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kim-chann · 4 years ago

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❝ Siblings ❞ -- Chef’s Special

- - - | Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki, Satoru Gojo

Synopsis ;; being siblings with some of my favourites

﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏﹏ $ 0.00

- - - Includes slight manga spoilers - - -

༺ Chef Note: Another Chef’s special! This has been on my mind for quite some time. This is some just some indulgent stuff cause siblings relationships are so fun but the worst at the same time lmao.

Also!! I’m going to reopen matchups soon once I hit only 5 left. Currently, I have 7 left to write. So if I finish two more today, they’ll reopen later today!

༺ Chef Note: Adding a border, cause this is quite long...

〄 ⤷ Yūji Itadori | 虎杖悠仁 - - -

☉ Being Yuji’s sibling is a wild game, jesus dude

�� ☉ It doesn’t matter if you’re older or younger than him, he’s still as wild as ever

☉ Yuji is such a brat, he pulls pranks on you, blasts music in your ear when you’re sleeping, uses your stuff without permission, and overall, just plain rude...

☉ Just kidding!! (but he will do those stuff listed above)

☉ Being his sibling is the two of you guys being stupid as hell

☉ And siblings fights! He’ll always win whenever the two of you guys are wrestling and might accidentally hurt you, and will profusely apologise

☉ Hurting you is the last thing he ever wants to do

☉ He’s the type of sibling to throw things at you just to get your attention instead of calling your name

☉ Whether it’s from a snack that he’s eating, or even a rock

☉ “Heyy, heyyy, I said hey!!”

☉ Once Yuji gets bored, he will barge into your room and bother you until he finds something better to do

☉ If you’re on a call with your friends, he will embarrass you. I feel like it’s always a siblings job to embarrass the hell out of each other

☉ Yuji will start spilling your deepest secrets in front of your friends and tell the most embarrassing stories about you when you were younger

☉ Also! He always does head pats and ruffles your hair whenever he walks past you and doesn’t care if you just fixed your hair or not

☉ He will always ruffle it, and there’s nothing stopping him

☉ Yuji is also the type of sibling to accidentally break your door down

☉ “It was locked!!”

☉ “But you didn’t have to kick my door down!”

☉ “I didn’t mean to!”

☉ That’s... not even an excuse, Yuji

☉ Sometimes, he’ll ask for your opinion on a subject cause he trusts your words of wisdom

☉ “Hey, (nickname), do you think that my muscles are getting bigger?” He flexes his biceps and even invites you to touch it

☉ Once you say that he’s fine, and tell him the answer that he expects, he’s self esteem will boost (honestly, positive comments from siblings just feels more genuine, ya know?)

☉Yuji will always ask for homework help and is ass at math

☉ “Help meee, I don’t know how to do Geometryyyy”

☉ Yuji is always whining 24/7, which he redeems to be a puppy

☉ If you don’t know how to do geometry either, or forgot, then the two of you will struggle together.

☉ “If I’m going down, you’re going down with me.” Yuji whines

☉ Can I also say that he will cook for you? (And it’s always delicious, might I add)

☉ Be can try to cook you anything you want, by researching recipes, then improvising to make it “tastier,” according to him

☉ But somehow, it always tastes better than you expected?? What kind of sorcery does he possess? cursed energy

☉Overall, being his sibling consists of the two of you going wild and him making fun of you

〄 ⤷ Megumi Fushiguro | 伏黒恵 - - -

☉ Being his sibling is him being protective of you

☉ Like Yuji, he doesn’t matter if you’re older than him or not, he will always protect you because “you don’t know what could happen,” Megumi says

☉ It’s really sweet, but sometimes, it can get pretty annoying whenever he walks you to a friends place and he makes sure that you get in the house before he leaves

☉ Going somewhere? “Let me come.” Leaving the house? “Where are you going?” Eating food? “Can I have some?”

☉ Even though it seems like he wants to protect you 24/7, he wants to be with you because honestly, he can get lonely

☉ Megumi didn’t really have many friends throughout his life, and since you’re always by his side, he just thinks that you’re his best friend/sibling

☉ He thinks that protecting you is sibling bonds, but if you’re uncomfortable with him doing so, let him know and he will stop

☉ Megumi isn’t one of those mom’s who uses an app to track you down and sees whatever web browser history you go through, cause that’s honestly fucked up

☉ Megumi respects your boundaries and wants to make sure that you’re comfortable and safe

☉ Sometimes, he’ll even wake you up in morning so you can go on walks with him and even summon his Divine Dogs to have them stretch and walk

☉ Since he’s a jujutsu sorcerer, you know about all the curses, grades, and schools around Japan

☉ Even if you’re cursed yourself and can see curses or not, Megumi will educate you about them

☉ He’s really reliable on information cause I always see him as a smart boy

☉ Need help with homework? He’s got you covered

☉ Sometimes, he’ll even offer to do it for you if you’re too tired to (Which is really sweet not gonna lie)

☉ He’ll make you coffee in the morning and occasionally cooks for the two of you, and makes sure that you’re okay and well taken care of

☉ Since the two of you didn’t have parents to look up to, he’s basically your sibling and parental figure

☉ He basically raised you, per se

☉ Overall, he’s a great brother that just wants to see you happy and safe. Cherish him!

〄 ⤷ Norbara Kugisaki | 釘崎野薔薇 - - -

☉ Nobara is a wild sister to have, oh my god

☉ She’s pretentious and wants to be the one that’s basically worshiped in the family

☉ Nobara hates you with a passion

☉ She’s like a spoiled sister that wants everything, and if you ask to borrow something that she has, she’ll say, “Who’re you?”

☉ She won’t let you borrow anything and always gets mad if you just go into her room

☉ “I can’t talk right now, I’m doing hot girl shit.”

☉ Nobara always gives you the stank eye or rolls her eyes whenever you ask her to do something, “can’t you do it yourself? I’m on my phone right now.”

☉ “I literally hate you, get away from me.”

☉ Will only do what you say if she’s in a great mood

☉ She’s a sister that bullies her older or younger siblings all the time, but will stop if they start to cry, but not with her saying, “don’t be such a baby. Grow up!”

☉ However, if someone is bullying you or made a snarly comment about you, she gets all defensive like she’s the one who got insulted

☉ “Excuse me? The hell did you just say?!”

☉ She’ll argue towards the person that insulted you, even complimenting you to counter the comment that was made against you

☉ Nobara is only allowed to bully you, nobody else!

☉ If necessary, she’ll even throw hands against that person to prove that you’re not what they say you are

☉ Don’t worry about Nobara losing. Every time she fights, she will win

☉ After the fight, she’ll walk back to you with ruffled clothes and a bloody nose, and say, “If they bother you again, let me know so I can kick their ass.”

☉ Sometimes, Nobara spoils you (keyword: sometimes)

☉ She’ll buy you something that you’ve been wanting to have, like a new phone or something

☉ Once you thank her, she’ll be like, “Yeah, yeah, it’s nothing.”

☉ Nobara doesn’t hate you, despite her bullying you in every way possible, but it’s the littlest things she does for you that proves that she loves you as a sibling that she adores

☉ Overall, you got a bully for a sibling but makes sure that you’re actually loved

〄 ⤷ Satoru Gojo | 五条悟- - -

☉ I-- dear lord, how do I even explain this?

☉ It’s a bit tough being his sibling at the beginning

☉ So I’m going to explain something else for a minute

☉ When you were born into the Gojo clan, the family often discriminated you because you were an accidental pregnancy

☉ So you were often discriminated as a child instead of getting worshiped and praised by the clan. You were practically a servant to the clan (like Mai and Maki)

☉ However, Gojo was always there to protect you because he was worshiped for inheriting the “six eyed,” curse

☉ Gojo has been protective of you ever since you were a child and even helped you with your duties as a “servant.”

☉Even if you inherited a technique or not, the family still looked down because you were not the “six eyed” curse

☉ Gojo wouldn’t be surprised if you hated him as a child because the family always compared you to him

☉ So once Gojo was legible to attend Tokyo Metropolitan Curse Technical High school, he made sure to bring you with him

☉ It took his family a lot of arguing and convincing, but in the end, you got your bags packed up and ready to leave for the school

☉ If you don’t have cursed energy, and you’re younger than him, you can be trained how to defend yourself along with your brother for you not to get left out (like Maki)

☉You’re going to be a first year way earlier than other students, but like what Kamo said, “age doesn’t matter in Jujutsu.”

☉ Gojo will sometimes tease you as the two of you are students, but he’s a great mentor whenever you need help about something

☉ Suguru and Shoko will also be your best friend too!

☉ Currently, Gojo is still a protective older brother, but goddamn he’s such a tease and a bitch at the same time

☉ “(Nickname)~~, what’re you doing?”

☉ Like every typical sibling, he can get bored and he will bother you, even if you’re busy

☉ If you become a teacher like him, he will randomly interrupt your class and sit down in one of the empty seat and act like nothings wrong

☉ He’ll even act like a student by raising his hand and answering the question

☉Gojo disrupts a lot of your activities quite often just because he wants to and sometimes enters your room, stares at you for a few seconds, then leaves

☉ Whenever the two of you are free, he’ll invite you to go have some lunch or dinner to take a break from the school

☉ Expect him to order a lot of desserts too lmao

☉ Gojo honestly pays for anything, even your groceries, necessities, etc

☉ Gojo is literally rich, rich, and doesn’t care about his spendings sometimes, and will buy you anything if you ask him

☉ He spoils you a lot, to secretly redeem his forgiveness for how the both your parents treated you

☉ Overall, he’s a great brother and he’s really fun! Being his sibling is just him being himself, but extra protective

༺ Chef’s Note: Trying my best to clear my inbox. I have 7 matchups left, wish me luck!

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jujutsu kaisen imagines #jujutsu kaisen headcanons #jujutsu kaisen x reader #yuji itadori #megumi fushiguro #kugisaki nobara #gojo satoru #chefs special

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utilitycaster · 4 years ago

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Speaking of Halas, it was briefly brought up in the most recent episode that he might've been digging around in the ruins of Aeor some time before he got stuck in the gem, and to me it seems pretty likely: the first thing they found of his other than the Happy Fun Ball itself was some winter weather gear stashed separately (I think) from the rest of the pocket-dimension-thing, which may not have been an intentional hint to Aeor but is interesting nonetheless; what do you think?

In episode 125 he said he hadn’t gone; granted he’s not exactly a trustworthy guy but I don’t see a good reason to lie about this and he did provide what information he knew. I do think there’s a chance he had considered it and may have been preparing, but I don’t think he necessarily went himself. It’s not totally clear how long after Aeor’s fall Halas lived, since he was living in the midst of the calamity, the timeline of which is vague.

I have two separate alternate possible answers:

1. The boring and practical one: he lived on a flying city that at least spent some time floating over what is modern-day Zemni Fields, ie, high altitude and in a cooler region of the world.

2. I think there’s sometimes a hesitancy to incorporate fourth-wall/meta information in theories, but in actual play I think the best theories often at least take it under consideration (and the worst often deliberately do not). We know that Matt did not initially intend the Folding Halls of Halas to stay with the party, but Twiggy gave it to them. We know Matt incorporated the permaheart into the build when the party was frustrated during the Angel of Irons arc and had indicated they were going to see Yussa, and additionally included the notes that became Widogast’s Transmogrification, but had Twiggy kept the ball, those would not be closed-off avenues - they would just be in different places. The fundamental secret of DM-ing is that the DM is frantically shifting the set pieces around from time to time based on what the players want or need while making it seem like consistent, real scenery, and Matt is very good at doing this in game but he’s pretty honest out-of-game that he does it.

So the cold-weather gear in episode 45 very well might have been meant, at the time, as a hint for when the Aeor shoe dropped that Halas could be a resource,. But in episode 45, I’m sure that while Matt had outlined the character of Essek Thelyss he couldn’t have predicted the Mighty Nein could reliably count on him, or the Dynasty at all, when they finally got to Aeor. He didn’t know how exactly the Aeor arc would happen nor precisely when. So any theories I have need to incorporate the simple fact that sometimes, Chekhov’s Gun shows up in episode 45 and actually doesn’t really mean anything, because the first act was assuming a very different second act and the use of the Chekhov’s Gun metaphor when discussing actual play is a very tricky thing. Which is to all say: the cold weather clothes were just a *Tim Curry voice* Red. Herring.

I already got pretty off topic above (something something Clue The Movie jokes something something “too late”) but I wanted to add one more thing which is that Halas interests me less as any sort of plot hook or resource, even though he could indeed become one if someone gets possessed, or if Yussa is rescued and decides to go 0 for 3 on resisting wizardly temptation, and more so as worldbuilding. I can only explain this by bringing up the Neal Stephenson book The Diamond Age, a post-cyberpunk classic I love very very much. It famously opens with a chapter describing an almost ridiculously stereotypical tough guy loner fringes of society archetypal character of the cyberpunk genre, follows him as one of a few early viewpoint characters, and then (minor spoilers, but not really) he gets killed within the first 50 pages. The point of that exercise is to indicate that this is post-cyberpunk instead and the story isn’t about him.

To me, Halas is in a way, playing a similar role. He’s a powerful mage involved in politics, some form of immoral or amoral, doing all kinds of necromancy and pursuing immortality...and he’s literally crystalized and stagnant. I mean, it’s not terribly subtle - the previous campaign ended with the defeat of Vecna, god of being a wizard who does immortality shenanigans.

I don’t, to be fair, know if this is deliberate, but we’re currently in a story where elements of the Age of Arcanum may come back depending on what goes down in Aeor (Devexian being merely one of many potential hooks/causes) and the impact it might have on the arcane is fascinating, and Halas helps set that stage.

