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miserablesme · 3 years ago

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The Les Miserables Changelog Part 4: 1987 Australian Tour

Hello, everyone! This is the latest edition in my attempt to chronicle all of the musical and lyrical changes which the show Les Miserables has undergone over the years. Unlike previous parts, this one is not focused on any official libretto changes affecting all productions of the musical. Rather, it looks at a set of changes applied specifically to the 1987-1991 Australian tour. While the tour mostly followed the normal 1987 libretto discussed in the last part of this blog, it did add a few unique touches that are worth discussing here. Many would never make it outside of this particular production; however, a few would in fact be used in later productions of the musical too. Without further ado, let's get started!

The first change I am aware of is in the prologue. Usually the Bishop tells Valjean, "Now God's blessings be with you". In the Australian tour, he instead states "May God's blessings be with you". Not a big edit, but an edit nonetheless.

The next change comes at the beginning of "Lovely Ladies". While originally a sailor sings that "seven days at sea will make you hungry for a poke", the Australian tour switches this to "seven weeks at sea". I suppose this would be a more realistic timeframe for a sailor at the time to be away, and it also makes him come across as slightly less desperate. Having said that, the original sense of desperation fits the mood of the number perfectly.

The very next scene, "Fantine's Arrest", also has a very slight change. While usually Valjean requests "A moment of your time, Javert, I do believe this woman's tale", the word order is swapped so that he instead asks "Javert, a moment of your time, I do believe this woman's tale" in the Australian tour. Not a huge change, nor do I quite know what it was supposed to accomplish, but interesting nonetheless.

In "Who Am I?" Valjean usually asks regarding his workers, "How will they live if I am not free?" The Australian tour changes this slightly to "How will they fare if I am not free?" This slightly changes the mood from a life-or-death situation to a more subtle question of looking out for others' well-being, though it's not a huge difference.

Then, after "Who Am I?" a bit of spoken dialog is added for this tour. Perhaps in acknowledgement of the "You know where to find me!" used in the West End at the time, Valjean shouts "You will find me at the hospital St. John!" after his high note. Similar in spirit to the mostly-scrapped original declaration, though now he doesn't actually trust Javert to figure out his location (which makes more sense to me than the original).

The preamble to "Master of the House" mixes up the genders regarding the bar crowd's lines. First off is the opener, which usually goes as follows:

(FEMALE PATRON)

C'mon you old pest

(MALE PATRON)

Fetch a bottle of your best

(MALE PATRON)

What's the nectar of the day?

In the Australian tour, this is how it goes:

(MALE PATRON)

C'mon you old pest

(MALE PATRON)

Fetch a bottle of your best

(FEMALE PATRON)

What's the nectar of the day?

Usually this was how a later part went:

(MALE PATRON)

One more for the road

One more slug of gin

(FEMALE PATRON)

Just one more

Or my old man is gonna do me in

The Australian tour swapped the sexes of some of those lines, leading to a slightly different final lyric:

(MALE PATRON)

Landlord over here

Where's the bloody man

One more for the road

(FEMALE PATRON)

One more slug of gin

(MALE PATRON)

Just one more

Or her old man is gonna do her in

The ending to the "Waltz of Treachery" has an interesting lyrical edit. Usually Valjean proclaims the following:

Yes, Cosette

Yes it's true

There's a castle just waiting for you

However, the Australian tour gave him this line instead:

Yes, Cosette

Yes it's true

A world of surprises is waiting for you

This gives a much more general promise to Cosette, and is a less direct response to her "Will there be children and castles to see?" question. I'm not sure which I prefer to be honest.

A very small change occurs during "Look Down"; namely, a line originally sung by the ensemble is now sung by just one person. Originally this is how the sequence goes:

(BEGGARS)

See our children fed

Help us in our shame

Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name

(SOLO BEGGAR)

In the Lord's holy name

(BEGGARS)

In His name, in His name, in His name

However, for the Australian tour, "Something for a crust of bread in Holy Jesus' name" is sung by one single beggar woman (who is distinct from the beggar woman who sings "In the Lord's holy name"). This change would be adapted into the official libretto much later to account for a staging change in which the beggar singing the line walks by Marius and Enjolras to ask them specifically for some extra cash (as opposed to asking for help more rhetorically, as was originally the implication). I'm curious as to whether or not the Australian tour used a similar staging difference earlier on, or if there was some other reason to make the line an individual one.

A few changes are made to "The Robbery". First off, Thenardier tells Valjean "God rewards all the things that you do" as opposed to the normal line, "God rewards all the good that you do". I slightly prefer the original, though it's not a huge difference.

Finally, Eponine's "It's the p'lice, disappear, run for it, it's Javert!" is bizarrely changed to the rather repetitive "It's the p'lice, disappear, it's the p'lice, it's Javert!" I have no clue what this was supposed to accomplish, because it makes the line far messier than it was before. Perhaps this was the intention, in order to highlight Eponine's unrefined self? Though that doesn't seem particularly relevant to the scene... who knows.

Some significant changes occur during "Stars". Not long after the song's start, Javert's declaration is changed from its original:

A fugitive running

Fallen from grace, fallen from grace

Into the less repetitive:

A fugitive running

Fallen from God, fallen from grace

Personally, I have a soft spot for the original repetition, but i do understand why some would prefer the Lord's name being used instead of the vaguer concept of grace.

Soon afterwards, a few conjunctions are removed. Originally Javert declares:

He knows his way in the dark

But mine is the way of the Lord

And those who follow the path of the righteous will have their reward

However, the Australian production (and the London production not long afterwards) simplified the sequence to:

He knows his way in the dark

Mine is the way of the Lord

Those who follow the path of the righteous will have their reward

I suppose the conjunction-free variant is likely to be easier to sing, since the lyrics are a little less rushed. This variant also separates the lines so that they come across as separate sentences, instead of one long run-on one. However, it does slightly bug me that the later line "And each in its season returns..." maintains its conjunction while the opening verse does not. That strikes me as somewhat inconsistent.

By far my favorite change to "Stars" happens towards the end. Originally, Javert sings:

And so it has been

And so it is written

On the doorway to paradise...

However, the Australian production changes the first line in the sequence:

And so it must be

For so it is written

On the doorway to paradise...

The revised line is much more dramatic and forceful, and makes Javert's final promise all the more powerful. It also sounds less passive, which seems more appropriate for Javert's character.

Philip Quast, who originated the role of Javert in Australia and later returned in 1991, changed the line "We'll be ready for these schoolboys" into "I will join these little schoolboys" during "One Day More". This line arguably makes his intentions a bit clearer, though it carries less threatening implications than the original lyric. Interestingly, however, Quast's replacements in the tour revert to the original line.

A very slight change occurs in "Drink with Me". Instead of Grantaire's "Can it be your death means nothing at all?" he asks "Could it be your death means nothing at all?"

Something weird happens during "Dog Eats Dog". For whatever reason, instead of the usual musical interlude that plays as Valjean carries Marius through the sewers, a similar but slightly different (and in my opinion inferior) variant plays instead. It sounds quite messy in my opinion. I wonder whether or not there was some difference in staging to inspire this different version of the music, or if someone inexplicably just thought it sounded better?

Similarly, the usual music that plays as the Thenardiers awkwardly feign sophistication during the wedding scene is given another in my opinion less polished edit. Nothing much to say here that I haven't said in the context of the last change.

One of the more impactful changes in the long run comes in the epilogue. Originally Fantine and Eponine sung the following line together:

Take my hand

And lead me to salvation

However, the Australian tour gave them the following line instead:

Take my hand

I'll lead you to salvation

This makes a lot more sense, since they have been dead for years and only now is Valjean joining them. Some have argued that because Valjean has become the epitome of good, an almost Christ-like figure, it ends up that he continues to save people even after they have passed away, hence the original lyric. I personally don't buy this at all. I think Fantine and Eponine were clearly good people doing the best they could, and if they still need an outside influence to be considered worthy of salvation that speaks quite poorly of whatever God may exist! The revised line is far better in my opinion, and fortunately it would become the standard worldwide in a few years.

And that just about sums this part up! (Man, it feels good to make such a short, easy post after the hours that went into the last one!) If I missed anything feel free to let me know, as my goal is to create a changelog as thorough and complete as possible. I plan on making more parts in the near future covering all the changes that have been made in the show up until this day (discounting concerts). Any feedback and constructive criticism is very much appreciated.

As a side note, both for this project and my own enjoyment, I want as complete a collection of Les Miserables audios as possible. I already have most of what’s commonly circulated, but if you have any audios or videos you know are rare, I’d love it if you DMed me!

Until the turntable puts me at the forefront again, good-bye…

#les mis #the les miserables changelog #les miserables #valjean #javert #changelog #1989 #australian tour #fantine #marius #cosette #eponine #enjolras #thenardier #gavroche #musical

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themonkeycabal · 4 years ago

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Wandavision Ep 6 Spoilers

No really, spoilers.

Previously on Wandavision — Wanda told SWORD to shove their drones right straight up their asses, Vision woke up to the reality that his utopian sitcom life was in fact a dystopian hellscape, their children were extremely creepy, and Agnes was being bizarre as hell and super sus. In the real world, Acting Director Dick was a dick, and Darcy and Jimmy welcomed Monica into their sciencey weird-crime-fighting team. Monica also mentioned an aerospace engineer she knows, which some suggest may be the first mention of Reed Richards in the MCU. I have conflicted feelings about the Fantastic Four. Mostly I never liked them. But, I'm open to revising my opinion.

Oh, and also X-Men 'Verse Pietro showed up suddenly and that was fun.

Anyway. the roommate and I tried to sort out a timeline — so Monica unBlips and goes back to work at SWORD three weeks later. AD Dick tells us Wanda stole Vision's body nine days previously. That means, just three weeks ago Wanda was in the middle of a battle, lost her boyfriend, was Snapped, was then unsnapped to fall right into the middle of another battle. Lost THREE additional teammates. And then sometime in the following week found out a shady government agency had Vision's body and she probably went "OH HELL NO". Because that's what I would say. So she goes to SWORD, dents a few doors, takes Vision's body and swans off to New Jersey. Look, she's been through a hell of a lot in the last couple weeks, is what I'm saying. I don't blame her a tiny bit. But, also, I don't think she's entirely behind this.

10-year old boy plus video camera = the 90s. Obnoxious opening credits. But, you know, I kind of liked them (as a one off). WAYYY better than last week's.

It's Halloween, and *sigh* Billy is breaking the fourth wall and narrating to the camera. There's childish twin bickering as you expect, Tommy's the wild and crazy twin, and Billy's the buttoned up twin. And Pietro is passed out on the couch at 4 in the afternoon. Living his best life. He teasingly scares the boys, chases them around, and there's awkward child acting.

Wanda comes down the stairs in the classic Scarlet Witch costume, and says she's a Sokovian Fortune Teller. Sokovia was more wild than I realized.

Genuinely funny flashback to Wanda and Pietro trick-or-treating in Sokovia as kids, 'the year we got typhus'. lol. Was it the fish that gave them typhus? Or was that just a special treat? Wanda doubts this version of events, and Pietro suggests she suppressed the memory due to the trauma. This gives Billy the chance to tell the camera that mom's been weird since uncle Pietro turned up to crash on their couch.

Next it's Vision's turn to appear in the classic Vision costume. Yikes. Wanda thanks him for humoring her, and he says there were no other clothes in his closet and they have a very weird second where he's not playing along and she's not sure what to do, and then he breaks into sitcom character says something about "just kidding, i know how much you love mexican wrestling" like it's a luchador costume, and then there's some super weird flirting. TMI you two.

Meanwhile, Pietro is a large child and the kids love him, of course. So there's that.

Back to Wanda and Vision, she's ready to take the kids out trick-or-treating, but Vision says he can't go, he's on the neighborhood watch and must patrol the streets ever-vigilant for wild gangs of child hooligans who might TP trees. He's gone off-script and it takes Wanda a second to figure out how to play this. She says it's the boys' first Halloween so he has to be there. Pietro breaks up the almost argument and says he can be a father figure-type and he'll help with the boys. Vision's still pretty off-script but Wanda doesn't fight it but looks uncertain, and he goes off to protect the night — or early afternoon.

Pietro is a child hooligan and wants to go do hooligany things with the kids. Wanda says he doesn't have a costume and he grabs Billy and they speed off only to return dressed in classic Quicksilver duds. Well, cheap-looking, thrown together Quicksilver duds. I laughed. The hair. lol. Good one.

Outside in the real world. The Hex field is still kind of glowing red and making bad force field noises. It only started doing that when Wanda got pissed in the last ep. Oh, goody, it's Acting Director Dick. I've learned his name is Hayward. I don't care.

Blah blah Stompy Mc-I'm-In-Charge blah. Monica is not pleased about the whole trying to kill Wanda with a missile while she was talking to her plan. AD Dick just says "now we know who we're dealing with". Um … what? You tried to kill her and her response was to tell you to go away. Yeah, boy, she's a monster.

Darcy is there to helpfully remind AD Dick that Wanda made him look like the fool he is. ILU girl. "Hey, there he is; the guy who almost got murdered by his own murder squad." Jimmy just makes a 'i'm so disappointed in you and your choices' face at him in the background.

I despise characters like Hayward. They are so tedious. Narratively they are there to incite conflict, but given the situation conflict naturally exists, surely there are other ways to bring up/drive that tension without the trope of the government heavy ready to solve the problem with the most extreme amount of force available to him. OH no! Our plucky heroes will have to find a way to save the day and fight the Man! Can they do it? Boring. It's too bad General Talbot went insane and then died; he could probably give tips on How Not To Be That Guy.

Anyway

Hayward wants to know if Darcy works for him and she's like "dunno my dude", Monica claims her, AD Dick says "which one of you is the sassy best friend" and Jimmy's like, that is quite enough Acting Director Not Very Nice Man. "There's no time to diminish your colleagues when you're about to start a war you can't win." AD Dick just wants to take out Wanda so the whole nightmare ends. Monica's like um, we literally do not know what's going on. Like, for real we have no clue. So that might not, in fact, end the nightmare, Director Murder Britches.

They argue a lot and Director Dick goes off the rails. Dude's like more unhinged than seems warranted. Unless he's just so embarrassed that he pissed himself when Wanda returned his murder drone to him, he's decided SHE MUST BE DESTROYED FOR THE GOOD OF … NEW JERSEY AND MY SOILED UNDERWEAR OR SOMETHING.

"Captain Rambeau, you are an impediment to this mission!" Oh no! He's gonna tell her all about how hard it was to survive in a post-blip world, all those lucky blipped don't know what it was like! You just can't understand! Monica tells him not to use that as an excuse to be a coward. I'm so bored with this scene. Let me guess, the trio will have to go behind his back to save the day.

"Maybe it's a good thing you weren't here with your mother died. Because, clearly you don't have the stomach for this job." … non-sequitur much? Or is he saying she would have inherited the Director-ship (which should probably not be how that sort of agency works, let's be real). Is this scene five hours long, or does it just feel that way?

The Dick banishes the trio from his base.

"Hayward is way over-stepping his provisional authority". Jimmy Woo, you're so great. Monica says he's up to something. Yeah a tactical nuke and murder. Clearly he doesn't want to actually solve the problem, he just wants the problem to go away with a big show of macho explosions and whatnot. I suspect he might be in over his head, like he was not meant to be Acting Director, let alone Director. Also, he's a boring cliche stereotype and I loathe it.

JIMMY! I legit did not see that coming. He just pure hauls off and clocks one of the soldiers escorting them off the base, to a transport truck or something. Monica seems just as surprised for a second but then she's like "hell yeah!" and jumps in. Darcy sort of stands back and watches. lol. "Why didn't anyone tell me the plan?"

Oh look, it's my shipping container! They put the soldiers in there. Guys, it was for Hayward. Come on.

The trio disguise themselves with ponchos, which is a big step up from the usual MCU disguise of "baseball hat". That was a good bit in Ant-man and the Wasp "it's not a disguise, it just looks like us at a baseball game" (I watched that like last week. I missed Luis). Anyway …

Back in the sitcom world. The kids are ready for their early afternoon trick-or-treating. They're still talking to the camera. It's so awkward. I'm not a fan. I get it's meant to reproduce the very 90s Nick-era sitcoms and so, you know, it's spot on. Still, though.

Pietro is encouraging and supportive. "Unleash hell, demon spawn!"

Dang there are a lot of kids in that neighborhood. Wasn't Vision wondering last episode why there weren't any kids? Is the program correcting itself?

Wanda tries to test Pietro, asking him about some kid at an orphanage when they were kids. Pietro calls her on it, and says he knows he looks different. Wanda wants to know why that is. He says, "You tell me. I mean, if I found shangra-la, I wouldn't want to be reminded of the past, either." Hmm.

The kids speed off with uncle Pietro. Wanda wanders over to talk to neighbor Herb, who has a g-man earbud in and is clearly part of the neighborhood watch. In the background Pietro is stealing all the candy and smashing pumpkins and spraying the place with silly string. The hijinks are so wacky. Wanda tells Herb maybe Vision can help out with the chaos, and Herb says Vision isn't on duty. Oh no, he lied to her!

Herb goes weird "is there something I can do for you, Wanda? Do you want something changed?" Hmmm.

Elsewhere Vision is wandering the wild streets of Westview. He finds people caught in some type of weird decorating loop, the woman seems trapped but aware.

Commercial time! What the fuck was that. "Yo-magic! The snack for survivors." No, really, what the fuck.

Night has fallen, the twins and the twins walk the streets. Wanda's making the boys give back all the candy they stole. She says Pietro is a bad influence. He says "I'm just trying to do my part, kay? Come to town unexpectedly, create tension with the brother-in-law, stir up trouble with the rugrats, and ultimately give you grief. I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"What happened to your accent?"

"What happened to yours? Details are fuzzy, man. I got shot like a chump in the street for no reason." AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA! no really AHAHAHAHAAH! Thank you, Pietro! Holy shit, perfect. That's some delicious shade. I expect to see this gif'd fifteen different ways when I load tumblr today.

"Next thing I know, I heard you calling me. I knew you needed me."

The kids interrupt. And now all of a sudden Tommy can zoom. Character development!

Everyone is so careful to give Wanda what she wants. Why? She's not cruel. Who wants to keep her pacified? And whoever it is cannot possibly be pleased with AD Dick messing things up. Assuming it's an outside or outside-ish force/entity, of course. I mean, I don't think she's doing this entirely, she might be the battery powering it, but despite her thing last episode to get SWORD to leave her alone, she does seem a little confused about the where, why, and how things are going.

"Don't go past Ellis Avenue." Just a kid thing or a boundary of the sitcom control world?

In the real world, our heroes are sneaking through a tent city and into the server room. The scene with Pietro and Wanda discussing his accent is playing in the background. Darcy seems put-out that Pietro was recast. lol. "He brought the wrong face."

Darcy hacks into Hayward's devices. "Hayward figured out a way to look through the boundary." "And he didn't share it with the group." I don't like Hayward.

Something is blipping on the map on the computer. Jimmy asks if it's Wanda, but Darcy says "it's tracking the decay signature of vibranium". So Vision. Monica wants to know why Hayward is tracking Vision. Well, I'd super like to know what SWORD was doing with Vision in the first place, because they weren't just storing him, they were doing something. So …

Jimmy notices that there are other dots, the ones closest to Vision, who are other residents. Jimmy says the ones near the edge of town are barely moving.

Back to Vision. He's found a cul-de-sac to patrol. Everybody's frozen in place, the street lights flicker. Eerie. They're all dressed for Halloween. Does this mean the field is shrinking, or the effects spreading and so it's closing in, slowing and then freezing people who were earlier moving about just fine? Vision is unaffected by this whatever it is. He turns himself into himself and flies off, up above the town. part of the town is dark, and part alive with voices and laughter.

He spots a car at the edge of town. It's Agnes. She seems frozen-ish, but when he asks what she's doing there, she says "Town Square Scare. Where is it?" all robotic like. Vision helpfully tries to give directions. lol. "Took a wrong turn, got lost" she says.

Vision touches her head and she wakes up. "You! You're one of the Avengers. You're Vision. Are you here to help us?" "I am Vision. I do want to help. But, what's an Avenger?"

Hmm. Well, I guess he did say last week that he couldn't remember anything before Westview.

"Am I dead?" she asks. "No, why would you think that?" "Because you are."

