#fish discourse? god i hope not

[inkblot-inc]

"Go Fish"

Summary: We get to see a bit of what the Council of Nine got to discussing while our main trio was getting acquainted (and re-acquainted) with the living island. Among other things anyways...

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Mutant!TigerShark!Reader

[AU Masterlist] Arc 2: [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] This is Part 4

Warning(s): Starting with a bit of human discriminaiton in the beginning, and then there's a touch of mutant discrimination/racism at the end...also language cuz of course there is-

Note(s): There's a lot more dialogue than i thought in this chapter- There’s even a whole scene of dialogue spoken between Enokan people, and while initially I was going to be difficult and use code for the whole exchange, I decided to keep it in regular text. I figure from the perspective of the scene, everyone knows and is speaking the Enokan language, whereas for other scenes, there were people present that don’t speak or understand the language. God I hope that makes sense. That really just means that you have a brief break.

Word Count: Just scraping by 3k

*squints* I give NO ONE permission to repost or translate my work. Make your own shit!

While Sienna met with the Council of Nine, they came to the decision that the two humans were to be left alone for now. Not only because of their apparent connection to one of their people, that being Y/n, but Enoka herself hasn’t shown herself hostile toward them.

They could have been done away with as soon as they set foot on her soil if She wanted to, as history has proved before.

Of course there was confusion and disagreement among most of the council members, as humans have been nothing but trouble for them. But at the end of the day, the Council of Nine acts as Enoka’s mouthpiece, and to deliberately go against Her would be sacrilege.

-----

One of the oldest members in the Council of Nine, Gideon, was not as easily appeased at the “stagnant” solution, and decided to speak up. “But we were ALL there at LumeCrest,” A few of the council member’s eyes went downward, “Even She couldn’t prevent things from going tits up! We must be proactive in getting rid of all of our potential threats.”

“And we are, that’s why we’re discussing this here and now. Enoka sees all that happens on this island. If she believes that the outlanders are safe enough to be here, then that’s all there is to it. She has yet to change her mind, but if she does, we will be the first to know and act.” Leander, the member of the council chosen to be impartial while presiding over this discourse, definitely had his exercise in patience. 

Gideon would not let up, “But can She read hearts? She speaks to the mind, but can she foresee what these strangers will do? It would serve us well to be vigilant and get rid of the root of the problem before it decides to grow. And who’s to say that these humans couldn’t have poisoned one of our own against us and had them lead the two here?”

Sienna set her glass of water down firmly, her eyes narrowed and fixed on the table in front of her. “Mind your tongue. That’s my blood you’re smearing, you cretin.” She took another sip of water to cool her head. This greybeard would not be getting a rise out of her to try and discredit Leander’s point with bias.

The older man’s indignation was clear as he banged his staff on the polished flooring. “By Sthenya’s Wings!-”

Sienna didn’t even turn her head to look at the white haired man, “Don’t you dare attach my mother’s name to your tantrum, Gideon. I could care less that you’re my elder. Keep my family’s name out of your mouth. They have nothing to do with our conference,”

One of the younger members, Aeris, piped up as she ran her index finger around the top of her own glass, “Hells, Gideon, with your lack of faith in the fucking ground you walk on, it’s a miracle you’ve been on the council this long.”

There was a pregnant pause after Aeris was the only one to chuckle at the ridiculous debate. Leander eventually cleared his throat, “Regardless of our personal feelings, Enoka has spoken. To not heed her words would make us impious figures. If you still find you cannot trust or show confidence in Her judgment, then let someone else take your place” Leander looked between all the council members before releasing a breath to recenter himself. “That’s all that will be said about the matter. Our people will express caution with the outlanders and they will be monitored during their time here,” He nodded his head in Sienna’s direction, “And they will leave Enoka physically and mentally intact,” He stared directly at Gideon who continued to grumble under his breath. “This meeting has come to its conclusion, I trust all of you have your work cut out for you over the next few days. May Enoka hold your hand.” With that, Leander got up from his own seat along with all of the other council members save for one.

---

Despite her overall stoic demeanor, Sienna was overjoyed to have found her youngest sibling.

It doesn’t take her long for her to find you, Natasha and Wanda walking through one of the more secluded Enokan flower fields before joining you.

Realizing that the three of you have only been on the surface level of the living island, Sienna then takes it upon herself to show you all the developments that Enoka has gone through in your *ahem*... time away.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward between the three of you as it hadn’t been that long since your last conversation reached a rather unsatisfying conclusion.

Both Natasha and Wanda didn’t have the time nor were they really eager to explain that neither of them really felt wanted on the island. In an effort to say something, both women took to saying that the timing of going to Enoka’s main vessel was too soon.

-----

“It’s not that we don’t want to visit the…..being that we’re literally standing on, but maybe we do that when we’re more settled.” Wanda placed a placating hand on your shoulder as she could feel your rebuttal brewing.

Natasha looked toward the lighter footsteps she heard in the distance briefly before speaking up in a slightly louder tone. “Maybe sometime after we find where our bags were put.”

Wanda’s eyes widened slightly, “Preferably, yes.”

Your eyebrows still furrowed, you let up on the idea for now, “Alright alright, fine. But I’m gonna make sure that shit happens,” You were still slightly confused at their insistence, but you could partially see their point, maybe easing into it was easier?

You coughed a bit before you reached up to your neck to smack your apparatus a bit. It was then that you heard a slight sloshing sound that shouldn’t be there. “Tash’, can you come look at my bulbs real quick?”

Natasha came closer to see that the domes holding water around your neck were only half full, and only managed to splash against the gills on your neck instead of surrounding them. “It’s emptying.”

The redhead moved to tighten the bulbs or see if the reservoir needed adjusting before Sienna finally approached the three of you. “I trust the three of you have been staying out of trouble,” She raised a brow at the device around your neck with curiosity and a hint of apprehension. “Is everything alright?” I saw that around your neck when we met as well.”

You briefly tapped Natasha’s hands before going to remove  the apparatus yourself, “I’m just fine, my ‘rratus is just fuckin’ up. Probably from when you knocked it off my neck back on the boat.” Your eyes were looking over the breathing device with practiced diligence before sighing, “It looks like it’s an internal issue, and I don’t have my bag with my kit inside to try and fix it.”

“If it’s tools you require to fix your… contraption, then you would certainly find such if we go below,” She looked up at the sky to see the Sun just starting to wane following a darker blue hue. “We should make it by sunset if you’re in a hurry. Follow me,”

---

The four of you walk (it’s a walkable place for sure bud goddamn the three of you are getting your steps in) toward the center of the island that almost resembles a plaza with a gigantic sinkhole in the middle that certainly wasn’t there before in your memory.

Sienna explains that the sinkhole came about as a byproduct of the flood.

If you look over the lip of the sinkhole you can see an encased cross section of the newer underground/underwater parts of Enoka that have been developed over the past ten-plus years.

For mutants whose mutations don’t do well in water, there’s a walkway as well as elevator of sorts down to the lower levels of Enoka.

The four of you decide to take the elevator to the underground layer that’s between the surface and underwater layers of the living island.

Sienna makes it clear that Enoka has rebuilt herself the best She could and is now identified, not only what’s on the surface, but by three residential layers known as: The Survived (surface), The Buried (underground), and The Sunken (underwater)

There are just as many homes and establishments underground as there are on the surface and one could conclude that the same could be said for the underwater portion as well.

The underground is flooded in artificial light in the form of lanterns and poles that hold resemblance to streetlights.

It turns out that over the years, the Natural energon Enoka produces was synthesized to be used in smaller devices put around the subterranean portions of the island.

The natural energon has found many new uses, not only as a form of energy/power, but also helps produce stronger currents of electricity.

Those eclectic currents were then used to jumpstart their private network, allowing one to pluck signals from outside of Enoka.

et voilà: secured access to the internet and media from all over.

-----

Sienna had the four of you walk around the rim of the layer closest to the wall to avoid regular civilians as they had the habit to stare at Natasha and Wanda. The two of them not only felt but probably smelt off to the general population of mutants, and while you'd gotten agitated more than once at the squints and partial glares your partner and close friend received, you took to almost straddling the stone wall to minimize attention.

“Enoka certainly feels bigger than she was before the flood,” You rested your hand on the large stone wall that made up the integrity of The Buried. “Y teb u'yore a 'hll fo a tol torgresn, oto.” There was the smallest pulse underneath your hand that made you chuckle. You turned toward Wanda and Natasha and gestured for them to come closer to the wall. “Here, feel for yourself.”

Natasha didn’t need much convincing, but Wanda was a bit more hesitant. “I’m not stroking a wall, gup.”

Natasha’s hand stayed in one place, but the rough surface was rather warm as opposed to the cooler temperature of normal sediment. “She really is everywhere,”

You nodded at the russian’s remark with a flash of your pointy grin. “Basically,” You then reached for Wanda’s hand before she could protest and continued to goad her until she lightly placed it on the wall. There were a quick few pulses under the brunette’s hand that almost tickled and made her hand flinch.

You chuckled at Wanda's response as you slowly let go of her wrist while she kept it there, “ese, u'yore nief, Wandy.”

Sienna watched the exchange with a far away look in her eye.

~ “Just rest your hand on the tree, grumps. She’s not gonna bite your hand off if you touch her.” A younger Sienna had the adolescent version of you by the wrist to try and place your hand on one of the trees along the shoreline.

Younger you definitely fought a lot harder than Wanda seemed to be, “That’s not what Rudy said! ‘Noka snacks on kids and I don’t wanna get eaten!”

Sienna briefly chuckled before kneeling in front of you, “I told you that you can’t trust anything that that birdbrain says, Y/n. come here, I’ll show you,” She grasped your wrist once again and slowly moved your smaller hand toward the trunk of the tree.

Once it touched the scratchy texture of the tree, your little face scrunched together to brace for the impending chomp on your hand. A chomp that never came even after more than a few seconds. You slowly opened your eyes to see your hand perfectly intact before slightly blushing in embarrassment.

Sienna rested her hand on your shoulder as you focused more on the warm feeling radiating under your hand. “The last thing She wants is to hurt us, Y/n. The most she’ll do is reprimand you, and I’m sure Rudy knows that much well enough” You jumped slightly after feeling a few stronger pulses from the tree trunk under your hand, almost as if She was cosigning Sienna’s words. You laughed at the thought of the Bird boy that always managed to get in trouble or piss someone off.

Sienna took her hand off of your shoulder to ruffle your hair with a smile, “Ese, u'yore nief, Y/nn.” ~

Sienna cleared her throat as she returned back to the present. “The passage to The Sunken is just this way.”

---

The passage down to The Sunken is inside of some form of glass tube that allows the four of you to see out into the ocean,  where people and sea life alike are going about their day.

Aquariums have nothing on this view fr-

You’d gone down far enough that you can even start to see farmers at a few of the brine pools and sea farms by the ocean floor.

The difference in air was something even Natasha and Wanda had begun to notice as you could almost taste the residual salt that still hung in the air at this deep of a level.

-----

The four of you finally reached a space that looked more like a medical building of sorts. Though the expectant smell of sterilizer was replaced with that of pear and lemon.

“Everything that isn’t grown directly by Enoka herself comes out of this building. We’ve even started Sunken Gardens down here so that that our lowest layer has access to plants that were originally only grown on the surface. Our bigger brains do work down here.” She led you into one of the smaller laboratories that had shelves stocked with tools, machines, and naturally made (as well as engineered) chemicals and metals.