#the only thing that will make me want C3 to not be in Issylra is if it's EVEN MORE FOCUSED ON WIZARD STUFF #critical role #long post #meta #known gem wizard hotsauce lutefisk #Anonymous

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reviviumcreams-blog · 3 years ago

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f-nodragonart · 4 years ago

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Worldbuilding, briefly

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I approach worldbuilding in my own work, and how worldbuilding appears in the media that I admire, and just want to share some thoughts

so, y’know how lot of writers admit that it feels like their characters end up writing themselves? hijacking the creators’ brains and acting out their own lives? I feel the same can be said for settings, if they’re given the chance to breathe freely

suffice to say, a setting should feel dynamic-- a living, changing thing that affects (and is affected by) characters/plot/etc., and has solid internal logic. I think the two central concepts which make for good worldbuilding, in this respect, are:

a sense of history

holistic integration with all other story elements

History

when a setting only exists in the present moment, it comes off flat and static-- merely a cardboard set-piece that could fall over at a gust of too-strong wind (or critical thought). settings need history to feel vibrant and alive, just as any individual character needs history to inform their actions and beliefs

essentially, good worldbuilding answers the question of, “How did we get here?”

in practice, having a sense of history helps a great deal in predicting and designing how a setting looks at the present. think of it like following branching pathways back to the source-- the main divergence(s) from real-life. as humans living on planet Earth in our particular sociocultural environments, whatever we create will automatically borrow from what we’re familiar with, so it helps to track down where we may be subconsciously starting at. once we find that initial divergence, it’s a simple matter of following logical stepping-stones from that source, up to the present point

thus, you can break the broad question of, “How did we get here?” down into smaller, more manageable chunks by carefully tracking along a path of history

some examples of what I’m talking about here:

need an explanation for the current geopolitical climate? trace back the basic history of all the countries in question, follow it back to basic sources (fighting over resources/territory, power/ideological struggles, etc.), to figure out why the geopolitical landscape looks as it does today. want to figure out how a particular culture came to their current beliefs/practices? look back to the history of their land-- what resources do they use, what ecological cycles impact them, how much cultural overlap do they have with their neighbors, and how does this impact what they most cherish in themselves and others? want to figure out how/why a creature exists in your world? map their evolutionary taxonomy and ecological relationships back to a point that connects to the other creatures on your planet-- where exactly did they “start” out and what pushed them to evolve the way the did?

most of these sub-questions will likely never be directly answered in your story, and you don’t even need to have detailed answers for most of them. but trust me when I say that YOU knowing the answers (even answers that you may consider broad and simple) will affect how you craft the present setting and its sense of history

of course, the level of divergence from real-life will impact how much reworking a given setting needs in order to feel self-sustaining and whole. a world where political history diverges from real-life only a few years previous is going to have different needs than a story whose very life-forms are built on different molecular structures than Earth life, for example. it can be intimidating in some cases, but if you’re willing to put in the work and research for it, you can make some pretty incredible discoveries

Holistic Integration

I’ll fully admit, Folding Ideas’ video on Ludonarrative Dissonance is what rly got me thinking abt this topic (and more deeply abt my own thoughts on stylistic/tonal consistency). his central idea about how we can approach story elements as separate or integrated rly clarified some of my vague opinions/feelings on certain media

essentially, worldbuilding shouldn’t be treated as separate from other story elements like plot and themes, if you want it to work holistically in your world. otherwise, your worldbuilding may start telling a different story from the plot/themes/etc. you’re consciously trying to craft. in fact, I’ll even argue that it’s impossible to treat worldbuilding separately, on a fundamental level

let me focus specifically on themes for a moment when I say, humans don’t create objectively. we don’t craft worlds or stories without automatically inserting our own beliefs and ideas into the settings. to say that a setting is free of theme in particular is highly arrogant, imo, and a sign that the creator likely thinks their own views are simply the “norm”. a magic system will reflect a creator’s views on souls and energy and existence; creature designs will reveal the aesthetic and types of animals a creator gravitates towards; various political systems will reflect a creator’s background and assumptions about the power/morality of said systems

in this way, I think it’s downright impossible to craft a world without themes in the first place. so it just makes sense to recognize and lean into that, while crafting the more deliberate themes of a story

but even if we do assume, for sake of argument, that worlds COULD be crafted objectively, I just don’t understand why they would? why/how a world functions the way it does will affect the ways characters move through that world, and how they experience their arcs and subsequent themes. like, it’s genuinely baffling for me to imagine crafting a story without every element organically weaving into and affecting one another, it just doesn’t feel like it would even work

because when an element of the story doesn’t exist in service of the other elements around it, that element becomes a useless distraction rather than an asset. folks complain all the time about useless characters-- people that take up precious screentime without moving any other element (plot, character arcs, tone, etc.) forward. yet the same can absolutely be said for settings-- settings which just exist as spaces to set characters while they experience a plot, separate from that given setting. when these settings don’t touch any other element of the story in any meaningful way (or vis-versa), they become distracting and useless, and ultimately destabilize/undermine the other elements

like, when we’re told a setting is rough and dangerous, but the characters that live there don’t act like it (no street smarts, no sense of caution towards their environment, no sense of where they are and how to get where they need to quickly--), it undermines the reliability of the characters’ personalities/arcs. when we’re told a setting is full of casual magic which affects everything, yet we’re shown a 1:1 picture of real life with no sign of how people using magic, how tech may integrate with magic, how magic affects aesthetic or history, it distracts from and undermines the fantasy/escapism. when we’re explicitly told that a story’s themes center around defying expectations/roles, yet the setting we’re supposed to root for only reinforces pre-defined roles and rules, it completely undermines any of the deliberate themes the creator intends. when we’re following a plot through various environments meant to showcase the variety of culture and aesthetic a world has cultivated, but we’re merely shown variations on a very similar theme, it’s distracting and boring

worldbuilding should not feel like a dissonant piece from other story elements. worldbuilding should harmonize with and enhance all other story elements, and those elements in turn should enhance the worldbuilding. while it absolutely is useful to tackle or talk about certain elements separately (I mean, I am taking a whole post to discuss worldbuilding, specifically), ultimately a good story is a whole whose parts can’t be fully removed from one another

Internal Logic

you may be wondering why I have yet to make any real mention of “logic” up to this point, since that’s how most folks analyze worldbuilding. hell, even I usually judge worlds based on how well they stick to their “internal logic”. but I think focusing on a vague sense of “logic” puts the cart before the horse, so to speak

if you don’t know the history of a particular setting, how can you track any cultural/political/etc. logic to its source? to say that logic “pre-establishes” certain rules is to admit that there is a sense of history there in the first place, thus specific events preceding the present text which explain why the present exists as it does. like, the big bang is a historical event that’s set up the logic of our entire universe, the same way a war sets up the political logic of a nation going forward. thus, history precedes logic

but before history can set precedents in worldbuilding, it’s really the other story elements which decide what history is important enough to establish in the first place. a story whose themes center around biological imperatives and ecology will need worldbuilding with a strong biological history; a story whose plot centers on political intrigue will need a world with a strong political history; a story with characters ranging across all different cultures will need to establish history for those cultures, etc. you aren’t obligated to establish the history of every single aspect of a setting, merely the parts that are actually relevant to the rest of the narrative in some way

this is how the internal logic of a story is established: by knowing exactly what history needs to be established to enhance the other story elements. logic should organically follow, once you have a strong grasp of history and holistic integration

-Mod Spiral

#worldbuilding #mod spiral #me: *holds worldbuilding/lore/specevo* I just think it's neat :)

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introvertguide · 4 years ago

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All the President’s Men (1976); AFI #77

The next review marks the halfway point through the AFI 100 and it is of the political “thriller,” All the President’s Men (1976). The source material was created by reporters involved in the uncovering of the Watergate scandal and one of these reporters contributed to the writing of the screenplay. The film was in theatres and earned Oscar nomination only 4 years after the Watergate incident occurred which made the film a Hollywood dramatization of the news. I am not aware of another film quite like this as far as release vs. incident dates that wasn’t a documentary. Even documentaries, although filmed during or immediately after events, do not often come out in theatres so soon. They definitely don’t get nominated for 8 academy awards like this film did. So what was behind this movie that made this a one-of-a-kind film that landed it on the list of the top 100 American movies? I want to go over the basic events, since that is the plot of the film, and then discuss the good and bad aspects of this quick production:

SPOILER WARNING!!! I AM GOING TO SPELL OUT ALL OF THE CONTENTS OF THE MOVIE!!! IT CAN BE BETTER SPOILED BY A HISTORY BOOK, BUT I WILL GET TO INACURACIES WHICH MIGHT RUIN THE FILM! SO SPOILER ALERT IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THE FILM FIRST!!!

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The film begins with a lot of stock news footage and then a reenactment of the break-in at the Watergate hotel in 1972. Five men who were connected to the CIA and the Committee to Re-Elect the President (nicknamed CREEP) were caught with wire tapping equipment in the Democratic Party headquarters at the hotel. More stock footage of news reports lets the audience know that there is something fishy about this break-in.

At the trial for the five burglars, a young Bob Woodward (Robert Redford), who is a reporter for the New York Post, notices that a high priced lawyer is representing the five and yet it has been stated earlier that none of the burglars had used their phone call. Woodward keeps finding this lawyer and attempts to question him about why he is there and how exactly the burglars are attached to the CIA. Through consistent pressure, Woodward is able to connect the burglars to CIA agent E. Howard Hunt and a member of the White House Counsel, Charles Colson.

Woodward attempts to take on the story but finds that another reporter keeps taking his submitted drafts and altering them in an attempt to take over the story. This reporter is Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), a much more seasoned reporter at the Post that believes he should get the story. The editor puts them both on the case noting a lack of reliable sources, but tells them to keep digging.

Here is where it gets a little weird because Woodward talks about a secret source that he cannot name that was a senior government official. He went by the codename “Deep Throat” and Woodward meets him in a parking garage in the middle of the night. The sources does not say anything specific nor does he give any names, but he famously tells Woodward to “follow the money” which means to find out who paid the burglars to break in.

Through basically unreliable resources, Woodward and Bernstein are able to make connections between CREEP and the money that was paid to the burglars. This is weird because it seems pretty assured that Nixon would easily defeat his competition to secure re-election, so the editors at the newspaper have doubts about putting the story on the front page.

Woodward and Bernstein are able to contact the CREEP treasurer Hugh Sloan, Jr. and are able to connect a slush fund to White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman and former Attorney General John Mitchell, the current head of CREEP. It is discovered that this wire tapping and sabotage had been happening since Nixon was trailing during the primaries.

The editor demands thoroughness in obtaining reliable resources, so Woodward and Bernstein go around to employees of the the treasury for CREEP, and they are all young ladies that are afraid for their safety but are compelled to give up information to the reporters. I somewhat question the accuracy of the story at this stage of the film, but I will address that after the summary.

Woodward goes out and meets Deep Throat again and the source reveals that Haldeman was behind the Watergate break-in and cover-up. This cover up was not just to deny CREEP involvement, but to hide covert operations involving US intelligence agencies like the CIA and FBI. He warns Woodward that the two reporters could be in danger.

The Washington Post runs the story and the White House vehemently denies the allegations and chastises the press for shabby reporting. Woodward and Bernstein go and meet the editor in the middle of the night and decide to keep running with the story...and that is basically the end of the movie.

There is some footage of the two typing vigorously and then stock footage of the news reports and teletype printing out what happened in the news. It is not much of an ending, but this is likely because the story had not finished when the movie went into production.

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So I have some major issues with this film and these problems have revealed themselves over multiple viewings. The first time that I saw this was in class as a senior in high school. I was in Mr. Sly’s Government and Economics class and we watched the movie over two class periods with many breaks for explanation and a lot of forwarding through the filler. At the time, the teacher was very excited at the topic (he hated Richard Nixon) and the movie was fascinating because he only showed and subsequently explained the good parts. Also, his enthusiasm for the topic was contagious. He was a very good teacher.

The next viewing was a full 15 years later when going through the AFI list for the first time. I could not figure out what I liked so much about it and had to rewatch multiple parts because I kept falling asleep. There were no thrills and there was so much filler, I remember thinking that this should have been a 20 minute film and it would have been almost completely newsreel stock footage.

This final time I can see what the problem is with the film...and I like it even less. The film is over 2 hours long and more than half of it is stock footage from the news, walking around quickly (there is some running in the newsroom for no reason), extended conversations due to fear of “somebody finding out” (the threat is never established as real so it is just annoying), a lot of parking lots (it shows the same car driving from the same parking spot out into the street on 3 separate occasions), intense research and typing, and establishing shots of buildings. It has as much filler as a B movie and costs about the same, but because it was so close to the event with big name actors, it was treated as something special. In fact, it is talked about like a documentary in many reviews that I read with words like “important” and “powerful” scattered about, but I don’t see it.

Robert Redford bought the book rights because he knew it was an interesting topic that people would want to know about. He was correct, but it wasn’t enough fact to make a full movie, so he let one of the reporters, Carl Bernstein, punch up the screenplay with his stories of how he enchanted female story leads into giving out information. Those conversations are completely unnecessary. At some point, the writers realized that there was no clear and present danger so they had the secret source bring up safety and Woodward becoming paranoid...but absolutely nothing happened.

This movie needed to be a 30 minute documentary with some re-enactments or it needed to wait until more details became available to replace the filler. I respect that it was different from anything prior or since, but it doesn’t make the movie good or even interesting. It kind of broke me when the two main characters were going over a list of people that they needed to visit as possible leads and all they did was read names over a shot of the city. You might as well read out the phone book for 2 minutes as it was just as boring.

The poster calls this the most devastating story of this century and I agree... devastatingly boring. No other film on the AFI list has less story than this film. Some of the other films have annoyed me more, but I could see why some people liked it or at least why it was interesting. This is not interesting and it is presented like a documentary when it is not. Variety magazine said this film was “ingenious” and overcame the difficult lack of drama that a story about reporters running down a story might otherwise have. Disagree vehemently.

Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars, so critics I have the utmost respect for seem to have enjoyed it. I was not alive when the film came out and agree more with Dave Kehr who called the film “pedestrian” and “a study in missed opportunities.” For my money, National Geographic TV did a one hour special that was just the facts and it was so much more interesting. Here is a link to that and I would suggest skipping the Hollywood version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWkS-sOia-Y

So does this film deserve to be on the AFI 100? Well...I guess maybe? It was something different and likely the most accurate and up to date Hollywood film like none before or since. It used real names and was written by the actual people involved. It just wasn’t that interesting to me. Would I recommend it? If you are suffering from insomnia. Otherwise, no. If you want to see an accurate retelling of the story in one third the time, click the link above. Let the Robert Redford film be an experiment that made for very uninteresting results.

#all the president's men #dustin hoffman #robert redford #AFI 100 #movie review #70s #watergate #political thriller #boring #news #reporter #new york post #introvert #introverts

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dredreadsdrawing · 5 years ago

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2/28/2020 - 2/29/2020

Combined two days because I only wrote ideas the 28th, and sketched the new boi the 29th.

Ideas on Bart’s Friend, newly named Hosea!:

- He’s taller than Bart, but skinny like a pencil. He has big round glasses that make his eyes look bigger than they are. He has long, choppy hair he grew out and likes to take care of.

- ..... through drawing him, especially the last expression, i mentally give him a dorky deep voice that has a slight drawl. He talks slowly, and usually stumbles over his words, giving people the impression that he’s not as smart as he is. HE never raises his voice; it’s permanently stuck in a low, calm, and gentle tone. Imma try to find something close to this as an example, cries.

- i really like my boy, double cries.

- He moved with his mother and father into town after his father lost his job. At this time, Bart is 11, and so is the new kid.

- The town kids were curious about him at first, and crowded him to know more about the city. Quickly, though, his answers bored them, and his affinity for reading rather than playing turned them away from wanting to stick around, and he got lonely quick.

- He found Bart the first day of school, the only kid reading during every break, and he nervously got the guts to approach him. Bart was very cautious at first, suspicious. thinking that the town kids sent him for a prank, but Hosea was incredibly earnest in his interest, and got excited when Bart mentioned a series he liked. Needless to say, Bart was quickly won over.