What was news coverage after the Snap like, do you suppose? I mean, ridiculous, of course. But, like, I think they had bigger problems then wondering about snapped/dead Avengers, didn't they? Well, maybe not. "WHERE ARE AVENGERS TO HELP US?" or "HOW DARE THE AVENGERS NOT HELP US!" "TOTALLY THIS IS ON THE AVENGERS!" "WE'D ALL BE DEAD WITHOUT THE AVENGERS!" "NUHUH! BOO AVENGERS!" "EXCEPT VISION WHO DIED HEROICALLY, WE ALL LIKE THAT AVENGER!" "TONY STARK AND PEPPER POTTS SHARE THE DECORATING TIPS THAT TRANSFORMED THEIR RUSTIC RESTORATION PROJECT INTO A CHARMING FAMILY HOME".

Agnes starts screaming "Dead" at Vision. She's not coping well. Vision says he's going to try and reach outside town and try to figure this all out. "How? No one leaves. Wanda won't even let us think about it." I SUSPECT YOU, AGNES! Why would Wanda keep everybody trapped and miserable? I could see if she did it on accident, but this implies she's purposefully hurting people. I don't buy it. Agnes, again, seems to be in the right place at the right time to make Vision doubt Wanda. You're a very suspicious character, Agnes.

She starts to laugh. "All is lost." Vision touches her had and she resets to sitcom Agnes. Somehow she can move again, she turns the car around on Ellis Ave and heads back into town. So, that answers that.

Vision walks across the Eillis Ave to the field beyond.

Meanwhile, Darcy continues to hack. Monica gets a text and says "that's it! My way back into the Hex will be here in an hour." Jimmy's all ready to boost a ride to take her to meet her aerospace buddy. But, Darcy says, nope. Can't do it. Monica's been through the Hex twice, and it's rewritten her cells. "It's changing you." Monica is undaunted. "I know what Wanda's feeling and I won't stop until I help her." Alrighty then.

Jimmy's finally going to get to hotwire a car! But wait, Darcy's not going with them. AD Dick has something hidden behind one last firewall. Darcy thinks it's big and can help them. She's going to find it.

I don't think Jimmy had to hotwire that humvee. It just started right up. Motorpool, pfft - they always leave the keys.

Back in Westview. Halloween continues at Town Square. Pietro asks Wanda where she was hiding all those kids. Whu? Says Wanda. "I assume they were all just sleeping peacefully in their beds. No need to traumatize beyond the occasional holiday cameo, amiright?" What is Pietro. "Hey don't get me wrong, you've handled the ethical considerations of this scenario as best you could. Families and couples stay together. Most personalities aren't far from what's underneath. People got better jobs. Better haircuts for sure."

"You don't think it's wrong?"

"Are you kidding me? I'm impressed. It's a pretty big leap from giving people nightmares and shooting red wigglywoos out your hands." No, really, what is Pietro? "How'd you even do all this?" Hmmm.

"I don't know how I did it. I only remember feeling completely alone. Empty. Just endless nothingness." She looks back at Pietro and for a second he's dead Pietro. Poor Wanda.

Darcy continues to hack Hayward's systems. Cataract classified weapons something something. They're still tracking Vision. Who continues his walk across the field and comes to the hex. He tries to push through it. Looks painful. SWORD rolls out to go overreact at him. He makes it through the barrier, kind of. It's a struggle.

Hayward standing there looking like a jackass "he really does want out, doesn't he?" Like he’s just amused by this turn of events, or watching a lab rat try to get out of the lab.

Darcy's standing behind watching all of this. Bits of Vision sort of fly off and back into the Hex. Darcy says "oh no!" and runs towards him, screaming for them to help him. Way to give away your sneaky hiding, girlfriend.

In Westview. Billy looks up, he can hear what's going on outside. "I hear daddy in my head. He's in trouble."

Vision calls for help, while SWORD prioritizes arresting Darcy. Phil Coulson would never have behaved like this. Boo to SWORD. Vision is dissolving. It's kind of gross and sad.

Wanda asks where Vision is, and Pietro interrupts "Don't sweat it, sis. It's not like your dead husband can die twice." Wanda wallops him with some red wigglywoos.

Billy sees soldiers and thinks Vision is dying. Wanda stops everything and makes a big red boom. The Hex appears to be expanding. Whoops, now you've done it AD Dick. He runs away like the brave brave guy he is. They leave Darcy handcuffed to a jeep. "Are you serious right now?"

The Hex overtakes Vision and then Darcy. Trapped soldiers become clowns, and we're in the circus. Well, SWORD seems like a circus, so Wanda's not wrong. I'm pretty sure Jimmy and Monica made it, but sadly the bravest Director who ever braved also escaped. He deserved to be a circus clown. Better luck next week, Wanda.

Credits.

Well, I just don't know anymore.

Hayward doesn't care about Wanda, except where I think because of this someone will figure out what he was doing to Vision's body. And Vision is ultimately the thing he cares about in all this. I hope Wanda drops a house on him.

Hmmm.

Quit suggesting I watch Age of Ultron next, Disney. It’s not happening.

#wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision liveblog

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kassysyd · 5 years ago

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“Her Sweet Kiss” - A Short Analysis

Preface: In my job, a key part of my role is to select and analyse various different forms of poetry (yes, lyrics are a type of poem) so, I am keenly aware of the difference between what could be considered quality poetic verse and the doggerel we frequently hear passed off as lyrics in modern songs. I was expecting the latter from the soundtrack to Netflix’s The Witcher, I was wrong.

Although, at first listen “Her Sweet Kiss” appeared to be a simple love ballad, the uncommon depth and intricacy of the symbolism stunned and forced me to take another listen. Additionally, its arrangement within key scenes of the episode, as well as the inclusion of both alternative lyrics and instrumental versions was ingenious. I don’t have time to do a full analysis, instead, I have pulled together a basic overview of the key elements which stood out to me from this marvellously complex song. I hope this may assist you with your own interpretations.

Before we start analysing the lyrics, let’s look at the contextual placement of this song within the episode 'Rare Species'. It is featured at three key moments; the opening scene showing Jaskier composing the song, the sex scene between Geralt and Yennifer and then finally played over the credits.

In the opening scene, Jaskier is shown singing and composing while waiting for Geralt to return from a hunt. The lyrics are slightly different here and include the adjectives ‘gorgeous’ and ‘lovely’ in reference to the ‘Garroter’ character. He asks the men nearby whether the metaphorical use of ‘garroter’ is too ‘cerebral’, indicating that it is indeed symbolic of someone (Geralt). The lines “I’m weak, my love, and I am wanting… Gorgeous Garroter, jury and judge”, are sung by Jaskier and introduce the concept that the narrator is in love with someone but is also conflicted about their choice to follow them on 'The Path' (more on this later). It is also important to note that the notebook resting on his thigh contains an alternative version of the lyrics which do not feature the secondary 'her' character yet and instead focus instead on the narrator’s own weakness and inability to leave what he feels in an unfair relationship 'If I were a man of more merit, if I were a man of resolve I’d leave you behind, get my fair peace of mind'.

The second time the song is heard during the sex scene between Geralt and Yennifer. This time the song is purely instrumental. The moment where they first kiss, the chorus line 'She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss' is playing. As the audience had already heard some of the song, they would recognize it. But as they only heard the earlier version, which describes only the narrator’s willingness to suffer to be with the one he loves, the full significance of the song is not yet established with the audience. This lack of audible lyrics further symbolizes the narrator’s uncertain feelings towards their relationship at this point in the episode. But also unambiguously associates the song with both Geralt and Yennefer, establishing it as a proxy theme song for their romance and further supporting the argument that the characters from the song are indeed Geralt and Yennifer.

The final time this song is heard is over the end credits, this time the song is sung by Jaskier and plays in full. The previous ambiguity is sharply contrasted here when the revised set of lyrics are presented to the audience and the true theme of the is song revealed (Jaskier’s anguish). The final scene between Geralt, Yennifer and Jaskier is key to contextualizing these lyrics as it directly foreshadows many lines and themes explored in the song. For example, in Jaskier’s line 'that’s not fair' echoing the lyrics directly and the show’s constant depiction of Yennefer using storm imagery (both themes explored in more detail below).

The Characters

The song contains three distinct characters 'I/Narrator', 'You/Garrotter' and 'Her'.

'I/Narrator' – The narrator of the song, possibly Jaskier – It has been established in songs such as ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’ that Jaskier frequently writes from his own perspective and as clearly illustrated in the lines 'When a humble Bard, graced a ride along with Geralt of Rivia along came this song' frequently portray Geralt as their protagonist (this is also canonical for the books, but, I’m limiting my interpretations to the show). Additionally, many key themes and concepts from the lyrics directly reference Jaskier’s own life and experiences (explored in more detail in later paragraphs). It is later shown that Jaskier has written so many highly successful songs about Geralt that the prostitute in the opening scene of ‘Betrayer Moon’ was able to identify his scars by their relevant songs and was surprised to find one that she did not recognize. It can plausibly be argued that ‘Her Sweet Kiss’ is both autobiographical and includes Geralt as a key character.

'You/Garotter' - The love interest of the narrator and also addressed as 'My Love' and 'Fool' - We can connect this 'Garotter' character with ‘Geralt’ through both the phonological similarity between the words and in scene featuring Marilka in the episode 'The End’s Beginning' when she points out 'Geralt'… like Garroter?' a canonically explicit linking of the names. ‘Garotter’ is a term for a killer, specifically, someone who does so through strangling, symbolic of Geralt’s employment. Jaskier himself points out that the ‘metaphor’ may be to ‘cerebral’, indicating to us the audience the need to interpret the line figuratively rather than literally.

'Her'- The rival for the narrators love interest - A woman described as a destructive and unjust force, using wild, nature-based metaphors such as ‘storms’ and ‘currents’ to describe her ‘love’. Repeatedly throughout the show Yennefer is also described using similar nature/storm imagery, such as Geralt’s description of her 'like a tornado wreaking havoc' (a line Jaskier is shown to have overheard as the camera pans to him).

The evidence then supports the supposition that the song may well be written from Jaskier’s perspective, exploring his feeling regarding Geralt’s and Yennifer’s relationship (for a discussion on the dubious nature of consent in this relationship see my other post). For convenience of analysis, from here on I will be assuming the narrator is Jaskier, the 'Her' character is Yennifer and the 'You/Garotter' character is Geralt'.

The Lyrics

The ‘’fairer sex’’ they often call it, but her love’s as unfair as a crook.

Jaskier opens the song by comparing the cliché of women being 'the fairer sex' with the simile 'love’s as unfair as a crook' (an old-fashioned term for a criminal or thief). As ‘fair’ has the dual meaning of both beauty and justice, his description of her as ‘unfair’ attacks both her beauty and her morality. The simile comparing her to a 'crook' (an old-fashioned term for a criminal or thief) suggests that Jaskier feels that she acts both unjustly and steals her love (a possible oblique reference Yennifer’s willingness to use magic to coerce sexual behaviour and disregard consent – as illustrated by the scene Jaskier witnessed in ‘Bottled Appetites’ where she compels a large group of apparently unwilling participants to engage in group sex). The song also echoes Jaskier’s dialogue 'That’s not fair' after Geralt unfairly lashes out at him after his argument with Yennefer, providing further evidence for the autobiographical nature of the song.

It steals all my reason, commits every treason of logic with naught but a look.

Yennifer’s ‘love’, he argues ‘steals’ (continuing the symbolism of her immorality) and commits ‘treason’ (the crime of betrayal) furthering the description of her as being both unlawful and ‘unfair’ in her relationship with Geralt. These lines also illustrate the despair Jaskier feels over not being able to convince Geralt of her corrupt nature. He feels that she can defeat or prevent his ‘logic’ and ‘reason’ easily, ‘with naught but a look’.

A storm raging on the horizon of longing, and heartache, and lust

The show repeatedly correlates Yennifer’s behaviour with the destructive forces of nature, and storms in particular. Scenes such as that at Aretusa where she bodily subsumes lightning then uses it to attack another student and when Geralt describes her as a ‘tornado wrecking havoc’ among others, highlight this correlation. Jaskier describing her as a 'storm' that is 'raging' highlights his perception of her as both destructive and aggressive. The storm in this line is be symbolic of Yennifer herself, showing that Jaskier recognizes her arrival as leading to ‘heartache’ and ‘lust’ rather than genuine love between her and Geralt.

She’s always bad news, it’s always lose-lose

The repetition of ‘always’ in these lines clearly illustrate how desperately Jaskier feels about the situation. He argues that involvement with her will inevitably lead to pain and loss for all of them, there is no way to win.

So, tell me, Love, tell me, Love. How is that just?

This line is a direct address to Geralt (his ‘Love’), begging him to explain, to see, to speak to him and understand. The rhetorical question 'How is that just?' again draws back to the concept of the ‘unfairness’ and injustice of her relationship with Geralt, Jaskier feels that she ‘steals’ love rather than earning or winning it (again a possible reference to lack of consent). The use of a rhetorical question also implies that he feels powerless and unable to expect any response to his pleas.

But the story is this. She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss. Her sweet kiss

Here Jaskier is using juxtaposition to show how her ‘sweet kiss’ (symbolic of her sexual relationship with Geralt) will ‘destroy’ him. He sets the tone by stating as fact that ‘The story is this', affirming his opinion that no other possible narrative exists beyond her storm-like destruction of their relationship and Geralt himself.

Her current is pulling you closer, a charge in the hot, humid night.

This line again uses the theme of the destructive power of nature, Yennefer is like a ‘current’ pulling Geralt towards her. The repeated portrayal of Yennefer as a destructive force of nature somewhat dehumanises her, correlating her actions with an uncaring inhuman force rather than that of a woman with genuine affections.

The red sky at dawn is giving a warning. You Fool better stay out of sight

This line references an ancient mariners rhyme 'Red sky at night, sailors' delight.Red sky at morning, sailors' warning.' meant to warn sailors of an impending storm when a red sky is seen at dawn. Jaskier is again using the ‘storm’ metaphor to warn Geralt about Yennifer. He addresses Geralt directly, calling him a ‘fool’ and advising him to hide from her destruction.

I’m weak, my love, and I am wanting. If this is the path I must trudge.

This line provides a key insight into the identities of the characters and their relationship to each other. In Witcher canon 'The Path' is the name given to the life of a Witcher as he journeys around the continent battling monsters. It’s somewhat comparable to the religious concept of a 'calling'. By describing his choice to accompany Geralt on his quests as 'trudging' indicates that he does not enjoy the journey aspect of their relationship, but also signals his acceptance of this as the price he must pay for a relationship with Geralt.

To further this point, in the show Jaskier does not always join Geralt in his actual monster battles, instead, it is implied that Geralt himself later recounts the stories. This is evidenced by the lines 'Geralt’s usually so stingy with the details' and later 'I’ll go get the rest of the story from the others'. This habit of receiving the tale after the events reveals that there is no need for Jaskier to continuously accompany Geralt on his journeys, multiple tales could just as easily be collected from Geralt or others (as seen in the tavern scene) at a later date. It can be supposed then that Jaskier, therefore, chooses to accompany Geralt for ‘love’, a reason which is also explored in the notebook version of the lyrics, 'If I were a man of more merit, if I were a man of resolve I’d leave you behind, get my fair peace of mind' It is implied here that he should leave but can’t because his love for Geralt is too powerful.

I’ll welcome my sentence, give to you my penance. Garroter, jury and judge

Jaskier’s conflicted feelings about his choice to accompany Geralt is explored further in the line above. He described the act of joining 'the path' as a form of punishment ('sentence' and 'penance') for being 'weak' and desirous ('wanting' Geralt). This ‘sentence’ is enforced by a 'jury and judge', the Garotter (Geralt).

The song’s repeated use of justice/legal symbolism is interesting. He places Geralt into the role of a 'Jury and Judge' passing out sentences from a position of power and control over Jaskier (and arguably Yennefer). Yennifer is described as a 'crook' who 'steals' and commits 'treason', but is not punished for these criminal acts. Instead, it is Jaskier himself who is punished, made to give 'penance'. He feels this is an injustice and 'unfair'. This sentiment neatly reflects the events of 'Rare Species', where after his disastrous romance with Yennefer, Geralt lashes out at Jaskier, accusing him of causing all of his misfortune.

It can be imagined then that Jaskier may have taken his half-composed love song and written new lyrics in direct reaction to that betrayal; his pain laid bare in verse.

#witcher netflix #the witcher #witcher meta #geralt x dandelion #geralt of rivia #geralt x jaskier #her sweet kiss #song analysis #meta #poetry analysis #jaskier #yennerfer #long reads #I should put this under a cut but I can't work out how

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frankcmcclanahaniii · 4 years ago

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BALM FOR UNBELIEVERS

CORONAVIRUS, CONFIRMATION BIAS AND MASON BEES: BALM FOR UNBELIEVERS This spring, just before the most restrictive social distancing measures were imposed, I was invited by an old friend (who is a doctor) to join him in a long walk. In accordance with the rules at that time we took two cars (to avoid contact) and I followed him. For the first time I noticed his license plate which read “John 9 1-3”. As we walked separated a safe distance we talked about coronavirus and its effect on the world. It was a beautiful day. When I returned home I printed out a copy of John 9 1-7 because that is what came up when I googled John 9 1-3. Like most Americans my age, I was raised a Christian, but many years ago I became a doubter and skeptic. In my youth my biblical knowledge came from the King James Version so that is what I googled. Here is the text: 9 And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4 I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6 When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7 And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. I was troubled by this text. In particular I was troubled by the notion that a man might be born blind “…that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” But in the context of the rest of the passage, since Jesus worked the miracle that made him see, I thought that perhaps the miracle he worked was the “manifestation” intended. But that also led to more troubles, because neither Jesus nor God cures all ailments, which conditions God permits if not causes (if the text is taken literally, “that the works of God should be made manifest in [them].”) So, I did what I often do from habit when faced with a conundrum, and condensed it into a sonnet. Here is the sonnet: JOHN 9 1-7 When asked about a man born blind Jesus replied it was no sin Of anyone had stricken him But rather God’s revealed design. He spat on clay and bade him find The fount of faith where sight begins The man did so and saw wherein We learn the power of faith and mind. As now coronavirus kills The knowledge sin is not to blame Seems pale placebo all the same; And if these deaths are not His will The virus spreads and kills without Awareness what we think about. I sent this sonnet to my friend. He did not like it. My friend is something of a modern saint, and so, too kind to be harshly critical, but also highly educated, a voracious reader, and steeped in biblical knowledge far deeper than my own, who said simply “I do not think you have fully appreciated the passage.” He noted that my sonnet went beyond the verses borne by his license plate, and he also pointed out that at the time John was written, it was common knowledge that if something bad happened, like a child born blind, it was automatically assumed that the defect was punishment for some sin, by some person. So, he suggested that I think about the first three verses and perhaps I would gain a deeper understanding of the rest. I then consulted my wife, who like my friend has a much deeper understanding of the Bible. I told her about the license plate and showed her the copy of John 9 1-7 that I had printed and asked her what the license plate means. She said immediately “It’s not your fault.” She explained it was a perfect license plate for our mutual friend, who treats cancer patients, many of whom believe that their cancer is their fault. I asked her about “…but that the works of God should be made manifest in him…” and she said that was unsettling, but that perhaps in a different version of the Bible, a different phrase might be substituted. She looked it up in a few more recent versions, but said that it was not fundamentally different. We both then concluded that perhaps the phrase was merely introductory to the miracle that Jesus performed, in the sense that the man’s blindness occurred as the occasion for Jesus to restore his sight. This small illumination led me to rethink the sonnet. So, I revised it as follows: JOHN 9 1-7 When asked about a man born blind Jesus replied it was no sin By anyone had stricken him But rather God’s revealed design. He spat on clay and bade him find The fount of faith where sight begins The man did so and saw wherein We learn the power of faith on mind. Now as coronavirus kills The faithless and the faithful too Perhaps the light of God shines through The sacrificial deeds some will Perform, laying down their lives to be If not the light, the way to see. I sent this revision to my friend, who, in his saintly way, said it was still not quite right. He suggested that I remember Dr. Rieux from Camus’ The Plague, and also look up Anne Bradstreet and another (to me) obscure theologian who had written about the purpose of suffering in life. I tend to balk at suggestions of this sort because, as a contrarian and an unbeliever, I have taught myself to be content with infinity rather than eternity. In place of the eternal continuation of a finite human life in some imagined afterlife, I accept that I and all human beings are finite and will never be infinite. Infinity, like the God who can do all things, is beyond all finite creatures, and inherently unlike them. I do not believe that any of us will ever be infinite because if we were, we would ourselves be some sort of god, but no longer human. As it happens, I have written another sonnet on this subject although not directly related. Here it is: TONE DEAF If I were God, I would not need The love of all or any men Nor would I crave their reverence No more than other men like me Demand obedience from bees Or daily prayers from hills of ants Nor ponder proper punishments Of beetles for their blasphemies. My prophets, though, might well mistake The messages they thought they heard; Just as the brilliant mockingbird Must improvise the sounds we make There might be countless disconnects In what I meant and they detect. As I thought about this, I realized that both my friend and I, like all humans, are susceptible to confirmation bias that governs more than we either consciously recognize, our ability to process information. His confirmation bias is to impose the axioms of his deep and abiding faith on his very considerable powers of reasoning. And mine is to doubt with the same axiomatic force. And as I thought about it, I realized that neither bias is right or wrong, true or false; they are just different perspectives on the same human problem, which is to find a satisfactory model for extracting meaning and happiness from the time we are allotted. I would like to digress now to two kinds of bees, honey bees and mason bees. Honey bees are social creatures, whose world is the hive. Each hive has one queen and countless workers, rather like human societies typically have a leader and followers. Honey bee hives are all genetically the same, and recognize each other as the same, just as they recognize the difference of any honey bees that are not from their hive. They will defend the hive against other bees or any other predator, but their main activity is to gather pollen to produce honey which sustains the hive in winter. Mason bees, by contrast, are solitary. Each female mason bee gathers pollen to sustain the larvae that grow from the eggs she deposits in tubes or crevices. When enough pollen has been deposited to sustain one larva, she lays one egg and seals it up with mud. She repeats this process five times, and then moves to another tube or crevice. She continues doing so until she dies. I do not know how mason bees distribute males and females in their tubes, but the male bees seem to hatch first, so that they can fertilize the first female mason bees that hatch. Mason bees are early pollinators. They hatch before most honey bees are active and so pollinate the earliest blooming fruits and flowers. The mason bees die around the time the honey bees are most active. Between them (and with the help of bumblebees) they ensure that all blossoms are pollinated and the territories they occupy are fruitful. These two bees are also analogous to my friend, who is communitarian, extraverted and a believer, and me, who is contrarian, introverted and a doubter. My friend is deeply interested in such questions as the purpose of human suffering and how a just and equitable society might be designed. I am deeply interested in individual freedom and how the power of the majority or the collective might be restrained. We overlap, of course, and in fact agree on many matters. You could make labels to characterize our different perspectives, and the labels you chose would reflect your own confirmation biases, probably favorable to one, and derogatory to the other. But you could label my friend a honey bee, and me a mason bee, and the designation would not be particularly biased at all. Both types of bees coexist in harmony, without conflict, just like my friend and myself. Both types of bees are useful, and probably necessary, or they would not be here, as they have been for eons longer than there have been humans. I believe the same is true of my friend and myself, who have both been successful, productive citizens who have each made contributions to our society. I have not intentionally done anything I am aware of to bring grief or suffering to any other person and I am absolutely confident that my friend has not either. I am no doubt guilty of indifference, and my friend may be too, but not that I know of. My point is simply that neither of our different perspectives, nor the confirmation biases that inhere in them, have made us deserving of favorable or derogatory labels. So, to bring it all back to the second sonnet, it is a compromise. I do not want to change it to unravel the divine purpose in human suffering as my friend might, because it would be a honey bee sonnet written by a mason bee. He persuaded me to change the sestet from a cynical commentary on a God whose existence I doubt to an observation that any person who encounters any stranger stricken or in need, can help, as some will help, both believers and doubters. That is a logos even a mason bee can believe. © 2020 frankcmcclanahaniii

