#be Christ in the flesh

[nhura]

Life is too short.

[ my art ] [ twitter ]

(detail + ratio rambling under the cut >_>)

This is one of those "I need a break between my ten other illustrations, let me do a lil sketchy sketch :D" that got too ambitious etc. etc. I never want to see the color red again" moments. BUT!

I really, really like to explore Ratio's viscerality and what's happening between his brain and his nerves, like... all of this thorough control and discipline and he still has to breathe and react to himself and his surroundings, you know? His accomplishments are insane for "his age"* but he's going to run out of "age" at some point! His ambitions are so far reaching that he's not worried about getting doctorate degree Number Nine! Rather, his efforts are pointed outwards, into the universe, for the universe. As you know.

Speaking of his degrees, I had a half thought a while ago that we've seen him with two types of laurel pins.

One is him in his suuuuuper cute mother goose avatar (three leaves) and the other is the hat he's wearing everywhere else (eight leaves).

The thought was, "Aww, what if they're like commemorative pins counting the number of his degrees or whatever :)". Literally only because there's eight in the current one. This is kind of silly because then you'd HAVE to have an obscene number of degrees even for a normal person for your leaf pin to start looking like a laurel in the first place so scratch that BUT it's cute to think that it's still academic regalia. Something something I work in higher ed myself and it's like... it's like that.

The university goldsmith appreciates the job security.

I REMEMBER WHY I BROUGHT THAT UP. FOLLOWING the fantasy where more leaves = more knowledge!, in summary, even though Ratio seems to be a little beyond trying to get a prize every time he learns something now. But he does want to Keep Going. He can only Keep Going.

So I drew him in a bathtub full of an uncountable amount of gold leaves looking at the camera with an indescribable expression born from a hunger that will never be satiated lol DETAIL SHOT!

*Referenced only vaguely in a comment in the context of astonishment, but it could have easily have been "woah he's accomplished so much for his age (young)" as it could be "woah he looks good for his age (older)". There is no canon age and even then, reconciling standardized system time versus planetary time versus "does his particular breed of lizard human have the same lifespan as tumblr user nhura?" is a losing game for everyone involved! Here's what I think: I think he started going grey in his early twenties, whatever that means in spacefantasygame, and that that's very cute on him.

Do YOU think Ratio would be tempted by immortality???? Or would he MIND HIS BUSINESS

[silentagecinema]

beauty in the 1920s

[rosyhoneydew]

“I almost didn’t.”

“What?” Tommy asks, rinsing off his toothbrush and turning to look at Evan in the mirror. He looks lost, almost.

Tommy himself is feeling a little thrown. They'd moved to the bathroom to settle down for bed a bit ago; and Evan had filled him in on the freak accident, the trip to the hospital, and how for the rest of the day he'd had a weird, unshakeable feeling.

"I saw the blade going loose. I- I knew it was going to break. And for a second I just... waited."

Tommy frowns.

"Sweetheart, you couldn't have known-"

"I think I did," Evan says. "It's weird. I know there's a million different ways that could've gone, but it was like I thought what if it hits him."

He looks down at where his hands are gripping the sink, his knuckles turning white at the force of it.

"I think I hoped it would."

Tommy reaches slowly for Evan's left hand, and places his on top. He doesn't try to peel Evan's hand away, just gives him the warm pressure of his touch.

"It didn't," Tommy says. "What it comes down to is, you saved his life."

Evan looks over at him, eyes pained like he's hoping to believe him.

"You're not someone who hurts people, Evan. You're a person that hurt people turn to."

Tommy shifts himself to lean against the counter and holds onto Evan's hips.

"Maybe you hesitated, or maybe you remembered to take a beat before jumping in head first? Isn't that what you said Bobby wanted for you? To think fast before you attack the situation."

Evan looks away briefly like he's reassessing the moment.

"Either way" - Tommy leans in to press a kiss at his cheek - "I know who you are. I don't have to have seen it to know what you did was selfless, and good." He brushes Evan's curls back a bit then, and gives his hip a squeeze before heading to bed.

Evan will be in soon, and he'll curl up to Tommy and kiss him deep, holding him tight as he drifts to sleep.

[rotinmycore]

this is not a house of God.