You inspected a stack of thinner sheet metal with a smirk, “Well ain’t that somethin. I’ll definitely be able to make hella improvements down here,” You grabbed a few sheets of the white gray metal and a mess of other things and set them on an empty table before you turned to the three women in the room. “This shouldn’t take me too long, but I don’t blame you guys if you aren’t too interested in just watching me.”

Natasha spoke up before the thought could fully register, “Watching you has never bothered me before,” Wanda and Sienna were content to pretend that neither had heard what the redhead said while she found the rubber tile flooring to be more interesting.

Sienna pushed ahead, “I figured you all would want to get to your belongings and where you’ll be staying sooner or later.”

At the mention of their belongings, Wanda perked up and agreed. “I really should,” The brunette gave a longer look toward Natasha before turning to Sienna, “Both Wanda and Jaws can stay here, but if you could show me where we’ll be staying that’d be great.” There were a few things Wanda had to look over in her bags, and maybe call Vision to unwind a bit, but maybe this would also be a small opportunity to have a positive interaction with Sienna.

Sienna, for her part, seemed neutral about the prospect, “We should get going now, since I believe your things were set up on the surface.” The security chief watched Wanda’s eyes widen at the thought of having to walk back up through the two layers before fracking a knowing smirk that looked very similar to your own. “There’s an elevator to The Survived in this building, no need to worry for your arches.”

---

Far outside of Enoka was a deep gray ship that was occupied by a great deal of armed forces in full black suits roaming around. Below the main deck in the cockpit/planning room of the ship was a familiar brown haired man standing over the screen in the center console showing a map with a small blip on it that was no longer moving. It hadn’t moved for about five hours now. The Brown haired man looked to his left at the woman at the helm steering the ship, “You told us we had to fall back, but how far out are we?” The woman internally sighed before taking her eye off of the waters in front of her. “A little over a week. I told you we would have to take this slow so that they don’t catch on. Stay on the move and circle around so we don’t get caught by their defense and surveillance. We’ve been over this, Graydon. I urge you to find your patience.” Graydon ran a frustrated hand through his hair before taking a breath and calm his rather antsy behavior. He looked back down at the virtual map with the steady blinking light on their target. “I know, Tar’. I just want to do this as soon as possible before the higher ups decide to pull us out of this job.” “Well they’ll know we’re there as soon as we step foot on the goddamn sand, so urgency isn’t really a factor,” Tara looked at Graydon for a second before putting the ship on autopilot and getting up. This isn’t a high level op. There’s only a 75% chance they’ll put us on more if we do this right.” She moved to stand next to Graydon before taking a look at the map to try and see what he was seeing. “What’s so important about this job that you’ve wanted to run it three different times?” “My birth mother was one of these muties. Said she wanted a place just like this for people like her where they could breed mutants and make more of them like rats. She’d go so far for her perfect world that she threw me away… She’s gotta be there, and even if she’s not I want to burn her dream to the fucking ground.”

** footnote: I wanted to use a completely different script for the Enokan language being spoken, but I couldn’t find a way to import it so that it was shown, so instead I made a simple code using typoglycemia (aka just unscramble the letters of each word). To make it so that it didn’t look as clunky, I sometimes replaced (i) with (y). Some words that end with vowels may have an apostrophe that takes the place of the vowel. Apostrophes can also be found at the beginning of words with vowels for fluidity’s sake. I didn’t think swears should be scrambled cuz that just *looks* off to me. The point of these changes is to have this resemble a spoken language more than it is a blatant tactic to confuse you.

Here’s a word unscrambler in case you need it

[confessionsofareindeer]

Not to like totally rant but like let's get this out of the way, Season 3 Heartstopper Spoilers:

They kind of ruined the show a little for me with this sad ace rep., the carnival scene takes out the depth of Tori and Micheal's relationship, it makes it look like they're just dating, it cuts out their queerness and just makes them look like a messy straight couple. They barely had any screen time, which is fair, they're just Charlie's sister and the guy that's always around her, (no one even seems to know Micheal despite them having had class with him in the comics, but whatever, Solitaire erasure it is) I wasn't expecting to see all of Solitaire played out on my laptop for me, but I wanted some sort of complexity around aceness and maybe a reference to its existence. But instead, you're telling me a group of queer teenagers needed a fish analogy to understand aromanticsm? Really? In school I only had to tell the cis boys and the girls who stared at me funny what it meant, not my friend group that is majority LGBTQ. I thought this was supposed to be a dreamscape to actually show me and my friends, not-a-water-everything-down-for-the-straights-and-alloscape, that comes with every other story, this was made by a queer person who is aro/ace so why did we end up like this, why did I bother having hope?

I really respect how the storyline made room for Darcy and Elle had trans and non binary identities and that they were expanded upon in the show, I love it really and I think that it felt like things my friends would actually talk about. We have a slight reference to Darcy having an unlabeled gender but even this feels wrapped up as they come out as non binary, I wish it was just all less clean cut, less perfectly fit so that everything works out, do their's and Tara's sexualities shift to reflect changing Lesbian identity in a more inclusive world? Do they decide to be unlabled or does the idiotic queer discourse not exist for them? Can we have people who don't particularly lean one way or the other, or who reject this modern idea that we should fit into the straight designed trap of conformity for the heads to comprehend something outside their simple world of the nuclear family? I want sexualities nuances to be explained like gender's was. Micheal talks about it, so why is there not a large discussion or plot around it? Why does it end up a somewhat hollow scene?

Maybe my friends and I are weird and philosophical, but we'd spend lunch arguing about this sort of stuff, so I really wish they'd show it, I have the backing of the kids who loved Perks of Being a Wallflower and Catcher and the Rye (don't ask me about that one I haven't actually read it, on principle) that found Solitaire, and all the depressed outsider protaganists a little too relatable for our own good, that maybe Tori and Micheal shouldn't have even kissed in the book because people are only ever going to misinterpret it. So now looking at the show, I guess of course this happened. Tori and Micheals story meant something to me and so yeah, I'm going to be a melodramatic whiner on Tumblr about it.

Listen, I get the show is cringey at times, that it's for teens and their friends and hopefully their families too, it shouldn't be a savior or the end all be all of queer rep, it's silly, they go out and drink milkshakes and sleep in tents outside for birthdays and ignore for the most part the politicization of being a queer teen except for when it's needed for the plot and I so deeply respect that, it shows kids being kids and I thank the queer gods that it isn't the sanitized storytelling of Love, Simon that people have made it out to be. But tell me why we couldn't get this one thing, why the ace and aro teens couldn't get something that talks about allonormativity a topic that needs to be so deeply explained instead of this, and trust me, I love that Issac told Charlie he could go look it up, but he shouldn't have even had to do that, don't make our main character dumb when he's not, he said knew asexual, clearly being aro is the romantic equivalent. All of Issac's character is cool, but it feels almost overdone at this point, with Jame's and the subtle aphobia of his friends who really don't get how he feels, I don't know, maybe it's because I've lived it and most of the ace media I see feels in this same vein, I just expected better from a new character who didn't have an already written plot, they could have done anything with him, and now he's just the token ace.

I don't want people who think their's something wrong with them for being aspec, I like in these shows when people experiment with labels and attraction, but I also just want someone is confidently ace, or that finds out what it means to be aro and finally feels validated for not being interested in people, I want someone to push the boundries of what being aromantic means the way people actually are the ones who don't fit into the little societal boxes, which is what the show is all about, not to even start be wishful and ask for a character that's just aromantic, or just ace, or like Tori is supposed to be ace and and complexly arospec, but still has something going on with Micheal, in a queer way where the people in the relationship fine it, not societal standards. I kind of wanted the show to question more of what a romantic relationship even looks like, because, honestly, I'm sure I even know.

All the Tumblr aspecs are aware of the trenches of the stupidity of the infighting and microlabels that come with understanding and interacting in digital queer space, but I wish we could see some of that, the overwhelming forcefield that's kind of alienating but also tells you you can be anything, I want to see the screenshots of 20 different pride flags with their definitions and names from the MOGAI years on Pinterest or the images section online. We have the Am I Gay Quiz jokes, but show me someone who is too indecisive to fill them out, who get X on the kinsey scale. I want more, I want friendships like Tori and Micheal that lean into something that, yeah looks like dating to straight people, but manages to defy their heteronormative labels, like what's vaguely discussed by Micheal at the table but manages to be outweighed by it being what looks to be blatantly cut out as Charlie and Tori talking on the ferris wheel because Tori doesn't even say 'we're not a straight couple' but just 'we're not a couple', and that's so infuriating.

And you know what, maybe it's cinematic and creative and it'll all work out in the next season, maybe it'll all be thought out and there just wasn't enough time for it in the episode, maybe the glimmer in Issac's eye when Charlie says he doesn't know if they're dating is foreshadowing, but it could just be my naive aspec heart seeing what I want. To me it looks like they decided this was something the audience wouldn't get so they chose to leave it out, I want to believe so they wouldn't ruin it, but probably just to avoid the ultra complex queerness that comes with a disregard for labeling and an abolishionist mentality. Which comes to the point of me begging creators to trust that their audience isn't stupid and that if they are ignorant on this, they can spend 20 seconds looking it up like they had Charlie do (in an unbelievable scenario). They have such a big audience at this point, so can't we use it to teach people this time, things that aren't as easily accessible in information, the stuff that ends up in academic queer theory and pot smokers, the things that confuse people and use the medium to explain it.

I also feel like I can see a future of this show that I won't like that might follow this season, if my understanding is correct. I think we'll end up having some sort of QPR (queer platonic relationship, if you don't understand what this is, this next part may confuse you, basically the committed thing a lot of aspec and poly people find to be a good alternative to typical or traditional romantic relationships that have their own rules defined by the people in them). Originally, I hoped we'd see one with Tori and Micheal because to me that's what they're reminiscent of, I have a feeling we might see this with James and Issac instead, they'll develop a deeper relationship in place of romance, since James was looking for someone to be closer with and already really likes Issac, and Issac needs someone to have more devotion to him, instead of leaving a single person in something that is not parallel to a romance, which would be annoying. Because they're also clearly setting up for Sahar and Imogen to be something, if we were all paying attention, I see through the remaining friends bit. I get it, and yet, god forbid someone be on their own and happy, as we see Issac have a common aspec breakdown of seeing the trauma of heteronormative society fall onto him and have his reality slightly collapse, I want this to work out, and be good, but I'm so scared that they'll fall into a trap of trying to please the straights and the allos like they already are. Yet again we see all the characters in a show the victim of being coupled off at least symbolically, if I'm right.

All this for what, it's television after all, we have real lives, some better than others, but we waste them sitting at computers and TVs to escape just to be drawn back in, because even the fantasy is disappointing, I encourage everyone who just read my rant to think hard about all of this, give me your opinion, but remember this is severely online of a take and that maybe you should go do something not related to Tumblr that makes you happy, read a book or do a craft or something, eat a vegetable and drink water.

Edit: I take back what I said about everyone being in a relationship like every other show, because I really do love the way friendship is one of the focal points of the show and I don't want to ignore that, I'm just worried that they're going to ignore the original plots of some of the characters and there are already so few aro or ace characters in media

I saw the thing about Alice Oseman saying she was saving Tori's ace arc for next season, a little while after I wrote this, I sort of think that makes sense, even if it's still disappointing and if you hadn't seen that you'd be thinking the same thing as me, remember this was an incredibly reactionary rant that I wrote an hour after watching the show, anyway, I think a lot of my points still stand, I think there's a lot they could still do, and a lot they haven't, I'm annoyed, but it's not the end of the world

[maarriiii]

Simp (Part 5) | Wilbur Soot

A/N: I don’t know what to put here so hope you guys enjoy this part.

