#dianne is my spirit animal | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

coffeeandcalligraphy · 4 years ago

Text

Blood Sister | Feeding Habits Update #5

Hey People of Earth!

Are we back for another Feeding Habits update? Today let’s chat chapter six!

Blood Sister is the first chapter in Harrison’s POV and also the longest chapter in the book (a little over 8k words). It took me about a month to write!

Scene A:

Harrison gets back to the NYC apartment he shares with his mother after running errands to ward off either the spirit that haunts their walls or to rescue whatever is stuck in them. His mother preps for a dinner as Harrison has invited his old pal Reeve over.

Scene B:

Harrison removes a litter of kittens from behind the drywall. One of the kittens is dead. Strangely, a German Shepherd puppy is also in the litter.

Scene C:

Reeve appears in a glamorous blur and makes an interesting first impression on Suz who seems slightly stunned and endeared by her.

Scene D:

At dinner Reeve confronts Harrison about his “straight-edge” lifestyle since moving to NYC and he realizes her judgements about his life being monotonous are very true--he lacks purpose.

Scene E:

Harrison and his mother clear the dishes and Suzanna confronts him on the fact that he hasn’t told her that Reeve is in fact Lonan’s sister. Suz knows the boys’ relationship is complicated, and plays Devil’s advocate by outright asking Reeve how her brother is. Reeve, who hasn’t seen Lonan longer than Harrison, has assumed Lonan lives with them or is close by, and feels semi-betrayed that Harrison has kept his whereabouts a secret.

Scene F:

Reeve and Harrison drive to a garden and he’s reminded of the event that lead to him and his mother’s return to the east coast.

Harrison meets Winona outside a convenience store, the same woman Lonan meets in ch.6 of Moth Work. She takes him to her mansion where she’s hosting a party and introduces him to her husband. Harrison makes multiple bad decisions which you can probably figure out for yourself!

Scene G:

Harrison wakes up in Winona’s house and is confused to see her and her husband standing over his leather jacket. If we remember what happened in ch. 6 of Moth Work, Lonan gets beat up by Winona’s husband and has Harrison’s jacket & angel chain stolen. We can assume from this scene that Winona has a) recognized the jacket and b) chosen him to come back to her house for the purpose of also beating him up (which happens).

Scene H:

Reeve and Harrison jump a fence into a garden to give the dead kitten an unorthodox “water burial” in the garden’s fountain. Reeve confronts him on why no one has seemed to care about her whereabouts for the last year, and also suggests the only reason he wanted to see her now is because he misses Lonan. Harrison miserably drinks too much wine.

Scene I:

Harrison wakes up in the cold, very drunk, and Reeve is gone. A security guard looms over him. Harrison asks the confused man if he thinks he was separated at birth. Harrison isn’t referring to feeling like he’s been removed from a sibling bond, like the kittens, but a deeper, “indissoluble bond” formed between two people (like the kittens and the puppy). This connects to the title “Blood Sister” as Reeve suggests she and Suzanna may be connected in this way, to the kittens, and to Lonan and Harrison.

This idea of “indissoluble bonds” was reinforced when I listened to Stephanie Harlowe’s coverage on the Parker-Hulme case, and this was the title of her video! This idea of an immutable connection between two people who are forever separated, like the dead kitten despite its death, still being connected to its siblings, was very relevant to how Harrison feels about Lonan.

Excerpts:

Here’s the entire first scene <3

Something has died in the drywall. Suz insists there must also be a ghost—she hears cries when she sleeps—so when Harrison returns to their apartment with both a handsaw and a bottle of holy water, she’s more than pleased.

Today, it snows in New York City, and no amount of brushing off his hair and jacket rids him of the snowflakes he tracks in. His face stings with the bitter early March air, and he’s resettled easily into the east coast grit; he likes the taste of instant coffee and the smell of gasoline.

Harrison shoulders off his jacket, the leather rigid with frost, and undoes the loop of his scarf one-handed. The apartment smells overwhelmingly of cloves and apple peel, and he is unsurprised when his mother rushes over to him, flushed from the kitchen heat, her #1 Dad apron bunching at her hips, and pushes a highball glass into his palm in exchange for his findings.

“It’s a secret recipe,” she says, twiddling through his errands. Suzanna lifts the bottle of holy water to eye level, unscrews its cap, and daps two soaked fingers to her lips just as he dips his fingers into the glass, around its rim, and then into his mouth. The hot mull of liquid bursts against his taste buds, citrusy. “Wish I believed in this shit as much as I believe nutmeg is my new holy saviour.”

Harrison downs the rest of the glass’s contents, the cider’s spice grafting down his throat. Its heat clings to the roof of his mouth, a subtle burn that numbs his tongue, but he likes it, its sweetened acid like a rucking back to life.

“Is that the secret?” He runs his pinky along the base of the glass so the last drops of liquid climb up his fingernail.

“The Lord?”

Harrison laughs and accepts the holy water she hands him, rescrews its cap in place. “Nutmeg.”

Suzanna takes his empty glass and whisks toward the kitchen. On the stove burbles two saucepans and one Dutch oven, the fan whirring like the pleats of an accordion.

“Maybe it’s both,” she says.

You asked for the entire second scene? Here Harrison finds the litter of kittens:

The first thing Harrison removes when he saws through the drywall lining the two-prong outlet is a dead kitten. Its body shifts onto his hand with damp weight, like an overripe pear, its silver hair glass-like under the beam of his flashlight. Though it sits comfortably in the pit of his palm, though he knows he cannot kill or revive it, his first instinct is to lay it on the beach towel Suzanna laid out because he fears he’ll crush it with just one pulse of his thumb.

Its eyes are the size of his pinkie nail, gently shuttered like it’s drifted to a lawless sleep. The animal will remain in this state—only death, but as he looks at it, braying its hairs back with his forefinger, he considers alternative options. Harrison knows little of necromancy, but considers anointing it with the holy water, lighting a red-cased candle in front of it, chanting a verse from Revelations.

With the flashlight secured between his molars, Harrison pulls out four more kittens, all that mew as they cling to his fingers, their noses twitching against his skin like it’s feed. They burrow into the beach towel, trampling over one another with blind fervency, all shimmery silver. In comparison to their deceased sibling, they wriggle, pink-nosed, and don’t settle against the grain of the towel, always wagging, like earthworms.

Harrison believes he’s done—removed the dead animal and rescued four more. Good work which he’ll take to a farm just outside the city—Suzanna has a friend. He’s nearly clicked off the flashlight when he sees it, just a subtle glint of something else—an animal that isn’t silver, but a dry brown.

At first, he thinks it’s a rat that’s raked through the walls to where it is now, but the longer he shines the flashlight, the more he sees it is not a rat, or even a kitten. What sits, jittering behind the outlet, is a pup.

Like the kittens, its nose twitches back and forth, its eyes small enough to be the ovular black beads on Suzanna’s rosary which hangs, decorative, above the front entrance. “It’s a cleanse for the spirit,” Suz said when he questioned her reasoning for bringing religious memorabilia into a house of two atheists. “Dianne from church told me.” Dianne is a beer-bellied schoolteacher, proud pothead and mother of four who frequently volunteers at the church’s weekend functions with his mother. “She’s into that kind of thing. Seances. Jesus Christ. I think she mentioned they had something spicy going on in college.”

“Something spicy?”

“Spicy. Like hot wings. Habaneros. One-night stands. I don’t know Harry, it sounded illicit.”

They both grinned.

Harrison does not know when him and Suz began getting along. There was no one date or time, no anniversary to look forward to for their official reunion. One moment he struggled not comparing her face to the one he knew in his early teens, and the next, they crouched over a salad bowl of burnt popcorn, taking turns painting each other’s fingernails with the same shade of red nail polish—Crazy for Carmine

The dog can’t yet focus its eyes on anything, but Harrison swears it stares at him. It fidgets from its position crouched on the outlet, so when he extends his hand, an offering, he’s surprised when it crouches onto the tip of his finger, shimmying into his palm. It’s even smaller when he holds it, plum-sized, and velveteen. Its eyelids flicker like the apartment’s bad TV signal, and when it opens its mouth to cry, its teeth, no larger than the tip of a toothpick, prick up.

“You’re not a tabby,” he says, drags his fingers through the suede-like gloss of its fur. The pup curls against his knuckles, murmurs languidly until Harrison pets its head again.

“Did you say something, Harry?”

Harrison stands from his crouch when his mother materializes from her bedroom, the animal still pared delicately in his palm. When he glances at her, he’s surprised to see she’s changed out of her usual loungewear, a tank top and bell-bottoms, and into a patterned shirtdress that sways to her knees. The Matisse-like design, organic shapes, all the colour of a celery stalk, drapes to her knees, flounces when she twirls for him.

“I thought we agreed on business casual,” he says, but smiles wider the longer he looks at her. Tulle gathers in a funnel down her waist, pluming her so she looks less like his mother and more like a fairy.

“I’m taking the business side, and you’ll take the casual.”

“She’s just a friend, Mom. She’s not expecting anything.”

“She’s got an English last name,” Suz says. Her eyelids glitter with gold pigment, her lips tacky with rouge. “Of course she’s classy.”

Harrison thumbs the back of the pup’s head and shifts closer to Suzanna when she cocks her head toward it.

“I think Reeve is more than classy,” he says. “Maybe stylish. Exclusive. Superior. Glamorous.”

Suzanna shifts the pup from Harrison’s hands to her own, neatly patting its head with her pinkie until its murmurs soften. When she holds the animal, it’s like he no longer stands behind her. It’s just her in her Matisse dress and the dog, comfortably blinking in her hand. “You found a puppy in a litter of kittens?” she says, less of a question, and more of a declaration of wonderment. She lifts the animal to eye level. Its nose wrinkles, like the skin of a fig. “Looks like mama picked up a stray. A beautiful stray. You’re absolutely beautiful.”

Reeve making only iconic appearances:

Reeve appears in their doorway wearing cat-eye sunglasses, a bottle of pinot noir slatted between her arm and chest. Though it’s been storming since early morning and there has been no sun in the city since the week previous, her appearance is so believable—cheekbones subtly tanned like she’s mastered the timing for a perfect sunlike glow, the sunglasses teetering neatly on the tip of her nose and staying there, like they’re a dog she’s taught to sit and stay—that Harrison’s almost convinced she commissions the sun to come out twice daily for a private show, just for her.

“We booked an appointment,” she says, letting herself into the apartment in a faux-fur blur.

Harrison swivels as she unzips, tooth by tooth, the red skin-slick vinyl of her gogo boots. Her hair falls in an untamed fringe around her forehead, the front sections pinned back by an array of rainbow-coloured butterfly clips. It mimics the fray of her jacket, fluffed around the hood’s perimeter.

Reeve dusts snow off her corduroy culottes, readjusts the collar of her black turtleneck. “When I moved to the city, I forgot how gruelling the winters can become.” She taps the heels of her boots onto the welcome mat so slush flakes onto the rubber before slipping her feet out elegantly, like Cinderella. “I almost believed New York City existed in a fictional bubble where everything remained dry and hot, like in Egypt, or the Mojave. When I asked for a hellish climate, I was hoping for sun and the occasional forest fire. Not ice and more ice.”

“Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” Suz speaks where Harrison’s words shrivel. She steps from the kitchen to the entrance, her dress flouncing when she extends a hand toward Reeve. “William Shakespeare.”

Reeve looks up. The cold has pinched her cheeks pink, drooled water to her eyes so when she blinks, tears sprout to her jawline. “Suzanna,” Reeve says, and embraces his mother with willful ease, like they’ve been girlfriends for a decade, like they purchase pavlova from the same patisserie at the same time on Thursdays, like they help each other whip perfectly fatty meringues at the same baking class so they can master the same pavlova and never buy it again. “I’ve heard nothing about you and yet I feel we’ve known each other for years. What do they call that? Blood sisters.”

So here’s the whole third scene lol:

At dinner, Reeve pops the cork of a bottle of pinot noir with her teeth before Suz tells her she and Harrison don’t drink. She’s in the middle of saying she’s a prophet, the bringer of wine, her lips parted around the cork, traces of her lip gloss gumming around its circumference.

“No alcohol?” Reeve says, spitting the cork into her palm so a glob of red transfers onto her skin.

Suz stirs a serving dish of clams with an olive wood spoon, their shells phosphorescent in the artificial light. “Harry and I have taken a break from spirits. Except for the holiest one of course.” She points to the roof as if signaling to the man upstairs and dishes a spoonful of clams onto Reeve’s plates, the shells chiming against the ceramic.

“That’s so reverent.” Reeve pricks the edge of a clam with a toothpick and swallows its frill into her mouth. “So virginal.”

Harrison accepts a spoonful of clams from his mother and adjusts a sprig of rosemary so it lies perpendicular to the plate’s edge. Olive oil gums under his fingernails and soaks into the fibres of a slice of bread he rips at the crust.

“I always assumed you’d be a partier if you ever moved back to the city,” Reeve says, and it takes Harrison a moment to realize she’s speaking to him. “Disco. Karaoke. Cocktails. Men who buy you cocktails.”

“Has that been your life in New York, Reeve?” Harrison sucks a lobe of clam between his lips. Its brine coats his tongue in a burst of salt and cilantro.

Reeve tips the bottle of wine to her mouth, its red gift bow shifting, silverish with light. “You could say that. I just expected more. Not that your life now is boring. But I assumed there would be more glamour.”

Harrison sops up a dribble of oil onto a shear of bread, and says something like, “I thought so too,” before swallowing.

“We have glamour,” Suz says as Harrison absently eats more clams. She points to the chandelier the two found at the bottom of a New Jersey dumpster, yet to be installed, sitting in its crystal glory on the floor. She explains the story of how it came to be as Harrison eats and listens for the mewing of the kittens, thinks about their one dead sibling that now lies curled inside a shoebox, separated in eternal rest.

Reeve is not wrong. Life in New York City has been far from glamorous. He shares this apartment with his mother who pays for all of the rent—it’s been months since Harrison could hold down a steady job. He tries with odds and ends—repairing a neighbour’s bathroom sink, tacking sconces up outside the apartment for a hundred bucks. His room is a décor-less box that smells like wallpaper even though it’s sanded smooth and painted with two coats of an eggshell-finished oatmeal white. There is no dancing, no music, no colour, no partying, no alcohol or men with alcohol. Not anymore, at least. Her statement should not sting—this is the utter truth. The apartment is repetitive shades of indistinctive creams, furniture he and his mother pick up off the curbs of wealthy homeowners, incomplete, yet his home, nonetheless. No matter the story Suz tries to spin—look at the exposed brick, look at the counter space, look at the custom-moulded baseboards the previous renters installed—he knows what Reeve has said is true. Life in the city is comfortable but monotonous—an unrelenting kind of normal.