[wiirocku]

1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV) - For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

[christ-redeemer]

Third Week of Advent

"Catholicism is a matter of the body and the senses as much as it is a matter of the mind and the soul, precisely because the Word became flesh."

- Bishop Barron, The Word Became Flesh: Reflections for Advent and Christmas

[cowboythewizard726]

WELCOME BACK TO LAIOS POSTING today everything went wrong for my beautiful baby princess and but its oaky because the way he experience all the misery was so appealing and attractive oh him IM GAY AND I ADMIT IT IM GAY IM GAY IIM GA

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

The doctrine of the Trinity does not fully explain the mysterious character of God. Rather, it sets the boundaries outside of which we must not step. It defines the limits of our finite reflection. It demands that we be faithful to the biblical revelation that in one sense God is one and in a different sense He is three.

Reformation Study Bible, The Triunity of God

[not-she-which-burns-in-it]

I accidentally lost my mind in the tags of this post. So I’m breaking Tumblr law by posting a screenshot of my own hashtags. Because now the idea of the Archivist as Hamlet is eating my entire brain.

They both have a mother figure named Gertrude.

They both spend monologue after monologue about the morality of decision-making and action.

“Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them?”

Hamlet argues with himself about whether action or inaction is better when you can’t possibly know all the variables of the outcome. 

Tell me you don’t hear The Archivist

Is the more noble thing to endure suffering like a martyr or too fight back and end the suffering, perhaps by Ending the suffering. This is literally the argument of MAG 200.

Because to both, death would be preferable than the fight, because it would mean an end to the suffering. But you can’t kill yourself. Hamlet promised God by being a Catholic. Jon just promised Martin. So what both of them do instead is to make shitty decision after stupid, idiotic decision, and get all of their friends and loved ones murdered instead, by accident. Hamlet didn’t mean for Ophelia to kill herself. He didn’t even mean to kill Polonious. And Jon is gutted over the deaths of Tim and Sasha. But they were the direct result of his mistakes. 

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all: The Jonathan Sims story.

God it’s not just that monologue, it’s the whole damn character. 

“And in this harsh world, draw thy breath in pain to tell my story.”

“I don’t wanna be another goddamn mystery”

[i-dreamed-i-had-a-son]

“because he never accepts that it's never been about righteousness--it's about repentance.” except javert killing himself IS repentance.

well, it’s like 12 different things, because bro had gone days without sleeping and very little food and water and he already had low self-worth and kept asking the amis to kill him and just assumed he was going to die AND THEN valjean upended his understanding of the world and morality. he was really going through it & there are a lot of overlapping reasons for why he jumps into the seine.

but javert is like Number One Most Responsible guy in the whole story. taking responsibility is his Thing (forever bitter the musical doesn’t include the punish me monsieur le maire scene). how else, in his derailment, could he atone for his conceived misdeeds other than by handing in his resignation to god? in the brick he had already left a note urging his superiors to treat convicts at toulon better, which is another step in his repentance (and another crime the musical commits by not including it). jumping into the seine was another step.

honestly a lot of ppl who like the book think the musical was dead wrong to exclude him from the big heaven group sing, because it COMPLETELY undermines the themes of forgiveness and compassion threaded throughout les mis. like the musical was simply wrong lol.

This is helpful context! I am still finishing the brick, although I have fully read the abridged version, and that detail about the letter wasn't included, so I didn't know that occurred! (And thank you for the message--this is a long response but I'd love to hear more of your thoughts!)

I agree that Javert is certainly deeply distraught and remorseful; like you mentioned, his worldview is literally falling apart, and his actions reflect his mental state. But his death isn't really repentance--in the sense that it's not what God would have wanted. To me it reads like a Judas situation: a desperate realization of a huge mistake, and doing the only thing you think can make it right, namely, ending it all. That's the just punishment for someone so wrong, isn't it?

But true repentance, meaning the repentance that the Lord desires, is about changing your ways, not "paying a price." Had Javert really understood the beauty of Valjean's mercy (an image of Christ's, just as the bishop's undeserved mercy was to Valjean himself), rather than killing himself, he would have lived to also become "an honest man"--in heart. One who could forgive and understand forgiveness, for himself as well as others. One who could recognize that he is not The Law, that he can fall, but that he can also be "brought to the light." One who could accept that men like Valjean, and men like himself, CAN change, and be changed.

