever makes his partner happy!

Daniel or Jay busy or out of town? If Vasco is available, he will be looking after Enu or Jays puppies. This is absolutely non negotiable. He always gets first dibs.

Seen and heard enough about Vin Jin to think there's no redeeming features with this guy. Although Vasco might be the only person that thinks his rap is pretty good lol

Very little sense of self awareness and decorum around girls. Not really sure where he's going wrong until Jay spruced him up and his post-date download with Jace.

Says he's married to the Burn Knuckles and he's talked less about finding a partner since then. In all honesty he finds the dressing up and the flowery words exhausting. He just wants to find someone that loves him for him, BNC uniform and all :(

And this is the perfect segue into...

Vasco x Reader headcannons

Vasco is the ultimate friends to lover trope. He needs to get to know you first and your personality before he can begin to develops feelings for you. Your morals aligning with his is a must.

Doesn't think too hard on confessing if he likes you. He's a straight forward guy. Main obstacle is Jace giving him terrible advice based on trashy romcoms.

Only Jace (occasionally) or family call him Euntae. Will be so flustered if you do.

He is 100% innocent your honour!!! You likely need to take the initiative in the relationship. He's a romantic at heart but doesn't know how to express himself and is worried about being too foward. First hand hold? First embrace? First kiss? Gonna be all you.

Gets more relaxed the longer you date. Once he's more confident of your comfort levels and knowing that he can be himself around you, will initiate a lot more.

Not a huge fan of PDA but loves holding hands and holding you. It just feels right with you in his arms.

Vasco would naturally be the big spoon, but omg if you were the big spoon? He has never felt so protected and loved and will absolutely melt.

Huge fan of couples outfits. Not the cool ones, the cheesier the better. "If found return to Y/N" "I'm Y/N". And tbh Zack is sick with jealousy that him and Mira don't do that.

Still has an old fashioned sense of chivalry where he wouldn't want you to fight even if you could. After seeing you fight a few times though, he reluctantly let's you get on with things. Will try to step in where possible, but more that he doesn't want to see you get hurt.

Loves the novelty of classic dates at first, especially after seeing and reading about it all so much. Fancy 3 course meals, grabbing a coffee together.

After a while though, would prefer to just have more meaningful dates and take you to his favourite places. Even if it's that Fish Soup place lol, but you don't mind cos you can see how happy he is and being with Vasco is enough.

Expect good morning texts, good night video calls and everything in between! This man isn't afraid of the double or triple text. There's a lot of "I can't wait to see you!" and "I miss you!!" and just random ones like "I tried to buy milk but forgot my wallet lol"

As long as it's not against his morals, he will do A N Y T H I N G for you. Tired? Foot massage. Craving at 3am? Let me run right out. Prefer him clean shaven? Hold on I'll get the razor. He loves you so so much and it shows!

[entity-treasury]

"It would open the door to a world of true and holy darkness, extinguish the sun, and take us to a place where we would be redeemed of our base and corrupt need for light and warmth."

- Mag 143

[doingproblematicmedia]

Velma Week 3

Interestingly enough, this show is actually getting better.

And a great deal of laughter is induced by fear. I was working on a funny television series years ago. We were trying to put a show together that, as a basic principle, mentioned death in every episode and that this ingredient would make any laughter deeper without the audience's realizing how we were inducing belly laughs.

There is a superficial sort of laughter. Bob Hope, for example, was not really a humorist. He was a comedian with very thin stuff, never mentioning anything troubling. I used to laugh my head off at Laurel and Hardy. There is terrible tragedy there somehow. These men are too sweet to survive in this world and are in terrible danger all the time. They could be so easily killed.

--Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country

Since Doug Walker hit me over the head with his line about Velma hiding behind ‘a wall of protective bullshit’, I’ve been thinking a lot about the nature of comedy. So much comedy is based on vulnerability, and Velma’s writers up until now have been afraid to be vulnerable with the audience. Jokes land like porcupine spikes, coming from a place of defensiveness, almost like they’re daring the audience to do anything but laugh. And in this situation, instead of opening up, laughing deeply and with our whole heart, we wince. Cringe away. Clam up. So many people have said this show is difficult to watch because of the painful attempts at humor. 

Not pain as in pathos. Pain as in stubbing our toe and being frustrated at the lack of meaning behind it.

But this week, we actually got a bit of opening up and vulnerability. And eps 5 and 6 weren’t absolutely dreadful.

Of course, like any story revolving around high school kids, this vulnerability comes in the form of family.

If there’s one thing teen dramas get right, it’s that nothing is ever actually a teenager’s fault. We’re all really just paying for the sins of our parents. They’re either lying to us - or trying to change us - or hiding some dark family secret. But when it comes to truly crappy parents, no one beats my dad. 

--Episode 6 opening

Episode 6 deals greatly with parents. Velma begins spending time with her father and having fun, after realizing that she does actually want his approval. Fred fights against his father’s attempts to mold him. Norville [proto-Shaggy] starts rebelling against his parents for the first time in his life. And Daphne meets her birth parents.