- That day, they started their friendship by talking about the few non-horror books Bart had read. The next, Bart was ready to show him his whole collection, sure to impress him(!), when he noticed Hosea’s mom. And their prayer before school. And her insistence of him to be a good boy and to not let himself be corrupted by the other kids. Bart overheard all of this from a bush, and was struck, remembering the words of caution Minnie told him before. ‘Some people will run for fear of their religious rules. They don’t perceive their gods as merciful.’

- He didn’t want to lose his first friend. He hid his interest in horror and the arcane, in the process, visiting Minnie’s manor less, and picking up more books Hosea would recommend instead.

- A month in, their friendship is going great, but through misfortune, Bart runs into Hosea as he came back from buying the latest monster novel of his favorite series. He hides it and tries to flee, only to hit his head on the door and drop the book. Hosea picks it up. Instead of running in terror like Bart imagined in his dreams, Hosea beams. He’d always wanted to read this series! But his mom would never let him even look at their covers. He’s stumbling with his words as he describes the few books he’d seen and what he imagined they were about, his face flushing from excitement, and Bart takes it all in. His worries melting, he smiles back and responds to all of his questions, explaining a few of the monsters, and reassuring him the scares were fun and worth finishing every book for. By the time they finish jabbering, Bart offers letting him read the books after school in his house, and Hosea agrees. Their bond got a little deeper that day.

- Two more months roll by and they manage to get Hosea through most of the books; their time holed up in Bart’s room, reading, becoming their favorite hours of the day. Sometimes Hosea has to leave a little earlier, other times he’s a little more quiet, but he never skips their hang out hours. Bart thinks he just needs to be alone sometimes and he doesn’t mind.

- Bart visits Minnie again, though less frequently than before. Their studies are going slower, their sessions mostly consisting of Bart ranting about his new friend instead. She doesn’t mind. She has her hands full with something else.

- Their calm time gets so gradually comfortable, that Bart doesn’t notice how close they’ve gotten until it hits him that he’s reading his Detective Drew book while laying his head on top of the napping boy. He’s eleven, and he’s never had a friend before. He doesn’t know if this is normal. He begins questioning every unconscious action they share, trying to analyze them using what little information he knows from books.

- He eventually told himself that they had simply reached that close level of friendship that the protagonists from his adventure/fantasy series had, and didn’t worry about it anymore, until-

- Hosea had been getting teased at school more for being the teacher’s favorite. One of the town boys had a crush on her, and took out his frustration by picking on Hosea when she wasn’t looking. Bart would always defend him, though, so they never got farther than a shove and some name calling. The town boy switched tactics one afternoon and went for Bart instead. He targeted him as he waited for Hosea to finish helping the teacher. The town boy mocked him on as many insecurities as he could, most of them deflecting until he brought up Hosea. He claimed Hosea only stuck with him because he was the only kid his mom let him hang out with, that he was so tiny and pathetic, poor Hosea was bored all the time. (idk shitty taunts about how Bart never actually scared the boy off, he just thought Bart was so funny looking he couldn’t keep a straight face, and Hosea was more embarrassed by him than anything. That they’re not real friends and Bart has been an annoyance all along.) Bart doesn’t really believe it, but little doubts nudge in and he wants to run. He barely turns around to bolt home when he hears a smack. He turns around and sees Hosea standing over the boy, having rammed him.

- Hosea yells at him to stop talking to Bart like that. He defends Bart, jumbling his words as he tries to talk faster than his normal speed, but his sentiment is clear. Bart is his best frien!. Bart is the coolest, the funnest, and he could certainly kick the boy’s butt onto next Sunday if he wanted to! The boy gets up and tries for intimidation, but Bart moves in to kick his leg. As the boy yowls, he takes Hosea’s hand and they run before any adults come. They stop to catch their breath in an dirty alley. Hosea is concerned if they’ll get in trouble for starting violence, but Bart reassures him. After a pause of contemplation, Bart asks him if what he said was true. Hosea is back to tripping on his words, but he spills all of his feelings. He admires Bart, and honestly thinks of him as the coolest kid he’s ever met. He wants to be more like him; strong, reliable, and honest. Both kids are embarrassed by the praise, Bart’s quickened heart making his mind race with it. This moment wasn’t reminding him of any scenes with the protagonists of his fantasy books. This was more like the scene of Detective Drew where his assistant confesses to him her love.

- He tries to shrug it off by awkwardly accepting the compliments and extra awkwardly praising Hosea too “I.... like that you’re smart?” They walk to his house in silence, but Bart’s mind is a battle. He tells himself this was nothing like that scene; no way did Hosea feel like that towards him! (But what if-) Nonono, no need to be silly. They get to his room and they start their reading, but Bart can’t focus on any words. He keeps rationalizing his friend’s behaviors to himself in a cycle, trying to force himself to accept that he was misinterpreting everything..... but for whatever reason not being able to let it go. He’s at his wits end by the time their hang out time is over, and he walks Hosea out. Hosea asks him if he was ok; he noticed how quiet Bart had been. Bart presses his lips and looks away. He confesses he’s still processing being called cool. Hosea fidgets for a while at the door. When Bart raises his eyes to see why, he notices Hosea’s face is back to blushing. “... B-But you a-are. You’re my hero.” Both boys’ eyes widen, and Hosea can’t even let out a farewell before booking it out. Bart is floored, overcome with new emotions of self-consciousness and awe.

- He’s in a daze during dinner and he can’t sleep that night. It’s only while rereading the last book of his fantasy series that he realizes there WAS a passage where both protagonists greatly praised one another... before going into battle. The protagonists end it with a hug, and Bart becomes aware of the new-found implications their past actions could be given. He realizes he might have been projecting the same expectations to Hosea. And he becomes scared as he starts to recognize what it was he was feeling when Hosea complimented him.

... Bart liked Hosea.

- Lololol went into story mode. shit. Hopefully I can keep going cuz.. Im sticking pretty hard to this story so far. As the song goes, let’s see how far we(I) go ;w;

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damienthepious · 5 years ago

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i am out of ways to say hi it’s tuesday fic time. but hi, it’s tuesday! fic time.

Scattered On My Shore (Chapter 8)

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [ao3] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11] [Ch 12] [Ch 13] [Ch 14] [Ch 15] [Ch 16] [Ch 17] [Ch 18] [Ch 19]

Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast

Relationship: Lord Arum/Sir Damien/Rilla, Sir Damien/Rilla

Characters: Rilla, Lord Arum, Sir Damien

Additional Tags: Second Citadel, Lizard Kissin’ Tuesday, Pre-Relationship, (for the three of them. it’s established r/d), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Injury, Injury Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, (this will also be), Enemies to Lovers, (for damien and arum eventually lol)

Fic Summary: Strange things wash up out of the lake near Rilla’s hut, on occasion. But this monster… this monster is certainly the strangest.

Chapter Summary: Rilla is starting to feel a little like they're bonding. Arum is unconvinced. Damien is on his own journey.

Chapter Notes: Fam this one gets weird. Chapter specific warnings for overt threats of violence, characters being restrained, implications of a canon-compliant death, and I think that's it? Oh forgive me, this chapter is long and my day has been even longer. Hey, I love you. <3

Rilla fills a basket with anything she thinks might interest him even a little. She doesn't have much of a fiction section (most of it is borrowed from or gifted by Damien, actually), so she just kinda scoops that entire little shelf in with the rest.

"Obviously I don't know what you might like," she says later in the afternoon when he's woken again, and he stares at her in alarm over the assorted pile as she sets it down next to the cot, where he'll be able to reach without much strain. "But I figured that now that you're awake more often, you might want some reading material."

"I don't-" he sputters, frowning down at the books in indignation. "I cannot imagine any human storybooks could hold my attention for a single moment."

"That's fine," Rilla says with a shrug. "I'm pretty sure I don't have any kids' reading material, so you should be safe on that front. There's a bit of fiction in there, but that's not really my thing so I can't give you any personal recommendations there. Mostly it's field guides, bestiaries, treatises on certain scientific concepts, collections of recipes, censuses of certain herb families, medical guides- just a whole bunch about a whole bunch, really. If you get bored enough, I'm sure something in there will be worth a read," she says casually, and then while he's still stammering through a growl she gives him a bright, disarming smile (he actually pulls his head back, blinking) and then she skips right back to the door. "I've got an experiment I gotta keep an eye on for an hour or so, I'm sure you can keep yourself out of trouble for that long, but if you need me just shout, okay?"

He stares at her, mouth hanging just slightly open, so she grins a little wider and leaves him to it, keeping the door cracked just an inch or so as she goes.

He'll never pick a single one of the damn things up if she's there to gloat about it, but if she just leaves him to stew in his own inactivity unsupervised for a while, she's sure the temptation right there next to him will do the trick.

Sure enough, the next time she comes in (current pretense: a little cadre of plants by the window require watering. Could it have waited? Almost certainly), he's pretending to sleep (she can tell the difference) and the books are definitely rifled through. She's almost positive that it's at least one tome lighter, actually, and she's pretty confident that if she snooped she'd find the missing book tucked into the covers or under the lizard's pillow.

When she comes in with dinner he's given up the pretense on his end, scowling and waving one particular book in the air between them.

"What is this nonsense? " he snarls. "This information is spurious at best, Amaryllis. Some entries are passable, perhaps, but clearly you know nothing about-"

She tilts her head to try to figure out which book he's taken such offense at, and she's moderately unsurprised to see that it's one of the bestiaries. Okay, fair.

"Which ones are wrong?" she asks as she sets his food down on the table beside him, making no effort to disguise her enthusiasm, and he pauses, blinking at her. "I had Damien snag that from a library in the Citadel so I could make my own copy- with corrections, obviously. Actually, hang on-"

She spins on her heel and jogs to retrieve her half-written pile of unbound notes and her recorder from the front room, and she's already recording and shuffling through the pages when she returns.

"Which ones are bunk?" she asks with relish. "Frankly I've never trusted that author, I don't think he ever actually came within ten miles of the Western Wastes. His descriptions of western monsters always seemed the most vague, and they don't match up with other reports and firsthand accounts I'm aware of."

Arum snorts. "That stands to reason , " he growls, and then he smacks the page with the back of a hand. "Sickle-Claws are feathered, obviously, and half the size he has claimed."

"I knew it," she says, pulling the stool close and sitting by the bed. "That fraud wouldn't know an Everdead if someone whipped a branch back in his face."

He laughs again, apparently just as amused by that mental image as Rilla is, and then he starts flipping through the book, pointing out mistakes and false claims and outright fabrications with a smug sort of pleasure, and Rilla shows him her own notes, her amendments and additions from her own research, and he wrinkles his snout but he can't seem to find a complaint to voice, except specifically regarding her sideline notes on the magic involved in certain creatures.

"That isn't how magic works, Amaryllis." He shakes his head. "You can't predict it, because it is by definition unpredictable. If you try to shove it into a single labeled box all you will do is cut your hands in the attempt. Humans cannot possibly comprehend the true incomprehensibility of the larger universe."

Rilla raises an eyebrow. "I can comprehend quite a lot, Arum."

"Perhaps," he says with a sneer. "But if you expect magic to conform to consistent rules like your other natural and mathematical laws, you will be sorely disappointed," he hisses, gesturing to another book from the pile. "Magic is larger than that. It is outside of such constraints, as the Universe itself is."

"Just because it has different rules, doesn't mean it's incomprehensible-"

"No, no-" he shakes his head sharply and then then winces.

"Careful, Arum, c'mon-"

"Hush, it is simply sore, little doctor. As I was saying- magic does not have different rules. There are no rules. "

"Everything has rules, Arum. It's just a matter of figuring them out, regardless of how complex or granular-"

"Your assumption that everything in the Universe can be understood is precisely why you will never be able to understand, human. You cannot see outside your own level. I have moved beyond that."

Rilla frowns, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Cool. Good for you."

He chokes, almost a third laugh. "That- you ridiculous little-"

"I'm sure all that big picture stuff is real fun, Arum, and if you actually tried to explain any of it I'm sure it would be fascinating as hell, but if it doesn't have structure, if it can't be used reliably, I don't really see the point."

"It- it is not meant to be used, Amaryllis, it simply is."

"See, and that's cool too, but my needs as a doctor and a researcher mean that I'm less interested in the whole cosmic mystery and more interested in practical application," she says, tapping the book in his claws. "I learn the rules so that I understand how they can be used. If there aren't any rules- well, that's not exactly going to expand my toolkit, is it? Either it's understandable and useful to me, or you're right and it's incomprehensible, which means it's not much more than a curiosity, y'know?"

He frowns more deeply, turning his face away from her and making a noncommittal noise.

She pokes at the book again, and he blinks at her warily. "Hey. What about this one? I've never seen any other documentation of Syokoy as far northwest as he claims."

His snout wrinkles again, but his posture relaxes slightly as he growls into another scathing correction, and Rilla relaxes too. It's almost easy, like this. Almost comfortable.

One thing that's become more awkward now that Arum is consistently lucid: bathing.

And, like, Rilla is a professional, obviously. She's needed to give sponge baths to bed-bound patients more times than she could count, and she's already bathed him once while he was much less coherent, but-

He's so, so embarrassed to need the help.

Now that he's strong enough, she can let him do most of the work at least, and the only embarrassing, strangely charged part of the process is when she needs to help him wash his back. He can't really reach behind himself, yet, with how torn up his front is, with one of his wrists broken, so she has to scoot behind him and scrub down his gently gleaming scales.

He really doesn't seem to have many scars, beneath his newer injuries. She wonders about that, but she knows better than to ask. She just does her job, doing her best not to flinch when he does.

Rilla tries not to revive the argument about magic if she can avoid it. She's definitely interested in it, she wants to know what he'll say, really, but- it agitates him to a degree that she figures is probably not great for his current state. His throat is nearly recovered (his voice is still rough and fascinating, but there's a sort of murmuring musicality to it, too, now that he's had enough time to recover from the near-drowning part of his injuries), so she would really rather avoid making the monster shout. She'll pin that one for later.

Not that they don't argue. He's remarkably opinionated, and he takes umbrage with a number of the books in her collection. He seems baffled by just the structure of most of her instructional and encyclopedic tomes. Anything that's arranged alphabetically infuriates him.

"It is entirely arbitrary, takatakataka. They may as well be in an order that is entirely random."

"In what way would that be helpful?"

"There is a list at the beginning, and it tells you exactly where everything can be found!"

Rilla raises an eyebrow. "Uh… and?"

"Anyone may read this and find the information!"

Rilla blinks. "That's… kind of the point? To share the information?"

Arum pulls his head back, eying her in alarm. "That- I- but- if anyone can access it, how can it be useful to you? If anyone can do what you can do, how can you barter your skills?"