Summary: The internet goes crazy over rumors about you and Wilbur.

Pairing(s): CC!Wilbur Soot x gender neutral!reader, CC!Wilbur Soot x actor!reader.

Warning(s): None.

italics for tweets, bold for article.

my masterlist :))

~~

It didn't take long before fans started noticing. You rarely interacted online except with the people you know and the occasional fans here and there. So, when they noticed the interaction with Tommy and Wilbur, their reaction was to talk about it and chimed in. A few hundreds turned into a few thousands once screenshots of yours and Wilbur tweets crossed to the other social media platform. Both of your fans beginning to freak out and expressed their opinions.

Some were happy.

OH MY GOD Y/N AND WILBUR???

my comfort streamer and favorite actor? yes please

Some were perplexed.

ngl this is an odd pairing yall

huh who would’ve thought

Some were hateful.

bruhhh he’s a white guy playing minecraft for a living

y/n is a shit actor wilbur

This was still manageable for you. It was only discourse amongst the people that chose to care. It was contained in its own little bubble. No articles, no intrusive questions about your personal life when they were suppose to ask work-related questions, no paparazzi waiting by your house or a place that you frequent to, trying to capture photos of your reactions or videos of you slipping up. No one had bothered you. Though, they will eventually.

Eventually was sooner than you thought. Usually it’ll take a few days before the media starts speculating and theorizing, but this time the vultures—that’s what you and Sam called the media and the paparazzis—worked particularly fast cause the moment one of them got ahold of this “hot news”, others did too and that’s when the last bit of privacy you have left will be trespassed for the sake of click–worthy headlines.

It started out small. A post from an Instagram account focusing on celebrities gossip and tea, screenshots of your tweets and Wilbur’s alongside a few commenters occupied the slides. Then, a buzzfeed article with a photo of yourself from a red carpet event a couple of years ago.

y/n l/n came back from social media hiatus and fans think they’re shooting their shot with this Minecraft YouTuber.

In the next couple of hours, after you said goodbye to the cast and crew and left the set, the rumors grew in numbers. Multiple news outlets coming up with their own distinct headlines, making up fake sources claiming to be close to you and saying you were looking for love—that’s true but you never said it out loud to anyone. You haven’t even left the city yet and already you were overwhelmed with it all. Not too mention the emails you’ll be receiving from your publicist.

“So much for peace and quiet.”

~~

On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Wilbur stood tall between two teenage girls, smiling with his hands behind his back as the girls’ mother took pictures of the trio. He was on his way home after a practice session with the band when they called him and asked for a picture. He agreed, of course because he was glad to meet some his viewers and partly because they were really polite and not at all weird like some encounters he had in the past.

When the mother and daughters said their thanks and left, Wilbur’s phone buzzed inside his pocket. He fished it out, continuing his path home and frowned when the name of his agent was on the screen. It must’ve been an important for him to call out of nowhere. That, or he probably sent another Roblox gift card to his business email by mistake again—God, he still hasn’t forgotten that.

Wilbur pressed the answer button and lift the phone to his ear. “Hello.”

“Hey, Wil. Are you busy right now?”

“Just on my home actually. Something’s wrong?”

It was silence for a couple of seconds. “Nothing’s wrong, per se.”

Wilbur frowned. “I’m feeling a ‘but’ coming. What is it?”

“I’m just going to cut to the point here, Wil. I’ve gotten an unreasonably amount of emails from various news site wanting to talk to you about y/n l/n.”

“What?!” Wilbur yelled, pausing in his tracks.

“Apparently the Internet thinks that they’re interested in you, romantically. And you know how it is with celebrities, the media are always trying to find out about their private life and whatnot.”

“W–wait, wait, hold on.“ He paused, trying to wrap his head around it all. “They think I’m—”

He couldn’t finish even his sentence cause of how outlandish the situation was. Him, and you, together, romantically. It was mental.

“It appears so.”

“Holy fuck.”

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

28th July >> Mass Readings (USA)

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

(Liturgical Colour: Green. Year: B(II))

First Reading 2 Kings 4:42–44 They shall eat and there shall be some left over.

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the ear. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat. For thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 145:10–11, 15–16, 17–18

R/ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might.

R/ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

R/ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth.

R/ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Second Reading Ephesians 4:1–6 One body, one Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Gospel Acclamation Luke 7:16

Alleluia, alleluia. A great prophet has risen in our midst. God has visited his people. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel John 6:1–15 He distributed as much as they wanted to those who were reclining.

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[ongolecharles]

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 Group, Sun July 28th, 2024 ... The Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Reading 1

----------

2 Kgs 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God,

twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits,

and fresh grain in the ear.

Elisha said, "Give it to the people to eat."

But his servant objected,

"How can I set this before a hundred people?"

Elisha insisted, "Give it to the people to eat."

"For thus says the LORD,

'They shall eat and there shall be some left over.'"

And when they had eaten, there was some left over,

as the LORD had said.

Responsorial Psalm

---------------

Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

R. (cf. 16) The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD,

and let your faithful ones bless you.

Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom

and speak of your might.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you,

and you give them their food in due season;

you open your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is just in all his ways

and holy in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

R. The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Reading 2

----------

Eph 4:1-6

Brothers and sisters:

I, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,

with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another through love,

striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace:

one body and one Spirit,

as you were also called to the one hope of your call;

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.

Alleluia

--------

Lk 7:16

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

A great prophet has risen in our midst.

God has visited his people.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

---------

Jn 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.

A large crowd followed him,

because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.

Jesus went up on the mountain,

and there he sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

When Jesus raised his eyes

and saw that a large crowd was coming to him,

he said to Philip,

"Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?"

He said this to test him,

because he himself knew what he was going to do.

Philip answered him,

"Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough

for each of them to have a little."

One of his disciples,

Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him,

"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish;

but what good are these for so many?"

Jesus said, "Have the people recline."

Now there was a great deal of grass in that place.

So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks,

and distributed them to those who were reclining,

and also as much of the fish as they wanted.

When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples,

"Gather the fragments left over,

so that nothing will be wasted."

So they collected them,

and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments

from the five barley loaves

that had been more than they could eat.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said,

"This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off

to make him king,

he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

***

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

Beginning today, and for the next several weeks, the Church proposes the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. John 6 is a pivotally important chapter, because it is the chapter that contains and is centered on what is known as the “Bread of Life Discourse.” And if we’re going to focus on this one chapter for five weeks, we need help to focus our attention, or we could miss what’s going on. We need to put ourselves in the right mindset to hear and understand what is said.

So think about it this way. In our life we have a lot of things that we need, many other things we perceive as “needs.” And some of these things are very good, very important! But often, we run into needs that, no matter what we try, we can’t quite seem to satisfy them. And so we try more things. And more things! But over and over, there is an impossible need we can’t quite fulfill.

For example, every year a priest is required to make a retreat—this is a concrete need. A retreat is simply a time of prayer and reflection, a time to rest and refocus. There are monasteries and retreat houses near you for just this purpose. There are even retreat houses on islands and beaches! (The sacrifices we priests make for the people by going to these places are indeed great!) And I’ll admit: I’ve been to

some. And I’m sure many of us have gone on vacations to several of these places near and far from us.

But here’s the thing: as beautiful and amazing as those getaways are, they don’t solve anything. It didn’t solve anything for me. Yes, it is nice! But pretty soon, the “nice” and the “amazing” wears off. The weather being seventy-five and sunny every day isn’t that great. The food is good, but eventually it’s just food—we have food here. The river or lake or beach are all incredible, but then something in them gets annoying and eventually it ends and you go back to your real life.

Here’s the fact: even if everything were great, everything in life were in order, you didn’t want for anything—even if everything were amazing, that doesn’t mean we would be happy. Everything being amazing doesn’t solve the need we feel for happiness, for constant newness, for true and lasting peace. We’re restless. Even if we could give ourselves everything, one thing after another, day after day, year after year—even up until the day we die…we know there is something missing. It’s an impossible situation.

Ok, with this in mind, now take a look at our Gospel reading for today. We are told that the setting for this scene, and for the entire chapter is Passover. And that isn’t some accident. That’s not a throwaway line. That’s the key. All of this is happening at Passover. And what is Passover, the Jewish Feast of Passover? Passover is the Jewish feast that celebrates (and in fact re-lives!) all of the events of the Exodus from Egypt. There they were, stuck in Egypt as slaves for over four hundred years. And if you are the free labor force for the Empire of Egypt (the greatest military superpower of the world), what do you think the odds of you walking out of Egypt are? Slim to none. Impossible, I’d say. I’d say you’re stuck in a bit of the ol’ impossible situation! But against all odds, they walk free. The Lord gives them freedom.

And that is why the story of the Exodus is the Biblical key for understanding our own situation of being stuck in the condition of sin: we’re stuck in this impossible situation. And that the Lord will indeed respond! But how? Keep that in mind the next five weeks.

So back to the Gospel today. Here are five thousand men, and they are hungry, famished. But all they have are five loaves and two fish. Here’s an ol’ impossible situation. And in this impossible situation, in an unforeseen, unpredictable turn of events, there is food enough to go around. The need is satisfied. Yes! Jesus is responding to that basic human need they have, but as we will discover in the next weeks, he is prefiguring a response to something much deeper, a hunger much more profound.

***

【Build your Faith in Christ Jesus on #dailyscripturereadingsgroup 📚: +256 751 540 524 .. Whatsapp】

[welcometololaland]

hi everyone 😎

just wanted to quickly come on here to say thank you to anyone who has read my fics, left comments, asks on tumblr, kudos, messages etc. recently.

i've been absolutely pathetic at getting back to everyone at the moment and i feel terrible about it - but just know I really appreciate it and it keeps me going 💜

it truly has not been a great time on a personal level (don't come for me about the show, that's a whole other kettle of fish), and on the writing front i've got about 25k worth of fic written in january that i've dnf'd for the time being. but on the upside, i've written almost 15k this week, so maybe i'm crawling my way out!

trying to decide what i want to do with this blog in the future. for various reasons i feel very removed from it, not least because the discourse on here right now is insane, but also because i've been trying to learn more about what it means to be a responsible contributor to the fandom (this is a shared space and i know i haven't always got it right (god knows I need to learn how to tag properly) - not trying to say i'm important, more just saying that i recognise that this is a community and i need to be more considerate of others).

ultimately, i want a blog that's fun and doesn't take a tv show too seriously (just the characters who are my ride or die). a place to just share fic and amazing gifs and rec the people that contribute so much to the LS fandom. so I hope i'll be back sooner rather than later, but in the interim, thank you for bearing with me!

x lola

[nokingsonlyfooles]

WTYP: The Shandor Building, Part 6

[Do you like the colour of the fanfic? This is long and if you expand it you're gonna get the whole thing, because Tumblr hates you. Don't say I didn't warn you!]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Part 6: Disaster Roulette: Crack Open a Cold One

[Beware of strong language, mention of all kinds of death, gore, and Lovecraftian horror.]

[SLIDE: Utter darkness, with an All Hail Gozer logo in the corner.]

[screaming, pandemonium]

A: I’m sorry! Oh, God, I’m sorry! I have anxiety!

D: No! I know you do! It’s my fault!

L: Are we dead?