“We found kittens,” Harrison says, promptly interrupting the women’s conversation that has quickly moved away from the apartment to their favourite places to eat gelato. Suz’s clam drifts off her toothpick; Reeve almost chokes on a gulp of wine. Harrison swipes a chunk of bread through olive oil and chews. “That’s glamorous.”

Reeve sets the wine bottle back onto the dinner table and folds her hands over the other. Her manicure is chipped, just the remnants of a tortoiseshell marble. “What kind? Calico?”

“They’re just kittens. And a dog.”

“You found a dog in a litter of kittens?”

Harrison eats one last clam and finishes his portion of bread. “Glamorous,” he says, his mouth half-full.

The beginning of scene 4:

While Suz and Reeve discuss room décor and clear the plates, Harrison checks on the kittens. Dishes clank rhythmically as they’re soaped, rinsed, dried, the ceramic whimpering in time with the kittens. He hasn’t named any but understands their differences. Though the quadruplets share the same silver coat, one has a slightly larger nose than the rest, one has a fleck of gold in its blue eye, one has pinstripes scrolled across its forehead like a branch of lightning—small details like this differentiate them.

In his palm, the one with the golden eye crawls, its underbelly sateen. Tomorrow, he’ll make the drive just outside Brooklyn where he’ll drop the kittens off at an old farmhouse. Suz’s friend from rehab is selling it, some Theodore Harvey, but his wife fosters animals, and was delighted to have the new additions. Though he hasn’t spoken to his mother about this arrangement, he also knows tomorrow he will keep the dog. Juniper, he’s named her—June with the eyes like a solstice.

When his mother pokes him, he jumps, and the kitten shimmies off his palm.

The sounds of dishes clinking morphs into the filmy mutter of a talkshow Reeve watches, sipping absently at her gifted bottle of red wine.

She nudges a pastry into his hand, where the kitten once sat, the skin of the pasteis de nata oiling his hand. He crunches into it as she watches patiently, as if waiting for a review, and its caramel flavour ruminates on his tongue.

“This is good,” he says around a mouthful of pastry.

“$4.99.” Suz smiles and takes a nibble herself. “For six.”

Together they stand over the kittens, passing the tart back and forth until Harrison gives the final piece to his mother. The apartment whirs with the calculated singe of automated laughter and the purr of the kittens. He knows one sits dead in a shoebox on his bedroom dresser. The ground too hard to dig, a burial still necessary.

Suz licks a crumb from her thumb and wipes her palms along the skirt of her dress. Their focus shifts to Reeve who lies sprawled against the two-seater, yelling something at a contestant on the show who’s gotten an answer wrong—tulip, not two lips. That’s fabulous. You are fabulously a failure.

“You didn’t tell me she was Lonan’s sister.”

Harrison pokes at a flake of pastry and wipes his hands on the front of his jeans. Reeve’s bangles clatter in a cyan jangle as she applauds at the same contestant she previously ridiculed. There are so many things he could say to his mother—he knew Reeve first, Reeve isn’t just Lonan’s sister to him, more like his own, but when he adjusts himself, swallowing and tidying the hem of his shirt, all that comes out is, “I didn’t think you needed to know.”

“I would’ve like to,” Suz says. “Does she know? That you don’t know where he is?”

Harrison’s fingernail catches on a loose thread, and he yanks it out so even Reeve glances back at its upholstered plink. “I know where he is, Suzanna.”

Reeve and Suz being icons (direct continuation from the above):

Harrison turns back to the kittens who plow over one another like ants. Heat flushes his throat, prickles his cheeks and ears and suctions like a vacuum. Though Suzanna eventually leaves, joining Reeve on the couch, propping her feet on the same coffee table so their polished feet touch, toes pink like raw cherry tomatoes, though he knows they’re both right in knowing and not knowing where Lonan is, though he knows it should no longer matter to him, he finds himself leaning against the table where the kittens encase each other in a plastic shoe bin, ticking his fingers at his side.

He does not know what the reality television show is about. From the blots he hears from the TV’s can-like speaker, he concludes it’s something about botany, love, vengeance, fertilizer. No one theme—it does not even know what it is itself. Suz has materialized with another tart, and she and Reeve nibble at it with fervency, so close, their tongues almost touch as they dart across the custard. The sight is almost viper-like, their teeth notched forward, and it should be venomous, or at its worst—friendly, but all Harrison sees is girlish, maternal intimacy.

Suz and Reeve laugh at a contestant who wears a tartan printed jumpsuit and mismatching earrings—one the shape of a pineapple, the other an urn-like bead she claims holds the ashes of her great aunt. They outline her figure with their pinkies. They clutch each other’s hands. They flush like beets and wipe crumbs from each other’s mouths.

Reeve’s momentary lapse into delicacy:

Harrison turns his back and pretends to tend to the kittens. They all know he does nothing but thumb the backs of their heads, let them suckle against his fingertips—they all know, and yet, he continues doing it. Silence cuts through the apartment like hot glass.

If Reeve and Suzanna still touch toes, it’s because neither want to loosen the other’s pride. The only sound in the room belongs to the television which has moved away from dishwashing to a watering hose—four for four, as if this is a discount, as if anyone will truly need that many watering hoses.

“I haven’t seen your brother since late August,” Harrison says once the commercials simmer back to the gaudy laughter of the reality television show. At first, he doesn’t look at Reeve. He knows what he’ll see—some form of betrayal. She didn’t come here looking for Lonan. She hasn’t even asked for him, but he knows what he’ll see when he looks at her. Best friends do not keep secrets.

When he concedes, he is right. Reeve looks at him from under a thick smear of kohl, her eyes focused, like slate beads. Her lips are pink from wine and she unhinges a fleck of opal nail polish from her thumb. Her mouth does not move, a straight line that cranks with her jaw.

“Where is he?” she asks, fluttering her lashes when Suz pats her arm. If Harrison is right, Reeve hasn’t see her brother since she peered in on him when the two shared the tent, pearled a few smoke rings from Harrison’s cigar, and left for the east coast. Before he left, Foster filled him in on the details of her eventual cross-country desertion, though there weren’t many. How he’d last seen her at the motel, a margarita wobbling in her palm, what she’d said to him, to stay special, that there weren’t many people like him left, and how she had vanished like vapour by the time they realized to check. While Reeve hiked across the country by herself, he and Lonan swam through nighttide and badly waltzed in a four-by-four bathroom. She made an anonymous life in New York City, hailing cabs with just her eyes, and learning the easiest ways to shoplift. Alone. Her last memory of Lonan one where he pretended to sleep so he didn’t have to say goodbye to her.

“Las Vegas the last time I saw him,” Harrison says. He feels the urge to apologize for something, to hug her, or cry. Though her expression unbends from severe back to her perfected mould of glitzy conviction, her momentary lapse into delicacy startles him. He looks back to the kittens who seem more interested in themselves than him.

Reeve tightens her grip around the neck of the wine bottle and tactfully sips, her pinkie erect, her lips pursed just the right amount. “What happened?” she asks and sets the bottle onto the coffee table. She lets a dribble of wine fall from her mouth so she can dab at it like a wounded animal.

Harrison and Reeve in the car:

Harrison brings the box with the dead kitten and Reeve brings the bottle of pinot noir. Together, they settle in her red Beetle convertible, a car she insists she pawned for a quarter its listing price, though he figures from the way she settles in it, carefully placing the wine bottle in the cup holder, wiping her hands on her thighs as if checking for grease, that it must belong to a roommate or boyfriend, if she has either. The car smells faintly of pineapple and vanilla, a scent not unfamiliar to him, the waft strengthening as the tree-shaped air-freshener swings closer to him with every turn.

Reeve asks vaguely of his time in the city, how life has been for him and his mother since they moved from Vegas in mid October. Her mouth flutters with speech, each word like the hull of a hard candy she specially tastes before sharing. Has it been marvellous, just as you thought? Don’t you ever wonder how a city could become so brilliant? Isn’t the weather maddening? Don’t you adore it? She asks about Foster, what living with him was like, what saying goodbye to him the week previous was like—was it tragic—and he could tell her his move in with him and his mother wasn’t much of a plan—not a last resort either, but a salvaging. A necessary resuscitation. Reeve’s lips as dubious as shadow puppets.

Here’s some of the flashback with Winona at the convenience store:

The woman stood under the hex of the convenience store’s light, spooling her in a feverish blue. The sun had been down for hours, but its residual heat clung to Harrison’s arms in tacky gusts that wound up his fingers. Like the woman, he reached for his cigarettes. Vehicles spun across the highway just beyond the gas station, and when he raised his head after lighting the cigarette, the woman was staring at him.

“Aren’t you too young to be out without a parent or guardian?” she asked. Her hair was the colour of his mother’s candlesticks, a waxy boxed red. Her rings waggled in the false light.

“Maybe,” he said, a curl of smoke looping out of his mouth. “Can’t remember which life I’m on. There are so many. I could be ninety-seven. Tomorrow might be my birthday.”

It was September in Las Vegas. White licks of car exhaust laced the black sky, and though it wasn’t cold, Harrison pulled his jacket tighter around his chest.

Winona tries to figure out whether or not Harrison is a local by getting to know his eyes/face lol:

Harrison dropped the butt of his cigarette and stomped out its embers. When it was fully out, he fit his hands into his jacket pocket and approached the woman. Up close, her trench coat was pebbled with lint, a bead from her charm bracelet missing. She crushed her cigarette too, and when her hands were free, she stepped toward him with both palms out, and pressed them to his cheeks so he felt both the heat of her skin and the watery bite of her jewelry. She examined each plane of his face as if they were sides of a prism. Her perfume, a vinegary sort of citrus, stung his eyes the closer she got, the fur of her jacket’s trim brushing his chin when she pressed to her toes for a better look.

“You could be so many things,” she said, tilting his jaw at the same moment her pinkie slid from the jab of his nose bridge to his top lip. She pushed her face closer to his and inhaled, her plastic nail marking his skin with a pixel of glitter. “You’ve got the face of an angel. Which means you’re good. You’re sacred. You’re discreet.” When her finger poked into his mouth, her knuckle snagged on his canines. “Could also mean you’re a fraud. A criminal. You know, Lucifer wasn’t always the fallen angel.”

A bit of the party:

Winona’s front lawn was manicured, cropped neat at its soil scalp. Clusters of people huddled in different places—four gargling in the stone fountain just before the iron gate, two drinking from three martini glasses at once, a group of on their backs, arms wound like a wicker basket, shot glasses teetering between their teeth like human serving tables.

Winona parked opposite the house that pulsed with light. Harrison got out when she did, and with ease, she punched into the gate, leading him past her perfect lawn, her party guests, as if they were simply garden statues.

Inside, more people concentrated, all stopping Winona for a moment to say hello as she passed. She moved in a way only the owner of a house would, her strides easy, like she knew exactly where to take him and when.

“I know it’s busy,” Winona said, adjusting her volume for the holler of party guests. “I promise it’s always like that. Who is it that says we need partners for life? God or my therapist? This is that but every week. You meet so many people.”

Harrison listened to her haphazardly. Though he’d been in Las Vegas for a month, he hadn’t been out except for a few errands at the grocery store or for cigarettes, despite his mother’s insistence he quit. The party was overwhelming. Bass from the stereo caught him by the throat and held him there as he and Winona threaded through her house that seemed closer to a mansion. The interior smelled like cleaning bleach and fruit cocktails, and he could hardly walk without someone rearing into him. He should’ve left, known better, done better, but it thrilled him, every moment of the party’s chokehold.

When Winona pushed through her French doors and out to the back pool, Harrison tailed her closely, unsure he’d be able to keep pace if he lost sight of her, even for a moment. The backyard smelled artificially floral, like orchids, tuberose, the grassy melt of citronella candles.

Some of my fave Harrison dialogue:

“You should’ve told me you were into vintage. Cheap but chic. I like it, angel.” Her ring finger smushed into his jaw, and then against his hairline.

“What’s vintage about me?”

Winona laughed, though her eyes remained glass-like. “Your jacket, of course. You’re thrifty. Into second-hand.”

~~theme makes an appearance:

It was only later, when he stumbled, bloody knuckled, through their front door, stepping over partygoers and martini glasses, that he understood. He hadn’t come to the party thinking about Lonan but managed to attract the same people. He hadn’t drunk the magenta liquid thinking about him but managed to exit the house stumbling, as he did, his knees knotted like a newborn lamb. There was something inconceivably indissoluble about them—their bond mirror-like, one making one decision, and the other mimicking it with vigour, unknowingly inseparable.

God tier denial:

“What do you miss about him?”

Harrison blinks. He hasn’t expected her to speak to him again, in fact he’s pictured the night whittling into gauzy silence, them setting the box afloat in the fountain, and then leaving once more, wordless. Reeve drinks another sip of wine. Its scent stings, like earthy cranberries.

��I don’t,” he says, which is a lie, and they both know it. Harrison has never been a good liar, but especially a bad liar around Reeve who’s always managed to snuff out the truth. She looks at him in absolutes, like she sees his every answer scraped into his cheek and doesn’t need to check his work. Her eyes are feline and rimmed with kohl and aquamarine mica—she doesn’t need anyone to tell her the truth because she holds it in her fist. “He has a girlfriend. He’s happy.” Harrison rations more wine down his tongue, three times as much as he’s intended to drink.

“But what do you miss about him?”

Harrison misses nothing. He sleeps little and smokes too much because he misses nothing. He walks by himself, eats by himself, talks to himself because he misses nothing. He jumps from job to job, person to person, place to place because he misses nothing. He wakes up in dazes the colour of blackberries because he misses nothing. He blinks dreams from his eyelashes like they’re bad spells because he misses nothing. He holds himself, he drinks himself, he leaves no company for anyone because he misses nothing about Lonan. He misses absolutely nothing.

Harrison sits up and lifts the dead kitten’s box. He feels Reeve’s gaze when he lowers it into the fountain, the box giving into the slosh of water, and feels her gaze once more when he sits back and drinks more wine. The moon makes him miserable, its silver gloat like a reminder, of how easy it would be to look at it and see Lonan’s face appear in its dime. He doesn’t register how much he drinks, just that it feels better than not drinking. He doesn’t register that Reeve never takes the bottle, that it’s just him and its open gape of wine. As the kitten swirls around the fountain, he tries not to think of its siblings back at the apartment, all mottled over each other like burrs. An unbreakable bond, and what that means, even as one of them sits alone, gurgling along the current of a fountain.