And the writers lean into this! They give the characters time to express their feelings without leaning on snark. We see these relationships develop and change over the course of the episodes. And as a result of this emotional opening? The jokes start landing. I definitely laughed more tonight than the past two episode drops combined. 

Episode 5 had a similar emotional opening, but with the relationships between the kids. Norville and Velma grapple with the boundaries (and lack thereof) in their friendship, and Fred goes on a character arc that’s self-motivated (instead of previous ones where he reacts to things happening). Velma has a major growth moment where she gives herself up to the cops after curfew to let the other kids get home with the food. The episode ends on a really sweet note, when Norville takes it upon himself to make sure Velma won’t get in trouble.

Plus, these episodes do so much to further the mystery plot. Episodes 3 and 4 really let it drop, so it’s nice to get back to the overarching mystery. Of a mystery show.

Are two good episodes enough to redeem the show? No. There’s still plenty of the bullshit that I’m not happy with (especially with Velma’s appearance being mocked), but we definitely made some steps in a good direction. 

I don’t think this is going to evolve into a good show in the remaining episodes, but it definitely could get to be a less-bad one.

[yhwhrulz]

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer Devotional for October 14

Tozer in the Morning THE LONELY HUMAN

There is a strange contradiction in human nature all around us: the fact that a person can reek with pride, display a swollen ego and strut like a peacock-and yet be the loneliest and most miserable person in the world! We find these people everywhere-pretending and playing a game. Deep within their beings, they are almost overwhelmed by their great loneliness, by their sense of being orphans in the final scheme of things. The result of this strange, aching human sense of loneliness and cosmic orphanage is the inward, groping question: "What good is it to be a human being? No one cares about me!" In the garden, Eve believed Satan's lie-the lie that God was not concerned about her and that God had no emotional connection with her life and being. This is where the unregenerate person is in today's world. It is only sin and defeat that can bring this sense of orphanage, this sense of having been put out of the father's house, and the feeling that follows when the house is burned down and the father is dead.

Tozer in the Evening Wants or Wishes

The third class of blessing consists of spiritual treasures which are ours by blood atonement but which will not come to us unless we make a determined effort to possess them. To make things clearer let me set forth four propositions touching this heritage of joy which God has set before us; 3. You will have as little as you are satisfied with. God giveth to all men liberally, but it would be absurd to think that God's liberality will make a man more godly than he wants to be. The man, for instance, who is satisfied to live a defeated life will never be forced to take victory. The man who is content to follow Christ afar off will never know the radiant wonder of His nearness. The man who is willing to settle for a joyless, barren life will never experience the joy of the Holy Spirit or the deep satisfaction of fruitful living. It is disheartening to those who care, and surely a great grief to the Spirit, to see how many Christians are content to settle for less than the best. Personally I have for years carried a burden of sorrow as I have moved among evangelical Christians who somewhere in their past have managed to strike a base compromise with their heart's holier longings and have settled down to a lukewarm, mediocre kind of Christianity utterly unworthy of themselves and of the Lord they claim to serve. And such are found everywhere. 4. You now have as much as you really want. Every man is as close to God as he wants to be; he is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wills to be. Our Lord said, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matthew 5:6). If there were but one man anywhere on earth who hungered and was not filled the word of Christ would fall to the ground. Yet we must distinguish wanting from wishing. By "want" I mean wholehearted desire. Certainly there are many who wish they were holy or victorious or joyful but are not willing to meet God's conditions to obtain. That God has placed before His redeemed children a vast world of spiritual treasures and that they refuse or neglect to claim it may easily turn out to be the second greatest tragedy in the history of the moral creation, the first and greatest being the fall of man.

Copyright Statement This material is considered in the public domain.

[abyssembraced]

16. what is a plot you’ve been wanting to do for... anyone i guess lol? 

20 QUESTIONS FOR MULTI-MUSE BLOGS! (Still accepting!)

Oh no one of the harder questions-- fgdgshdhf

(Putting this under a cut since it ended up Long)

Honestly I tend to just look at my rp partners' muses, and then come up with plot ideas specifically for interactions with them and my muses. I dunno if I have any general ideas just Floating Around?

Ghost is my default muse for crossovers, since a) I Love Them and b) they have a very flexible crossover verse that allows me to just throw them as they naturally are anywhere, but stuff that actually takes place in Hallownest is always nice to have! But most if not all of my plot ideas are tied to specific people's muses (like our plans for Ghost and Arti's HK AU! Definitely still wanna do that <3), and if they're not, then it's more along the lines of "man it'd be fun to have interactions with [character] but no blog that I know of writes them"

I guess I have considered writing a drabble for Ghost's post Dream No More verse for a while, basically going into their thought processes and stuff and how they're eventually able to reform themself as a Shade in the physical realm, which could also function as an open starter for any HK muse who could realistically be around the Black Egg Temple when that happens. No idea when or if I'll ever actually write that though dgshff

Papyrus is harder to come up with specific plots for in general, at least when it comes to interacting with fellow Undertale muses, just because there's so much freedom in what can be done that my mind just goes blank asgshdhsf. Generally speaking, though, it could be fun to do stuff with some of Undertale's neutral endings!