D: I shouldn’t have said “engineering disaster,” it’s my fault…

R: Alice, where are we?

A: Oh, God, I’m sorry, it’s the Kursk! [weeping] We’re going to be trapped here for over six hours and then we’ll be comrade-kebabs!

L: I’m an anarchist.

A: For fuck’s sake, Liam, would it kill you to let me die with a little fucking solidarity? [plays “The East is Red”]

R: Alice, you have your laptop?

L: Do we still have our laptops?

D: Feels like a laptop…

A: IT’S A POTASSIUM-BASED AIR FILTER DON’T BLOODY TOUCH IT!

[clattering, thud]

[more screams]

L: Jesus…

R: Pretty sure that’s a laptop.

D: Turn up the brightness!

R: That’s bad for the battery life…

D: Just turn up the fucking brightness!

[SLIDE: The Kursk.]

L: How the fuck do we still have laptops and sound equipment?

A [giggling]: Oh, my God, we chose the form of an engineering disasters podcast. Of course we have our laptops and sound equipment! I’m going to tweet that we’re trapped in a well-known Russian submarine disaster and we need help!

D [gravely]: Alice, Alice… No, Alice. It’s… It’s…

R: It’s “X” now.

D: Twitter can’t help us now. Twitter is gone.

A [desperate]: What about Tumblr?

D [pained]: I suppose you might as well try.

D [text over slide]: I EDITED A BIT HERE.

A [sobbing]: It’s no good. I got cancelled for assuming the submarine’s pronouns and now they’re just doing discourse.

D [gently]: It’s all right, darling. Just mute the alerts now. Oh, and Tumblr Live, too, obviously. Thank you for trying.

R: I’ve got that Mastodon thing…

D: Oh, fuck off!

A: Nobody’s on fucking Mastodon.

L: If man were meant to toot, God would’ve given us trunks! It’s a stupid platform and a stupid animal! It’s just an elephant with shag carpeting and no charisma. I’m glad they’re extinct. The extinction of mastodons is the one good thing global warming ever did for us! I hope science brings ‘em back from the grave so I can personally participate in wiping those useless motherfuckers off the map again. I ordered a mastodon hoagie at Wawa the other day and it was rubbery and tasteless — because it had been at the back of the freezer for ten-thousand years. That’s how unpopular mastodon is! It’s not even any good with extra mayo! Nobody loves you, mastodons! Nobody thinks you’re cool! I respect you almost as little as I respect fish!

[groaning, shuddering, splashing]

A: Oh, fuck, does Gozer like mastodons? Liam…

R: “Mastodon” is from the Latin for “breast-like tooth.”

L: If Gozer likes mastodons, I’m gonna drive to xyr house — or temple, or whatever — and beat xem to death with my shoes. I am done with mastodons, I am done with this whole fucking experience! I am reviewing your studio on Yelp right now and you are getting no stars! None!

[creaking, snapping sounds, more splashing]

A: Fuck, Liam, you’re pissing xem off!

G: STO-O-OP!

[rumbling and crunching noises continue throughout]

D: No, wait… It’s a rant. [laughing] We chose the form of an engineering disasters podcast! Liam, keep going!

L: ICE AGE IS A TERRIBLE SERIES OF FILMS! MASTODONS RUINED IT!

A: Isn’t it supposed to be a woolly mammoth?

L: IT’S THE SAME THING!

R: Taxonomically, no, it’s not. Although they are related…

L: PROXIMITY TO MASTODONS RUINED ICE AGE, AS A FILM SERIES AND AS A GEOLOGICAL EPOCH! AND EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND!

A [laughing]: What? Are we running out of oxygen?

R: Yes. Also, Everybody Loves Raymond is a CBS sitcom, which aired from the mid-nineties to the mid-2000s. It was very popular in the US, but it proved difficult to export, so it’s not surprising you haven’t heard of it. It starred actor and comedian Ray Romano, who also voiced Manny the Mammoth…

L: THAT’S A STUPID FUCKING NAME!

A: Shouldn’t it be, er… Manny the Manmoth? That makes more sense. Although it does sound like he fights Mothman…

R: …in the Ice Age film series. Exporting Raymond was, in fact, a documentary on how difficult it was to translate the American Boomer experience to a foreign market…

D [amazed]: By God, we’re doing it! We’re podcasting!

R: Thank God for Wikipedia…

A: We’re still going to die, though, aren’t we, Dev?

D: Eventually, Alice, but maybe not in the Kursk!

A [anxious, but used to it]: Probably of prion diseases.

G: VERY WELL. SINCE WE ARE AT AN IMPASSE, YOU MAY CHOOSE ANOTHER FORM TO CONTINUE OUR FIGHT.

L [hopefully]: A lamassu?

R [low voice]: Unfortunately, we are not actually gods.

L: Damn.

D: No! I think we can do this! [to Gozer] We’re going to stick with the engineering disasters podcast!

G: YOU’RE NOT VERY IMAGINATIVE, ARE YOU?

D: No, we are, we’re just really jazzed about this form!

L: It’s comfy!

G: ALL RIGHT. SUIT YOURSELVES. I TIRE OF THE LEAKY METAL TUBE, AND I DO NOT HAVE THE PATIENCE TO SIT THROUGH SIX HOURS OF PODCASTING BEFORE I SET YOU ON FIRE! CHOOSE ANOTHER ENGINEERING DISASTER!

D: All right, now, let’s think about this…

A: Just something outdoorsy, please! I want to see the sun again!

Part 7

[renaissanceclassics]

The Pilgrim’s Progress: Part 5

Listen to: The 4th Stage, at Renaissance Classics Podcast.

Then he began to go forward; but Discretion, Piety, Charity, and Prudence would accompany him down to the foot of the hill. So they went on together, reiterating their former discourses, till they came to go down the hill. Then said Christian, As it was difficult coming up, so, so far as I can see, it is dangerous going down. Yes, said Prudence, so it is, for it is a hard matter for a man to go down into the Valley of Humiliation, as thou art now, and to catch no slip by the way; therefore, said they, are we come out to accompany thee down the hill. So he began to go down, but very warily; yet he caught a slip or two.

Then I saw in my dream that these good companions, when Christian was gone to the bottom of the hill, gave him a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a cluster of raisins; and then he went on his way.

But now, in this Valley of Humiliation, poor Christian was hard put to it; for he had gone but a little way, before he espied a foul fiend coming over the field to meet him; his name is Apollyon. Then did Christian begin to be afraid, and to cast in his mind whether to go back or to stand his ground. But he considered again that he had no armour for his back; and therefore thought that to turn the back to him might give him the greater advantage with ease to pierce him with his darts.

Christian's resolution at the approach of Apollyon

Therefore he resolved to venture and stand his ground; for, thought he, had I no more in mine eye than the saving of my life, it would be the best way to stand.

So he went on, and Apollyon met him. Now the monster was hideous to behold; he was clothed with scales, like a fish, (and they are his pride,) he had wings like a dragon, feet like a bear, and out of his belly came fire and smoke, and his mouth was as the mouth of a lion. When he was come up to Christian, he beheld him with a disdainful countenance, and thus began to question with him.

APOLLYON: Whence come you? and whither are you bound?

Christian:  I am come from the City of Destruction, which is the place of all evil, and am going to the City of Zion.

APOLLYON: By this I perceive thou art one of my subjects, for all that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it. How is it, then, that thou hast run away from thy king? Were it not that I hope thou mayest do me more service, I would strike thee now, at one blow, to the ground.

Christian:  I was born, indeed, in your dominions, but your service was hard, and your wages such as a man could not live on, "for the wages of sin is death" [Rom 6:23]; therefore, when I was come to years, I did, as other considerate persons do, look out, if, perhaps, I might mend myself.

Apollyon's flattery

APOLLYON: There is no prince that will thus lightly lose his subjects, neither will I as yet lose thee; but since thou complainest of thy service and wages, be content to go back: what our country will afford, I do here promise to give thee.

Christian:  But I have let myself to another, even to the King of princes; and how can I, with fairness, go back with thee?

APOLLYON: Thou hast done in this, according to the proverb, "Changed a bad for a worse"; but it is ordinary for those that have professed themselves his servants, after a while to give him the slip, and return again to me. Do thou so too, and all shall be well.

Christian:  I have given him my faith, and sworn my allegiance to him; how, then, can I go back from this, and not be hanged as a traitor?

APOLLYON: Thou didst the same to me, and yet I am willing to pass by all, if now thou wilt yet turn again and go back.

Christian:  What I promised thee was in my nonage; and, besides, I count the Prince under whose banner now I stand is able to absolve me; yea, and to pardon also what I did as to my compliance with thee; and besides, O thou destroying Apollyon! to speak truth, I like his service, his wages, his servants, his government, his company, and country, better than thine; and, therefore, leave off to persuade me further; I am his servant, and I will follow him.

APOLLYON: Consider, again, when thou art in cool blood, what thou art like to meet with in the way that thou goest. Thou knowest that, for the most part, his servants come to an ill end, because they are transgressors against me and my ways. How many of them have been put to shameful deaths! and, besides, thou countest his service better than mine, whereas he never came yet from the place where he is to deliver any that served him out of their hands; but as for me, how many times, as all the world very well knows, have I delivered, either by power, or fraud, those that have faithfully served me, from him and his, though taken by them; and so I will deliver thee.

Christian:  His forbearing at present to deliver them is on purpose to try their love, whether they will cleave to him to the end; and as for the ill end thou sayest they come to, that is most glorious in their account; for, for present deliverance, they do not much expect it, for they stay for their glory, and then they shall have it when their Prince comes in his and the glory of the angels.

APOLLYON: Thou hast already been unfaithful in thy service to him; and how dost thou think to receive wages of him?

Christian:  Wherein, O Apollyon! have I been unfaithful to him?

APOLLYON: Thou didst faint at first setting out, when thou wast almost choked in the Gulf of Despond; thou didst attempt wrong ways to be rid of thy burden, whereas thou shouldst have stayed till thy Prince had taken it off; thou didst sinfully sleep and lose thy choice thing; thou wast, also, almost persuaded to go back at the sight of the lions; and when thou talkest of thy journey, and of what thou hast heard and seen, thou art inwardly desirous of vain-glory in all that thou sayest or doest.

Christian:  All this is true, and much more which thou hast left out; but the Prince whom I serve and honour is merciful, and ready to forgive; but, besides, these infirmities possessed me in thy country, for there I sucked them in; and I have groaned under them, been sorry for them, and have obtained pardon of my Prince.

APOLLYON: Then Apollyon broke out into a grievous rage, saying, I am an enemy to this Prince; I hate his person, his laws, and people; I am come out on purpose to withstand thee.

Christian:  Apollyon, beware what you do; for I am in the King's highway, the way of holiness; therefore take heed to yourself.

APOLLYON: Then Apollyon straddled quite over the whole breadth of the way, and said, I am void of fear in this matter: prepare thyself to die; for I swear by my infernal den, that thou shalt go no further; here will I spill thy soul.

And with that he threw a flaming dart at his breast; but Christian had a shield in his hand, with which he caught it, and so prevented the danger of that.

Then did Christian draw, for he saw it was time to bestir him; and Apollyon as fast made at him, throwing darts as thick as hail; by the which, notwithstanding all that Christian could do to avoid it, Apollyon wounded him in his head, his hand, and foot. This made Christian give a little back; Apollyon, therefore, followed his work amain, and Christian again took courage, and resisted as manfully as he could. This sore combat lasted for above half a day, even till Christian was almost quite spent; for you must know that Christian, by reason of his wounds, must needs grow weaker and weaker.

