#garry wills

[churchblogmatics-blog]

Books for spiritual formation

Books that have left an indelible mark on my understanding of God or the Christian faith in some way. My spiritual development is unfinished, so this list is unfinished - I'm always open to suggestions

Soren Kierkegaard

The Sickness Unto Death - Explained how sin works psychologically, illustrates how it can be its own punishment

Works of Love - What it means to love, what it costs, what it gives us

Fear and Trembling - What faith means, its miraculous nature

Karl Barth

Evangelical Theology - What theology actually means, how the gospel is good news

The Epistle to the Romans - Shows the need for continual reformation of thought within the church, introduced (to me) the idea of God's freedom in communication to man

Church Dogmatics II.2 - Election is good news! It is God willing to choose humanity despite sin - universal reconciliation can and should be hoped for

The Journal of John Woolman

What undying commitment to justice means, what it looks like

Martin Luther King Jr

Letter from a Birmingham Jail - Made me understand how Romans 13:1 can be integrated into radical politics

A Gift of Love - Brought to life 1 John 4:20

A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving

A narrative illustration of unwavering faith

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas Kempis

What we're saved to, salvation has a telos

Flannery O'Connor

Wise Blood - Life without Christ, the perils of sola scriptura

A Good Man is Hard to Find - Shows grace as an intrusive lived experience

Marilynne Robinson

Gilead novels (Gilead, Home, Lila) - Rich illustration of Imago Dei

When I Was a Child I Read Books - Bolstered my understanding of the 8th commandment (reading with charitable intent, in interactions with others in life and on the page)

What Are We Doing Here? - Illustrates what the glory of God means in daily experience

Garry Wills

What Paul Meant - Paul and Jesus were of a unified mind, stop reading Paul as a bible thumper, start reading him as a man who loved dearly and wrote with urgency on live issues

Religio Medici, Thomas Browne

Ecumenism is a beautiful thing and should be strived for in all Christian communities

The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton

The gospel brings peace of mind and soul, searching for peace is a valid epistemology

Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt

Wickedness is not inevitable, it arises from moral and intellectual sluggardliness

The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Learn to love the church, it is the arms of Christ; great exegesis of the Sermon on the Mount; great companion to the book of James

White Evangelical Racism, Anthea Butler

Evangelicalism did not emerge from theological first principles, it is a diseased expression of the faith informed by racism at the root

Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Kobes du Mez

Evangelicalism did not emerge from theological first principles, it is a diseased expression of the faith informed by misogyny at the root

C.S. Lewis

The Great Divorce - Eternity begins now, sin is its own punishment and grace is its own reward

Till We Have Faces - God has compassion and patience for those who wrestle with him, to summon the boldness to contend with God can be a blessed thing

The Courage to Be, Paul Tillich

The dynamics of Christian faith explained in the abstract

As I Lay Dying, William Faulkner

The thinness of intellectual assent, the richness of faith

The Denial of Death, Ernest Becker

Explanation of the existential need faith meets in the language of continental philosophy

Confessions, St. Augustine

The most theologically and philosophically rich testimony besides that of St. Paul

An Unpublished Essay on the Trinity, Jonathan Edwards

What is the trinity, why is it important

John Milton

Areopagitica - Enforced virtue means nothing

Paradise Lost - Human beings are worth saving even if they aren't deserving of God's favor

Civilization and its Discontents, Sigmund Freud

Illustrates the necessity of grace by exploring a world through the assumption of its absence (excellent foil to A Gift of Love)

[alanshemper]

[9kmovies-biz]

ChatGPT's AI Is a Great Tool–You’re Just Using It Wrong

Illustration: maxuser (Shutterstock) It doesn’t take much to get ChatGPT to make a factual mistake. My son is doing a report on U.S. presidents, so I figured I’d help him out by looking up a few biographies. I tried asking for a list of books about Abraham Lincoln and it did a pretty good job: Screen capture by Jonathan May., CC BY-ND Number 4 isn’t right. Garry Wills famously wrote “Lincoln at…

[ruinpowder]

ib is such an evil game it’s like “here are two characters who care deeply about the protagonist and are willing to do anything to escape with her. one of them has to die a horrific death. you cannot save them both. choose wisely :)”

[doodlenoodleboi]

WELCOME SMALL FANDOM ENJOYERS!