If you didn’t ask for angst before, you sure did now:

He does not remember falling asleep, and so waking up feels illusory, shimmery, like a mirage. He focuses on dart of yellow light and a man wearing a security uniform telling him he can’t be here, here being the garden, past the fence, under the fountain. Snowflakes have clumped against his eyelashes and he blinks twice to dislodge them. The man must ask him if he’s intoxicated, never noticing the shoebox floating in the fountain, because Harrison says, “Who’s to say? I miss so many things,” and isn’t talking about the bottle of wine or Reeve that both seem to have vanished, as if they were never there. Harrison blinks again, searching for Reeve’s outline somewhere in the crisp bushel of dead foliage, but she never reappears—has he imagined the entire thing, or is she magical, effervescent, invisible? What was the last thing she said? Drink it all. It’s good for you. It’s like your own personal healing tonic.

“Do you think it’s possible I was separated at birth?” Harrison asks the security guard, who leads him by the elbow out past the iron gate and into the parking lot where he stumbles over a patch of glazy slush and onto his knees.

“Are you a twin?”

Harrison draws his index finger through the slush, doodling nonsense—letters of his name, an eyeball, a singular, faceless nose. “I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“Your twin?”

Harrison shakes his head.

Snow and slush dredge his jeans and the hem of his jacket; a streetlamp filters him and the security guard in foamy yellow. His skin has numbed from sitting out in the cold too long, and in some places, prickles with heat, like the fritz of pine needles. Reeve has dissolved in the fresh spatter of snow that settles on the pavement, his fingers. The fur fringe of her hood gone, the slick of her boots. She will not be here tomorrow. He may never see her again, and yet this is not what makes him ache in the way he does.

His hands move for him. Dividing the snow in slopes, curves, lines—letters. When he’s finished, he rests his chin on his own shoulder and dries the slop of slush from his nail. The security guard leans over, bends down to get a better look, but Harrison doesn’t have to look to know what he’s written. Chiselled so the flurries fill its gaps, like cement. His name will be erased by dawn. Lonan.

So that’s it for this very, very long update! See you for chapter seven!

--Rachel

#writing #amwriting #writeblr #writerblr #writingupdates #fostered #mothwork #feedinghabits

29 notes · View notes

theyaskedmeto · 4 years ago

Text

i was tagged by @byebyeblainey and @gorgxoxus thanks for the tag!!

Ten favourite characters from ten different fandoms:

1. glee - kurt hummel and blaine anderson

i mean,,,,, they’re just babies i love them ugh

2. joe sugg (not a tv show soz but still. although he was on strictly)

i did devote like half of my teenage life to this man so i owe him one (also the rest of the boysssss)

also bonus for miss dianne buswell because she’s honestly just a queen i love her

they’re honestly the best couple ever like,,,,, i want what they have ugh. i’m sounding very much like 2018 me here ANYWAY stan joe sugg xoxo

3. phoebe buffay from friends

LOOK AT HER she’s just lovely definetely my favourite friends character for suresies

4. any of the brooklyn nine nine characters (i cant choose i love them all)

this show consumed me for a good 6 months its so WHOLESOME okay

5. tahani al jamil from the good place

she’s literally my spirit animal i want her vibes. also tahani if you’re reading this i am Free on thursday night

6. orla mccool and james maguire from derry girls

just the most wholesome character ever. also her comedic moments are 👌🏻

DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF like look at him. why are no boys like this smh. also he’s just so lovely i love his character

7. maeve wiley and aimee gibbs from sex education

I AM FREE ON THURDAY NIGHT THURSDAY NIGHT I AM FREE. but meave’s character is so complex and she’s so intellegent honestly one of my faves.

AIMEE IS SUCH A CUTIE and i love her thank you for watching

8. stevie budd and david rose from schitts creek

THIS GIF IS FROM THE LAST EPISODE IM FRAGILE. their friendship is just so powerful they really do care for each other so much i love them

9. sharpay evans from high school musical

I WANT TO BE HER SO BAD IF I COULD BE IN HSM I WOULD BE SHARPAY. SHE’S THE MOST POWERFUL HUMAN BEING ON THIS SHITTY PLANET OK I REST MY CASE. also she was meant to be the villain of the story but actually troy was even though i love troy he was the VILLAIN OK

10. rapunzel and euegene from tangled

the first thing euegene says when he comes back to life from certain death is “you know i’ve always had a thing for brunettes” and that is why they’re the best disney couple. also eugene is hot idec

tagging: @spookyklaine @cooperanderscn @newrachels + anyone else who wants to do this!! this was fun :)

#tagging game

6 notes · View notes

boardchairman-blog · 5 years ago

Text

Oscar Predictions 2020 - Results

Best Picture

1917

Ford v Ferrari

The Irishman

Jojo Rabbit

Joker

Little Women

Marriage Story

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Parasite

Best Director

Greta Gerwig- Little Women

Bong Joon-ho- Parasite

Sam Mendes- 1917

Martin Scorsese- The Irishman

Quentin Tarantino- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Actress

Awkwafina- The Farewell

Cynthia Erivo- Harriet

Scarlett Johansson- Marriage Story

Charlize Theron- Bombshell

Renée Zellweger- Judy

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas- Pain & Glory

Leonardo DiCaprio- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Adam Driver- Marriage Story

Taron Egerton- Rocketman

Joaquin Phoenix- Joker

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Song Kang-ho- Parasite

Al Pacino- The Irishman

Joe Pesci- The Irishman

Brad Pitt- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Best Supporting Actress

Laura Dern- Marriage Story

Scarlett Johansson- Jojo Rabbit

Jennifer Lopez- Hustlers

Florence Pugh- Little Women

Margot Robbie- Bombshell

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Irishman- Steven Zaillian

Jojo Rabbit- Taika Waititi

Joker- Todd Phillips and Scott Silver

Little Women- Greta Gerwig

The Two Popes- Anthony McCarten

Best Original Screenplay

The Farewell- Lulu Wang

Knives Out- Rian Johnson

Marriage Story- Noah Baumbach

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Quentin Tarantino

Parasite- Bong Joon-ho & Han Jin-won

Best Animated Feature

Frozen II

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

I Lost My Body

The Missing Link

Toy Story 4

Best Documentary Feature

American Factory

Apollo 11

For Sama

Honeyland

One Child Nation

Best International Feature Film

Atlantics (Senegal)

Beanpole (Russia)

Les Misérables (France)

Pain & Glory (Spain)

Parasite (South Korea)

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat- Little Women

Hildur Guðnadóttir- Joker

Randy Newman- Marriage Story

Thomas Newman- 1917

John Williams- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Best Original Song

“(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman- Music & Lyrics by Elton John & Bernie Taupin

“I’m Standing with You” from Breakthrough- Music & Lyrics by Dianne Warren

“Into the Unknown” from Frozen II- Music & Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez

“Spirit” from The Lion King- Music & Lyrics by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Timothy "Labrinth" McKenzie and Ilya Salmanzadeh

“Stand Up” from Harriet- Music & Lyrics by Cynthia Erivo and Joshuah Brian Campbell

Best Cinematography

Jarin Blaschke- The Lighthouse

Roger Deakins- 1917

Rodrigo Prieto- The Irishman

Robert Richardson- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Lawrence Sher- Joker

Best Film Editing

Ford v Ferrari- Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland

The Irishman- Thelma Schoonmaker

Joker- Jeff Groth

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Fred Raskin

Parasite- Jinmo Yang

Best Costume Design

Ruth E. Carter- Dolemite Is My Name

Julian Day- Rocketman

Jacqueline Durran- Little Women

Arianne Phillips- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Mayes C. Rubeo- Jojo Rabbit

Best Production Design

1917- Dennis Gassner (PD); Lee Sandales (SD)

The Irishman- Bob Shaw (PD); Regina Graves (SD)

Jojo Rabbit- Ra Vincent (PD); Nora Sopková (SD)

Joker- Mark Friedberg (PD); Kris Moran (SD)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Barbara Ling (PD); Nancy Haigh (SD)

Best Sound Editing

1917- Oliver Tarney

Avengers: Endgame- Daniel Laurie and Shannon Mills

Ford v Ferrari- Donald Sylvester

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Wylie Stateman

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- David Accord and Matthew Wood

Best Sound Mixing

1917- Stuart Wilson, Scott Millan & Mark Taylor

Ford v Ferrari- Steven A. Morrow, David Giammarco & Paul Massey

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Mark Ulano, Christian P. & Michael Minkler

Rocketman- John Hayes, Matthew Collinge & Michael Prestwood Smith

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Bombshell- Vivian Baker, Kazu Hiro and Anne Morgan

Joker- Nicki Ledermann and Kay Georgiou

Judy- Jeremy Woodhead

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- Heba Thorisdottir and Janine Rath-Thompson

Rocketman- Lizzie Yanni Georgiou, Tapio Salmi and Barry Gower

Best Visual Effects

Alita: Battle Angel

Avengers: Endgame- Dan Deleeuw, Matt Aitken, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick

The Irishman- Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Stephane Grabli and Nelson Sepulveda

The Lion King- Robert Legato, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez and Elliot Newman

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy

Overall Nominations

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood- 12

The Irishman- 9

Joker- 8

1917- 7

Little Women- 6

Marriage Story- 6

Parasite- 6

Jojo Rabbit- 5

Rocketman- 5

Ford v Ferrari- 4

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker- 4

Bombshell- 3

Avengers: Endgame- 2

The Farewell- 2

Frozen II- 2

Harriet- 2

Judy- 2

The Lion King- 2

Pain & Glory- 2

33 notes · View notes

eugene114 · 4 years ago

Text

Short Name:Anne Steele

Full Name:Steele, Anne, 1717-1778

Birth Year:1717

Death Year:1778

Anne Steele was born at Broughton, Hampshire, in 1717. Her father was a timber merchant, and at the same time officiated as the lay pastor of the Baptist Society at Broughton. Her mother died when she was 3. At the age of 19 she became an invalid after injuring her hip. At the age of 21 she was engaged to be married but her fiance drowned the day of the wedding. On the occasion of his death she wrote the hymn "When I survey life's varied scenes." After the death of her fiance she assisted her father with his ministry and remained single. Despite her sufferings she maintained a cheerful attitude. She published a book of poetry Poems on subjects chiefly devotional in 1760 under the pseudonym "Theodosia." The remaining works were published after her death, they include 144 hymns, 34 metrical psalms, and about 50 poems on metrical subjects.

Dianne Shapiro (from Dictionary of National Biography, 1898 and Songs from the hearts of women by Nicholas Smith, 1903 ============================= Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporary minister-hymnist Benjamin Beddome. All the same, some of Steele's sufferings were very real. She lost her mother at age 3, a potential suitor at age 20, her step mom at 43, and her sister-in-law at 45. She spent many years caring for her father until his death in 1769. For most of her life, she exhibited symptoms of malaria, including persistent pain, fever, headaches, and stomach aches. Caleb Evans, in his preface to Steele's posthumous Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose (1780), noted that she had been bed ridden for "some years" before her death:

When the interesting hour came, she welcomed its arrival, and though her feeble body was excruciated with pain, her mind was perfectly serene. . . . She took the most affectionate leave of her weeping friends around her, and at length, the happy moment of her dismission arising, she closed her eyes, and with these animating words on her dying lips, "I know that my Redeemer liveth," gently fell asleep in Jesus.

Historically, her most popular hymn has been "When I survey life's varied scene" (and its shortened form, "Father, whate'er of earthly bliss"), a hymn that turns earthly loss or denial into a spirit of thankfulness, published in over 800 North American hymnals since 1792. Not all of her work deals with personal agony. Her hymns span a wide doctrinal and ecclesiastical range, some crafted and used for her father's congregation. Her metrical psalms are among the finest of the genre. Steele's hymns and psalms were published in two volumes in 1760, Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, under the pseudonym Theodosia, with an additional volume of material published after her death, in Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose, 1780. Sixty two of her hymns, including new material and some revisions by Steele, were published in a hymnal for Baptists in 1769, A Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, edited by Caleb Evans and John Ash. Forty seven were included in John Rippon's A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors in 1787; the only author with larger representation was Philip Doddridge, with 101. These collections represent the earliest attempts to anthologize Baptist hymns and were vital for bringing Steele's hymns into wider public worship, where they have been a mainstay for over two hundred years.

Chris Fenner adapted from The Towers (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, August 2015) Recommended Bibliography: Cynthia Y. Aalders, To Express the Ineffable: The Hymns and Spirituality of Anne Steele (Milton Keynes, U.K.: Paternoster, 2008). Cynthia Y. Aalders, "In melting grief and ardent love: Anne Steele's contribution to eighteenth-century hymnody," The Hymn (summer 2009), 16-25. J.R. Broome, A Bruised Reed: The Life and Times of Anne Steele (Harpenden, U.K.: Gospel Standard Trust Publications, 2007). Joseph Carmichael, The Hymns of Anne Steele in John Rippon's Selection of Hymns: A Theological Analysis in the Context of the English Particular Baptist Revival (2012), dissertation, http://digital.library.sbts.edu/handle/10392/4112 Priscilla Wong, Anne Steele and Her Spiritual Vision (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012)

========================

Steele, Anne, born in 1716, was the daughter of Mr. Wm. Steele, a timber merchant, and pastor, without salary, of the Baptist Church at Broughton, in Hampshire. At an early age she showed a taste for literature, and would often entertain her friends by her poetical compositions. But it was not until 1760 that she could be prevailed upon to publish. In that year two volumes appeared under the title of Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, by Theodosia. After her death, which occurred in November, 1778, a new edition was published with an additional volume and a Preface by the Rev. Dr. Caleb Evans, of Bristol (Bristol, 1780). In the three volumes are 144 hymns, 34 Psalms in verse, and about 30 short poems. They have been reprinted in one vol. by D. Sedgwick, 1863….

Among Baptist hymnwriters Miss Steele stands at the head, if we regard either the number of her hymns which have found a place in the hymnals of the last 120 years, or the frequency with which they have been sung. Although few of them can be placed in the first rank of lyrical compositions, they are almost uniformly simple in language, natural and pleasing in imagery, and full of genuine Christian feeling. Miss Steele may not inappropriately be compared with Miss F. R. Havergal, our "Theodosia" of the 19th century. In both there is the same evangelic fervour, in both the same intense personal devotion to the Lord Jesus. But whilst Miss Steele seems to think of Him more frequently as her "bleeding, dying Lord "—dwelling on His sufferings in their physical aspect—Miss Havergal oftener refers to His living help and sympathy, recognizes with gladness His present claims as "Master" and "King," and anticipates almost with ecstasy His second coming. Looking at the whole of Miss Steele's hymns, we find in them a wider range of thought than in Miss Havergal's compositions. She treats of a greater variety of subjects. On the other hand, Miss Havergal, living in this age of missions and general philanthropy, has much more to say concerning Christian work and personal service for Christ and for humanity. Miss Steele suffered from delicacy of health and from a great sorrow, which befell her in the death of her betrothed under peculiarly painful circumstances. In other respects her life was uneventful, and occupied chiefly in the discharge of such domestic and social duties as usually fall to the lot of the eldest daughter of a village pastor. She was buried in Broughton churchyard. [Rev W. R. Stevenson, M.A.] A large number of Miss Steele's hymns are in common use, the larger proportion being in American hymnbooks. In addition to "Almighty Maker of my frame," “Far from these narrow scenes of night," "Father of mercies in Thy word," and others annotated under their respective first lines, there are also:—

Texts by Anne Steele (381)

1 note · View note

spiritsncrystals · 6 years ago

Note

All the Yu-Gi-Oh! asks

Well i wasn't expecting anyone to actually ask me all of them but ok!! Plus it's the one who made the asks asking too lol

1. First monster you remember pulling from a card pack

Dark angel. My first ever booster pack was star vrains so yeah i got dark angle from that pack and therefore my first card pack monster

2. A monster you liked from the anime

There's too many although just to spice things up I'll say skull convoy (Fossil archetype release when?)

3. A monster that is dear to you

Blaster blade- oh wait just kidding wrong franchise. I mean i could probably say Crystal beast Ruby carbuncle considering I take her to school with me in my notebook lol

4. A monster that you consider powerful or broken; a boss monster

*points to Darkfluid Firewall Dragon*

THAT COUNTER EFFECT GIVES TOO MUCH ATK BOOST PER COUNTER

5. What monster would you be for a day?

Either E HERO Neos, E HERO Burstinatrix Gem knight Crystal or Yubel (cuz why not plus i guess putting myself in their shoes would be useful)

6. What monster would be your Duel Spirit?

I kinda consider Kuriboh my duel Spirit (as in the OG kuriboh) but if i have to pick a card that isn't already a spirit itd either be Gem knight Master Diamond or Masked HERO Dianne

7. If you had a Signer Dragon, what would it be (Can be any level 7 - 8 Synchro Dragon, not just the main ones in 5D’s)

Clear wing fast dragon ok ik its also pendulum but i really don't care it represents a sweet bond and having it as my signer dragon would have me try and strengthen bonds with it

8. What’s your ace monster?

Depends on the deck really but it's likely to either be neos, Rainbow Dragon, Gem knight Master Diamond, Masked HERO Dianne, Bujintei susanowo or Aromasaphy sweet maraju (or whatever her name is but she's the new synchro) oh and Evil HERO Malicious Bane

9. What’s your rival’s ace monster?

I only kinda consider him my rival considering he keeps kicking my ass in duels but i want to one day beat him but he uses a load of decks but i guess it's Red Scarlight dragon really depends

10. If you had a Number monster, which one would it be?

No. 96 Black mist. Just aslong as he keeps the form he had in the anime which was similar to astral

11. What monster would you go on a journey with?

Any Elemental/Evil HERO or a Crystal Beast, or hane kuriboh

12. What monster would be your Deckmaster? What would it’s effect be?

My deck master....hmmm. Probably something like Golden lady bug or Neo Spacian Air humming bird if i use my aromage deck as an example

Since its a deck that revolves around life point gainage and domination of life points the effect would probably be that if you gain life points this turn (your turn) one of your monsters at random is allowed to make a 2nd attack this battle phase.

13. What monster deserves an evolution and what would it be?

If we're talking rank up xyz then i guess a rank 4 that's basically what bujin Hirume's Bujinki form would be if she wasn't corrupted into Bujinki Amaretsu im not exactly sure what it would be but for now let's just call her Bujintei Hime

However if we're talking something like assault mode monsters then id say either Blackwing dragon Black rose Dragon Ancient fairy dragon or Power tool dragon or lifestream dragon (considering that that's leo's signer dragon) why them? Well. Stardust and Red dragon archfiend are both signer dragons with /assault mode monsters but which of the 4 (plus power tool) would i want to see an assault mode version of most? Well I'd probably say either black wing or power tool just cuz they seem more likely

And all 13 are done!

7 notes · View notes

hifntasy · 4 years ago

Text

some of my non-pc dwarf chars i hope to commit to writing eventually:

Torstan, one of the only male chars I’ve had any inspo for in the last....3 years oops. city boy, loves the ocean, carpenter and shipwright and occasional merchant (stand-in. v good at making friends, v bad at making profitable deals). lost the lower part of his left leg during an incident at the docks. YES his fc is luke arnold in his role as john silver. YES his surname is flintheart, and YES he carries a lil purse of silver pieces to like. buy food for kids or beggars or to get a starving thief out of immediate trouble w/ the law. i dont care. also i think he’s gay idk he leans that way but i’ve never had a crystal clear read on it, many of my chars are annoying this way

Tig, formerly topaz, street-raised chaotic lesbian, cannot read or write but is fluent in a form of sign language that’s like. a messy blend of the ferelden standard sign, whatever the ferelden/thedas eq. of thieves cant is, and also just shit they Made Up in their lil street family while trying to survive n thrive. [dean pelton as shirley’s halloween devil voice] stabby stabby!!!!

Edda....smth smth Dust Town smth smth street fighter smth smth intended for the silent sisters or the lgeion of the dead but shit happened n she completely left orzammar instead.surface is too bright pls make it Stop

Soraya wasn’t actually made for a DA verse but i love her so i’ll probs adapt her for this blog but she’s likeeeeee got Dagna’s energy but Maryden’s occupation ig would be a blend of canons to narrow in on her vibe. she’s one of my v few Lawful Goods which is :/ but she likes bright, jewel tones and music and laughter and is tiny and Good and i adore her, my own oc, shut up abt it

Vastra would be cool but like she’s meant to have some degree of magical ability and that doesn’t rly. Fit into DA lore so. (like are we SURE a dwarf cannot be possessed or fade-touched or whatever under any circumstances? really? 100%??) idk maybe i will just make her a v small human or idk a half-dwarf whose non-dwarf parent had rly potent magical abilities so she inherited a watered-down version of that where she cant actually perform magic but she CAN tap into the fade and spirits n stuff can mb sense it on her. she likes Quiet and Nature and hearty foods and solitude and animals

Nyx !!!!!!!!!!! why are several of my dwarves missing parts of their lower limbs um. Victoria Modesta fc tho so like. she rly DOES wear those artsy prosthetics for photoshoots n stuff and that’s part of where her inspo came from. daughter of merchants and/or talented smiths and she has some minor abilities of her own there (mostly so she can touch up her prosthetics or if rly pushed could scramble together a rough new one i suppose) but she like. Models the craftsmanship in the denerim market or wherever, and has picked up quite the taste for fashion n accessories. but ya she’s like the sales rep n is v good at it but also a lil bored of it

Bryn maybe but i honestly dont know if i want her to be a dwarf or a human or an elf or like half-something idk !!!!!!!!!!!!! she’s an avvar warrior regardless but they’re culturally and historically v accepting of different races in their holds so im still ??? abt it. and dont have a whole lot more to work with there yet either oop

and some more protag/pc-designed chars would beeeeee:

ms olympia aeducan who still needs a new name but im stupid and in nearly 12 months have not landed on a good one yet

jade cadash who needs a revamp

i wanna play tessa thompson as an aeducan as well but haven’t done anything abt that yet

daniel kaluuya as an aeducan, mAYBe either claudia kim or cynthia addai-robinson as a brosca, luke youngblood defs as a brosca i think probs, then dianne doan, gregg chillin and maybeee mido hamada as cadashes or different classes n specs and temperaments

and if im gonna round this out w/ a ‘canons’ section it’s rly just

Sigrun :))))

i love lace harding but idk if i feel the pull to actually write her, not atm anyway

#long post cw #( OOC. )#im just thinking abt my dwarven chars shhhhhhhhhh

0 notes

weekendwarriorblog · 5 years ago

Text

Welcome to Awards Season Part 2 – The Movies 2019 (Chapter 1)

Hopefully, you’ve already read Part 1 of this semi-weekly series and already know some of the players when awards season begins in early December. A few of them have already announced their awards for the year.

I was going to use this second installment to talk about the various Oscar categories and what they signify or represent, and how they are selected, but that can clearly wait until January. Instead, I’m going to get into some of the movies being bandied about this awards season, and there seems to be more than ever.

Mind you, this won’t be one of those, “These are my eight to ten picks to get nominated for Best Picture,” since you can keep track of that over at GoldDerby, even if my reasons and analysis aren’t listed. I may do something akin to that closer to January once we get some precursors. (See Part 1.)

In each section, I’m going to list the movies in alphabetical order but I’m also going to give a number to each in terms of its Oscar potential. While I’ll talk a little about some of the factors in play for each movie, I’m going to try to not get too deeply into the performances, since that will be saved for a future installment. I’m also going to leave off the desire to talk about animated films or documentaries much, even though the latter is definitely one of my specialties – the former, not so much.

SUNDANCE FAVES

Even before the Oscar nominations are announced for the previous year, the movie biz kicks into high gear with the movies that will be talked about over the next year with the annual trip to Park City, Utah for the newest independent films, including from many who have already established themselves at Sundances past.

Plenty of Sundance premieres have gone onto get awards (or at least nominations) on Oscar night including Little Miss Sunshine, Precious,Beasts of the Southern Wild, Winter’s Bone (whatever happened to that “Jennifer Lawrence” girl?) and more, but it feels like every year, it gets tougher and tougher to make it through the whole year, especially when movies are released during the summertime.

Clemency (NEON) (5)

It’s almost hard to believe that Chinonye Chukwu’s prison drama, her second movie, premiered all the way back in January, because distributor NEON (who is having a fantastic year!) is waiting until the very tail end of December to release it. The movie stars Alfre Woodard as a prison warden who is trying to juggle her own domestic issues with the impending execution of an inmate, played by Aldis Hodges (who was also excellent in the overlooked Brian Banks). Both performances are solid, having already gotten a few Gotham and Independent Spirit nominations.

Late Night (Amazon) (3)

This Mindy Kaling comedy vehicle, which she wrote and stars with the always wonderful Dame Emma Thompson is a fantastic example of films that come out of Sundance that are based on personal stories but told in an entertaining way. This comedy about Kaling’s character becoming a bit of a diversity hire in the writers’ room for a legendary late night talk show host (played by Thompson) comes from out of Kaling’s time as an intern for Conan O’Brien. It’s a wonderful and very entertaining film, although Amazon hasn’t been supporting its award chances by sending out screeners, maybe since it only made $15.5 million in its early summer theatrical run despite getting a wide release. I really like this movie a lot and in any other year, Kaling’s screenplay would get recognized – it really should have been this year’s The Big Sick*– but at this point, its best bet is a Golden Globe comedy nod for Thompson. (*Remember how everyone thought Holly Hunter would get an Oscar nomination for this that year?)

The Farewell (A24) (8)

Lulu Wang’s family dramedy based on her own true story (or based on a lie, going by the opening title) is easily one of the year’s best films. The movie burst into Sundance with many raving about the performance by Awkwafina and Chinese vet Shuzhen Zhao, who are both wonderful, but I’m not the only person who absolutely loves this movie, which I expect to do decently among critics groups. It also has that personal thing of The Big Sick,but it’s also a movie set mostly in China, mostly in Mandarin, yet it still has found a fairly wide appeal among moviegoers despite only making slightly more than Late Nightin theaters, peaking in less than 900 theaters. Wisely, A24 is giving this another seasonal push with Wang and Awkwafina doing the rounds, which will guarantee awards voters check out those screeners. It’s a wonderful movie with a fantastic script, and hopefully its support at the Gothams and (less so) at the Independent Spirits will help its Oscar chances.

The Report (Amazon) (4)

Frequent Steven Soderbergh collaborator Scott Z Burns’ second feature as a director took on the CIA’s use of torture techniques to get info out of Iraqi detainees, which makes it a pretty serious film. Many people at Sundance were raving about the performances by Adam Driver as Daniel Jones, the man writing the report for years, and Annette Bening as Senator Dianne Feinstein, more than for the overall movie. The Reportjust hit Amazon Prime a few weeks after its so-so theatrical showing. (Actually, Amazon took a cue from Netflix and didn’t REPORT (rimshot) its box office.) I feel like Driver’s performance in Marriage Story(see below) has been taking away from this equally great performance and Bening’s performance while great as always isn’t too groundbreaking. In any other year, Burns’ fantastic screenplay would get attention and maybe the WGA will do so, but it’s playing in a tough adapted screenplay year.

Beyond those four films mentioned above, there are also a lot of strong docs that premiered at Sundance and will go all the way to Oscar night, as well as a number of genre films, some which will become popular favorites but not necessarily be in the awards conversation.

CANNES SHENANIGANS

(Actually, there were no actual shenanigans, but it rhymed, so the subtitle sticks!)

As the summer movie season begins in May, the Cannes Film Festival brings many industry insiders to the beach-side Croisette to see some of the fanciest world premiere galas of the year. I personally have never been but it sure looks like a nice working vacation.

There are quite a few strong festivals in between Sundance and Cannes: Berlin, SXSW and Tribeca being three, but to date, they haven’t proven to be particularly strong for delivering Oscar winners or even nominees. Movies like Olivia Wilde’s Book Smart, which premiered at the middle of the three, has proven popular among younger critics but just didn’t take off at the box office

Cannes is another story, and again, in alphabetical order, this year’s festival presented…

Atlantiques/Atlantics (Netflix) (2)

Mati Diop’s feature narrative debut left Cannes with the Grand Prix award, which got it a lot more attention with its look at a love affair between a construction worker and a 17-year-old promised to another man. This is Senegal’s selection for the International Film category, and it has a good chance of getting into the shortlist and nominations, although probably not into other categories persé. It will be interesting to see if this can win any of the critics’ awards in the foreign language category over Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite. The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) just awarded it as a debut feature, so that’s a start.