Then Apollyon, espying his opportunity, began to gather up close to Christian, and wrestling with him, gave him a dreadful fall; and with that Christian's sword flew out of his hand. Then said Apollyon, I am sure of thee now. And with that he had almost pressed him to death, so that Christian began to despair of life; but as God would have it, while Apollyon was fetching of his last blow, thereby to make a full end of this good man, Christian nimbly stretched out his hand for his sword, and caught it, saying, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall I shall arise" [Micah 7:8];

Christian's victory over Apollyon

and with that gave him a deadly thrust, which made him give back, as one that had received his mortal wound. Christian perceiving that, made at him again, saying, "Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us". [Rom. 8:37] And with that Apollyon spread forth his dragon's wings, and sped him away, that Christian for a season saw him no more. [James 4:7]

In this combat no man can imagine, unless he had seen and heard as I did, what yelling and hideous roaring Apollyon made all the time of the fight he spake like a dragon; and, on the other side, what sighs and groans burst from Christian's heart. I never saw him all the while give so much as one pleasant look, till he perceived he had wounded Apollyon with his two-edged sword; then, indeed, he did smile, and look upward; but it was the dreadfullest sight that ever I saw.

A more unequal match can hardly be, CHRISTIAN must fight an Angel; but you see,

The valiant man by handling Sword and Shield, Doth make him, tho' a Dragon, quit the field.

So when the battle was over, Christian said, "I will here give thanks to him that delivered me out of the mouth of the lion, to him that did help me against Apollyon." And so he did, saying

Great Beelzebub, the captain of this fiend, Design'd my ruin; therefore to this end He sent him harness'd out: and he with rage That hellish was, did fiercely me engage. But blessed Michael helped me, and I, By dint of sword, did quickly make him fly. Therefore to him let me give lasting praise, And thank and bless his holy name always.

Then there came to him a hand, with some of the leaves of the tree of life, the which Christian took, and applied to the wounds that he had received in the battle, and was healed immediately. He also sat down in that place to eat bread, and to drink of the bottle that was given him a little before; so, being refreshed, he addressed himself to his journey, with his sword drawn in his hand; for he said, I know not but some other enemy may be at hand. But he met with no other affront from Apollyon quite through this valley.

Now, at the end of this valley was another, called the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and Christian must needs go through it, because the way to the Celestial City lay through the midst of it. Now, this valley is a very solitary place. The prophet Jeremiah thus describes it: "A wilderness, a land of deserts and of pits, a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no man" (but a Christian) "passed through, and where no man dwelt." [Jer. 2:6]

Now here Christian was worse put to it than in his fight with Apollyon, as by the sequel you shall see.

I saw then in my dream, that when Christian was got to the borders of the Shadow of Death, there met him two men, children of them that brought up an evil report of the good land [Num. 13], making haste to go back; to whom Christian spake as follows:

Christian:  Whither are you going?

MEN. They said, Back! back! and we would have you to do so too, if either life or peace is prized by you.

Christian:  Why, what's the matter? said Christian.

MEN. Matter! said they; we were going that way as you are going, and went as far as we durst; and indeed we were almost past coming back; for had we gone a little further, we had not been here to bring the news to thee.

Christian:  But what have you met with? said Christian.

MEN. Why, we were almost in the Valley of the Shadow of Death; but that, by good hap, we looked before us, and saw the danger before we came to it. [Ps. 44:19; 107:10]

Christian:  But what have you seen? said Christian.

MEN. Seen! Why, the Valley itself, which is as dark as pitch; we also saw there the hobgoblins, satyrs, and dragons of the pit; we heard also in that Valley a continual howling and yelling, as of a people under unutterable misery, who there sat bound in affliction and irons; and over that Valley hangs the discouraging clouds of confusion. Death also doth always spread his wings over it. In a word, it is every whit dreadful, being utterly without order. [Job 3:5; 10:22]

Christian:  Then, said Christian, I perceive not yet, by what you have said, but that this is my way to the desired haven. [Jer. 2:6]

MEN. Be it thy way; we will not choose it for ours. So, they parted, and Christian went on his way, but still with his sword drawn in his hand, for fear lest he should be assaulted.

I saw then in my dream, so far as this valley reached, there was on the right hand a very deep ditch; that ditch is it into which the blind have led the blind in all ages, and have both there miserably perished. [Ps. 69:14,15] Again, behold, on the left hand, there was a very dangerous quag, into which, if even a good man falls, he can find no bottom for his foot to stand on. Into that quag King David once did fall, and had no doubt therein been smothered, had not HE that is able plucked him out.

The pathway was here also exceeding narrow, and therefore good Christian was the more put to it; for when he sought, in the dark, to shun the ditch on the one hand, he was ready to tip over into the mire on the other; also when he sought to escape the mire, without great carefulness he would be ready to fall into the ditch. Thus he went on, and I heard him here sigh bitterly; for, besides the dangers mentioned above, the pathway was here so dark, and ofttimes, when he lift up his foot to set forward, he knew not where or upon what he should set it next.

Poor man! where art thou now? thy day is night. Good man, be not cast down, thou yet art right, Thy way to heaven lies by the gates of Hell; Cheer up, hold out, with thee it shall go well.

About the midst of this valley, I perceived the mouth of hell to be, and it stood also hard by the wayside. Now, thought Christian, what shall I do? And ever and anon the flame and smoke would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises, (things that cared not for Christian's sword, as did Apollyon before), that he was forced to put up his sword, and betake himself to another weapon called All-prayer. [Eph. 6:18] So he cried in my hearing, "O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul!" [Ps. 116:4] Thus he went on a great while, yet still the flames would be reaching towards him. Also he heard doleful voices, and rushings to and fro, so that sometimes he thought he should be torn in pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. This frightful sight was seen, and these dreadful noises were heard by him for several miles together; and, coming to a place where he thought he heard a company of fiends coming forward to meet him, he stopped, and began to muse what he had best to do. Sometimes he had half a thought to go back; then again he thought he might be half way through the valley; he remembered also how he had already vanquished many a danger, and that the danger of going back might be much more than for to go forward; so he resolved to go on. Yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer; but when they were come even almost at him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, "I will walk in the strength of the Lord God!" so they gave back, and came no further.

One thing I would not let slip. I took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded, that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it. Just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind. This put Christian more to it than anything that he met with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme him that he loved so much before; yet, if he could have helped it, he would not have done it; but he had not the discretion either to stop his ears, or to know from whence these blasphemies came.

When Christian had travelled in this disconsolate condition some considerable time, he thought he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." [Ps. 23:4]

Then he was glad, and that for these reasons:

First, Because he gathered from thence, that some who feared God were in this valley as well as himself.

Secondly, For that he perceived God was with them, though in that dark and dismal state; and why not, thought he, with me? though, by reason of the impediment that attends this place, I cannot perceive it. [Job 9:11]

Thirdly, For that he hoped, could he overtake them, to have company by and by. So he went on, and called to him that was before; but he knew not what to answer; for that he also thought to be alone. And by and by the day broke; then said Christian, He hath turned "the shadow of death into the morning". [Amos 5:8]

Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return, but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So he saw more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand, and the mire that was on the other; also how narrow the way was which led betwixt them both; also now he saw the hobgoblins, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all afar off, (for after break of day, they came not nigh;) yet they were discovered to him, according to that which is written, "He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death." [Job 12:22]

Now was Christian much affected with his deliverance from all the dangers of his solitary way; which dangers, though he feared them more before, yet he saw them more clearly now, because the light of the day made them conspicuous to him. And about this time the sun was rising, and this was another mercy to Christian; for you must note, that though the first part of the Valley of the Shadow of Death was dangerous, yet this second part which he was yet to go, was, if possible, far more dangerous; for from the place where he now stood, even to the end of the valley, the way was all along set so full of snares, traps, gins, and nets here, and so full of pits, pitfalls, deep holes, and shelvings down there, that, had it now been dark, as it was when he came the first part of the way, had he had a thousand souls, they had in reason been cast away; but, as I said just now, the sun was rising. Then said he, "His candle shineth upon my head, and by his light I walk through darkness." [Job 29:3]

In this light, therefore, he came to the end of the valley. Now I saw in my dream, that at the end of this valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men, even of pilgrims that had gone this way formerly; and while I was musing what should be the reason, I espied a little before me a cave, where two giants, POPE and PAGAN, dwelt in old time; by whose power and tyranny the men whose bones, blood, and ashes, &c., lay there, were cruelly put to death. But by this place Christian went without much danger, whereat I somewhat wondered; but I have learnt since, that PAGAN has been dead many a day; and as for the other, though he be yet alive, he is, by reason of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes that he met with in his younger days, grown so crazy and stiff in his joints, that he can now do little more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails because he cannot come at them.

So I saw that Christian went on his way; yet, at the sight of the Old Man that sat in the mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to think, especially because he spake to him, though he could not go after him, saying, "You will never mend till more of you be burned." But he held his peace, and set a good face on it, and so went by and catched no hurt. Then sang Christian:

O world of wonders! (I can say no less), That I should be preserved in that distress That I have met with here! O blessed be That hand that from it hath deliver'd me! Dangers in darkness, devils, hell, and sin Did compass me, while I this vale was in: Yea, snares, and pits, and traps, and nets, did lie My path about, that worthless, silly I Might have been catch'd, entangled, and cast down; But since I live, let JESUS wear the crown.

[ekebolou]

So the big secret of this last update (I dunno, there's lots of secrets - do YOU think Catillia is fooled by her baby brother's letters? because she is fooled by nothing. and what bitches they can be together! a regular sewing circle over there)

The secret is that I've fucked all kinds of things up by moving the Academy Days storyline such that they're both older than they were in the original run.

I dunno, I've talked about this a few times, but as I mostly talk to myself (and @dharmagun, love of my life (platonic)) maybe I can get away with it again.

In the novel the boys are like... 25. Young guns. It sounds silly but I did a lot of research and being generals at 25 in their context isn't as YA dystopian fantasy protagonist as it sounds. Is it smart or sign of a healthy society? No. Is it a grandiose fabrication of the unbelievable sort? nah, not really.

Anywho, in the original run of Academy Days stories, they were both mid-to-young teens, more like 14-16. In this run, they're late teens, 17-18. (And I know there's Controversy and Discourse outside of my bubble about romances with teen protagonists, but I'm sincerely hoping the resurgence of Anne Rice is a sign things are Getting Better (Or Worse, Depending On How You Feel About That)). The original run of stories therefore had a lot more clumsiness, a lot of really amped up emotional decision-making, a lot of inexperience-driven fuck-ups and self-blind trauma reactions.

The patterns of the getting-to-know you romance have to chance, if they're older characters. But they should remain mostly true to the novel, even though this whole thing pushes that back a few years.

And I don't think it's plausible Nika gets to 17 without realizing he's attracted to dudes (and this is not because that's not believable - it 100% is - but I don't think it's believable for this character in this context). I think at that stage, he has to know - it's what he's going to do with that information that changes.

After all, his is an ecstatic religion, casting God and his people as lover and beloved and vice-versa. Just because he practices in his father's branch, a far more scholarly and aesthetic version that reduces the emotional component to something like platonic wonder, agape-esque, and concentrates on understanding rather than passion as the ultimate expression of that love - just because that is more his practice doesn't mean he doesn't understand that other path (his mother's, the tie between the Midraeic people and the Ainjir). It remains very important to experience and indulge in kinds of emotional expression in the more restrained practice of his father. And ultimately, self-knowledge is one of the key achievements of a discipline which prizes understanding.