Gonna be writing for my less talked about anime and manga babes maybe even cartoons and other media think of this of a master list of sorts. I will have characters from well known media in here but l it will just be about those characters because we don't get much exclusive material about our boys and possibly girls, they them's as well won't be excluded.

Characters/Shows/ Games/ Media etc... like:

- Shino Aburame - Naruto

- Jack the Ripper - Black Clover

- Characters in General - Hajime no Ippo

- Decim - Death Parade

- Garry - Ib

- Micah Yujin - ERROR143

- Cove - Our Life

- Sal - Sally face

Don't be shy to make a request I do prefer that you don’t it anonymous so that I can tag you maybe even become friends!

I’m not saying that I will exclusively make content for that purpose, but I will make a lot of my content based off of that since I cannot find that type of content!

I’m almost willing to write for every fandom and every character. If I’ve not watched the show or consumed the media, I’ll try my best to do research on it! Or even watch the show or consume media. Who knows I just might find my new hyper fixation!

Updates: I ALSO WRITE FOR POC PEOPLE & I WANTED EVERYONE TO KNOW THAT AS ONE SO DON’T BE SHY.

English isn’t my first languages guys so there might be a lot of typos.

[bubbles-for-all-of-us]

hi! could you maybe write reader x sleep token and how they met?

ps. i love all your works!! 🫶

Thank you for your kind words lovie🤍✨

Vessel

He’s a pretty calm, not at all in-your-face kind of guy. No longer big on parties and going out so his bubble of meeting new people had shrunk. So I think you two would meet at an odd space. Like a grocery store. Late at night. Not too long since it would have to close. He would be out to buy a snack after playing video games with the boys. Loving the quiet aura of the store so late.

That’s until he hears light curses. Stopping ever so slightly. They aren’t loud but the person is not enjoying the late night shop as much as he was. A part of Vessel just wants to turn and go check out. But another part is urging him to round the corner and at least catch a glimpse as to what’s going on.

That’s when he sees you, practically climbing the shelf as you try to reach a box of instant noodles. Usually, Vessel walks past things like this but no one is there to help, and the fact that the shelf wobbles slightly has him reaching his hand out to steady the construction. You jump back instantly, the tall frame lurking over you. But then you’re met with the most beautiful blue eyes. “You need a hand?”, his voice is horse since he practically talked to no one the whole day.

You nod, backing away. “If you don’t mind”, you mutter, “I swear the owner put them higher on purpose”. Vessel simply reached out. The top shelf did not give him any trouble as he grabbed the noodles, offering them to you. “Would be extremely rude if he did”, he mused, letting his eyes drift back to your frame. The messy bun. The oversized hoodie. “Guess you’re my knight in shining armor, huh”, chuckling slightly, you extended your hand towards him, “Y/n”. “Vess”, he chimed in, his much bigger palm drowning your hand.

“Do you want some noodles?”, you asked, watching him frown slightly, “Now?”, surely you weren’t inviting him into your home at midnight of the night. “I could be a serial killer you know?”, he stated, raising his eyebrows. “Well, a beautiful death I would die”, you shrugged. “Reach for one more pack, I will treat you to pot noodles Y/n style”. And the rest was history.

III

No, I just can’t get over this man in vintage fairs and shit. I can’t. I will die on this hill. So in my mind, you meet at a little thrift shop open fair thingy. He often goes or more like goes as often as his schedule allows him but he has his favorite sellers and they have some decent pieces.

He’s off to his favorite spot when he sees you standing next to the stand. Looking over a vintage player. The green case glistening in the sun. “One thousand and I won’t go lower”, the guy shrugs. iii watches your face fall as you shake your head. “Come on now, Garry, you’re ripping the girl off”, iii cuts in, making you glance his way and fuck if you’re not the most beautiful girl he has ever seen. “You and I both know that shit doesn’t even work”, he crosses his hands over his chest making Garry frown. “You’re out for my throat today lad”, the old man grunted, “I won’t go lower than six hundred”.