"Hm," Rilla frowns, just slightly. "I mean, just looking at my own profession- just because someone reads a book of remedies, doesn't mean they'll have the skills to implement them. It's less than half of it, even. You need training, too, an apprenticeship, and then personal experience. Practice. The books are important to the learning process, and no one can be expected to hold all that information in their head at the same time, but it's not the whole of it."

He tilts his head, considering that. "I suppose."

"Besides," she says, "I'm sure there are books with secrets, books that aren't meant to be shared, but those are probably kept somewhere hidden."

"Interesting," he hisses.

"Okay, so- if monster books aren't meant to give information to others, what's the point of them?"

"To save information for yourself. My predecessors-" he pauses.

She knows that look, by now. He thinks he's said too much. She rolls her eyes, sighs, and changes the subject.

Rilla isn't sleeping well.

Her sleep is strange apparently by nature; she sleeps deeply but in short bursts, and she has a habit of rising in the middle of the night for some water or to relieve herself only to be distracted by a book or an idea or an experiment clear until morning. Hell, she'll sleep whenever, for an hour or so at a time. It amuses Damien, but his own sleep habits are so firmly regimented by his work (when he isn't being plagued to sleeplessness by his mind) that he rarely wakes when she slips from the bed at night.

Currently, though, she's having a little bit of a hard time falling asleep at all.

Damien knows how to take care of himself. She knows that. She's not entirely sure he's capable of losing a fight. He might get hurt, that's happened entirely too often, but- he wins. He always wins, eventually, even if he has to put himself through hell, first-

She turns over again, presses her face into the pillow, sighs into the dark.

They have an argument to finish, she thinks. Damien would never leave a narrative arc like that unsatisfied.

She gets to sleep eventually. It's enough.

Arum isn't in his cot when Rilla comes in with dinner the third day after Damien leaves, and that's-

That's so entirely surprising that Rilla just kind of- stops, staring at the empty cot with the blankets kicked down for an extended moment, her brow furrowed in confusion, and she's almost relieved when she hears the distinct click of claws on hardwood behind her before she has a moment of wait that's probably not good-

The scaled arm wraps around her midsection from behind, and Rilla jolts, automatically pulling forward and away. He holds tight, though. Shockingly tight, actually, and then there is cool metal by her neck and Rilla knows her own damn scalpel easily and she goes still, because Rilla may be stubborn but she's not stupid.

"Arum," she says, and he growls behind her. She's not- scared, really. The scalpel almost makes it ridiculous, considering the claws. "Arum what the hell are you-"

"I'm leaving, you foolish little primate," he hisses.

"You aren't well enough-"

"I don't care what you think."

"Well you should, Arum, because you can hardly stand and if you think you're going to make it ten steps-"

"I appear to be standing perfectly well just at the moment, little doctor."

She twists just slightly, glancing back towards him as best she can, and she sees that he's stolen one of her crutches. It's not big enough for him, he's remarkably tall when he's not tucked into her cot, and it doesn't look at all comfortable tucked under his lower arm like that, but it's working enough that he's upright, at least. He adjusts his arm around her slightly, growling low.

"Arum," Rilla breathes, and she knows the exact pressure the scalpel in Arum's hands will require to break the skin. He is nowhere near that pressure, but she's very aware of it as an abstract concept, regardless. "Arum this is stupid and you know it."

"Can't even treat me with some respect when I could slit your little throat," he snarls, and she can hear how labored his breathing is. He really shouldn't be standing like this, stolen crutch or no. "Not an ounce of self-preservation in your absurd, fragile body."

"I could say the same damn thing about you, you ridiculous-" she cuts off as Arum shifts his grip on her, not because she's afraid of what he'll do, but because the hiss he gives as he moves sounds more like he's in pain than trying to threaten. "You're gonna get yourself killed because you're too stubborn to just wait until you're actually well enough to-"

"You don't have the first clue what you're talking about. I do not have time to convalesce. I have one purpose, I have one duty, and every moment I lie in that absurd little bed I am failing it. I cannot think, I cannot- I need to return home. I do not care if you understand why, Amaryllis."

"Arum-"

"I thank you for services rendered, such as they were, little doctor. My death would have been assured without you, that is undeniable. And for that, I will not harm you, so long as you do not force my hand," he hisses close by her ear, and then he lifts the last of his hands, and he is holding one of Rilla's syringes with it.

"Arum," Rilla breathes, "what-"

"This is the injection you gave to me before you plucked the basilisk's claw from my ribs. It kept consciousness from me rather effectively for a number of hours. So, little doctor, I must now trust to your expertise."

He adjusts his grip again, meeting her eye over her shoulder and pulling the scalpel further away from her skin.

"Have I gotten the dosage correct, Amaryllis?" he asks, quite seriously, his tone quiet and measured though she can feel him trembling very slightly against her.

She pulls her eyes away from his with some effort and looks at the syringe in question, and then she bites her lip. "It- I mean, good job because you matched exactly the dosage I gave to you, but the thing is-"

"I'm leaving, little human, and nothing you say is going to stop-"

"If you inject me with that I'll go into a coma, and there's a distinct chance I could die." She inhales shakily as Arum blinks at her, then narrows his eyes suspiciously. "You're a monster, Arum, and your metabolism and internal structure are much different from mine. What was perfectly fine and low-risk for you could absolutely kill me."

He stares hard at her for a long moment, frowning hard and trembling lightly, and then he apparently decides she must be telling the truth because he exhales deeply and moves the syringe much further away from her. She tries not to sag in relief, but the tension in her muscles eases enough that she's positive that he must feel it.

"Thank you," she says. "Now just- put down the-"

"I am certain you must have some form of binding in this little hut of yours," he interrupts in a growl, and Rilla blinks, not quite understanding him for a long moment. "Ropes, or scarves or some such. Bandages, those will suffice."

"Arum you can't leave," she tries again, but he's ignoring her now, edging the both of them across the floor towards the cabinets where he's definitely seen her store her bandages. "You won't make it four steps, you'll just get killed and after you've made so much progress-"

"You can stop acting at your leisure, Amaryllis. I am perfectly aware that you do not have the first clue what will happen when you are unable to keep me beneath your thumb any longer. I am simply skipping the intermediary steps. I will not wait for either your pet knight to return with his bow again, or for you to attempt to make me into another pet for yourself. I am leaving, I am going home, and you will not stop me."

When they're close enough to the cabinets, Arum sets the syringe down, then knocks it further along the countertop, out of Rilla's reach. He pulls out a roll of bandages, then glares down at her as she scowls back up at him.

"This is a completely stupid plan," she reiterates, but Arum only frowns more deeply and pushes her to sit on the stool.

"Possibly," he growls, and she rolls her eyes as he pulls her wrists behind her back with surprising gentleness, binding them together at the wrists. "But at least it is a plan, instead of this nonsense inaction."

Rilla tries to pull away, tries to make things difficult for him, but only for a moment. He does still have that scalpel- but really, honestly, she's been working so hard to treat him, to make him well again, and the idea of jerking away too fast or elbowing him to get him away, of twisting his broken wrist (the one wrapped around her, least needed for dexterity, not a bad maneuver), the idea of doing something that might reopen his wounds or hurt him worse- it makes her feel a little sick, actually. She's terrified of what's going to happen to Arum if he tries to walk out her front door on his own with no weapons and a flimsy crutch that can barely support his weight, he's going to get himself hurt, get himself killed-

He's going to hurt himself, but Rilla can't make herself hurt him, to try to get him to stop. She just can't.

"Please," she tries, and his violet eyes flick up to her from where he's knelt to bind her ankles to the legs of the stool. "Arum. Don't do this."

He stands slowly, and she really hasn't gotten the chance to see him at his proper height, yet. He does look a little more dangerous, when he can glare down at her like that with his frill half-flared (he just won't stop pushing himself, the giant ass).

"And what, precisely, do you propose, then? You and your knight had a rather unproductive argument the other day, I must say, though it did rather effectively clarify a number of points for me. The first being, my land is in danger, without me. The second, that your Damien can only be collared for so long before he decides to put an end to this. The third, that you, little doctor, do not have a strategy for how your treatment of the monster will end. You don't have the first clue what you will do with me, when I am too strong again to push and prod and poke-"

"If you die-"

"Then I certainly will not be your problem anymore, little doctor," he hisses, and then he turns to limp his way towards the door.

"All of this is for nothing if you just- Arum, please, I know I've been- stuck in the moment, I know I haven't been thinking about what comes next, and yeah, a lot of that was because I don't know, and I'm scared because I hate not knowing, but- but you don't have to do this. We can figure it out together, please Arum-"

He pauses at the door, leaning heavily against the frame, and then he looks over his shoulder, vivid purple fixing on her one more time.

"Farewell, Amaryllis," he says, his voice almost gentle, "and… thank you."

He closes the door behind him, ignoring the way that Rilla shouts after him, the way she keeps calling his name until she hears the front door open into the night. After a long moment, charged and quiet even of Rilla's voice, that door closes as well.

Somewhere distant, on a gently lapping shore, Sir Damien digs a grave.

His stomach turns, and turns, and his palms hurt against the wood of his shovel. His companion has sweat on her brow, but that is the only indication of any strain. Her expression remains stern and immobile, and Damien cannot possibly say whether she feels as he does, just now. In truth, he does not know if Sir Caroline ever feels… conflicted.

Dirt scatters as it falls. Sir Damien digs to lapping-wave rhythm and intermittent pigeon-coo, with his heart pounding as if it wishes to escape.

He wonders, in a continual refrain, if this was truly the right choice, if there was no other way. If this man could not have been saved .

Monsters, witches, and mercy.

Sir Damien knows good from evil. He knows monsters from man. He knows dark magic from miracle. He knows what is right, and he knows what is wrong.

(The shore laps soft as breath, the lake stands mirror-still, and he has not heard Saint Damien, has not so much as felt a hint of him since-)

Sir Damien wonders if he knows anything at all.

When Rilla finally, finally hears the bandage start to tear, she could just about shout with triumph. Instead, she grits her teeth, grins hard, and pulls harder. It rips more, pulling against her wrists, and then her arms are free so quickly that she almost smacks her hands into the bedside table in their wide swinging arc. She pulls her hands in front of herself first, rubbing at her wrists and assessing the damage (bruised, a little raw, very minor friction burns, nothing a little aloe and time won't fix), and then she reaches for a drawer. Arum may have been paying a little too much attention to where her medical supplies are housed, but Rilla has more than one damned scalpel, and she has it in her hands and slicing through the bandages tied around her legs in no time flat. She hasn't been pulling on those, so no damage to inventory there, at least.

She stands and stumbles just a bit, her muscles rubbery from sitting in that position for- for however long she had been, but she doesn't have time to do some stretches because Arum may be slowed down by his injuries and she knows what direction he'll go, but he still has a hell of a head start on her, and she can't afford-

Rilla nearly trips over her own feet when she bolts into the front room, and this time it isn't because of sore muscles.

It's because Arum is still here.

He's curled up on the floor, his back against her front door, his arms wrapped loosely around his knees. He flicks his eyes up towards her for less time than it would take to blink, and then he looks away, his eyes vaguely on the floor.

"Arum. Oh, thank the Saints you didn't-"

"Apparently even my stupidity has limits, yes."

"Arum," she repeats, uncertain and honestly a little scared that he's managed to hurt himself between his room and the door, somehow.

"You did not inform me precisely how close we are to your Citadel," he mutters into a palm, and she holds her own hand over her heart as it tries, valiantly, to slow its racing. "Within sight, even in the dark of night."

"You- Arum-"

"Congratulations," he growls dully, still not looking at her. "You were correct. I did not take a single step outside your little abode. Foolishness, all of it. Without my- without- even at my best it would take a week and a half at the least to reach my home from here unaided. Hobbling in unfamiliar terrain with this-" he pauses to kick the crutch beside him, sending it spinning across the floor, "thing, in this condition, it would be impossible. Pointless. And I-" he pauses, his lip curling down miserably, "I want to return home alive, in spite of it all."

She steps a bit closer, and he turns his face away so that he is no longer looking at the floor by her feet. "I… Arum, I'm sorry. I know this must be… I know you're probably homesick-" he chokes out a bitter, unpleasant laugh, "and- and I know how hard it is, to be pulled away from your home. From- from your family," she suggests, and he flinches, curling his arms more tightly around his knees, pulling himself into a ball in front of her door and scowling. "I should have tried to talk to you about it sooner. Look, I- I'd be lying if I said I know exactly how I'm going to make it happen, but- but I'm not helping you so that you can run off and get killed by knights or whatever trying to get home. I'm not putting in all this hard work just for you to die," she says dryly, and she's gratified when he gives a smaller, less choking sort of laugh at that.

She takes another step, and when she's almost beside him he still won't look up, so-

She turns, leans her back against the wall, and slides down to sit beside him, sighing. He finally glances her way, then, if only to give her a look of distinct alarm.

"I want you well again, Arum. I want you healed, and I want you safe."

"Why? " he hisses low, his voice shaking.

"It's my responsibility to look out for my patients. In your case," she smiles, very slightly, "I think that means I'm gonna have to get you home. I don't know how, but- but we'll figure it out."

He blinks at her, then ducks his head. "We will figure it out," he repeats, skeptically.

"Yeah," she says. "We."

Slowly, she turns her hand, not exactly reaching for him but just- opening her palm towards him, spreading her fingers in gentle invitation.

He stares at her hand for a long moment, his eyes darting to the reddening mark on her wrist, his tongue flicking nervously in the air, and then he looks away.

She tries not to feel too disappointed-

A scaled palm settles uncertainly over hers, clawed fingers loosely curling around her own. He won't look at her, he's frowning and his damned frill is flared again, but-

"We," he murmurs, and Rilla smiles.

[->]

#h*ck #elle's fanfic #scattered on my shore #the penumbra podcast #second citadel #lizard kissin' tuesday #rad bouquet #lord arum #amaryllis of exile #sir damien #boy i die #fam there's like one whole week until we MAYBE see our scalies again i'm DYIN over here

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mollafer · 5 years ago

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Long time, no see...

Hi guys! It’s good to be back! I’ve been so busy with my junior year of college and third year of Army ROTC, but I recently got back into Turn and started watching it all over again, and I really miss the community and making content for you guys.

I just finished a class in college called Historical Methods & Materials for my degree, and it basically just teaches you how to be a historian and do historical research using archives and stuff like that. Our final project was to write a research prospectus on any topic we pleased. So you know your girl picked spycraft in the American Revolution! I wanted to share with you guys the abstract of my project, because I’m so proud of it :) I got my final grade on it, which was a 95% and everyone in my class loved my presentation (I got a laugh from the class when I held up Benjamin Tallmadge’s memoir and said “Yes, I own it, and yes, I’ve read the entire thing”). I would have shared the whole document, but it’s 10 pages and 2,600 words, so I don’t want to bore you guys with all that (although I’m sure you guys would most likely find it really interesting since it’s basically about all the stuff from Turn, lol). But anyway, I will be back with some more memes, and I’m really looking forward to sharing them with you. Love you all!