#sonnet #the weekly sonnet #poetry #frankcmcclanahaniii #confirmation bias #coronavirus #mason bee #john 9:1-7 #infinity

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dailybiblelessons · 4 years ago

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The Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Revised Common Lectionary Proper 6 Roman Catholic Proper 11

Here is an explanation of the calendar of Bible lessons.

Complementary Hebrew Scripture Torah Lesson: Exodus 19:2-8a

On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. They had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the Israelites: You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.¹ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”

So Moses came, summoned the elders of the people, and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him. The people all answered as one: “Everything that the Lord has spoken we will do.”

¹Peter uses these phrases in 1 Peter 2:9, a passage about a living stone and a chosen people.

Semi-continuous Hebrew Scripture from the Torah: Genesis 18:1-15, 21:1-7

The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground. He said, “My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on–since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, “Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes.” Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

They said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” And he said, “There, in the tent.” Then one said, “I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.”¹ And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?” The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, and say, ‘shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son.” But Sarah denied, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. He said, “Oh yes, you did laugh.”

The Lord dealt with Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age, at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to his son whom Sarah bore him. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.” And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”

¹Paul quotes this verse in Galatians 4:30, part of an allegory of Hagar and Sarah. Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9:7, where he asserts that God has elected Israel. In the recounting of the near sacrifice of Isaac in Hebrews 11:17-22 this is used to show Abraham's faith.

Complementary Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing.

Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Semi-continuous Psalm 116:1-2,12-19

I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord, I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones. O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the child of your serving girl. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice and call on the name of the Lord¹. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

¹This verse is nearly quoted in Hebrews 13:1-16 (specifically in verse 15), which concerns service well-pleasing to God.

New Testament Epistle Lesson: Romans 5:1-8

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person–though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

New Testament Gospel Lesson: Matthew 9:35-10:8

There are parallel passages at Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:12-16.

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of God has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.”

Year A Ordinary 11, RCL Proper 6, Catholic Proper 11 Sunday

Selections are from Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings copyright © 1995 by the Consultation on Common Texts. Unless otherwise indicated, Bible text is from New Revised Standard Version Bible (NRSV) copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Image Credit: The Sending of the Twelve. According to this web site, this is a fourteenth century painting, which means it is in the public domain.

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ask-henry-yugi-tudor · 6 years ago

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Just story ideas I have and wrote about a little I guess

.....

Just vote which ones you like xD

#1: Unnamed - unfinished not even 200 words of some sort au where yami is an animal

#2: King Yamir, King of illusions - unfinished Is a story where Yugi got kidnapped from his home and is now traveling back after 50 years with a dragon, a knight and two centaurs and their friend. However once he arrives, he realizes things have changed and he isnt sure if the life with the humans might have been better off, even if they got rid of his wings.

#3 Mermaids - unfinished An au where Yugi gets himself into trouble by swimming too close to the surface and he ends up getting hit by the blade of a boat propeller. Kaiba ends up taking care of him but pegasus wants to put him on display. Atem meanwhile is furiously searching in every corner of the sea to find Yugi back and will stop at nothing to find him.

#4 Untamed - unfinished Prince Yugi is in search of a mythical beast in the woods that bears the fruit of life on its antlers which can save his grandfather, and the current king’s life. if he fails however, his evil uncle Aknaheden will assend the throne and plunge the kingdom into destruction. Meanwhile he kidnaps a child, befriends the most sarcastic cook ever and insults a young prodigee mage along the way.

... tbh i think shiirojasmine would love what i have in store for that one but im too afraid to tag anyone in this long post.

#5 Aelves - unfinished This story was created before King Yamir. It centered around Atem and his family which were orphans that lived on the streets before getting taken in by townspeople. Atem was the apprentice of a blacksmith bullied by a fierce adventerous knight who told him he would never make good swords, Timaël (Timaeus’ counterpart) was a sheperdboy who was afraid of sheep and Heba worked in a bakery. They find out their parents have been killed by Aelves and plan on finding these Aelves only to befriend Yami, Yugi and Timaeus because they saved one that almost drowned in the river while the other two were unnable to swim.

This was the original idea, but there were too many characters and though i havent really written a good amount on it, this hasbeen revised into number 6

#6 Aelves - unfinished Atem finds himself in a bind when he befriends a young Aelf when another thinks he is going to be Yugi’s candidate for the wild hunt. The wild hunt involves humans having to run as the Aelves chase them riding deer. And the human has the marry the Aelf that captures them. Also Yugi hits Atem with a frying pan because why not.

#7 The Time we Share - finished Probably the only fanfic i have ever finished. Resolves about Yami, a social awkward young man that is in love with his introverted neighbor and has no idea how to handle it. A short oneshot. Nobody understands it. I dont even know myself.

#8 Words better left unsaid - unfinished Another Neighbor Au Where Yami is a serial killer that partakes in weird human sacrifice rituals. Yugi is so dense however he doesnt notice it. Meanwile Yami keeps stalking him around, always knowing an excuse to be in the same place as Yugi. Eventually Yugi just takes him along because reasons he doesnt find suspicious at all. But having an infatuated serial killing stalker is a good thing when the world finds out you are in possession of an ancient artifact made of solid gold and everyone wants to kill you.

#9 Mirror Immage - unfinished (this is an old one) What if there was a life on the other side of the mirror that was the entire opposite of your own yet still looked exactly the same? And what if you fell through? What if your Mirror Immage was right beside you, instead of being a mere reflection? #10 We create this world - unfinished Based on an old fanfiction of mine called Need A Second to Breathe- basically it is a rewrite of this- In where Yami, Atem and the other egyptiantied cast are the incarnated gods of Egypt. Yami is not allowed to enter the Human world but does so anyway, finding Yugi. He uses his godlike powers to make Yugi happy and angers Atem further. However Atem once made the same mistake of falling in love with a human called Heba, and Yugi looking like Heba is not helping in the slightest. Yugi keeps having viseons of Heba, whos ghost has returned from the underworld, however at the terrible price of being possessed by an evil spirit. And yugi has to choose between giving up his body to save Heba, or not doing so, in turn losing Yami.

#11 A Shadow’s cast - unfinished I think I was either very tired or sick writing this one because it doesnt make any sense. Basically Yugi wakes to find a visitor in his home that is trying to hide from an organisation that is trying to hurt hus guest. Needs a desperate rewrite.

#12 The Cecaelia - unfinished but up for reading Here What do you do when you find a little creature out on the beach being attacked by seagulls? Chuck it back into the ocean, or take care of it? #13 Mob Boss Yugi - unfinished This kind of was based on Shiirojasmine’s 3 gods au and it sort of formed into my own concoction I suppose. An au where Yugi often blacks out and becomes Yami, one of the greatest mob bosses the world has ever seen. Mai and Joey being undercover agents. Yugi gets scared and writes letters to his other self, finding out that he is a mere puppet that is to serve Atem. Atem is being captured by an evil organisation and has year to pay all his depts using Yugi, or he will be killed. A heist takes place at school and Yugi can no longer determine wether he is a high school student or a wanted drugdealer.

#14 Beast Assylum - unfinished A creepy Au where Yugi and Atem have been subjected to Lycanthropy and are being locked away so they cant hurt any innocent people ever again. Instead they are being used to get rid of people society doesnt want and or need. Atem is a crybaby. Yugi has been planning his escape for a long time now, why has he started to care for the other, this was not supposed to happen! #15 Baby And a Pharo - unfinished A spoof fanfiction where Yugi solves a puzzle as a baby and somehow it is a portal to the past. The Egyptians think he is son or Ra and Atem takes Yugi under his wing. However Time in Yugis verse moves faster and He has to make the disission wether he wants to stay with Atem forever or not. #16 Two Necromancers - unfinished Two necromancers. A prince and a thief. They both get resurrected to life to stop big threat to the world.What the two necromancers didn't account for was that they were sworn enemies. #17 Darkness beast - unfinished This one is too long to explain so enjoy the short version Kaiba and Dartz open up a portal to a knight-and-dragon Era and get the kings of the land they opened the portal on at their sides, Dartz tries to provoke a war, Yugi tries to stop him, Atem goes missing and then Yugi has to take care of a shadow like creature, until Dartz decides to put it onto the chessboard and use it as a threath to Kaiba and his alliences.

#18 Demons - unfinished Demons. When the world discovered that demons could be summoned to do one’s bidding, they didn’t quite understand what that meant. People were naïve and greedy. And it wouldn’t be long before one would summon something that nobody could control. Basically Ludus’s origin story. Needs a good solid rewrite.

#19 Mewtwo Yami - unfinished A stupid crossover where Yami ends up being raised by Mewtwo, thinks he is a pokemon, meets Yugi and wants to compete in pokemon battles (bullies Yugi into being his trainer so he can compete) to prove he is the strongest “pokemon” to make Mewtwo proud of him.

#20 The Assylum - unfinished Another one of these fics. basically what you would expect. Yami has the ability to see monsters that disguise themselves as humans and exterminates them, Yugi thinks he is just a mentally sick, cold blooded killer. Truth is Yami is also a monster.

#21 Chasing You - unfinished Ai Atem gets the task to find Yugi, so Atem can hold him in his arms, but Ai Atem has his own sights set on Kaiba. Feeling conflicted because he is more than a mere replica. He is better than that real Atem! Yet he wants to know what Atem and Yugi’s relationship was like. Was it love? Is that what he is feeling?

#22 The God Bird Au - unfinished One Day Harpies descended from the skies to terrorize the little village that Yugi lives in. When one sets his sights on Yugi, the youngster ignores him. He has bigger problems than listening to the flirting of an overgrown bird. And who is this snowy owl-creature that sounds so familiar?

#23 He’s not a retard - unfinished What is it with me and Yami being a killer? oh dear... Yami is an intelectually impaired, wheelchair-ridden person however he is what goes bump in the night. Yugi is his caretaker and never bargained for any of his shit. Not the part where he saves a plane from getting hijacked, and not the part where they get stuck in a tomb in egypt!

#24 Yami’s Angel - unfinished I think this was like my first Yugioh Au Yami finds a small, unconcious Angel and befriends the little guy and takes care of him. Yugi loves strawberries and chaos ensues because Yugi ALWAYS gets lost in public places. Later in the story he finds out Ryou has the same problem. Except he has a little devil. #25 The Wheelchair Au - unfinished A combination of the two ideas above. Atem, after a suicidal attempt which caused him to lose both his legs and a finger, refuses to undergo any opperation which could make him use prostetic legs in order to walk again. With nobody to care for him, he stays at the hospital. However one night he hearsa small voice, which is Yugi, his guardian angel, and if they fuse, Atem regains his legs. However if they remain fused for longer than 3 hours, Yugi will disappear.

#26 Dancing in Eternal winter Yugi gets stuck on a mountain with a jock who doesnt understand any language Yugi knows. Spirit Animals are there to help. Yugi then realises that Yami is unable to reintigrate into society, because he has been living on his own all this time, surviving, and his spirit Animal would be much too dangerous. No matter how nice Gulo is.

#27 The Levitated Mansion - unfinished Atem Lives in a wealthy family and loves to look at the stars with his telescope. However one day he sees a levitated mansion, the owner of said mansion has an eye on him. #28 Shapeshifters - unfinished Yugi is working at an orphanage when he meets an old Ijiraat, a shapeshifter that you forget after seeing him. However the more time Yugi spends with him, the more he keeps remembering. #29 Sphinxson Yugi - unfinished Atem lives in a village that has deemed him crazy because he swears he sees monsters. Kaiba is a monster hunter and decides to exploit the scared youth. Yugi is a Sphinx that cant wait for his human grandfather to return, but how long has it been? Just a few days, right?

#30 Pokemon - unfinished Another Pokemon Au. Yugi is an Eevee that has been taken in by the Kaiba brothers, but after a mishap in the trophee room and Evolving into a Vaporeon, What will happen to the young pokemon? #31 We Are Not Alone - unfinished An Alien Refugee gets mistaken by the Egyptian people as a god, and teach him their ways, however another of his kind is on their way to kill him. Can Atem and Yugi fight this evil Alien or not? And Where is Atem’s family? #32 Safe and Sound - unfinished A comfort/hurt oneshot fic where Yugi scolds Yami for hurting people, even if it is for protecting him. Basically the idea was that this event is what made Yami stop his evil penalty games.

#33 On a hot summer night, would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red rose between his teeth - unfinished Yugi is a werewolf that mistakingly kills a sheep of Yami and Ryou’s farm. However Yami and Ryou do not seem to realise who their guest is until Yami finds Yugi’s bloodied clothes on the floor one day as he returns home. thinking th beast that fled out of the window devoured him whole. Yugi tries to keep running, not wanting Yami to know he is a beast, but Yami keeps hunting, dead on bringing the beast down. #34 Bone Datem - unfinished A schooltrip to Egypt turns into chaos when Yugi gets trapped into a tomb and tries to make his way out. However when he finds a living Mummy that follows him around and wants him to steal the millennium puzzle from the Museum, he finds himself in an even bigger hastle than he bargained for.

#35 Unnamed genderbend Yugi Blindshipping Au - unfinished Yami and Atem are two gang members that hate each other. However yami is a playboy and gets cursed by a witch. Everytime the sun is down he transforms into a girl. But this girl doesnt remember anything and thinks her name is Yugi. One time, yami does not get home in time and this leads to yugi meeting atem who instantly falls in love with her. Theres little things though like yami being able to see everything yugi does and sometimes controlling her body or mind. At one point when atem tries to kiss him, she punches him bc yami in no way is gonna kiss that bastard xD atem mistakes it as hes gone too far and yugi is just superconfused why she did that xD I already know what i want the end to be but its kind of a sad part on yami's part? Also there is a part where atem finds out yugi is actually yami or something

#36 The Superhero Au - unfinished Yugi is in a happy relationship with his boyfriend atem but what he doesnt know is that Atem is also the Supervillain Yami. And Atem himself has no control over it whatsoever. The rules of the world is that one who can summon strong monsters are either superheroes or villains. However Yami can only summon a small little Kuroboh, and giving Yugi more trouble than ever. Atem on the other hand claims he has never been able to summon a monster before.

#37 Demon boyfriend Atem This was supposedly a parody idea where Atem lost his temper way too quick and started yelling in a demonic voice (ind of like Aggretsuko lol) And Yugi wasnt really phased by it at all because at the end of the day he knows atem loves him xD Even if it scares his friends a little.

#38 I wanna steal your heart (and eat your brains) - unfinished Title was based on a song. Yugi is a zombie and has been dating Atem and chaos ensuess. Kaiba also is a zombie and has been experimenting on himself and discovered some odd perks of being a zombie. (honestlyno plot just shenanigans and lovers quarrels)

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sebeth · 6 years ago

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Young Justice: “Fears” and “Drop-Zone”

Warning, Spoilers Ahead…

Issue 6: “Fears”

We left off with Superboy declaring the thought of “destroying Superman” is constantly on his mind.

While Superboy’s teammates reel in shock, Dick decides to narrate his origin recap. But internally since Batman won’t let Dick share details about his personal life

We flashback to four years ago, the Flying Graysons (John, Mary, Dick, Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin John) were performing at Jack Haly’s Circus. Dick mentions he was nine-years old.

Dick mentions that “I never knew either of my grandfathers. They died a long time before I was born.” He also comments “I was the youngest of the troupe, so father said I wasn’t allowed to be involved with the most dangerous stunt the Flying Graysons performed.”

Dick continues “I was jealous of my older cousin, secretly wanting to be in his place. He would always mess up my hair and say ‘Don’t worry, squirt, you’ll get a chance sooner than you think. He always knew the right thing to say.”

We know what happens next: Zucco – tampered ropes – bodies hitting the floor.

“A lot of things happened after that. Most of them were a blur, even if I could concentrate, I didn’t think I would be able to say exactly what order things happened in. The next crystal-clear thing I do remember was Bruce Wayne.”

“My mother and father dead. My aunt and cousin dead. My uncle alive but paralyzed for the rest of his life. The only living family member I had was unable to take care of me.”

“Bruce Wayne came to my rescue and let me become part of his family.”

We know the rest – after training, Robin is born and Zucco is brought to justice.

This is the only instance I can recall of Dick having relatives other than his parents. Discounting generations-back Talons.

An odd choice to leave the uncle alive since he’s never mentioned again. The extent of the paralysis isn’t mentioned. Since it appears that gaining custody of Dick was never an option, I would assume the paralysis is from the neck down. It’s a safe bet that Bruce provided the best medical care for the uncle.

Poor Uncle Grayson. He lost his wife, child, brother, and sister-in-law! And, as an aerialist, he is now paralyzed. All in one night. Talk about your worst nightmare coming true. I wonder if Dick maintained contact with his uncle. He could use the support but he was dealing with multiple traumas and depression – would he have even wanted to see his nephew?

Wally interrupts Dick’s ruminations: “Robin, did you hear what he said? He just said that he wants to take down Superman!”

Superboy clarifies: It’s how I feel…sometimes. What if that’s why I was created? What if that was the only reason I was created? I just feel…I don’t know what I feel. Sometimes…thoughts happen.”

Dick agrees Conner has a valid point: “We really don’t know anything about what they did to him yet.”

Wally defends his friend: “We know he’s one of the good guys and we know he’s part of this team. In my world, actions speak louder than words. Superboy has proven his intentions with actions.”

Wally checks in with his other pal: “Hey, what’s with you? Not like you to zone out like that.”

Dick admits to being lost in thought.

The writers seem to be taking a nod from the Justice League cartoon and are establishing Wally as the heart of the team.

Wally asks Megan about her story. Megan gives a few selective details:

· Martians live underground as the surface is uninhabitable.