But there are neither great opportunities for him to tested nor great opportunities for him to explore that attraction back home. It's not that he doesn't know, and it's not that he denies or buries that knowledge, it just gets sublimated, to the point where it might as well not be. There is nothing for it to be. Nowhere for it to go. Nothing that can come of it.

Oh, but he's never been tested.

and he's about to get tested.

a lot

So rather than a story about him coming to know this thing about himself, it's much more story of him coming to decide what to do with this self-knowledge. Which is arguably the hard part, and was part of the story before, just in a different way. And it'll be a little less reckless an exploration, which is fine (it's still pretty reckless; Nika doesn't do caution super well, at least in certain areas).

And as usual, Cole is a different kettle fish entirely. Which is what I have to write next.

And I deeply wish I could somehow convey to you the face that Catillia makes on reading that letter. Girl is never fooled.

[catolinewsdailyreadings]

Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Readings of Sunday, July 28, 2024

Reading 1

2 Kgs 4:42-44

A man came from Baal-shalishah bringing to Elisha, the man of God, twenty barley loaves made from the firstfruits, and fresh grain in the ear. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.” But his servant objected, “How can I set this before a hundred people?” Elisha insisted, “Give it to the people to eat.” “For thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and there shall be some left over.’” And when they had eaten, there was some left over, as the LORD had said.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

R./ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Let all your works give you thanks, O LORD, and let your faithful ones bless you. Let them discourse of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might. R./ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you, and you give them their food in due season; you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. R./ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

The LORD is just in all his ways and holy in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. R./ The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.

Reading 2

EPH 4:1-6

Brothers and sisters: I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit, as you were also called to the one hope of your call; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Gospel

JN 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.” Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

[sunxrice]

slsdblr part 3

i feel like i should mention that these fake posts aren't necessarily canon canon and the only thing really real about them is the character dynamics. general time period (??) of these posts is within about 0-2 days after the world update

also pguy would absolutely start discourse over the most random things lmao.

0 notes

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

world update

we made it through another month !! say congratulations everyone !! with may just around the corner the snow-rainy season is ending and we will soon be entering the dry season. good luck with the weather it's about to get fucking crazy

patch notes - 30/04/2024

sol gets over their inability to name things. congratulations to everyone who got a name! i hope you're happy with what you have. sorry sleepy better luck next month

added the past

removed the past

added the past, but different

humanity is 0.63% less annoying. cant really do much at this rate sorry

added birthday updates in patch notes. i thought it would be nice.

removed herobrine

birthdays !!

08/04 - ya boi turned 18 three weeks ago. too late to say happy birthday now but you can still say it if you want.

14/04 - happy 23rd birthday to ruby!!

#world update #30/04/24 world update #slsdverse #sol's stuff and things

3,386 notes

🎒 no1parachutelover Follow

WHERE'S HEROBRINE

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

i removed him

🎒 no1parachutelover Follow

NO WHERE WAS HE BEFORE THE UPDATE. I NEVER SAW HIM.

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

i removed him in the update before this one

🎒 no1parachutelover Follow

THEN WHY DID YOU REMOVE HIM AGAIN.

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

somebody's gotta make sure

#reblog

52 notes

🔥 ratinacage Follow

thanks sol (and everyone) for the (very late) birthday wish...

#btw i meant this in a lighthearted way hehe... no hard feelings! i get it /gen #rue.txt

343 notes

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

none of you wished me a happy birthday

#sol's stuff and things

2 notes

🎼 parachysonata Follow

you guys only remembered to wish rue a happy birthday today? pathetic. i did that just in time and even threw a whole party for her. do better.

🎒 no1parachutelover Follow

OH MY GOD WE GET IT you have celebrity influence over the whole world and you two are lovebirds who love each other soooooo much you have to keep reminding everyone about it

🧵 craftswithoutarts Follow

P guy can you shut up? She probably meant it as a joke. It doesn't mean much. Piper is just commenting on how everyone forgot, and also how good of a girlfriend she is. Leave her alone let people express themselves

📘 giftedkidburnout Follow

okay normally i wouldn't be on board with pguy's tendency to fish for discourse over the most random things but he's right you know. ruby has already said that the late birthday wishes aren't a big deal, this post wasn't necessary.

🎼 parachysonata Follow

you all aren't even real friends if you can't even say happy birthday on time.

🎒 no1parachutelover Follow

see? it's not a joke, acacia. parachy if you just wanna make everyone else feel bad about themselves just quit it. youre just fishing for attention at this point

🎼 parachysonata Follow

Haha i'm sorry WHO'S fishing for attention? you're the one who decided to respond to my post with that confrontational-ass shit. i'm just making a statement. i'm not fishing for attention. tell that to sol, they're the one who keeps posting about "ohh nobody wished ME a happy birthday boo hoo" bitch nobody cares.

🔥 ratinacage Follow

piper please, i already said i didn't mind. it's not a big deal...

🧵 craftswithoutarts Follow

I take back everything I've said. Stop it. Don't bring Rice into this, you're lucky they muted tumblr notifs otherwise I pray for the well being of your ass

📘 giftedkidburnout Follow

@solarisricefield

🧵 craftswithoutarts Follow

Anemone no

☀️ solarisricefield Follow

.

🐟 fishfinderrr Follow

🎣 FISH FOUND!

There are 4 FISH in this post!

🧵 craftswithoutarts Follow

SANDY

87,246 notes

[splendenscommabetta]

on the subject of fish as "easy beginner pets"

folks, it's not necessarily a lie. as with every hobby, you're gonna see different levels of commitment, especially on the fishblr corner of the internet, but if you're just starting out and you want a simple pet that doesn't demand a lot, won't wreck your stuff, and still lets you take on a good sense of responsibility, fish are the way to go. now, obviously you have to do your research, but don't feel like you can't get a new aquatic buddy because your set up isn't a planted 20 gallon paradise. i got my first betta when i was eight, and i had no idea you were supposed to even have a filter. i cleaned his tank religiously, fed him regularly, and adored with my whole heart- he was living in a five gallon bare bottom tank with as many decorations as my third grade wallet could spare and he lived four healthy, flashy years.

here is what constitutes fish abuse:

a tank smaller than 5 gallons

not feeding them enough

being super lax about water quality- yes, with a lot of dedication, your fish can survive without a filter, but make sure you shop around first and at least attempt to find something that'll work with your tank size

not treating their water with dechlorinator

not having a heater if you live anywhere outside of, like, the equator

and there you go! if you're on a budget, fish are significantly less expensive than many mammalian pets, and all things considered, they're relatively low-maintenance. yes, be careful, and yes, be aware of how you treat them, but fish are decidedly easier to take care of than some of the posts i've seen on here make them out to be.

your fish is going to be okay, as long as you approach this the right way and heed the warnings. don't let intense fishkeepers scare you off from trying out a pet fish! you don't have to compare yourself to them and you're not abusing your fish by keeping them in a container you can afford to maintain.

[makeste]

I like Bakuguo but his attitude is starting to really piss me off. He's talking about Daku as if he's just ~crazy~ and as if he isn't partly to blame for Deku's toxic self-worth issues. It's infuriating to watch. If Bakuguo doesn’t admit out loud and in front of his friends that his bullying of Deku played a part in Deku's current destructive state and if he doesn’t verbally apologize and reaffirm Deku's worth then I can no longer like Bakuguo's character or Hori's writing.

tbh I don't really know why this is the discourse of choice for people all of a sudden, but this is already the second ask I've gotten about it, so I might as well address it lol.

I think fandom is conflating fanon!Deku and canon!Deku here again. fanon Deku is of course much more sensitive and woobified and has much shakier self-esteem. fanon Deku is the one that turns evil in so many AUs because of Kacchan's bullying. fanon Deku is the one that actually jumps off the roof in so many fics, as opposed to fishing his notebook back out of the pond a few minutes later grumbling about how Kacchan needs to think before he speaks or else he could land himself in serious shit one day if god forbid anyone actually does take his cruel words to heart.

and just to clarify before I get any further, I am not saying this to excuse Kacchan's actions in any way, because what he did was still completely terrible and unacceptable and WAY over the line, and what's more he knew it, too. the bullying was still shitty and horrible and awful, and definitely impacted Deku and made him miserable. I fully acknowledge that, and that Kacchan has a lot of atoning to do for it. this is not a "Kacchan did nothing wrong" post.

but that being said, I don't think canon Deku's reckless self-sacrificing nature actually has anything to do with the bullying. I think they're two completely separate things. canon Deku actually has pretty decent self-esteem in spite of everything Kacchan did to him. canon Deku doesn't think he is useless. canon Deku had a wholeass fight with Kacchan less than 10 chapters into the series in which he explicitly spelled it out for Kacchan that he had a lot of worth, and was going to prove it to him. canon Deku was persistent in wanting to become a hero and hoping and believing that he could find some way in spite of being quirkless. canon Deku never let go of that dream even when no one else supported it. I don't think he would have even given up on it after being told no by All Might, tbh -- we just never got to see how it would have played out because of everything that happened with the sludge monster shortly afterward. but he's not the type to ever give up on something that easily, and we've seen that. canon Deku never thought he was useless, but rather wanted to prove to everyone else that he wasn't.

the drive that Deku has to save and protect others even at the expense of his own safety is something entirely separate from that. he doesn't break his body for others simply because he has no self-esteem and thinks that his own life isn't important. he does it because he can't stand the thought of someone else getting hurt, and knowing that he could have done something to prevent it. it's as simple as that. like, Spider-Man has the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" thing, right? and he doesn't have low self-esteem; he simply believes that if he has the ability to help someone else, then he has a responsibility to help them. it's a personal creed. and Deku is based on Spider-Man. his philosophy is based on that philosophy, which was one of Horikoshi's core influences and is one of the core creeds in superhero fiction.

Deku is self-destructive not because he doesn't value himself, but because he is literally physically incapable of standing back and doing nothing if he knows that he can do something. he's the type of person who sees a car speeding towards someone and leaps in to push them out of the way. NOT because he wants to get himself fucking pancaked by a speeding car, but simply because he can't sit back and watch the other person get hurt without taking action. his body moves before he can think. and that's where the whole "doesn't take himself into account" thing comes in -- the fact that his thought process simply stops at "get them out of the way of the car", and never extends beyond that to "hey, and maybe I should try to find a way to do this that doesn't involve me getting hit in their place." to him, that's simply less important than the first priority, which is getting the other person out of the way.

and regarding that last part, while that may seem like a self-worth issue if he's prioritizing everyone else above himself, I think what it actually is just selflessness taken to extremes. like for instance, when a parent sacrifices themselves to save their child, them placing the child's life above their own isn't necessarily because they don't see themselves as having value. rather, it's that they love the child so much that they place their well-being even above their own. and that's what Deku is like as well. except that in his case he cares about EVERYONE, and so is willing to sacrifice himself for anyone. and that selflessness is his defining character trait, and simultaneously the most admirable and the most terrifying thing about him. it's both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, which I think is fascinating to explore.

but anyway, so that's also why we never really see anyone thoroughly chewing him out for this behavior either. because the thing is, it is admirable how selfless he is. it's just that there's also a reason why most people are at least a little bit selfish. and that's because too much selflessness will ultimately and inevitably wind up getting you killed. at some point you either have to learn when to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, or else find yourself a loyal group of friends (or classmates) to watch your back, and make sure that mask gets on you when you need it. and maybe help you land the plane too while they're at it.

anyway so that was a lot of rambling, but basically it all boils down to three things:

when Deku berates himself for being useless (for instance at the end of the War arc), he's doing it out of frustration for not being able to push the others out of the way of the metaphorical car. that's the kind of uselessness he can't stand. the sitting-back-and-doing-nothing uselessness.