Abstract under the cut, if you’d like to peruse :) Bonus points to anyone who can spot the quotes from Turn!

In the American Revolution, the Americans struggled on the field to win many battles, but behind the scenes, another battle was quietly raging in the shadows. The Americans were secretly developing a series of different espionage techniques to outsmart, and outspy, the British. But for a group of soldiers who were untrained and undisciplined, how were they able to conquer the British, the greatest military superpower at the time, in order to win the overall war for independence? In this project, I will explore how the use of advanced spycraft methods shaped the course of the American Revolution. In order to determine how the Americans won the war, I will explain how they were able to gain the upper hand through the use of technology, like ciphers, coded letters, and invisible ink, through the discovery of Benedict Arnold’s deception before it was too late, and through the creation of the Culper Spy Ring, and how a group of friends led to more consistent and reliable spies.

The Revolutionary War itself was a turning point in the greater history of espionage techniques. The traditional method of dispatching scouts into a region, in order to observe the enemy, was a tactic used often at the early onset of the war. Unfortunately, these reports did not prove useful to the collection of military intelligence, since these scouts mostly produced contradictory accounts that merely guessed at the intentions of the enemy. Some American generals, at the time, argued that this example of traditional military reconnaissance was a proven discipline. They asserted that multiple scouts producing multiple reports, which could be cross-referenced to ensure verification, was the proper way to conduct espionage. On the contrary, the inaccuracy of these reports proved to General George Washington that change was needed, since it was clear that soldiers actually made terrible spies. All that discipline drilled into their movements made them easy to spot, unlike civilians. This notion led to the exploration of an American spy ring consisting of farmers, whalers, merchants, and journalists, which was unlike any other intelligence operation, at that time, on both sides of the war.

The intellectual significance of this project is a deeper understanding of war tactics and the history of espionage. Beyond this, I will also introduce a group of relatively unknown figures who helped shape the outcome of the war, but have become lost to history, in order to reveal them and their efforts so that they can receive the recognition they deserve. The Americans had a complex system of secret networks, personal contacts, and scientific information. A spy had to be crafty, cunning, and not be afraid to take risks. But, of course, the Americans were not the only ones with spies pulling the strings. The British had their own network of military intelligence that actively sought to undermine the attempts of the Americans, in order to deceive them and their war effort. Britain’s use of counterintelligence and double agents kept the Americans on edge, and taught them the importance of secrecy and trust among their own ranks. This constant push and pull between spy networks drove the Revolutionary War and proved that not all battles can be won on the field alone. It is fair to say that without the Americans’ use of spycraft, they may have lost the War of Independence.

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nerdygaymormon · 5 years ago

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Gospel Topic Essays

In 2013 & 2014, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released a series of essays that address a number of question and criticisms. These essays have been approved by the First Presidency and Quorum of 12 Apostles. The stated reason for the essays is gathering accurate information and making it available.

I added a few thoughts in italics

Are Mormons Christian - Members of the Church believe in and teach of Christ, but they don’t believe in the post-New Testament Creeds, and have scriptures in addition to the Bible. The LDS Church also is not a direct descendant of an existing Christian church.

What Mormons mean by the word “Christian” is different than the rest of Christianity. Mormons are Christian in that they believe Jesus was the Messiah and redeemer of the world.

Becoming Like God - Since people are the spirit children of God, we have the potential to develop and grow to become like God. The essay includes some Bible verses to support this teaching, but most of the world interprets them differently.

The essay leaves out Bible verses that would seem to contradict this teaching. The Bible, at best, is mixed. There aren’t any verses from the Book of Mormon included because this concept is absent from that book.

God was once like humans are now. And people can become gods. We teach God is married, so there are godly roles for both men & women. Does this make us polytheists? Yes, in that there are many gods, but really no because we only worship our Heavenly Father and will continue doing so even when we become gods ourselves.

How does someone become like God? It’s the covenant path we hear so much about. Baptism, Melchizedek Priesthood (if you’re male), temple endowment, sealed to a spouse, obey temple covenants.

Sounds pretty good, except...

What about if your spouse or children are unworthy? If you’re gay? If you get divorced? A widowed husband gets married & sealed to a 2nd wife, what if the 1st wife isn’t into polygamy?

Book of Mormon and DNA Studies - The purpose of the Book of Mormon is spiritual, not historical. There’s no DNA evidence to confirm that Middle Eastern people came to the Americas prior to Christopher Columbus. This essay goes through many possible excuses for why no DNA of the Jaredites, Nephites or Lamanites has yet been found in the Americas.

The introduction page to the Book of Mormon used to say that the Jaredites & Nephites were destroyed, leaving the Lamanites who are "the principal ancestors of the American Indians.” DNA evidence forced a change, it now says, Lamanites are “among” the ancestors of the American Indians.

Book of Mormon Translation - Joseph placed either the interpreters (Urim & Thummim) or his seer stone in a hat, pressed his face into the hat to block out light, and read aloud the English words that appeared. He dictated the words, not punctuation, to the scribes. The scribes wrote their own punctuation and that is what was printed. Most changes in the Book of Mormon have involved punctuation and creating verses & chapters.

It’s not a “translation” in the usual sense of that word. An examination of the characters on the plate wasn’t typically involved (despite much of the artwork that suggests otherwise), in fact, the plates often weren’t visible. There’s no way to test the accuracy of the translation.

Also, some other changes beyond punctuation and creating chapters/verses has taken place, like having some of the more racist language toned down.

First Vision Accounts - Joseph had a vision (not necessarily an actual visitation) in which 2 heavenly beings appeared to him.

Joseph published 2 accounts of this vision during his lifetime. Two additional accounts (from his autobiography and from a journal) have been found and published in the 1960′s. There are also 5 descriptions of Joseph Smith’s vision recorded by others who heard Joseph speak about the vision.

That makes 9 different accounts, and there are some differences between them. The essay explains that different accounts emphasize different details. Memories fade over time and things get remembered differently.

There is a generally consistent theme across the different versions, but the first written account comes many years after the vision is supposed to have occurred, which makes me wonder how accurate or reliable it is.

Joseph Smith’s Teachings about Priesthood, Temple and Women - During the 19th century, women frequently blessed the sick by a prayer of faith, and many women received priesthood blessings promising that they would have the gift of healing. In reference to these healing blessings, Relief Society general president Eliza R. Snow explained in 1883, "Women can administer in the name of JESUS, but not by virtue of the Priesthood."

That’s because the priesthood was new & fresh, but understanding changed as Joseph Smith received more revelations.

I think they stuck to Joseph Smith’s teachings so they wouldn’t have to go into the misogynistic teachings of Brigham Young or Spencer Kimball. At the time of Joseph’s death, women were still doing healings & had control of the Relief Society.

Priesthood power is given to women in the temple as part of the endowment ceremony. When a couple is sealed in the temple, together they enter into an order of the priesthood. Women can officiate in the priesthood in ordinances for other women. Women can officiate when only women are getting the ordinance, when it is for men & women then the men are in charge.

Women and the Priesthood today - well, they still can do stuff in the temple.

Mother in Heaven - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. This understanding is rooted in scriptural and prophetic teachings about the nature of God, and the godly potential of men and women. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints.

According to things taught through most of church history, this essay could have been titled Mothers in Heaven. We each have a mother & father in heaven, we each have the same father but there could be many different mothers in heaven. Good old polygamy, interwoven into our theology.

6 paragraphs, that’s all? Shouldn’t we know more? What is heaven like for women?

Peace in Violence among 19th-Century Latter-day Saints - The Latter-day Saints were persecuted, often violently, for their beliefs. Several incidents are discussed.

Well, to be accurate, it was more for their actions than their beliefs. We weren’t exactly great neighbors to non-members of the church.

And, tragically, some Church members participated in deplorable violence against people they perceived to be their enemies. Joseph Smith had the Danites, and a stake president ordered the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Brigham Young taught that some sins were serious enough that the person should be killed as part of forgiveness process (blood atonement).

The early Mormons had many threats and violence done against them, and they also did the same to others. It was a rough time.

Imagine all the things said & done against the LGBTQ+ community by the Church--denying they exist, electro-shock therapy, advocating for laws to limit & take away their rights. In a real sense the church isn’t a good neighbor to this group. In an earlier time, this might get settled via guns and violence.

Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo - God commanded people in ancient Israel to have polygamous marriages. As part of the restoration of all things, God commanded Joseph Smith to introduce polygamy.

The verses cited just indicate that polygamy was practiced in Old Testament times, not that God commanded anyone to have such marriages.

Joseph really didn’t want to do it (or worried about how his wife Emma would react), so God had to send an angel 3 times between 1834 and 1842 to command him to proceed with plural marriage. During the final appearance, the angel came with a drawn sword, threatening Joseph with destruction unless he went forward and obeyed the commandment fully.

The concept of polygamy was part of the revelation on eternal marriage and is how to be exalted with God.

The essay says there wasn’t much instruction on how to do polygamy, I think this is meant to suggest that mistakes happened because people didn’t know better. D&C 132 does have a number of instructions, some of which were ignored. Such as the 1st wife had to give permission for any additional wife, and the additional wives each have to be virgins.

Joseph kept most of his marriages secret from Emma, and he married other men’s wives who most assuredly weren’t virgins.

Joseph had 30-40 wives. His oldest wife was 56 and the youngest was 14.

Polygamy was illegal. Most people who participated were told to keep it secret. Also important for married women to keep it a secret from their first husband. Rumors spread and so “carefully worded denials” were issued in which they’d switch one word, or change the meaning of a word. Basically it looks like they were lying because it would mean trouble.

Wilford Woodruff issued a manifesto in 1890 which led to the end of polygamy (eventually...it took a second manifesto in 1904 to end it officially).

A form of polygamy still survives. Men who remarry may be sealed to their additional wives. People can do temple work to seal women who were married to more than one man during their lifetimes but not sealed to them. Only men are allowed to be sealed to more than one person whilst alive.

Plural Marriage and Families in early Utah - Church members do not understand the purposes for instituting the practice of plural marriage during the 19th century. The essay heavily suggests that having a lot of children was a primary purpose.

Footnote 6 says “Studies have shown that monogamous women bore more children per wife than did polygamous wives except the first.” In all likelihood, polygamy led to fewer children than probably would have been born in a monogamous society

Accounts left by men and women who practiced plural marriage attest to the challenges and difficulties they experienced, such as financial difficulty, interpersonal strife, and some wives’ longing for the sustained companionship of their husbands. Virtually all of those practicing it in the earliest years had to overcome their own prejudice against plural marriage and adjust to life in polygamous families.

Few would have entered into plural marriages if leaders didn’t emphasize that polygamy was required for a man’s highest exaltation in the life to come, and women who refused plural marriage could find themselves single & a servant in heaven. Polygamous wives were so unhappy that Brigham Young eventually gave an ultimatum, 2 weeks to freely leave the territory or stop whining and fully live their religion.

Plural marriage was an illegal practice and members engaged in civil disobedience against such laws. In direct violation of the 12th Article of Faith

The essay shows Mormon polygamy in a very favorable light.

The Manifesto and the End of Plural Marriage - Polygamous marriage was illegal in the United States and the LDS Church fled to Mexico but the United States took the territory they were fleeing to. The Church felt that polygamy was protected under the Constitution’s freedom of religion but the Supreme Court disagreed.

Given the importance polygamy to the church’s beliefs about heaven, the members were encouraged to disregard the law and obey God. After 2 decades of increasing troubles, many polygamous families headed to Canada or Mexico to escape US justice (nevermind polygamy was just as illegal in those countries).

When the US Supreme Court upheld the legality of confiscating church property, this could mean that temple ordinances would end when those buildings are seized. Wilford Woodruff issued the Manifesto to ban polygamy in 1890. This calmed things with the US government and within 3 years Utah was admitted as a state.

Members continued entering into new plural marriages for about 15 more years, but in declining numbers. In 1899 the newly-elected senator from Utah was not allowed to take his seat in Congress because he had 3 wives, including one he married after the manifesto. When an apostle was elected in 1903, he also was not allowed to take his seat as an investigation took place into the church & polygamy, even church president Joseph F. Smith testified before Congress.

President Smith testified that the Manifesto removed God’s commandment on the church to practice polygamy, but didn’t forbid individuals from choosing to continue to be polygamous. He issued a Second Manifest at the April General Conference forbidding members from entering new polygamous marriages.

Race and the Priesthood - The Church was established in 1830, many people of African descent in the United States lived in slavery, and racial prejudice were believed by most white Americans.

From the mid-1800s until 1978—the Church did not ordain men of black African descent to its priesthood or allow black men or women to participate in temple endowment or sealing ordinances.

This is true, but one would hope a church which claims revelation through prophets would be able to overcome cultural norms that aren’t in line with the gospel.

Church leaders taught many things to explain the ban, and today, all of that is rejected by the church and considered error. These weren’t just teachings, they were doctrines. And the Book of Mormon and Book of Abraham were used to justify bigotry, such as stating that the curse of Cain was a dark skin.

International expansion of the church, especially in Brazil, forced the church into difficult situations. The Church in the USA was also under heavy pressure for the priesthood restrictions.

Church president Spencer W. Kimball spent many hours praying for revelation to undo the priesthood ban. The essay makes it sound like some big revelation was received, but it wasn’t that way. It was a process, a statement drafted and changes made to it and voted on.

Today, the Church disavows all teachings that teach any race or ethnicity if inferior in any way, or that mixed-race marriages are wrong. Church leaders unequivocally condemn all racism.

No reason for the priesthood ban is put forward in this article other than racism. The past leaders were racists and that blinded them to what God wanted for black people. There’s a big lesson in that.

Translation and Historicity of the Book of Abraham - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embraces the book of Abraham as scripture.

A traveling salesman sold several Egyptian papyri and mummies to Joseph Smith. He was excited to learn one papyrus was scripture from Abraham and set to translating it.

After the church left Nauvoo, Joseph’s family sold the Egyptian artifacts and they eventually ended up in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 1967, the museum transferred these fragments to the Church.

Discovery of the papyri allowed an examination of Joseph Smith’s translation. Mormon and non-Mormon Egyptologists agree that the characters on the fragments do not match the translation given in the book of Abraham.

Joseph’s translation was not a literal rendering of the papyri as a conventional translation would be. Rather, the physical artifacts provided an occasion for meditation, reflection, and revelation. They catalyzed a process whereby God gave to Joseph Smith a revelation about the life of Abraham, even if that revelation did not directly correlate to the characters on the papyri.