· Family lives are very entwined.

· Martians mostly communicate telepathically.

· Telepathy helps large Martian families maintain a sense of community.

· Martian families are usually quite large.

· Megan has 12 sisters, 17 brothers, and over 300 cousins.

· M’gann mentions that Martians are green, white, or red.

· Megan claims that her parents were green Martians and she was raised in a liberal environment.

· “Others were not as tolerant and the treatment of white Martians was especially horrible.

· M’gann states that she was the closest to uncle J’onn: “We had a great relationship.”

· We discover J’onn is the most famous Martian in history: “He grew to be a true beacon of hope and stood for what our society could achieve. Upon his return to Mars it was declared a day of planetwide celebration. When he came back it was not just for adulation. He also had a specific purpose in mind. Having learned about all of you, J’onn decided now was the time to introduce a younger Martian hero to earth. J’onn J’onzz came to Mars and decided he would hold a competition to find the next Martian champion that would be returning with him to fly among the heroes of earth.”

· Megan enters the contest – very shades of Wonder Woman and wins.

· “At first, Uncle J’onn seemed as if he didn’t want me to compete.”

M’gann has revised significant parts of her background as we discover later in the season.

I wish we knew more of J’onn’s Young Justice background. In the traditional comic book-verse, J’onn is the sole surviving Green Martian accidentally brought to earth by a scientist. The Green Martians were wiped out by a telepathic plague. White Martians were imprisoned/banished before the plague but small numbers turn up to cause trouble for J’onn and the Justice Legue at various points. White Martians are very barbaric and warlike. “Red martians” are an alien species found on Titan/Saturn – the most famous member is Jemm, Son of Saturn.

Taking Megan’s account at face value – which is hard as she is a very skilled liar – it seems as if Martians are thriving on their home planet. The white Martians don’t seem to have been banished or imprisoned but are not accepted by the green and red Martians.

I’m assuming the white Martians are still very barbaric and warlike which causes their isolation.

Megan states she was raised in a “liberal environment”. Does this mean her parents were White Martian versions of hippies – make love, not war. If her parents did adopt a more peaceful approach it could explain their isolation from the white contingent and the suspicion of the red/green groups.

M’gann’s White Martian nature explains her lax morals when it comes to her telepathic powers. The White Martians abuse of their powers was one of the main divides between the greens and whites. Assuming Megan’s parents left the “white nature” behind it doesn’t mean they were instructed in the strict guidelines the green/red follow. If the parent isn’t taught, it becomes hard to instill it into their children.

Megan’s desperation to escape her environment – and her hero worship of J’onn – is easy to see. The later reveal of Megan’s White Martian adds another layer of “J’onn didn’t seem to want me to compete”. It’s important to note that the other competitors were all green Martians. Megan, of course, is drawn as green as the big reveal hadn’t happened yet in the cartoon.

I’m curious if the White Martians ever attacked the Justice League in the YJ-universe? It’s the only reason I can think of as for why Megan is so desperate to have everyone believe she is a green Martian. Otherwise, there could be a whole rainbow’s worth of Martian colors – no one on Earth is going to know. It would also explain why J’onn brings in M’gann as his “niece”. It would eliminate any wariness the members of the Justice League might have about a White Martian being on their protégé’s team.

Does M’gann really have that huge a family? As I said earlier, she’s a very convincing liar prone to living in her own fantasy life – is this extensive family yet another lie/fantasy? Does her parents’ “liberal environment” cause her to be ostracized from this extended family?

Finally, how did J’onn arrive on earth? Was he accidentally transported by a scientist or did he arrive on earth as an explorer/ambassador? Is his wife and daughter still alive? How long was J’onn away from Mars before he returned?

The issue ends with a Cadmus flashback. Superboy dreams of confronting and killing an out-of-control Superman. A scientist informs Roland that the dreaming Superboy has cracked another containment pod.

Roland orders the scientist to “Keep him under and get a new containment pod in here!”

Another scientist comments “What the G-Gnomes make him see must be pretty real to him.”

We return to the camp fire as Superboy ruminates: “These are my thoughts. This is what they put in my brain. I remember…this is why I was created.”

We now return to “Drop Zone”. I mentioned the apparent time screw-up in an earlier post. Kobra’s invasion of Santa Prisca begins on June 19th. The next scene has Young Justice headed to Santa Prisca on June 21st – almost a month before the team actually formed.

I’m going with the assumption that June 21st was meant to be July 21st. Otherwise, we would have 1) missed a whole year’s worth of the team’s adventures, and 2) it only took the Justice League 48 hours to discover the Light’s plans for Santa Prisca. The Light would have a hard time passing itself off as criminal masterminds if they can’t even keep a plot secret for 48 hours.

Robin recalls Batman’s instructions to the team: “This is a covert and recon mission only. Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will.”

Robin asks the important question: “So who’s in charge?”

Batman and Red Tornado glance at each other: “Work that out between two.”

Robin’s smirk indicates he believes he should be in charge.

Dick put Bruce in an awkward position. Bruce can only feel one of two ways: 1) He believes Dick should be in charge but doesn’t want to “play favorites” or 2) He doesn’t feel Dick is ready but doesn’t want to tell him that in front of the others.

Covert costumes make their first appearances.

“No capes. No tights. No offense.” – Superboy doesn’t need your stealth tech, thank you very much. And all he needs to do is switch his shirt inside out in order to achieve stealth mode.

“It totally works for you.” – Megan is as subtle as Wally when it comes to flirting.

“Knew I didn’t need a line.”

“And yet creating a seismic event may not have helped us much with the covert.”

Give Conner a break – he’s still figuring out the extent of his abilities.

Conner and Wally aren’t well-suited for “covert” – they don’t have the temperament for it.

“Did you hear that?”

“You do have great ears?” – Wally and Megan need to have a flirting contest – points given if they actually achieve the “subtle” art of flirtation.

Aqualad, dropped off at a different point on the island, is the only one attempting to come up with/adhere to the plan. Dick’s already splintered off to do his own thing and Wally’s totally going to follow the plan as soon as he “finds Rob”.

Bane and his henchmen are having a shootout with Kobra operatives. Wally stumbles into it: “So much for the stealthy.”

Superboy jumps into the brawl. Bane tries a power attack but discovers it doesn’t work on a Kryptonian. Poor Bane is having a horrible time this episode – his strength is one of his top assets but this is the second time it’s failed him. It must be humbling to think of yourself as a physically powerful man only to discover you can’t compete with the real powerhouses of the DC Universe.

Robin launches into the fray: “What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert? Why didn’t you follow my lead, vanish into the jungle?”

To be fair, the Flashes don’t do covert – they are brightly colored heroes much loved by the public. Superboy is fresh out of the containment pod and doesn’t have the temperament or training for covert missions. Miss Martian’s powers are perfect for these situations but she’s a total newbie plus her entire race consists of telepaths – is “covert” even a concept on Mars?

Wally explains to Robin that they’re not mind readers – they didn’t know Dick’s plans.

Megan pipes in: “You told me I could only read the bad guy’s minds.”

Aqualad reunites with the group.

Robin recognizes the Kobra goons’ outfits. Kaldur and Dick agree Batman wasn’t aware of Kobra’s presence on Santa Prisca. Batman had to suspect something was different on the island. Why else would he send in the team – Bane has been running Santa Prisca/producing Venom since before he “broke the bat”. Unless this mission was only supposed to be a “training wheels exercise” in covertness.

Wally says it’s time to radio Bats: “Mission accomplished>

Dick disagrees: “These cultists aren’t on venom. Kobra’s hoarding the stuff. We don’t leave. Not until I know why.”

Wally and Dick argue over who should be leader of the team. Wally correctly points out that Dick is only 13-years old and ducked out on the rest of the group as soon as they arrived on the island. Dick counter claims that Wally isn’t that mature at 15-years old.

The boys continue to bicker. Superboy makes it clear that he has no desire to be a leader. Miss Martian forfeits herself due to the Mr. Twister fiasco.

A tied-up Bane and henchmen discuss plans while Dick and Wally continue to argue. Superboy overhears and the small smile on his face indicates Conner understands Spanish.

Wally and Dick wrap up their argument:

“Duh. You’re not Batman.”

“Duh. Closest thing you got.”

Bane bursts out laughing at this point: “Such clever ninos.”

Yeah, arguing like a pair of toddlers doesn’t help your credibility with bad guys. And in front of one of your dad’s villains! Shame, Dick! You know Bane’s bringing it up to Bruce the next time they fight.

Miss Martian attempts to read Bane’s mind but he’s “not that easy”: “He’s mentally reciting football scores en Espanol.” The moment is a testament to Megan’s youth and inexperience as a resident of earth. J’onn wouldn’t have been dissuaded by the “foreign language” trick.

Bane proposes the old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” routine.

Bane and the team head to the factory. Dick is still throwing jabs at Wally’s expense. Wally again calls out Dick on his behavior: “A real leader would focus on getting answers.”

Dick is rather petty but he is only 13-years old. Not the most mature time of anyone’s life.

The group enter the Venom factor via a secret entrance. Robin promptly disappears.

Bane: “Has the young fool already been caught?”

A resigned Aqualad: “No, he just does that.”

Kid Flash decides he’ll get the intel and be back before Robin. Ignoring Kaldur’s “Wait”, Wally speeds off.

A sarcastic Bane: “Great chain of command.”

Robin and Kid Flash are in a control center, looking at chemical compounds. Wally’s love of science is demonstrated as he recognizes one chemical compound as Venom and the other one as the Blockbuster formula from Cadmus. The two combined make a powerful combination – and a permanent one.

Sportsmaster arrives on the island. Yes, the Sportsmaster! He’s a rather obscure Golden Age villain that I don’t even think has been used in the comics since the All-Star Squadron/Young All-Stars/Infinity Inc days. I’ve mentioned before that I love the creators’ knowledge and fondness of the complete scope of the DC Universe – this is just another example.

Off topic, the main reason I hate re-boots and re-sets are because of all the characters and elements of the DC Universe that are lost every single time. It’s the same reason I hate all the senseless deaths in comics. Boo to all of that!

Did the Justice Society and its respective foes still debut in the World War II era? Or was their debut pushed into a later decade – say the 1970s or 1980s? Sportsmaster is looking rather young for a non-meta who debuted in World War II. Not that aging is a problem for comic book universes – with all the magic, chemicals, radiation, and cosmic craziness it wouldn’t take much to explain the slow-aging of every inhabitant on earth.

Miss Martian spies on Kobra and Sportsmaster’s conversation. Aqualad attempts to reach the Justice League but the coms are jammed. Kaldur decides they need a plan.

Bane: “I have a suggestion.” Bane leaps down and starts fighting Kobra henchmen.

Mammoth storms into the factory but finds Superboy isn’t as easy a target as Bane.

Bane leaves the chaotic scene.

Wally and Dick enter the fray. Miss Martian telepathically links the team. Robin has – once again – disappeared from the scene. Robin intercepts Shimmer and Lord Kobra at their helicopter. Kaldur demands Robin return – and, surprisingly, Dick listens.

Kaldur orders a strategic retreat.

Dick wonders “How could my first mission as team leader go so wrong?”

Kaldur diplomatically points out: “You do have the most experience. But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman, your roles are defined. You two do not need to talk. But this team is new. And a leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play parts in an unknown plan.”

Dick completely misses the point: “So I’m supposed to hold everybody’s hands.”

Dick doesn’t take criticism well. Not even the constructive kind.

Dick concedes: “You lead us, Kaldur. You’re the only one who can.”

Superboy chimes in with “Could have told you.” I’m guessing Conner thought Kaldur was the leader the entire time.

Kaldur graciously accepts, informing Dick “I accept the burden until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now but soon.” Kaldur’s not only the team leader but the team diplomat.

Lord Kobra finds his helicopter has been sabotaged.

Bane betrays the team. Shocking, I know.

Bane monologues while Aqualad devises a plan. Bane discovers he’s horribly outmatched against Young Justice including receiving a one-punch knockout from Superboy. The day has not been a good one for Bane’s ego.

Young Justice storm Kobra and his henchmen. Lord Kobra orders Sportsmaster to leave with the shipment. Sportsmaster is very perceptive as he’s gotten the drop on an invisible Megan twice in this episode. Kid Flash claims another souvenir.

Robin battles Kobra but is outmatched. Aqualad puts down Mammoth – a nice testament to Kaldur’s skill. Sportsmaster keeps Miss Martian and Superboy occupied which should be a nice testament to his skill but feels a bit ridiculous. He shouldn’t be able to last two seconds against a Kyrptonian or a Martian much less both at once.

Sportsmaster escapes in a helicopter but Megan planted an explosive device causing the copter to crash.

Lord Kobra now faces the entire Young Justice team and decides to exit stage left: “Another time then”. The team simply stands there and lets him escape?

Batman reads the team the riot act: “A simple recon mission. Observe and report. You’ll each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. Until then…good job. No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust to the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you choose who leads determines character.”

Sportsmaster meets with the Light: “All I recovered is a single ampoule of the Kobra venom.”

The Light intones “Enemies of the Light must not stand.”

One member of the Light is speaking French. I’m blanking on French bad guys in the DC Universe – the only ones I can recall are Monsieur Mallah, Madame Rogue, and Warp.

#Young Justice #Dick Grayson #Miss Martian #Aqualad #Superboy #Kid Flash #Robin #Wally West #Conner Kent #Bane #Sportsmaster #Kon-El

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marshmallow-fireside-keith · 6 years ago

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Pregnant Keith Fic Catalogue

(Mobile Edition)

About this list:

This list is meant to be an exhaustive, one-stop-shop for those looking for pregnant Keith (in the Sheith pairing, for now. I am open to other pairings if people would like this) fics. This is NOT a recc list. This is a catalogue. The works on this list are not sorted by taste, nor user, nor bias. Like a library catalogue, every fic (that I have been made aware of/ found) that contains the premise ‘pregnant Keith’ in some fashion is included. This list took hours sorting through multiple tags, so that you, the reader do not have to. If a fic is missing, please let me know, as this is meant to be an updated post. The ONLY reason it would be missing would be me not finding it, messing up, or not knowing about it. Any and all fics are welcome here, as long as they meet the basic content requirement of pregnant Keith.

If you see your fic on here and want it taken down, or edited, please also let me know!

Thank you all! Let me know if you’d like an Omega Keith version of this. That will take considerably longer, but if y’all want it, I’m happy to put it together.

Current as of: July 9, 2018

Omega-Zero by PackThePack @packthepack

It’s not easy, feeling like a stranger on your own body. It is confusing and throat-tying. It makes you want to crawl out of your skin, while wanting to crawl inside as much as possible. Small enough so you would almost disappear. It is hazy and cold, and it is shallow. The feeling of being left alone with yourself without a way to escape was no tender company. But right now it was the only company Keith had.

The Moon Hangs Low by newtype @?

While traveling with the Blade of Marmora recovering Zarkon's former territory, Keith reaches the cusp of Galran maturity as soon-to-be fertile omega. Concerned for his well-being, Ulaz sends Shiro with Keith to an isolated sanctuary bathhouse to observe his heats. Accepting the offer, the two finally find themselves with the privacy they've been long waiting for.

Skip the Pleasentries by FullmetalReborn @omggiogiothings

Staring at the cow on the other end of the pregnancy test, giving him a creepy smile with white luscious hair, (Pidge had some damn weird tastes but the saint actually went to purchase them for him so he couldn't complain) makes him want to strangle past him. Pidge sat down by his starfished body and looked at the stick (‘I peed on it. Please don't put it so close to your face.’) “Looks like you have a little gremlin.”

Within These Final Hours by orphan_account

Okay so, I've been writing this for the past three weeks and now that it's done I can finally start posting and writing my OTHER Voltron fic. As someone who has watched the old Voltron series, I was both excited and slightly unnerved when I heard the show was being remade. Remakes tend to be pretty awful... But thankfully, this one is pretty damn awesome. The second season is making me nervous though...Swear if anything happens to Shiro, I'm gonna lose it.

Anyway, I'll post chapters twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Pretty standard Omega!Verse fic, as well as some Galra!Kieth stuff... But yeah, I can't promise any specific time, probably going to be around noon usually - Chicago time zone -, but I just finished proofreading chapter one - with some slight revision - and I decided to post it now. But here, take this sin, there will be smut in later chapters. This entire fic will be completely posted by the 20th.

I should have the next one finished and I can start posting a new fic. I hope you guys enjoy, constructive criticism is welcomed but please be kind with your words. I tend to react badly to cruel words.

I am also in dire need of a beta! If anyone is interested, please contact me at [email protected]

Thanks everyone, I'm excited to finally start sharing my works. Remember, I am but a smol 16 year old, so my writing style is sill in development. I am by no means a professional and I do not intend on chasing a profession in this field. This is for fun and I would like to keep it that way.

Bearing by Jibbly @jibblyuniverse

Maybe the pressure of being leader of Voltron is getting to him.

All of these thoughts are in the back of his mind, when Kolivan calls for help.

His resources are thinning out, and he asks for a lion. Keith offers himself instead. Much to the surprise of the team. Shiro standing in the center of the control deck with a look of disappointment in his eyes.

Kolivan hesitates, before agreeing to letting Keith come to train at the Blade of Mamora.

Day Eleven: Peridot by bandgeek1stbassclarinet

Peridots are traditionally given to celebrate 16 years of marriage.

He can't bake, but he'd be a hell of a dad. by Golden_Asp @?

Keith and Shiro have been trying for a baby since returning to Earth. Maybe this heat will be the one that it finally happens.

ABO AU, post saving the universe.

Lonely Star by keithyourpal @keithyourpal

Takashi's death brings Ryou and Keith together, and in the following year they help each other make peace and rebuild their lives--until Keith goes missing.

Two Plus Twins by NoNotThat

Prequel to Twins Plus One!

Shiro and Keith are going to be parents and Shiro has to deal with mood swings first hand.

Akira by Tay (erentitanjaeger) @?

Shiro returns home to his mate and one-day old child.

Cursed by Al_D_Baran @?

Keith investigates to find the Beast that terrorises his husband's lordship.

Miracles and Blessings by Gootbuttheichou@?

My Sheithlentines gift for Pinfuyu/XuanPinku!

If the Silence Takes You by keithyourpal@keithyourpal

Sven recovers after helping Team Voltron secure the trans-reality comet. Desperate to get back into the line of duty, his recklessness leads to his capture by the Alteans.

You Fight with a Galra Soldier by laterie @babe-in-red

Keith is not able to fight, but Shiro certainly is.

The Reasons I Scream at Night by ThirteenSocks @safeautistickeith

Shiro is a veteran returning from a year in captivity and trying to piece his life back together. Keith is an immigrant from the stars. They meet at the café Keith works at. But no sooner have they fallen in love does Shiro accidentally get Keith pregnant.

Between Shiro dealing with his PTSD and Keith with his adjusting to the new culture, the two find they must lean on each other to navigate having a baby on the way.

But life is never so simple, as their pasts come back to haunt them, and the war everyone thought was over was only just beginning.

Arc: Sine: Chapter 1-29 Complete

Arc: Cosine: Chapter 31-?

Reasons .5 by ThirteenSocks @safeautistickeith

Shiro curved his left palm around the jut of a hip. His thumb nearly reaches halfway across the small back, the rest of his fingers getting brushed a heavy cock that bounces with his thrusts. He took another risk that ”mentally present” him would soon enough chastise himself for. He threaded metals fingers through the base of Keith’s thick, silky braid, and jerked back. Keith cried out again. Using the new leverage, Shiro drew him back like a bow; hauling his hips upwards as far as they would go, and creating the dip in his back by the grip on his hair.

Strip Me of Shame by laterie @babe-in-red

"Don't do this to me."

Keith’s anger launched a disaster. His need to find the answers is rising to the point, where Shiro is losing his control over the Red Paladin and their lives. A whole new universe is opening for Keith. Will he find his real home?

Aurulent by drrkrbbt @?

An "accident" in the middle of the night turns a lot more interesting than Keith had expected.

The Long Way Back by fio @?

As a gladiator, and now Champion, Shiro has given up hope of ever returning to Earth. But when his captors deliver his 'prize'—an omega, a descendant of both Galran and Altean blood used by the Galra to breed with the strongest aliens they capture—he's offered a chance to escape.

There's just one catch: Shiro has to get him pregnant to do it.

Happy Accidents by ShirosRedKnight (SweetFanfics) @shirosredknight

Keith’s never understood the term ‘happy accident’. It’s too much of an oxymoron because how can an accident be happy? It just didn’t seem possible.

But that was before now.

Weekend at Pidge’s by chocolatemoosey @chocolatemoosey

Keith took Shiro gently by the jaw and pulled him into a kiss, “She’s fine. Hunk and Lance are there with her – between the three of them, I think things are gonna be okay.”