It's tragic to me because so much of "Stars," and his character in the book as well as the musical, is about wanting to be righteous, to rise above his birth and the sinfulness he associates it with. It's about wanting to please the Lord by his actions. But in his end, he shows he never understood what God really wanted from him, and that's where my original phrase comes in: not righteousness, but repentance. To live, and face the man you were, knowing it's no longer the man you are. That it's never been about what you've done or can do, but about what's been done for you. That's the Gospel that he could never fully accept.

To use another example you mentioned, that misunderstanding drives why he asks the Mayor (Valjean) to punish him--in his worldview, mercy is unjust, or at the very least, unfair. Evil must be punished; "those who fall like Lucifer fell" receive "the sword." But "as it is written," God "desires mercy, not sacrifice" (Matthew 9:13). God would have wanted Javert to live, and Javert couldn't see that, and that's why it's devastating to me. In his misunderstanding of the heart of God, he misses what would have set him free from the chains of sin he's always been trying to escape.

That's why he's contrasted with Valjean, who (though he carries guilt about his past till the end of his life) is eventually able to face it and confess what he had done to those he loves. He knew there was mercy to be found, if only it was asked for. Javert was too blinded by pride and shame to realize it, and so, while broken, he never was able to truly repent.

For that, you must go on.

[thelordismylightandmysalvation]

I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Via Verse of the Day - Galatians 2:20 ESV

[apilgrimpassingby]

Let all mortal flesh keep silent, and stand with fear and trembling, and in itself consider nothing earthly; for the King of kings and Lord of lords cometh forth to be sacrificed, and given as food to the believers; and there go before Him the choirs of Angels, with every Dominion and Power, the many-eyed Cherubim and the six-winged Seraphim, covering their faces, and crying out the hymn: Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Syrian Eucharistic prayer, originated c.275 or earlier

[arwenkenobi48]

After writing such heavy stuff I need a little levity, so have some wholesome modern!AU Enmu imagines

Enmu’s absolute favourite Christmas film is The Polar Express, for obvious reasons. He literally jumps for joy whenever he watches it.

He’s 100% part of the Thomas The Tank Engine fandom. Making video edits, writing fanfiction, making fanart, the whole works.

Enmu’s loves classical music, especially Tchaikovsky, and songs from the Golden Age of Hollywood, particularly Mr Sandman by The Chordettes and Dream A Little Dream Of Me by Doris Day.

Enmu is a massive fan of the Nightmare On Elm Street series. He often brags about being able to give Freddy Krueger nightmares on various horror subreddits, which elicits no responses other than “ok edgelord”.

Enmu is literally in love with vintage steam engines. Whenever he visits a museum dedicated to them, you’re guaranteed to hear at least one employee say “Sir, please stop kissing that train!” And of course, he always has his camera at the ready, compiling a massive portfolio of his obsession.

“Film titles are so deceptive these days. Believe me, I rented Trainspotting with very high hopes and that’s two hours of my life I’ll never get back.” - Enmu, after watching Trainspotting without having a clue what to expect. His disappointment was immeasurable and his day was ruined.

The Starlight Express Incident, rather than being the title of an analogue horror series, is what happened when Enmu went to see the eponymous musical and got kicked out of the theatre for being too excited. For the most part, he was just squeeing very loudly. Then as the show ended, he literally screamed “HOORAY!”, got handbagged by several frustrated audience members, fell out of his seat and down the stairs, then had to be dragged outside by security before anyone tripped over him.

Enmu has a plushie of Thomas the Tank Engine that he falls asleep with every night. He is fiercely protective of it.

Enmu has My Trains by Lemon Demon as his ringtone, because of course he does.

[myremnantarmy]

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵."

[ricksanchezbignaturals]

i love flesh curtains era rick because i swear it's like they said "what, you think we can't make this guy any sexier? fuck you" *punk rockifies your mad scientist*

[arlathen]

i anticipate finishing veilguard tomorrow but i guess for the time being ill just have to rotate ariel/emmrich in my head instead of solavellan