“Deal”, iii shakes on it. “Hey, I saw that first”, you huff, “And I’m also willing to pay six hundred, make it six fifty”, you cross your hands over your chest. “The lady is playing fair”, Garry rubbed his palms. “Six seventy and I’m buying it for you, sweetheart, so don’t make the dent in my wallet even bigger”, iii mused before winking your way, leaving you standing there speechless.

ii

Yeah, you got the guy distracted through the entirety of the show. Never had he been so entranced with someone in the crowd. He caught a glimpse of you before the show had even started. Standing alone by the barricades as you gazed at the stage. It was the fact that you had no phone on you maybe. Just there to sway to the beats of the music. Maybe the fact that you knew most drum parts by heart it seemed as if you taped against the metal with your fingers.

So there wasn’t even a question as he leaned over the edge to hand his drumstick to you. You watched him in surprise, clearly not believing that he would do that. Almost immediately turning to give one of them to the girl next to you. “Not this one”, ii cut in, stopping you from giving the one with a paper wrapped around it, “This one is for you only”. He could see your cheeks getting bright red even in the dim light.

“You’re a fucking awesome drummer”, you shouted over the crowd. “And you’re really pretty”, he winked, “don’t loose that”, he pointed to the paper before jumping back on stage. You kept your hand wrapped around it till you walked out of the stadium, gasping when you saw a phone number scribbled there.

Ivy

Look, he might be all cool and sassy but this guy ain’t that forward when it comes to girls. He was always shy and man did he hate making the first move. Not that his schedule left much space for casual dating. “Nice bike”, Ivy turned his head to the sound of the voice behind him. Glad he was sat and with a helmet on because he would have been red as a beet. “Ah, thanks?”, he muttered, pulling the visor up. He had stopped by a local bookstore to buy iii his birthday gift. “Sorry, it’s probably so strange but I just saw you and I like bikes and…”, you rambled on, “No, actually forget it, I look stupid”, you clasped a hand over your face before turning away from him.

Ivy watched you for a moment before shouting, “Hey, hold up, you want to go for a ride?”, the words had left his mouth before he had even realized it. But one thing was clear he didn’t regret it. “You don’t have to”, you shook your head, “Don’t need no pity ride”.

“I actually never backpacked with anyone”, Ivy shrugged, “It might be fun”. You blinked slowly, “Are you being serious?”, “I don’t have a helmet on me now but we can meet up tomorrow?”, he suggested, “A sunset ride?” You couldn’t hide the smile any longer, “I would love that”. You couldn’t really see his face but from the way his eyes glistened you could assume he was smiling. “Give me your phone and I will pick you up”, he offered and once again the rest was history.

[marsprincess889]

THE PRINCESS DIARIES - coming into your power.

Astrological analysis with nakshatras

The princess diaries, 1 and 2, are forever on the list of my favorite movies. Girls all over the world feel for Mia and I'm no exception, I almost always cry during certain scenes and I'm amazed again and again by how relatable and real she is, by how those movies speak to young girls.

I've decided to break down the main themes in the two movies by analyzing nakshatras of the people involved.

A quick recap of what the story is about: Mia is a 15 year old teenager living in San Francisco with her mother. She's clumsy, awkward and has no self esteem. One day, her estranged grandmother comes to visit her from Europe to tell her that she's the only legitimate heir to rule a small country- Genovia.

Director of the movies, Garry Marshall has Ketu in Magha. Magha is about ancestors, bloodlines and it's also associated with royalty (Magha begins the signs of Leo). Ketu in a chart represents a person's primal creative energy. This explains why he was drawn to a story about royalty. One interesting fact to note is that Gary Marshall made two very iconic movies (Pretty Woman and Runaway Bride) starring Julia Roberts who has been a kind of muse to him and who has Magha moon. This is also a pattern with directors and actors, one example I can think of is Kirsten Dunst (Ashlesha moon, Purva Ashadha Ketu) being a muse to Sofia Coppola (Purva Ashadha moon, Ashlesha Ketu).

Anyways, let's get back to The Princess Diaries and analyze the heart of the two movies- the relationship between Mia and her grandmother, queen Clarisse.