Meanwhile, at the other paladins' house: “THINGS ARE DEFINITELY NOT OKAY."

Pidge, Lance, and Hunk have offered to watch Keith and Shiro's toddler for a night while the couple celebrates their anniversary. Add a hostage situation to the mix and things go about as well as expected.

Inherit the Stars by Masrrkan @souais

It's time that Keith moved on with life, one that was full of happiness, his husband, and his son.

(Fic was originally posted before s5. So no Lotor or Matt. This is canon divergent past s4 and doesn't fully mesh with the current story in the show.)

A Single Step by bouquetofwhoopsiedaisies @bouquetofwhoopsiedaises

After the war with the Galra Empire finished, Keith and Shiro settled down on a nice planet together and started a small, happy family. Then, their daughter was kidnapped, and they spent years searching for her. When they find her, she is scared and volatile, a feral creature that needs to be taught how to trust again. Luckily, her dads are ready to help her every step of the way, even if those steps are slow to come. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Gredelin by AccordionOwl @accordionowl

A story about how Shiro and Keith deepening their relationship and Keith realizing something about his galra heritage as things starts to happen to his body.

The Beast That Eats Its Tail by kittypox @kittypox

Retiring from the coalition is easier said than done, even in Keith's condition. Even with his mighty alpha mate protecting him, he somehow still manages to get caught in the midst of the coalition's war with the rebel group, The Hand of Krell. Time is not on the coalition's side as they struggle to squash the power vacuum and discover how the paladins are linked to the mysterious beast the rebels worship. Keith does not know what this 'Beast That eats It Tail' is and why the rebels are so keen on feeding him to it, but he does not intend on finding out.

Leaving It All Behind bykittypox @kittypox

There are reasons to turn from war. Settled in his stomach, Keith finds his one reason to not only turn from the war effort, but to abandon Voltron and his mate.

#sheith #voltron #keith #pregnant keith #omega keith #pregnant keith fic catalogue #pkfc #pkfc mobile #fics #writing

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kaitkerrigan · 7 years ago

Text

HOW TO RETURN HOME - The Millennial Problem

I really pushed myself into a corner this weekend when I promised a teacher that I’d write about “How to Return Home”. Most of you don’t know the history of this song, which is a pandora’s box.

I’ve long been planning to write a post about THE FRESHMAN EXPERIMENT. At the time of conception, this is how we defined it:

living musical ['liv[ng] 'myü-zi-k&l]

a musical based on the lives of living people

a musical existing in real time

a musical created on the internet by the award-winning writing team Kerrigan and Lowdermilk based on the lives of two young bloggers as they share the story of their freshman years of college

I’ll leave it at that for now and come back to this in depth in another post.

ChristineCoke, the handle of one of the freshman writers, was an incredible voice. She wrote these earnest and beautiful posts that flowed into some of my favorite songs that we’ve ever written: Last Week’s Alcohol My Heart Is Split (and you guessed it) How to Return Home.

It’s funny how memory works. I had created a fiction about exactly what we got from ChristineCoke when she first wrote about going back to her home for Thanksgiving break, but I just went back to our website archive and found this (and everything else you’re about to dig into):

I pulled my luggage into a house that is exactly how I’d left it - dirty and empty with a silence that gently hummed in my ears. There was no one to greet me so I ran up the stairs calling out the names of my siblings and mothers. More silence and peeling wallpaper.

And this is how I wanted to return home. My barefeet sliding along the wood floors as my cat criss crosses her way through my legs. To sit on my bed and wrap myself up in the thin blanket that could barely warm me during the winter months. Slowly, I came back into a place that I hadn’t truly thought about until I was five minutes away.

Eventually my brothers and sisters came filtering in and our home had a pulse again. Then Mamajay came and I ran to her before she had time to open the door.

I had a three minute fight with my brother today. It feels great to be here.

A couple weeks after this first post, Brian posted this - with audio that I can’t find:

hey it’s brian. so i wrote this thing while i was home for thanksgiving and didn’t have a chance to post it until now. i played it for kait at some point and she was pretty underwhemed - possibly for good reason. the lyrics aren’t great, and they depart a lot from what CC was talking about. but this is emotionally what spoke to me, and i think the music might be interesting. (sidebar: lots of time kait and i start out with a song that i write music and lyrics to and then she swoops in and redoes the lyric) So these may be dummy lyric, and i may also just start from scratch musically on something else. Particularly because while I was home for t-giving my sister and i listened to a lot of dashboard confessional. so in addition to a) being a song fragment and b) not very good, this is also potentially c) a little too much like a dashboard song. wow. yea. but i definitely think there’s something to be done w/ the phrase “How To Return Home.” And this is certainly something…

“I’m pulling my luggage into a house that is dirty and empty A house that is just how I’d left it Dirty and empty and silent. A silence that’s gently humming in my ears. And I’m waiting for you to come rush down the stairs. I’m calling, I’m waiting, I’m watching the driveway. Hoping that something is still the same. I’m calling, I’m calling your name.

I guess I’m learning How long I’ve been gone I guess I’d forgotten I miss these walls Now I’m relearning everything All about silence And how to return home”

Brian says I was underwhelmed but it was a long time ago, so I don’t actually remember. Isn’t it weird to imagine the songs that never were? I bet that my response was more to the music than to the lyric. As he said, I often would change the lyrics anyway. I do remember both of us really struggling over how to use the hook. How do you put “how to return home” into a sentence. It sounds like a recipe title, not a song hook. I remember really arguing over how it could function in the song.

Anyway, the next significant step was Brian again and this wasn’t until February (so I bet we had some off-line conversations):

Okay, so here’s a new version of How To Return Home I’m trying, music first. There’s a PDF and a terrible scratch vocal of me singing. Not sure how much this will mean to anyone, but hopefully Kait will write some lyrics - and then the whole thing will mean a bit more!Happy February everybody…

He posted music that is EXACTLY the music that makes up the verse and chorus of the song now. That is magic to me. It’s one thing to piece together the perfect words, but to somehow knit together the language of a melody into something iconic and memorable - and in one go? How do you do that???

Then the writing started to pick up speed. A week later also in February I posted this:

Here are the lyrics to at least the first draft of the beginning of “How to Return Home”:

Your bare feet sliding on the old wooden floorboards, Home at last and silent but still you’re shaken, like walking into a museum, somehow out of time. It’s all the same except the girl in the hallway, Where she’s been and who she will ripen into, Your childhood’s on the other side of a gulf to damn wide to climb.

Take silent breath. Hold in the change. Tell yourself you still live here. It’s the only way you’ll get through this holiday. Count the hours. Pick some flowers. Make a nice bouquet.

Clearly, the dumby lyrics come at the end, but I’m still not sure about the entire chorus. I’m kind of thinking that it probably changes based on whatever happens at the end of the chorus. Plus, it has to work throughout the song, right Bri? This probably doesn’t change each time since it’s such a pop chorus. Perhaps 2 lines change - the “it’s the only way to get through…” which I would assume will change too. And I’m pretty sold that we want something more like “get through this day” with the three notes on day.

Anyway, this is where the song is at currently. Updates to arrive throughout the weekend. I think I’ll have the whole thing done by Sunday or Monday at the latest.

You guys, this is where you get to see our baby pictures - or my baby pictures. I vlogged this lyric in 2008, so quite literally ten years ago. Kudos for me for not giving a good goddamn about my hair or anything. This was before the days of vloggers really. We were early adopters to be sure and so I had little awareness of the idea that looking presentable might be, er, helpful to our cause.

youtube

Oh my god, did you watch it? Those pre-mac days were rough, let me tell you. We definitely hadn’t figured out how to use the hook yet. A week or two off-line, where we inevitably went back and forth on that hook (and the occasional pop-misaccent of “how to REturn home” which gave me agitas). But here comes another draft on March 1st in a post called “HOW TO REVISE”:

I feel pretty good about this one. I’m not going to sing it for you today - unless I miraculously learn how to play the guitar (doubtful). My changed lines are in italics.

Before you read on, I feel like I need to say something about perfect rhymes. I’ve been thinking about them a lot because this song both begs for them and also eschews them if they aren’t precisely what you mean. So I’ve definitely struck a bit of a deal with them - borrowing from pop, country, folk, and musical theater to figure out what to do where. But as I thought about these things and did my research, I’ve come to the conclusion that perfect rhymes are having a resurgence. Surprising, I know. Nothing ever seemed more lame or unlikely until lyrics became virtually unmemorizable and rap reclaimed rhyme’s significance. In addition to the rappers (too many to mention but Eminem and Blackalicious still being among some of my favorites for clever - without sacrificing meaning for the sake of - rhyme), the popularity of Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, and new to my itunes line up Vampire Weekend (thanks Rachel Lowdermilk!) all mark a significant upswing in real rhyming’s trendiness. Of course, none of these writers act like hall monitors on the subject. We musical theater writers still have that all to ourselves - remarkably we act like narcs about it whether pro or con.

Now, back to the previously scheduled reveal of new lyrics! I think this is really fun to sing Brian’s melody. We will, of course, test drive sometime this week.

How to Return Home

Your bare feet sliding on the old wooden floorboards, Home just as you left it but still you’re shaken, like walking into a museum somehow out of time. It’s all the same except the girl in the hallway, Where she’s been and who she will ripen into, Your childhood’s on the other side of a sprawling divide… too wide.

Take silent breath. Hold in the change. Tell yourself you still live here. Take your bags upstairs. It’s the only way you’ll get through today. Count the hours. Take a shower. Wash yourself away.

The house is pulsing with an alien heartbeat, Was it always here but you never listened? It’s calling you to be the girl that you were way back then… again.

Take a silent breath. Hold in the change. Tell yourself you still live here. Take your bags upstairs. Put away your clothes, take it nice and slow.

Be their daughter. Nothing’s harder when nobody knows

How to return home, and how to survive, There’s no written guidelines. How to go back, How to show up and unpack. How to show up.

How to grow up. How to take a breath. Take a silent breath. Hold in the change. Tell yourself you still live here. Take your bags upstairs. You still share a name

But you’re not the same. You don’t fight now. You don’t hide now. It’s a whole new way of how to return home.* How to return home. How to return home.

Your bare feet sliding on the old wooden floorboards, home just as you left it but still you’re shaken.

*I originally had “It’s a whole new game. How to return home.” Which I’m pretty sure I don’t like but sometimes I get something right and then go straight past it. This adds a pick up before the “how” but I think the meaning is much better and it’s a little less played out / more unexpected and leads to a better conclusion for the song. The only other thing that I tried and rejected is replacing “Take a shower. Wash yourself away.” with “Only hours. Teach yourself to pray.”

Thoughts?

It’s nice and rare when you get a resounding yes to the thing you made. How sweet to have that back and forth captured in the comments:

BRIAN: wow that’s gorgeous. i’ll write more, and probably sing it back to everyone either later tonight or tomorrow morning. amazing work, kait. KAIT: Maybe tomorrow after the cap thing? I’ll bring my camera. Maybe they’ll let us steal a piano for a bit? BRIAN: since we had plans for natalie weiss to make a recording for us anyway, want to ask her to do this? later this week? and yes, let’s record tomorrow. this thing f-ing rocks. KAIT: Maybe. Let’s mull it over as we sing through it today.

Oh, Brian and Kait, you so-n-sos. Always so on brand. Kait ever cautiously low-key, Brian so deeply enthusiastic and raring to go.

Do you care about any of this? All of this is about how a song got written, not about how it landed itself as a center piece of THE BAD YEARS. What is THE BAD YEARS? A song cycle? An immersive house party? Both? What does that have to do with the alien heartbeat of this house and ChristineCoke?

Everything. “How To Return Home” found its way into a song cycle we made called TALES FROM THE BAD YEARS, which was the brainchild of a conversation that we had with a licensing company that wanted us to make something commercial that could go directly to licensing. Would that not have been lovely? It didn’t pan out. But the idea that we hit - to write a show about the people around us - the generation of millennials who would never fulfill their parents’ American Dream, did pan out and evolve.

“How To Return Home” was always one of the songs that felt like a linchpin to these songs and as we built it out, it became something that parents of millennials would hear and grab us by the arm and say “Thank you for telling me what my daughter is going through. She just moved back in after college.” We realized that in writing something a bit broader than just about coming home for Thanksgiving break, we were writing about the larger lack of employment after college, the depression of a generation who didn’t have the opportunities that they assumed they’d have. We leaned into this.

When we had the opportunity to take TALES FROM THE BAD YEARS and turn it into an immersive house party, this song was both beguiling and bewildering. It does not take place at a house party. But the sensation of being at your family’s home in the center of a party can be beautifully transfixing. The song became a centerpiece for Rachel’s arc.

Rachel was an optimistic and ambitious millennial who’s surprised to discover that the world wasn’t waiting for her. She is one of the youngest at the party and she is just beginning to realize that she’s going to have to claw her way into the world rather than have it handed to her. In more recent drafts, the house has actually become more and more of a character. The history of the house is also oppressive. This is a place where some bad things happened and it’s going to be destroyed. But right now, Rachel is facing her own nostalgia smashed up against the glass of her reality.

Ultimately, “How to Return Home” is about the simple sensation of walking into a house after having grown up there and feeling like the whole place is smaller, different. The fun house affect of your reality having outgrown your childhood cocoon. I moved around a lot. I haven’t been back to a single place that I grew up except my grandmother’s house. Every time I walk in, I’m struck by how low the ceilings are, how small the kitchen is, how narrow that backyard that contained my fantasies is. Once upon a time, my whole world could fit inside that kitchen. I remember a graduation party (something that I also can barely believe ever happened - my grandmother entertaining) and sliding past adults through the back door to get to the refrigerator. But even as I say that, my memory is wavering. She remodeled her kitchen a few years ago and moved the back stairs and I have to consciously conjure that old set up. My memory has transformed to adjust to her new layout. I remember a couch that was long and s shaped in her music room. The room is so small. Where exactly did it go? Memory is so slippery but the visceral feelings you have when you return to a site of your childhood - especially the dark looming ones - is not. It’s immediate and pulsing and both familiar and alien at once.

The question of how to return home is really a question of how to hold onto your slippery sense of self when you’re just discovering who you are and I think the answer (or at least the answer that we landed on in this song) is mindfulness - mindfully telling yourself to breath, to hold in the things you know to be true about yourself in spite of all of the old neural pathways that are lighting up with triggers.

#musical theater #how to return home #natalie weiss #caissie levy #laura osnes #kerrigan lowdermilk #kait kerrigan #songwriting #new musical theater #the freshman experiment #freshx #behind the lyrics

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mikeo56 · 5 years ago

Link

Dorothy Parker’s reputation as one of the premier wits of the 20th century rests firmly on the brilliance of her writing, but the image of her as a plucky, fast-talking, independent woman of her times owes more than a little to her seat at the legendary Algonquin Round Table. Jonathan Goldman explores the beginnings of the famed New York group and how Parker's determination to speak her mind — even when it angered men in positions of power — gave her pride of place within it.

Dorothy Parker lost her job as Vanity Fair theater critic on January 11, 1920, in the tea room of the Plaza Hotel. Parker must have known there was trouble brewing as she sat down across from editor Frank Crowninshield. She had been in hot water for months. Her latest column had been a particularly biting one. Reviewing The Son-Daughter, Parker contended that David Belasco's new play followed his old one, East Is West, "almost exactly," which Belasco made known he considered grounds for a libel suit.1 A couple paragraphs later, writing about the new Somerset Maugham play Caesar’s Wife, Parker had zinged actress Billie Burke for performing "as if she were giving an impersonation of Eva Tanguay".2 The comparison to a risqué vaudevillian enraged Florenz Ziegfeld, one of Vanity Fair’s most reliable advertisers, who happened to be Burke’s producer — and husband. Ziegfeld and Belasco both took their umbrage to publisher Condé Nast. It is in dispute which complaint held more weight, but either way, Nast passed the buck to Crowninshield, who met Parker at the Plaza and fired her from the job she had held for two years. Parker promptly ordered the most expensive dessert on the menu and left.

In the days that followed, Parker’s cronies who hung out in the Rose Room of the Algonquin Hotel made the firing and its fallout at Vanity Fair into a media scandal Parker herself would never again hold a desk job or draw a regular salary, finding success instead as a freelance critic, author of brilliant and acclaimed verse, short fiction, essays, plays, and film scripts. The incident changed her career and stature, and its response helped forge the legend of what would eventually be called the Algonquin Round Table.

Parker may have learned from her parents the tendency to not quite accept the rules. She was born Dorothy Rothschild (a surname whose mention always caused her to protest any relation to the Rothschild lineage) in 1893, a child of once-forbidden love between Eliza Annie Marston, daughter of British burghers, and Jacob Henry Rothschild, child of Jewish immigrants, who married over the opposition of Marston's parents. Dorothy grew up in New York City, in her family’s 214 West 72nd Street townhouse. It was a newly fashionable neighborhood; Broadway, a few steps away, was then called "the Boulevard" along this stretch, in homage to the Parisian boulevards designed by Georges-Eugène Haussmann that it very slightly resembled. Dorothy’s was not an idyllic childhood. Her mother died when she was five. When she was eighteen, the Titanic sank, taking with it a favored uncle, Martin Rothschild; Parker may have accompanied her distraught father to the docks to greet the shipwreck’s survivors and learn that her uncle was not among them. Henry Rothschild, devastated, fell ill and died less than a year later.

Needing income beyond her father’s legacy, Parker found a job playing piano at one of many dance schools, which were faddish in the mid-1910s. But she wanted to earn money by writing. She went about it the old, hard way, sending in cold submissions of poetry until her number was called. In 1914 Vanity Fair accepted her poem "Any Porch", which satirized chitchat of society women in meticulously metered and rhymed stanzas such as:

I don’t want the vote for myself, But women with property, dear –– I think the poor girl's on the shelf, She's talking about her "career."3

The piece earned her $12, comparable to about $300 today. Parker used the poem as justification to force her way into the Vanity Fair’s offices at 19–25 West 44th Street and ask for a steady job. The editor, Crowninshield, was sufficiently impressed. In 1915 he hired her for Vogue, another magazine owned by Nast, to do editorial work and write captions for illustrations of women’s garments. Soon her personal life also took a dramatic turn, and then another, when she met Edwin Parker II in 1916, married him in 1917, and a week later watched in surprise and dismay while "Eddie" enlisted in the US Army and went off to World War I.

During her two years at Vogue, Parker worked under Edna Woolman Chase, a legend. Chase, following a course normally reserved for men, had worked her way up from the mailroom to the top of the editorial ladder, becoming the managing editor in 1911 and editor-in-chief in 1914; she would stay in that position until 1952. Chase’s dedication was matched by her strictness. She insisted on formal workplace demeanor, and she and her young employee, demure in appearance but iconoclastic in attitude, grated on one another. Though thrilled when she landed the job, Parker could only follow the leader for so long, and was soon plaguing Chase with unprintable captions, meant to challenge the Vogue sensibility. One nightgown, she suggested, could be worn as a sexual enticement: "When she was good she was very very good, and when she was bad she wore this divine nightdress…" Such insinuation was a no-no for Vogue readers of 1916. The caption made it through several editorial stages before its twist on the "girl with the curl" nursery rhyme was recognized.

Crowninshield relieved Chase of her problem employee in 1918, bringing Parker over to the editorial staff at Vanity Fair and offering her the theater critic job that would change her career. It was a wonderful time to have a front-row seat to New York’s theater scene. Over eighty venues were active in the Broadway district, opening over 150 shows a year; a reviewer could write about new shows every week. Parker’s monthly columns demonstrated early her propensity for dropping, and sometimes deflating, the big names — regardless of whether they belonged to someone on stage. In April 1918, while touting Wodehouse’s musical Oh, Lady! Lady!!, she digressed to say that "not even the presence in the first-night audience of Mr. William Randolph Hearst…could spoil my evening".

Parker loved being a theater critic, but she loved less and less Nast and Crowninshield’s attitudes toward the staff. In this, as in many things, she was supported (and egged on) by her two new colleagues at Vanity Fair, Robert Benchley and Robert Sherwood. Benchley was hired as managing editor in the winter of 1919 and became Parker’s office mate in May. His straitlaced demeanor and traditional domestic life — wife, children, and house in the suburbs — belied an anarchic sense of humor that made him one of the US’s leading humorists for decades. Soon after Benchley’s arrival, Sherwood, recently returned from the war, came aboard as writer. Both Sherwood and Benchley had trained, so to speak, at Harvard, writing satire for the Harvard Lampoon; both, like Parker, would flourish as authors after Vanity Fair. It is clear that Crowninshield had a brilliant eye for literary talent.