The Lighthouse (A24) (3)

There was a lot of buzz out of Cannes for Robert Eggers’ follow-up to his horror-thriller The VVitch, this one a two-hander starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe as two men taking care of a remote lighthouse where they get stranded as they both start to go insane. (Actually, Dafoe’s character is already halfway there, which might be why his performance is a likely awards contender.) It’s a weird movie that certainly has its fans but it really will need some critical support this week to be taken seriously for anything other than another Dafoe nomination.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (NEON) (3)

This French drama from Céline Sciamma (Girlhood) about a lesbian love affair between a painter and her subject found a lot of fans at Cannes and subsequent festivals. Many of the film’s fans were upset when France decided to go with Les Misérablesfor its “International Film” selection, and it’s hard to think that this French film will do very well except among critics. The only problem is that it will continually be competing against Parasitein the Foreign Language category, and the best it can do is maybe get a Golden Globe nomination. The New York Film Critics Circlejust awarded it a Cinematography award, so maybe that’s somewhere it might get more attention, but more likely, it’s in the same boat as Atlantics.

A Hidden Life (Fox Searchlight) (4)

Terrence Malick’s latest film debuted at Cannes out of competition, and oddly, it didn’t get nearly as much attention as his previous few films, although it’s amazing how prolific he’s been in the last decade since last being in the awards race in 2011 for The Tree of Life. Not all his movies since then have been great, and he’s made a few forays into documentary, but A Hidden Lifeis a real return to form in terms of dramatic filmmaking. It takes place during World War II when an Austrian farmer refuses to hail allegiance to Hitler and though it’s long at three hours, it certainly is beautiful, and the Academy has frequently gushed over Holocaust films, which this is. It should get some attention for its Cinematography, and we’ll have to see if it might get other awards.

Les Misérables (Amazon) (3)

Ladj Ly’s French police thriller proved that #BlackLivesMatter is not just a United States phenomenon, as it follows a trio of police officers who get involved with the attack on a young boy in the projects and the attempted cover-up. It’s a movie that’s maybe not one that people might think of an “Oscar movie” but France did pick it as its selection in the “International Film” category, and we’ll have to see how much of a push Amazon will give this over its English narrative films. Again, we’ll have to see how things shake out once the Golden Globes announces if it made their own foreign language category.

Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (Sony) (10)

One of the big Cannes World Premieres and a huge coup for the festival was getting previous winner and jury leader Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film quite a few months before its July theatrical debut by Sony Pictures. Every Tarantino release is a bit event, but this one reunited him with Django Unchained’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Inglourious Basterds’ Brad Pitt, except that this time they were both playing much larger roles. It also brought on Oscar-nominated starlet Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, and as you can guess, it took place in Hollywood in 1969 revolving around the time of the famous Tate-LaBianca murders by the Charles Manson family. This was another true original from Tarantino that has been well-marketed by Sony to gross $141 million domestically and another $230.9 million overseas. That’s more than Basterdsbut just behind Django, although the film’s Cannes debut vs. Oscar chances shouldn’t be a shock when you realize that both Pulp Fiction and Basterdsdebuted there on their way to the Oscars.

Pain and Glory (Sony Classics) (6)

Pedro Almodovar’s latest film entered the Cannes competition and walked away with a Best Actor award for its star and Almodovar’s frequent leading man Antonio Banderas, who is thought to be in the Oscar race for Lead Actor. (More on him in the next installment.) But the movie itself was such a remarkable comeback for Almodovar who hasn’t been in the Oscar race since 2003’s Talk to Her, although the film’s other star, Penelope Cruz, whose first Oscar nomination was for Almodovar’s 2007 film Volver. There’s always hopes that Almodovar will once again be nominated for his original screenplay (which is excellent) or direction, but those are both crowded fields this year. It’s a shame because this really is among Almodovar’s best films and the NYFCC picking Banderas as their Best Actor gives the actor a nice boost at the start of awards season.

Parasite (NEON) (9)

Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-Ho’s sixth feature film burst into Cannes much like the impoverished family in the movie who wheels and deals their way into the home of a wealthier family. It would walk away with the coveted Palme d’Or prize, and with tons of rave reviews from the critics that have helped the movie make its way to theatrical release in which it’s become the highest grossing import from Korea (movie-wise, anyway). The movie is still sitting at 99% on Rotten Tomatoeswith only 3 negative reviews out of 300, and audiences seem to like it almost as much. The only negative is that it is a foreign film with mainly unknown actors and the Academy has never nominated a Korean film for ANY Oscars EVER… isn’t that crazy? Director Bong’s movie will change that as it’s this year’s Amor, Michael Haneke’s Palme D’Or which was nominated for a number of Oscars, only winning one for Foreign Language film. Parasite is so far ahead of the competition in the “International Film” competition, it’s scary, and it’s begun its run of critics awards by taking the Atlanta Film Critics Society’s top honors.

The Traitor (Sony Pictures Classics) (2)

Marco Bellochio’s crime drama (which I haven’t yet seen) premiered in competition with generally decent reviews, and like many other Cannes premieres, it’s best bet is in the International Film category where it will lose to Parasite. It will be the 80-year-old Bellochio’s submission by his country after a number of well-respected films.

Outside the Festival Circuit

There are quite a few movies released in the summer and early fall that aren’t necessarily considered awards movies, the big one being Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame (Disney), which I’ll probably write more about o6ver at The Beat. Focus Features managed to have the biggest hit of their 16-year-plus career with the movie incarnation of the popular BBC show Downton Abbey from previous Oscar nominee (and Emmy winner) Julian Fellowes, and they’re likely to try to push that into the awards race especially if some of their other offerings (see below) don’t click.

Okay, this is already getting too long. So I’m going to cut it off here and get to the rest of the year in Part 2… yes, there will be a Chapter 2, Part 2. Deal with it.

#Awards SundanceFilmFestival Cannes Movies

0 notes

tulipblack · 4 years ago

Photo

COCK BLOCK #162 | Be Sweet

/ / 4 June 2021

/ / LISTEN LIVE ON 8K.NZ Friday 12:00 NZT repeats Saturday 15:00, Monday 06:00, Wednesday 00:00 / / Mixcloud #162

Lust$ickPuppy - Intro Dominique - Girls Can't Produce Sprints - Manifesto deepState - Sunrise [nz] Logic1000 - Like My Way [nz] Witch Fever - Bezerk(h)er QT - Baby Bubbles (SOPHIE & A.G. Cook) no rome - Spinning ft Charli XCX & The 1975 (A.G. Cook remix) Van Staden & Bohm - Spirit Level [nz] Chaii & Party Favor - Oh Nah Yeah [nz] Erika de Casier - Polite Georgia Anne Muldrow - Mufaro's Garden Tirzah - Send Me El Perro del Mar - Alone in Halls ft Blood Orange Eartheater - Faith Consuming Hope Paperghost - All Their Hissing Cars deepState - Fortune [nz] Sprints - Drones Lust$ickPuppy - Goatmeal Sofia Kourtesis - Nicolas Kynsy - Elephant in the Room Sharon van Etten & Angel Olsen - Like I Used To Japanese Breakfast - Be Swee Phoebe Green - IDK Glass Animals - Space Ghost Coast to Coast ft Bree Martina Topley Bird - Pure Heart St Vincent - My Baby Wants a Baby / Down / The Melting of the Sun Dianne Swann - Losing the War on Peace of Mind Shungudzo - White Parents Lips - Your Deodorant Doesn't Work Torres - Don't Go Puttin Wishes in My Head Kynsy - Happiness is a Fixed State shannengeorgiapetersen - Home Again [nz] Reb Fountain - Samson [nz] Lucy Dacus - Hot & Heavy

Image: Fiona Pardington “Still Life with My Mother’s Roses”

#clamjam #titbit #ladies #cockblock #8k.nz

0 notes

theliterateape · 6 years ago

Text

The Women of the Democratic Party Have One Year Left to Keep Screwing Things Up

By David Himmel

Before we dive in, let’s be real clear up front: The Patriarchy and all its ills must burn and die. But if the future is female, then the women of the Democratic Party need a Come to Jesus Moment like no other.

In two weeks, the Democratic Party might win enough seats to turn the House blue. That’s a good thing for the balance of power and it’s a great thing to help slow any further dangerous actions President Donald Trump hopes to take during the rest of his first term. This victory, I’m concerned, will be short-lived. Unless the Democratic Party can unglue its head from deep within its bowels, it will not win the Senate or the White House in 2020. And it will probably lose the House.

For a party claiming to be pro-gun control, the Democratic Party has shot itself in the foot with everything from .30-caliber muzzle loaders to AR-15s to .22-caliber wheel guns. The fault should be shared by all elected Dems currently serving in the United States Congress and those associated with the Democratic National Committee (DNC). But lately, a small section of the party’s most influential women leaders have been screwing things up for the rest of us. Rep. Maxine Waters, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz have said and done things that have fractured the Democratic Party, alienated moderates and true believers alike, and fed the beast that is President Trump and his supporters. All of this has led to heating up our Cold Civil War and put the Dems in a position to receive another ass lashing in 2020.

That said — and this is important — the screw ups we’re about to get into do not justify any violence or attempted violence against anyone. The packages sent to members of the Democratic Party last week is abhorrent. Good people who do dumb things do not deserve to be hurt or threatened by some dongbucket who thinks he’s doing America a favor.

“But what about the men of the Democratic Party, David?” Like I said two paragraphs above, they’re culpable, too. However, the men of the Democratic Party have been feckless in recent years. Tim Kaine is their spirit animal. The real leaders of the Party right now are the women, which is why their screw ups are so alarming.

The mid-terms are important. The election in 2020 is more important. It’s two years away, which means that the women of the Democratic Party have one year left to keep screwing things up before it’s too late to save the sinking ship.

To fix the problem, we must address the problem. Let’s look at the culprits and their crimes.

Rep. Maxine Waters Back in June, Maxine Waters became the Left’s champion of divisive politics, unseating Hillary Clinton, when she said “If you see anybody from [Trump’s] Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere.” We saw it happen in restaurants with White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Mitch McConnell. And that’s just the big three we know about. I don’t like the politics or demeanor of any of them, not one bit, but why aren’t they welcome?

If I owned a restaurant, a department store or a gasoline station, and Huckabee Sanders, Cruz and McConnell walked in, I wouldn’t kick them out. I might spit in their soup or keep bringing them the wrong item of clothing or shut off the gas to their pump but I wouldn’t protest against them. And if I did, that would be my choice as the owner of the private establishment. In the actual instances, the owners didn’t tell them they weren’t welcome; it was patrons, strangers off the street — people who had no right to tell anyone whether they were or were not welcome in a private establishment.

It’s bad sportsmanship. It makes the Left look like assholes. If the Right is the place where the hateful assholes live — and it might be, because when you consider the broad opinions of the base on issues like race, LGBTQ equality, police brutality and bro-country music, they do — the Left needs to stop appropriating their behavior.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein Fully acknowledging the immeasurable love I have for my grandmothers (ages 94 and 82) and that this sounds a little ageist, there are just some things the elderly shouldn’t do. This includes, but is not limited to running with the bulls, learning to rollerblade on a rocky hill covered in ice and legislating for a first world country. Feinstein, who is 85, was elected to the Senate during the first Year of the Woman in 1992 following the Clarence Thomas’ confirmation hearing to the Supreme Court that turned Anita Hill into a harlot. Feinstein has been around long enough to know better, which is why I hold her 100 percent responsible for allowing history to grossly repeat itself with the debacle that was the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearing.

Dr. Christine Blasey Ford submitted her concern over Kavanaugh’s temperament to Feinstein in July when Kavanaugh was still on the short list. Ford wanted to remain anonymous. Feinstein could have and should have brought those concerns quietly to the Senate Judiciary Committee and any other area of government to prevent the alleged sexual assailant from becoming the nominee. There were other conservative stooges on that short list who would have caused less of a fight and fuss. Instead, Feinstein held onto it until Ford’s identity leaked and Feinstein used the accusation as a Hail Mary play to discredit Kavanaugh and embarrass the Republican Party.

We all know that’s not what happened. What happened was that things got worse. Sexual assault victims of all stripes are now perceived by many to be liars first, sluts second and Clinton operatives third. Feinstein never cared about Ford or about women or sexual assault victims. She was playing party politics and it backfired. Hard.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Warren thought she was President Barack Obama. She thought she could shut down insults from Donald Trump by proving that she was, in fact, of Native American descent. But where Obama brandishing his birth certificate removed all ability to doubt and insult (save for the morons) Warren’s genetic test revealed nothing. She’s as Cherokee as the rest of us, which is to say, not at all. Not enough to claim that heritage, anyway. My wife, Katie, who was raised evangelical Christian, did not convert to Judaism when we married, has never been to a bar or bat mitzvah and does not believe in God, is more a Jew than Warren is Cherokee.

This move, as Hall wrote last week, was the truest display of submitting to Trump’s bullying and, thus, playing right into his hands. Warren revealed herself as someone too concerned with the shiny penny glistening on the sandbar when she should be focusing on the squall overhead and the bull shark headed straight for her. There’s a lot of talk about Warren running for president in 2020. I used to think she wasn’t a bad option, but now, no. Warren can’t be president. She’s too entrenched with the Liberal American pettiness that continues to fraction the Left and the Democratic Party and embolden the Right and the Republicans. And it’s now clear that she’d make a losing opponent to Trump because she’d crumple at every jab he threw. What’s most concerning is that this kind of behavior is what alienates the undecided moderates — the very people the Dems need if they’re ever going to win again.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Where do I start? OK, first, HRC would have been a perfectly fine president. Yes, she would have been dogged by accusations from the Right every single waking moment of her presidency but she is a knowledgeable, experienced public servant. She knows the world and the world knows her. And while a sizable clot of America hates her, the rest of the world doesn’t mind her. She can get along with people. Sort of.

HRC is the only person in the known universe who could have lost to Donald Trump. She’s too polarizing; been in the Washington game too long; has been beaten down by the media over the last 30 years so bad that she’s barely human. It is unfortunate and unfair. And because of that, she was a horrible candidate. Would have been a fine president, but fine presidents can’t be horrible candidates. Her campaign should be used in political science, marketing and advertising classes as an example of what not to do. Ever.

“I’m with Her” is not about the country. It’s a decree of a cult of personality. That campaign slogan makes her election to the Highest Office in the Land about HRC and not about the future and benefit of the United States and its people. It is egotism at best and Trumpian narcissism at worst. (And just a quick comment on Trump’s campaign: You know what helped him win? “Make America Great Again.” That slogan was brilliant. It was about the country, and maybe for the first time in his life, not directly about Trump. It was specific enough that people could envision a great America but vague enough that it required no hard supportive evidence. Trump’s campaign followed the exact same marketing logic as Barack Obama’s in 2008; “Hope” is just as specifically vague and made the American people feel good and, yeah, hopeful about the future of their country.)