Anne Hathaway - Hasta moon, Vishakha sun, Jyeshta rising

Julie Andrews - Vishakha moon, Hasta sun, Uttara Phalguni rising

SPOILER ALERT

Part 1

Hasta- strong females

The second movie's main theme is about female empowerment and independence. When the parliament refuses to let Mia rule without a husband, she has 30 days to arrange a marriage and she's willing to do it, just because she wants to rule so much that's she's ready to make such a sacrifice. At the last second she breaks down at her wedding, unable to be betray herself and finds courage inside her to make the parliament change their minds. She succeds and becomes queen without a husband.

Hasta is all about female empowerment but unlike Bharani, it's in a non-sexual, celibate way. Hasta, as a woman, completely rejects almost all male influence and is capable of being self-reliant, only opening up to rare men who she deems worthy. Hasta is the female that does not need a man and in that way, is a safe and empowering place for women.

There's a scene in the second movie where Mia stops the parade to defend a small girl from boys who were bullying her. She tells her how to be a princess and empowers her, letting her and the other kids join the parade. During the monologue at the end, when Mia is talking to the parliament at her wedding, we see women accross the country intently listening to her on the television, shushing the men . 😆

Part 2

Vishakha - joining opposites

Like Hasta, both Anne Hathaway and Julie Andrews have Vishakha in their luminaries. Vishakha nakshatra is about joining opposites. It begins in the sign of Libra (partnerships, agreements, relationships, compromise) with its last quarter being in Scorpio (death, transformation, occult). Vishakha is ruled by the gods Indra and Agni- the lightning and fire gods. It's about energized ebthuasiasm, cultivating something over time, about using the pent up energy or anger. It's another name is Radha ("the gift", hence the next nakshatra being Anuradha- "after the gift".)

"The gift" is not just good, it can also be unwelcome, like in Mia's case, when she was angered by the revelation that she's a princess. Queen Clarisse and Mia are very different from each other, but neither had a choice but to compromise and agree to a bargain. They learn to appreciate their differences and embrace their similarities, thus, joining opposite forces.

They do have misunderstandings, but that's part of all relationships and eventually they bond deeply as they realize they have the same goal. Vishakha is also connected to anger and the little outbursts they both have definitely show that. One great example is when Mia ruins Lana's (her bully's) outfit and calls her a jerk in front of everyone after always just silently ignoring her remarks.

Joining opposites in this movie is not just about Mia and the Queen, it's also about the two cultures, also about the first movie being a high school drama as well as a fairytale for young girls.

Part 3

Jyeshta - from underdog to the ruler

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."

-Mia's father to her in a letter

To me, Jyeshta is connected to the underdog who succeeds despite all odds. Jyeshta 's power is to "rise, conquer and gain courage in battle". It's the stage of intense competition. Its deity is Indra- lightning god and the king of the gods, like Vishakha. We see other kids bully Mia in the first film but she slowly places herself above it, making her point (by taking her little revenge on Lana) and then not engaging with them anymore, as she realizes her own self- worth.

A major point in the movie is when she decides not to run away despite being scared to speak to the public, showing her true courage.

Besides Indra- the king of the gods, another deity associated with Jyeshta is Dhumavati- the hag goddess who is eternally hungry. Because of this, I think Jyeshta is associated with grandmothers and our relationship to them. I personally have exalted Ketu in Jyeshta and I was practically raised by my father's late mother (unlike my sibling, mind you. I'm the eldest) and I still have a close relationship with my mother's mother. Mia, played by Jyeshta ascendant Anne Hathaway, also has a very special relationship with her grandmother.

So, in the end, the bullied underdog became a princess and eventually- a queen.

Some bonuses:

Uttara Phalguni is associated with gaining wealth and privileges from partnerships. Uttara Phalguni ascendant Julie Andrews playing queen Clarisse, who became a royal by marriage, confirms that.

Heather Mattarazo (Lily) and Anne Hathaway were born only a few days apart, hence their charts being similar and them playing best friends.

So, this is it. If you found this interesting, please, interact with me, like, comment, reblog. Take care 🤍

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Gary and John head cannons x an overly chill high ranking demon lord.

Garry doesn't know how he summoned the reader, but is instantly feeling "on a scale from one to ten, my friend, you're fucked!"