Kacchan's bullying was terrible, and it might have indeed played a part in Deku's choice of the word "useless" as a way of berating himself in these instances, but he is not the one who gave Deku this mindset of taking himself out of the equation. that's something that was already inherent to Deku from day one. (but that said, Kacchan has a lot of things to apologize to Deku for anyway, so if he wants to add this to the list I certainly won't stop him. he gets mad about Deku's suicidal attitude because it worries him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't feel responsible for it. people underestimated his feelings of atonement before 284/285, and I think they're still underestimating him now.)

and lastly, one last important note, which is that Deku's current "saving" mindset isn't wrong, just as Kacchan's "winning" mindset was not wrong either. the lesson to be learned here is NOT that being selfless and wanting to save other people is bad. rather, it's the fact that he's trying to do it alone that's got him all fucked up right now. basically when you think about it, selflessness is really just selfishness on someone else's behalf. which means that in order for Deku to be saved, it isn't necessary for him to change his outlook or his selfless attitude, even if it is pretty crazy lol. rather, all he really needs is a good group of friends who are willing to act selfishly on his behalf in return. protecting each other through mutual selflessness lol. teamwork as self-preservation. hence why the U.A. kids are here now.

anyway so yeah, I think that's everything. sorry this got so long and out of control lol. this is just a very specific nuanced thing that's hard for me to express, but which I feel is very important when it comes to Deku's character. Kacchan didn't unleash Depressed Nomad Deku on the world (or at least not in this respect). but that being said, he and the others will hopefully be the ones to nudge him back on the right course again.

[solomonish]

Dork Solomon Agenda

You say sexy shady sorcerer I say nerd and love of my life

Solomon is a sad lonely little man why just wants a genuine connection us that so much to ask???

No but seriously like. It's totally fine if you hc Solomon as this man-turned-lowkey-sex-god with a million succubi and more at his whim whenever he wants and would be a tough one to put the ol' ball and chain on like to each their own for sure! But that's not MY hc

(Thats not to say my hc means he doesn't ever engage in casual sex like that and wanting a genuine long term relationship at some point [or finding out thats what you want when you meet someone] are not mutually exclusive yknow)

So like Solomon isn't the type to be short with you or keep you at an arm's length (i mean...u get what I mean. Once you're close enough and all that jazz) or get annoyed by you wanting to be affectionate?? Hello??

He LOVES the little things you do (some on accident tbh). You feeling affectionate today and give him a kiss or three on his face before you leave to go to your separate classes? Adorable, he's fallen in love again. You do that thing where you like.. forget how to walk straight and just accidentally bump into him? No come back he likes being close to you :( He doesn't SAY these things but there's a light, airy laugh he has that gives him away.

If you're ever facetiming he will say "boo!" when you connect instead of just. Greeting you like a normal person.

His fuckin. His devilgram name is monSOLO. My mans is a star wars fan!!! I dont know any of The Discourse bc I'm not super into star wars myself but he has IN DEPTH opinions about the movies. Seriously rivals Levi in this aspect. Please make time for movie nights where you watch the movies together 🥺 especially if you haven't seen them before he'd love to convert you 🥺

Didn't Solomon also have a thing for TSL??? Or am I just imagining it??

I feel like his ideal date would be exploring something new, whether its this new spooky forest or "hey have we been down this alley before? Let's check it out!" but ideal date number TWO is movie night. Even if it isn't Star Wars. He likes to sit on opposite ends of the couch throwing popcorn into each other's mouths (and big candies like peanut m&ms where you both have almost choked before) and maybe a footsie war if he's feeling real devious. Then at some point you grab a blanket and snuggle up to him and you both fall asleep on the couch

Simeon yells at him when you leave because there's popcorn EVERYWHERE

LOVES when you laugh super loud. Idk man he just thinks its great when you have such unbridled joy and then he laughs too 😊 not as loud though he's more of a quiet chuckle kind of guy (most of the time).

Is friends with Asmo so is extremely great at slumber party gossip. Catch him in his pajamas, cross-legged on the floor while clutching a pillow to his chest and listening intently to you rant about the brothers.

"Come here I have a secret to tell you" (blows air in your ear) "okay okay I'm sorry but come here again" (blows air on your neck) "okay okay last time! I actually have something to tell you. Please? Its important...." (kisses ur cheek) "like u a lil bit xo"

Never the type to send "good morning beautiful" or "good night 💞" texts. Instead he'll send you something at 4 am like "the infinite cosmos will eventually swallow whole all familiarity and life as it is now presently known and despite the adaptations humans or demons or angels could make i will still have to adapt and face the world as an alien in the realm I love so dearly. Funny how the strongest of beings bow to the whim of space and time. But sometimes my eternal journey doesn't seem so daunting when I realize that with my everlasting life will be the memory of you no matter how distant and the survival of the vessel you loved...."

And then at lunch that day when the brothers pull you away he'll send you a picture of the lasagna they're serving with "this kinda looks like you? Don't worry I'd still hit it" and then two minutes later "you not the pasta"

Is the type to think randomly "oh damn I love you so much" but has an impressive filter about it. Or he thinks he does until Luke grumbles "ugh get a room thats the fifth time you've seen that since monday" ok, sometimes he has a good filter about it

He can't help it! Sometimes you just say something really smart (or something SPECTACULARLY dumb) or you do something cute like lean on him or smile a specific way or-

Sir.....you're head over heels sir :/

The type who would go to a playground at night with you and just swing on the swings talking about life

Wants to have a secret handshake with you!!

If you're ever on a road trip with just the two of you, you can get him to join in on the terrible singing but he'll be a lot quieter than you

Also will only join in if he isn't driving. If he is and you aren't talking, he's just humming underneath his breath. Will drum on the steering wheel though

Cooking

(Yes, it gets its own section because MAYBE I'm obsessed with the idea of MC teaching Solomon to cook and the food still turning out terrible but at least it isn't a void when MC is helping)

The type to flick water at you every time he washes his hands. Will chase you down just to do it.

"Hey, tilt your head back and open your mouth MC" (proceeds to dump too big a handful of shredded cheese in your mouth)

100% the type to lean over you just to hinder your cooking abilities. Who cares if the sauce splashes he's tiiiired.... you'd let belphie do it :(

Puts a hand on your lower back when he passes behind you. Hopes you'll lean into it/step back and offer him a kiss 🥺

Believes in always having a proper table setting. Prepare for whatever juice they have (or water) in wine glasses if you're having a nice-er meal

Under the assumption that a spell ruined his sense of taste (and not that he's just bad at cooking) he hates spicy food. He can feel the burn but he gets none of the flavor??? Wack. Don't hurt him like that MC. If you do because its hilarious to watch him try to be cool about it he will pout

Gets cheesy aprons. He just likes them.

Will hit you on the top of your head with a whisk to hear the noise it makes

Will buy every kitchen hack tool there is. A ketchup dispenser that looks like a gun? He's got it. A fish that helps you squeeze out the egg yolks? Yes! A dinosaur soup ladle? You bet! Pizza scissors? A tool that makes hard boiled eggs into cubes? Something that's gotta be like 200 years old and no discernable purpose? Absolutely! He wants a hot dog toaster. Do they even have hot dogs in the devildom?

Will sneak bites just because it bothers you

Overall

Look at him. He hasn't had friends in centuries. He's playful!

Look at his DEVILGRAM NAME

His funky little WAND

This is a man who is a huge nerd, thrives off of cliches and just wants to have a good time. So let him! Its mentally exhausting having those pretenses up all the time.

[ongolecharles]

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS (DSR) 📚 Group, Sat Sept 21st, 2024 ... Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time, Year B/Feast of St Matthew, Apostle and evangelist

Reading 1

------------

Eph 4:1-7, 11-13

Brothers and sisters:

I, a prisoner for the Lord,

urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received,

with all humility and gentleness, with patience,

bearing with one another through love,

striving to preserve the unity of the Spirit

through the bond of peace:

one Body and one Spirit,

as you were also called to the one hope of your call;

one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

one God and Father of all,

who is over all and through all and in all.

But grace was given to each of us

according to the measure of Christ's gift.

And he gave some as Apostles, others as prophets,

others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers,

to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry,

for building up the Body of Christ,

until we all attain to the unity of faith

and knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood,

to the extent of the full stature of Christ.

Responsorial Psalm

-------------

Ps 19:2-3, 4-5

R. (5) Their message goes out through all the earth.

The heavens declare the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Day pours out the word to day,

and night to night imparts knowledge.

R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

Not a word nor a discourse

whose voice is not heard;

Through all the earth their voice resounds,

and to the ends of the world, their message.

R. Their message goes out through all the earth.

Alleluia

---------

Se Te Deum

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

We praise you, O God,

we acclaim you as Lord;

the glorious company of Apostles praise you.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel

---------

Mt 9:9-13

As Jesus passed by,

he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the customs post.

He said to him, "Follow me."

And he got up and followed him.

While he was at table in his house,

many tax collectors and sinners came

and sat with Jesus and his disciples.

The Pharisees saw this and said to his disciples,

"Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?"

He heard this and said,

"Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do.

Go and learn the meaning of the words,

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

I did not come to call the righteous but sinners."

***

FOCUS AND LITURGY OF THE WORD

Today we celebrate Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. In the first reading, Saint Paul tells us what the role is for an apostle in the Church. He includes apostles with other ministers, namely, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. First, how does a person become one of these ministers? “He (God) gave some as….” Sure, there is a process in the church that leads to a person being a bishop (apostle) or a pastor, etc. But let’s not forget that God calls these individuals and gifts them to the Church.

Second, how is a person able to fulfill this ministry and be faithful to this calling? “But grace was given to each of us….” I must depend upon the grace of God because I do not have what it takes within me to do the work to which I am called. I have seen too many burned out ministers who were essentially raised from the dead when they recommitted themselves to Christ and quit trying to do their work on their own steam. Let’s remember that he is the one who can take our few loaves and fishes, bless them, and multiply them. I can’t do that.

Third, what is the role of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers? Well, to do the work of ministry, right? Actually, Saint Paul doesn’t say that. He says that their role is ���to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry….” What they do is certainly ministry, but it is primarily teaching the laity how to minister. Think of how much more effective this would be. I served in a parish that had three priests, three deacons, and a dozen or so staff members. Let’s round up the number to 20. Twenty people can do a lot of ministry. However, we served in a parish of 4,500 families, well over 10,000 people. What impact would it have if the 20 got even 10% of the parish involved in serving Christ in the community? That is our primary role, along with “building up the Body of Christ.”

God gives us ministers. God gives his ministers the grace they need to fulfill their ministries. God builds up the Church and equips her for ministry through these ministers. The Apostle Matthew is a good illustration of this. A tax collector was called by Jesus and became a great gift to the Church. He gave himself to the work of ministry and ultimately gave his life for Jesus, dying a martyr in Ethiopia. An early Christian writer, Tertullian, said that “the blood of the martyrs is seed.” Matthew gave up everything and then poured out his life for Christ and his Church. He gave his life “building up the Body of Christ” and the seed of his blood is still producing a mighty harvest even until this day.