“Love Trumps Hate” is bad copywriting. One rogue apostrophe and she’s rooting for the other guy. And for Christ’s sake, why would anyone in her campaign sign off on using the other guy’s name in their campaign materials? Why would you ever allude to your competitor when trying to get people to think about you? It’s just stupid.

When HRC came down with the flu, she hid the truth for no good reason. Now, this is less about her poor thinking as it is the result of decades of having to protect herself from possible attacks over the smallest of infractions. The system broke her and this flu denial thing was the sad result. But she had an opportunity to rise above it. If she had said outright, “I had the flu and pushed myself too hard,” most people would understand. We’ve all had the flu. Hell, admitting it from the start would have humanized her — something she desperately needed. But instead, HRC and her campaign ducked and dodged the assumption out of concern that Trump and his people would accuse her of being too ill to be president. That is, of course, ridiculous. And anyone who worked “But her flu symptoms” into their “But her emails” arguments would most likely be perceived, rightfully, as a fucking moron. However, by hiding the flu fact, HRC managed to do what HRC does best, give credence to the fear that she’s hiding something can’t be trusted.

Only a member of the 1919 White Sox and Butch Coolidge — people who want to lose — would think insulting the electorate was a good idea. No doubt that every presidential candidate from George Washington on up said some pretty wretched things about their opponent’s base, but never in public. Calling Trump’s base deplorables only empowered them. And, I’m afraid, it encouraged the Them vs. Us Cold War we’re in right now.

And then there’s the alleged collusion with the DNC to cheat her way to the nomination…

HRC is unquestionably a leader. She should set the tone here. She can start by backing off the campaign trail. She is much like Trump in that all her presence does is rile up the loyalists and upset the opposition. She’ll never win over the desperately needed moderates and undecided voters.

Former Chairperson of the Democratic National Committee Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz Allegedly, and quite obviously, in this writer’s opinion, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was part of a coordinated attempt to manipulate the outcome of the 2016 democratic primary race for president favoring Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Even Elizabeth Warren believed there was collusion. This is problematic because it’s cheating. And the only reason anyone has to cheat is if they know they can’t win. Part of the allegation is that the Clinton people bought the support of Wasserman Schultz and the DNC. Sanders would have likely won the primary, and because HRC was the only person on the planet who could lose to Trump, the Dems blew the whole lot. If Wasserman Schultz had let the electorate of her party speak instead of (allegedly) manipulating the odds to favor a deeply flawed candidate, we might not be living in Trump’s America. Although, that would mean Stormy Daniels would likely have never received a book deal, which would have been unfortunate for her and a travesty for historians who will look back and laugh their assess off at 2016–2018 America.

✶

As I said at the start of this piece: the Patriarchy and all its ills must burn and die. But if the future is female, then the future needs a Come to Jesus Moment like no other. If they don’t, the future will be lost to the mongrels currently in the lead. Scoundrels in the image of Sen. Orin Hatch, Sen. Lindsey Graham, McConnell and Cruz will be the future. If this occurs, the Dems will have no one to blame but themselves.

Even if the Dems pull off a win in 2020, if the Party’s most prominent don’t stop acting without thinking of the consequences, the future may indeed be female, but it will be a future led by women who are just as self-serving and stupid as any man ever has been.

I hope they can get their act together. I’m rooting for them.

#Maxine Waters #Dianne Feinstein #Nancy Pelosi #Hillary Clinton #Debbie Wasserman Schultz

0 notes

avenger-equalizer-blog · 6 years ago

Text

Mea Culpa, with justification

Mea Culpa, with justification (let’s end the politically correct witch hunt as I’m not DJT) Dear Editor: Yeah, I’m human. I’ve done some things “wrong”. But I’m not a “witch” and in no way am I similar to Donald Trump. Humans are imperfect, aren’t they? Even Jesus said, when he was addressed as “good teacher” that “There is none good but God.” (Mark 10:18) As I aspire to lead, in whatever capacity God so chooses, I must proactively come clean to prevent my distant and not so distant past, and my many enemies, from clouding the picture of my role and my awesome abilities. When you’re an evangelist, you need to have all your sins and mistakes confessed, forgiven and justified. (One must be redeemed by the blood.) I’ve received that and more. I’m going to exclude so-called minor sins from my youth before I was 18 years old because I wasn’t of the age to fully understand the world or God’s plan for my life. In my late 20’s I sinned against a girl named Dianne by touching her inappropriately and I’ve done some lewd things like masturbate in public in my younger days until like most of us I realized I would get caught. I was a quiet, shy and sexually repressed (at least on the surface) young man who wanted love and had not a girlfriend or romantic relationship until I was nearly 25 years old. God has forgiven and justified me for my so-called sins. I actually confessed the Dianne episode to the State’s Attorney who declined to do anything as no complaint had been made and the statute of limitations had run. The reason I confessed this sin in the first place was not that I had been caught but that the Holy Spirit had “convicted” me in Tallahassee in 1996. (The first step in repenting and being born again. See John 8:9 and various treatises on the subject.) One’s conscience can convict oneself or the Holy Spirit convicts, though the two are hard to tell apart sometimes. The reasons I say I’m justified with Dianne is that 1) she was a stunning beauty who I cared for, 2) we were in a strange sort of threesome with my girlfriend Sue, Dianne’s best friend, traveling and camping together, the three of us. (This happened many years ago, prior to 1989) Diane would kiss me on the lips, touch me lovingly, and Dianne even asked Sue if we could have a full-blown sexual threesome! Also, years afterward, I profusely apologized to her and explained that I had loved her all these years, and I meant it. (I love all people) That doesn’t totally excuse my behavior, but it does not only explain, but in God’s eyes “justifies” it, that is, “just as if I’d never sinned.” (See Romans 8:30, Matthew 12:37, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:24, 28 and various treatises on Christian justification) I also confessed this sin (and the others) to two priests and to psychiatrists, Forgiven, case closed. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) And also some minor accusations of sexual harassment which were never more than innuendo and were dropped. I was trying to be affectionate and loving, unlike other men, who operate only out of their machismo and inflated egos. I love everyone from the young to the old and male and female and even animals and trees and plants. The accusations by my wicked sister and my confused mother that I am a pedophile or predator are ridiculous and are false judgments and condemnations by two women who hate heterosexual men. My sister defamed me by claiming I was being “investigated by the police for child pornography”, which was patently false and which was confirmed by detectives.) This defamatory statement caused me ultimately to be suspended from teaching catechism at our local church. I assert and I cannot lie, I am not a child predator nor a pedophile in the derogatory usage. I would never harm a child of God. That is why I am justified and the “last man standing” while other men (and possibly a few wicked women) will have an all-expense paid trip to the “Resort at Fire Lake” complete with all you can fry Fire & Brimstone bar. And for my satanic sister and mother’s accusations, I say that Helen, our housekeeper, is a hypocrite as she used to grab me without my “permission” and hug me and kiss me and she told me at least 4 or more times that she “loved me” and then I absent-mindedly touched her shoulder in genuine affection and she says (with promptings from my sister, who is truly to blame for this false accusation) I “assaulted” her? (this supposed event happened over 3 years ago and she was so “traumatized” that for two Christmases, she still gave me gifts!) My sister, who is out to destroy my ministry, keeps inciting her to exaggerate and dwell on the past. I, for one, do not believe in adultery. Forgiven, case closed. (all these forgiven “sins” assume Godly repentance which is true remorse and change of attitude and heart) Note from previous articles: There is only one unforgivable sin, that is “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”, “ (See Mark 3:29) “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation” which has been done in spades by my enemies, not by me. If you don’t understand what this sin is, look it up. The End of Intimacy? We are becoming so politically correct and intolerant of intimacy and touching that soon we will all be living in our own bubbles! One woman told me that a “romantic friendship”, i.e. “Friends With Benefits,” arrangement was “creepy!” (I guess she prefers a dishonest, pseudo-romantic friendship) Should I even mention my former haircutter Stacy? Over three years ago, I made a comment that she had pretty feet. You’d think I tried to rape her or kill her. She bad-mouthed me around the beauty shop, and maybe around town. And then there’s my “satanic (adopted) sister. ‘I’ll hold off on a full discussion of her defamation (which has made it hard for me to volunteer) as I tried going to court to get a restraining order against Denise, which was gutlessly denied, even though the judge apparently took my affidavit as true). As for my “felony conviction” in 2000, I was patently innocent and I felt forced to plead guilty (to stalking/harassment) in Pennsylvania only because I knew I wouldn’t get a fair trial and I was offered freedom and probation (after having served six months in Bridgewater State Hospital prison in Massachusetts, where I was locked up with gang criminals and murderers, and put in solitary) (See my blog article and the accompanying Reader’s Digest article on innocent people making plea deals.) The amazing thing is that not only was there a lack of malicious intent, but I was actually trying to save and help this so-called victim, who was so evil that she went after me to cover up her illegal S&M business, including prostitution, tax evasion, illegal drug use, unlawful restraint, aggravated physical and sexual assault, and most likely perjury, bribery and corruption! Likewise, I assert that the Cedarcrest State Hospital episode (2008-09) (photos of God’s beautiful creatures and claims of justification on my website which a stuffy psychologist called “unreasonable”) was institutional and government overreach and persecution of an innocent evangelist, in violation of my first amendment (and other) rights. Psychology and the justice system just doesn’t get it! Hypocrisy and a World that Just Doesn’t Get It! With a Godly man like myself being is being accused of vague “inappropriate behavior” for trying to be affectionate and loving as a Christian is commanded to do, women and many men become totally hypocritical when they condemn sexual misconduct, much of a minor nature, and yet support the holocaust of abortion of millions of unborn children. One abortion rights activist stated that she was “glad that we had a report that over 2 million unborn children were aborted.” That meant to her that the constitutional right to abortion was “alive and well”, no pun intended. How can we condemn a pat on the shoulder or a random comment when we willfully kill our unborn children before they have a chance to even have an opinion on their own fate? And as I stated previously, we seem to want to maximize, rather than minimize, the harm done to women and children, wanting to make political every “bad act” by men to ensure that women are in a morally superior position in order to take over power. However, to their credit, women are far more faithful than men. Therefore, this diatribe is aimed at women only to the extent that they are hypocritical in coming after me, the One who is on their side and offers them an assessment which will condemn most men and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven, which women would welcome if they understood its true composition. We must put aside our mistrust of God and wait for the fulfillment of the covenant of grace which is impending. Justification, Forgiveness and Making Amends During and later in my "conversion" experience, to further save me from God’s judgement, I did what the twelve step programs call "making amends", as best I could, in 1998-99 prior to starting Spread the Word Ministries. I contacted all those I may have hurt in my life and expressed my remorse and sorrow for having offended them. I did what I could to make things right. That's all a Christian can do, and it leads to forgiveness and justification, and of course salvation, as described earlier. Also, this whole process is known as being "redeemed" by the blood of Christ. Redemption comes only from repentance through true remorse. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world (merely being sorry you got caught) worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10, parentheses added) Also, Jesus and the New Testament call us to a higher law, that is the “law of love.” In fact, if someone truly loves, they are not under the law or the ten commandments, which was merely the summary of the Old Testament’s legalistic approach. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) I state categorically that I love all men and women, boys, girls and nature and animals, with all my heart, mind soul and strength, as I love God and my enemies. Therefore, I have “fulfilled the law”! This is justification and redemption! The Over-Sexualizing of Society (from my forthcoming blog/article) Our highly technologically-linked society is a communications juggernaut when it comes to imparting values relating to sexuality and relationships. Advertising, TV, movies and other media portray sexuality and relationships in a casual and morally hazy and ambivalent light. Young people watch these portrayals and learn that sex is not sacred, nor tied to love or committed relationships and is now considered a sport, where orgasms are not loving or holy but mere quantitative “highs” like an opiate high. This decimation of sexuality comes with so much focus on sex that we are “turned on” every time we look at TV, movies, magazines or other media. I’m not saying we can or should go back to the mid -19th century, as the conservative, fundamental Baptists and other conservative sects try to do, but we need to learn to reclaim some of our modesty, such as the recent focus on girls (and boys) retaining their virginity until marriage, or at least until maturity. Does anyone wonder why there is so many sexual offenders? Girls dress like whores and get drunk at bars. That, of course, does not give these despicable men license to abuse, but if we want to reduce the rate of sexual offenses and recidivism, we have to look at how females portray themselves in public. We have to face it, that bikini-clad females do elicit a response in males and that is not bad in and of itself. But we must be cognizant of the response and make sure that public shows of sexuality are reasonable and appropriate. In other words, if we want men and boys to act appropriately, women and girls must do likewise. Anything else is just hypocrisy. Sexuality and relationships should not be used as weapons! And obviously sex and love should not be separate entities but should gel and produce real, deep romantic and intimate and Godly relationships. Summary Like I mentioned in my last blog, I have been touched and fondled without my permission many times by women (and rarely men) and I did not ever make a “federal case“ out of it and in each case I let it go. Women are on an ill-fated witch hunt for sexual predators. Trust that God knows the “witches” from the good guys and will punish those who truly deserve it with unquenchable fire. Let’s end the witch hunt and leave it to God. With Trump as President (the most powerful man in the world! (gasp!), can we really judge men on minor offenses as not worthy of their important positions? I could see men with numerous infractions and more serious offenses being taken down totally, but just minor touching of adult women??? (I know it’s hard to define what is major and minor) They probably should be punished in some form but their careers and lives totally ruined? Why don’t we tie a rope around their neck and attach a heavy rock and throw them in the ocean? That’s the only thing worse than a life sentence for hugging! From my recent Tweet: Current attacks on men for "sexual misconduct" sets the equivalent of a life sentence for even very slight offenses. We should not condemn without discerning the severity of the inappropriate behavior and the extent of extenuating circumstances including sincere repentance. Conclusion Again, is our goal to destroy our ability to do good in the world, and are we a Christian or at least a forgiving nation? The #MeToo/#Time’sUp movement is becoming self-righteous and sanctimoniously hypocritical and might be accused of piling on, except that the vast majority of the men involved deserve their punishment because they have treated women like dirt (failure to love) and have not repented, and have no real remorse, most of their apologies being mere pro forma. Does the world want only unrepentant and phony “strategic liars” to rule our media, businesses and government? Or do we want a justified and glorified and totally truthful and Godly, benevolent Man to lead us? A Man who loves everyone unconditionally! That Man’s coming is imminent and His name is Jesus and I for one will continue to tell the Truth, whether people listen or not. Signed, Stephen M. Theriault Stephen M. Theriault is the author of The Practical Guide to Real Christianity and is organizer/founder of International Citizens Against Corruption and Overdevelopment, one of many groups he has begun. (on Facebook) and Avenger-Equalizer blog. Avenger/Equalizer Blog: www.theavenger.us (also on Facebook and Tumblr, as well as TheJesusReport blog found only on Tumblr.) I am @stevetheriault9 on Twitter.com.