In 1919, however, the three writers soured on the management and particularly on the ownership of the magazine they worked for. They disdained Nast’s combination of crass libertinism and schoolmarmish insistence on office conformity, and they resented their uncompetitive salaries. They were "treated like serfs", said Sherwood, and "paid that way, too".4 They acted out: decorating Nast’s office with streamers for a mock bon-voyage party, and at one point, when Crowninshield was on a trip and left them minding the store, publishing a satirical fashion article by Sherwood in which he predicted that men’s attire would soon include waistcoats trimmed with jewels.

Caesar’s Wife had its opening night in November 1919 and ran until the following February at the Liberty Theater at 236 West 42nd Street (whose facade is still there, now part of Ripley’s Museum, believe it or not). The play depicts the marriage between an English diplomat and a woman many years his junior. Parker’s review is not completely unkind until its conclusion: "Miss Burke, in her role of the young wife, looks charmingly youthful. She is at her best in her more serious moments; in her desire to convey the youthfulness of the character she plays her lighter scenes as if giving an impersonation of Eva Tanguay".5 This was in fact a toned-down revision; in her first draft, Parker had written that Burke "threw herself around the stage as if giving an impersonation of exotic dancer Eva Tanguay". After Crowninshield objected, Parker offered the slightly less inflammatory phrase.

The published version was insulting enough. Caesar’s Wife, by the acclaimed Maugham, was meant to burnish the credentials of Burke, returning to the stage after three years in cinema, and her husband Ziegfeld, best known for his annual variety shows. Parker’s reference to Tanguay undermined these aspirations. Eva Tanguay’s name was a byword for indecorum, eroticism, and unbridled physicality. She was, by all accounts, not particularly skilled as a singer, dancer, or actress, yet she became an international star, famous partly for her salary, which eventually climbed to an astonishing $2,500 per week when she headlined at the Metropolitan Theater in Brooklyn in 1921. As Printer’s Ink had hailed her ten years earlier: "She can neither sing, nor dance, nor recite…. Just the same, Eva commands the money. The audience wants her".6 Tanguay was also known for transgressions against traditional female comportment on stage and off, and for acting as her own business manager, hiring male business agents but insisting on controlling her own career.

Parker's allusion to Tanguay conjured up associations that show her remark to be more than a dig at an imperfect performance. It also subtly invoked the dynamics of the Burke-Ziegfeld marriage and served as a swipe at patriarchal control. When Parker refers to the "young wife", and twice reiterates the "youthful" qualities of the role, she loops in the public history of Ziegfeld’s relationships with younger women, and of those women getting replaced by even younger women. Burke, for example, seventeen years Ziegfeld’s junior, had married him in 1914 following his divorce from Lillian Held and endured his unrepentant philandering ever since. Parker’s review implies that Burke is overacting because she is too old for the part of the "young wife" — and that her status as Ziegfeld’s "young wife" was expiring as well. Parker had thought Burke both inept and (her opinion unsympathetic to the plight of women actors in an inegalitarian theater industry) miscast, and had turned the critique personal. Less overtly, the reference to Tanguay, a woman who resisted having her career guided by men, sets in relief the professional arrangement between Burke and Ziegfeld.

Nine years earlier, Ziegfeld had employed Tanguay in his Follies of 1911 and knew well what Tanguay represented: excess, vulgarity, spectacle — all the associations he was trying to avoid. He had already complained about Parker’s writing to his friend Nast, but this time he was either more persuasive or had the weight of Belasco's threats to add to his own. Nast was not in a position to lose a prominent source of ad revenue and weather Belasco’s libel suit, so he called Crowninshield, his trusted chief editor at Vanity Fair since 1912.

Crowninshield rose to the occasion. The Plaza Hotel was, in 1920, already a symbol of luxury, excess, and pretension. (It has since been owned by, among others, Conrad Hilton and Donald Trump.) In this setting, Crowninshield, after commanding the staff to bring a huge bouquet of roses for the table, explained to Parker that her predecessor, P. G. Wodehouse, wished to resume the job of theater critic. He complimented Parker’s writing and invited her to freelance for the magazine. She left.

Returning to her West 71st Street apartment, Parker may have been greeted by her husband. Eddie had returned to New York the previous summer, struggling with drug use as did many GIs returning from the Great War. For commiseration, Parker telephoned her friend and confederate Benchley, who immediately caught a seven p.m. train to Manhattan from his home in Crestwood, arrived at the Parker apartment, and offered support. The next morning he walked into Crowninshield’s office and, in protest against Parker’s dismissal, tendered his letter of resignation. That afternoon, Parker and Benchley went to the Algonquin to tell their stories, staying for hours of gossip and rounds of drinks. After repeated recountings, the Round Table wits, who had long heard the complaints about Nast and Crowninshield, sprang into action. Alexander Woollcott persuaded his editors at the New York Times that the paper should cover the story. His article, "Vanity Fair Editors Out: Robert Benchley Follows Mrs. Parker–Criticisms Under Fire", appeared the next day — good publicity for the trio, tantamount to a free "for hire" listing.7 A few days later, another writer from the table, Frank Adams, publicly shamed Vanity Fair: he described the kerfuffle in his column "The Conning Tower" running in the New-York Tribune. The incident helped make the Algonquin Round Table a thing.

This informal group of colleagues, friends, adversaries and contestants had started taking shape over the previous summer, starting at a roast for theater columnist and Broadway personality Woollcott upon his return to New York from military duty. The group met at 59 West 44th Street, in the dining room of a hotel that had opened in 1902 under the name The Puritan. It was Frank Case, who managed the establishment for over two decades and then bought it in 1927, who, perhaps hoping to entice a less puritan clientele, rechristened it The Algonquin, giving it the name used for a group of indigenous tribes. One can assume that Case did not intend the irony of using a name for people who had been forcibly exiled from New York City three centuries earlier.

From 1920 on, the Algonquin became a regular meeting place for a group eventually to include a host of literary and cultural figures, including New Yorker founder Harold Ross, fiction writer Edna Ferber, sportswriter Heywood Broun, and Harpo Marx. It was Case, again, who made the decision to arrange a large round table for this garrulous group, set right in the middle of the Algonquin’s "Rose Room" where they could be on display for other customers, especially the tourists. "The Gonk", as its regulars took to calling it, was where Parker was to encounter Will Rogers, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Sayre, Ernest Hemingway, and the artist Neysa McMein, who would become her close friend.

But she had other business to attend to first. On January 13 — the morning Woollcott’s article appeared — Benchley, Parker and Sherwood arrived at the Vanity Fair offices, apparently out of contractual obligation. Freed of any need for decorum, they pinned chevrons, insignias of military discharge, on themselves, and created a mock contribution box labeled "for Billie Burke". Parker kept up these embittered jokes even after January 25th, when she cleaned out her Vanity Fair desk for good. That September, she sent Benchley a series of postcards signed "Flo and Billie", and "Conde and Clarisse" (Nast’s wife, by this point estranged).8

In February, she and Benchley rented an office together in the Metropolitan Opera House Studios at 39th Street and Broadway, a quick trip on the IRT or 9th Avenue elevated train from Parker’s home. The space was so tiny, she later quipped, that "an inch smaller and it would have been adultery".9 Parker’s first gig of her new life was writing intertitles for Remodeling Her Husband, a film Lillian Gish was directing, produced by D. W. Griffiths. The work dissatisfied her, and she soon resumed work as theater critic, this time for Ainslee’s, whose circulation was larger than that of Vanity Fair; it was a position allowing Parker to schedule her own work hours and write for other publications. She proceeded to have a productive winter, publishing in Ladies Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post. Her finances survived, and that spring she had enough to lend Benchley $200. She surely appreciated being liberated from daily editorial responsibilities, and especially being free of Nast. Indeed, she would never again work a nine-to-five job, maintaining as much control as possible over how to pursue her profession and calling as writer.

Ziegfeld and his women stayed in her sights. In her June 1920 column for Ainslee’s, Parker wrote warmly of Ziegfeld’s Frolics — variety shows distinct from the Follies. She complimented the comedic performances of W. C. Fields, Mary Hay, and Fanny Brice, but skewered the singing of Lillian Lorraine — the longtime Ziegfeld paramour who had been instrumental to Ziegfeld’s divorce from Held. Commenting sardonically on the show’s female chorus, she wrote: "Where the Ziegfeld girls come from will always be one of the world’s great mysteries".10 Her next column reviewed the Follies, giving the thumbs down to even the music of Irving Berlin and Eddie Cantor while pointing out that "the real point of the production, as it is of every Follies, is the girls".

When Parker likened Billie Burke to Eva Tanguay, she was gesturing past the actor to the patriarchal structures, personal and professional, represented by Ziegfeld and Nast. She surely knew that she was risking her position, and just as surely decided that to defer to those structures would be worse than the consequences of defying them.

#dorothy parker

0 notes

keepingupwithlinmanuel · 7 years ago

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The Complete List of Lin-Manuel Miranda Projects

Where possible I have noted availability for purchase/viewing/listening. For future projects I’ve included as much detail as we have and I’ll keep updating the post when we have more. Cameos are listed separately at the end. If you think I’m missing anything, drop me a message/ask.

This is a very long post because Lin works a lot, so I have saved your dashes and put the content behind a read more. Let’s go.

Freestyle Love Supreme (2003-)

What is it? Freestyle Love Supreme is an improv hip-hop comedy troupe started by Lin, Anthony Veneziale and Tommy Kail. It has had a long life playing clubs and comedy festivals all around the world and spawned a TV show in 2014.

What did Lin do in it? Lin is one of the main MCs in the group.

How do I find it? For answers to all the FLS questions you’ve ever had, please see my incredibly comprehensive masterpost. The TV series is available for streaming if you have a Seeso subscription and can be purchased from iTunes/Amazon if you have US accounts.

In the Heights (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010)

What is it? In the Heights is a musical originally conceived, written and directed by Lin while a college sophomore. It was eventually developed into an Broadway show.

When was it on? Off-Broadway at the now defunct 37 Arts in 2007, on Broadway from 2008 to 2011. It had a US touring production from 2009 to 2011 and numerous authorized international productions since.

What did Lin do in it? He wrote the music and lyrics. He also starred as Usnavi in the entire off-Broadway production, the first year of the Broadway production and for the LA and Puerto Rico stops of the touring production.

How do I find it? You can purchase the cast album wherever you buy music. It is also available on Spotify. If you want to see a production, there are plenty of regional/local productions running in the US, including the first authorized all-Spanish version in DC. Here are some clips from the Broadway production.

In the Heights: Chasing Broadway Dreams (2008)

What is it? Chasing Broadway Dreams is a fantastic documentary by PBS on the making of In the Heights. Handily it also contains performance excerpts from the show.

How do I find it? Right here on Youtube.

Working (2008)

What is it? Working is a musical with a book by Nina Faso and Stephen Schwartz and music by a small group of composers that originally ran on Broadway in 1978. In the late 00s Schwartz put together a new version (known as the 2012 revised version), adding new songs and trimming characters.

When was it on? The new version has had a bunch of regional productions and is about to debut in the UK (as at May 2017).

What did Lin do in it? He contributed two new songs, Delivery and A Very Good Day. The first is about his own experiences as a McDonalds delivery boy, and the second about an immigrant nanny and an elderly care worker.

How do I find it? You can go here to see Lin talk about writing the songs and there are some videos floating around Youtube from regional/local productions. The London production produced a cast recording which includes Lin’s new songs.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (with Karen Olivo) (2008)

What is it? A Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Junot Diaz about a nerdy Dominican boy growing up in New Jersey

What did Lin do in it? He read the UK version of the audiobook with Karen Olivo.

How do I find it? Amazon, Audiobook.com and an excerpt here.

West Side Story (2009)

What is it? The classic 1957 musical by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins, recently revived by the surviving members of the original creative team (Sondheim and Laurents).

When was it on? The most recent Broadway revival opened in 2009 and closed in 2011.

What did Lin do in it? Lin was hired by the creative team to translate the dialogue spoken and lyrics sung by the Puerto Rican characters into Spanish. This included translating iconic songs such as I Feel Pretty, Tonight and A Boy Like That.

How do I find it? There’s a cast recording which is available for purchase and on Spotify. Here’s a sizzle reel of performance clips.

Sesame Street (2009-2013)

What is it? You know.

What did Lin do in it? Lin made his first appearance as the villainous Freddy Flapman in season 40 and also voiced a lamb (Lamb-Manuel, ahem) and performed the theme song of the Murray Has A Little Lamb segment. He composed the music for 5 songs in seasons 42-45, including “Rhymes with Mando”, which was nominated for a Day Time Emmy.

How do I find it? Should you wish to explore this aspect of Lin’s career, here is the segment with Freddy Flapman. Here is Lin as Lamb-Manuel. Here is the Emmy-nominated Rhymes With Mando and here’s a very familiar voice singing the Murray Has A Little Lamb theme.

The Electric Company (2009-2010)

What is it? Classic 1970s children’s TV series from PBS, revived in 2009 for 3 seasons.

When was it on? The revival produced 3 seasons which ran on PBS from 2009 to 2013. Members of Lin’s hip-hop comedy troupe Freestyle Love Supreme were heavily involved in the production as musical directors, cast members, composer/lyricists and guest stars.

What did Lin do in it? Lin wrote a number of songs and appeared on the show to perform them. He also appeared briefly as a character in season 2.

How do I find it? Here are all the songs and clips I can find:

Hard/soft 'c' Silent 'e' is a ninja Hard/soft 'g' Bossy 'r'

Here’s One Bad Apple parts 1 and 2. (A rap battle between an apple and Lin as a hot dog. Yep.)

Here’s a cute BTS segment with Shockwave and Lin.

House (2009-2010)

What is it? A medical drama that ran on Fox from 2004-2012.

What did Lin do in it? Lin guest-starred in season 6 episodes 1 and 21 as Juan “Alvie” Alvarez.

How do I find it? On DVD, Bluray and streaming, if you are that way inclined. Here is a BTS interview about Lin’s return in which he refers to Alvie as “the other woman” who comes between House and Wilson.

Sad Sad Conversation (2010)

What is it? Hard to explain. Lemme quote from my own masterpost: Sadsadconversation was an experimental Youtube vlog series started by the comedian Michael Ian Black and the actor Josh Malina in which a bunch of semi-famous people trying to make it in the entertainment industry posted videos of themselves, in MIB’s words, “bitching about our careers and how badly everything was going”. The videos gained an interactive element as the “cast” grew - the participants responding to each other’s videos and to comments below the line. It became a bit of a group therapy session between internet buddies.

When was it on? 2011-ish.

What did Lin do in it? Lin was invited by Josh Malina to join and participated enthusiastically for a while, although as the other founder Michael Ian Black later said, “you never really fit in because you’re never sad.“

How do I find it? I have helpfully compiled a masterpost of all Lin’s appearances for your viewing pleasure.

Vivo (2011-)

What is it? An animated movie musical about a “capuchin monkey with a thirst for adventure – and a passion for music – that makes a treacherous passage from Havana to Miami to fulfill his destiny”, originally developed by Dreamworks Animation.

When was it on? Good question. Lin started working on Vivo around 2010, only for the project to flounder in pre-production. It was picked up again by Sony in 2016 and is now slated for a 2020 release, with a script written by Lin’s good friend and frequent collaborator Quiara Alegria Hudes.

What did Lin do in it? He wrote all 11 of the songs.

How do I find it? In movie theaters in late 2020, if all goes well.

Tonys Awards Closing Number (2011)

youtube

What is it? The closing number of the 2011 Tony Awards, a patter verse written by Lin with the help of Tommy Kail which recapped the events of the ceremony itself.

What did Lin do in it? You can see Lin and Tommy writing the thing during the Tonys in this BTS video.

Modern Family (2011)

What is it? A comedy that’s been running on ABC since 2009.

What did Lin do in it? He guest-starred in episode 22 of season 2 as a dodgy salesman named Guillermo. My favourite thing about this whole deal is that he looked way too respectable so they had to give him a dodgy haircut and weird glasses.

How do I find it? On DVD, Bluray and streaming, if you are that way inclined.

Bring It On (2011-2012)

What is it? A musical very very loosely based on the movie of the same name, directed by In the Heights and Hamilton choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler, with a libretto by Jeff Whitty and music and lyrics by Tom Kitt and Amanda Green.

When was it on? Bring It On premiered in Atlanta in 2011 and toured the US before playing a limited engagement on Broadway in 2012.

What did Lin do in it? Lin wrote about half the music and lyrics in collaboration with Tom Kitt and Amanda Green.

How do I find it? There’s a cast recording which is available for purchase and on Spotify. Here is a sizzle reel of clips from the Broadway production. Here is Lin and a few cast alumni doing selections from It’s All Happening at Ham4Ham.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012)

What is it? A Disney fantasy comedy drama film starring Jennifer Garner.

What did Lin do in it? Lin played Reggie, a botanist who was old friends with Jennifer Garner’s character.

How do I find it? On DVD, Bluray and streaming, if you are that way inclined.

Merrily We Roll Along (2012)

What is it? A musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim that was directed by Hal Prince. It opened in 1981 to disastrous reviews and closed after 16 performances.

When was it on? In 2012 Encores mounted a limited concert production incorporating significant revisions which ran in February of that year.

What did Lin do in it? Lin played one of the main characters, lyricist Charley, at the request of Stephen Sondheim.

How do I find it? Miraculously, there’s a cast recording which is available for purchase and on Spotify. You can see some clips from this production here and here.

Tony Awards Opening/Closing Number (2013)

What is it? Lin teamed up with Tom Kitt to write “Bigger”, the opening number of the 2013 Tony Awards. He also repeated his 2011 trick with the closing number, but this time with a twist - he and Tommy rewrote Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys to fit the events of the evening as they happened. (“Bigger” was an enormous success and won Lin his Emmy.)

How do I find it? Here’s the opening and here’s the closing.

How I Met Your Mother (2013)

What is it? A sitcom that ran from 2005 to 2014 on CBS.

What did Lin do in it? He guest-starred in episode 11 of the final season as Gus, a fellow passenger on the bus with Marshall. (Fittingly, an episode written entirely in rhyme.)

How do I find it? On DVD, Bluray and streaming, if you are that way inclined. Here’s a small clip from Lin’s appearance.

Do No Harm (2013)

[Don’t ask me why this photo is the way it is. Let’s just say it made the series look a lot more interesting than it actually was.]

What is it? A very short-lived medical drama that was cancelled by NBC after airing only two episodes due to horrific ratings. There were 13 episodes filmed.

What did Lin do in it? Lin played Dr. Ruben Marcado, a pharmacologist who is friends with the main character (played by Steve Pasquale). In his own words:

Do No Harm was like a writing residency for me. It was a bad NBC show and I was sixth on the call sheet and I took the job because I was like, it shoots in Philly and you’re going to be killed off in the 11th episode. So it was like signing a potential seven-year contract, which I was not interested in doing or going to L.A. I wanted to have time to write. I would have days free in Philly to write.

How do I find it? Should you wish to watch it, the show is available on NBC.com, Hulu and Amazon. Here’s a clip of Lin doing technobabble like he’s been in sci-fi all his life.

200 Cartas / Looking for Maria Sanchez (2013)

What is it? An indie romcom about a struggling Nuyorican comic book writer who falls in love at first sight with a woman named Maria Sanchez and goes on a journey to Puerto Rico to find her. Also starring former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres, and Jaime Camil.

When was it on? Limited release in 2013 in New York, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The film also played a bunch of festivals.

What did Lin do in it? He played the main character, Raul.

How do I find it? It is available on DVD, although you will have trouble finding it. I have also heard that it is available on HBO Go and would appreciate confirmation. Here’s the trailer with English subtitles.

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2013)

What is it? An award-winning coming-of-age YA novel about queer Latinos set in Texas.

What did Lin do in it? He read the audiobook.

How do I find it? Here it is on Amazon, Audible and Audiobooks.com. Here is an excerpt of Lin reading it.

21 Chump Street (2014)

What is it? A 15-minute musical based on a true story reported by This American Life, starring Hamilton’s Anthony Ramos.

When was it on? One night only in 2014.

What did Lin do in it? He wrote the musical.

How do I find it? There’s a cast recording which is available for purchase. You can also buy the video of the live performance here. Here’s a taster of the first song. Warning: incredibly catchy.

…tick tick BOOM! (2014)

What is it? An autobiographical one-man musical by Jonathan Larson, adapted into a 3-actor piece after his death.

When was it on? Encores mounted a production starring Lin as Jon in June 2014 with the other parts played by Leslie Odom Jr and (at Lin’s invitation) Karen Olivo.

How do I find it? Unfortunately there is no cast recording. There are a bunch of clips on Youtube from the production though: here and here. And you want to watch this dress rehearsal video.