I believe I've brought this up at least once on the blog, though, and I know I've plotted something along these lines with at least one friend, but I do like the idea of Papyrus interacting with ex-villains or people who have Done Bad Things and regret it. Since! My Paps follows the Otherworld theory, and in his original Deltarune universe, he was the Roaring Knight! Or was at least affiliated with them in some way, but I think at this point, regardless of what Papyrus' role actually ends up being in Deltarune, I'm tempted to stick to mine being the Knight, even if that ends up making him canon divergent. I'll see once we actually get more information, I guess! But I digress. Point is, He's Been There! He's done the terrible things and has his regrets! But since then he's worked to redeem himself and become the Great Papyrus, and that's how he knows everyone else can do that, too.

I don't know how many times I'd actually want to write a thread based around that, since doing it over and over would probably get repetitive, but! In my heart, Papyrus is surrounded by a bunch of scary-looking ex-villain or otherwise morally grey friends who would kill for him if needed <3 gfhfhsdhf

It's funny though, because Papyrus' past is typically something that he never talks about. Like-- Sans is the only one who really knows anything, and that's just because they're brothers and he was there when it all happened. Even Flowey, despite his constant RESETs and completionism and trying to learn everything about all the "characters" in his "game", might not be aware of everything. Maybe just the "Papyrus did some things in the past that he deeply regrets" part, since I could see that being relevant to a conversation between the two of them. Because even though Paps is a bad liar, he's damn good at keeping secrets and simply Not Talking about things. And yet! I keep thinking about scenarios where he might actually be compelled to bring it up dgshshdf.

And then GLaDOS... I'd just like to try writing in general dhsgfshf. Definitely still want her and Mirage to bitch at each other lmao. I've still gotta write out my thoughts on how the two might meet using Mirage's psychopomp AU, which I will do! Eventually!!

For her Rain World AU, I think interactions with fellow iterators would especially be neat! But I've uh. Also gotta write out more info for that verse too first dhshdhf

[locustheologicus]

Catholic Charities USA: Oklahoma City

The Catholic Charities USA conference took place on September 16-19, 2024, in Oklahoma City. The conference brought us to a land that was weirdly beautiful. We took a journey where we shared in their history, their tragedy, their hope, and social renewal. We visited their cowboy museum (pic 7), we saw the site of the 1995 bombing of their federal building (pic 8&9). We saw the newly opened national shrine to Bl. Stanley Rother (pic 2&3) where we walked to Tepeyac hill and venerated la Virgen de Guadalupe (pic 4). Of coursem we also saw some of the amazing social ministries that Oklahoma City Catholic Charities offers (pics 6-7).

The newly built offices were designed creatively to respond to the emergency needs that would arise. They are equipped with access to potable water, emergency power and WiFi outside in order to assist the community in the midst of a disaster. They also have a warehouse that can transform into a 60 bed emergency shelter if necessary. They designed the building to be powered with geo-thermal energy and incorporated sun and green spaces in the spirit of Laudato Si’. They have a chapel dedicated to Mother Theresa of Calcutta and at their reception there is a powerful quote from her that guides their mission:

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you. - Mother Theresa

Our sessions involved going over parish engagement and community collaboration. I also went to sessions on financial literacy and workforce development. The first picture has a presentation from the new CEO Kerry Robinson. She shared with us her insights in visiting many local Catholic Charities agencies throughout the nation and from those visits she highlighted six values that she feels defines who we are.

Conviviality - the idea that we coexist with the larger community as freinds to one another; being hospitable and integrative with those we serve and partner with.

Creativity - the recognition that all our agencies are able to adapt to the local reality and can design programs and services based on these realities and the crisis that emerge.

Tenacity - our ability to persevere in providing services through great social challenges and unbelievable struggles that are clients and communities face.

Magnanimity - our ability to incredibly generous and open to the people we serve and to the communities we are a part of.

Hope - we are inspired to do our work from the hope-filled message of the gospel. We are guided in the belief that creation can and will be redeemed by our service to one another.

Reverence - our commitment to the holy dignity that is imbued throughout all creation and especially with those that we serve.

In the spirit of creativity and magnanimity, I thought about the women sanctuary project that Catholic Charities in Oklahoma established in an old mission church. Catholic Charities rebuild that mission church (pic 6) to accommodate the growing needs of women and children. They maintained the mission architecture, but expanded it to build greater spaces for women and children to take showers, wash clothes, take classes, have access to food, clothes, and internet resources and rest.