0 notes

1mrhyde · 7 years ago

Text

rpg au!

setting and world:ok here we go this time rpg au will be in a world we ra nature rule than tech nolo gy(i eman even more than what it shows in theseries ike for example instead of brieges made of stone are bridges that are atually really big roots )welp nothe less this time is different at differnt of the shiny rod chosing its owner its waiting or its owner you see the shiny rod dissapeared long ago after certain ncident happend you see chariot in this au is a arch magicina animist that alongside the shiny rod cretaes amzing speel related to nature animals an dteh enviroment due that she feels that nature itself is magical and its the living prro thta life is wonderful since ths world is more connected to nartue itsel chariot was more famous and known than the series itself sh eapears on cristall balls magic scrolls and by visions spells but not everyone was happy with he rfriend the alchemist artificer croix she didnt get why caring a lot for nature you see everytime that humanity wanted to advance technolgically the magic creatures (and persons) were agains it and destroys every possible way to happen and nature was the wwinner croix wantng to humanity to advanced decide to sabotaged chariot show just that this time by making invocations hex and use of alchemist it doe not work until she accidnetally makes a final speel conving a invocation with a hex fuelled with negative power make a invctaion of a poweful demon known as noir he begins consuming everyone living foce and then invocate portals to use it minnions to attck near towns villages and everithing thta have a himan being (oh yeah by using his influence to affec evryon that see the show)the demon touches a certain blonde woman and her duaghter scream and telling him to stop another girl use minii fireworks to help the moter and said to the blonde gril get down and use the firework saving th blonde girla nd her mother bu then variou demons suround her the mtoher hugging th two girls while tryin to prtoect them suddeny a rar of light destroys the demon it was chariot she begins destroying the demons and finally fattaly hurts their leader and hides away in the darkness succesfully saving everyone and tis time not losing the shiny rod by her fut!....but rather croix fault the great grandmother mother eatrh spirit known as yggdrassil congratuates her by her efforts but also says that she will punish croix by her insolence with her life chariot angry with her friend but not the enought f wanting her death decides to give her right of the shiny rod to save her yggdrassil ws surprised by it so sehd ecides to et croix to live and givin gher new possition s great mage and giving her a magnificent wand but croix was cursed to become souless tree creature to wander the earth and she will return to normal wehn she lerns all her wrodoings croix was angry of this ot happpen and curse chariot of ever meeting ther and vanish with a fog speell and dispears and yggdrasil dissapears after teeling to chariot to be herself and tech toher her way of livng then a excited brown haire girl goes were chariot and aks her to be her teacher she wa shappy of her new role as a teacher she wanted to ask tot he blond girl but t she and her mother dissapeared and so the shiny rod was lost in some forest waiting for the right person to use it since that day akko and chariot trained tgether since they met growning closer lik mother nd daughter (this time chariot was still havingg her happy youg self an de xpand it in her adult years) so one day akko would be stroung enought to reclaim it !

the guild:but this world is also dagerous full of traps monsters ceature and demons and bad peope her quest wont be easy so she alone cnat do it she ask chariot to help her but she says she mist find croix after so many yeras of dissapearing so sh says no with no worringly so since her favorite teacher cnat help her she decides to go alone (akko is warrior class) but she fails a lot and gets hurt badly a ot so she decides to make a guld "the shiny stars of the stars " nd goes to near villages towns and unnown parts to creta eher guild an dready for advetures!

croix role:ok here we go youse tehre is no only human here they are held dwarfes goblins orcs and many more and her es teh thing croix cursed staet was quite known in the upper world that everyone hates her for ibertaing the demon and her minnion smaking destrution so she live in under world shee befriend the dwarfes and she teach ehr o her technlogy sloly becaems a expert on their technology so much that combining their technology and speels croix mangae to almost recover her normal state her taent in the manafucture wa sso impriseive tht she cerates a company in th e sahdows and became a powrful an dinfluecing as always so she wants to ue taht power tot ke over the world adn reclim the shiny rod detriy ygddrasi an dthe 9nwitches and having he revnege aginst chariot! but she can do ti alone she comands the dwarfes and other underwod inhabitant to capture els human orcs devils...and noir minnions she experiment on them braiwashing them and modifying them with mechanical parts and comand them to make chaos and destruction around the world while in the upper world she uses a more human disguise in order to make del wihth nobe families and trick them to help her growimg empire in military na d fianncial way but her destruction dersoy million o life by eefct

diana the elf princess:diana is a elf princees that in he ryounger years was curious of the outside world so she and her mother goe to a a certain show and bad things happen a monster grabs her other making her screm and her veins infected by the touch of the devil was screaming a nd pleading somebody save her she was cryong an dbeging soebody to help he rmother then suddenly se hears a voice telling her get down launching fireworks to the monster svaing her seeing whowas her shinig prince was surprised to see that was a young brown haired girl and she gets coser to dian and asks her are you ok? she then says shyli "y-yes.." andhelp her mother with the help of the girl she sks he rduring all tht chaous "whoa re you ?" "oh youa re asking my name welp my name is akatsu akatsuragi but i preffer "akko"! dian says with shiny eyes "akko" then akko notices something on the girls it was fire she stops the fire but see diana ears and sh ask are youa elf? yess "awesome ""really?" before they continut heri conversation the monster was going to kill them chariot saves them adter what happens akko dcide to go where chariot was and tells dian to go wtih her dian amzed was going to followe her but sudeenly when akko turns to se chariot some elf guardians grab her an he rother an say that they cat and dian abegs to be with akko that seh is the princess that she can do what she wants but before she begins a agrument with the guard bernadette stops and tells to ehr hat she cn met ako...later she sadly agress to her request after seeing who hurt she was so they telported before akko culd notice it and aks where she went then the next day dian wanders the fores thing whta happened losin i her thouhts she hears soemoen greeting ehr itw as akko she was hesttitant at first but go where she was and decide to spend the dya with her akko telling of chariot and her magic while daian say about her mother and elve magic and soemtimes they train wat hey learnt diana also said thats i dangerous for her to be utside since she is aelf akko asks why she is spending time with her diana says becaus eh trust her she beives tha she is not harm that she can be friends with r akko is grateful for it so they spend thei time toether in far parts fo the forests during the afternoon until night they spend their togethr during years diana become a great elven mage astrolonger an akko a great warrio captain when they became teenager thanks by akko dian could be better an dhandle her mothe rdepature btter akko became open minded of magic and people and became great friends with diana bu their together shortendian became the actual queen of her pple and akko begins traing hand to hand combat with chariot once akko decde to amke guild sh tells to dian and she says thats a stupid idea akko get angry of it but diana tells her why the hel does she need the shiny rod if she by herslef can make great things to happen akko wa sblushing by dian saying suh silly thing but she says that shee need the shny rod if she wnats to get rid of the demon onc eand for all and that cna also make mircales dina sti thinking be stup thing but anyway supports akko akkow as happy to hear that that ask dian to join her gud dian says that i she could do it she would joint it but she cnat due of her repsonsibilieties and that she must return to the kingdom imeedtaly but before that diana wnat to ask something to akko but she wnated to say it in the night and akko confused she agrees so she oes going to another near own with her good lucky self while dian sees while smilng from afar her dumb friend during the night dian with a fancy dress waits for kko for a loooong while she gets worr thinking that akko was not interetsed in their conversation until one of eh rguardinas tell her that akko was in the near hot sring relaxings after sufferin lots oof damage dina use telpeortation magic where she i with exreme worry oh knowng wat happend to akko she explains she tries to recruit memeber sfor her guild in a bar wth the most dangerous ruthless people ver known diann samks her at ther head ansd tells her not to do somehtng foolish like taht ever gain akko says she promises (while crossing her fingrs) and dian lets her rest but herr woorry grow stronge revry inch away form akko so she decides to train in combat steat archery and difffenet kindof self defense to help he rand dres sherself like a ninja (you know like zelda and sheik)sowhen she finsh he rtraining she will help akko while using another identfy to hlp eh rgather the shiny rod by 2 reasons 1.to help akko of dying 2. to discver the secets o the shiny rod nd becam e the scond meber of the guild oh and asks her assitnts hannah and barabra to comand the elven ingdom while she is away

amanda and her mercenary gang:ok here we go remeber in the other au thta conz works with croix to help he rthis time is backwards she wnat to destroy her you see this time the whole grren team wher echildhood frinds sine the noir demon left them the 3 of them withouth parents conz was scard nd jams was traumatized and amanda became their leader ate early yers she save both conz and jams form the demon attacks and she promise to them no matte rwhat happens he woun abbandon tem and will make the one responsible to pay for what she have done so the trhee od them gos to adventure togenther jamnska is a berser axe wileder conz is creatonist hammer wileder and manada an rogue with doule blade together they create a fearsome tro that goes to dangerus adventure earn lots of gold and got to amainzg adventures they were relaxing on a bar thinking what to do next until a idiotic girl ask he rif they join wither on he rguild

species: oh yeah croix is hald wood creature tecnology hybried jams is part giant conz is a tecno magician dwarfe and manda is fae (fairy that likes to make michieves)

0 notes

eugene114 · 6 years ago

Photo

Anne Steele | Hymnary.org Anne SteeleShort Name:Anne SteeleFull Name:Steele, Anne, 1717-1778Birth Year:1717Death Year:1778

========================

i. From her Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1760, vols. i., ii. 1. Come, let our souls adore the Lord. Pleading for Mercy. One of two hymns "On the Fast, Feb. 11, 1757," the first being "While justice waves her vengeful hand." 2. Come, tune ye saints, your noblest strains. Christ Dying and Rising. 3. Deep are the wounds which sin has made. Christ, the Physician. 4. Enslaved by sin, and bound in chains. Redemption. 5. Eternal power, almighty God. Divine Condescension. 6. Eternal Source of joys divine. Divine Assurance desired. 7. Great God, to Thee my evening song. Evening. 8. Great Source of boundless power and grace. Desiring to Trust in God. 9. Hear, gracious [God] Lord, my humble moan [prayer] . The presence of God desired. 10. Hear, O my God, with pity hear. Ps. cxliii. 11. How long shall earth's alluring toys ? On Longing after unseen pleasures. 12. How lovely, how divinely sweet. Ps. lxxziv. 13. How oft, alas, this wretched heart. Pardoning Love. 14. In vain my roving thoughts would find. Lasting Happiness. 15. Jesus, the spring of joys divine. Christ the Way. 16. Lord, how mysterious are Thy ways. Providence. 17. Lord, Thou hast been Thy Children's God. Ps. xc. 18. Lord, we adore Thy boundless grace. Divine Bounty. 19. Lord, when my [our] raptured thought surveys. Creation and Providence. 20. Lord, when my thoughts delighted rove. Passiontide. 21. My God, 'tis to Thy mercy seat. Divine Mercy. 22. My God, to Thee I call. Lent. 23. O for a sweet, inspiring ray. The Ascended Saviour. 24. O Thou Whose tender mercy hears. Lent. 25. Permit me, Lord, to seek Thy face. Strength and Safety in God alone. 26. Should famine o'er the mourning field. During Scarcity. 27. So fades the lovely, blooming flower. Death of a Child. 28. Stretched on the Cross the Saviour dies. Good Friday. 29. The Lord, my Shepherd and my Guide. Ps.xxiii. 30. The Lord, the God of glory reigns. Ps. xciii. 31. The Saviour calls; let every ear. The Invitation. 32. There is a glorious world on high. True Honour. 33. Thou lovely [only] Source of true delight. Desiring to know Jesus. 34. Thou only Sovereign of my heart. Life in Christ alone. 35. To Jesus, our exalted Lord. Holy Communion. 36. To our Redeemer's glorious Name. Praise to the Redeemer. 37. To your Creator, God. A Rural Hymn. 38. When I survey life's varied scene. Resignation. 39. When sins and fears prevailing rise. Christ the Life of the Soul. 40. Where is my God? does He retire. Rreathing after God. 41. While my Redeemer's near. The Good Shepherd. 42. Why sinks my weak desponding mind? Hope in God. 43. Ye earthly vanities, depart. Love for Christ desired. 44. Ye glittering toys of earih adieu. The Pearl of great Price. 45. Ye humble souls, approach your God. Divine Goodness.

ii. From the Bristol Baptist Collection of Ash & Evans, 1769. 46. Come ye that love the Saviour's Name. Jesus, the King of Saints. 47. How helpless guilty nature lies. Need of Receiving Grace. 48. Praise ye the Lord let praise employ. Praise.

iii. Centos and Altered Texts, 49. How blest are those, how truly wise. True honour. From "There is a glorious world on high." 50. How far beyond our mortal view. Christ the Supreme Beauty. From "Should nature's charms to please the eye," 1760, st. iii. 51. In vain I trace creation o'er. True happiness. From "When fancy spreads her boldest wings," 1760, st. ii. 52. Jesus, and didst thou leave the sky? Praise to Jesus. From “Jesus, in Thy transporting name," 1760, st. iv. 53. Look up, my soul, with cheerful eye. Breathing after God. From No. 40, st. v. 54. Lord, in the temple of Thy grace. Christ His people's Joy. From "The wondering nations have beheld," 1760, st. iii. 55. My God, O could I make the claim. Part of No. 9 above. 56. My soul, to God, its source, aspires. God, the Soul's only Portion. From "In vain the world's alluring smile," st. iii. 57. O could our thoughts and wishes fly. Part of No. 11 above, st. iv. 58. O for the eye of faith divine. Death anticipated. From "When death appears before my sight," 1760, st. iii., vii., viii. altered, with opening stanzas from another source. 59. O Jesus, our exalted Head. Holy Communion. From "To Jesus, our exalted Lord." See No. 35. 60. O world of bliss, could mortal eyes. Heaven. From "Far from these narrow scenes of night." 61. See, Lord, Thy willing subjects bow. Praise to Christ. From "O dearer to my thankful heart," 1780, st. 5. 62. Stern winter throws his icy chains. Winter. From "Now faintly smile day's hasty hours," 1760, st. ii. 63. Sure, the blest Comforter is nigh. Whitsuntide. From "Dear Lord, and shall Thy Spirit rest," 1760, st. iii. 64. The God of my salvation lives. In Affliction. From, "Should famine, &c," No. 26, st. iv. 65. The Gospel, O what endless charms. The Gospel of Redeeming Love. From "Come, Heavenly Love, inspire my song." 66. The mind was formed lo mount sublime. The Fettered Mind. From "Ah! why should this immortal mind?" 1760, st. ii. 67. The once loved form now cold and dead. Death of a Child. From "Life is a span, a fleeting hour," 1760, st. iii. 68. Thy gracious presence, O my God. Consolation in Affliction. From "In vain, while dark affliction spreads," 1780, st. iv. 69. Thy kingdom, Lord, for ever stands. Ps. cxlv. From "My God, my King, to Thee I'll raise," 1760, st. xii. 70. Triumphant, Christ ascends on high. Ascension. From "Come, Heavenly Love, inspire my song," 1760, st. xxxii. 71. When blest with that transporting view. Christ the Redeemer. From "Almighty Father, gracious Lord," 1760, st. xi. 72. When death before my sight. Death Anticipated. From "When death appears before my sight," 1760. 73. When gloomy thoughts and boding fears. Com¬forts of Religion. From "O blest religion, heavenly fair," 1760, st. ii. 74. When weary souls with sin distrest. Invitation to Rest. From "Come, weary souls, with sin distressed," 1760. 75. Whene'er the angry passions rise. Example of Christ. From “And is the gospel peace and love?" 1760, st. ii.