The essay mostly tries to explain how it is possible for Joseph Smith to have called the process for bringing forth the book of Abraham a "translation" when it is obvious that it was not a translation of the Egyptian papyri in his possession

#before these essays many of these positions would be considered anti-Mormon #tumblrstake

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momorabu · 6 years ago

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Ensemble Stars! Event Story - Challenge! Tanabata Festival Wishes / Tanabata Festival

Even though this was an old event story, I wanted to read and translate this after reading the Hikoboshi and Orihime event story, since both are related to the Tanabata Festival anyway~ And this event story focused on one of my favourite units - Ra*bits~! (Even though I like Akatsuki too ^^;)

This is probably still one of event outfits of Ra*bits that I really really like >/////<

Anyway as always, the summary of the story can be found below. Translation may not be 100% accurate due to my poor Japanese skills~

Prologue

One day, “I” was called to the staff room by Sagami Sensei, and he asked “me” to relax since he’s not here to lecture “me” actually. Sagami Sensei shook his head, remarking that he doesn’t understand what current youths were thinking about nowadays, and decided to go straight to the point on why he had called “me” here, asking “me” whether “I” would like to try planning for a dreamfes from scratch. He knew that “I’m” still a newbie since “I’ve” just transferred to this school from April, but from then, “I’ve” accumulating experiences and was now considered quite a reliable producer currently. This was why Sagami Sensei felt that it would be a good chance to let “me” be in charge of a huge task. Smiling to “me”, he informed “me” that being a producer isn’t just taking care of specific units, but consists of the job of planning and operating events as well. He remarked that perhaps planning an event would have a different interesting side as compared to taking care of idols, even though it would also mean that there would be trouble different than usual ^^; But since overall it would be a great experience for “me”, he felt that “I” should give it a try.

Sagami Sensei continued onto explaining about dreamfes. In the past, all the official events from SS to A1 were not left to the teachers to plan about it, and the operation of the events would be under the student council. But Sagami Sensei felt that it was boring to have this pattern of everytime, remarking that the students and public would get sick of it. Thinking that “I” would be able to accumulate experience from this, Sagami Sensei felt that getting “me” to plan would also help the teachers and student council to lessen the load, since they were still really busy during the summer vacation.

Suddenly, we overheard a commotion happening between Akiyomi Sensei and Mitsuru. Akiyomi had yelled at Mitsuru to stop, but Mitsuru quickly escaped from the staff room by jumping out from the window, apologising and explaining that he had just remembered he had something he had to attend to. Sagami Sensei called out to Akiyomi Sensei, which pissed him even more since he doesn’t like the nickname “Akiyan”, and ordered Sagami Sensei to chase after Mitsuru and capture him. Sagami Sensei shook his head and said that it’s impossible for him to catch up to Mitsuru at his age (Poor Sagami Sensei is already getting old =w=“)

Akiyomi sighed since he had no choice but to give up on chasing after Mitsuru for now, and advised Sagami Sensei to clean up his desk since his paperwork was even falling off from the desk. Sagami Sensei apologised and explained that since he’s used to staying at the sickbay instead, he’s not used to tidying his desk over here, but that gets rebutted by Akiyomi Sensei, telling him that his desk at the sickbay was messy too, as his own personal items were all over the desk. He requested Sagami Sensei to be tidier and be a good role model for the student.

Akiyomi remarked that Mitsuru was really fast when it comes to escaping from him, and knowing that he’s really athletic, Akiyomi felt that he should be making use of his talent even more since he can’t help but to be strict about students when he sees them not releasing their full potential. Sagami Sensei suggested Akiyomi Sensei to drink some tea and calm down, telling him that since they’re both not young anymore, they shouldn’t be forcing themselves too much. Akiyomi rebutted that he’s not that old enough to be worried (so poor Sagami Sensei is the only one that’s old? XD), and asked him instead about the matter that he was discussing with “me” awhile ago.

Seeing that “I” know nothing about organising an event, Akiyomi told “me” that it’s alright to rely on the teachers and even the student council to help “me”, since it would take awhile for “me” to get used to doing this. Firstly, what “I” should do was to start planning for the dreamfes, making sure of the details and that none of the traditions of Yumenosaki Gakuen was tainted in the process. Sagami Sensei didn’t agree with this process though, saying that he didn’t want “me” to be restricted since that might make the events seems like the past events again.

Other than requesting “me” to accept the task of planning the next event, Akiyomi would also want “me” to pass a message from him to Mitsuru if “I” met him later on, since Mitsuru would always flee from Akiyomi everytime he met him. Turned out that Akiyomi Sensei wanted to discuss with Mitsuru about his future, and thus he wished that “I” could help to bring him to him.

Sunny But Rainy / 晴れのち雨: Chapter 1

Over at the balcony, Hajime and Tomoya were putting out the laundry. As it was a rainy season, they’ve accumulated quite a large amount of sheets and clothes to be washed. He remarked that Mitsuru still ran around even when it was rainy, and ended up with dirt on his clothes, but~ using his special cleaning lotion, Hajime managed to make them all white and sparkling clean again~

(Random scene of Tomoya mistaking of Hajime calling him by his surname “Mashiro” when Hajime meant “sparkling clean” when using the word “Mashiro”~ He was surprised that Hajime called him this way when usually he would refer to him as “Tomoya-kun”~ Hajime understood that feeling of misunderstanding since he always thought someone was talking about them when they say the word “to start” - “Hajime-masu”~)

Tomoya told Hajime that he’s too polite, yet Mitsuru was too impolite, so he wished that Hajime could pass some manners to Mitsuru so that they would balance out. But if that happens, Tomoya wondered whether there won’t be any use for him, since he was “normal” and always someone who seems to be in the middle of a range. Tomoya remarked that he would feel hurt being said that he’s normal, and continued to help Hajime to hang up the rest of the laundry.

Hajime really enjoyed doing laundry and washing them, remarking that the weather was fine and sunny, and he could smell the scent of dirt that was drenched by the rain together with the fragrance of the detergent~ Tomoya remarked that he looks weird smelling and enjoying himself like this, and advised him not to do that in front of others.

As they’ve been working part-time jobs all this while that requires their body strength, Tomoya felt tired from doing those and wished that they could do some idol related work as Ra*bits soon. Hajime apologised, feeling that it was bad of him to involve Tomoya to help him out in doing the part-time job at the school. Tomoya assured Hajime not to worry since they’re all comrades and asked him where are Mitsuru and Nazuna since they’ve all agreed that all the members would help to assist Hajime on his part-time job. Hajime smiled and answered Tomoya that Mitsuru was being called by Akiyomi Sensei to the staff room, and as for Nazuna.... he was actually struggling with the sheets a distance away from them XD

The scene cuts towards Nazuna who was struggling to get the sheets off him and as he could not see anything in front of him, he cried for someone to give him a hand. Hajime laughed upon seeing how Nazuna’s head was covered by the sheets and asked Tomoya to go over and help him together. Tomoya sighed and wondered why Nazuna had wanted to hang up the sheets when he’s tiny.

At that moment, Kaoru was on the balcony too and complained that they’re too noisy that they had disturbed him from taking an afternoon nap. Nazuna could hear and identify Kaoru’s voice, and cried out to him to help him out since he could not move at all being covered by the sheets. Kaoru went over and took off the sheets from him easily, laughing at him and asking what on earth was he doing.

(Finally Nazuna gets to breath fresh air again~! Though he hated to be called “tiny” by Kaoru ^^;)

Tomoya was shocked when he realised that Nazuna was acquainted with Kaoru, to which Nazuna explained that they’re in the same year together, and assured him that Kaoru isn’t a bad person even if he looks abit scary XD He asked Kaoru to give them a hand to hang up the laundry since he was taller than them and could help them to hang up the sheets which was a difficult task for the Ra*bits members given their height ^^; Kaoru showed a glum expression, complaining that he was now being forced to do labour work after they had disturbed him from his nap, wondering what crime had he committed to get such a “punishment" ^^: Nazuna told Kaoru that if they’ve finished their task quickly, they would leave the balcony and that would mean the balcony would be quiet again soon, so in a way, Kaoru would be helping himself to get some sleep faster. Kaoru replied that he could actually just move somewhere else to take a nap actually, and he felt that there’s no merit in helping Nazuna since even though the members of Ra*bits look cute to him, they were all guys. That made Nazuna mad as he lectured Kaoru that he should do some actions at times that were not related to girls at all, and threatened him that he’s going to tell everyone at school that Kaoru had actually tried to flirt with him when he just enrolled at school in the past, as Kaoru had mistakened Nazuna as a girl XD

In the end, Kaoru sighed and remarked that that one time was his mistake in his entire life, adding on that Nazuna’s looks had made him confused about his gender. Suddenly, he realised that someone was at the balcony too, and suggested that Nazuna could ask that person for help instead. He was glad when he realised that it was actually “me”, and asked “me” whether “I” was here to meet him.

“I” explained that “I” was actually here to look for Mitsuru, and had thought that he might be here seeing that Ra*bits were doing their laundry here. But Nazuna replied that he isn’t here and asked Tomoya and Hajime whether they had known Mitsuru’s whereabouts. After knowing that “I” had last met Mitsuru at the staff room, Hajime and Tomoya wondered where he could have went. Tomoya guessed that Mitsuru might have forgotten that the Ra*bits members were doing their laundry on the balcony, so there’s a high possibility that he was running around the school looking for them. Nazuna decided that he shall use the broadcasting system to call for Mitsuru, but in exchange, he wished that “I” could help Hajime and Tomoya with the rest of the laundry.

(And since “I’ve” decided to stay, of course Kaoru decided to be helpful and give them a hand as well~ ^^; He even boasted that he’s actually good at chores and even suggested that we look like a pair of husband and wife doing laundry together... Kaoru... you really thought too much XD)

Hajime was glad that “I’m” giving them a hand, and said that they would give “me” a hand too if “I” ever need their help in the future, even though Hajime felt that he may not be that reliable~

Sunny But Rainy / 晴れのち雨: Chapter 2 - 3

Later on, Souma and Adonis were jogging and racing each other on the school grounds. When they stopped to take a break, Souma remarked that he’s of no match to Adonis’ speed, and when he was already feeling tired, Adonis was still calm and doesn’t seem tired at all. Adonis encouraged Souma that he doesn’t have to feel ashamed about losing to him since the muscles that were being trained were different for sword skills and running, and that running was Adonis’ forte. Souma apologised for bothering Adonis for accompanying him in his training, as Souma had decided to do some training himself as it had been awhile for him to train his body since there hasn’t been much lessons for Akatsuki recently due to Keito being busy at the student council. He had felt bored just jogging by himself, and decided to ask Adonis to accompany him.

Seeing that Souma seems to be quite energetic, Adonis suggested that they did some stretching exercises to prevent themselves from getting muscle aches rather than sitting down. He was amazed by Souma’s special way of running, which Souma explained that this was a way of running in the ancient past, and knowing from Shinobu, it seems to be the way how ninja had run. He said that by moving the hands and legs in the same direction, one can hold down their fatigue and move fast, even suggesting Adonis to give it a try. Adonis decided to reject him, since he felt that if he was to change his way of running suddenly, he would get muscle aches easily.

Suddenly, Kaoru appeared, which pissed Souma off as he demanded that Kaoru should not even set a foot into such a place being a weakling. (Kaoru even joked that he’s wearing shoes, and added that if he doesn’t wear shoes his feet would get dirty =w=“) Anyway, he’s here to look for Adonis instead of Souma, referring to Adonis as “Otsugare-chan” instead of “Otogari”, which is Adonis’ surname. (Kaoru really has no interest in remembering guys’ names, even if they were in the same unit as him =w=“) Kaoru had actually accompanied “me” here, explaining that he’s here as “my” bodyguard since he could not let a girl come here by herself. (I wonder why though =w=“)

(Haha, I guess Kaoru means that it would be dangerous for “me” to come here by “myself”, but Souma dissed that Kaoru was the most dangerous and demanded that he gets away from “me” XD)

Knowing that “I” was here to look for him, Adonis guessed whether that had to do with Mitsuru, since he had just heard the broadcast looking for him a moment ago. Even though Mitsuru was in the same club as him, Adonis apologised and said that he had not seen Mitsuru today as there’s no club activities for today. This was also why he was able to take out time to accompany Souma in running just now.

Even though Souma knew that "I" was looking for Mitsuru because "I" was worried about him, he felt that this shouldn't be the time for "me" to leisurely walking around looking for people, since he had heard from Keito that "I've" been entrusted the task of planning and operating the next live event. Hearing that "I'll" be planning the next live event, Adonis remarked that it was a "producer-like" job and hope that "I'll" rely on him for anything that requires strength. Kaoru also asked "me" to approach him (this big brother~?) if "I" need any assistance, telling "me" that he would teach "me" anything. (I'll be wary of what Kaoru teaches though... =w=")

Souma commented that it would need a few days to prepare for the live event, and that it would also be troublesome to handle the paperwork, but since he had been helping Keito at the student council frequently, he understood quite well how to proceed with the paperwork and thus told "me" that he would help "me" if "I" have anything "I" do not understand about the procedure. Adonis also offered to look for Mitsuru since he had some idea about some of Mitsuru's favourite places, and assured "me" that we would definitely be able to find him.

However, it started to rain suddenly even though it was very sunny awhile ago. Saying that their body would get a cold if they continued to stay outdoors, Souma suggested everyone get indoors. Kaoru remarked that the weather was unpredictable these days and felt pity for the Ra*bits members on the balcony since they have to take them now even though they've just hung them up awhile ago. He hoped that the weather would clear up during the Tanabata Festival, but he felt that the possibility of that happening was very slim, adding on that he had hoped to have a date and look at the milky way together. Adonis doesn't know what Tanabata is and approached to ask Souma about it, to which Souma explained that it was one of the festivals to be celebrated in the year, where people would decorate the bamboo shoots by writing down their wishes on the tanzaku and hang them up on the bamboo, even though there may be even more ancient ceremonies being held elsewhere. Kaoru helped to add on that on this day, Orihime and Hikoboshi would have a date on the milky way since it was only this day every year they could meet each other. (Souma doesn't like Kaoru explained it though, saying that it sounds wrong, while Kaoru felt that Souma was a person who doesn't live in the modern times. I do agree that saying that Orihime and Hikoboshi having a date on the milky way is abit... =w=")

Sunny But Rainy / 晴れのち雨: Chapter 3 - 4

Over at the student council room, Keito was confronting Eichi, demanding what he is up to, but Eichi just smiled and said that he would be glad to listen to his lecture after he was done with this paperwork. Keito snatched the papers over from Eichi, telling him that he would do it instead, and asked him not to force himself too much as he's still sick. Eichi was glad to be scolded by Keito, since that would mean that Keito was worried about him, and assured that he's not that weak to be tired just by doing paperwork. He knew that what Keito had wanted to confront him about was about letting "me" to take over in the planning and operating of the next event, to which Keito said that the student council could still handle it even if they're busy, since this was just "as per normal" for them.