Those values guided how many of us discussed the programs we each were looking at networking with. I both shared and was attentive to how we embraced these values within the area of parish engagement in social ministries, financial literacy, and workforce development. The conversations allowed us to network with national partners to receive modules from programs like Rework America Alliance, UNIDOSUS, CFPB and others. These modules and partnerships can help us improve programs we need to offer the communities in need throughout Brooklyn and Queens. At the end of the conference Brian Corbin (the last picture) presented on the history of our mission and methodology (see, judge, act) as we discussed what we, the local Catholic Charity communities, want to see with the strategic planning process CCUSA will be going through.

Part of the concluding discussion we had was the perception that Catholic Charities has both in the public eye and with its member agencies. In reviewing it's marketing and branding strategy we asked questions concerning what we members need from CCUSA in order to help be a resource for us and a useful public presence that can help bring awareness to our local agencies. As a resource, our discussion suggested that it needs to embrace a useful internal social media platform so that we members can have visual best practices and tools for the work that we do. If the platform (for now CC connect) has useful tools and resources that we can take and adapt, then many of us will gladly participate with the larger community through this platform. As for our mission and identity, this will be an ongoing discussion throughout the process. Our mission is clear in that it is based on the social mission found in the Gospel and specifically the works of mercy. But as to what we do, we need greater flexibility with how this will be presented. We are local agencies that answer to the diocese and the needs of our community. We apply the principle of subsidiarity in this way and it will be valuable for the local community to know how we operate within the diocesan structure. But CCUSA should be able to provide institutional solidarity with each of our agencies to enhance the work that we do while defining itself as the national advocacy think-tank for the issues we face. It will be interesting to see how we move forward as we go through this process.

Along with parishes, hospitals, and schools/universities the Catholic Church has always had a thriving social service componant that is very much part of our religious identity. In the past 300 years (since 1727) this has been institutionalized by agencies which we now identify as Catholic Charities here in the United States or Caritas Internationally. There are other Catholic agencies that many of us partner with including Catholic Relief Services, the Catholic Campaign for Human Developmennt and the St. Vincent DePaul Society but Catholic Charities has been the official diocesan arm of domestic charitable work. The needs are different in every location so we strive to be adaptable to the issues we face. The Brooklyn/Queens diocese has an amazing history of promoting this specific aspect of our Church's mission. Here in Brooklyn/Queens we are attentive to providing senior housing to our elderly population, early childhood programs for our struggling families, case management and food distribution for our low-income communities, social services and resources for pregnant women, and legal service and case management for our growing migrant community.

Through CCUSA we are part of a larger network of Catholic social services and this allows us to network with one another.

[getmemymicroscope]

This movie apparently based on an older English movie (Chase a Crooked Shadow) which was also later adopted into the Rishi Kapoor-starrer Khoj (1989; 8 years after this one). Having already seen Khoj, I sorta knew where this one was going to end - and it was more about the journey there.

And while this movie does have a fun twist that, if you haven't seen the prior movies (or any other the other various remakes), can surprise you, the plot and twist are pretty excellent even if you know what is coming. Plus, we have a pretty talented cast with Rakhee, Mithun Chakraborty, Ranjeeta, and Amjad Khan - and even a completely random song for Aruna Irani, though that entire sequence with her really proves to be a continuity nightmare and is better off ignored. I mean, the whole thing is needed to sorta build up the suspense for the audience (which might be why the approach that Khoj took was so much better), but in terms of the actual characters in the movie, it makes no sense (there is no reason, for example, for that underground, or whatever, lair). But that's a huge flaw here - the plot may work as a movie plot, but it 100% is the stupidest possible plot the police could've come up with as a way to reach their final goal. That level of disconnect makes it clear that everything was planned out simply as "how to move the movie plot forward" and not at all for "what would make theoretical sense for our characters to do if they were real, and not within a movie."

However, where this movie really lets us down is by turning Rakhee into a screaming nightmare (god, my poor ears) and Mithun into a grade A harasser. Ranjeeta at least gets a half-moment of revenge with her own song and subsequent sequence (before it is revealed to be a set-up) where she gets to show her own strength, but otherwise she's just constantly abused by Mithun - pulled this way and that, nonstop threatened, and otherwise kept under mental and physical duress.

Again, at the end, you learn what is really going on - and if you want to make her seem like she's having a psychotic break, fine, but did we really need that much yelling? Especially at the end. And speaking of which, that whole 'mental asylum' thing was WAY WAY over the top, egregious (I know, I know - 1980s), and horrific - at that point, you just want it to end so that the plight of folks with mental conditions is not further generalized into such horrific nonsense. Not denying that there weren't (aren't?) asylums like that, but still, it's a lot to show. And painful.

And coming back to Ranjeeta's character - I know this is a 1980s movie, so a love story and songs are essentially a must - but, alongside the constant physical harassment, the songs and that corny love story ending were unnecessary, if not just completely out of place. So too was the attempted laugh track with Asit Sen as the cop. I think the advantage if this movie was made today was that we would lose the unnecessary stuff and this could be a very taut, tightly executed thriller.