All the foregoing hymns are in D. Sedgwick's reprint of Miss Steele's Hymns, 1863.

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

====================

Steele, Anne, p. 1089, i., Additional hymns in common use: 1. Amazing love that stoop'd so low. Thankfulness. From "O dearer to my thankful heart," 1780, iii. 2. Bright scenes of bliss, unclouded skies. Saved by Hope. Poems, 1760, i. p. 228. 3. Jesus demands this heart of mine. Pardon De¬sired. Poems, 1760, i. p. 120. 4. Jesus, Thou Source divine. Christ the Way. Poems, 1760, i. p. 53, altered. 5. Lord, how mysterious are Thy ways. Mysteries of Providence. Poems, 1760, i. p. 131. 6. Lord^in Thy great, Thy glorious Name. Ps. xxxi. Poems, 1760, ii. p. 158.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

See Less

Wikipedia Biography

Anne Steele (1717 – 11 November, 1778) was an English Baptist and hymn writer.

Wikipedia Biography

3 notes · View notes

thejesusreport · 7 years ago

Text

Mea Culpa, with justification (let’s end the politically correct witch hunt)

Stephen M. Theriault ____________________________________________________________ “LOVE ONE ANOTHER” 424 Prospect St. Plantsville, CT 06479 USA Tel. 860-302-8099 [email protected] Blog: www.theavenger.us March 12, 2018 Editorial Board or Director

Mea Culpa, with justification (let’s end the politically correct witch hunt)

Dear Editor:

Yeah, I’m human. I’ve done some things “wrong”. But I’m not a “witch” and in no way am I similar to Donald Trump! Humans are imperfect, aren’t they? Even Jesus said, when he was addressed as “good teacher” that “There is none good but God.” (Mark 10:18) As I aspire to lead, in whatever capacity God so chooses, I must proactively come clean to prevent my distant and not so distant past, and my many enemies, from clouding the picture of my role and my awesome abilities. When you’re an evangelist, you need to have all your sins and mistakes confessed, forgiven and justified. (One must be redeemed by the blood.) I’ve received that and more. I’m going to exclude so-called minor sins from my youth before I was 18 years old because I wasn’t of the age to fully understand the world or God’s plan for my life. In my late 20’s I sinned against a girl named Dianne by touching her inappropriately and I’ve done some lewd things like masturbate in public in my younger days until like most of us I realized I would get caught. I was a quiet, shy and sexually repressed (at least on the surface) young man who wanted love and had not a girlfriend or romantic relationship until I was nearly 25 years old. God has forgiven and justified me for my so-called sins. I actually confessed the Dianne episode to the State’s Attorney who declined to do anything as no complaint had been made and the statute of limitations had run. The reason I confessed this sin in the first place was not that I had been caught but that the Holy Spirit had “convicted” me in Tallahassee in 1996. (The first step in repenting and being born again. See John 8:9 and various treatises on the subject.) One’s conscience can convict oneself or the Holy Spirit convicts, though the two are hard to tell apart sometimes. The reasons I say I’m justified with Dianne is that 1) she was a stunning beauty who I cared for, 2) we were in a strange sort of threesome with my girlfriend Sue, Dianne’s best friend, traveling and camping together, the three of us. (This happened many years ago, prior to 1989) Diane would kiss me on the lips, touch me lovingly, and Dianne even asked Sue if we could have a full-blown sexual threesome! Also, years afterward, I profusely apologized to her and explained that I had loved her all these years, and I meant it. (I love all people) That doesn’t totally excuse my behavior, but it does not only explain, but in God’s eyes “justifies” it, that is, “just as if I’d never sinned.” (See Romans 8:30, Matthew 12:37, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:24, 28 and various treatises on Christian justification) I also confessed this sin (and the others) to two priests and to psychiatrists, Forgiven, case closed. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) And also some minor accusations of sexual harassment which were never more than innuendo and were dropped. I was trying to be affectionate and loving, unlike other men, who operate only out of their machismo and inflated egos. I love everyone from the young to the old and male and female and even animals and trees and plants. The accusations by my wicked sister and my confused mother that I am a pedophile or predator are ridiculous and are false judgments and condemnations by two women who hate heterosexual men. My sister defamed me by claiming I was being “investigated by the police for child pornography”, which was patently false and which was confirmed by detectives.) This defamatory statement caused me ultimately to be suspended from teaching catechism at our local church. I assert and I cannot lie, I am not a child predator nor a pedophile in the derogatory usage. I would never harm a child of God. That is why I am justified and the “last man standing” while other men (and possibly a few wicked women) will have an all-expense paid trip to the “Resort at Fire Lake” complete with all you can fry Fire & Brimstone bar. And for my satanic sister and mother’s accusations, I say that Helen, our housekeeper, is a hypocrite as she used to grab me without my “permission” and hug me and kiss me and she told me at least 4 or more times that she “loved me” and then I absent-mindedly touched her shoulder in genuine affection and she says (with promptings from my sister, who is truly to blame for this false accusation) I “assaulted” her? (this supposed event happened over 3 years ago and she was so “traumatized” that for two Christmases, she still gave me gifts!) My sister, who is out to destroy my ministry, keeps inciting her to exaggerate and dwell on the past. I, for one, do not believe in adultery. Forgiven, case closed. (all these forgiven “sins” assume Godly repentance which is true remorse and change of attitude and heart) Note from previous articles: There is only one unforgivable sin, that is “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”, “ (See Mark 3:29) “But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation” which has been done in spades by my enemies, not by me. If you don’t understand what this sin is, look it up.

The End of Intimacy?

We are becoming so politically correct and intolerant of intimacy and touching that soon we will all be living in our own bubbles! One woman told me that a “romantic friendship”, i.e. “Friends With Benefits,” arrangement was “creepy!” (I guess she prefers a dishonest, pseudo-romantic friendship) Should I even mention my former haircutter Stacy? Over three years ago, I made a comment that she had pretty feet. You’d think I tried to rape her or kill her. She bad-mouthed me around the beauty shop, and maybe around town. And then there’s my “satanic (adopted) sister. ‘I’ll hold off on a full discussion of her defamation (which has made it hard for me to volunteer) as I tried going to court to get a restraining order against Denise, which was gutlessly denied, even though the judge apparently took my affidavit as true). As for my “felony conviction” in 2000, I was patently innocent and I felt forced to plead guilty (to stalking/harassment) in Pennsylvania only because I knew I wouldn’t get a fair trial and I was offered freedom and probation (after having served six months in Bridgewater State Hospital prison in Massachusetts, where I was locked up with gang criminals and murderers, and put in solitary) (See my blog article and the accompanying Reader’s Digest article on innocent people making plea deals.) The amazing thing is that not only was there a lack of malicious intent, but I was actually trying to save and help this so-called victim, who was so evil that she went after me to cover up her illegal S&M business, including prostitution, tax evasion, illegal drug use, unlawful restraint, aggravated physical and sexual assault, and most likely perjury, bribery and corruption! Likewise, I assert that the Cedarcrest State Hospital episode (2008-09) (photos of God’s beautiful creatures and claims of justification on my website which a stuffy psychologist called “unreasonable”) was institutional and government overreach and persecution of an innocent evangelist, in violation of my first amendment (and other) rights.

Psychology and the justice system just don't get it!

Hypocrisy and a World that Just Doesn’t Get It! When a Godly man like myself is being accused of vague “inappropriate behavior” for trying to be affectionate and loving as a Christian is commanded to do, it's clear that women and many men become totally hypocritical when they condemn sexual misconduct, much of a minor nature, and yet support the holocaust of abortion of millions of unborn children! One abortion rights activist stated that she was “glad that we had a report that over 2 million unborn children were aborted.” That meant to her that the constitutional right to abortion was “alive and well”, no pun intended. How can we condemn a pat on the shoulder or a random comment when we willfully kill our unborn children before they have a chance to even have an opinion on their own fate? And as I stated previously, we seem to want to maximize, rather than minimize, the harm done to women and children, wanting to make political every “bad act” by men to ensure that women are in a morally superior position in order to take over power. However, to their credit, women are far more faithful than men. Therefore, this diatribe is aimed at women only to the extent that they are hypocritical in coming after me, the One who is on their side and offers them an assessment which will condemn most men and bring about the Kingdom of Heaven, which women would welcome if they understood its true composition. We must put aside our mistrust of God and wait for the fulfillment of the covenant of grace which is impending. Justification, Forgiveness and Making Amends During and later in my “conversion” experience, to further save me from God’s judgement, I did what the twelve step programs call “making amends”, as best I could, in 1998-99 prior to starting Spread the Word Ministries. I contacted all those I may have hurt in my life and expressed my remorse and sorrow for having offended them. I did what I could to make things right. That’s all a Christian can do, and it leads to forgiveness and justification, and of course salvation, as described earlier. Also, this whole process is known as being “redeemed” by the blood of Christ. Redemption comes only from repentance through true remorse. “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world (merely being sorry you got caught) worketh death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10, parentheses added) Also, Jesus and the New Testament call us to a higher law, that is the “law of love.” In fact, if someone truly loves, they are not under the law or the ten commandments, which was merely the summary of the Old Testament’s legalistic approach. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) I state categorically that I love all men and women, boys, girls and nature and animals, with all my heart, mind soul and strength, as I love God and my enemies. Therefore, I have “fulfilled the law”! This is justification and redemption!

The Over-Sexualizing of Society (from my forthcoming blog/article)

Our highly technologically-linked society is a communications juggernaut when it comes to imparting values relating to sexuality and relationships. Advertising, TV, movies and other media portray sexuality and relationships in a casual and morally hazy and ambivalent light. Young people watch these portrayals and learn that sex is not sacred, nor tied to love or committed relationships and is now considered a sport, where orgasms are not loving or holy but mere quantitative “highs” like an opiate high. This decimation of sexuality comes with so much focus on sex that we are “turned on” every time we look at TV, movies, magazines or other media. I’m not saying we can or should go back to the mid -19th century, as the conservative, fundamental Baptists and other conservative sects try to do, but we need to learn to reclaim some of our modesty, such as the recent focus on girls (and boys) retaining their virginity until marriage, or at least until maturity. Does anyone wonder why there is so many sexual offenders? Girls dress like whores and get drunk at bars. That, of course, does not give these despicable men license to abuse, but if we want to reduce the rate of sexual offenses and recidivism, we have to look at how females portray themselves in public. We have to face it, that bikini-clad females do elicit a response in males and that is not bad in and of itself. But we must be cognizant of the response and make sure that public shows of sexuality are reasonable and appropriate. In other words, if we want men and boys to act appropriately, women and girls must do likewise. Anything else is just hypocrisy. Sexuality and relationships should not be used as weapons! And obviously sex and love should not be separate entities but should gel and produce real, deep romantic and intimate and Godly relationships.

Summary

Like I mentioned in my last blog, I have been touched and fondled without my permission many times by women (and rarely men) and I did not ever make a “federal case“ out of it and in each case I let it go. Women are on an ill-fated witch hunt for sexual predators. Trust that God knows the “witches” from the good guys and will punish those who truly deserve it with unquenchable fire. Let’s end the witch hunt and leave it to God. With Trump as President (the most powerful man in the world! (gasp!), can we really judge men on minor offenses as not worthy of their important positions? I could see men with numerous infractions and more serious offenses being taken down totally, but just minor touching of adult women??? (I know it’s hard to define what is major and minor) They probably should be punished in some form but their careers and lives totally ruined? Why don’t we tie a rope around their neck and attach a heavy rock and throw them in the ocean? That’s the only thing worse than a life sentence for hugging! From my recent Tweet: Current attacks on men for “sexual misconduct” sets the equivalent of a life sentence for even very slight offenses. We should not condemn without discerning the severity of the inappropriate behavior and the extent of extenuating circumstances including sincere repentance. Conclusion Again, is our goal to destroy our ability to do good in the world, and are we a Christian or at least a forgiving nation? The #MeToo/#Time’sUp movement is becoming self-righteous and sanctimoniously hypocritical and might be accused of piling on, except that the vast majority of the men involved deserve their punishment because they have treated women like dirt and have not repented, and have no real remorse, most of their apologies being mere pro forma. Does the world want only unrepentant and phony “strategic liars” to rule our media, businesses and government? Or do we want a justified and glorified and totally truthful and Godly, benevolent Man to lead us? A Man who loves everyone unconditionally! That Man’s coming is imminent and His name is Jesus and I for one will continue to tell the Truth, whether people listen or not.

Signed, Stephen M. Theriault

Stephen M. Theriault is the author of The Practical Guide to Real Christianity and is organizer/founder of International Citizens Against Corruption and Overdevelopment, one of many groups he has begun. (on Facebook) and Avenger-Equalizer blog. Avenger/Equalizer Blog: www.theavenger.us (also on Facebook and Tumblr, as well as TheJesusReport blog found only on Tumblr.) I am @stevetheriault9 on Twitter.com.

0 notes