The reader is of a drastically higher rank in hell, and the only reason why they were summoned was cause "why not?"

Gary cannot bring himself to boss around the reader cause he thinks he'll get killed, or worse, turned into the reader's personal play thing, but na. Reader was bored, and likes giving demons of lesser power severe anxiety.

When reader meets John, they're barely effected by the cross, and only slightly annoyed by the pain of the exorcism. Beyond telling him to scram, reader doesn't even attack. They're just glad to be out of hell, chilling.

Gary Miller

He was getting frustrated with John vanquishing so many demons

So he pulls out all the stops, sacrificing a thrall or two (or ten) to bring about a stronger demon to further weaken his faith.

However, Gary accidentally summons one who's a bit TOO powerful for the cult to contain: you, a demon overlord leagues above his rank.

"Astaroth, what a surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Suddenly he feels like he made a huge mistake considering your reputation in Hell.

Your power easily surpassed his own, and he fears what you'd do if he explained why he called upon you..or found out that he never intended to do that at all.

The worst case scenario? You killed him and decide to rule the EOSD as your own cult.

An even worse scenario? He became your "pet" and you force him to watch you take over his mission.

Either one is horrible, so he tries making up an excuse to justify the ritual.

"Your Wickedness, there is a man..a holy man who stands in the way of our great plan. His faith is in shambles, but he is persistent and-"

"So you thought wasting my time was the best course of action?" You huff, tapping your foot. "Huh, and I was starting to like you, too...but now you just sound pitiful and desperate. You couldn't kill this one man yourself?"

He kneels, hands raised to you in a show of complete submission, completely terrified. "No, we can easily handle him, I...I just thought you would like to partake in the Profane Sabbath after we DO kill him and-"

"Woah, slow down there, Azzy...no need to look so petrified." You laugh gently, which confuses him. "Not many have been able to replicate my summoning ritual as well as you did...so well done. I needed the vacation from Hell, anyways. Now rise."

He gets up, wondering why you did a total 180.....until he remembers you just got power-trips from time to time.

You always liked to playfully threaten lesser demons out of pure boredom, but never actually acted on those threats.

So to realize you fooled him, too, left Gary extremely humbled.

Still, he's willing to whatever you say and he won't give you orders.

And he sure as hell will make sure no cult member tries bossing you around (even though you won't kill any of them).

John Ward

You showed up one night while he's wandering the forest, reminiscing over his failures to save Amy and what he could have done differently that night....

And you put the fear of fucking satan into this poor man just by standing near a tree, not even doing anything.

Even so, he freaks out upon recognizing you as a demonic overlord, holding up his cross with two shaking hands.

He didn't know why the lord was testing him so much..he had absolutely 0 strength to combat a demon of your status. But still, he tries exorcising you.

"Father, you should know that it only feels like a small itch to me."

"....wh-what?"

"Yes, we'll be here all day if you keep doing that-"

"Then I will stand here all day if I must!" He shouts despite the tremble in his voice, refusing to put down that silly stick as if it's gonna suddenly become golden again.

But it's still copper, barely inflicting any pain on you.

'And Astaroth says this is the man who's disrupting his mission?'

"I will not surrender. My faith is not weak!"

"You're right, it's not. But my tough skin cannot be easily penetrated by exorcisms. If anything, you're only annoying me more. So it would be wise to stop doing that."

Surprisingly, John listens after careful consideration, exhausted and almost in tears. He thought you were going to kill him or punish him for trying something as stupid as challenging an overlord.

Maybe you were sent to him as punishment for-

"All I ask of you, John Ward, is that you leave me be. I was just admiring the Earth's forests." You pat a tree trunk. "I suppose God did a few things right. Hate to see these beauties wither away into nothingness.."

Although he's shellshocked that you, a demon, would spare his life, he's quick to scurry back to his sedan.

He hasn't seen you since, and he thanks whoever intervened from above that he got away from you.

[grox-empire]

Hey Mutuals (and random people who happen to see this) do any of you guys have experience rigging models for VRchat and would any of you be fine with attempting to rig a Spore model. I can supply tutorials if needed

I've been wanting to play as my Sona in VRchat for a while now but I don't have any experience rigging or using blender so I'm wondering if anyone would be able to help me out??