Hamilton (2015)

What is it? Hamilton: An American Musical began its off-Broadway run at the Public Theater in 2015 and moved to Broadway - you know what, if you’re here, I assume you know.

When was it on? On Broadway at the Richard Rodgers since 2015, in Chicago at the PrivateBank Theater since 2016, on tour in the US since 2017, and at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London starting in November 2017.

What did Lin do in it? He wrote the book, the music and the lyrics and co-arranged the music with Alex Lacamoire. He also starred as Hamilton during the off-Broadway production and the first year of the Broadway run, and in the #andpeggy company for the Puerto Rican stops on their tour.

How do I find it? See above. The cast album is available to purchase everywhere and on Spotify. Here are some clips from the off-Broadway and Broadway productions and from Chicago.

Ham4Ham (2015-2016)

What is it? In hindsight, difficult to explain. Ham4Ham was originally the name for the live Hamilton lottery outside the Richard Rodgers. Due to the number of people who showed up to the first one, Lin and Tommy Kail decided to do a little something for the waiting crowd. The frequency and medium of the performances varied over time and they’ve now stopped being a regularly scheduled thing but there are over 130 for you to enjoy in clip form.

When was it on? The very first Ham4Ham took place before the first preview performance of Hamilton on Broadway. The very last featuring Lin was on the day of his last performance.

What did Lin do in it? He organised and hosted the majority of the Ham4Hams and performed in quite a lot of them.

How do I find it? I’m glad you asked. Here is a comprehensive masterpost for your viewing pleasure.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

What is it? Lin jokingly offered to write the cantina music for Force Awakens when he met JJ Abrams in 2015 and JJ Abrams took him up on it. (He did not tell the Moana people that he’d taken on yet another gig while he was starring in Hamilton and writing songs for Moana.) The song, as described by the Star Wars Wiki:

A lyrical song performed in Huttese, "Jabba Flow" was named after Jabba Desilijic Tiure, a Hutt crime lord. It's opening verse began by repeating "Oh, Jabba," followed by a repeated "No bata tu tu, muni, muni," which roughly translated as "No, lover, lover. It wasn't me," in Galactic Basic. The song featured mellow instrumentals, which included a hypolliope horn cluster, a seven-string hallikset, and a xyloxan.

What did Lin do in it? Lin co-wrote the song and sings on it.

How do I find it? The track is available for purchase and on Spotify. There’s also a Rick Rubin remix. Here’s Lin and JJ performing it on Star Wars Day.

Hamilton: the Revolution (2016)

What is it? Hamilton: The Revolution (aka the Hamiltome) contains both an annotated libretto of Hamilton and a moving, engaging account of the making of the show written by Lin’s good friend Jeremy McCarter.

What did Lin do in it? He contributed the annotations (which are not the same as the ones on Genius) and read them in the audiobook.

How do I find it? There is an ebook but I don’t recommend it. (This is a gorgeous book and the ebook doesn’t do it justice at all.) The actual book can be bought wherever you buy books. Here’s the audiobook.

Drunk History (2016)

What is it? A comedy series produced by Comedy Central which features comedians getting sloshed and retelling historical events, and having that retelling simultaneously re-enacted by other famous people.

What did Lin do in it? Unusually, the show devoted the entirety of season 4 episode 9 to Lin telling the story of Alexander Hamilton, being hyperverbal and giggly, singing loudly and drunk dialing people.

How do I find it? You can find the episode on DVD and via various streaming sites. Here are some clips from the episode.

Saturday Night Live (2016)

What is it? An American institution. For fellow non-US people, SNL is a late night TV sketch comedy/variety show which features a different celebrity guest host every episode.

When was it on? Lin hosted the second episode of season 42 which aired in October 2016. His opening monologue, which was built off My Shot from Hamilton and written the night before the show by him with the help of some of the SNL writers, went viral both because of its virtuosity and because it directly attacked one of the presidential candidates. Other notable sketches included one about Stranger Things, a sketch about a Latino immigrant which was almost entirely in Spanish, and an ode to high school cast parties.

How do I find it? If you are in the US you can watch the sketches and opening on NBC’s Youtube channel. I believe the episodes themselves are available for purchase on iTunes. The ode to high school cast parties is also available for purchase as a single.

Hamilton’s America (2016)

What is it? A movie-length documentary about the making of Hamilton and about Hamilton the man, featuring performance footage and interviews with everyone from Obama to Nas.

When was it on? Hamilton’s America premiered at the New York Film Festival and then on PBS in October 2016.

What did Lin do in it? He was one of the producers, featured heavily in the documentary as a performer and interview subject, and conducted some of the interviews in the film.

How do I find it? If you are in the US you can stream it on PBS’ website. Otherwise here are a bunch of clips on YT.

Moana (2016)

What is it? A Disney animated movie musical set in the South Pacific and starring Pasifika/Maori actors in all the speaking roles.

What did Lin do in it? He co-wrote the music with Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i and performs on the track We Know the Way.

How do I find it? The movie’s out on DVD, Bluray and streaming and as someone from that region I really do wholeheartedly recommend it. The soundtrack can be purchased wherever you buy music and it’s also on Spotify.

The Hamilton Mixtape (2016)/#hamildrops (2018)

What is it? A collection of demos, remixes and songs inspired by Hamilton, some with music videos.

What did Lin do in it? He co-produced the album, organised artists and basically oversaw the whole operation. He also contributed some unpublished Hamilton demos and a deeply personal verse to the track Wrote My Way Out. He performs on Found/Tonight and Cheering For Me Now.

How do I find it? The album can be purchased wherever you buy music and it’s also on Spotify. Here is a link to the Hamildrops.

Ducktales (2017-)

What is it? Reboot of the 80s animated series with an all-star voice cast.

What does Lin do in it? Lin plays Gizmoduck, aka Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera — a superhero who protects Duckburg, but also spends his days as an intern for Scrooge McDuck’s personal mad scientist, Gyro Gearloose.

How do I find it? It airs on Disney XD/Disney channel.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (2017)

What is it? HBO comedy starring Larry David.

What did Lin do in it? He guest-starred in 2 episodes of season 9 as an AU mean version of himself, complete with America Ferrera playing Vanessa.

How do I find it? On DVD, Bluray and streaming, if you are that way inclined.

Gmorning, Gnight! (2018)

What is it? Collection of Lin’s good morning / good night tweets, illustrated by Jonny Sun.

How do I find it? Available in all the usual places books are sold. Also available as an audiobook read by Lin.

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)

What is it? A Disney musical fantasy comedy film directed by Rob Marshall adapting more of P L Travers’ Mary Poppins books. (So it’s a sequel to the 1964 classic, not a remake.) The film stars Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Angela Lansbury and Colin Firth.

When does it come out? It is schedule for release on 25 December 2018.

What does Lin do in it? Lin plays Jack the lamplighter, a friend of Mary’s. He’s doing a lot of singing and dancing.

His Dark Materials (2019)

What is it? BBC/HBO adaption of the beloved Phillip Pullman trilogy with an all star cast and crew. Already renewed for a second season.

When does it come out? No idea at this stage. Season 1 was filmed in Wales in 2018.

What does Lin do in it? Lin plays the balloonist Lee Scoresby.

Fosse/Verdon (2019)

What is it? Limited series about the famous choreographer and his muse.

When does it come out? No idea at this stage.

What does Lin do in it? He is executive producer. The rest of the Hamilton Cabinet are also heavily involved.

In the Heights (2020)

What is it? The long-awaited movie adaption of Lin and Quiara’s show, directed by Jon M Chu.

When does it come out? June 26, 2020!!!

What does Lin do in it? Lin is co-producing and might possibly write a few new songs. (I say this because he wrote extra music the last time the movie was in development back in 2010.) He has the last word on casting.

Kingkiller Chronicle (?)

What is it? A series of fantasy novels by Pat Rothfuss which are being adapted into films and a TV series. John Rogers has been announced as showrunner for the latter.

When does it come out? No idea at this stage.

What does Lin do in it? Lin is the��“creative producer” of the whole enterprise alongside Pat Rothfuss and will be in charge of writing all the music. Rothfuss has expressed a desire for Lin to also be involved as an actor.

The Little Mermaid (?)

What is it? Disney’s live-action remake of the classic animated film.

When does it come out? No idea at this stage.

What does Lin do in it? He’s not quite sure himself, although Alan Menken is going around telling everyone that he and Lin will be writing new songs for the movie. The rest is all rumour-mill stuff.

Tick Tick...Boom (?)

What is it? A film adaption of the musical by Jonathan Larson (the one Lin starred in a production of in 2014).

When does it come out? No idea. Filming hasn’t even started yet.

What does Lin do in it? This will be his directing debut!

Cameos and guest appearances:

The Sopranos (2007)

Legally Brown: the Search for the Next Piragua Guy (2008)

The Polar Bears (2012)

Submissions Only (2012)

Smash (2013)

Studio Heads (2014)

Inside Amy Schumer (2016)

Difficult People (2016)

Love Make The World Go Around (2016) (and video)

Speech & Debate (2017)

My Brother My Brother & Me (2017)

Residente (2017)

BoJack Horseman (2017)

Bartlett (2018)

#lin manuel miranda #masterposts #don't ask me how long this took #anyway #happy almost 2500 followers!#thank you all

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trulycertain · 7 years ago

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The Great Big Masterpost

A post for pretty much everything I’ve ever written. Since I started writing fic. Yes, the scroll-bar really is that size. I know. I’m sorry too.

F!Amell/Alistair, Dragon Age Origins to post-Inquisition. Began 2011. Protag: Morgana Amell. If you want later, better writing, avoid ff.net links. Look, just… do that unless you’re a completionist, honestly. Stories marked with * will eventually be chapters in the rewritten Armour. I hope.

Pre-Blight

She Dreams Of Paradise: ff.net, 2011. Pre-Blight, character study. Morgana and growing up in the Tower.

Blight

Armour: ff.net, 2011. 81k-ish. Series of linked shorts. Morgana Amell and her companions all have their own personal battles - whether it’s finding your family, betrayal, or learning to trust. What you don’t see in the game, or a different perspective on what you do.(Armour was my first, somewhat shoddily-written fanfic, and it gave me Morgana, who I still have a terrible soft spot for. Eventually there will be a proper, revised, rewritten and finished version of Armour on AO3, but until then, I’ve just kept writing fics in this ‘verse.)

Beginning: Tumblr drabble. She has blood in her hair. Alistair tries not to stare but, you know. Blood. In her hair.

Control: ff.net, 2011. In all the ways that matter, templars have as little freedom as mages. Morgana, Alistair and an argument at camp.

things you said when you were crying*: Morgana stumbles on Alistair shortly after Ostagar, and admits that he might just be human after all.

Sweetheart: ff.net, 2011. History ultimately repeats itself. A tale of mages, templars and memories. Morgana/Alistair UST.

Scars: He thinks she’s staring at his scars. The truth is a little more complicated than that.

the heart is hard to translate*: Sometimes it’s not the first kiss that’s the problem.

Dark*: Morgana Amell really, really hates the Deep Roads. Alistair makes things less awful.

Admission: AU. Near-death experiences and love confessions.

A Blessing*: Morgana is really, really glad to be out of the Deep Roads. Wet shirts, sad Chantry pasts and near love confessions.

Right*: Morgana, Alistair and their first time, or: awkward virgins panicking about being awkward virgins. Far safer for work than you’d think.

This: An NSFW “deleted scene.” Morgana, Alistair and their first time - with the actual first time included rather than just implied.

things you never said at all: He nearly said it so many times, the words at the tip of his tongue. (Fluffier than it sounds.)

Hate: She called it hate at first, because hate was simpler. Or: a templar-phobic mage finds herself falling in love and panics.

Morgana attempts to give a squirmy Alistair a massage

Superstition*: So fluffy it’s been banned in several countries for causing tooth decay. Leliana says that you can tell a lot about a person from how they sleep. Morgana and Alistair confirm her theory completely, and yet neither of them is aware of it.

Sweet Dreams*: Leliana, Morgana, friendship and nightmares.

Shades of Red: Written for #sexlaughterhonesty Week 2015, though as safe for work as you can get when you’re writing about implied, er, intimate mishaps. As Morgana says: “It worked in The Rose of Orlais!”

Youth: ff.net, 2011. Teagan and observing Morgana/Alistair.

things you said when you thought i was asleep: What it says on the tin, pretty much.

Hindsight: Miserable Ultimate Sacrifice AU drabble for a prompt. Alistair reflecting on grief.

An unsent letter: Sort-of AU. More miserable Ultimate Sacrifice AU.

Post-Blight

Epic: ff.net, 2011. In which Morgana and Alistair discover bad fanfic about themselves. Yup, really.

Post-Awakening

Subtlety: Do the Wardens actually have rules about “caboodling”? Well, neither Morgana nor Alistair knows. A reunion at Vigil’s Keep, and trying to keep their relationship quiet.

Nearly: A close call and some tears. For the prompt: “Person A, the more stoic/serious of the two, treating a severe injury that Person B sustained. Person B notices A’s hands shaking and tries to crack a joke, which only serves to send Person A bursting into tears over nearly losing B.”

Fresh Meat: A Vigil’s Keep Warden lays down the ground rules.

Crossroads: She finds her phylactery in Denerim.

First Edition: “What do you mean you dropped my signed copy of Harry Potter in the bathtub” AU

Inquisition and onwards

Endings: An old piece, rewritten. What could have been and what could be. Morgana, Alistair and nine endings to their story.

things you said when you were scared: Post-Inquisition, Alistair remembers the Nightmare.

AUs

Me too: AU. For the prompt: “I can’t do this anymore.” In which two lonely escapee kids meet.

perchance to dream: The Sleeping Beauty AU no-one asked for. Where the sleeping beauty is a six-foot-something man. Yup.

Square One: AU. Amnesia promptfic drabble for “Who are you? Where am I? What is this? WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

A Moment: AU.Written for an OTP Prompt: “Person A has died. Person B gets sent on an adventure that sends them a few years back in the past. Once their mission is complete they are about to go back to the present. But right before they go, they see their past self meeting person A and they stay a little longer to watch.” Morgana and a meeting at Ostagar.

Give & Take: AU. The Bookworm Amell Squad returns, i.e., I steal @nanahuatli’s Sayanee Amell and let her torment Morgana.

Lost & Found: AU. Dragon Age 2. A fix-it fic for the drunk!Alistair ending. Amell turns up at The Hanged Man.

on the underground: Modern AU. The “I had to take the bus to comic con dressed in full knight regalia please stop laughing at me” AU, with a few changes.

this is my truth, now tell me yours (WIP): An AU in which, rather than being the Warden, Morgana is the grumpiest companion ever. She still ends up falling in love with Alistair. No-one is surprised. Part 1 | 2 | 3

Misunderstanding: Alternate take/deleted scene from this is my truth. Awkward, quiet love confessions, because these two can never seem to Spit It Out.

the weight of water: AU oneshot. Someone asked me to write Morgana and Alistair in an AU where he was crowned and there was a sort of semi-tragic reunion. Lots of duty and angst, so on. (There’s a happy ending. It just takes a while.)

F!Trevelyan/Cullen, Dragon Age Inquisition onwards. Began 2015. The adventures of Yvaine Trevelyan: good mage, awful comedian, bane of Cullen Rutherford’s life. Stories about my dorky purple Cullen-mancing Inquisitor.

An Unquenchable Flame

The main fic, on AO3. 43k+.

She winces and tries desperately to correct people when they call her “Herald”. If he were a crueller man, he’d find it amusing.

A cynical, awkward mage who lost her faith a long time ago, a worn-down ex-templar and an unlikely friendship. The Inquisitor and her commander, through each other’s eyes and those of the Inquisition.

Accompanying drabbles:

Pre-Inquisition

Pink: Tiny pre-Inquisition drabble. Yvaine and her first love.

Haven

Notes on “the Herald”: Cullen’s observations about Yvaine.

Skyhold

Tradition: AU. Christmas/”Satinalia” drabble. Yvaine, Cullen and a mistletoe kiss. Before they got together. Well, this will be awkward/fun.

“Oh, just digging myself a nice grave, you?” Promptfic. AU. Yvaine, Cullen and accidentally overheard love confessions.

Birdsong: Yvaine, Cullen, and an episode of sparrows. Also some pining, and thoughts on finding your home.

Light: The Inquisitor has nightmares, too.

“I think I may have found a song that accurately describes how I feel toward you.” - Fluff.

Thud: Very silly modern AU written for an AU prompt of “we always run into each other on the stairs but we’ve never said more than hello but when we found out that we both hate the other neighbours, we became friends”.

we are full of stories to be told - Or: Yvaine and the tales that don’t go into her reports.

Of Gifts: Someone’s leaving Cullen flowers.

Five minutes: Yvaine’s thoughts on Skyhold. For a flash fic challenge

”You’re awful. I love it.” Prompt drabble. Yvaine, Cullen and bitching about nobles.

Post-Inquisition

“I love you” - said in a way I can’t return: Bleak AU where the Mark killed Yvaine in Trespasser. Look, I did say bleak.

Sunset/Hats: Prompt drabbles.

Post-Trespasser

There Are Days: Post-Trespasser.Yvaine tries to deal with the loss of the Mark and her arm. Cullen helps.

The Canticle of Shartan: Post-Trespasser. “But what do we call him? Not Dog. Dog is a function, not a name.”

Satinalia (Unfinished): AKA: “An Unquenchable Flame, The Christmas Special.”

“I love you" - Broken, as you clutch the sleeve of my jacket and beg me not to leave: Speculative post-Trespasser/DA4 angst.

AUs

Six Things That Never Happened: A set of AUs for what could have happened instead of Inquisition.

no sea left for me: Vaguely mermaid-inspired first meeting AU. With no actual mermaids.

M!Trevelyan/Dorian, Dragon Age Inquisition onwards. Began 2016. Shield Raised is a series of drabbles about my stoic, awkward Trevelyan, Gal, and his romance with Dorian. a.k.a., “A Marcher nearly-templar, a Tevinter altus, and a slow understanding.” The Inquisition-era ones (though not the pre- and post-game ones) are collected on AO3 here.

Pre-Inquisition

sans peur et sans reproche: Basically, Gal’s angsty backstory. Chantries, angry young men and controlling mothers.

Haven

Rejection:The Herald has barely spoken since he arrived. (Josephine, Gal and the beginning of a tentative friendship.)

Futures: Dorian thinks the supposed Herald of Andraste is rather… odd.

The Measure: Dorian, Gal and a slow understanding. Also Dorian working out. Because apparently that’s important?

Drinking with the Tevinter: The Inquisition isn’t happy having someone from the Imperium in its ranks. Gal feels rather differently.

Questions and Answers: Gal gets upset and a bit drunk and finally opens up about his past. That’s pretty much it.

pictures in the snow: The attack on Haven and Gal’s apparent death.

Skyhold

Crossing: Turns out Gal’s alive. Cue Skyhold, UST and a step forwards.

Sweet Nothing: The companions attempt to be helpful because the UST is getting painful to watch. Gal and Dorian do not appreciate it, but it gives them food for thought.

Liminal: Dorian tries to deal with being chucked into the Fade, and then with his father, and lines are crossed. Angsty as hell, even by Shield Raised standards.

Out Of My Head: Post-Last Resort Of Good Men. Dorian gets drunk, tries not to snog Gal and is homesick.

Answers: In which they finally spit it out. Only took them 21k.

Attachment: Some fluff, some angst, some snogging. In the aftermath of That Kiss, Gal and Dorian try to work out what this thing between them is.

Truths: Homesickness, making out, and Dorian playing the “what, of course I’m not falling for him, what do you mean I called him amatus, I don’t even know what that means” game.

Promises: “Wishing but wondering, wounded and wistful. What if he doesn’t want me after?” A seduction, and Dorian waiting to get his heart broken. As usual.

the light of day: In which all the companions have an opinion. Of course.

Chess: Gal gets trounced at chess by a twelve-year-old. Oh, and he and Irene talk about happiness.

Pretexts: SFW, despite subject matter. Gal attempts to find time to do some “paperwork.” Said paperwork has a moustache.

Gifts, and surprises: Two short drabbles for the prompts “Did you do this?” and “So uh. I noticed you’re kinda naked. Is that intentional, or… ?” Gal and Dorian attempt to be spontaneous, with varying levels of success.

Sers: SFW, but written for #sexlaughterhonesty Week and the theme “coitus interruptus”. In which a messenger is privy to too much.

A Request: Short snippet. Josephine and Gal, pre-Winter Palace.

Formality: Why they got scruffy!Gal at Halamshiral, despite Josephine’s wishes.