And finally, still on the topic of that harassment, it may have been much more palatable if instead of constantly coercing her into stuff ('cuz people are watching'), they'd just adopted a sort of "she knows it is Ashok, but she's having a hard time accepting it because he's been presumed dead for 3 years." In that case, her hesitation and distance, even after recognizing him, would be completely justified. Trying to play it off as "she recognizes him as Ashok and should immediately be back in love" is a dumb angle to take - she's mourned him for 3 years; there's no way she'd immediately accept him without some doubts. But instead of giving her this sort of redeemable track, in which Mithun could be trying to woo her with his solo song, they just have him forcibly grab her all the time and force her to act like nothing has changed despite Ashok being gone for 3 years. Yeah, not a fan of how they portrayed that track at all - which, again, was better handled by the plot we got in Khoj.

Rakhee lives in a such a massive mansion and yet only has 3 servants, which is probably why she's gotten used to always yelling - they're so freaking far away from her at all times. She's essentially yelling from that first night we see her, and it doesn't end until the movie is over.

It's not a perfect movie - the flaws are listed above (and again below), and they really screw over Ranjeeta's character from start to finish - and it may not even compare favorably to the later-made Khoj, which is based on the same story. But even with that said, if you can sit thru the horrible abuse of a grieving/shock/mistreated young woman, the yelling, the poor laugh track, and the unnecessary songs (I mean, I guess they were like 'we have Mithun and he's gotta have a dance'), the plot is a pretty good suspense plot (even with the 'secret papers' macguffin) for the movie, even if the in-movie plot created by the police is an absolute clusterfuck.

[semixfenz]

How to successfully clean and Polish Your Clothes when washing and Dry Cleaning is never an Option

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Check labels for verification or let trusted experts guide you. Please, support our cause on this donation page to help cancer patients in remission cope better and regain connectivity with others. Washing instructions on detergent packages consist of a detailed list of directions for use and sorting the clothes that the product suits well. When at home the best thing to do’s to try to follow the care guidelines as listed on the label. That notwithstanding, selective cleaning of a professionally trained shoe brand certainly points out an obvious benefit, Fabrics processing necessity includes resorting to one of the allowed cleaning methods redeeming another possibility. Experience is often not the only thing that helps skilled cleaners overcome the limitations of label-specific instructions and tackle the complexities of difficult or complex textiles. For example, if a care detail appears to be too much and way above your ability in terms of handling, it is okay to entrust the task to a professional to make sure that your items get treated in a proper manner. Improve Your Clothing Care: The inside-out washing is the better approach with long-term effect. These are only a few of the many sustainable practices we can adopt daily to help eliminate clothing waste and promote a circular fashion model. While most humans aren’t aware of it, one of the overlooked dry cleaning tips is to flip your garments inside out prior to washing them. The first thing to do to protect the aquatic ecosystem is to place your clothes the opposite way around. This simple method descends to the spinner crushing some petals and reducing wear and tear to the dry cleaning machine. This, in turn, allows you to save your garments from the full range of the washing machine meaning that your apparel remains fresher and is prolonged in its life. Conclusion When you go through the washing advice and dry cleaning instructions written in this article, it becomes evident that how you deal with your clothes makes a considerable lot of difference in the condition of your garments over all. For sure there are various operations in the field of the professional dry-cleaning process that can confuse you. Therefore, it’s highly advisable you address yourself to a professional dry cleaner to get the right information. In this manner, you are 100% certain that your garments receive premium attention and care and can last longer as they preserve their pristine appearance. Being confident in BX Dry Cleaners to handle your garment issues means assured service quality and continued warranty preservation.

[immigrant-rob]

The last move

It's been 2 months since the last blog, so time for an update on the highlights. We have moved in and settled into our new rental house provided by a miracle. It is located in the exact neighborhood we had wanted, close to Naomi's family but usually an expensive one to rent. However, the landlord was very generous and made a deal that if we took good care of the property the rent would be lower. After unpacking 104 cardboard boxes and a few weeks of minor repairs around the house we were finally ready to settle in and enjoy. Besides living close to Naomi's family (who love to cook, and guess where most leftovers end up 😏), it is also within walking distance of a huge supermarket (think like Albert Heijn XXXL) and church. I had given up all hope to be able to walk to places from home!

While clearing out the house, Hoydi, Naomi's brother and I did a trip to the dump. Going to the dump always was an exciting day out back when I was young, but this was on a different level. Whereas I'm used to dumping my couch in a container, here they have ''landfills''. Massive pits on the outskirts of the city where 1.2 million people literally can dump their trash. Not sure how I felt about dumping 3 couches into mother nature, but I was assured that the nice neighborhood next to it was built on one of these full landfills and in a few years a new neighborhood would be built on my 3 couches.

A few weeks later we hosted our first guests at our place. Jacqueline, an old university friend of mine and her husband Mark came over. We went on my first snowshoeing hike up to Chester Lake through fresh powder which must feel as outdoorsy as it can get. We witnessed a decent sized avalanche from fairly nearby, and the powder it spewed up blowing through the trees. The next day we spent playing boardgames, where Mark beat me at my home game Everdell after I made a shameful mistake, but redeemed my board gaming career with a surprise Scythe win. Both great games if you're into board games!