Much appreciated! I'd literally be willing to pay someone for this if possible ESPECIALLY if they also have experience w/ source modding since I'd like to play as my sona in Garry's mod as well.

Have a dancing Alistair gif as compensation (Also the model I want rigged. Btw)

[harveybwabbit92]

[R/n and Tregear are looking around another abandoned lab in the middle of the night, this one seems to have specialize in energy weapons and production before being axed, at least that what R/n's notes said from hacking the sites background info.]

R/n: What are we looking for again?

Tregear: Backup parts for my labs cold fusion reactor.

[R/n nods and looks around and notices a terminal left over from when it was active, curious as to what was on it she opened it up and hooked it's power cord up to Mjollnir that gave it the juice to turn on, there wasn't really anything exciting; just left over staff gossip from when the lab was active- Someone name Garry was stealing lunches and Sandra was sleeping with the directors wife etc... R/n was going to shut it down when she found a small journal entry]

([Researcher: There's a curious energy swirling about the lab, though I have yet to identify the source. The air tastes of copper. And I have lost several teet ---ERROR FILE CORRUPTED---])

R/n:....Hey, I'm gonna wait outside.

Tregear: Why?

R/n: Well, like all humans I'm not exactly a fan of radiation poisoning...

Tregear, stares at her perplexed: You aren't exactly human anymore.

R/n: Yes, but we don't know how far that extends to and I'm not willing to find out, if you need me I'll be sleeping in the truck.

[el-ee-6920]

CHAPTER ONE IS COMPLETE

my hands hurt :'c

anyways i have finally completed the first chapter of

"A new friend" !!!!!

to the grand total of TWO people who would read my crappy writing, thank you! and to those who simply scrolled by, thank you too!!!!

now, i want to send a personal thank you to @semisolidmind, @maiko-coy, and @hyenaa-euphoria, for being the major trio of inspiration for the specific dogday i have in mind for this little thing. i hope to not annoy them with my stupid little google doc, (oh god im sorry if i am) but still. thank you!!

also please read this little tidbit if you can!

again, thank you all to anyone who is willing to read my shitty writing, i have no training nor natural skills at story telling so please bear with me. im just an amateur.

thank you!!

(also im still waiting on my AO3 invitation to come in, so once that comes in ill post there from then on)

[churchblogmatics-blog]

Books for political formation

Books that have left an indelible mark on my understanding of politics some way. My political development is unfinished, so this list is unfinished - I'm always open to suggestions

Capital Vol. 1, Karl Marx - unmasks the inherently exploitative social relations embedded within capitalism, critiques capitalism as ineffective/self-destructive (not just immoral)

Capital and Ideology, Thomas Piketty - there is no such thing as a "natural" social order, examines how inequality regimes have emerged and been justified across the world throughout the past 1000 years of history

Nixon Agonistes, Garry Wills - captures a cross-section of American politics over a short period, probing insights into the psychology driving political affinities, documents the evolution of the word "liberal" in American political discourse

What Are We Doing Here?, Marilynne Robinson - provides a constructive, anti-Hobbesian view of society

Poverty, by America, Matthew Desmond - shows the extent to which poverty in America is a policy choice, harm reduction is possible without revolution

The Code of Capital, Katharina Pistor - a cursory overview of the legal strategies to insulate capital from any competing legal claims

Eichmann in Jerusalem, Hannah Arendt - laziness and insistence on self-exoneration is often the psychological engine behind human wickedness and injustice over and above malice

Illness as Metaphor / AIDS and Its Metaphors, Susan Sontag - shows how deeply ingrained prejudicial views of disability is within our collective language and psyche

Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West, Cormac McCarthy - violence has never been excised from politics, the invisibility of violence to the bourgeois is an illusion

Lysistrata, Aristophanes - unmasks the nature of gender politics despite its operation behind closed doors, imagines a project of mass organizing along gender lines

Civilization and Its Discontents, Sigmund Freud - civility is unfortunately a tenuous prospect

Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Will Arbery - excoriates conservative psychological pathologies

