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reidsaurora · 3 years ago

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"It's Always Been You" ~ D. Morgan

Summary: When Agent Y/N Y/L/N gets injured on the job, Derek Morgan is the one to take care of her afterward. However, neither of them expected that him simply cleaning her wounds would turn into a love confession.

Pairing: Derek Morgan x Fem!BAU!Reader

Word Count: 1,289

Content Warning: mild swearing, mentions of various weapons, mentions of injuries

Genre: Angst to Fluff, Colleagues to Lovers

Extra Notes: Y/L/N = your last name

Based On: Criminal Minds, S2 E21 "Open Season"

Originally Written: 01/11/2022

Criminal Minds masterlist can be found here!

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

"Wait a second…" Derek said, stopping Gideon, Prentiss, and Ranger Evans in their tracks. "Where's Y/L/N?"

The four of them took a quick look around. The young agent was nowhere to be seen.

"Dammit," Gideon mumbled.

The four of them raced off through the woods in an attempt to find Agent Y/L/N. Every few seconds, they'd shout her name, but were never met with any response.

Meanwhile, Y/N found herself hiding in a bush from one of the unsubs. She wasn't sure how, but in the process of quietly kidnapping her (and scratching her up quite a bit in the process), he'd taken her gun too. She attempted to calm herself down by quietly practicing some breathing exercises, but it was no use. She was having a panic attack and knew that sooner or later, the unsub would most likely kill her.

"Y/N!" she heard Derek shout in the distance. Y/N wanted so badly to call out to Derek, but she knew the second she made any noise, she was as good as dead.

"Y/N!" Derek called again.

As Derek got closer to Y/N's hiding spot, she could see him through the branches. However, she could also see the unsub, despite him being unable to see her.

Suddenly, Derek felt something hit his vest. He looked down and was met with the sight of an arrow. "Too bad, bastard! I've got a vest! You're gonna have to try harder than that!"

It was then that Y/N realized the unsub had spotted her. He began to walk closer to her, drawing his bow. What the unsub didn't realize, however, was that Derek now had a clear view of him.

"Paul Mulford! FBI, put the weapon down!" Derek commanded.

Paul shot off an arrow at Y/N, which somehow managed to nick her cheek, and not fatally injure her as she believed it would when she first saw him release the arrow. "Good dodging skills," Y/N mentally complimented herself.

As soon as Derek realized Paul was shooting his bow, he immediately fired his gun at Paul. Derek hated when he had to shoot unsubs, but he was left with no choice. Although, to be fair, considering it was Agent Y/L/N in danger, he didn't really feel all that remorseful for it.

"Come on, let's get you outta here, girl," Derek whispered as he helped Y/N out of the bush.

☆☆☆

As Derek attempted to clean Y/N's wounds, she stayed silent. She wondered silently if anything had happened between Derek and the park ranger while she was gone. Earlier in the day, Y/N had found herself thinking, "I wish he'd look at me the way he looks at every other woman."

"Baby girl, you can't be scaring me like that no more," he chuckled quietly as he dabbed the wet washcloth along his coworker's cheek.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, still shaken up from earlier events.

"I only meant it as a joke, Y/N. You know that, right?"

She silently nodded in response, still having avoided eye contact with him.

Derek could tell there was something else on the young agent's mind, so he inquired, "Something on your mind, doll?"

Point blankly, she asked, "Would you have handled this differently if I had been anybody else?"

"Yeah, I probably wouldn't be cleaning your face up if you were anyone else. That's just how much I love you," he joked.

"How would you have handled this if I were Lizzie?" Y/N questioned.

"I think the ranger could do a fine job at cleaning herself up."

"That's BS and you know it, Derek. Not five minutes before I went missing, you were flirting with her."

"I was not," Derek defended himself. He paused for a moment, having figured out why Y/N was suddenly acting like this. "Wait a second. Baby girl, are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous," she argued.

"You seem jealous," he teased.

"I'm not jealous, OK?! I just… I'm tired of pretending I don't have a problem with you flirting with all the female cops we work with. Or, hell, any of the women we come in contact with, for that matter."

Derek pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear. He gently lifted her chin with one of his fingers, forcing her to finally make eye contact with him. "You don't have anything to worry about. I don't wanna be with Evans."

"What about the next one that comes along? Or the one after that?" Y/N examined, knowing her coworker like the back of her hand. She hadn't even realized she'd let a few tears slip out as she spoke.

"Why are you so upset, Mama?" he asked, wiping her cheek with his thumb.

"Because I know you, Derek. I know I'm not the only girl with needs you've taken care of," Y/N replied, her voice laced with jealousy.

"You could be."

"What?" Y/N replied, taken aback by his statement. "What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see when you get better," he said with a soft smirk.

"Derek, you lost me."

"Baby girl," Derek paused to kiss Y/N's forehead, "It's always been you."

"Excuse me?"

Derek held her cheeks delicately. "I'm in love with you, Y/N. No one else."

"Are you serious?" Y/N asked. To be honest, she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"It's always been you. It sounds stupid, I know, but I always flirt with other women to distract me from you, the woman I'm really in love with."

Y/N gave him a soft smile, resting her head against his hand. "Are you for real?"

"For real," he answered. "When you get better, you wanna go out? As more than coworkers, of course."

Y/N nodded, the smile from before still not having left her face.

☆☆☆

[ a few days later ]

It had been a couple days and Derek had officially taken Y/N on their first date. He'd gone all out by buying her flowers and taking her to a nice restaurant in Washington DC.

Derek had driven Y/N back to her apartment, her hand sitting in his free hand for the whole half hour drive. Their car ride was mostly silent, but it was a comfortable silence. "I could get used to this," Y/N thought to herself.

Derek got out of the car first before heading around to Y/N's side and opening the door for her. She had never seen him be this courteous and gentlemanly before.

"I had a great time tonight," she said as Derek walked her to the door.

"I did too, sweet girl," he smiled, kissing her on the cheek. Y/N couldn't lie, she wished he'd kissed her on the lips instead.

Y/N unlocked her apartment, though Derek made sure he was the first to walk in, just in case there were any predators or robbers hiding in her apartment.

After a quick look around her apartment, he finally made his way over to the front door. Though neither admitted it, they were both sure they never wanted this night to end.

"Well, I guess I should get headed home," he said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Y/N smiled back.

Before Derek could fully walk away, Y/N found herself grabbing his arm. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't have the confidence, because what if he wasn't ready? Derek leaned down, his lips hovering less than an inch away from hers. After a second, their lips finally connected, gently brushing together. Her arms moved to his neck and his hands moved to her waist, sitting there delicately.

As Derek pulled away, he smirked, "See you tomorrow… as your boyfriend, right?"

Looking away to hide her blush, she replied, "Only if I get to be your girlfriend."

"I think I can make that work," he chuckled.

════ ⋆★⋆ ════

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dru-reblogs-stuff · 2 years ago

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Last Book I...

Yoinked from @literary-illuminati because it looked fun.

‣ Bought:

Random Sh*t Flying Through The Air by Jackson Ford. I picked it up last time I was in Waterstones because the title was funny, and the blurb sounded good. (I have started it, and the POV flip-flop is a bit wierd so it's been shelved for now)

‣ Borrowed:

The Potion Master by Liz Williams. My uncle lent me this one before Lockdown... and I still haven't finished it ^.^'

‣ Was Gifted:

Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman. The Danish Gent gave this to me as part of my Xmas present after I told him I'd never read the Dragonlance books.

‣ Gave/lent to someone else:

N/A: I haven't really seen anyone to lend anything to.

‣ Started:

The Cabinet of Linguistic Curiosities: A yearbook of Forgotten Words by Paul Anthony Jones. I'm really enjoying this. It's a word per page, related to something that happened that day with a bit of explanatory blurb about the event and the world's meaning. It's been fun learning some of these archaic words.

‣ Finished:

The Pirates! In An Adventure with Napoleon by Gideon Defoe. The Pirates! series is always good for a nice quick, silly-fun read <3

‣ Gave 5 Stars:

Watch How I Soar, a Firefly Graphic Anthology. Written by Jeff Jensen, Ethan Young, Jared Cullum, Jorge Corona, and Giannis Milonogiannis; Art by Jorge Monlongo, Ethan Young, Jared Cullum, Jorge Corona, Giannis Milonogiannis, and Jorgi Perez; Colored by Jorge Monlongo, Ethan Young, Jared Cullum, Fabiana Mascolo, Giada Marchisio, and Maxflan Araujo; Lettered by Fabio Amelia.

I really enjoyed the dive into Hoban “Wash” Washburne's backstory, and alternate future. The art is fantastic, the stories were wonderful - just an all-round wonderful read.

‣ Gave 2 Stars:

Sea Journal by Lisa Woollett. The blurb for this is:

This beautifully illustrated book brings together a year’s wanderings along Britain’s shores with stories of their natural history, geology and evolution — from ancient myth to current science.

Which was what drew me in - I get to read and see photographs about all the types of shore on the Isles! Amazing! Only, it doesn't. There's mention of a beach in Norfolk, one on the Scottish coast, and all the rest take place in Cornwall, where the author lives. Sure the pictures were nice, and some of the text interesting, but I just really felt it had too narrow a scope for the broad claims in the burb and so it was a bit of a let down.

‣ Didn’t Finish:

The Company of Trees: A Year in a Lifetime's Quest by Thomas Pakenham. The detail about the trees is interesting; Pakenham's casual racism and sense of entitlement is not. I got maybe 1/4 into the book before I bailed because the narration style was just so difficult to read. I came here to learn cool things about trees and arboretums, not to feel like I'm listening to my 80yo uncle bitch about the natives.

Tagging: Anyone who fancies it

#tag game #last book i tag

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queen-of-deans-booty · 5 years ago

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99 Problems: Part One

Pairing: Dean x Reader

Word Count: 1,846

Warnings: typical supernatural violence, language, angst, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Any and all comments on these are appreciated. I really want to hear what you guys think about this one!

Feedback is the glue that holds my writing together.

Tags at the bottom

The wound on your side keeps bleeding no matter how much magic you use. Sam’s injuries are minor, Dean just barely got away, but you got the worst of it. After all, you’re the reason why you three are in this mess to begin with. Blood covers your left hand as it puts pressure on the wound, and your right focuses the magic to work within you. Blue magic strings from your fingertips and into the wound, and you watch as it slowly closes. You would tend to the brothers’ wounds, but yours is more pressing. Dean races down the street without looking back in fear the demons are right behind him.

“Drive faster, Dean,” you grunt.

“I can’t! Are you both okay?”

“Yeah, I’m amazing,” Sam grits.

“I’ll be fine. Why the hell were there so many demons? You two ever see that many?”

“No way, not in one place,” Sam shakes his head.

Even though the surface of your wound is sealed, you know there could be internal damage which is why you keep siphoning magic into it.

“What the hell?” Dean mutters.

“Sam, come here. Let me fix you,” you offer and scoot closer to the younger Winchester.

Sam takes his hand away from his bloody shoulder, and you reach out to touch it when Dean slams on his brakes. You were about to tear him a new one when you saw the barricade up ahead. It is up in flames, covering the entire stretch of road which means there is no possible way for you three to get around it. Someone had either did this deliberately or it was a freak accident, but there has to be another way around it. Dean starts to back up the car when the windows shatter.

Demons from all sides of the car break the windows to try and grab it the three of you. Dean is prepared for this just about as much as you and Sam are, which isn’t really a lot. They try and grab whatever they can manage, and just start pulling. A demon reaches into the car, but you throw small balls of magic at him to get him to back off. The impact makes him wince in pain, and you keep trying to hold them off. You’ve learned a lot about your powers ever since you found out you were pregnant. You can do a lot more with the energy that’s been sitting inside of you.

Yes, you plan on telling Dean, but now is not the right time for it. It’s not fair you’ve been keeping this secret from him, and it’s time you step up and take responsibility for your actions. Before the demons could do anymore damage, about half a dozen men and women show up in a big vehicle with fire truck hoses. The main leader start spraying the demons with water, but when you see their skin start to sizzle, you know it’s holy water. Where did these guys come from? How do they know about demons? You don’t recognize them as hunters, so who are they?

The demon screams in pain as they release you and the brothers and move away to try and get to safety. The main leaders starts to perform an exorcism in Enochian, and now you’re curious as hell. Where did they learn the language? Who are these people? You get out of the car just as the demons fall to the ground. Black smoke pours out of their mouths and disappears into the air.

“Well that’s something you don’t see every day,” Dean chuckles.

“You three alright?”

“Peachy.”

“Be careful, it’s dangerous out there,” he warns.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second,” you interrupted and got out of the vehicle.

“No need to thank us.”

“No, hold up a second! Who are you?”

“I’m Rob. We’re the Sacrament Lutheran Militia.”

“I’m sorry—the what?” Dean inquires.

“I hate to tell you this, but those were demons and this is the Apocalypse. So… buckle up.”

“Yeah, we know. We’re hunters.”

“Prove it,” Rob scoffs.

You take a quick look at Dean, and he rolls his eyes lightly, but opens the trunk of his car up. There is nothing but an empty trunk, but as soon as he pulls up the cloth flap, all of your weapons are on display. Three of the important men take a look at the weapons to see if you three are legit.

“Looks like we’re in the same line of business,” Sam comments.

“And among colleagues. That’s a police-issued shotgun,” Dean motions you the shotgun in Rob’s hands. “That truck is, uh… inspired. Where’d you guys pick up all this shit?”

“You know, you pick things up along the way,” one of the other men shrug.

“Guys, come on. This whole corner of the state is nuts with demon omens. We just want to help. That’s all,” you sigh.

“We’re on the same team here. Just talk to us,” Dean tries to convince them.

“Follow us,” Rob nods and heads back to his truck with his friends.

Dean shuts his trunk and locks it before all three of you climb inside the car. Once Rob and his friends get inside their car, he takes the lead through the forest on a back road that Dean didn’t see earlier. The forest is dense, the trees are thick, and there’s a little bit of fog, but it hides the road well enough from cars that are passing by. Once Rob makes it out of the forest you can see a small town up ahead barricaded with barbed wire.

There are many men with guns surrounding the place, and you can’t help but think what might’ve happened here. They let both cars through the gate and close it once you’re safely inside. Dean Parks off to the side and gets out to see what exactly is going on. Everyone seems to be gathering at the local church, which is why you three are heading inside.

“Dylan, it’s a church. Headphones off,” an older woman says to one of the men with Rob.

He’s a bit younger, maybe about early twenties, but still too young for this kind of work. Well, you started off way younger, but that was under different circumstances.

“Yes mom,” he sighs and does as he’s told.

In front of the church are two men with guns, and in between them is a devil's trap. Everyone who passes through it passes the test, but it doesn’t stop them from giving you and the brothers weird looks. You can tell they don’t take strangers lightly here. Not with all of the protection they feel the need to take. It’s best if they don’t know you’re a witch, so you keep quiet about that part of yourself.

Walking inside the church, you notice that it’s not that different from outside. The pews are full, and there are three couples in front. It looks like there might be a wedding going on, but you can’t be so sure about that.

“Who would have thought the Apocalypse could be so romantic? Marriage, family—it’s a blessing. Especially in times like this. So hold on to that,” the pastor says.

“A wedding?” you whisper. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. We’ve had eight so far this week,” Paul, one of Rob’s men, confirms.

Apart from the creepy ceremony happening, every person sitting in the aisle seat of each pew holds a shotgun like Rob’s. What the fuck is going on here? It looks like the pastor is the main bitch around here, so you patiently wait for the ceremony to be over to approach him. As soon as it is, the three couples leave the church as people throw confetti above them. They can pretend this is a real wedding all they want, but it’s not.

“So Rob tells me you three hunt demons,” the pastor says when he approaches you.

You look over at the man but pause. He is decked out in weapon gear from the thigh holster to a shoulder one. This man may be a preacher, but he’s definitely something else.

“Uh, yes sir.”

“Please, call me Gideon. But you missed a few.”

“Yeah, tell us about it. Any idea why they’re here?” you ask.

“They sure seem to like us, though. Follow me, gentlemen, lady,” he nods.

He leads you back into the now empty church toward the back. There is a door that when you walk down the stairs, it leads to the basement.

“So you’re a preacher?” Dean asks.

“Not what you expected, huh?”

“Well, dude, you’re packing.”

“Strange times,” he shrugs and opens the door.

There are people of all ages and backgrounds inside. There are stations where people work and do different things. At one table, there is a little girl making salt rounds, and you try to hold in your initial shock. Everyone is doing something, and there isn’t a twiddling thumb anywhere.

“Is that a twelve-year-old packing salt rounds?” you ask.

“Everybody pitches in.”

“So, the whole church?” Sam wonders.

“The whole town.”

“A whole town full of hunters. I don’t know whether to run screaming or buy a condo,” Dean shudders.

“Well, the demons were killing us. We had to do something.”

“Why not call the National Guard?” you ask.

“We were told not to.”

“By who?” you ask but receive no answer.

“Come on, Padre. You’re as locked and loaded as we’ve ever seen. Plus, that exorcism was Enochian. Someone’s telling you something.”

“Look, I’m sorry, I, uh, I can’t discuss it,” he sighs.

“Are you talking to angels?” you gasp.

“Look—”

“Dad, it’s okay,” a young woman says from behind you three.

You turn around, and you immediately get bad vibes off her. There is definitely something wrong with her.

“Leah—”

“It’s Sam and Dean Winchester, and Y/N Singer. They’re safe. I know all about them.”

“The angels?” you ask. “There’s only one species who know Enochian.”

“Yes, the angels,” she nods with a smile.

“Awesome,” Dean scoffs.

“Don’t worry, they can’t see you here. The marks on your ribs, right?”

“So, you know all about us because angels told you?” Sam wants to confirm.

“Yes. Among other things.”

“Like the snappy little exorcism spell?” you ask.

“And they show me where the demons are going to be, before it happens, and how to fight back,” she nods in response to your question.

“Never been wrong. Not once. She’s very special,” Pastor Gideon goes to his daughter's side with pride.

“Let me guess. Before you see something, you get a really bad migraine, and see flashing lights?” Dean asks.

“How’d you know?”

“You’re not the first prophet we’ve met,” you give her a bittersweet smile.

“Excuse me for a second,” Pastor Gideon apologizes and takes his daughter off to the side to speak with her.

“There’s something not right with her.”

“What do you mean?” Dean asks.

“She’s not human. I don’t know what she is, but it’s not human.”

“We’ll keep an eye on her,” he assures you.

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eddycurrents · 5 years ago

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For the week of 17 June 2019

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #11 gives us a bit more insight into Shaw’s childhood and further fallout from the investigation, even as things seem to get nastier in the hell they’ve found themselves in. The fields of bones from Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina are horrifying.

| Published by AfterShock

Age of X-Man: NextGen #5 is a bit of a gut punch for a final issue in this series. Some great art by Lucas Werneck and Jason Keith, though.

| Published by Marvel

Aquaman #49 concludes the “Mother Shark” two-parter as Arthur gets answers on who he is and how he died. This is a huge one. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Viktor Bogdanovic, Jonathan Glapion, Daniel Henriques, Ryan Winn, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles do an incredible job with this story. Beautiful and heartbreaking.

| Published by DC Comics

Assassin Nation #4 has the remaining assassins possibly figure out the entire plan as they take down another crime boss in this penultimate issue. Kyle Starks, Erica Henderson, and Deron Bennett have been delivering a highly entertaining series here with great art and a wicked sense of humour. Every book needs a Fuck Tarkington.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Barbarella/Dejah Thoris #4 is the end to what has been a great mini from Leah Williams, Germán García, Addison Duke, and Crank! Very interesting use of time travel for this story.

| Published by Dynamite

Batman #73 sees Tom King, Mikel Janín, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles reveal as to just how demented Thomas Wayne is in part four of “The Fall and the Fallen”. His motivation is understandable, but this is insane.

| Published by DC Comics

Black Badge #11 reveals a lot of the remaining secrets that we’ve guessed about previously as to what exactly is going on with the entire Black Badge organization. Maybe. I’m still expecting more twists from Matt Kindt, Tyler Jenkins, Hilary Jenkins, and Jim Campbell when the series ends next issue.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Captain America #11 sees Steve’s jailbreak from the Myrmidon in earnest, while Sharon and the Daughters of Liberty run the operation. Beautiful artwork from Adam Kubert and Matt Milla.

| Published by Marvel

Daredevil #7 reminds us that Matt Murdock carries more guilt than an entire Catholic archdiocese. There’s a very compelling depth and complexity that Chip Zdarsky is bringing to this story, moving us away from the typical superheroics.

| Published by Marvel

Elephantmen 2261: The Pentalion Job #2 enacts the heist of the pentalions in the second part of this story from Richard Starkings and Alex Medellin. Hip Flask raises some interesting questions as all of the Bond actors seem to meet their end.

| Published by Comicraft

Excellence #2 is another excellent issue. Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett are developing Spencer and his history, his family, and relation with the hierarchy of the Aegis in a very compelling way.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Fairlady #3 is the first issue that doesn’t really end “clean”. It’s still a single issue story, but the mystery remains and isn’t tidied up by the end. It’s another murder mystery, with an adventurer impersonating a Conan analogue. Like the previous issues, this is a great story from Brian Schirmer, Claudia Balboni, Shari Chankhamma, and David Bowman.

| Published by Image

Faithless #3 continues to be very strange. Very, very strange. As Faith’s roommate is murdered by what seems like a wolf from her phone, her relationship with Poppy, and then she has sex with Poppy’s father. As I said, strange. I’m still not entirely sure what Brian Azzarello, Maria Llovet, and AndWorld Design are trying to do with this story.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Gideon Falls #14 begins playing with time along with the alternate realities as Burke lands in a reality “closer to the centre” and is given a purpose to find “the five”. Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands are doing some amazing work here.

| Published by Image

Guardians of the Galaxy #6 concludes “The Final Gauntlet” from Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, David Curiel, and Cory Petit as the Guardians, all of the Guardians, take on Hela and the Black Order to try to prevent the resurrection of Thanos. It’s suitably epic.

| Published by Marvel

Hit-Girl: Season 2 #5 kicks off the “Hong Kong” arc from Daniel Way, Goran Parlov, Giada Marchisio, and Clem Robins. It may well be the arc with the most narration so far, but it doesn’t detract from the usual over-the-top violence and action in the start of this story of Mindy trying to take down the Liu Triad, with rather humorous results, it rather enhances it with some nice introspection.

| Published by Image

Justice League #26 is part one of “Apex Predator” from James Tynion IV, Javier Fernandez, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano. The Justice League are pitching to the stars in order to stem the tide of Perpetua’s plans and the impending Doom brought on by the “Year of the Villain”. But everyone’s wondering if it’s just shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

| Published by DC Comics

Last Stop on the Red Line #2 is still very strange. Paul Maybury, Sam Lotfi, John Rauch, and Adam Pruett are crafting an intriguing murder mystery here as Torres and her new partner continue to try to solve the crimes on the subways, but it’s told through a very fluid, stylized way where we’re not sure what’s real and what’s just a character’s perception. It’s a very neat way to tell a story.

| Published by Dark Horse

Little Bird #4 is maybe the most heartbreaking issue yet in this masterpiece from Darcy Van Poelgeest, Ian Bertram, Matt Hollingsworth, and Aditya Bidikar. There’s a lesson of survival, of children supplanting the parents, instilled here in the penultimate chapter as Little Bird and Gabriel have a bit of an understanding as siblings.

| Published by Image

Middlewest #8 attempts to pick up the pieces after Abel’s outburst and near destruction of the travelling circus. Also, more of the sheer monster that his father is. Gorgeous artwork from Jorge Corona and Jean-Francois Beaulieu.

| Published by Image

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #7 is a number of vignettes with Miles checking in with family and Bombshell before setting up the next arc. Wonderful use of guest artists with Ron Ackins & Dexter Vines, Alitha E. Martinez, and Vanesa Del Rey providing segments as well as regular artist Javier Garrón.

| Published by Marvel

Outpost Zero #10 explains all of the cats. It also gives a timeframe for the colony and a lot more questions as to why the old ship structure and tunnels were just completely abandoned by the colonists. Wonderful designs by Alexandre Tefenkgi.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Pearl #10 takes an interesting detour for a bit into “real life” as Pearl tries to hold down a “normal” job. Then we get back to the fallout of her chopping off Mr. Miike’s fingers. Absolutely stunning artwork from Michael Gaydos, with some very interesting layouts.

| Published by DC Comics / Jinxworld

Psi-Lords #1 is another great debut for Valiant. Fred Van Lente, Renato Guedes, and Dave Sharpe update one of the few Valiant properties that haven’t been brought back yet, with a bunch of seemingly newly activated psiots awakening in some kind of “Aztec sex dungeon”. The story keeps you off-balance from the beginning, adding a nice bit of mystery to what’s going on. And the artwork from Guedes is excellent.

| Published by Valiant

Rat Queens #16 begins the run by the new creative team of Ryan Ferrier, Priscilla Petraites, and Marco Lesko in earnest, following on the special. The Queens are essentially tearing themselves apart at this stage and nothing seems to be able to go right.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

Rumble #13 tackles the next Scourge Knight and Timah learns an interesting fact about the bundle of joy growing inside her. Great art as always from David Rubín and Dave Stewart.

| Published by Image

Savage Sword of Conan #6 is a single issue story from Meredith Finch, Luke Ross, Nolan Woodard, and Travis Lanham. It’s a captivating tale of revenge and Conan fighting through some insurmountable odds. Great art from Ross and Woodard.

| Published by Marvel

Usagi Yojimbo #1 begins a new era at IDW...in colour. Tom Luth joins Stan Sakai for the interiors in the first part of ��Bunraku”. While it is a bit odd not to be black and white, this is still masterful storytelling, building on some traditional Japanese culture and providing an intriguing supernatural mystery.

| Published by IDW

Warlord of Mars Attacks #1 begins another property crossover mini-series from Dynamite, this time mixing John Carter with the Mars Attacks aliens, from Jeff Parker, Dean Kotz, Omi Remalante, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Nice bits of humour.

| Published by Dynamite

Wolverine: Infinity Watch #5 concludes this mini from Gerry Duggan, Andy MacDonald, Jordie Bellaire, and Cory Petit. It’s been a very entertaining follow-up to Infinity Wars, but it’s also served as a kind of weird clean-up to continuity that Marvel otherwise seems to have abandoned.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: American Carnage #8, Age of X-Man: The Amazing Nightcrawler #1, Battlestar Galactica Classic #5, Captain Marvel #7, Clue: Candlestick #2, Curse Words #22, Deadpool #14, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #9, Farmhand #9, Firefly #7, Go Go Power Rangers: Forever Rangers #1, Goddess Mode #6, Hellboy and the BPRD: The Beast of Vargu, Invisible Kingdom #4, James Bond 007 #8, Lab Raider #1, Livewire #7, Lucifer #9, Lumberjanes #63, Marvels Annotated #4, Mary Shelly: Monster Hunter #3, Monstress #23, Planet of the Nerds #3, Port of Earth #11, Red Sonja & Vampirella meet Betty & Veronica #2, Sabrina: The Teenage Witch #3, Shuri #9, Star Wars #67, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #3, Star Wars: Tie Fighter #3, TMNT: Urban Legends #14, Teen Titans #31, Tony Stark: Iron Man #13, Trout: The Hollowest Knock #1, Uncanny X-Men #20, The Unstoppable Wasp #9, War of the Realms: Journey into Mystery #5, War of the Realms: Spider-Man & The League of the Realms #3, War of the Realms: War Scrolls #3, The Warning #8, X-Men: Grand Design - X-Tinction #2

Recommended Collections: Archie 1941, Dead Man Logan - Volume 1: Sins of the Father, High Heaven - Volume 1, Hillbilly - Volume 4: Red Eyed Witchery from Beyond, Giant Days - Volume 10, Hit-Girl - Volume 4, Low Road West, Lucifer - Volume 1: Infernal Comedy, Marvel Action: Spider-Man - Book 1, Prince of Cats, Rainbow Brite, Shadow Roads - Volume 1, Spookhouse - Volume 2, TMNT - Macroseries, Thor - Volume 2: Road to War of the Realms, Uncanny X-Men - Volume 1: Cyclops and Wolverine, Vampirella/Dejah Thoris, Winter Soldier: Second Chances, X-O Manowar - Volume 7: Hero

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ramrodd · 5 years ago

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Everybody Says Mark Was the First Gospel, But Was It? (With Dr. David Alan Black

COMMENTARY:

Well, for reasons that you will have to come to grok in fullness, Dr. Black has all the pieces, but he's jammed them into his premise because he is old enough to have been elgible for the draft his first year of college in 1971, the year I got back from Vietnam, The consequene is he has a blind spot about all things military because he was scared shitless of going to Vietnam.

And he's pretty typcial of Pro-Life Evangelical Spiritual Warriors. It's like Donald John Trump* calling himself a "War President"; or smarter about pandemics than the White House pandemic reponse team he disbanded in 2018 for the same reason the Republicans in Florida sabotaged the mechanisms for receiving unemployment: dumb ass Joe McCarthy Conservative politics.

I went to Vietnam because I was a Christian Soldier and my commission was the Liberation Gospel of the Gospel According to Mark. I went. locked and loaded, to Vietnam and I earned my spurs. I have a Combat Infantryman's Badge and a couple or three scaples. I went to Vietnam to kill a Kong for Christas and I stand here and declare "Mission Accomplished".

Then I came back to the World and have spent the last 49 years dealing with white, male Spiritual Warriors like you and Dr. Clark and Donald John Trump*. Which is why the suicide rate among combat veterans is 22 vets a day. You know how you like to poo-poo numerology and numerics in the Bible? Well, could make the case that the Holy Spirit has somehow suppressed the suicide rate in veterns like me to JUST 22 a day just so I can point it out to you at this very instant for the very first time anywhere on the internet of Christendom.

Those who have eyes, see.

The axis between Q and the Letter to the Hebrews is a case study in a generic intellince assessment process being employed in Langley, today. It's the way the etimoloigists that Donald John Trump* fired from the White House in 2018 would have gone about making a risk assesssment for the Coronavirius long before China would have permitted the word of the pandemic from getting out. You can see why the godless commie cocksuckers in Beijing would have wanted to keep the pandemic secret from the world given that America just pulled an aircraft carrier off the line to protect the crew: during the battle of Stalingrad, a little pandemic would have just added a subject to sing about to the festivities.

The Gospel According to Mark is not the first intelligence report to be sent to Rome about the resurrection of Jesus. Here's where Dr. Black and I are joined at the hip: my intent is to establish the historicity of the Gospel of Mark in such a way that any rational, intellectually honest and morally anchore human being can drop kick asshole anti-theists like Richard Carrier and Richard Dawkins in their ideologically puffed up balls and through the goal posts of their own asshole pretzel logic.

Dr. Black has all the same peices I do, but, because he was scared shitless of going to Vietnam and then the military gunned down the 4 students at Kent State scared all the white anti-war draft dodgers shitless after the celebration of the end of was at Woodstock which turned into rage, hie has a blind spot about the Romans because,. One, they've always been the bad guys lurking behind the scene and, two, the Romans in the first century until the Milvian Bridge in the 4rh century went to a great deal of trouble keep their existence in the Praetorian Guard and the Legions a secret, or hiding it in plain sight with the Cult of Murtha and the associated Caesar Worship, with it's baptism in blood.

The Roman military had absolutely no expectation of anything like the Resurrection. None. I mean, there were all sorts of stories floating around in their mythos about “the gods” in pretty much the same way the stories about Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but a story about a god who is born of woman, creates the structures of an army composed of Gideons poise to crush the Romans in Galilee, like they did the 12th Legion of Cestius Gallus in 68, but has the more important mission of being truly crucified, USDA Caesar Tiberius Guaranteed, stuck a fork into Him to make sure he was dead, and buried behind a stone requiring 17 men, a centurion and a corporal's guard of 2 squads of 16 men to roll into place.

And up from the grave He arose! This just wasn't in the Roman field manuals, anywhere, so they began to study it.

It so happens, they had already collected a great deal of data about Jesus as a routine surveillance detail when He popped up over the Roman military horizon as a potential insurgent aligned with John the Baptist. Sometime around 27, before John is arrested and they continued this surveillance with decreasing interest until He is remanded to Pilate by a Jewish lynch mob composed of all the A-List citizens of Jerusalem demanding his execution. All that spy product is the initial material contained in Q and Cornelius, the centurion in Acts 10, is Pilate's administrative chief of staff and the curator for Q from it's implementation as a subject of force protection by the Roman intelligence services in Palestine.

Go back the 19 minute time stamp when Dr. Black is describing the stenographic nature of the prose style of the Gospel: the presence of the historic present is the transcribed report of a spy from the field, the raw intelligence of intelligence spy craft arranged along a meticulous and rigorous timeline exactly like the log of a ship or the book of a police desk sergeant. This is scientifically based observation for evaluation somewhere up the chain of command to squeeze out the military/political implications of all things under their purview. As Luke observes in Acts 24:22, Felix knew all about The Way long before Paul washed up from Jerusalem at his feet.

And it began with Cornelius and Q. Theophilus is the spy master in the Praetorian Guard both Pilate and Cornelius report to regarding military intelligence. Theophilus has the same organizational role in the Praetorian Guard that George Smiley has in MI6: he's not M, but he M is his first report, and M speaks to the Emperor. In particular, Tiberius. Until 31, Sejanus is M in the Praetorian Guard, so it's not clear if Sejanus would have choked off the initial intelligence report that compelled Tiberius to propose to the Senate that Jesus be elevated to the status of a legal deity or not, but the timing is such that, if Jesus had died on the Passover in 31, the news of His Resurrection could have moved, unfettered, to Tiberius as early as that year.

For numerological reasons, I like 33 better but only by a hair over 31 CE as the year it all got started.

But the important thing is, Tiberius made his Jesus proposal after, or during, the purge of Sejanus and, as a consequence, the Senate was forever after hostile to all things Tiberius, especially Christians, which is why they went underground. If you notice, the only connection Cornelius makes with Jesus is by naming Jairus, who was president of the Capernaum synagogue. Cornelius knew Jesus, personally, and was justified by faith in Matthew 8:10. And Cornelius was in the room with Pilate during the interrogation of Jesus.

Why didn't Cornelius intercede, then, you may ask. It has to do with Romans 13:1 – 7 and the spirit that fulfills the letter of the law. It has to do with the dramatic tension of “A Man for All Seasons”. It has to do with why Mitt Romney voted to convict and Socrates took the cup and Jesus died on the cross. It's why I went to Vietnam and why I left the army. The rule of law, duty and the sworn oath. That's the basis of the absolution of Luke 23:34.

The letter to the Hebrews is an intelligence finding, to return to the theme of a case study in generic intelligence risk assessment. Q stayed in Caesarea and was possibly destroyed during the Jewish Wars, but Theophilus assembled a mirror, and complimentary, portfolio in Rome to study just what it all meant. Paul's role was to defend the ethic of Jesus in Rome to Theophilus and his committee/church, which he, Paul, does successfully. Unlike Athens, where he was preaching to philosophers. Paul is preaching to students of philosophy in the Roman equestrian class: their whole success was as early adopters and they already believed in Romans 13: 1 – 7, but the missing link was Melchizedek and the offering of bread and wine and that closes the loop of Moses with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

Everything in the Gospels begins moving to Rome when Jesus is remanded to Pilate. Dr. Black is almost right about the relationship between Mark and the Gospel of John. John Mark is the publisher, editor, character and probable translator of the original Latin of the autograph to the coine Greek of the final version and John Mark is also the author of the Gospel of John. John Mark is the “beloved disciple” of the Gospel of John is probably 14 years old when he is witness to the Roman coup-de-grace on the cross. He is something of a mascot, a Junior Disciple, who first meets Jesus at the wedding in Cana something after Jesus is baptized, and travels around with Jesus and his crew from about that time until after the feeding of the 5000, which occurs just before the Passover the year before Easter and sometime just after John the Baptist is beheaded in 29. John Mark's chronology is not entirely reliable, but the narratives of Mark and John converge in both Gospels in Chapter 6 and diverge until they converge in Chapter 11. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem happens in the morning of Palm Sunday and Lazarus is raised from the dead in the late afternoon in Bethany. John Mark was in Bethany for both the Triumphal Entry and the Scourging of the Temple.

The Gospel of John is a complimentary reader to Mark and originates from the perspective of someone for whom Passover was like Christmas while the Synoptic Gospels treat Passover as an annual issue of crowd control. The anointing of Jesus is a coronation in Mark but a particularly erotic celebration in John of the Bridegroom that is an allusion to Ruth at the feet of Boaz, her redeemer. This is the best case to be made that Jesus had a wife, but He died a virgin.

Matthew is undoubtedly written by Matthew Levi and is the outlier to the other Gospels in that, as Dr. Black observes, is a polemic for the Judaizers who opposed Paul's missionary to the Gentiles. Luke is making an obvious reference to Matthew's Gospel in the preamble to Luke where the transliteration is that he. Luke, is correcting what Matthew fucked up.

Luke probably started Acts as an amicus brief for Paul's defense of Romans, but Theophilus commissioned him to expand his study after he, Luke, is introduced to Cornelius and given access to Q. It is obvious that both Mark and Matthew are available to Luke when he follows Paul to Caesarea and, based on an observation in David Sloan's “What if the Gospel according to Hebrews is Q”, Luke had Mark to begin with (he notices that Luke 3:1 introduces John the Baptist like the beginning of Mark after introducing him as the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1).

That's not all, but here's a little more numerology for you to consider: the 13 Epistles of Paul being with the longest and narrows to the shortest like an arrow pointing at Hebrews, which has 13 chapters, which were added in the 16th century, as you have pointed out in another video.

Dr. Black has all the pieces and, if you add Richard Bauchman's eyewitness in the Gospels to the mix, and rearrange the pieces around his fear of going to Vietnam, it all leads to the nature of the canon and removes most of the mystery to fully reveal the historicity of the Mystery of the Resurrection in the eyes of the Romans back in the day.

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fallingpages · 7 years ago

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No no. Don't end don't end. I didn't expect the trilogy to end like this. Everything felt so rushed and too fast paced in this book. The explanations for some mysteries or questions was done in few lines and then we were brought into another scene next. I still have so much so much questions even though this is the last book. I think it could have be more detailed and more elaborated. I did not expect the villain in this one. It turned out to be someone that is actually close to the circle of the main characters. That's a surprise there, I really didn't see that coming. And I totally adored the gargoyle demon in this one. I'm so happy to have him in the series. He is just so funny. He is so witty, mischievous and hilarious with all his remarks and narrations in the background and turn out to be sweet and loyal to Gwen. I didn't really like Gwen and Gideon as much as I enjoyed them in the first two books. There was this whole silly hormonal and emotional situation between them. I do understand Gideon's worry on how it could turn out to a huge disadvantage on their upcoming adventures. But still I’m -- It's a little bit too much on that for me. *minor spoilers ahead*

Okay, about the whole immortality thing. It got me really confused a moment there. SO it turned out that the Count is immortal all along and he is still alive in the 20th century. But how can he be immortal? Like how did he get his hand on the philosopher's salt? How? Why? Or maybe I didn't understand the story well enough. And if the Count had survived so long, he should have known that the Monstrose time traveler is Gwen and not Charlotte all along, right? He had disguised himself so well all along. And did Dr White see through the Count's disguise and evil plan? I mean that's the only valid reason I can think of why Dr White helped Gwen with her fake illness scheme.

Another one that I'm really curious about is the chronograph. How did Grandpa Lucas get his hand on the chronograph and managed to sneak into his house? Of course he met Lucy and Paul on some other time frame again but why did Lucy and Paul decide to give Lucas the chronograph? It's like Lucy and Paul have known what's gonna happened in the future where they no longer need the chronograph again to elapse and they are gonna just live quietly in a certain year. And the scene where Gwen actually did a time inception with chronograph. She first elapsed into 1956 from 2011 with the Temple's chronograph then again elapsed into 1856 from 1956 with Lucas's chronograph. I was hoping for more description on this dangerous and tricky situation but it was just carried along like it was a normal thing.

One more, why did Gwen called her own grandmother Lady Arista? There must be something that lead to this greeting. This book could be a little bit longer and I would really love that.

Despite all of those questions, I really liked this trilogy. A lot. It just so addicting, so refreshing and entertaining. It did exhausted my little brain here but it was worth the fun and all those staying up nights. It gave so much fun and laughter with all those amazing characters and story line. Such a wonderful series.

#book #instagram #bookstagram #bookpics #bookphotography #bookthoughts #bookreview #emeraldgreen #kerstin gier #snapseed

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alexanderraspberry · 6 years ago

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God, Where Are You

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” Judges 6:11

Undoubtedly we have all asked the question or some form of it: God, where are you? If you really are who you say you are, then where are you? I know no one is immune to struggles, but why this and this long? We struggle with this question because, admittedly or un-admittedly we hunger after knowledge and the truth: that there is a Heavenly Father that is indeed concerned with the realities of our life.

The truth that we have a Father that can set us back on course when we seemed to have lost our way, lost our purpose, our flare, our main reason for existing. God testing you or allowing you to go through trouble for a few months is one thing. But going through for a few years no doubt will prop open the door for doubt to enter in, having you to start doubting, not the existence of God, but rather His love and affection towards you. Doubting the revelation and truth that He is with you. This is the doubt I believe in which Paul referred to as the fiery darts of the enemy. When situation after situation, set back after set back, sickness after sickness continue to happen to you, you can't help but to have moments of doubt asking, God where are you? Do you even care? Are you even concerned about what I'm going through?In the military this is known as an Artillery Barrage. This is a barrier that is created from the on slot of rapid fire and excessive force from an enemy. My friends, make no mistake about it, you have an enemy that is locked and loaded and will not hesitate to use excessive force to kill, steal and destroy. If he can't kill you, he will begin stealing from you. Stealing your dreams, your destiny, your hope. If he can't steal from you, he will do what is necessary to destroy your family, your community, your thoughts.

Your enemy knows that the sustainability of the power of a Christian is not because you put on smell good and show up in church with the other saints each week. The sustainability of the power of a Christian is not linked to your Christological knowledge of the scriptures. Rather, the sustainability of the power of the Christian is in the capacity of your knowledge and the revealed truth to which you understand that God is with you!Hearing the declaration and living in the revelation that God is with you is a major priority on the heart of God.

If there was one thing that God could say to each and everyone of you here, it would be: The Lord your God is with you! This declaration and revelation has such a high priority in God's kingdom agenda because it produces faith, causes unusual favor, and equips you with divine strategy to be successful in any situation. Even the birth of Jesus is indicative of this significance. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel, which means God with us. And the fact remains that whoever Jesus encountered, whoever He hung out with, their life was significantly transformed. Their purpose and destiny were made clear. Their mistakes were traded in for momentum in co-laboring with the Messiah.

Ordinary fisherman went from a dull life of barely getting by to traveling all over the world transforming lives. From those who were caught in the act of adultery, to those who were born blind, when they encountered Jesus, it was the revelation that God was with them. They received unusual favor. The winds of good fortune shifted in their favor!But the truth of the matter is this: Most times it is just hard to consistently live in the truth that God is with you when you are constantly being bombarded with the fiery darts of the enemy. And when the enemy’s artillery barrage—the rapid fire of attacks—continues to happen, you’ll find yourself in uncomfortable territory; where you are not only frustrated with your circumstances, frustrated with your life, but also frustrated with God, crying out in your prayers—God where are you? This is the similar season in which we find Gideon. Gideon is tired, frustrated, a thousand thoughts and questions enter and exit throughout his mind trying to figure out a solution to the ridiculous circumstance he finds himself in. Gideon along with his family and the Israelites are being oppressed by the Midianites

They are in a place where for years they have been dealing with a depressing economical setback. Everything that they work hard for, the Midianites come and steal it away from them. As a result the land in which they find themselves in severely lacks any opportunity for anyone to get ahead. Let me ask you a question... Do you feel like you are in a cyclical pattern that regardless of what you do, you can't seem to get ahead. Regardless of where you look, you can't seem to find the right opportunity- the kind of opportunity that will allow the anointing on your life to be maximized. This is the frustration Gideon wrestled with that had him to ask the question-- if God is with us, why are all of things happening?

Find Your Terebinth While Gideon is wrestling with the thought of wanting God to show up, something interesting is transpiring simultaneously. The Bible says that God shows up as an Angel, but before speaking to Gideon He is under the Terebinth tree. This is interesting because the Terebinth --a unique and prominent oak tree--plays a significant role throughout scripture concerning the presence of God. In Genesis 14, Abraham set his tent by the Terebinth and built an altar to the Lord. By Genesis 18, God and three other angelic visitors showed up at his house, ate with him and prepared him for the promise of his son Issac. When David fought Goliath, it was in the Valley of Elah, which means the Valley of the Oaks. And as we all know, David received the unusual favor the propelled him to victory over a giant. In 1st Samuel 10, after Saul is anointed king, he is instructed by the prophet Samuel to go to the Terebinth in Tabor to link up with others who are on their way to pray and sacrifice.

Let me encourage you that regardless of where you are and in spite of what you are up against if you are asking God, “Where are You?” It is going to be imperative that you find your Terebinth. Your Terebinth is the place of sacrifice, it is a place of a place of prayer. It is a specific location like Abraham where you pitch your tent with intentionality for the Presence to meet you where you are. Jesus said it like this: When you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place. That word room that Jesus uses in this scripture is the Greek rendering tameion, which means a secret chamber or closet.

Friends this is powerful, because King David says in Psalms 91:1, He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. The reason it is so important that we find our Terebinth in which we seek God in the secret place is so that we might have a fresh and powerful encounter with His Presence.

#placeoffavor

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mittensmorgul · 8 years ago

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5.17 and 5.18, or How does any of this make any sense whatsoever if you don’t “see the destiel?”

Short answer: It really doesn’t make sense whatsoever if you try and remove any of the destiel subtext. Like, zero sense.

Because there’s four (or five, if you count Adam, but he’s literally a plot device again and not an actual character... he is the red herring) things that Save Dean Winchester in these episodes:

the father-son love of Bobby

the sibling love of Sam

Lisa and Ben as the symbolic representation of Dean’s devotion to protecting all of humanity

(Adam the red herring that proves these other three ^^ because he DOESN’T fit any pattern and was never a real part of their family and actually flat-out rejects his ties to the Winchester family in favor of choosing his mother over them, even at the cost of selling out the rest of humanity to do so... he is literally the Anti-Winchester who Dean is willing to risk his own life to save ANYWAY)

And Cas. The absolute devotion of an angel who gave Dean everything, up to and including his life. Several times over. And whose heartbreak over Dean’s resignation to give in is one of the key things that gives Dean a reason to keep fighting, and the strength to deny Heaven’s plans for him at the last moment... and Dean hasn’t really wavered in that faith again since...

Okay, that said, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get this party started, with:

5.17: a bunch of demons herd Sam and Dean to Crazytown

Also, 5.18, because it follows directly on from 5.17 thematically, and I couldn’t figure out a way to separate out the overlaps so I just sorta... kept writing :P

Because of that, under a cut because this is longer than most of my single episode posts:

ROB: I hate to tell you this, but those were demons and this is the Apocalypse. So…buckle up.

I mean, tell us something we don’t know...

PASTOR GIDEON: Who would have thought the Apocalypse could be so romantic? Marriage, family—it’s a blessing. Especially in times like this. So hold on to that.

everyone it town is getting hitched because there’s no time like the present to make things official than at the end of the world (where premarital sex has been declared a sin by a “prophet” who’s actually the Whore of Babylon)

Cas’s voicemail skills have come so far...

CASTIEL’S VOICEMAIL: You have reached the voicemail box of: CASTIEL: I don’t understand why, why do you want me to say my name CASTIEL presses random buttons.

After what Pamela said to Dean in 5.16, about maybe Heaven wasn’t such a bad place to go after all, and that maybe Dean didn’t have to keep fighting his destiny quite so hard because no matter how bad things got on Earth, even if millions of people died, they’d be coming to “a better place.”

DEAN: We’re all gonna die, Sam. In like a month—maybe two. I mean it. This is the end of the world, but these people aren’t freaking out. In fact they’re running to the exit in an orderly fashion. I don’t know that that’s such a bad thing. SAM: Who says they’re all gonna die? What ever happened to us saving them?

It’s gotten to Dean in a big way. He’s struggling with doubts about himself and his ability to fight off this huge destiny by himself, now knowing that even God doesn’t care and won’t help them, and by the end of this episode seeing even Cas give up and give in to the Bukowski fatalism... It’s almost like he’s getting to the point where he just wants it to end, where he’s being worn down by circumstances until he doesn’t even have the will to keep fighting anymore.

LEAH: Well, Dean…you’re chosen. DEAN Yeah, more like cursed. LEAH Must be hard. Being the Vessel of Heaven and having no hope.

(boy drinks red label Schultz beer and immediately is killed by a demon)

But all of this is being orchestrated by the Whore, to manipulate the people of the town into doing her bidding. She plays exactly into their desperation until they’re willing to do ANYTHING in her name, including murdering innocent children.

SAM: No drinking, no gambling, no premarital sex. Dean, they basically just outlawed ninety percent of your personality. DEAN: Yeah, well, whatever. When in Rome. SAM: So, uh…you’re cool with it? DEAN: I’m not cool. I’m not, not cool. I’m just, look man, I’m not a prophet. We’re not locals. It’s not my call.

Sam has a nice chat with the bartender who’s just been put out of business:

PAUL: Look, there’s sure as hell demons. And maybe there is a God. I don’t know. Fine. But I’m not a hypocrite. I never prayed before and I ain’t starting now. If I go to hell, I’m going honest. How ‘bout you? SAM: What about me? PAUL: Not a true believer, I take it. SAM : I believe, yeah. I do. I’m just. Pretty sure God stopped caring a long time ago.

Yeah, Sam’s got it on pretty good authority. But Sam refuses to quit fighting for it, even though Dean’s rapidly giving up here... Sam tells him the town’s shut off all communications with the outside world, isolating themselves in self-defense...

And all Dean can say is that he doesn’t care, that he and Sam were supposed to have been the ones to roll into town and save these people, but they just couldn’t do it. That maybe he’s lost the will to keep fighting.

SAM: No you can’t. You can’t do this to me. I got one thing, one thing, keeping me going. You think you’re the only one white-knuckling it here, Dean? I can’t count on anyone else. I can’t do this alone.

*Dean walks out in defiance of the town’s “curfew” and heads to the bar, where even Sam believes he’s going to get drunk, because that was what SAM had been doing, and said he would’ve stayed and KEPT drinking if it hadn’t been for the curfew in town. But like in 12.14 when Dean went out ostensibly to get a drink and returned to the bunker ENTIRELY SOBER, Dean has such a long history of this. Of telling Sam (or whoever’s nearby) that he’s going to drink... and then never drinks. Major Performing Dean here.*

While Dean’s out, Cas shows up. Poor drunk Cas...

CASTIEL : I got your message. It was long, your message. And I find the sound of your voice grating.

(pffft “long,” it’s 25 words and like half of them are filler words like “um” and “so.” really long. >.>)

But the Whore’s goal is corruption:

DEAN: So the demons smoking out—that’s just a con? Why? What’s the endgame? CASTIEL: What you just saw—innocent blood spilled in God’s name.

(sort of like the Righteous Man had to be corrupted to spill blood in Hell to break the first seal...)

CASTIEL: The whore can only be killed by a true Servant of Heaven. DEAN : Servant, like… CASTIEL: Not you. Or me. Sam, of course, is an abomination. We’ll have to find someone else.

But in the end, it was Dean who was able to kill her, because he was already losing his will to resist what was beginning to look like an inevitability. He’s been on a slow slide into resignation all season, going right back to 5.02 immediately after he learned about his “destiny” to be Michael’s vessel, where he gave Bobby his first “keep fighting until we go down swinging” sort of speech, and then turned around and told SAM it was a bunch of BS and that they probably didn’t have a chance to stop it all from happening anyway.

Michael insisting on that fact to his face in 5.13, learning how heaven had been arranging their lives since LONG before they were born in 5.14, rightly or wrongly believing Death himself was trying to take out Bobby and therefore one of Dean’s last remaining emotional supports in order to nudge Sam and Dean into saying yes, and then finally Cas being told by God himself that he just didn’t care one way or the other. I mean, when God himself tells you to give up, it’s kinda disheartening...

Dean gets to have his emotional bonding moment with Cas over their respective deadbeat dads, which is one of the things that will eventually save Dean... again.

And the townspeople, even after seeing the proof that their “prophet” had been the Whore, they’re lost, wondering how they’re supposed to get to the “paradise” she’d promised them now that she’s dead. They still don’t get that they’d damned themselves by trusting her in the first place...

SAM : Are you gonna do something stupid? DEAN Like what? SAM Like Michael stupid. DEAN Come on, Sam. Give me a break.

*Dean immediately leaves to go do something “Michael stupid”*

*after making a pit stop at Lisa’s*

DEAN: Look, I have no illusions, okay? I know the life that I live, I know how that’s gonna end for me. Whatever. I’m okay with that. But I wanted you to know…that when I do picture myself happy…it’s with you. And the kid.

Riiiiight... maybe “happy” isn’t the right word here? Maybe “peaceful,” but happy? A woman he’s spent a grand total of five days of his life with? She’s the anchor of normality in his otherwise horrifying and completely out-of-his-control life. But along with Sam (who Dean would do anything for to protect him from the crap), and Cas (who defied heaven over and over again for Dean and despite his own feelings of loss and abandonment by God will drag Dean bodily back into the fight yet again), and Bobby (who has only kept on fighting himself because of Dean’s will pushing him along), Lisa’s role here is not insignificant in turning the Apocalypse bus around. She’s one of the linchpins holding Dean together in a critical way.

She represents everything worth fighting for in humanity, the “civilians” all tucked up safe behind their white picket fences who just want to live their lives and never have to face down the devil...

DEAN : Whatever happens, you’re gonna be okay. LISA: What do you mean? What are you talking about? DEAN: The people that I’m gonna see next, they’re not gonna get anything from me without agreeing to a few conditions.

Lisa’s safety is one of those conditions, and it’s one of the details that gives Dean just enough time to kill Zachariah before Michael can come down and take possession of him.

But that’s the foundation of 5.18. Which is just about Dean’s lowest moment on the show to this point. He obviously reaches a few lower moments later (you don’t take on the Mark of Cain when you’re in a Happy Place...), but as far as his belief and trust in himself, this is possibly his most significant Moment Of Doubt ever.

SAM: No? So Michael’s not about to make you his Muppet? What the hell, man? This is how it ends? You just…walk out? DEAN: Yeah, I guess. SAM: How could you do that? DEAN: How could I? All you’ve ever done is run away. SAM: And I was wrong. Every single time I did.

Yet Dean still rejects the three people he’s closest to in the world. Sam, right there ^^, but he “brought help” in the form of Cas, who boops Dean back to Bobby’s and stops him from haring off after Michael. Next up is Bobby:

DEAN: Yeah, well, that’s easy for you to say. But if Lucifer burns this mother down, and I coulda done something about it, guess what? That’s on me. BOBBY: You can’t give up, son. DEAN: You’re not my father. And you ain’t in my shoes.

I can’t help but think back to 5.04 here, and Dean’s vision of the future-- what he was warned would be left of the world if he refused to say yes... and he’s starting to get more than a little scared that it’s coming true...

Lisa tried and failed convince Dean not to do whatever he’d had planned.

Bobby shakes him up a little more, pulling out the gun and bullet he intends to kill himself with and shouting Dean down:

BOBBY: Every morning, I look at it. I think, “Maybe today’s the day I flip the lights out.” But I don’t do it. I never do it. You know why? Because I promised you I wouldn’t give up!

Enter Adam, who Cas intercepts from the angels, talking about the deal he made with Zachariah to be Michael’s vessel and kill the devil... in exchange for getting to see his mom again...

CASTIEL: Maybe they're desperate. Maybe they wrongly assumed Dean would be brave enough to withstand them. DEAN: Alright, you know what? Blow me, Cas.

Meanwhile Adam has no reason to trust them at all, and it comes down to Sam to stand up for “Another Way.”

SAM: Now, Adam…the angels are lying to you. They're full of crap. ADAM: Yeah, I don't think so. SAM: Really. Why not? ADAM: Um, 'cause they're angels.

and...

BOBBY: You're still John's boy. ADAM: No, John Winchester was some guy who took me to a baseball game once a year. I don't have a dad. So we may be blood, but we are not family. My mom is my family. And if I do my job, I get to see her again. So no offense, but she's the one I give a rat's ass about, not you.

So much for all those happy family feelings that Ghoul Adam had talked about... that was never Adam at all, it was the GHOUL talking about his family feelings... for his ghoul family...

Adam asks about this big plan they’re working on to save the world:

heh.

First “blow me, Cas” and now, “Well, Cas, not for nothing, but the last person who looked at me like that…I got laid.”

This episode is a wild ride.

DEAN: I’m serious. I mean, think about how many people we've gotten killed, Sam. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jo, Ellen. Should I keep going? SAM: It’s not like we pulled the trigger. DEAN: We might as well have. I’m tired, man. I’m tired of fighting who I'm supposed to be.

But really, Dean... it’s not self-doubt... It’s the ghost of John Winchester and a lifetime of being told to watch out for Sammy, keep an eye on Sammy, if you can’t save Sammy you have to kill him...

DEAN: I just…I—I don’t believe. SAM: In what? DEAN: In you. I mean, I don’t. I don’t know whether it’s gonna be demon blood or some other demon chick or what, but…I do know they're gonna find a way to turn you. SAM: So you’re saying I’m not strong enough. DEAN: You’re angry, you’re self-righteous. Lucifer's gonna wear you to the prom, man. It's just a matter of time. SAM: Don't say that to me. Not you...of all people. DEAN: I don’t want to. But it’s the truth. And when Satan takes you over, there's got to be somebody there to fight him, and it ain't gonna be that kid. So, it's got to be me.

So Dean lures the ONE person he knows would do anything for him to the panic room where they’ve locked him up, and “blows him to Oz” so he can escape and give in to Michael...

So Cas shows up to the dude praying to Michael on Dean’s behalf, and boops him to the ground under a Heaven-coded Schultz sign as the camera pans left to reveal a great big El Sol sign (Deception! HAHA!) and in this episode specifically as the Deception of Heaven, that Heaven itself has deceived both Adam and Dean...

And honestly this is as close as Zachariah ever got to tricking Dean into saying yes... but Castiel hasn’t stopped believing in Dean:

CASTIEL: I rebelled for this?! So that you could surrender to them? DEAN: Cas! Please! CASTIEL: I gave everything for you. And this is what you give to me.

And here we have the key to everything Zachariah ever was:

ADAM: No…but what about the stuff that you said? I’m supposed to fight the devil. ZACHARIAH: Mmm, not so much. Hey, if it’s any consolation, you happen to be the illegitimate half-brother of the guy we do care about. That’s not bad, is it? ADAM: So you lied…about everything. ZACHARIAH: We didn’t lie. We just avoided certain truths to manipulate you.

And why Cas is so unconvinced by Ketch in 12.08. He knows how this tactic works ^^. But despite Dean’s utter lack of trust in Sam’s ability to keep saying no to the devil, Sam shows ABSOLUTE AND UNSHAKEABLE TRUST in Dean, even knowing how hopeless Dean’s feeling right now. And this? This is what saves the world.

SAM: And the place is crawling with mooks…Pretty much a no-shot-in-hell, hail-Mary kind of thing. DEAN: Ah, so the usual. What are you going to do? SAM: For starters…I’m bringing you with.

This is Sam’s moment of “redemption” for s4. For Ruby. For the demon blood. For trusting the demon over his own brother. He’s showing a sign of faith here, and atoning for every time he left and knows it was “the wrong thing to do.”

Heaven and Hell wanted to divide Sam and Dean, because this whole apocalypse thing falls apart if they don’t give in to their respective “sides.”

Combined with the challenge Cas issues Dean-- to do the Right Thing and choose to save the planet rather than letting it burn-- which is exactly how Dean got through to Cas in 4.22-- with the whole “if there was ever anything worth dying for, this is it” line. In 4.22 Dean had made it about saving the Earth, but Cas, right here, makes it about saving one man, about stopping Dean from saying yes.

DEAN: Whoa, wait. You’re gonna take on five angels? CASTIEL: Yes. DEAN: Isn’t that suicide? CASTIEL: Maybe it is. But then I won’t have to watch you fail. I’m sorry, Dean. I don’t have the same faith in you that Sam does.

“Failure” here isn’t the end of the world, isn’t the fulfillment of the apocalypse. FAILURE TO CAS IN THIS MOMENT IS DEAN BREAKING AND SAYING YES. PERIOD. FULL STOP. END OF STORY.

That Dean “Humanity” Winchester would surrender his free will.

That would be failure.

Because This is what Cas has given up everything he’s ever known, everything he ever was, in service to. He defied GOD for Dean. And he’s willing to sacrifice everything he has left to give Dean a chance to prove he’d done the right thing, that he’d made the right choice...

(I’ll hold them off, I’ll hold them all off...)

(Cas has made a habit out of this... 4.22, 5.18, 5.22, 6.20, 7.01, 7.23, s10, 12.12... and don’t even get me STARTED on all the crypt scene stuff... need I refer y’all to lizbob’s incredible diagram?)

DEAN: Do you hear me? Call Michael down, you bastard! ZACHARIAH: How do I know you’re not lying? DEAN: Do I look like I’m lying?

(I love Dean’s belief that everyone can sense lies the same way he can)

ZACHARIAH: Michael’s not gonna kill me. DEAN: Maybe not. But I am.

(I know, I know... I just love everything about that... that’s the moment Dean reclaims his Free Will once and for all, and damn it makes me so damn happy okay)

So Dean managed to escape with Sam, but Adam wasn’t so lucky. Who knows, Michael probably offered him that peace he’d been seeking, that trip to heaven to see his mom, and he said yes. Because if Adam hadn’t consented in that moment, Michael wouldn’t have been able to take him, you know? That was it. That was Adam’s last moment on Earth.

DEAN: Just...let me say this. I don't know if it's being a big brother or what, but to me, you've always been this snot-nosed kid that I've had to keep on the straight and narrow. I think we both know that that's not you anymore. I mean, hell, if you're grown-up enough to find faith in me…the least I can do is return the favor. So screw destiny, right in the face. I say we take the fight to them, and do it our way.

And that’s what they do...

#spn 5.17 #s12 meta rewatch #spn 5.18 #spn 12.14 #performing dean #seriously though why doesn't everyone just trust dean's gut instincts it's like he's got an uncanny magical gift here...#the scheherazade of supernatural #el sol #schultz the beer of death and debt #all my tags for zachariah somehow involve the fact that dean stabbed him in the face pffft #castiel winchester

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drrutherford · 6 years ago

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theodorechaussard‌:

Théo could tell his words had mattered to Gideon, if by nothing more than his body language. The man’s eyes spoke volume, even if it took him awhile to put it into words. When he asked Théo of children, however, it was Théo’s turn for a shadow to cross his face. He was the only son of Jean-Paul Chaussard, the great Commandant. His lineage was noble, on of great pride and power, and of his surname he was proud. He wouldn’t lie- it would grieve him, and his father, to know his name was not passed along to a child of his own. But the possibility of this seemed to fade more and more as Théo grew older. “I don not,” He said finally. “I don’t know if I could justify brining a child into the world in which we live,” He said quietly. “I speak as not the father, but as the child. Separated by forces out of his control.” “Is there no hope to get him back?”

He noticed the change in Chaussard’s expression, and wondered about it. It was too personal a topic to pick at, and so he kept the bulk of his curiosities to himself; focusing instead on the little the Frenchman chose to share aloud. “In the world we live, or in the world you live?” The surgeon tested, elucidating the difference. “Did this ‘world of yours’ separate you from your father?” He asked carefully, a veiled reference to life within a mob.

The question of ‘hope’, of whether he had any of regaining full-custody of Felix - was a dicey topic. The sigh that left him was honest, unintentional. Gideon wasn’t an optimist - at least not anymore, and yet he couldn’t bear to linger on the realistic odds he had of gaining custody. Katherine had a done a good job of irreparably harming his reputation with her garish lies to the media, and the many fans she had in England alone far outnumbered the number of people who’d ever loved Gideon.

“I don’t know how good my chances are,” Gideon replies slowly, giving his head a shake. “... But the one thing I do know, is that I won’t give up trying. The only way she’ll succeed in keeping my son from me, is over my dead body.”

#G x Theodore

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placetobenation · 6 years ago

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Happy (sort of) Independence Day to all! As we discuss in this space every year, yours truly is a man of traditions and there is no tradition greater than crushing hot dogs all day and night during a summer cookout, meaning the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest is as peak tradition as it gets. And I am here for you to review this epic event each and every year! As usual, we are coming to you live (via tape for me now, natch) from the home of the contest and the original Nathan’s Famous in Brooklyn on Coney Island. And this year, ESPN has moved the full replay of this event to ESPN+, so I had to sign up for the free trial of that grift just to do this. You’re welcome.

We open up our coverage with one of our usual epic intro packages, this one putting some focus on the greatest carnival barker of all time: George FUCKING Shea. I say it every year, but if you are to watch this thing for one reason, it should be for George, who we see high above the masses on a pulpit pitching his pitch for this contest of kings. That is followed by a look back at the key players and their history with the contest and their path to today. That includes the infamous 2015 battle where Matthew Stonie knocked off the GOAT Joey Chestnut, handing him his only loss over the past 11 years. And last year, Chestnut broke his own record with 72 dogs taken down. This recap tries hard to make us think Stonie and Carmen Cincotti have a shot today but time will tell.

Adam Amin and Rich Shea officially welcome us into Coney Island and narrate us through the arrival of the competitors. Amin is new to the show, replacing our old friend Paul Page. I assume Pauly must be in a hospital somewhere because I can’t imagine how that guy would miss this event. Page compares Chestnut to other sports legends and the titles they have won. We also check out the historical hot dogs eaten chart for the career of Chestnut.

We then visit with our intrepid sideline reporter Melanie Collins, who is back for year #4. And just in case you forgot what we are working with there, here you go…

Hi, Mel. Melanie chats with Chestnut, who is fired up and says he won’t be lazy today and is interested if Cincotti can break 70. Melanie breaks down the conditions for us and its possible affect on Joey. What a fucking pro. And while we talk about Matt Stonie’s YouTube success and dramatic drop off here in Brooklyn over the past two years, let’s just pay tribute to our favorite Nathan’s Famous sideline reporter of all time. The First Lady of Salty, Cobbled Together Meatlike Products Consumption Contests, the gorgeous Renee Herlocker.

Renee is gone. I’m pouring beer out for my shorty who ain’t here. Give it up for my shorty. Renee. We get more talk pushing the cases of Cincotti and others, as Adam and Rich think this is the dopest field we have seen in quite some time. I will believe it when I see it, boys.

After a break, we check out some clips from promotion work the competitors have done and it is really clear that Cincotti is getting the Jesus Push as the top contender yet again this year. It is a lot of pressure and the biggest story of the day may be whether or not he can hold up. That is followed up by a look hyping the women’s competition, focusing on our reigning champ Miki Sudo, who has won the last four Mustard Belts after dethroning Sonia Thomas. We transition right into brief highlights of the women’s battle, which featured very little drama. Sudo won it again, outpacing second place by nine dogs but also matching her second lowest total of her run. The heat certainly played a role there, I am sure.

Congrats, Miki! Hopefully they can find a legit challenger to her soon before she just keeps piling up these straps. We do find out that her family was in attendance for the first time today, so that is cool. Mel chats with Miki, who says she knew she had a strong lead and just kept pace enough to win. She joins Chestnut and Kobayashi as the only five time champions here in Brooklyn.

Melanie returns and walks us through a video profile on Cincotti, the local hero done well. Of course, fittingly he was born on the Fourth of July and has risen the ranks of competitive eating as the years have ticked along. We get words from his family, including his mom, who wasn’t happy that she funded his college tuition and then went into competitive hot dog eating, but she seems proud nonetheless. Today on his 25th birthday, he goes for the gold.

Upon returning from a break, we get a plug for American Cornhole League action and then get an in depth package on Mr. Chestnut himself, including talk about all his head-to-head wars with Kobayashi. That is immediately followed by a hype piece on Japanese import Max Suzuki, a YouTube sensation that prefers Ramen noodles as his gluttonous delicacy of choice. He qualified for this contest by knocking down 42 dogs in the Las Vegas qualifier and credits Kobayashi as his inspiration and hero.

And after a break it is now time for the competitors to enter… and as always, I implore you to watch this part for yourselves because no man can do the Immortal George Shea justice as he does his thing. The field:

Matt Hazzard: Qualified in Valdosta, GA by finishing off 22 dogs and buns

Derek Jacobs: A weightlifter that won a Kroeger Contest and for some reason, he is barefoot

Juan Neave: Won the San Antonio qualifier and has a multicolored mohawk

Adrian “The Rabbit” Morgan: #7 in the world; Acme Oyster eating champion, killed 42 dozen in eight minutes

Pablo Martinez: Wearing a Lucha mask for his entrance and is a paranormal investigator

Eric “The Red” Denmark: Habanero eating champion of the world; Won the Portland, OR qualifier

“Buffalo” Jim Reeves:”His good cholesterol is low, his bad cholesterol is high and his BMI is borderline Presidential”

Steve Hendry: #16 in the world; 28 dogs and buns in Viejo, CA; has eaten 144 chicken wings

Juan “More Bite” Rodriguez: #12 in the world; personal trainer and won the Des Moines qualifier

Ronnie Hartman: Debuted in 2013 while on leave from Army duty in Afghanistan; training to be a pro wrestler

George Chiger: A massive dude and a rookie who qualified on his fourth try

Nick Wehry: Odds on favorite for MLE Rookie of the Year; won the Citi Field qualifier

Gideon Oji: Ranked #6; Kale eating and green chili stew champion of the world

Eric “Badlands” Booker: The Fucking Man and he and Shea do an awesome combo freestyle rap

Rich “The Locust” LeFevre: #13 and 74 years old; Shea basically says is on his deathbed; Spam eating champion of the world and oldest competitor in 101 year history of the contest

Max Suzuki: #1 in Japan; Has eaten 20 pounds of Ramen

Geoffrey Esper: Pepperoni roll and pizza eating champion of the world

Darron Breeden; Uses the “Tallahassee Two Hand” method

Matt Stonie: #2 in the world; 2016 Nathan’s Champion; Shea is fucking amazing here too

Carmen Cincotti: “He was born on the Fourth of July but this day is a vessel of pain”

Joey Chestnut: The GOAT

This was all worth watching just for the Booker & Shea freestyle battle. What a fucking moment. We also get a neat scroll of all the records Chestnut holds. A true legend of space and time. And after this next break, the 101st Nathan’s Contest will kick off!

We return with one last hype video including a Badlands Booker rap and then it is officially time to light this candle. The clock winds up and away we go! Chestnut is burying processed meat off the bat as we learn that Joey has his own dedicated camera on ESPN3 like the fucking legend he is. Everyone is chugging along at a solid pace to start as usual, with Chestnut setting the pace as usual. The announcers discuss how relaxed Stonie was this week and that could come into play and toss out a potential comparison of Nick Foles beating Tom Brady. Stonie, Suzuki and Cincotti have all passed Chestnut but that is short lived, natch. Stonie is on fire here as we tick two minutes in. Some of these dudes have earbuds in, which is pretty cool. They should do a segment on what they prefer to listen to. Stonie and Chestnut are neck and neck now, and this is a nice bounce back for Matty after a weak showing a year ago.

As we duck below seven minutes, Cincotti is struggling, perhaps crumbling under all the hype and birthday expectations. Joey is at 27, averaging about 7.75 per minute. He has now opened up a six dog lead over Stonie, who is fading quickly. We are closing in on five minutes and this may already be over as Chestnut is leading Esper by seven with Stonie and Cincotti in sniffing distance. Halfway through, Chestnut is at 37 and Melanie tells us he is behind the pace he figured he needed to break the record. We get some insight on the humidity as Chestnut now leads by 11. Amin is rambling about Liv Tyler as this thing is all but over, leaving the record as the only point of question. Shea talks about Chestnut’s training and prep this week, which is more interesting than the contest. Chestnut is at 48 with three minutes to go so he will need to rally pump some meat down to take this record.

Stonie and Cincotti oscillate for second but are trailing by deep double digits now. Shea wonders how many eaters can hit 50 and reminds us that those beyond the winner also get prize money, so finishing high means more cash. We are under two minutes and Joey is sitting in the mid-50s, he has some legit work to do to get the record, but we can never count him out. Amin and Shea are all over the place as we hit the final minute. Chestnut is at 58 and leading by 19 with 60 seconds to go. “The esophagus of a champion, the stomach of a warlord” says Shea, and who can argue with him. Joey is destroying the field but is only at 62 with 15 seconds left so the record looks safe for this year. Time bleeds out and Chestnut locks up his 11th title with a 19 dog win. What a master of his craft. Cincotti finished second at least, so nice rally there.

We wrap things up with Mel chatting with Chestnut, who talks about battling the humidity and says the judges were a mess and couldn’t keep track but he fought through. We also now find out that Chestnut actually wrecked 74 hot dogs, which would be the record. Looks like that unofficial tracker was way off then. Chestnut celebrates while Amin and Shea wrap us up and we are out.

This was a lot of fun as always thanks to George Shea and the production but we need some legit threats to both belts at some point. Seeing Chestnut smash records is fun, but without a real foe the contests are anticlimactic. And we didn’t even get to enjoy the buzz of the record falling this year because of the judge and tracker issues. All that said, this is still one of my favorite events of the year and I am already prepping for 2019! All hail Joseph Chestnut, the once and future king of processed meats!

#IFTTT #Place to Be Nation

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ramrodd · 4 years ago

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Everybody Says Mark Was the First Gospel, But Was It? (With Dr. David Al...

COMMENTARY:

I was going to post a point by point commentary on this interview and the essential flaw in Dr. Black's hypothesis that Matthew was the first Gospel when I realized I had already written one when this video was first posted and it pretty well hits all the points I would make if I started from scratch, so I've reposted it, below. The one thing I want to emphasize is that Dr. Black is absolutely correct about Matthew being a manifesto, of sorts, although I prefer to think of it as a polemic in support of the Judaizers who oppose Paul's mission to the gentiles, and was probably written after Galatians, to support Peter (for example, Matthew is the only Gospel that includes Peter walking, briefly, on the water, which can be seen as a device to elevate Peter's position above Paul's vision on the road to Damascus. If there is anything that is false in Matthew, that pericope gets my vote: Peter doesn't mention it in Mark, for example, and Peter was always insecure about his position as top dog in the original Apostles, which is a source of the tension between him and Paul). To sum up my premise, The Gospel According to Mark was written as a Roman military intelligence abstract of the material contained in the Quelle archives that the Romans began to assemble when Jesus appeared above the Roman military horizon as a potential insurgent when He was baptized. John Mark became the publisher of this Roman military abstract in Alexandria (Dan Wallace points out that 90% of the manuscripts we have that were produced before the 4th century came out of Alexandria) and he wrote the Gospel of John, as Dr. Black asserts, as a supplement specifically to the Gospel According to Mark. For example, the festival in John 5:1 is Tabernacle and John Marks birthday is around that time when he turns 14. He is 15 when Jesus is crucified, strong and fast enough to escape naked but not seen as a threat to the Roman guard mount in charge of Jesus's execution. COMMENTARY: 4 April 2020 And, finally, the codex is a Roman innovation because Quelle was recorded on loose-leaf papyrus as individual spy reports came in and the autograph for the Gospel According to Mark was conveyed to the Praetorian Guards, the headquarters of the Roman spy masters Pilate and Cornelius reported to, as loose-leaf papyrus bound at the spine in the manner of the codex. Again according to Dan Wallace, there are no scrolls of the Gospels: everything has come down as codex. Well, for reasons that you will have to come to grok in fullness, Dr. Black has all the pieces, but he's jammed them into his premise because he is old enough to have been elgible for the draft his first year of college in 1971, the year I got back from Vietnam, The consequene is he has a blind spot about all things military because he was scared shitless of going to Vietnam. And he's pretty typcial of Pro-Life Evangelical Spiritual Warriors. It's like Donald John Trump* calling himself a "War President"; or smarter about pandemics than the White House pandemic reponse team he disbanded in 2018 for the same reason the Republicans in Florida sabotaged the mechanisms for receiving unemployment: dumb ass Joe McCarthy Conservative politics. I went to Vietnam because I was a Christian Soldier and my commission was the Liberation Gospel of the Gospel According to Mark. I went. locked and loaded, to Vietnam and I earned my spurs. I have a Combat Infantryman's Badge and a couple or three scaples. I went to Vietnam to kill a Kong for Christas and I stand here and declare "Mission Accomplished". Then I came back to the World and have spent the last 49 years dealing with white, male Spiritual Warriors like you and Dr. Clark and Donald John Trump*. Which is why the suicide rate among combat veterans is 22 vets a day. You know how you like to poo-poo numerology and numerics in the Bible? Well, could make the case that the Holy Spirit has somehow suppressed the suicide rate in veterns like me to JUST 22 a day just so I can point it out to you at this very instant for the very first time anywhere on the internet of Christendom. Those who have eyes, see. The axis between Q and the Letter to the Hebrews is a case study in a generic intellince assessment process being employed in Langley, today. It's the way the etimoloigists that Donald John Trump* fired from the White House in 2018 would have gone about making a risk assesssment for the Coronavirius long before China would have permitted the word of the pandemic from getting out. You can see why the godless commie cocksuckers in Beijing would have wanted to keep the pandemic secret from the world given that America just pulled an aircraft carrier off the line to protect the crew: during the battle of Stalingrad, a little pandemic would have just added a subject to sing about to the festivities. The Gospel According to Mark is not the first intelligence report to be sent to Rome about the resurrection of Jesus. Here's where Dr. Black and I are joined at the hip: my intent is to establish the historicity of the Gospel of Mark in such a way that any rational, intellectually honest and morally anchore human being can drop kick asshole anti-theists like Richard Carrier and Richard Dawkins in their ideologically puffed up balls and through the goal posts of their own asshole pretzel logic. Dr. Black has all the same peices I do, but, because he was scared shitless of going to Vietnam and then the military gunned down the 4 students at Kent State scared all the white anti-war draft dodgers shitless after the celebration of the end of was at Woodstock which turned into rage, hie has a blind spot about the Romans because,. One, they've always been the bad guys lurking behind the scene and, two, the Romans in the first century until the Milvian Bridge in the 4rh century went to a great deal of trouble keep their existence in the Praetorian Guard and the Legions a secret, or hiding it in plain sight with the Cult of Murtha and the associated Caesar Worship, with it's baptism in blood. The Roman military had absolutely no expectation of anything like the Resurrection. None. I mean, there were all sorts of stories floating around in their mythos about “the gods” in pretty much the same way the stories about Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, but a story about a god who is born of woman, creates the structures of an army composed of Gideons poise to crush the Romans in Galilee, like they did the 12th Legion of Cestius Gallus in 68, but has the more important mission of being truly crucified, USDA Caesar Tiberius Guaranteed, stuck a fork into Him to make sure he was dead, and buried behind a stone requiring 17 men, a centurion and a corporal's guard of 2 squads of 16 men to roll into place. And up from the grave He arose! This just wasn't in the Roman field manuals, anywhere, so they began to study it. It so happens, they had already collected a great deal of data about Jesus as a routine surveillance detail when He popped up over the Roman military horizon as a potential insurgent aligned with John the Baptist. Sometime around 27, before John is arrested and they continued this surveillance with decreasing interest until He is remanded to Pilate by a Jewish lynch mob composed of all the A-List citizens of Jerusalem demanding his execution. All that spy product is the initial material contained in Q and Cornelius, the centurion in Acts 10, is Pilate's administrative chief of staff and the curator for Q from it's implementation as a subject of force protection by the Roman intelligence services in Palestine. Go back the 19 minute time stamp when Dr. Black is describing the stenographic nature of the prose style of the Gospel: the presence of the historic present is the transcribed report of a spy from the field, the raw intelligence of intelligence spy craft arranged along a meticulous and rigorous timeline exactly like the log of a ship or the book of a police desk sergeant. This is scientifically based observation for evaluation somewhere up the chain of command to squeeze out the military/political implications of all things under their purview. As Luke observes in Acts 24:22, Felix knew all about The Way long before Paul washed up from Jerusalem at his feet. And it began with Cornelius and Q. Theophilus is the spy master in the Praetorian Guard both Pilate and Cornelius report to regarding military intelligence. Theophilus has the same organizational role in the Praetorian Guard that George Smiley has in MI6: he's not M, but he M is his first report, and M speaks to the Emperor. In particular, Tiberius. Until 31, Sejanus is M in the Praetorian Guard, so it's not clear if Sejanus would have choked off the initial intelligence report that compelled Tiberius to propose to the Senate that Jesus be elevated to the status of a legal deity or not, but the timing is such that, if Jesus had died on the Passover in 31, the news of His Resurrection could have moved, unfettered, to Tiberius as early as that year. For numerological reasons, I like 33 better but only by a hair over 31 CE as the year it all got started. But the important thing is, Tiberius made his Jesus proposal after, or during, the purge of Sejanus and, as a consequence, the Senate was forever after hostile to all things Tiberius, especially Christians, which is why they went underground. If you notice, the only connection Cornelius makes with Jesus is by naming Jairus, who was president of the Capernaum synagogue. Cornelius knew Jesus, personally, and was justified by faith in Matthew 8:10. And Cornelius was in the room with Pilate during the interrogation of Jesus. Why didn't Cornelius intercede, then, you may ask. It has to do with Romans 13:1 – 7 and the spirit that fulfills the letter of the law. It has to do with the dramatic tension of “A Man for All Seasons”. It has to do with why Mitt Romney voted to convict and Socrates took the cup and Jesus died on the cross. It's why I went to Vietnam and why I left the army. The rule of law, duty and the sworn oath. That's the basis of the absolution of Luke 23:34. The letter to the Hebrews is an intelligence finding, to return to the theme of a case study in generic intelligence risk assessment. Q stayed in Caesarea and was possibly destroyed during the Jewish Wars, but Theophilus assembled a mirror, and complimentary, portfolio in Rome to study just what it all meant. Paul's role was to defend the ethic of Jesus in Rome to Theophilus and his committee/church, which he, Paul, does successfully. Unlike Athens, where he was preaching to philosophers. Paul is preaching to students of philosophy in the Roman equestrian class: their whole success was as early adopters and they already believed in Romans 13: 1 – 7, but the missing link was Melchizedek and the offering of bread and wine and that closes the loop of Moses with Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Everything in the Gospels begins moving to Rome when Jesus is remanded to Pilate. Dr. Black is almost right about the relationship between Mark and the Gospel of John. John Mark is the publisher, editor, character and probable translator of the original Latin of the autograph to the coine Greek of the final version and John Mark is also the author of the Gospel of John. John Mark is the “beloved disciple” of the Gospel of John is probably 14 years old when he is witness to the Roman coup-de-grace on the cross. He is something of a mascot, a Junior Disciple, who first meets Jesus at the wedding in Cana something after Jesus is baptized, and travels around with Jesus and his crew from about that time until after the feeding of the 5000, which occurs just before the Passover the year before Easter and sometime just after John the Baptist is beheaded in 29. John Mark's chronology is not entirely reliable, but the narratives of Mark and John converge in both Gospels in Chapter 6 and diverge until they converge in Chapter 11. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem happens in the morning of Palm Sunday and Lazarus is raised from the dead in the late afternoon in Bethany. John Mark was in Bethany for both the Triumphal Entry and the Scourging of the Temple. The Gospel of John is a complimentary reader to Mark and originates from the perspective of someone for whom Passover was like Christmas while the Synoptic Gospels treat Passover as an annual issue of crowd control. The anointing of Jesus is a coronation in Mark but a particularly erotic celebration in John of the Bridegroom that is an allusion to Ruth at the feet of Boaz, her redeemer. This is the best case to be made that Jesus had a wife, but He died a virgin. Matthew is undoubtedly written by Matthew Levi and is the outlier to the other Gospels in that, as Dr. Black observes, is a polemic for the Judaizers who opposed Paul's missionary to the Gentiles. Luke is making an obvious reference to Matthew's Gospel in the preamble to Luke where the transliteration is that he. Luke, is correcting what Matthew fucked up. Luke probably started Acts as an amicus brief for Paul's defense of Romans, but Theophilus commissioned him to expand his study after he, Luke, is introduced to Cornelius and given access to Q. It is obvious that both Mark and Matthew are available to Luke when he follows Paul to Caesarea and, based on an observation in David Sloan's “What if the Gospel according to Hebrews is Q”, Luke had Mark to begin with (he notices that Luke 3:1 introduces John the Baptist like the beginning of Mark after introducing him as the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth in Luke 1). That's not all, but here's a little more numerology for you to consider: the 13 Epistles of Paul being with the longest and narrows to the shortest like an arrow pointing at Hebrews, which has 13 chapters, which were added in the 16th century, as you have pointed out in another video. Dr. Black has all the pieces and, if you add Richard Bauchman's eyewitness in the Gospels to the mix, and rearrange the pieces around his fear of going to Vietnam, it all leads to the nature of the canon and removes most of the mystery to fully reveal the historicity of the Mystery of the Resurrection in the eyes of the Romans back in the day.

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