A week later Naomi and I took a 1 week breather in Vancouver and Vancouver Island, where my highlight was seeing unhuggable trees. The largest being 9m in circumference! We also revisited Naomi's memories of camping on the island, catching crabs and clam digging on the beach. We caught 19 crabs in total, unfortunately non were big enough to be eaten.

Initially, I thought we were going for the views, but soon it became apparent that Naomi had a different to-do list. Apparently, Vancouver is the place to be to eat Asian food outside of Asia. I should've known that marrying a foodie means travel destinations aren't based on scenes but on food. I'm glad they didn't charge me 2 seats on the flight back after that week... Anyway, the climate reminded me of home. Wet and humid. Ideal for someone whose nose had been clogged for the past 2 months to be able to breathe again, but also reminded me of what I did not like about Dutch weather. The wetness and gray skies. Believe it or not, while writing this the temperature is -31 C here, but it is dry and I will bet a Timbit on a clear blue sky later today, just like the past week. I'll deal with the congested nose.

Last 2 highlights were our Christmas dinner with turkey and ham prepared by Hoydi which I could help carve (and take home many leftovers). Secondly, a beautiful easy hike through Johnstone Canyon to view the frozen waterfalls and its dare devil ice climbers. It's a tourist attraction which always makes for fun viewings of unprepared tourists with no cleats slipping and sliding down the trail. The second part of the hike to the mud pots was very quiet and allowed for some Disney Wonderland like views in the valley.

Studying is going well, I'm still on track with my schedule to finish by the end of January and use February to revise. Looking forward to put the exam behind me and start working!

[dailyaudiobiblechronological]

11/17/2023 DAB Chronological Transcription

Acts 4-6

Welcome to The Daily Audio Bible Chronological. I'm Jill. Today's the 17th day of November, welcome everybody. It's so good to be here with you- what a joy and a privilege it is to be walking through the word of God and reading the Bible in chronological order for us as a community also individually every day of the year until we get through the entire Bible in a year. You can do that individually but you can be a part of a beautiful community of people engaging in the word of God and making it apart of their daily rhythm everyday and boy are we ever quickly very rapidly approaching the finish line for this year. But before we get too far ahead we'll just stay here and be present in this moment that we have right now. We're going to continue in the book of Acts today reading Acts chapter 4, 5 and 6. And this week we're reading the English Standard Version. Acts chapter 4.

Commentary:

We continued in the book of Acts today and we see that as the message of Jesus, the good news is spread, there are those that do not consider it good news and they will oppose the message and they will go to great lengths to silence anyone that is out boldly proclaiming the good news of Jesus. And gathering from yesterday's reading and today's reading, yesterday where tongues of fire fell upon many different people from different regions, Peter reiterating the words of the Prophet Joel that all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. We know from reading the gospels that Jesus declared to the disciples the work of God is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and as we continue through the book of Acts, we're going to see the signs and wonders keep happening because this is the evidence of the Spirit of God that Jesus said he was leaving so that he could go to ascend with his father to prepare a place. But he comforts us by telling us that he is sending the comforter for us and I know I've expounded a little bit outside of what we read today but what we are reading in the book of Acts is the signs and the wonders that is happening through the power of the Holy Spirit which is the evidence the Spirit of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And so with anything good comes great opposition and we're going to continue to see that as we read through the book of Acts. 

Prayer:

Jesus thank you for meeting us here today. Thank you for your Spirit that you brought- introduced into the world and that is present with us. I pray that each and every one of us would sit with a question of are we opposing the good work that you're doing in any way through our words, through our deeds? And reveal those things in our heart I pray. And I pray this now in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Announcements:

Daily Audio Bible, that's home base. That's the website- take a look around, check out the store. There's some beautiful resources- they're created to enhance your journey through the Bible and maybe you don't know about that yet. They are there for you. If you would like to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you so much for your partnership. We could not do this without you and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. If you're giving by mail DAB PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174 or utilizing the app you can hit the give icon located at the top right hand corner of your mobile device. If you need prayer, if you'd like to pray for someone that's previously called in 800-583-2164 or utilizing that app again hit the red circle button up at the top right hand corner you have 2 minutes on the prayer line- when you're finished hit submit turn the wheel to chronological and it will get to the right place. That's going to do it for me today. Love one another.

Community Prayer Line:

Family, it's Renee His redeemed daughter from Florida. I was wondering if you guys could lift up my daughter Jade this week she is at home studying for her Optometry test and she has gone for years to FSU and now she has to take this test and go four more years to have a really good score and I just ask that you lift her up and pray for her to have the ability to study to grab the knowledge that she needs to remember. It's a lot of math and biology and chemistry and all kinds of crazy stuff that they have to know even to become just an optometrist- an eye doctor and it's just a lot of material that she has to remember that she's taking a year off to go work for an eye doctor and now she has to sit here and study and try to remember. And she would feel good about it so have to pick it up from school which I don't want her to leave but there's five different places she's going to apply for and hopefully I'll come back on here and I'll let you know which one she picked. I just thank you guys so much and I love you. Joe you sound a little sick and under the weather, Tanya or somebody else I could tell oh yeah your voice was too so we're all there and I'm praying and lifted everybody up that's sick in Jesus name. Amen.

Hey my outstanding DABC fam, this is Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Family...best treatment in care in the facility that she has been in and it's been a little bit of a chore for Cindy, Sherry and the family to get her situated. Lord will you get Mom in a place that will be totally peaceful and will be most beneficial for her care and for her treatment so that Cindy, Sherry and the family can be at rest to know their mom is being cared for? And then I thank you Lord that you are in the process of healing Simone from Texas. God she has received quite a bit of information that seems to be on the downside but Lord we know that you are for her and therefore despite what the report say we know that you are greater than the report and so we pray that you will favor her life with healing you did it before God you did it way back when for Simone now will you do it again so that she can experience healing of fresh entirely in her body in Jesus name? And then for Tonya from Suffolk God her son is having some challenges in college or will you continue to be with him and work with him through his courses as well as Tanya's voice? God bring healing to her body in Jesus name. Amen.

Everyone this is Jess from Ohio. I wanted to give an update on the prayer request to ask for the little boy named Noah he is doing much better. He is out of the coma and he has started treatment with chemo and that treatment is doing well. His grandmother said there's no cancer in his spine and he's responding well to the treatment so far. Please continue to lift him up in prayer as they go through this journey of the diagnosis and treatments and everything else. But I just wanted to give a quick update that he is out of coma and doing good at the moment. Thank you all.

[dailyaudiobible]

10/11/2023 DAB Transcript pt2

So, it's safe to say God has a plan. It's safe throughout Scripture to consider that perfect plan to be the restoration of humanity. But what we see in God's words as spoken to the prophet Jeremiah, our choices matter in that plan. We have a role to play as ourselves, as individual people but as the human race. And we have seen many times in the Scripture where God relents. We saw that beginning with Abraham. God responds to a contrite spirit. God responds to a broken heart. God responds when we humble ourselves under His mighty hand and that, at least as we see in Jeremiah today, can change God's plan that He adjusts based on the actions and motives of His people, that He has allowed our decisions in our choices, our humility or our pride and arrogance to lead where it's going to lead and that's kind of a big deal. It’s kind of a biblical concept that runs through the Scriptures. We would know it as sowing and reaping right, so you sew weeds, and you reap weeds. If you sew corn, then you're going to reap corn if you have a harvest. So, if you go to sew bitterness, you're going to reap bitterness. If you’re gonna sew arrogance, then you're going to reap arrogance. If you’re gonna sew gossip, you’re gonna reap gossip. We could go on and on and on. You're going to reap what you sew. It's a natural law put in place by God. You don't plant grass seeds and get turnips. You get what you plant and cultivate. God's ultimate plan is to redeem humanity and we are the redeemed already, and still we’re confused about sowing and reaping, and so, we sew garbage and reap garbage and go well its God's plan. So, let's put that in our cup and stir it around and consider the fact that we have a role to play in our own lives and we have a role to play in the story of God and He is allowed us to be here at all, and we are supposed to be a part of the plan of redemption.

Prayer:

So, Holy Spirit come. Help this to sink into our lives. Help us to see the ways that we’ve blamed You for things You didn't do, and we've accused You of things You were not involved in, and we’ve labeled our plan, Your plan sometimes when things don't work out right, so that we can pass the blame, take some side steps. We are a peculiar people. We are like sheep who have gone astray, we can be so stiff necked, we see all these examples in the Scriptures, we see that this is a human condition, because it's been going on for thousands of years, and yet we want Your patience and Your kindness continuing to respond toward us, always ready to reach out Your strong arm of redemption on our behalf, if we aren’t bound and determined to rebel against You. So, come, Holy Spirit help us to see our lives and the state that our lives are in because of the way that we make decisions. And help us to know that every choice leads somewhere and if we will continue to consistently, habitually, slow down and make wisdom a voice in our lives and wise decisions the norm, we will be in Your plan having so much fun. Come, Holy Spirit, help us to realize this, we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, that is the web address. That is where you will you find out what's going on around here, and so certainly check it out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can check these things out as well by pressing the drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. Check out the Daily Audio Bible Shop and check out the resources that are available there in a number of different categories, all aimed specifically at the journey, the voyage that we take each year through the Bible and through life together, all whole year of life together in the Scriptures. So, the resources are there for that. Check out like The God of Your Story, for example, is a written resource. There are a number of other books that are available, but The God of Your Story is a written resource that is a 365 day walk through of the kinds of things that we talk about on the Daily Audio Bible every day. So, if you are away from the Internet or unplugged or gone somewhere or there are issues or anything that's going on. You can always, this rhythm can always continue. So, being able to have, like a hard copy version of sort of the ethos of the way that we’re moving through the Scriptures and the pattern that we’re using to move through the Scriptures, ensures that no matter whether we’re plugged in or we’re not plugged in, we can continue our journey forward. And so, that resources called The God of Your Story can be found in the Books and Audiobooks section of the Daily Audio Bible Shop. So, check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission that we share collectively to every day bring the spoken word of God fresh to anyone who will listen to it, anywhere on this planet, any time of day or night and to build community around that rhythm. We show up every day around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward together. If that is life-giving to you then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996 Springhill, Tennessee 37174.

And as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can have a Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top. Or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today on Brian. I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Prayer and Encouragements:

Hello, my name is Debbie, I live in Canada. And this is a desperate cry for my son Patrick. He’s got a business partner that’s toxic. It’s an online business but it’s not generating enough income to make a living and he’s blaming us for all of his problems. He’s living at home and he’s 26. It’s just such intense spiritual warfare. We’ve thought that we overcame a lot of these hurdles and then it’s just kind of coming back. And he really needs to sever ties with this guy that he’s working with online because he’s not pulling his end of the weight. And it’s very distressing to see his behavior. And I just really need you to pray for him. It’s really bad news for his life and it seems like he’s so smart and tall and handsome, but his life is such a waste living in his parents’ basement and that’s us. So, please pray for Patrick that the lies and disillusion from the enemy would come to an end and he would finally turn to Jesus and stop being so proud and arrogant. Desperately crying out for him, for Patrick. Please pray with me. Thank you. Jesus name, thank you Jesus. Amen.

Hey, this is Heathe of Pike’s Peak, Texas. Tonight, is October 7th, 2023, and on this night, I lift up my fellow DAB-C people to pray over Israel and the brutal attack from Hamas. I pray over God’s chosen people and that they turn to know who Jesus is. That their hearts turn to God, and they know this. And God promises that no one, on one can destroy Jerusalem, no one can hurt His people. Even though millions have died over decades and decades and decades with the Nazis, and they are the most persecuted people on earth. We pray over them, and we lift our brothers and sisters up because God promises 12,000 out of every tribe will be sealed with the seal of God on their foreheads. And we know this, we know this as Christians. That Jerusalem, that the Jewish people are His chosen people. We should not be reviling them, we should be praying for them and loving them. And letting the know about Jesus Christ, their Savior. I pray that we all come together as this beautiful community convenes, that we all come together in prayer over Israel. And that God is coming soon. Oh, my brothers and sisters, I love you so much. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Hey ya’ll, hey, it’s Samone calling in from Texas. And I’m calling in to pray for Jalea Banks and Byron from Florida. Father God, oh most gracious loving and wonderful Father, how majestic and marvelous is your name God. Today, I want to lift up Jalea Banks to you Father God. Oh God, you know what is going on this situation and right now, God, Jalea Banks and her family, God, they need You to be a healer God. They need You Father to be Jehovah Rafa, so God, I call upon You now God. The God that heals, that God that sees, the God that knows, for healing for Jalea Banks. Father God, Your words says that You were wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, chastisement, You took the chastisement for our peace on the cross. So, by Your stripes we are healed. And we ask Father God, that You will cover and protect your Jalea’s families and her mother’s mind, Father God. And give them peace as they walk through this. Byron from Florida, Father God, I lift him up as well Father. God, I thank you that in this season You’re turning, You’re pressing, You’re shaping Byron, Father God. God, we understand that pressure makes diamonds and gold is under the earth and it needs to be sifted and searched for. So, as you press, shake, sift and work on Byron in this season, I ask that You will give him clarity. You will give him wisdom, knowledge and understanding. And Father God, that You will direct his path. And as he continues to seek you, and chase after you, that You would make every crooked path straight and direct his path. It’s in Jesus’s mighty name. Amen.

Good morning fellow DABers. This is God’s Chosen from Georgia. I would like to ask for prayer. I’m having a procedure on Wednesday, October 11th for colonoscopy. Just pray that the Lord would take permanence over that procedure and pray that I would have a good report. I pray also for all those who are standing in need of prayer this morning and lifting all those needs to the Father. I’m thanking him for what he has done for us. Every day we wake up, it’s a grace. Every time we have the opportunity to open our eyes and see the beauty of his creation, it is also grace. And every time we get out of bed and we’re able to walk on our feet, it is grace. And when we open our mouth and we’re able to say something, we can hear with our ears; it is also grace, that the Lord has extended to us. And I don’t take that for granted at all. Because I know that he is the giver of life, he gave us breath in our lungs, he allows us to continue to live and enjoy the little things that we take for granted around us. So, this morning, as I stand in need of prayer, I know that so many other DABers also stand in need of prayer. I also want to lift all those needs to the Father. Heavenly Father, we lift up all the needs in our community to You this morning. It is Your day, that the saints gather to worship You. I pray that You would open up the heavens for us and allow our praises and petitions to be acceptable in your sight. Look upon on us with your eye of mercy. Look upon us with your eye of grace. And let that be a revival in our nation. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.