Martin Luther King Jr

A Gift of Love - justice is love in public

Letter From a Birmingham Jail - there are contexts where civil disobedience is mandatory for the Christian, solidarity with the marginalized is always mandatory

The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot - progress is not inevitable

William Faulkner

Absalom, Absalom! - racism is an inexorable part of American capitalism, imperialism cannot be stopped until we are able to free ourselves of our disingenuous national myths

The Sound and the Fury - nostalgia makes you an idiot, unable to understand your present or to predict your future

Herman Melville

Billy Budd, Sailor - history is unavoidably malleable

Moby-Dick - a true-believer demagogue is worse than a cynically disingenuous one, democracy can be an ineffective antidote to a tyrant

Franz Kafka

The Trial - the very procedures instilled to protect (or at least mitigate) injustice can also exacerbate it

The Metamorphosis - modernity interferes with our ability to see and relate to others as human, liberalism's self-advocating and individualistic ethic destroys us from the inside out because it forecloses our ability to recognize this

John Milton

Areopagitica - freedom of speech is as much about the individual's freedom to render judgment on speech as it is about the speakers ability to speak, the problem with censorship is the top-down nature of it, not in the governed people's discernment of quality or value

Paradise Lost - similar to Birmingham Jail, the character of Abdiel represents righteous opposition to Earthly principalities

The Autobiography of Malcolm X - the psychological, spiritual, emotional toll that being black in America takes on a person, black empowerment is a necessary step towards black liberation

Ursula LeGuin

The Lathe of Heaven - structural reform can only be undertaken democratically, no change is without trade-offs so changes must be broadly accepted and supported by the populace who will inevitably bear the unforeseen burden that results

The Ones Who Walk Away From the Omelas - shows the extent to which our brains are broken by imperialistic thinking, exploitation is a necessary feature of the worlds we are capable of imagining

[theanticool]

Ian Garry vs MVP really has potential to be one of the worst fights ever. Just two stringy boys staring at one another from 8 feet away with the occasional leg kick thrown in for the illusion of action. God, I wish it was 5 rounds.

It’s such a frustrating ass fight because the two guys have basically fought perfectly tailored opponents to maximize their gifts up to this point but both have still turned in some real stinkers. Garry, as he’s been exiled from top camps and faced better competition, has become less potent offensively, trying to fight “safe” instead of imposing his will. And MVP is only willing to engage a handful of times a fight for fear of extended grappling and being stuck in the pocket. MVP just had the misfortune of fighting Douglas Lima in the last fight he was ever offensively potent in.

[mikhailwrites]

Waiting for Connection 8 / Ghost x Soap NerdAU

Ghost is retired and plays milsim videogame. Soap is still in the force and sometimes plays that same videogame...

This is a bit of a mid-chapter, there will be a full chapter today as well - Soap and Ghost finally meeting face to face - but this was just... way too fun to write not to share.

Previous chapter | AO3

“Sooo,” Gary drags the chair closer, causing it to screech on the floor, earning several annoyed grunts from the other soldiers in the rec room. Soap looks up from his sketchbook, eyebrow questioningly raised. “Gonna confess, or do I have to work for it?”

“What are you on about, Roach?” Soap puts the sketchbook down before reaching for the mug on the table. He takes a sip, grimacing at the taste of the coffee.

“Ghost,” Roach clarifies.

Soap sighs; he should’ve seen this coming. “What about him?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Gary stares at him in disbelief, “how about you being totally smitten with him? Or the fact that he seems to be equally smitten with you?”

“What the hell? What are you talking about?” Soap straightens, brows knitted together and posture clearly defensive.

“Mate…,” Gary shakes his head. “Alright. Let’s not address your obvious crush on a man you’ve never even seen.”

“Gonna see him on Saturday,” Soap says and belatedly realises he just gave Roach a bloody bazooka.

Gary stares at him for a second, wide-eyed, before his face blooms into a shit-eating grin. “Are you, now?”

Soap runs a hand through his mohawk. Well, in for a penny and all that, he thinks. “Aye. It’s along the way to Glasgow. We’re just going to grab a pint or two, and I’ll be on my way.” He doesn’t mention that he usually takes a plane to Glasgow. He is actually going out of his way to see Ghost. But Roach definitely doesn’t need to know that.