***

SAINT OF THE DAY

Saint Matthew

(c. 1st Century)

Saint Matthew’s Story

Matthew was a Jew who worked for the occupying Roman forces, collecting taxes from other Jews. The Romans were not scrupulous about what the “tax farmers” got for themselves. Hence the latter, known as “publicans,” were generally hated as traitors by their fellow Jews. The Pharisees lumped them with “sinners” (see Matthew 9:11-13). So it was shocking to them to hear Jesus call such a man to be one of his intimate followers.

Matthew got Jesus in further trouble by having a sort of going-away party at his house. The Gospel tells us that many tax collectors and “those known as sinners” came to the dinner. The Pharisees were still more badly shocked. What business did the supposedly great teacher have associating with such immoral people? Jesus’ answer was, “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ I did not come to call the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:12b-13). Jesus is not setting aside ritual and worship; he is saying that loving others is even more important.

No other particular incidents about Matthew are found in the New Testament.

Reflection

-----------

From such an unlikely situation, Jesus chose one of the foundations of the Church, a man others, judging from his job, thought was not holy enough for the position. But Matthew was honest enough to admit that he was one of the sinners Jesus came to call. He was open enough to recognize truth when he saw him. “And he got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9b).

Saint Matthew is the Patron Saint of:

Accountants

Actors

Bankers

Bookkeepers

Tax collectors

Taxi Drivers

***

【Build your Faith in Christ Jesus on #dailyscripturereadingsgroup 📚: +256 751 540 524 .. Whatsapp】

[sarahjtv]

BNHA Chapter 327 Spoiler Analysis: Home Sweet Home

OH MY GOD, GUYS!!!  DEKU GETS A BATH!!!! 🎉🛁 🧼   My broccoli boy finally gets squeaky clean, gets some sleep, and we finally get some R&R time with the Class 1-A kids.  It’s not close to the happy-go-lucky days of old, but it’s some time with the kids nonetheless.  I’m glad Horikoshi put some heart and humor in this chapter because god knows we needed it.  But, let’s be real, this is the calm before the storm:

The chapter starts off with what everyone and Horikoshi has been wanting for Deku since he went on his mission: A motherfuckin’ bath 🛀 🧼🛁!   Kaminiari and Kirishima lead the Class 1-A boys to carry Deku into their side of the UA Alliance bathhouse (looks real nice btw) and give him a good power-wash.  The whole sequence is very comical!  The boys are rushing in and poor Deku has this O_O face on him like “what is happening?” 😂 We also see some of the boys butt naked 😳  It’s clear that Horikoshi had fun drawing this thing and it was fun to read 💚

Bakugo is with them of course and you can actually see his scars from when Shigaraki stabbed him.  He’s not bleeding, but you can see those scar patches on his skin.  I’m curious of how fan artist are going to draw him from now on.  I would like to see that fan art 👀

There’s also some bubble sfx coving Bakugo’s crotch and a translator said it might say dick or penis.  I’m curious what the officials will say.

But, Bakugo being Bakugo is still aggressive towards his classmates.  More playfully than before, but still.  He reminds everyone that he still intends on being the best there is and that everyone is still his rivals (also friends, Bakugo).  HE EVEN MAKES AN ATTEMPT TO CALL DEKU IZUKU!  LIKE HE ALMOST SAID “DEKU” BUT HE CHANGED IT TO IZUKU AT THE LAST MINUTE!  AND DEKU SAYS THAT CALLING HIM DEKU IS JUST FINE LIKE THAT ANGER THAT ORIGINATED FROM THE NICKNAME ISN’T THERE ANYMORE AND IT’S A FREINDLY NICKNAME BKDK FRIENDSHIP GROWTH YOU LOVE TO SEE IT 🧡💚  

After Deku’s bath, he’s sitting in the commons talking to the rest of Class 1-A.  Well, most of them.  Mina tells Deku that Ochako and a few other students went to bed after everything became ok again.  So, I definitely didn’t see Tsuyu, and it looks like Shoji, Aoyama, and Hagakare weren’t in this chapter either.  Ochako I understand; her speech must’ve been emotionally taxing.  Aoyama and Hagakare are the top suspects for being the traitor in the fandom and this isn’t helping their cases.  I don’t know about Tsuyu and Shoji though.  They’re both mutant-types, but characters like Ojiro or mutant-like people like Jiro, Mina or Tokoyami didn’t get outcasted.  Horikoshi did hint that Shoji would be getting something soon.  But, I really am just speculating here.

Now that Deku’s back, everyone has questions for him.  Though I understand why, this has gotta be overwhelming for Deku.  At least they’re not mad at him for hiding OFA.  They seem very understanding actually.

Then my ❄️🔥 boy, Shoto Todoroki, comes in all handsome right out of the baths 💙  He’s drying his right side while you can see a steam cloud on his left.  So, it is canon that Shoto drys himself naturally with his heat. His entrance is so pretty that even Mineta’s questioning it (shut up, Mineta, you’ll never be as beautiful as him).  And yes, I might be a Shoto simp, don’t judge me I see y’all too 👀

Anyway, Shoto asks everyone to let Deku sleep since that was pretty much the whole reason they brought him back.  Problem is, Deku can’t because he really needs to apologize to All Might for abandoning him.  AND AFTER HE SAYS THAT THERE’S A DETAILED PANEL OF SHOTO POINTING TO ALL MIGHT LIKE “UH, MIDORIYA? HE’S RIGHT THERE” AND ALL MIGHT LOOKING FROM THE WINDOW LIKE A HORROR VILLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE 😭

All Might comes in and apologizes to Deku for not being able to support him when he needed it, but Deku says that All Might support him more than enough.  Mina also scolds All Might for not saying anything when he left.  She wants All Might to apologize to everyone for that.  Though I’m glad Deku and All Might have reconciled (I honestly thought that last convo between them was going to be THE LAST for a hot minute), Mina has a point.  All Might did bail on all of them without any warning.  Kinda messed up in general.

All Might apologizes and he is going to fight with everyone regardless of his physical state so that he can see that flame continue to shine.  However, he warns the kids that they got info on the villains and that the final decisive battle is coming soon.  If the whole “Final Arc” thing hasn’t been hammered into your head, there you go.  I’m also glad that Stain’s speech did end up motivating All Might further.  Who knew?

So, All Might is off to help Endeavor since he’s got unfinished business to take care of.  But, the kids are wondering why Endeavor (and probably Hawks) isn’t entering UA entirely yet.  Shot reminds them that Endeavor is still connected to Dabi and that his presence alone would cause more discourse.  People’s minds can’t change that easily.  Shoto of all people would know.  

As Deku FINALLY SLEEPS 💤 and Shoto puts a blanket over him (possibly warmed by his left side 🔥) 💙💚 Shoto acknowledges how his presence might be making people anxious too even though it’s not his fault at all (thank you, Kirishima for doubling down on this btw ❤️🪨).  But, things are different and Shoto’s going to show that so that everyone can be at ease like he wants as a hero.  There’s even this sweet small smile on his beautiful face as he says this.  He’s grown so much and he’s pretty to boot I love him so much *HANDS IN FACE* 💙❄️🔥 

EVEN KIRISHIMA’S CRYING FROM HOW MANLY SHOTO IS I LOVE THESE KIDS!!!!

And now Jiro steps up and says her piece.  That she knows how hard it is to convince everyone to change their minds for the better.  Like with those two critics from the Culture Fest.  Even so, they accomplished this before, so she thinks they can do it again.  She even gathers all the band members to emphasize on this.  I love how Jiro uses her earphone jacks to rally the band and how she literally drags Bakugo by the shirt for a cute group shot.  None of these kids are afraid of Bakugo anymore LOL 😂!  Also, Momo is the tallest out of all of them in this line up shot (except for Bakugo who’s still being dragged on the ground).  I think she’s roughly 5ft 6-7 inches?  She’s the tallest of the girls I know that, but damn.  She towers all of them.  Even me...  She’s also very pretty in this shot and it’s her birthday as I’m posting this, so happy b-day Momo ❤️

And we get a beautiful panel of Jiro leading everyone to make sure that they’ll go beyond with making everything better than it was before.  We get a nice group shot of the rest of the class agreeing with her with a smile including Shoto with a small one (did I mention that I love him?) 💙💙💙 And Deku’s in the center still sleeping away.  I hope he has good dreams *kisses forehead*💚  And go Jiro for stepping up to the plate too 💜!  All these kids have grown so much.  There is a light at the end of the tunnel. 

Finally, the last pages show Endeavor, Hawks, and Best Jeanist going somewhere, maybe Tartarus.  They got info out of Dr. Ujiko via polygraph and the Nomu Research Group at Central Hospital.  They predict that they have 2 months until Shigaraki’s ready to go again, so they’ll need 1 month of preparation.  But, the info Stain gave All Might gave them more info.  His letter ended up being a personal letter to All Might (Stain really is that nuts...), but there was a microchip in the blade Stain left containing the security records from Tartarus.  It’s not stated how this info affected the mission at hand, but it sounds like it has to do something with the time frame.  So, I’m curious if they have less time to prepare or more?  Given how this is the Final Arc, Imma say less.

Finally, the teaser asks “How are the villains moving?”  I wonder if that means we’re switching to the villain’s next week.  I would love to hang out with the kids more, but I would also like to know what our villains are up to.  Like, where the hell is Himiko Toga?  Is Spinner still questioning shit?  What happened to Mr. Compress after he mauled himself to help Shigaraki and the others escape?  Also I think we need more info on this dude’s backstory given he’s the grandson of the famous Robin Hood villain who’s name definitely didn’t escape me... 😐  Is Dabi laughing his ass off from the utter chaos he started?  Is AFO still smiling like the evil mastermind he is?  Is Shigaraki as crispy as he was earlier?  I was going to ask about Twice but... 😭

So, yeah!  Love this chapter.  Really good transition chapter into whatever happens next.  I’m kinda sad we didn’t see Deku fight off more past villains during his vigilante days.  We got Muscular and Overhaul and I think that’s it?  Didn’t see any of Overhaul’s minions or that teeth-blade villain (Fish-something?; he broke out, but we haven’t seen him since) or Re-Destro or his goons.  I don’t count as Gentle or LaBrava as villains anymore and they were never truly evil to begin with.  Regardless, it was a really cool arc to see a more dark side of Deku.  I’m really glad Horikoshi made great use of his bunny hood and metal mask finally.  Deku really did look demonic for some time.  Also, seeing Deku badass is always a plus.  And seeing the deconstruction of hero society and the possible reconstruction of it was really good too.  Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, unfortunately, but we can do our best to make it that way.

I’m also glad that we finally got our kids back in top form.  Not just being heroes, but being teenagers too.  They all had great moments especially Iida, Ochako, and now Shoto as they should.  But, Bakugo’s apology was peak for me.  Over 320 chapters of development and build-up lead to that moment and it really is one of the best in the series.  It lives in my head rent free.

So, we got 1-2 months in-manga-time until what is probably the final battle of the series.  God, I can’t believe we’re actually nearing the end of this series.  I started reading it back in 2018 when shit was rough for me. I found this series after listening to the music and reading the hype around it.  I watched the show then I read the manga and it really helped me.  Saved me from a dark place actually.  I will miss this series when it’s done and I will be greatly for the joy Horikoshi has gifted us.  I’ll try to save the farewells for later.  I’d say this series has at least 1-1 1/2 years to go.

Me @ the kids and All Might: