#good lord the passage of time does happen

[gameraramen]

[fruitcakebro]

When Irene healed Laurance's eyes, it still wasn't a perfect healing. He has passable vision most of the time, but it's definitely not 20/20.

And not only that, he has very visible scars on his face around his eyes, because it LOOKS like someone cut his fucking eyes out while he was thrashing and screaming. Y'know, because Gene. But he can't really explain that without admitting to being a Shadowknight, so whenever someone asks under circumstance where he's trying to hide it, he just gives a different stupid answer every time. Like:

"Got into a fight with 12 angry hedgehogs."

"Ah, you haven't met my sister?"

"I misbehaved and lost my pretty privelage."

"Crows kidnapped my eyeballs and held them for ransom."

"Do you ever just get really itchy?"

"Happened when I hit puberty, y'know?"

"Cooking is hazardous."

"Too much fish."

"In my defense, it seemed like a good idea at the time."

"Oh this is standard in where I'm from. It's a rite of passage."

"Well my lord has a really mean cat-"

And he just has these prepared whenever they go anywhere. The first time it happens, Garroth starts getting prepared to step in and change the subject in case it gives them away, but then Laurance says "Oh, these? The result of a tragic doomed affair with a seamstress" in a complete fucking deadpan and then Garroth is just like 'what', and then Laurance comes up with a whole fucking story on the spot, and he just does this every time.

It's gotten to the point where every so often Dante or Nicole or Dale will ask Laurance what happened to his eyes just to see what he comes up with this week, like playing Munchausen.

[actual-changeling]

I have written many meta posts and s3-theories, and read even more, but I got hit by an idea I have not seen before. (If there is another post, please link it!)

After vibrating for an hour and losing my mind in my dms, I have no scraped together enough brain cells to present what is probably my first actual 'main-plot meta'.

Welcome to another edition of Alex's unhinged meta corner, today with a title to honour Crowley's James Bond obsession and the possibility of another heaven heist.

I give you:

From Jesus with Love - You Will Live Twice

Now, let's get right into it.

I think Neil might have told us more about the main s3 plotline in the announcement article than we previously thought. We all got stuck on 'they're not talking'—for good reason—but it is the part before that which has been bugging me ever since then.

The plans are going wrong—and this time that is a problem for earth and humanity. Turning that around, it means that whatever that plan consists of would be the way to go and beneficial for everyone, the opposite of the main plot of s1.

"They need to prevent the Second Coming (SC)" is pretty much the only and most popular idea I have seen, hundreds of fics and metas and whatnot have been written about it, but I think there's a good chance we're wrong. If we're not, well, I will honestly just be happy to be watching season 3.

Whatever the Metatron is planning will have negative consequences for everyone, or as Michael puts it: "And so… it ends. Everything ends. Time and the world is over, and we begin Eternity… forever and ever."

It sounds very much like Apocalypse #1 - Same Old Plan, same expected result, yet if we look at different interpretations of scripture we find that the SC is not entirely about complete destruction and death for all of humanity—it is about creating a new world/migrating to the kingdom of God.

This is taken from the Wikipedia article about the SC

Resurrection and life in a world to come are a direct contradiction to the result Michael is explaining—total annihilation of humanity.

Now, I am neither religious in any way nor have I ever received any sort of biblical education. Luckily, Christians seem to love talking about the bible because there are dozens of bible website to wade through. If I get anything wrong, please point it out, I have never touched a bible in my life.

So, after reading many, many quotes by a bunch of different guys, I tried to create a somewhat coherent picture of what the SC might look like based on the assumption that the end result is positive. I will talk about how they can be interpreted more in-depth later, otherwise this would turn into a string-net very fast.

Additionally, we can also see where these points overlap with the statement Jimbriel gave in the bookshop in episode three.

What is Jesus' job description?

only God knows when and how exactly it will begin/happen, no one else does, including Jesus and the Metatron

a lot of different catastrophes are mentioned or quoted as something Jesus said, like earthquakes and storms -> Jimbriel mentioned a tempest and great storms

there is also the line "All these are the beginning of birth pains." Birth pains dictate that there will be a birth—birth of the world to come perhaps?

dead people will be resurrected/leave their graves so that they too can be judged (I'd say participate in it but that sounds like the Second Coming is a summer camp activity)

there are also mentions of stars and the heavens in general falling from the sky and the sun going dark -> Jimbriel also mentions darkness as one of the signs

great lamentations, as Jimbriel says, are also a part of many different passages, with humans mourning the world as it was

the Lord will descent with the voice of an Archangel and the sound of a trumpet/the trumpet of God; the grammatical structure of that sentence seems to be interpreted differently depending on who you ask, but the voices of angels/an Archangel and some sort of trumpet are common terms

once everyone is in heaven/wherever the 'main even' will take place, a judgement call will be made for every single person in relation to the book of life, which decides whether they will be punished forever or not (one passage talks about a lake of fire and mentions it several times in a row)

And this is where it gets tricky. To figure out what the SC looks like, we first need to understand a) what the Metatron's capabilities are, b) what he has to lose, and c) what exactly would be a threat to him.

If you ask me, all of this comes down to the Metatron wanting to stay and be in power for eternity with full control over angels so he can do as he please, aka keeping the system running as it is.

We know the book of life (bol) is a thing in the Good Omens universe, whether it does what Michael said is an entirely different question. So far, we have also only got confirmation that hell collects and tortures souls—in such large amounts that they are understaffed—while heaven looks completely empty.

The Metatron runs heaven as an institution, he seems to be the highest power any of the angels have access to and the one they defer to. He refers to himself as the voice of God and combines judge, jury and executioner, making him one great celestial dictator.

From what we know of hell, they do things a lot more democratically, having different councils, dukes, and ranks that are responsible for different levels of command.

We also know that that the Metatron wants the world to end, his goals can probably be summarized as the statement Michael makes, which would leave him in charge without any opposing forces.

We also also know that he sees Crowley and Aziraphale as a threat—why exactly remains a mystery for now—and that the success of his plan hinges on having a Supreme Archangel (SA) he can control. Gabriel decided to become princess of hell and Beez' sugar baby, so he was out of the equation, and after the Armageddon disaster, I don't think he wants to risk failing because of an unfamiliarity with earth (plus, y'know, getting our two idiots away from the plan).

It's interesting to me that right at the end, he says to Aziraphale "We call it the Second Coming"—call, not it is or it will be, CALL. We know that nothing Neil writes is a coincidence, definitely not with such an important line.

Just because you CALL something a specific name doesn't mean it IS what you call it, e.g. Aziraphale calls Crowley a foul fiend when we know he very much isn't.

The Metatron is selling his plan as part of the "Great/Ineffable Plan", so any questions can be blocked by saying it's God's will, it's ineffable. Whatever his plan is, he hides it behind the concept of the Second Coming, which angels know just enough about to understand the basics without having in-depth knowledge of what exactly it entails.

It is a good fucking strategy, I'll give him that, and it WORKS because angels—even if they have doubts—do not question. They simply don't; fear of punishment and millennia of conditioning have left them in a horrible place. When they encounter something unknown, their response is "I already knew that" as to not ask questions.

Crowley questions, we know that, and Aziraphale, ohhhhh, Aziraphale ALSO questions, but he does it in a less dangerous and obvious way. The Metatron is vastly underprepared for that.

(Side note: That alone would be its own meta post, but the gist is that he questions heaven's plans and then adjusts his assumptions of what God might want to what he WANTS God to want, e.g. Job, the Arch)

To summarize everything I just said, the Metatron wants to do what Armageddon failed to do—destroy earth and the universe—so he can be supreme dictator of all remaining celestial beings and gorge himself on power.

But instead of calling it his Big Evil Plan, he calls it the Second Coming, making everyone play along without resistance.

We cycle aaaaall the way back to the sentence I quoted—the ACTUAL plans are going wrong since the Metatron's would mean total destruction.

But what is the SC supposed to be if not the Apocalypse 2.0?

When I look at all the different aspects of the SC and assume a positive outcome, then the end result to me would be a new world that is pretty much like the old world, or maybe even literally the old world but with any destruction reversed. Heaven and hell get dissolved since now that everyone has been "judged", they as institutions are no longer needed, they have fulfilled their purpose.

No more judgement means there is no reason to keep track anymore, so why do you need to run celestial corporations whose only job is doing exactly that? You don't—and THAT is what I believe is the biggest perceived threat to the Metatron, losing full control over everyone and everything, losing his position, his title, and whatever else he has.

On top of that, Good Omens has told us again and again that God doesn't seem to give a fuck about good and evil anymore, and that without heaven and hell being all wrapped up in it, humanity would have 100% free will without any consequences.

Maybe the BoL is empty, maybe it isn't real, maybe Jesus stole it to straighten a wobbly table, who knows. There is a chance it is what Michael says, but I would admittedly find that a bit. too obvious and boring since it would boil the plot down to "they save their own asses again" and not "they save humanity at all cost".

Regarding Crowley and Aziraphale's role in this—I have Thoughts TM but those definitely need their own post. In short, they have to get the SC back on track, the real one.

-

If you have made it this far, thank you for working through what I hope are more or less coherent rambles. Any spelling or grammar mistakes are my own.

Questions? Thoughts? Corrections? Expansions and additions?

Feel free to add to this post however you like (and I can't believe I have to mentions this but if you clown on my post or behave like an asshole you will be blocked).

[berrypass-de-murdler]

2 - 4 A Locked-Room Mystery

You telling me I have to WAIT for new designs you kidding???

I have some 'neat plans' for MOTLE, idk might include New Fucked-Up Lore because what else is the cartoon for?? But I'll have to see

DON'T READ THE EPISODES WITHOUT READING THE BOOKS!!

Little Logico wanders outside, and is immediately grabbed!!

LOGICO: OH FUCK NO, I AM NOT A STUFFED ANIMAL!

As charming as that is, that’s not why the people picked him up. He’s under arrest! He’s thrown in a little jail cell - this is NOT the luxury prison Gico is used to. 

COPPER: THERE you are you little PRICK! LOGICO: OH GOOD GOD!

Yep, she’s here, alongside Champagne and Bluski. 

BLUSKI: Hey. CHAMPAGNE: Hi. LOGICO: Of course, of COURSE the usual suspects are following me. WHY AM I HERE?? PERSON: A prisoner has been murdered and you’re the murder person. LOGICO: Good to know. I blame Officer Copper. COPPER: Chillax, my brother. I’m not a psycho cop anymore. Heh, around here, if they thought I looked at a guy wrong they’d put me down as a ‘bad dog’. LOGICO: Right.

In what appears to be a miniature theater for watching interrogations, Logico digs a scrap of paper from under a beautiful couch.

“In a street fight, ten people always beat one.”

Champ checks the passage.

CHAMPAGNE: This is from the Big Red Book. Major Red wrote this. LOGICO: Do you know who that is? CHAMPAGNE: Heh. Yeah. Don’t wanna get yourself in with him. [walks away] LOGICO: ...Care to share ANYTHING else??

Logi explores a phrase Irratino always whispered to him - the tallest suspect has the cheapest pen. Now just by looking at them, Champagne is the tallest guy in the room, but by legal standards, Bluski is supposed to be taller, so his pen is very cheap.

LOGICO: It- It makes sense if you look it up.

Seeing that Logico ‘caught’ his pen trick, Bluski heads to the elevator and travels way up.

LOGICO: How big is this station? CHAMPAGNE: 25 stories. Final floor, they’ve been known to throw people out the window.  LOGICO: This is horrific. I’m starting to miss the luxury prison. CHAMPAGNE: We all do mate.

Irratino is back home, asleep. He is dreaming of a human police woman wearing boots. I guess something different happens in the dream, and he shifts and giggles. But don’t worry, Logico got the clue somehow. This obviously means Copper kicked the prisoner to death! She shakes her head madly and spits all over the place.

COPPER: HOW CAN IT BE ILLEGAL IF A COP DOES IT???? LOGICO: I hate you so much. COPPER: NO, YOU HAVE TO SAVE ME! I’M A ‘BAD DOG’! I’M- LOGICO: Oh. OH, YOU MEANT LIKE THAT- PERSON: No, no.

A couple humans walk over and start creepily petting and patting Copper.

PERSON: There is no need for a consequence - it was only a prisoner. COPPER: Huh. Kinda like these guys~ LOGICO: I hATE this so much. Can I leave now?!?! COPPER: Whatever, man.

Logico tears away. He needs to get to the violet isles as soon as possible… for some reason.

The end!

Let's try to ignore Copper flirting with some background humans

(ok slight rant but I've saved it for the end so as to not ward people off, you can skip it)

I know it sounds petty but like I swear to god if anyone posts a murdle artwork, the entire tumblr fandom will notice (which is great btw!), but then if I post an artwork it's only the same three or so people who might look at it and it's just...

is it really THAT bad?? like... what am I doing wrong... ngl it's starting to feel less like the art quality and more personal...

but um... yea. i'm trying my best i guess

Uh chonkers jumpscare

The power of Goat Lord compels you!

See you next time murdlers!

[highlordofkrypton]

BERON VANSERRA HEADCANONS ... that no one asked for

Since it's @sjmvillainweek (and free day, woo!), I feel like it would be a great time to share the Beron Vanserra headcanons that have been rattling around my head, especially since writing the first chapter tower of gods.

Tread carefully as these headcanons have mentions of abuse of authority, abuse, murder, misogyny, toxic relationships, etc. I also do take the liberty of trying to go a little more fantastical/brutal with these.

Beron is the youngest of the old generation, and his father was pretty young too.

The Autumn Court has a tradition of killing not only your father to earn your seat, but also killing all other potential heirs. He, like his father and his father's before him, do not care about their offspring. Watching them kill each other is sport; it is something that happens to all of them, and not participating in this is weakness.

Anyway, Beron definitely killed his twin sister. It definitely fucked him up, but it is a testament of his strength and it is a right of passage his children need to understand, especially Eris since he actually has ambition.

Since his father is so young, Beron has no respect for him, not when the High Lord of the Night Court is extremely old, and the High Lord of the Spring Court objectively earned the most concentrated power when he ascended. The headcanon here is time vs. natural gifts, neither of which Beron has.

Beron idolizes (read: obsesses) over the High Lord of the Night Court and the High Lord of the Spring Court, but only the latter bothers with him for entertainment. The HL of the Spring Court would use him, and cast him away, even if he was already mated.

Beron struggles with the duality of wanting freedom from his father's expectations, confuses it for wanting power and his desire to be protected under the wing of someone stronger than himself (from people like his father, or anyone else who looks down on him; he wishes to be desired enough to be worthy of protection). There are so few who can scratch that itch, and fulfill that yearning.

Beron believes females are beneath him, only good for birthing children (or fertilizing whatever method faes are born through in different Courts), but he also yearns to occupy the same submissive space beside true strength (see above re: stronger HLs) so he can stop fighting to survive and be worthy. This is the reason he envies his twin sister. She does not have to work as hard as he does to be given comfort and luxury, yet they are essentially the same save for their sex. They look the same, they think the same, they popped out of their acorn at the same time (my headcanon to how Autumn babies come to be).

Due to his unhealthy trysts with the previous High Lord of Spring, and the pain he felt when his idol, his mentor, his god was killed, he inadvertently and irrevocably attached himself to whatever memory is left. This is why Beron put up less of a fight to bring back Feyre at Tamlin's behest, and the same for when Tamlin dragged him from his home. Also, fuck Rhysand. If Beron was jealous of his sister for getting the previous High Lord of Night's attention, he sure as hell will be jealous of Rhysand's power.

In addition to the previous point, he personally does not see any of the current High Lords to be comparable to the generations before them. Maybe Helion, but he's jealous of Helion being able to just... be a thirsty bitch on main vs. Beron who has a reputation to maintain.

My favourite part about villains is that they can have any reason to be horrible. I love Beron, and I love the idea of him being a greasy little shit that just wants to be in the orbit of those stronger than him. Have you ever been so disappointed that everyone around you is so dumb that you have to do everything and you just want a break (without needing to die)? That's how Beron feels.

I hope you guys found this as fun as I did!

[stygiusfic]

Timeline: Bhaal's return & Durge's birth

There is a lot of content about Bhaal and the city of Baldur's Gate in Forgotten Realms lore— including several adventure modules set around the same time as BG3 that feature both. Of course, The Dark Urge doesn't feature in them, as that character was a later addition to the city's history made when BG3 was created... so it can be hard to reconcile Durge's BG3 canon with pre-established Forgotten Realms canon. 

Unless, of course, you become obsessed with making it make sense, and fall into a rabbit hole of lore research and speculation for weeks on end. Which is what happened to me!

So here is my best approximation of a timeline that would integrate Durge within their world, without breaking either BG3 canon or pre-established Forgotten Realms canon (as far as I know, anyway... D&D lore is a tangled mess). Spoilers for BG3 abound, of course, and some for BG1 and BG2 as well.

Big shout-out to @nonbinaryeye for bringing this subject up in a fic comment and motivating me to finally put all this together!

(You can just scroll to the bottom of this post for an abridged version of this timeline, or keep reading here to get the detailed version!)

First, a brief recap of Bhaal's whole situation leading up to the game:

Baldur's Gate 3 takes place in the year 1492 DR. 

Well over a century before the game, in 1358 DR, Bhaal was killed at Boareskyr Bridge by Cyric, who took his portfolio as Lord of Murder. But Bhaal had foreseen his own murder, and he prepared for it. He spread his essence by impregnating a score of mortal women (many of them his priestesses) to sire the Bhaalspawn. 

These murderous children grew up to kill each other, with the winner usurping from the loser their share of Bhaal's essence, and consolidating his power. The wise Alaundo's prophecies about the Bhaalspawn said that Bhaal would be reborn from his spawn. The one who won out over all others, who had collected his scattered essence, would be a conduit.

The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom, he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sown from their passage. [...] The deaths they bring shall awaken the father, and through them he will rise.

(The statues leading down to the Bhaal Temple say a bit of the prophecy! There's also an account you can find of someone quoting Sarevok's old journals.)

The "through them he will rise" bit was believed to have been foiled by the protagonist of BG1 and BG2, Gorion's Ward. He was the Bhaalspawn who eradicated all his evil siblings, and chose to be good and resist Bhaal. He rose to prominence in Baldur's Gate as Marshal of the Flaming Fist (with Ulder Ravenguard, Wyll's dad, serving directly under him) and a member of the ruling Council of Four. 

But in 1482 DR, a decade before BG3, during a speech in the Wide (the market in the Upper City), Gorion's Ward was attacked by another Bhaalspawn who had somehow escaped the purge, and the winner gained all of Bhaal's essence in that moment. They were overtaken by that essence and became the Slayer, slaughtering many of the citizens gathered there. 

Thus, Bhaal was at last reborn as Lord of Murder.

...Okay, but what does that mean for Durge?

Well, let's look at what we know about them. 

Durge's exact birthdate is unclear. However, we can safely assume that it happened within a few decades before Bhaal's rebirth in 1482 DR. I estimate it to be in the 1450s, no later than 1458-ish. 

This is because we know Sceleritas Fel found them "at the age of majority" (which doesn't necessarily correspond to real-world majority, but we'll assume it's in that ballpark). Sceleritas is canonically already with them in 1477 DR (the year that Larian's browser game Blood in Baldur's Gate takes place, which the butler features in). So Durge must have been, at the very least, 18-20 years old when that game takes place. 

That said, the vibe I get from Blood in Baldur's Gate is Sceleritas has been with them a while by that point, so I imagine them a few years older. 

But they could be entire decades older, too, if you prefer. Bhaalspawn do not age at the same rate as other members of their apparent species, so they could look youthful regardless of how many years they've been around. Gorion's Ward, a human, was pretty spry in 1482 DR, at around 130 years old! This trait would be even more salient in Durge, who is not just a Bhaalspawn but a titan, a demigod born without a mortal parent.

Durge was not born from Bhaal's seed, like all the Bhaalspawn before them, but from his flesh and blood. Sceleritas tells us as much in the game.

Going back to my Bhaal recap, in 1358 DR, Bhaal was slain on the Boareskyr Bridge above the Winding Water, a river that flows down to the Sea of Swords some distance north of Baldur's Gate. 

Forgotten Realms lore tells us that part of Bhaal's divinity and his blood spilled into the Winding Water when he was slain. So the most likely explanation for Durge's birth "from Bhaal's blood and gore" is that this gore gathered in the eddies of the river over a long period of time, and eventually its inherent divinity gave rise to a titan: baby Durge!

Though it's on the younger end of the spectrum, it's fun to imagine Durge was born from this gore in 1458 DR, a perfect century after Bhaal's murder. Poetic!

Durge "wandered" for a time before Sceleritas found them. The Winding Water runs relatively close to Baldur's Gate in the map, but immediately nearby there's not a whole lot of civilization. And Bhaal loooooooves Baldur's Gate! 

Ed Greenwood, who crafted a lot of Forgotten Realms lore around Bhaal, tells us Bhaal's lingering essence within Gorion's Ward drew him toward Baldur's Gate, instead of his native Candlekeep where he'd retired after his adventures. So it's easy to assume that this same impulse moved baby Durge to travel to the city, and along the way (or perhaps once there) acquire the "unique" skills they possess that aren't a direct result of their lineage (essentially, their D&D class). 

Durge was taken in by a family of humble means in Baldur's Gate, and eventually was compelled by Bhaal's influence on them to murder that adoptive family.

We see that in a flashback in the game (if Heal is cast on Durge either before being freed of Bhaal's influence by Withers, or after accepting to become Chosen). They seem to have been quite young when this happened; it was perhaps the first manifestation of the Urge within them.  

I have to assume that this was a traumatic experience for them. (Trauma would not be a hindrance to their indoctrination into Bhaal's worship—in fact, traumatic experiences are used to strengthen bonds within cults in the real world. But that's a long post for another time.) In any case, at some point, Sceleritas reveals himself to them and starts to lead them along the path Bhaal wants for them.

Whatever Durge's fears and misgivings, by 1477 DR, they've embraced their murderous inspiration, at least enough to follow its call a good handful of times. 

In 1477 DR, Durge commits a series of shockingly grotesque murders in the city, as shown in the browser game Blood in Baldur's Gate. They are never caught, as the player character investigating (Tav, as named in the game) is killed by Durge themselves.

At this time, by the way, Gorion's Ward is already Marshal of the Flaming Fist. We know he rose to that position after the previous Marshal was killed in a coup by Duke Valerken.

(No exact date is given for this coup, mentioned in the adventure module Murder in Baldur's Gate, which revolves around Bhaal's rebirth. But from information given within the module, we can place the coup between 1440 and 1460 DR, at least a decade and a half before Durge's murder spree).

So Gorion's Ward did not recognize the work of a fellow Bhaalspawn. Perhaps he thought the curse of the Bhaalspawn had been ended through his own victory over the rest!

It is unlikely that Durge was in contact with Sarevok's cult of Bhaal in the city at this point.

The reason why I think this is because the lair that the investigator Tav is led to for their murder at the end of Blood in Baldur's Gate is not the Temple of Bhaal, but rather seems like a personal dwelling in the tunnels of the city. 

I like to imagine that Durge committed those murders to impress and prove their value to Bhaal, guided by Sceleritas Fel's advice. It's possible that as a result of proving themself so, they became known to Sarevok's cult, and established contact that way—but that would be the earliest likely moment of contact. 

Wow, this is long! If you're still here, go stretch and drink some water! 

Okay, great. So, this post all came about because I had Gortash in my Hall of Wonders heist fic wondering how come Durge could be a Bhaalspawn, when all Bhaalspawn were supposed to have died out at Bhaal's rebirth in 1482, to return his essence to him.

(This is the question that was driving me mad before I lost my mind and many many hours of my life to the research you just read.)

The math, as I see it, is:

Bhaal gives out his "essence" ("his seed") via fathering a ton of Bhaalspawn with mortal women. You know how people are 2/3rds water? Let's say 2/3rds of Bhaal is the seed he gives out. He did get busy.

That leaves the 1/3rd that's his actual body. Which is where Durge comes from (his blood and gore).

So the "essence" that Alaundo's prophecy talked about, that had to be gathered again for Bhaal to be reborn, is those 2/3rds, the seed, the original Bhaalspawn.  

So Durge exists outside that math!

Presumably, Bhaalspawn with a very diluted degree of his essence could be excluded without the resurrection failing. (If he's missing 0.1% of what he gave out, well, it's not a big deal, right?)

This does also mean that Sarevok's Bhaal essence must have gone back to the Throne of Blood when he got killed by Gorion's Ward and the gang in the first game. His bit of essence got added to Gorion's Ward's at that point. 

This would explain why Sceleritas is such a hater about Orin's legitimacy as a "Bhaalspawn". She would have the dregs of Sarevok's dregs—but Bhaal's favor since she was a child, when she killed her mom, may have accounted for the bulk of her bloody obsessions. 

And there it is! Believe it or not, I did cut out some stuff because I couldn't face the length of this post. So there will probably be more, because this is where my brain lives now.

[goodqueenaly]

After the long night ends and Jon (possibly) dies for good. Will everyone throughout Westeros know that Jon is not the son of Ned, or will most people still think that Jon is his bastard?

Do I think there will be multiple characters in-universe who may very well survive the looming apocalyptic crisis and will likely learn that Jon was the biological son of Rhaegar Targaryen (and Lyanna Stark)? Yes, I think that’s almost certainly going to be the case. It is perhaps no coincidence that two of the people who were made aware of Robb’s will regarding Jon - that is, Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover - are also currently with Howland Reed, one of the few people alive who were all but definitely present for Jon’s birth at the tower of joy. With the Stark children I think set to convene at Winterfell, and various factions in favor of their respective claims with them, I very much anticipate that the bombshell news regarding Jon’s biological paternity will come up as the dynastic question of House Stark’s leadership is debated. Too, Dany’s prophesied, metaphorical vision of Jon - the blue rose blooming at the Wall - connects him with Lyanna, and by extension Rhaegar. If, and I think when, Jon rides a dragon, his Targaryen heritage may seem confirmed (which is not to say dragonriding necessitates Targaryen parentage - as indeed I think will be the case with the draconically scholastic Tyrion). (And this is without any knowledge to be potentially conveyed by either Benjen, notably not confirmed as dead and almost certainly aware to some extent of the relationship between Rhaegar and Lyanna, or Wylla/any other individuals at Starfall, where I think extremely likely Gerold Dayne, and by extension Areo Hotah, are headed.)

Do I think that “everyone throughout Westeros [will] know” that Jon’s biological father was Rhaegar Targaryen? I’m not sure what “everyone throughout Westeros” will even understand about the eventual defeat of the Others generally, much less be aware of the specifics regarding those responsible for this defeat. One idea GRRM has returned to again and again throughout ASOIAF is a story whose particulars are exaggerated, twisted, and/or lost through the passage of space and/or time: think of, to give just a few examples, the news of Oxcross reaching King’s Landing with a lycanthropic element added, or the confused rumors of Dany’s dragons serving as a conversation piece for the Citadel’s students, or the myth of Hukko the Pentoshi hero perhaps stemming from a corruption of the Andalish religious figure Hugor. To whatever extent the rest of Westeros becomes aware of the defeat of the Others - and I think that the final showdown against the Others will happen at Winterfell, relatively far from much of Westeros - it’s entirely possible that Jon’s biological parentage gets lost in the shuffle of translating the story to other peoples and regions. Was the dragonriding hero who bravely sacrificed himself to rid the world of demonic supernatural slavers Jon Snow, the bastard son of Lord Eddard, or Jon Stark, legitimized/legitimate brother of the Young Wolf (and perhaps would-be King in the North in his own right), or Jon, son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, or even a figure with another supposed backstory completely? The truth may become obscured as distance, physical and chronological, passes from both the large (or larger) scale revelation of Jon’s biological parentage and the ultimate defeat of the Others.

Also, I have to say it - Jon not being the biological child of Eddard Stark does not at all erase the fact that Jon was (and is) very much Ned’s son. Where Tywin did everything possible to hurt, humiliate, and demean his biological son Tyrion, Ned did everything possible to embrace a boy he knew was not his biological son; Ned was willing to go above and beyond social expectations, even permanently sacrificing some part of his relationship with the wife he loved, to hold out Jon as his son. Consequently, it’s Ned Jon looks to as his father and paternal example; even if Jon eventually learns that half of his DNA came from Rhaegar (and I think he will), I don’t think that knowledge will replace the love Ned and Jon had (and the latter has) for one another.

[marimayscarlett]

It's fascinating how the 2 people Richard disagreed with the most during Mutter drama are now the 2 people he's most affectionate with in public. Schneider and Paul.

Not to say that he's less loving with others, but with those 2 he really goes in for all the hugs, squeezes, and kisses.

Hi 👋🏼

From what we know from interviews, it really did seem to be Paul and Schneider who disagreed with Richard the most during the exhausting Mutter recording - even though the process seemingly took its toll on the whole band. Paul and Schneider mentioned this period in some of their interviews; I must admit, I always have the feeling that Paul is trying to sail around this topic a bit, staying rather vague, while Schneider pretty much is going all in and is very open about the conflict and his opinion about it. Here are two statements of them both:

Schneider in the infamous 'Rock Hard' interview together with Richard from 2004 (Richard really tries to take responsibility in this interview and it's overall a bit painful to read):

'But, starting with "Sensucht", the guitarists began to work at home, using a computer. And when we learned about these passages, there was nothing to add, the music was all ready Guitarists did all the work, and we could not add anything! Moreover, if we wanted to change something in the compositions, the guitarists refused, so they were obsessed with them. [...] we rehearsed as five, without Richard, in the same place, all together. It was great. And then once Richard came back, there was a little tension and one thing lead to another. [...] We reached the limit when it became impossible to mention the name "Richard" without adding an "idiot" or "asshole’ ! It's strange that there were no personal complaints. But as soon as it came to music, Richard was the last person we wanted to listen to. He needed a good lesson! [...] Richard was a wall against which we could not fight.'

Paul in his section of the 'Rock Hard' interview:

Does your statement mean that you had little fun working on 'Mutter'?

Yeah, 'Mutter’ really wasn't that much fun. The famous third album, as the saying goes. There were also personal reasons. After eight or nine years, the balance of power had shifted within the band. It actually happens in every band that Ritchie Blackmore quits because he can't go on with Jon Lord anymore. For years their friction was refreshing for the listeners, but at some point it gets on everyone involved so much that one has to drop out.

But nobody left Rammstein.

No, not that. But we also had gossip and stress between two people because of competence difficulties as well as over- and underestimation. We had to reorient ourselves. It also cracked. But — I knock on wood! — we got through it well, so we could work on the fourth album with fun.

You certainly don't want to mention the names of the two.

Correct. It can happen to anyone, because everyone is unreasonable from time to time.

We don't really know how the relationships between Richard and other members of the band were strained at that time (at least Till seemed to be on somewhat ok terms with him), but for Paul and Schneider we have "proof" that it was hard on them - so it's even more heartwarming to see Richard being cuddly with them! They overcame their difficulties, put a lot of effort in patching things up because the band was important to everyone. And it's nice to witness this in hugs and affection 😌🤍

[tachvintlogic]

Mina and Jonathan refusing to voice their thoughts.

The Harker dynamic of being so open and trusting each other is so wonderful, and it is tailor made to receive maximum disruption when Gender Roles™ get reinstated to shut one of them out.

Mina, feeling so rejected, doesn't tell anyone about her nightmare or share her record of it because she fears being shut out more. Except she can't be shut out more than she already is because they're not telling her anything. She's hoping for a chance at crumbs here, and doesn't want to confirm the suitors thoughts that she can't handle it and take that chance away.

Throughout October 1st, Jonathan keeps trying to convince himself that this is fine, telling her nothing is protecting her somehow, and real props to his voiceactor on Re: Dracula because he sounds so doubtful. He does not believe a word he's saying but he wants to so badly.

They're both just itching to get this over with so they can tell each other everything immediately after, which is funny because that's not the impression I got from Van Helsing.

Sure, he did say "We shall tell you all in good time." but I got the feeling that he imagined telling Mina years later after the Harkers have settled down and had kids, if at all. He doesn't understand how his decision to exclude Mina has disrupted the Harker dynamic that they both want to go back to.

And this disruption has also caused Jonathan, the man who is most connected to and comfortable with femininity, to hesitate voicing his own feelings.

Somewhere, looking out from the shadow, I seemed to see the high lights of the Count's evil face, the ridge of the nose, the red eyes, the red lips, the awful pallor. It was only for a moment, for, as Lord Godalming said, "I thought I saw a face, but it was only the shadows," and resumed his inquiry, I turned my lamp in the direction, and stepped into the passage. There was no sign of any one; and as there were no corners, no doors, no aperture of any kind, but only the solid walls of the passage, there could be no hiding-place even for him. I took it that fear had helped imagination, and said nothing.

Arthur thought he saw the Count, and so did Jonathan. If Jonathan had backed up Arthur's statement, then the fact that 2 people saw him suggests it wasn't just a trick of the light, that he might actually be there.

But Jonathan says nothing, and I think there are a lot of factors that caused this:

Jonathan recently had brain fever put upon by doubting his own recollection of what happened. This place reminds him of the castle, so it's no wonder he might suspect his mind is playing tricks again.

He's in the presence of 2 doctors, one who runs a lunatic asylum, and they just got back from rejecting Renfield's request to go home. He doesn't want to give the doctors any reason to doubt his sanity.

His wife has been excluded from the hunt. Van Helsing declared her work "finished" now that all the documentation has been gathered. He helped with that too. Van Helsing could also declare that Jonathan is similarly "finished" and he has no more part to play.

And so, we see very clearly in the October 1st entry how disrupting the Harker dynamic has worsened the open and honest communication that was vital to their initial investigation and gathering the papers, and has also worsened the communication between the Harkers and the rest of the crew.

[esther-dot]

Idk how attractive jon is supposed to be but he has the stark look and sansa has a thing for the stark look, i mean look at waymar and loras, their descriptions match jon's exactly. Sansa's opinion at the end of the day>>>

I love Sansa’s Waymar and Loras crushes! So cute! I kinda think a good part of what attracts Sansa to any given guy is the romantic notions she can attach to them, not strictly their physical appearance? So while I certainly agree with the Jon and Waymar parallels and think martin intentionally wrote similarities between Jon and her crushes, I believe her romanticized view of knight was a factor as well. Personally, I wish Martin talked about Sansa’s body/ how beautiful she is a lot less, so this isn't a topic I enjoy discussing, but the convo kicked off because of a poll and here’s a screenshot of my totally unremarkable tags:

And here’s what an angry Jon fan posted because they didn’t like the tags on the poll:

They go on to criticize other tags by Sansa fans/Jonsas, but mine were based on specific lines from the books because the question wasn’t vibes but canonical beauty, and it so happens, these are lines I am very fond of because I love NedCat:

And was it really such a terrible thing, to want a pretty wife? She remembered her own childish disappointment, the first time she had laid eyes on Eddard Stark. She had pictured him as a younger version of his brother Brandon, but that was wrong. Ned was shorter and plainer of face, and so somber. He spoke courteously enough, but beneath the words she sensed a coolness that was all at odds with Brandon, whose mirths had been as wild as his rages. Even when he took her maidenhood, their love had more of duty to it than of passion. We made Robb that night, though; we made a king together. And after the war, at Winterfell, I had love enough for any woman, once I found the good sweet heart beneath Ned's solemn face. (ASOS, Catelyn V)

It’s a beautiful passage with a lovely sentiment, so I take exception to classifying this as petty fandom shit when there was nothing intentionally insulting behind what I said, I just think Cat's thoughts about a man she dearly loves were pertinent. Also, Jon’s Stark looks are a big R+L=J clue which is teased a lot in AGOT so it’s intentional and important:

The boy absorbed that all in silence. He had the Stark face if not the name: long, solemn, guarded, a face that gave nothing away. Whoever his mother had been, she had left little of herself in her son. "What are you reading about?" he asked. (AGOT, Tyrion II)

Martin described Jon’s face the same way he does Ned’s here, although the point was ha ha! he has the Stark look not because of his father but because of his mother, Lyanna.

Jon had their father's face, as she did. They were the only ones. Robb and Sansa and Bran and even little Rickon all took after the Tullys, with easy smiles and fire in their hair. (AGOT, Arya I)

Arya heard and whirled around, glaring. "I don't care what you say, I'm going out riding." Her long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful. (AGOT, Sansa I)

Sansa could never understand how two sisters, born only two years apart, could be so different. It would have been easier if Arya had been a bastard, like their half brother Jon. She even looked like Jon, with the long face and brown hair of the Starks, and nothing of their lady mother in her face or her coloring. (AGOT, Sansa I)

"Lyanna might have carried a sword, if my lord father had allowed it. You remind me of her sometimes. You even look like her." (AGOT, Arya II)

Now, Ned goes on to say Lyanna is beautiful so a lot of fans really emphasize that and say it means Jon and Arya are/will be attractive, and maybe! It doesn't bother me for people to read it that way, but if you look at the other uses of long face in ASOIAF, or the Stark look, I think it indicates, it's not particularly attractive, and one might even say, it's unremarkable. I didn’t say ugly, its simply unexceptional imo. Obviously the horsey face/horse faced stuff is an insult so we don't have to take that to be a neutral assessment, but I don't think it actually means pretty either, not when you look at how it's used elsewhere.

Anyway, it doesn't matter if Jon is handsome or not because we all were supposed to have already learned that what matters is who he is, not his face. So, while I have no investment in how attractive/unattractive these characters are, I imagine that Jon being Jon is what will make Sansa fall for him, not how pretty he is. Something that might sound kinda like this:

I had love enough for any woman, once I found the good sweet heart beneath Ned's Jon's solemn face

[daisycraft]

(In Love With) Judas

I want to love you but something’s pulling me away from you. ♡

   It’s the end times.

It’s difficult to think of only the next and not the end, or the finale, or the moment when Martyn realizes that there’s no going back.

   Gear and courage is scarce when the remnants of the Red Army gather in the swamp. Food is passed around– and when they realize there’s not enough, then it’s split, and passed around again. Martyn watches Ren tear bread with his hands, passing pieces to Etho, BigB, before those red eyes fall upon him. Blood is still steadily dripping down the passage beneath the eye that tears would travel, along the dark ring before slipping off his cheek. 

Martyn takes his piece after a second. His own hesitation surprises him. Half-dried blood from Ren’s fingers rubs off on his own, stains his hand as he takes his torn bread, struggling to find the strength to bite into it. 

   He lost his appetite ages ago, beneath a full moon. Maybe before then, on a mountain top, beside a chest with three slips of paper within it. Maybe, even, in a room with a magic table, several people, and a fumbling business owner.

   He swallows.

Everytime he tries to think about the next, just about what will happen soon and not eventually, his mind keeps wandering. He can’t stop thinking about that altar.

   Ren told him back then that he had a chance to strike him down, take him out of the game for good, because he was naked and unarmed and vulnerable. Martyn looks to the other side of the fort as the scattered soldiers try to strengthen themselves, to where Ren kneels, wrapping the handle of the Skizzblade in thin strips of leather. His ears are pinned to his head, almost obscured entirely by his crown of golden thorns. Martyn looks and sees that same vulnerable man. 

   The grip he has on his own weapon tightens subconsciously.

   Next, Martyn tells himself as he moves outside, they will collect themselves. Afterwards, Martyn tells himself, they will march away from the swamp, move up the hill, and descend upon the besieged Dogwarts through the gates. Then… Martyn tries to think.

It’s hard to think when there’s a hand on his shoulder. A figure that smells of iron and wood stands at his side, rumbling idly with a growl that hasn’t faded in hours. Ren is there when Martyn spares a glance, that pale grey and red face turned away from him, instead staring forward solemnly towards the hill. Towards his kingdom.

   “Hand,” the Lord purrs.

   “M’lord,” the Hand responds.

The hand on his shoulder presses, massaging the muscle as Ren watches the horizon intensely. Martyn watches him. He wouldn’t call it intense, the way his expression stones and he stares at every minute shift of Ren’s face, but there isn’t anything better.

   “It’s our final day, I’m sure you can feel it,” says Ren, finally turning to him. Martyn’s jaw clenches, suddenly squirmish beneath his attention. “But we shall never go down without a fight. There is no better way to die than fighting for our home. Fighting for what we love, who we love.”

The hand squeezes. The Hand feels nauseous.

   Ren carries on, looking back to the hill as the sounds of Etho and BigB begin to gather behind them on the wool bridge. “This will be our final stand, laddies. Our final chance to show those filthy stinkin’ desert hippies what we’re freaking made of! And we are going to take back Dogwarts or die trying!”

   It’s hard to match Ren’s energy.

BigB grins and murmurs a casual response, as if he already knew that he was gonna live beyond the battle, though newly Red. Etho spins a little, patting all his pockets to make sure he had the most he could carry, before nervously agreeing.

   Ren’s eyes are on him. His lord has got a small, confident smile. Martyn wishes it’d waver.

He huffs out a laugh, patting Ren on the back and slipping away from the grip on the shoulder. He does his damnedest to smile back.

   “Aye,” Martyn says, without the heart of putting on his voice, “right, let’s get on with it.”

Get on with which part?

   Something within Martyn asks him. Asks himself? … Something within Martyn asks.

   Ren takes the lead. Of course Ren takes the lead. Martyn is not far behind, and neither are Etho or BigB. They expect their king to hold back, capture the field and patch of forest in front of the gates, but he charges through it, slicing through their sugarcane crop with the Skizzblade, and like wildfire, his Red Army follows after. Smoke will choke one of them later.

Do you wish to get on with the battle? You know you are going to die.

   Martyn fortifies the ground in front of the gates. They push through as projectiles rain from above and from within.

You tighten your hand around the grip of your sword. Who do you truly wish for it to fall upon?

   At first, it was Impulse, then Tango who fell to his sword. The leaves of their smoldering crops crush beneath his boots.

Look at him.

   Martyn looks. He scans the field to try to find Ren, and as he pulls himself up a hill, he sees him turn the corner of Renchanting. Scar is in hot pursuit.

What is it that you feel?

   He doesn’t know.

Rage that he’s being taken from you, just around that corner, out of sight? Envy, that it wasn’t you that killed him?

You wanted to kill him.

You wasted your chance on that altar. You should have killed him.

You waited too long. You waited for a fair duel.

Life isn’t fair, Hand.

   He couldn’t’ve. Martyn thinks long and hard in that fraction of time between when Scar goes behind the building and when he reappears, sans Ren and plus a whole lot more blood. He thinks about what Ren told him about life, and doing what hurts.

He was going to die, by you or by anyone else. He wouldn’t have laid a paw on you and you know it, you sick creature.

   He’s crying. He doesn’t know why. Martyn would have cried either way.

Scar is coming towards him, pulling an arrow from the quiver on his hip. Martyn is charging.

Rage?

Envy?

Don’t say it’s love. 

Don’t lie to him.

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough, Ch 4

Catherine is fully prepared to meet Mr. Tilney again but he is nowhere to be found! Disaster!

However, good is on the horizon, Mrs. Allen finally finds a friend, Mrs. Thorpe, an old schoolfellow. Austen throws in a great joke:

Their joy on this meeting was very great, as well it might, since they had been contented to know nothing of each other for the last fifteen years.

Austen brings up this again in Mansfield Park, where for all her sisterly love, Mrs. Norris will not put herself in any expense to see her sister:

It had, in fact, occurred to her, that though taken to Portsmouth for nothing, it would be hardly possible for her to avoid paying her own expenses back again. So her poor dear sister Price was left to all the disappointment of her missing such an opportunity, and another twenty years’ absence, perhaps, begun. (Ch 37)

It is such a true thing, a sad thing, that we claim to love people and yet are content to never see them... (Or even write) This is clearly performative friendship, but it happens with real ones too.

I love the "friendship" between Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe because it is so true to life, they both talk about themselves and really don't listen to the other:

they proceeded to make inquiries and give intelligence as to their families, sisters, and cousins, talking both together, far more ready to give than to receive information, and each hearing very little of what the other said.

Also, Mrs. Allen unable to brag about children contents herself by knowing she has more handsome lace!

So I have heard theories that this whole meeting was planned by the Thorpes, but honestly, the Thorpes are not that good at planning. Also, the childhood acquaintance is real. It seems likely to me that the Thorpes were already going to Bath to husband hunt and John Thorpe planned to bring James, but everything else was a "happy" coincidence.

We meet the three Thorpe sisters:

Her eldest daughter had great personal beauty, and the younger ones, by pretending to be as handsome as their sister, imitating her air, and dressing in the same style, did very well.

This comes much later, but the younger Thorpe sisters are basically clones of Isabella. We hear them talk and it's identical to Isabella. I cannot imagine spending time with this family! I would explode.

Miss Thorpe, however, being four years older than Miss Morland, and at least four years better informed, had a very decided advantage in discussing such points; she could compare the balls of Bath with those of Tunbridge, its fashions with the fashions of London; could rectify the opinions of her new friend in many articles of tasteful attire; could discover a flirtation between any gentleman and lady who only smiled on each other; and point out a quiz through the thickness of a crowd.

Quiz does not mean "a short test" until the 1850s. The word quiz is used a lot in Northanger Abbey and it's current meaning is, "odd person, person or thing deemed ridiculous".

This passage reminds me a lot of a section from Austen's Love and Freindship:

Isabel had seen the World. She had passed 2 Years at one of the first Boarding-schools in London; had spent a fortnight in Bath and had supped one night in Southampton. “Beware my Laura (she would often say) Beware of the insipid Vanities and idle Dissipations of the Metropolis of England; Beware of the unmeaning Luxuries of Bath and of the stinking fish of Southampton.”

In both passages, I believe we are meant to understand that the informant is not actually that informed, they just look worldly to our poor naive heroine.

This passage is a jab at the novel style of the era:

This brief account of the family is intended to supersede the necessity of a long and minute detail from Mrs. Thorpe herself, of her past adventures and sufferings, which might otherwise be expected to occupy the three or four following chapters; in which the worthlessness of lords and attorneys might be set forth, and conversations, which had passed twenty years before, be minutely repeated.

I didn't really understand the reference until I read Belinda by Maria Edgeworth, wherein a character gave a 36 PAGE history of herself. It was very strange to read and not very natural. So good on Austen for realizing that style was terrible.

Also, this much loved quote is so sarcastic:

Catherine was delighted with this extension of her Bath acquaintance, and almost forgot Mr. Tilney while she talked to Miss Thorpe. Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

Ah yes, her disappointed love of not seeing the guy she danced with for one evening! And her friendship of about 10 minutes.

[saras-devotionals]

Quiet Time 9/3

What am I feeling today?

So grateful!! A year ago today I made Jesus Lord of my life and was baptized for the forgiveness of my sins! I can’t believe I’ve gotten to spend a whole year with God already and I’m just in awe of how much He has absolutely transformed my life!

Bible Plan: Rethinking Love and Romance

Let’s take a look at the first loving relationship in Scripture.

In Genesis 1, God speaks creation into existence. We are then transported to a garden filled with trees, rivers, and animals (Gen. 2). Over and over, the authors show God declaring his creation “good” (Hebrew: tov), that is, until he sees the human (Hebrew: adam) alone. Now the authors introduce a problem—an intentional literary design move—as they show God saying it is “not good” for the human to be alone (Gen. 2:18). But why?

God solves the problem by first dividing Adam in half (Gen. 2:21). We often talk about this as though God took a rib from Adam and created Eve with it, but the Hebrew word tsela (often translated as “rib”) is never used as an anatomical term in any other passage in Scripture. Outside of Genesis 2, the word is mainly used to describe the architecture of the tabernacle or temple (e.g., Exod. 25-38; 1 Kgs. 6-7; Ezek. 41). The biblical authors use tsela to refer to the two halves of the ark of the covenant, the two halves of the temple, and the two halves of the new Jerusalem. So God’s creation of Eve is a process of dividing Adam in half and then building Eve from one side of him. We get a portrait of two humans, each one half of a united whole, deeply dependent on the other. Adam's goodness and life depends on Eve, and hers depends on his.

Then God calls this woman an ‘ezer kenegdo. The Hebrew word ‘ezer might be translated as “help,” but it does not mean what we might assume. An ‘ezer is not a lesser “assistant” or “helper” as much as it is someone who plays the mutual role of an “indispensable other,” a strong and wise guide, without whom the intended good cannot happen. The only other character in the Bible given this title (‘ezer) is God himself. Not your average helper, right?

For the second Hebrew word, kenegdo, we might use a metaphor of mirroring to get to the core idea. A helpful paraphrase of Genesis 2:18 might be: “It is not good for the human to be solitary. I will make one who can deliver him from his inability to fulfill the divine commission alone, one who mirrors him.”

The biblical authors are presenting this bonded, united relationship between two people as God’s good design for humanity. The “one flesh” of Genesis 2:24 transcends the union of the sexual act (though that is one way the one flesh unity may be experienced). So how is this idea different from the “you complete me” sentiment?

Adam and Eve "complete" one another—not by satisfying each other’s personal desires but by becoming unbreakable partners who seek the other's well-being. Today’s popular understanding of romance rarely gets past the "satisfy my desires" sense of love. But the authors of Genesis describe this “unbreakable partners” sense of love as a foundation for human flourishing and tov—the goodness and right-functioning of creation itself.

In the final verse of Genesis 2, we discover that the man and woman were naked and unashamed—an image of pure trust, openness, vulnerability, and safety. When one is genuinely unified with another, there is no need for self-protection or projection of a false self. In their most vulnerable state, the man and woman were at rest. They had nothing to hide, no secrets or lies between them, no power grabs, hierarchies, or abuse. Instead, they had a portrait of love at peace.

In today’s video, explore God's plan for Adam and Eve (and all humanity) to serve as royal priests over all creation.

This is such an incredible explanation of our purposes as man and woman and how we are meant to equally help each other grow. Though men may be head of the household, as women we are not inferior to them or simply meant to fulfill their desires. The true purpose of their love and connection is to guide one another in the relationship with God.♥️

Genesis 1:26-28 NIV

“Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.””

I always think about this in terms of “let us make mankind in our image” but then right after it says God created mankind in His own image. It’s just a little interesting nugget but regardless of what it means, we must see and acknowledge that God knew exactly what He was doing when He made us, He was very purposeful with it and He blessed us.

Genesis 2 NIV

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

Just a fun little reminder that God literally breathed life into us!!!

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭9‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

It’s interesting to me that God first formed Adam and then placed him in the garden of Eden. Also that there were two trees by name in the middle of the garden!

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.””

So important! But He never said anything about the tree of life and I have always been intrigued by that. What would have happened if they ate from that instead?

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.””

From the previous context we know that helper means so much more than an assistant but a true partner and God is so intentional with the fact that we’re not meant to be alone!

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.”

This is actually so sweet to me. That God brought all the animals to Adam and just allowed him to name them whatever he wanted and that was that. It truly reminds me of something a father would do for their child and I find it so endearing🥹

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

There is a purity to love and romance in the way that God intended! Our world and Satan has corrupted it so much since the beginning but we must be reminded that we are meant to be with each other and love each other (in terms of romance, please remember to keep things within the confines of a marriage!)

[randomnameless]

I'm having a really hard time fathoming how some people consider SB to be a righteous/heroic route or a route where we're the good guys. The route where:

You invade two independent nations under the pretence of "saving their citizens from oppression" (though I guess you can't be oppressed anymore if you're dead lol) even though Her Majestic Hypocrisy repeats a bunch of times that she's in for conquest and that she'd obliterate anyone who stands in her way.

The cast keeps victim-blaming the invaded parties for *checks note* defending their countries. 

The death toll is the highest. You have to kill Ingrid, Rodrigue, Gustave and Sylvain. And you can also kill Ashe, Mercedes (btw, if she dies, the cutscene where Dimitri and Dedue grieve changes slightly, which is nice), Annette, Shamir, Ignatz, Raphael and Marianne (how does Margrave Edmund feel about Claude's alliance with the empire knowing his daughter was killed by its army?). 

IIRC, this is the only route where you conscript merchants into the imperial army. No wonder the empire has the biggest army.

Based Rhea who, despite being hunted, still thinks about the safety of the continent first in the final chapter. It's hilarious how characters like Edespot or Clyde harp on about how Rhea is the big bad, and in the few scenes you have with her, she's just kind? Anyway. Rhea based.

In the C support conversation - which happens right after Felix got seriously injured and Sylvain got killed- there's this bit where Dimitri is like "I don't know if I can talk with like everything is normal, so many have died already" and Edespot's response is basically "yeah I don't see it that way. Let's agree to disagree". Also, I believe she wonders if she shouldn't just kill Clyde and Dimitri once they're out. Even though Clyde is her ally at the moment. You bet on the wrong lord, Clyde... 

I probably forgot a few stuff, but... oh well.

To be honest,

The only things I like about Supreme Bullshit are :

Its ending! Supreme Leader and Barney (well, at least they throw a sword?) being sitting ducks while Rhea steals the show, and sacrifices herself in an epic shonen scene to get rid of the real threat, aka showing that unlike someone, she knows how to prioritize, and it ends up in an explosion. It matches the ending of the F-Zero anime (at 0.48!), Rhea/Falcon rushes to deal a blow (a Falcon punch and a Seiros strike I guess?) to their mortal enemy, there is a giant explosion, and both Rhea/Falcon fade away in a blinding light. Too bad the Supreme Bullshit BGM is eons away from "Searching to the Truth" :(

The reveal that Rhea kept the keys to the sekrit passages in the Imperial Palace - or Rhea knows more about Enbarr and its castle than the current Emperor and her aides...

Doro's paralogue being incredibly tone deaf about, uh, soldiers being "too busy" by the Mittelfrank troupe, that they can't basically protect the dancers/performers from bandits, when the paralogue happens in an area that is expressedly supposed to be full of soldiers!

If starts align in a certain way, it's the only route in Nopes where Clout dies!

Leopold! He's like Victarion Greyjoy, only if he was taken seriously. But we, as players, know better! Also he's a living retcon, from having a major cichol crest to gift to his son because he fought well (and not to, say, Big B or even Ferdie) a sacred weapon despite the route being all about muhritocracy!

Supreme Leader plans and plays with the cards she has in her hand - from trying to get good PR to get rid of people (Varley sr) by pitting them against her next target (the CoS)!

An entire game full of new Supreme Replies (tm)!

For shippers around, it has a Cathmir scene where everyone knows Shamir will prioritize Catherine's life over her allegeance! too bad this is a Supreme Leader route, so no, Shamir won't fucking try to kill her for blackmailing her and can even kill Catherine herself later on....

That's not a lot lol, and most of it are breadcrumbs because for the proper plot...

Yeah, it kinds of sucks.

Supreme Bullshit is even more tone deaf with the War and its realities than Tru Piss (and that's a feat!), Ferdie being completely, uh, off the mark about everything (invading lands and rekting people, and then saying those people's fears are only in their heads! Pal, one of the first missions in the SB exclusive chapters is to rout refugees??? + the nonsense about the Kingdom having more crested generals, when data shows the Empire has more crested peeps than the Kingdom!), Caspar being turned in the worst version of himself who dgaf anymore about protecting "innocents" and "justice", and, uh, everything with Monica.

Victim blaming is the norm with Fodlan games, but yeah, it really feels odd that suddenly, in the Zahras chapters, Dimitri's all "okay" when his closest friends either died or were grievly injured and the game proceeds as it does when, come on, why wouldn't Dimitri kill her the second they're out of the Zahras verse??

I really disliked how Supreme Bullshit yeeted Ionius from Adrestia, or how it didn't explore in more depth the Insurrection of the Seven, especially since we side with Leopold'n'Waldemar against Ludwig, who used to be allies! Also, as far as I remember, no one mentions anything about Arundel, why he ran away to the Kingdom with a young Supreme Leader and how he changed when he returned, or something?

If Ludwig is pushed by Supreme Leader, reciting her Dad's words, as the one who led the insurrection and the experiments on her, why the fuck no one else mentions them, as Leopold and Waldemar were on Aegir's side back then? They don't even mention "Arundel" participating, like, Volkhard sides against Ionius and hides his niece, but 3 months later, he returns and offers her as a guinea pig?

As is the norm with the Supreme Leader routes, the "truth" isn't what we're looking for, because we know Supreme Leader pushes a narrative she will follow to reach her goals, but where Tru Piss gave hints here and there about her narrative being, uh, rubish, we have no clues here, and Leopold prefers to flash his loincloth than giving us anything meaningful about that incident.

When you compare them to Matthias and Rodrigue (and Gilbert?) who often mention Lambert "back in the days", it's more and more obvious that... we're not supposed to ask questions in Supreme Bullshit, and just go with the flow.

And it ends with a high five.

I'd say it deviates less from Tru Piss than Golden Shower does from Verdant Winds, but it's an "expected disappointment".

That's why my only higlights are not plot relevant (save for the Captain Falcon - Rhea parallel) - because we know the plot will never deliver something meaningful in a Supreme Leader route.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Living His Word

Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life will enter the city. — Revelation 21:27

This past year my wife and I had several conversations in which we were astonished to realize that although we thought some event or activity happened a year or so ago, it had actually taken place 3 or 4 years ago. We decided the lost years of COVID were to blame and all the chaos that came with those years. Unfortunately, for far too many people, these past few years have been a time of lost hope—a lost hope for the present as well as for the future. Too many feel that hope has been canceled in their hearts.

However, hope has never been and never will be lost or cancelled for the Christian. In Exodus 32:32 we find the first mention of God's book of life. It is a divine ledger of the citizens of the kingdom community—God's people of Israel. The passage speaks also of some who have sinned against God, and there is a blotting out of those names from the book. Such action by God in the erasing of names from the ledger indicates a loss of citizenship and fellowship with God. But the good news is that for those in Christ our citizenship is in heaven, and so we eagerly await the Lord's return from heaven (Philippians 3:20). Our names are written in the divine ledger of heaven known as the Lamb's book of life. I recently heard a pastor liken this truth of becoming and being a Christian to when God cuts a name from the book of life and then pastes it into the Lamb's book of life.

Wherein the Old Testament book of life implies privilege and the partaking in temporary blessings from God's kingdom, the Lamb's book of life does not imply, but rather ensures those in Christ of partaking in the present and eternal blessings of God's heavenly kingdom. Such is the blessed faith and hope of the true Christian (Hebrews 11:1). Heaven, not earth, is our hope as believers. Heaven is our victory. As Jesus told us: "Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:1-2).

Beloved of Christ, putting one's hope in people or in the fleeting things of the world will only lead to lost years and regret for what you could have done for Christ. Instead, let your hope of eternity be your joy. Set your heart above as a heavenly-minded person whose citizenship is in the kingdom of heaven and whose name shall never be blotted out of the Lamb's book of life.

© 2024 by Bible League International

[sepublic]

FOR THE FUTURE IMAGES!!!

This seems to be the scene where Luz’s palisman, whom Rebecca Rose confirmed to have been with her when she entered the Demon Realm, becomes all weird and glowing... This environment seems different than the woods we see later on? This might be the place our protagonists arrive at when they enter the Boiling Isles again...

The stars in the sky in the second image remind me of when Luz was in her bedroom, reminiscing on the Collector. I guess that was foreshadowing, and I imagine they had something to do with this? Or is Luz’s paliman reacting to the Collector... Are the stars the ‘sparkles’ Dana was referring to?

Or Luz’s palisman, which would confirm the theory that she stealth-spoiled the name of Luz’s palisman, no doubt hatching in response to Luz reconciling with her mom just moments ago!!! The irony of the palisman looking dark and evil when Luz has a light motif... But also, the redemption and subverting of having the ‘evil’ looking purple (like Luz!) force be a good one!!! I hope the dark appearance doesn’t mean Lucy was foreshadowing...

Luz does ultimately seem to enjoy it though! And her friends join in on palisman flying with Luz to celebrate her staff! Poor Hunter has just recently been left out, though... There’s some sort of symbol in the ground below Luz, is this some sort of Flyer Derby stadium marking? Are they practicing Flyer Derby since Luz can try for the first time???

Bonesborough seems suspiciously empty, and Hunter says “Something’s coming!” as Gus and Willow guess what it is. How can Hunter sense this, is this his Golden Guard training? Did he feel something on the other side of this wall, a hidden passage? Or did Flapjack impart some sort of palisman sense to the kid? We see, of all people, BARCUS!!! He’s got cool shades now and is probably leading everyone to the underground resistance movement. If I had to guess, everyone is hiding from the Collector, hence why it all looks so abandoned!

And Belos being Belos lol... Is this THE cave??? The cave where he had Caleb’s remains, the cave he hid in as Philip Wittebane? Is this where he made the Grimwalkers... GOOD LORD IS HE GOING TO POSSESS A GRIMWALKER SKELETON?!! MULTIPLE!? AND/OR CALEB’S?!?! We all guessed Possessed Hunter and that happened... Belos giving himself a Grimwalker body happens after all!?