Even though "I'm" a producer, Keito felt that "I" was still a newbie, and rather than helping and supporting "me" if anything were to happen, Keito felt that it would be better if the student council took over the planning and operation of the event instead. And since "I" was Trickstar's comrades, who had defeated the student council, Keito felt that "I" was their enemy. Eichi assured him that "I" do not belong to any units and had also helped to take care of Fine and Akatsuki before, and thus considered everyone's "producer". Since "I'm" currently the only producer in the school, Eichi felt that letting "me" to grow and unleash "my" potential would be useful for all of them as idols. He was very interested to see what "I" can come up with in the future, and said that this would be his investment in "me". (How come "I" have a bad feeling when Eichi said this... O.o)

Keito was actually relieved that "I'll" be able taking over the planning and operating of dreamfes, since it would help to lessen the load of the student council. But he was also worried that this might be the start of the student council's power to be falling apart, since all the past events were all planned and operated by the student council and was also a signal of their power. Eichi told Keito that the crack of their power had already started, since it started when they've been defeated at DDD. He thought that this might probably be the time to change the role of power since now there's members of the public (probably referring to Trickstar and the others) fighting against them as the student council. Eichi concluded that he had wanted to enjoy this chaotic period of time, but not as the "emperor", but as a fellow student in Yumenosaki Gakuen.

Eichi knew that it was an important task to plan and operate a dreamfes, and probably wasn't something "I" could do all by myself at this point in time. Therefore, the student council, teachers, and everyone who likes "me" very much would be giving in their all to help "me". Keito had felt that rather than starting with an S1 event straight away, an A1 event might be more suitable for "me" from the start, or even a B1 would be better since it would not affect "me" even if it ends up being a failure. Eichi smiled and told Keito that a B1 level would not be approved by the student council and since an A1 event would be one that would normally have newbies in it, Eichi felt that "my" value would not be known by most of the students if "I" participated in there. Therefore, the best option would be an S1 event. He smiled and remarked that it would be a huge responsibility to make this event a success, since if it fails, "my" ratings and value would fall, and Keito realised that Eichi's real motive was actually that, saying that this was actually a trap he had laid out for "me". Eichi assured him that this was not the case since he had not thought of "me" as an enemy, and in fact really "loves" "me". (Yeah... right... =w=") He would feel troubled if "I" had fallen, but he would still push "me" to "my" limits, and thus why he had given "me" such a difficult task of organising an S1 event, telling Keito that they would watch over "me" together and see "me" absorb as much experience as possible.

(Haha at Eichi remarking he seems like an evil queen bullying the princess, but corrected that he was not a "Queen" but an "Emperor" instead.)

Eichi said that he would be looking forward to the future, since "I've" assisted Trickstar to achieve victory at DDD, Eichi knew that "I" worthy enough to be of match against them, and wanted "me" to accompany him to "play along" before he gets bored. Keito could only sighed and remarked that Eichi was indeed a dangerous person who can be destructive, and said that even though Eichi could find joy in doing that, Keito himself felt troubled having to accompany him along. Eichi continued on that since "I'm" in the second year and they're in the third year, they would be the ones who would leave the school first and get onto their dream stage faster than the rest, and thus hoped to have a chance to be surprised before that happens. Keito sensed that Eichi's words seems to reveal that he doesn't have enough fun yet and warned him not to stay back for a year at school, since it might be dangerous for him not to have enough attendance rate since he had been going in and out of the hospital. Eichi smiled and assured Keito not to worry, telling him that unlike his "friend", he won't be staying back for a year since it would be embarrassing if that happens. Keito knew that Eichi was referring to Rei and said that they're just childhood "friends" who knew each other from a long time ago, and remarked that it seems like Rei would be graduating this upcoming year just like them.

Suddenly, Souma barged into the room, yelling that he had brought “me” here, and had also begged Keito together with “me”, hoping that Keito would teach “me” on how to plan and organise a dreamfes. Seeing that “I” now was determined to take up this role, Keito warned “me” that there would no return afterwards, and asked “me” to take a seat instead since he and Eichi had already expected that “I” would be here. (Eichi is just smiling here and remarked that Keito has always been good at taking care of people since a long time ago~ ^^)

(Additional note that Souma and “me” actually got caught in a drizzle when we were on the way here, and “I’ve” helped to dry his hair with “my” handkerchief. It’s rare to see such a heartwarming moment between “me” and Souma +W+)

After sitting down to discuss, Eichi and Keito get to know that “I’ve” wanted to use the theme “Tanabata” for the next dreamfes. Eichi smiled and remarked that it’s very suitable since Tanabata would be coming soon, while Keito said that there might be some reference on the dreamfes in the past which are “Tanabata” theme that he could search for, since rather than thinking up of everything from scratch, he felt that it’s easier and faster to reference from past materials and make amendments from there. Eichi hoped that the dreamfes would be one that’s extravagant and beautiful like the milky way, with the clouds being blown away by then and the idols shining like little stars~

Wish Upon The Star / 星に願いを: Chapter 1

A few days later, “I” was called to the dojo by Kuro, and he volunteered to help with creating the outfits for the Tanabata Festival that was organised by “me”. He had already made the outfits based on the design drafts, but felt that it would be better if “I” look at the outfits personally, even if “I’ve” gave “my” okay on his design. Kuro had made the outfits really bright since the weather might be bad on that day, and the event would be held at night, so the audience would be able to see the idols better this way. (He had also made the clothes waterproof, so there won’t be any problems even if they get wet ^^;)

As there would be multiple units performing on that event, Kuro had felt that the audience would find it hard to differentiate the units if they were all the same type of outfits, and had wanted to create two different style of outfits - based on “Hikoboshi” and “Orihime”. He smiled and remarked that the “Orihime” type of outfits would be suitable for Ra*bits, who were going for the cute style. As Kuro isn’t good at designing clothes in cute style, he was thankful that “I’ve” came to help him to design the clothes, and told “me” that everyone was looking forward to this event, including him.

Kuro told “me” that “I” could always rely on him to make more outfits, and said that rather than “me” thanking him for making them, he felt thankful for being relied on to make them instead. (Aww~ This CG of Kuro blushing while saying that is adorable ^////^) He felt inspired while making clothes, saying that ideas just keeping coming up in his brain and he can’t stop them.

Suddenly, Kuro noticed that “I” had a dark expression and asked “me” whether “I’m” worried whether the event would be a success, or perhaps “I” was tired from running around all day preparing for the event. He patted “my” head”, comforting “me” that it would be alright and said that he knew that it would be hard but things would be easier in the future when “I” organised similar events again, and that if “I” really felt terrible emotionally, he would always be there for “me”. (Wow... such manly words from Kuro O////O)

In the meantime, “I’ve” already finished with “my” outfit design, and Kuro asked to take a look, promising “me” that he won’t laugh when he noticed that “I” felt shy about showing him “my” design. He remarked that the design was adorable and that he would definitely not be able to think up of such a design. In fact, Kuro felt that the design was too girly that he wondered whether the guys would want to wear this outfit (but he knew that his sister would definitely be glad to wear this ^^;), but decided that he shall try making an outfit based on this design first. Kuro told “me” that he would call for “me” again when he had finished making this outfit, and asked “me” to bring someone from Ra*bits to come along to try it on, since Kuro felt that they would be very suitable.

(I like this part of the conversation where “I” could actually helped to try on the outfit, but Kuro felt that the body size and body frame of a male and female would be different. Also he felt that he was too large to fit into the outfit and knew that he’s not suitable in adorable outfits. ^^; Now I suddenly want to see Kuro in a cute outfit OWO”)

Suddenly, Kuro noticed that it was noisy outside the dojo, and wondered whether it was Tetora who had came back from his jogging. (I felt sad for Tetora when Kuro said that he knew that Tetora was clumsy, and thus asked him to stay away when Kuro is making clothes Orz) It was actually Tomoya and Mitsuru, and they’ve even ran into the dojo without greetings nor taking off their shoes, which pissed Kuro off as he thought of them being very impolite.

(No Mitsuru, you’re not a superstar yet and Tomoya is not chasing after you because of your overflowing charisma ^^;)

Tomoya immediately apologised and blamed Mitsuru for causing both of them being reprimanded by Kuro, but Mitsuru rebutted that he had run away because Tomoya had chased after him. Tomoya noticed that “I” was here and informed “me” that Nazuna was looking for “me”, as he had wanted to discuss the sound system and what songs to be used for the Tanabata Festival. Kuro urged “me” to go ahead as he would focus on making the outfits instead. While Mitsuru was planning to run away from Tomoya, he got caught by Kuro instead, who reprimanded him once again not to run in the dojo, and also told him that if he’s a man, he shouldn’t be running away. (It’s cute that Mitsuru just lost all his strength to escape when Kuro held him down by his neck and made him unable to move ^^;)

Tomoya sighed and told Mitsuru that everyone was actually worried for him since they’ve all noticed that Mitsuru was behaving weirdly recently. But Mitsuru just shook his head and said that this matter had nothing to do with Tomoya and asked them to let him go instead. Tomoya knew that he can’t just let the matter rest even though Mitsuru affirmed that this was his own problem since he had seen them as friends and comrades in Ra*bits together. He wished that Mitsuru would rely on them when he’s troubled, even though Tomoya knew that they might not be able to help him much other than lending him a listening ear. He suddenly felt impressed that “I” was so relied on by the others and was also tasked with such important jobs, wondering that rather than people relying on “me” because “I’m” a producer, it’s more like “I’m” being well-liked by everybody. Even though Tomoya had thought that “I” was normal just like him when he first met “me” in April, he realised that “I’ve” become an impressive person in just a few months, and wondered how am “I” different from him. He was envious of “me” and even respects “me” more than before.

But... what’s important for Tomoya now was to solve the problem that’s in front of him, which is the matter of Mitsuru’s trouble.

Wish Upon The Star / 星に願いを: Chapter 2

In the evening, Kuro helped to carry Mitsuru on the piggyback while walking back with us, which Mitsuru was glad about, saying that he could see far away being so high up. Tomoya apologised and thanked Kuro for helping to grab hold of Mitsuru and even carrying him to their destination, to which Kuro replied that it was nothing, and he was coming along since he was being called by Keito to help out with some tasks that require his strength. As Kuro had been sitting and sewing the entire day, he felt that this was a good chance for him to exercise and to change his mood a little.

(Yes Mitsuru, even though Kuro looks scary, he’s actually a very kind-hearted person~ Mitsuru noticed that Kuro was careful not to walk in a wobbly pace so that Mitsuru would not shake and fall.)

Kuro sighed and told Mitsuru that he’s really behaving just like a child even though he’s already a high school student, even though he felt that it was a good thing to be cuddled to by him. Tomoya smiled and remarked that it seems like they’re a family, with Kuro being the father and “me” being the mother. Kuro felt that he was old being called as a father, and also thought that this would be troubling for “me”, since he felt that “I” would hate to be called as husband and wife with him. Kuro felt weird that the Ra*bits were not afraid of him since Kuro was part of Akatsuki, which had defeated them terribly in the dreamfes in the past, and had even thought that it was normal if they’re mad at him because of that.

Tomoya remembered such an incident had did happened before even though he had forgotten about it till now. At that time, the audience had all returned after watching Akatsuki’s performance (please refer to the main story), and no one had even cared about Ra*bits even though they’ve given their all in dancing and singing. Hajime had cried terribly at that time, and Tomoya had felt regret, but because of that incident, Ra*bits had vowed to work even harder to fulfill their dreams, and thus even Tomoya felt that they should thank Kuro, he doesn’t want to (since it’s true that Akatsuki was mean to them back then), and asked Kuro not to mind anymore. Mitsuru joined in too and said that rather than they should not be stalling in their position and should move forward instead, and warned Kuro that Ra*bits had been growing well ever since then. Kuro smiled and said that it would be good if they could have a challenge against each other in the future.

Keito was confused when he saw Kuro carrying Mitsuru on his back when we’ve arrived at the event venue that was still in the middle of constructing. Kuro bided goodbye to us, informing us that he had been called over to help Keito in the stage construction. Tomoya asked Mitsuru to get off from Kuro and to stop escaping from us since even Tomoya found it troublesome to have to capture Mitsuru again. Mitsuru felt disappointed not getting anymore piggyback and requested “me” to carry him instead, jumping off from Kuro’s back which ended up giving Tomoya a shock. Tomoya said that “I” won’t be able to give Mitsuru a piggyback since “I’m” a girl after all, and lectured Mitsuru not to fly onto “me” as that might hurt “my” neck. Even though “I” assured Tomoya that “I’ll” be alright, Tomoya worried that “I’m” pushing “myself” trying to carry Mitsuru, and offered to carry Mitsuru on his back instead, saying that he’s a guy after all and is stronger than “me”. (Tomoya may be trying to show off his manliness here yet Mitsuru is just cheering him on while telling him not to shake too much XD)

As we were about to “me”, Keito called “me” and requested “me” to check up on the stage since “I’m” here and they’ve completed the stage earlier than expected. (Though from the background it doesn’t look completed though =w=“) Mitsuru complimented that it looks cool since it has a sci-fi look to it, while Keito was worried about the weather, even though “I’ve” already designed half of the stage to have a shelter in case it did rain on the event day itself. He also planned for the audience seats to have tents over them, but their first priority now was to finish the stage and make sure it’s alright, since it would be dangerous if the idols slipped and fall because of the rain making the floor slippery.

Kuro noticed that Keito was helping to paint the stage, and knowing that he’s quite artistic as he could draw very well as well, Kuro suggested him to take up sewing, so that he can make clothes together with him. But Keito simply shook his head and replied that he has no interest to join Kuro together in his hobby. Initially Keito had planned to get a 3rd party organizer to set up the stage, but “I” wanted the students to set up the stage by themselves, so Keito really welcome the additional help from Kuro, and was glad that they get to lower their expenses in preparing for the event. Kuro smiled when he realised that “I” had felt that one should build up their own stage, and said that this really allows one to feel immerse in participating in a dreamfes, adding on that this would a great experience for him to build everything up from scratch. (Kind of cute that Keito added on that it’s not like it’s not fun to draw penguins XD He sounds like a tsundere here XD)

Even Kuro noticed that Keito seems livelier than ever preparing for the event, though he worried whether it’s alright that Akatsuki did not practise in dancing and singing. Keito replied that there’s no need or in his case, they did not have the additional time and effort to be practising, as there’s alot of matters he had to attend to in preparing for the event even though he had thought that his job would get easier when he left the task of planning and organising the event to “me”. (So... did I just make Keito’s work even harder =w=“)

Suddenly, Souma who had been helping from earlier on appeared and asked Keito what he should do now that he had finished cutting the wood. Keito answered that Kuro and Souma could both try to build the stage up with the wood, while Kuro suggested them to decide what they should perform at the event now that all the members of Akatsuki were here. Keito remembered that actually, they had no decide whether they would be performing at the Tanabata Festival, to which Kuro said firmly that of course, they would perform since they’ve busy preparing the stage and outfits for this event. Souma agreed with Kuro, saying that because this event was organised by “me”, alot of units have gathered and would be performing at the event, including Trickstar, UNDEAD and even Knights who usually don’t meddle in such additional matters. Since so many powerful units had become active at this time, Souma felt that it would be too late if they do not perform and make their stand on stage.

Knowing that the rest of the members’ desire to perform, Keito felt that it would be good if they joined in at the event too, just to prove to the others that the school council’s unit was still very powerful. Souma started to get excited, saying that Tanabata really suits Akatsuki since it’s related to ancient arts and legends. He suggested to research about the customs and performance about Tanabata, since his home has a library dedicated to such materials. Kuro smiled and said that he would be looking forward to it, and hoped that the weather would be fine on that day, even wanting to write a tanzaku wishing for that.

Wish Upon The Star / 星に願いを: Chapter 3 - 4

In the meantime, Nazuna and Hajime were practising in the practice room, with Nazuna teaching Hajime how to dance but the dance steps were too difficult for Hajime as he tripped and fell onto the floor. He apologised for being clumsy, but Nazuna encouraged him, telling Hajime that he was dancing way better as compared to the past, and said that Hajime was really bad at the dancing when they’ve met each other initially. Hajime apologised for causing such trouble as he’s bad at dancing even though he’s good at singing, but he hoped that with practices, he could become someone who could do anything he wants to easily. Nazuna smiled and told Hajime that he would support him since he knew that Hajime was someone who would work hard. (Aww~ Look at the Ra*bits love here ^////^)

Hajime told Nazuna that he really respects him very much since Nazuna was good at both singing and dancing, and was really like a rabbit. He mimicked the actions of a rabbit, which Nazuna remarked that it was cute and even wanted to use the action in their interactions with the audience. Even though Ra*bits had already finished their new song to be used in the Tanabata Festival, they also prepared other performances and songs to be performed at the event.

Hajime remarked that he had focused on doing part-time jobs at the school too much to the point that he had almost forgot the fact that he was an idol too, and since it’s been a long time they're performing live, Hajime was really excited and wanted to do a good job at it. However, he doesn’t understand why they had to prepare different type of performances, as he felt that it would be bad if they had to remember alot of things and they might end up forgetting some of them when performing. Hajime had thought that the Tanabata Festival this time was like a tournament just like the DDD, and wondered whether they would end up retiring early from the stage just like that time. Nazuna remarked that actually they were lucky to remain until the latter stage during DDD, and told Hajime that they should have more confidence in themselves and should aim for a victory instead rather than thinking about whether they would lose. Hajime apologised and confessed that he too wished that they could perform a bit longer on stage.

Nazuna assured Hajime that this Tanabata Festival was organised by “me” and would be different than the usual dreamfes. Even though there would only be one stage, there can be two units performing on stage at the same time, and they would have a live battle with each other. The winner gets to stay on stage and continues to perform, while the losing unit will have to get off the stage. So as long as they win, they would be able to continue to perform. However, the losing unit still gets to get onto the stage again after a period of time. “I” had felt that it would be too cruel if the losing unit doesn’t get to perform anymore after they had lost, so this was a dreamfes that was really “kind and gentle” to the idols thought by “me”.

Nazuna had felt that actually this type of dreamfes was also considered cruel to the winners, since they had to keep performing as long as they keep winning. They would lose their strength the longer they performed, and the audience would get sick of their performance if they keep singing and dancing the same song, therefore this was why Nazuna had wanted Ra*bits to practise and perform a variety of performance for the event.

As Ra*bits was just created recently, they didn’t have many songs to perform, and thus, in order to grab the attention of the audience, they would need to try to perform different types of performances. Nazuna smiled and told Hajime that since “I’ve” been working very hard to organise the Tanabata Festival to make it a success, they as idols should give in their all for the event too as repayment for “me”. He wondered where Mitsuru had been since Tomoya had gone to look for him and they were late for the practice, sighing and thinking whether Mitsuru had forgotten that they had practice lessons over at the dance room.

Even Hajime started to worry for Mitsuru, since Mitsuru had been running away recently and hasn’t been participating in practices much... (That indeed sounds bad and worrying D:) He felt that Mitsuru was someone who was very talented and not weak like them, and wondered whether Mitsuru had disliked being their comrades in this small and weak unit. Nazuna frowned and told Hajime that he should not say that since they’re not weak and they would be improving and going higher. As much as Mitsuru seems like someone who doesn’t think much, Nazuna knew that he had been thinking about something recently, and thus wanted Tomoya to catch him and bring him here, so that everyone could come clean with each other, adding on that they’re comrades who’s connected by heart.

While they were waiting for the remaining two members, Nazuna asked Hajime to take a break and practice fanservice like signing and shaking hands instead, since it would be better to continue their practice in singing and dancing when everyone is here. Hajime was surprised that they had to practise fanservice, even though he had noticed that they had been gaining fans gradually recently. Nazuna informed Hajime that there seems to be a special rule for this Tanabata Festival, where the audience could write down their wishes on the Tanzaku, and unlike usual dreamfes which the number of glowsticks would determined the points of each unit, the number of Tanzaku would be calculated instead. The audience will still continue to wave their glowsticks during the performance of the unit they like together with the Tanzaku, and the idols would help to fulfill the wishes written on the Tanzaku. Even though the idols won’t be able to fulfill all of the wishes on the Tanzaku, especially those that had wishes that are not doable by them, the winning unit of the live battle will get a chance to select one of the lucky audience to fulfill their wish on the Tanzaku, which can be simple fanservice acts like shaking hands, calling their names, or giving them a signature. This was why Nazuna had wanted them to practice fanservice.

Hajime thought that this was a great idea and remarked that “I” really understand the audience’s point of view very well since just a few months ago, “I” was a normal person just like them too. He smiled as he thought that the audience would be glad to have their wishes granted by the idols, and he wanted to grant lots of wishes of on that day. But in order to do that, they would have to win the live battle, and to win, they would have to perform a great performance.

Finally, Tomoya was back, and he had brought Mitsuru together with him. Mitsuru was sad about being unable to escape anymore, with both Tomoya and “me” grabbing him by his arm on his left and right. Nazuna told Mitsuru that they had noticed that he seems to be feeling ennui recently, and wanted him to talk to them about his feelings since everyone was worried about him. He felt that Mitsuru doesn’t suits being all moody and sad, and wanted him to smile brightly again. Mitsuru finally decided to reveal his troubles, and explained that he didn’t want to trouble anyone in Ra*bits about it initially since he had felt that his troubles had nothing to do with them, and he didn’t want to pull them back when the unit was just starting to do so well to becoming a great unit.

Tomoya told Mitsuru that he shouldn’t be so polite and reserved when he’s just a mere “Mitsuru” (hahaha XD) when usually he was always going about on his own pace and doesn’t reflect about causing troubles to others (Tomoya... you’re just taking this chance to diss Mitsuru right? =w=“) Mitsuru rebutted that this was the first time he had felt this way and admitted that he felt lost and didn’t know what he should do. Nazuna patted Mitsuru on the head and told Tomoya not to blame Mitsuru too much and towards Mitsuru, Nazuna felt that he’s being too reserved from them, since they’re all together in this and were still the “egg” of the idols now, so all the more they should stick together and support one another to breed themselves into great idols. Even though Nazuna doesn’t have any idea about what Mitsuru was troubling about, he assured him that everything would be alright, and that “Big Brother” (Ni-chan~) would protect him from anything. (I’m so touched, Ni-chan~ T////T)

Mitsuru was touched and started crying out loud, apologising to everyone. He confessed that he had thought wrong, and wanted to be with Ra*bits since everyone was warm and kind to him, and he really likes everyone~ (Aww~ T////T) Everyone was shocked and wondered what’s going on, with Hajime guessing that Mitsuru might be transferring elsewhere from his words and getting worried on what they should do. Realising that “I” seems to know what was going on with Mitsuru, Nazuna requested “me” to explain since Mitsuru was someone who was bad at explaining.

This was then the guys get to know that because Mitsuru had gotten a great time record at the recent track and field tournament and he was being advised by a professional that he should focus on being a professional at running rather than being an idol instead since he hasn’t been performing well as one. But being an Olympic runner isn’t Mitsuru’s dream, even though he was glad to be praised and getting a record for his running. He confessed that he still wants to be an idol and wanted to perform and do idol activities together with everyone in Ra*bits. He knew that no matter how fast he could run, he’s unable to catch up to a car, but if he became an idol and sing, his singing could be spread around the world in just an instant in the speed of light. This was why he had wanted to become an idol and enrolled into Yumenosaki Gakuen, even though he personally enjoys running too.

Mitsuru was confused on what he should do since he’s bad at thinking. He was feeling depressed because of this matter and had wanted to shake away this feeling by running around. (After knowing about Mitsuru’s feelings, I just want to hug and pat him, aww~ It’s been hard on you Mitsuru~)

Tomoya realised that this was quite a troubling matter faced by someone who was not “normal” since Mitsuru was someone who was very talented. He knew that this matter concerns Mitsuru’s life and he shouldn’t be saying anything about it, but Tomoya can’t help but express envy to Mitsuru’s trouble, since he’s given different paths he could choose in life, and Tomoya knew that Mitsuru would definitely do well in whichever path he chose in the end.

However, Mitsuru was still glum and told Tomoya that he would be glad if Tomoya could replace him in this position. Even though he felt Tomoya was being kind of mean in his words, Mitsuru knew that he was right since this was Mitsuru’s life and only he could the only one to choose which path he would want to walk on in his life. He had thought that he could only run in his life, but now that he sees that he still have the Ra*bits members by his side so he could still choose to stay with them. Nazuna sighed and told Mitsuru that this matter isn’t something that he would get a decision easily even if he was anxious about it, so it’s best if he thought through it slowly, since they’re all still in their first year now after all, and they could afford the moratorium in their decisions. If Mitsuru was still unclear in which path he should choose later on in his life, Nazuna wished that he would rely on them, and told “me” too that “I” could rely on them too and “I’m” not alone.

Nazuna wished that Mitsuru would not run away from them again like he’s abandoning them and everything, and Hajime added on that even if they might walk on different paths in the future, they’re still together now. He remarked that Hikoboshi and Orihime were still in love even if they could see each other once a year and said that Ra*bits have the same bond as them too.

Epilogue

Finally, it was the day of the Tanabata Festival, and Wataru was welcoming the audience on his balloon flying above the event venue. Keito noticed that and wondered what Wataru was doing, since he was talking a loud voice and thought that Wataru’s presence had made the scenery weird when the sky was a beautiful with fine weather and a milky way. He felt that Wataru was a disgrace to the school and even wanted someone to bring him his bow and arrow so that he could shoot Wataru down XD

(Yes, I guess that balloon is definitely Wataru’s personal belonging~)

Souma informed Keito that Wataru was scattering a large amount of Tanzaku from his balloon, and thought that rather than flying over the venue for no purposes, Wataru was helping to give out the Tanzaku required for the event. However, Keito felt that there was still no need for the balloon to be flying in the sky since they could easily give out the Tanzaku by hand instead, and wondered why Eichi had wanted Wataru by his side since just looking at Wataru was enough to give Keito a headache. (Keito is really bad at dealing with Wataru, these two just don’t get along that well together huh ^^;)

Kuro was worried about Keito if he’s already getting a headache now, as they have a long night ahead of them as if they kept winning at the Tanabata Festival, they would have to keep performing. Keito was confident as he said that they won’t be giving up their spot on stage to others and would defeat any challengers that comes their way with their performance, showing them how is it like being a “real” idol and how a “real” live should look like.

Nazuna overheard him and remarked that he’s being too overconfident and reminded him that Akatsuki aren’t the only ones who were idols in this school and thought it would be interesting to see alot of units participating in this event. “I” had planned this event in a way that everyone would get excited about it and hoped that the performance stages would make the audience smile. Keito was surprised that Ra*bits would be the one who would challenge against them, while Nazuna told Keito that they won’t be letting them win that easily since they’re different from how they were before and were improving everyday, adding on that they would be returning the shame that they had felt in their last live battle back to Akatsuki. However, Keito smirked instead and rebutted that he doesn’t even remember that Akatsuki had battled against Ra*bits in the past, though he would be looking forward to Nazuna’s performance. (I can feel the heat between these two OWO”)

Tomoya and Hajime were watching their interaction from afar and realised that Keito actually has viewed Nazuna quite highly, to which Hajime added that Nazuna was someone who made it to his third year when most of the students had lost their dreams in this school at that period of time. He guessed that compared to them, Nazuna had probably used all of time to accumulate lots of experience in order to achieve the praises and skills he had now, and felt that it was an honour to be found by Nazuna and raised well by him, as he’s dedicating his time to take care of them. Therefore, Hajime felt that they need to work hard in order not to pull Nazuna behind with them, so as to pay their gratitude to him.

As they were the first to go on stage, Hajime started to get nervous since the audience would be putting all of their attention on them. He wondered if everything would be alright even though they’ve practiced alot, and added that his body was trembling with nervousness. Tomoya told Hajime to get a hold of him since they’re already on stage and the audience could see them clearly. What they could only do now was to do their best.

Wataru had heard Tomoya on stage and agreed with what he had said, praising that he had grown well and that he would continue to look over him lovingly. However, Tomoya told Wataru that he’s noisy and a hentai mask, and even requested him not to talk to him since he didn’t want anyone to know that Wataru was his acquaintances. (Ouch D:)

Mitsuru urged them to stop talking and start with the performance since the audience might get bored with waiting, and Mitsuru himself can’t wait to get started. Even though he knew that Akatsuki was a unit more powerful than them and was higher than them in terms of position, Mitsuru would continue to challenge against them even after a hundred rounds, even if they may not be able to win against them initially.

Kuro remarked that the Ra*bits members were really energetic and that was a good thing for them. He had not expected that he would be challenging them again so soon, though he definitely won’t go easy on them this time either.

Keito had felt that “I” had did a good job in organising the event this time, and would rely on “me” again for future events. But first, he would repay his gratitude to “me” by performing well at the Tanabata Festival. The story ended with Souma telling his comrades in Akatsuki to dance together with his rivals - Ra*bits~

And that’s it for this story~! As a Ra*bits fans I really enjoyed it since everyone had a bit of their limelight in the story, though I wished Tomoya had a bit more parts in it since he’s a 5* card after all in this event. (But I know the main character was Mitsuru after all~)

Akatsuki’s role in this story was lesser than Ra*bits, but it’s quite interesting to see their interactions with Ra*bits since I hardly read stories that had two units interact with each other~

Now for the event results~ Hitting 2M points is really my limit in revival events now ><”

I managed to get everyone’s card except Souma. Getting cards from ranking rewards is really difficult ><” But overall, I’m glad to get every one of Ra*bits’ cards~! +W+ How I wish Ensemble Stars have events like this where we can get more than 4 4*/5* cards again~ XDD

Nazuna’s and Hajime’s bloomed cards are so adorable~! Too bad those didn’t have full CGs in the event stories T////T