“John…,” Gary leans to John, suddenly much more serious, “when was the last time you had friends outside the military?”

“He’s ex-military,” Soap objects.

“Answer the question, Sergeant,” Roach presses on.

Soap squirms a little, gaze dropping on the table. “Before I enlisted.”

“I’m not trying to talk you out of it, mate, just… be careful, alright?”

“I’m SAS, Roach,” Soap says a little defensively. He doesn’t need Roach to babysit him.

“I’m not talking about your physical safety. Anyway��� we should also talk about that callsign of his.”

“It’s just a nickname for the game,” Soap shrugs.

“Jesus wept… remind me never to let you have my six again! You would probably shoot me in the back yourself, what with how daft you are! Look, I’ve spent one evening playing a stupid game with him to see that he owns that callsign. So either he’s a pretentious prick who took a callsign of only one of the fucking legends of SAS, or…,” Roach trails off, gesturing for Soap to draw his own conclusions.

“Yer not serious… he’s not…,” Soap shakes his head, “he can’t be…,” then he looks up at Garry with something akin to panic in his eyes. “Can he?”

Lieutenant Kyle “Gaz” Garrick was enjoying his book in the rec room in peace. Until he heard a single word uttered that dragged his attention from the words on the paper to words spoken not far from him. That word being, of course, Ghost.

Gaz doesn’t want to eavesdrop on his men, but it’s hard to let go once the callsign registers. And so he listens, and the more he hears, the harder it is to keep quiet and low-key. When Ghost asked to meet, Kyle knew something was up, especially since he was willing to come to London.

At first, Gaz thought it was just Ghost being paranoid and overly cautious about someone he had spent more than ten minutes with, which was pretty normal for Ghost. But the glint in his eyes when Gaz confirmed Soap is SAS? The momentary panic when Gaz implied Ghost likes Soap? Knowing what he knows now, Gaz can barely keep his face straight. Oh, this is going to be so much fun.

When John pauses to think whether Ghost can really be The Ghost, Kyle gets up and leaves the room. Gaz is really proud of himself because he manages to get all the way outside the building before he breaks into laughter. A bunch of recruits and some lower officers look at him with some bewilderment before scurrying away.

[mortalityplays]

I think if you tune into a broadcast by the kind of comedy troupe who are willing to perform the entirety of Breaking Bad in first person, as a 5-6 hour live theatre event, in Garry's Mod, and you are upset that they would do that, the problem lies with you and can't be cured.

[deadpresidents]

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RICHARD NIXON •Being Nixon: A Man Divided by Evan Thomas (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon by Richard Nixon (BOOK | KINDLE) •President Nixon: Alone in the White House by Richard Reeves (BOOK | KINDLE) •The Haldeman Diaries: Inside the Nixon White House by H.R. Haldeman (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Nixon, Volume 1: The Education of a Politician, 1913-1962 by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE) •Nixon, Volume 2: The Triumph of a Politician, 1962-1972 by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Nixon, Volume 3: Ruin and Recovery, 1973-1990 by Stephen E. Ambrose (BOOK | KINDLE) •Nixon Agonistes: The Crisis of the Self-Made Man by Garry Wills (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •The Final Days by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO)

GERALD FORD •An Ordinary Man: The Surprising Life and Historic Presidency of Gerald R. Ford by Richard Norton Smith (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Write It When I'm Gone: Remarkable Off-the-Record Conversations With Gerald R. Ford by Thomas M. DeFrank (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •When the Center Held: Gerald Ford and the Rescue of the American Presidency by Donald Rumsfeld (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •31 Days: Gerald Ford, the Nixon Pardon, and a Government in Crisis by Barry Werth (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •Gerald R. Ford: An Honorable Life by James Cannon (BOOK | KINDLE)

JIMMY CARTER •His Very Best: Jimmy Carter, A Life by Jonathan Alter (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •White House Diary by Jimmy Carter (BOOK | AUDIO) •President Carter: The White House Years by Stuart E. Eizenstat (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) •The Unfinished Presidency: Jimmy Carter's Journey Beyond the White House by Douglas Brinkley (BOOK | AUDIO)