A letter found on the Inquisitor’s desk: For the Dragon Age 100 prompt “Family.” Gal and an old friend from the Chantry days.

The Golden Floor: Halamshiral fluff, and why dancing can sometimes be an act of bravery.

Kohl: The adventures of Gal and Dorian and their battles with eyeliner. Does a little bit of timeline-hopping.

Mornings: On waking up together and Gal’s ridiculously large bed.

Mutual Domesticity: “You didn’t think I lived in leathers, did you?”

Dignity: Gal's battles with the Helm of the Inquisitor and the right of prima sandwicha. Rampant plotless fluff.

Ironically, Zombie Spider: Pretty much what it says on the tin. Dorian really, really needs to stop with the idle magic experiments... Argyle's debut in canon.

“So if Gal’s ‘amatus’, what does he call you?” Very short headcanon drabble thing.

Post-game

A Problem: Spans from shortly after their meeting to post-game. About 7k. Dorian and his struggles with The Dreaded L Word.

“I love you” - said loudly, so everyone can hear

The Trespasser hair: Short, silly headcanon drabble.

Post-Trespasser

Depth Over Distance: Gal, Dorian and managing the long-distance thing. Partly epistolary. Also, the return of Erren.

The Trespasser hair, part two: Gal has opinions on long-haired Dorian.

“I love you” - said as a thank you

Pain: Gal gets another tattoo. Dorian has… thoughts on it. Written for a Dragon Age 100 Challenge prompt.

A Question: What it says on the tin.

AUs

it’s running you with red: A short, miserable red-templar!Gal drabble.

Birthright (AO3): Another of the not quite fairy tales: the Cinderella AU no-one asked for. In a world where things happened slightly differently, Dorian takes a masked ball as a chance to covertly investigate this Inquisition he’s heard so much about. It’s only one night. Not much can go wrong. Can it? (Spoiler: The answer is yes. Or it can go very, very right.)

“Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.” (All things change, and we change with them.) For a prompt. In which a time travel experiment goes wrong and Dorian ends up meeting a very sad eighteen-year-old stuck-in-the-Chantry Gal.

Reprise: Or “the one where Gal freaks out and breaks up with Dorian in Trespasser because he is an idiot, and they have to sort things out nearly two years later.” Guessing it'll be an eight-parter (there is a lot of mess to sort out). Over at AO3 | On Tumblr: Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Angsty extra drabble

Miniseries with recurring protagonists, multi-part fics, etc.

KOSH ADAAR/CASSANDRA

Frost: Kosh, Cassandra, scarf-knitting and UST. Just another day at the office.

Dark red: Kosh bakes for Cassandra.

Hesitation: Cassandra notices it: sometimes there is a moment of hesitation before Kosh kisses her; a moment where he doesn’t quite pull her closer, his hand too gentle on her waist, his mouth too slow. Kosh, old scars and the perils of loving a human.

Cassandra and flower crowns

“I love you” - not said to me: Prompt drabble. Kosh Adaar, Cassandra and some accidental eavesdropping.

“Oh shit. Am I - Am I in love? That’s not supposed to be happening. That’s not right.” Very short promptfic drabble.

Leaning: Kosh, Cassandra and stupid, stupid puns.

CROSSOVERS

Memory: Angst, AU. Prompted by this: “Oh maaan, the HoF finding the cure, marching off to find the Inquisitor. She doesn’t know about Alistair being left tho, so it’s all smiles and stuff and then, alright, enough chitchat where’s Alistair? Can you imagine the complete silence that follows. Cullen/Josie tryin’ to smooth things out maybe, Leliana bitting her lip…” Yvaine and Morgana… don’t meet in the best circumstances.

From the Underworld: The fix-it fic for Memory. Yvaine and Morgana mount a rescue mission to retrieve Alistair from the Fade. Angsty in places, disgustingly fluffy in others.

Wednesdays: Modern bookshop AU with Gal as Yvaine’s grumpy twin brother.

Selected Wednesdays: Crossover tying all the modern AU ficlets together and explaining a few gaps, spanningAn Unquenchable Flame verse, Shield Raised ‘verse, Armour ‘verse and whatever the hell Kosh’s ‘verse is. Features Yvaine/Cullen, Gal/Dorian, Morgana/Alistair and Kosh/Cassandra. Days in the life at Yvaine’s bookshop.

“Gal, what do you mean you’re marrying my best friend? I didn’t even think you were dating.” Same AU as Wednesdays. Gal, Yvaine and a really awkward conversation. Retconned as of Selected Wednesdays, where Yvaine found out about Gal/Dorian much earlier, because her and Dorian’s friendship was too good and I couldn’t do that to them.

“Yeah uh - Yeah no, that sounds awful.” Yvaine, Dorian, Gal, and embarrassing childhood photos.

Crossovers: Some actual, ridiculous crossovers between Dragon Age and other canons. Featuring princess!Morgana, angel!Dorian and superKosh. Yeah, really. I don’t know either.

Tru’s characters go and pep-talk everyone else’s characters: Just that, really. With apologies to nanahuatli, aphreal42, withthebreezesblown and fanfoolishness.

C O R O N A

F!Tabris/Alistair, Origins AU. After the queen is killed at Ostagar, Grey Wardens Anora Mac Tir and Kallian Tabris are left to seek the widowed king’s aid in stopping the Blight.

Based on this post by the-champion-of-the-citadel: “Dragon Age AU where everything is the same except Anora is the bastard heir and the Gray Warden following you, and Alistair is the monarch’s widower.”

Part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Irrevocable: An extra scene. Drabble for someone who prompted Kallian/Alistair, “things I wish you hadn’t said.” Tabris says something she shouldn’t have.

Fadewalking (F!Lavellan/Cullen): The “Oops, I accidentally walked into your dreams and saw all your vulnerabilities and your screwed-up younger self, which is awkward because I barely know you, and I keep wandering through your memories, and now we’re bonding in the Fade but I can barely look at you in real life” AU. Part 1 | 2 | 3

VAS NORMANDY (John Shepard/Tali, Mass Effect 1 - 2)

Vas Normandy: John, Tali and trying to deal with difficult fathers.

Ad astra per aspera (“To the stars, through difficulties”): Promptfic.A skinny kid in the Tenth Street Reds called John, and becoming Shepard.

EVA SHEPARD (F!Shepard/Kaidan, Mass Effect 1 - 3):

Encore: Shepard and the Lazarus Project.

counting steps: Predictions and outcomes. Introspection, angst.

Drafts: Beginning of ME2. In an unsent message, Kaidan mourns.

Oneshots. Yes, they happen too. Sorry.

Slip of the Tongue (F!Lavellan/Cullen): In the heat of an argument, Cullen makes a surprising confession.

Masquerade (F!Lavellan x Alistair, post-Inquisition): Also known as “Tru reads As the World Falls Down and thinks too much.” A masquerade ball is held at the Fereldan palace to celebrate the closing of the Breach, and there Ellana Lavellan meets a mysterious stranger…

Love (M!Trevelyan x Dorian): It’s thrown about so much, that word, as if it’s just something simple and decorative. People have the sheer bloody arrogance to think that they know what it means. Dorian used to know, once. (This one’s not nearly as sad as it sounds.)

Compassion and Joy (F!Cousland x Alistair, post-Inquisition): Written for the prompt: “Imagine if King Alistair and the Queen reunite sometime in the future and Cole is there to hear their minds…I wonder how that would end up? I just wanna hear Cole speak about them haha pain aside”

Grace (Leliana x Marjolaine): Leliana and her lover, before betrayal and Blights. Pre-Origins, inspired by Leliana’s Song.

Innocence: Cullen, Amell and the demons of Kinloch Hold. Angst. Morgana is in this one if you squint.

Grounded (F!Brosca x Alistair): She runs her hands along walls and sometimes, when she’s sitting, she’ll lay her palms flat on the floor and close her eyes. It takes Alistair a long time to ask her why, and the answer surprises him. (Part of the Nat Brosca series.)

Rules (Bethany x Alistair): There are certain things she won’t let herself think about her commanding officer. Roughly 2k of Bethany/Alistair, trapped-in-a-storm and hurt/comfort for thinkdragonage.

Minted: A newly-crowned Alistair’s thoughts.

Rapport: Aveline finds out Cullen is leaving Kirkwall and has a word with him.

That time Cullen went on the Great British Bake-Off: Yes, it completely happened. Based on an excellent piece of fanart.

Happiness (Alistair x Warden):As a manAlistair looks back on his childhood, and wonders how the hell he got here.

things you said that i wasn’t meant to hear (F!Amell x Alistair): More accidental love confessions. Solona eavesdrops, and receives a very pleasant surprise.

Truths (F!Cousland x Alistair): Those Who Wait ‘verse. Alistair overhears Patience talking to Fergus, and discovers something he probably shouldn’t have. Or shouldn’t have yet, anyway.

Snow-Dragons: Liss Cousland and Fergus.

Constellations (F!Cousland x Alistair): More Liss. Longish drabble written for a prompt on the kink meme: Asexual!Warden is affected by something everyone figures is sex pollen. Turns out the problem can actually be solved by platonic intimacy, because curses are contrary and nonspecific that way.

Other Stories (F!Hawke x Varric): Things between Varric and Bianca have come to an end. Hawke wonders why, and the answer surprises her.

Introductions: For a prompt. Morrigan, Kieran and Alistair, trying to understand each other and the mess they’re in. Can stand in or out of Armour ‘verse due to vagueness.

“HA! Loser!” - Sayanee Amell and unsanctioned uses of Fade Step. Pre-Blight.

Doglords together (F!Hawke x Anders): Marian, Anders and a surprise pasty.

Rare and wonderful (F!Mage x Alistair): In which elf!Alistair gives a lonely, curious apprentice a rose.

A chess match: Dorian and Cullen, older, happy and trashtalking.

And… that’s it. No, I mean, that’s really it. There’s nothing else. We made it. Phew.

#my fic #masterpost #the great big masterpost

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godssea7-blog · 6 years ago

Photo

When you look at the Old Testament, you find many prophetic books. But in the New Testament there is really only one book devoted, in its entirety, to prophecy—the book of Revelation. And the Old Testament book it parallels most is Daniel.

The Anchor Bible calls the four major visions of Daniel “the four apocalypses.” That’s because they are similar to the apocalypse—the book of Revelation. We already covered in brief the great image of Daniel 2, which represents four world-ruling empires to reign successively right up to the return of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation’s main focus is on the fourth of those four empires—the Roman Empire.

Concerning similarities between the two books, Sir Isaac Newton once said, “The apocalypse of John is written in the same style and language with the prophecies of Daniel and has the same relation to them which they have to one another so that all of them together make but one complete prophecy.” I believe that is a pretty good observation.

Doing the Continual

Mr. Armstrong often spoke about how Satan is always battling to get false doctrines into God’s Church. We battle to keep them out. The battle continues.

We have already seen in Daniel 8 how there was to be a man in this end time who would work against the continual. Daniel 8:11 says that by this man “the daily was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.” For 1,150 days, this man (actually Satan, the power behind this man) was able to stop the daily. But God responded to that betrayal by raising up a new work.

Daniel 12 shows what happens to those who betray the daily and who work against it. “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half [that is Revelation-type language]; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter [or shatter] the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished” (verse 7). This is the 31/2-year Tribulation. At that time, God says He will shatter and destroy anything that is not built on His truth. That is an absolute.

“And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days” (verse 11). Again, this is language very similar to what we read in the book of Revelation. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days” (verse 12). Only a little remnant in this end time will continue what God started. Only a small group of people continues to fight against those who would try to destroy God’s truth.

Church Eras

Now let’s go to the book of Revelation. God has a lot to say about the continual in the vision He gave to John. Notice Revelation 2:25-26: “But that which ye have already hold fast till I come. And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” Why do we have to keep holding on? That’s how we qualify!

Those who qualify receive great power from God. “And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star” (verses 27-28). The morning star is Jesus Christ! We are His Bride. God says He will give us this reward if we hold fast. God will surely see that we are amply rewarded.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (verse 29). But how many of them do not hear? Just look at what happened to the next Church era.

“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Revelation 3:1). That Church was raised up during the Middle Ages. But by the time Mr. Armstrong came on the scene in the 1930s, it was dead. The Sardis people would not accept truth! They thought they were righteous, but God says they were dead.

So God raised up another era through that one man—Herbert W. Armstrong. And that end-time Elijah was loyal from beginning to end. He never faltered. He restored all things. What a servant of God! He would not compromise. Look at what one man can do.

God wants more effort from each one of us. He wants more from you. God is about to give us power over the nations. We have a big job to do. One person can do some tremendous things if he just relies on the power of God.

Notice what God prophesied about the Philadelphia era of His Church—the era in which Mr. Armstrong restored all things. “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name”—or authority (verses 7-8). Mr. Armstrong didn’t deny God’s government. He restored all things!

The word Philadelphia means brotherly love. God was able to build so much through that Work because of how unified its supporters were. God wants His Church to be close, because we are family and because of what He needs that family to do. God’s Family is the solution to the world’s problems. This world needs to see a loving family—people who will die for each other, not kill each other! We cannot just talk about love—we have to show it—live by it. We have to set the example for the people of this world—show them how to love each other, how to pray together, how to rear their children.

If we love each other the way God says we should, it will get us through anything. Are we too sophisticated to get as close as God wants His Family to be?

Notice in verse 8 that God says He has set before us an “open door.” That is the daily. God keeps opening doors today, but most do not walk through them. Our battle is to make sure we do not separate ourselves from the open door, the daily. How do we do that? This is where this godly love comes in. First we must love God and His Work above everything else. Why does God love this Work so much? Because He really loves this world. If we love it as much as He does, we will deliver the daily. That is what this world needs to solve its problems.

Why does Satan attack this Work with such wrathful rage? Because he knows what people will do if they really listen to this message: They will believe it.

“Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee” (verse 9). There is a group of people on this Earth that God really loves. They have God’s government. God says He will force all of these dissenting groups that have rejected Mr. Armstrong’s teachings to come back and know that He has loved His very elect. In fact, God will make the whole world know that He loved us. Then we will show them how to love each other.

Isn’t it easy to act like we have love? That’s phony love. God wants us to prove our love to Him and to each other by accepting His government. That’s what the subject is about right here in verse 9—God’s government. Satan knows that, so what do you suppose he destroys first of all? Satan had a synagogue inside the Church of God dedicated to destroying God’s government! That’s how Satan gets people to transgress. He destroys God’s government.

Where is God’s government on this Earth? There is only one place. The government in God’s true Church is the same government that will rule the Earth and the universe for all eternity! I’m talking about something big! It will keep right on growing forever and ever. Where is this daily? Where is this government?

This is what the battle is all about in Daniel 8 and 11. Government is everything. If we lose that, we lose it all. Without God’s government, we will not go through the open door.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (verse 20). Christ is on the outside knocking on the Laodiceans’ door. But who is He using to knock? Where is His government on this Earth? We need to know.

The Value of Revelation

Let’s move ahead to Revelation 10. Notice verse 6: “And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer”—or “no more delay,” as it is translated in the Revised Standard Version. But when were events ever delayed? Mr. Armstrong wrote in 1984: “So Revelation 10 shows that when our work appeared to be close to finished more than a decade ago, God held up world events,and I was commissioned now to go with the Kingdom message to many kings or many nations and speaking different languages. That is what, as I now look back, I have been doing especially since 1972.” Mr. Armstrong knew that God had delayed world events.

But now we are in the time of the little book, and there is no more delay. Events are moving along at lightning-quick speed. The United States is still a strong military power in the world, but it is about to collapse. And Revelation 10 shows that it is all tied to a little book with a thunderous message! We must get the daily out to the world. We are reaching a lot of people because God, in His love, is warning people of what is about to happen.

If we are doing our job, we don’t have to worry about physical events. We need to worry about our spiritual understanding. God has given us so much revelation. He is telling us what will happen. There is no time to worry about physical things. There is no more delay.

“And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey. And I took the little book out of the angel’s hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter” (verses 9-10). When God gives revelation, eat it up and let it direct your life. We have to really digest all of this. God has given us so much revelation that it is hard to keep up with it. Yet, still, there are some few who find time to study poisonous literature and neglect what God has revealed to us. If you do not understand the importance of what God has given us, something is not right!

We must realize the value of revelation. It comes from the mind of God. He wants His revelation drilled into our minds. He wants us to eat it up and digest it. How else could we deliver this message? Digesting this message dramatically changes the way we act.

“And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings” (verse 11). Here we see a new work. We have to do it again!

“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein” (Revelation 11:1). There was no physical temple when John wrote this. He’s talking spiritually. God wants to know if we will be measured by Christ. If we are to measure the Laodiceans, we must first measure ourselves.

“But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months” (verse 2). Those who will not be measured will be punished in the Great Tribulation.

The Church and the Dragon

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). Here is a woman, the Church of God, clothed with the sun.

“And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads” (verses 2-3). Revelation 12 mentions 1) the Church of God and 2) the great red dragon that has seven heads and 10 horns. Is there any doubt about where our opposition comes from?

Satan the devil is this great red dragon. Historically he has used a political-religious union in Europe—the Holy Roman Empire—to wreak havoc on the whole world. But don’t forget who is the archenemy of this dragon. It is God’s Church. In the very near future, you will see the blood of God’s people, and a lot of other people, spilled all over this Earth because of a great false church.

That’s what the abomination of desolation is all about. This is what it is all leading up to. It’s a confrontation between God’s people and the devil. And the fight is over the daily. Any place you find the daily, you will find Satan there trying to destroy it. God lets Satan war against the Church to help us qualify for positions of rule.

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent” (verse 14). Daniel and John are the only two biblical writers who wrote about the Tribulation in this way. At the same time that the Laodiceans have their power completely shattered, God says He will deliver His faithful remnant to its place. This is the same message as we read in Daniel 12:11.

Words or Blood

“And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared” (Revelation 16:12). The Russians and Chinese will destroy most of the beast power. Request our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy, which explains this in greater detail.

“And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet” (verse 13). This is an ugly picture. We are up against perverted demons. Do you see why people who turn against the daily become so bitter?

“Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (verse 15). God has clothed us with the sun. There is no excuse for us to be naked. But we will end that way if we stop watching and fail to keep what God has given us.

“And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon” (verse 16). Here we see this European army rising on the scene—a political force that will soon be guided by the great false church. God says He will gather these armies, along with the Asiatic hordes, in Armageddon and then bring them down to Jerusalem where they will fight against Christ. And it will get so bad that the Valley of Jehoshaphat will fill up with blood to the horses’ bridles—a river of blood!

Then man will begin to get the message. It’s either words or blood. God is preparing to rule this Earth, and this is the only way He can save mankind.

There are those in God’s own Church who have rejected these prophecies just as they are about to come to pass. Satan has done a masterful job at deceiving most of God’s people.

The Fifth Kingdom

Let’s conclude this study back in the book of Daniel. How will all of this end? “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44). This is something that will last forever. God will have His own kings and priests there. He won’t leave it to anyone else. He has selected His troops—His officers. And He will use them to rule the world.

Daniel 7 likens the four world-ruling empires of man’s history to four dreadful beasts, the fourth beast the most terrible of all (Daniel 7:7). But notice where it leads. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire” (verse 9). This is our future!

“I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the Earth. But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever” (verses 15-18). We have often referred to the four world-ruling kingdoms that Satan has ruled over throughout history. But it is the fifth Kingdom that will never die!

God is trying and testing us now as never before so that we can qualify for that fifth Kingdom. It’s about a world-ruling empire. Today, as men fight and struggle to gain control of the Earth, God says to those who remain faithful to the end, All that these men fight for, I will give to you.

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (verse 27). We will be right there ruling with the Most High.

“Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart” (verse 28). This is the end of the matter! There will never be another opportunity like this for the people of God. We are doing the daily in the end time, just before Christ returns to this Earth. What a time to be alive!

When the Roman Empire swept through Jerusalem in a.d. 70, it had never experienced such fanatical resistance from a small band of people. That’s because the Jews believed the prophecies of Daniel—they thought the Messiah was coming then. And that filled them with hope and courage. It filled Rome with rage! The Romans were determined to destroy every Jew in Jerusalem because they knew they had to stamp out the idea that the Messiah is coming!

If you really believe that the Messiah is coming, you will be one fierce warrior! If you really believe this—if you have eaten it up and digested it—you will be one tough Christian. You will fight like no warrior has ever fought. People will marvel, What is it that makes him fight like that? And if that doesn’t motivate others now—if that doesn’t turn many to righteousness now—it will in the World Tomorrow. Then they will know what it was that motivated us. They will see how it changed us and made us a different kind of people.

The Messiah is coming. Now is the time for us to seize the moment and fight for God’s truth! We will never have another opportunity like this for all eternity!

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