#in verse 36 he says they only wanted to take him with them so he wouldnt run back and squeal on them to the authorities

[lady0ctavia]

As We Ponder Belief

(2p!Prussia x Reader) - Chapter 36

Note: This story is based vaguely during the mid 1200s in Eastern Europe where the Teutonic Knights fought the Northern Crusades to try and convert the native pagan population to Christianity. As a result, this story will have heavy religious themes all throughout. It should also be noted that, while referencing real-life events and locations, I am not striving for full historical accuracy. This is for the sake of the story I am telling.

Once again, this series will have heavy religious themes throughout, including discussions of bible stories, doctrine, and scripture verses, as well as critical analysis of Christian doctrine and beliefs. So, if you don't like that, you will want to skip out on this.

Gilbert paced up and down every hall in the fortress, racking his brain for an explanation he could give to the captain as to why both their resident doctor and his short-term apprentice were missing. Having not slept a wink that night, he could feel his body growing weary, begging for a chance to lay down and recharge. But the rising sun told them otherwise. Whether he liked it or not, morning was here. Captain Nikolaus and the other knights would be waking up any minute. And he was going to have to tell them what had happened.

How do I tell them? What do I say? 'Hello men, I thought you ought to know that our dearest doctor and my beloved brother, Sir Gillen Beilschmidt, has run away under the cover of night with Miss (y/n) (l/n) in tow!' The captain will lose it! But what else can I say? I mean, what other explanation for their absence can there be?! Nothing I can come up with will account for the rampant evidence! Surely they'll notice that we are missing a few things from around the fortress, especially now that we're short one cart and horse!

He ran his fingers through his hair as he saw the coming light, getting progressively more and more stressed as time stretched on. A sense of panic began to overwhelm him, his brain running in circles. As he paced, he attempted deep breathing to calm himself down. While it didn't completely do away with his panic, it at the very least settled his mind enough to think straight. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, he turned to look out the window, toward the direction where his brother and friend had run off.

I don't know what will happen here when the news gets out. Or how people will react. I just hope it won't be anything terrible. I want to believe there's a chance Gillen and (y/n) won't work out. But I could be wrong. In fact, I know I am. And I wish I could apologize for all I said. None of that was right.

He sighed, continuing to walk down the hall, his steps far slower and more measured than before.

The way they looked at one another. That's the same look our father had with our mother. And the same Elizabeta had with Roderich. If anything, I wouldn't be surprised if they end up getting married soon. And seeing as the two of them ran off so that they may be together, that's the most likely outcome.

Gilbert proceeded to dive deeper and deeper into the depths of his own mind. Only breaking out of his trance when he heard the familiar call of Albrecht.

"Sir Gilbert!" He called out, his smile bright and shining.

"Guten Morgen, Albrecht. Sleep well?" Gilbert asked flatly.

"I did. Captain Nikolaus just wanted me to assist you in fetching Miss (l/n)," His smile faltered only a little, becoming small and bittersweet. "She goes home today."

"I know. Um, Albrecht? I'm going to need a word with you," Gilbert droned, knowing what he had to say. There's no use. I have to tell him the truth. At least him and Nikolaus.

"Oh, alright then. What is it?" Albrecht asked inquisitively.

Gilbert's heart sank. He knew of the friendship that young Albrecht had formed with (y/n). And it hurt him to know that, however he responded, it wouldn't be easy for him. It's never easy to take the news of someone you care for abandoning you.

"It's probably best I tell you about this news alongside the captain. I don't want to have to repeat this twice," Gilbert sighed and placed a hand on Albrecht's shoulder, guiding him along as they made their way to find their commanding officer.

"She left? In the middle of the night?!" Captain Nikolaus said loudly, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open in a state of shock. His eyebrows nearly reached his hairline as he stood in the middle of his quarters, having just barely finished getting ready and dressed for the day. He gawked at the two who had knocked and entered his room. Whereas Gilbert stood there deadpan, Albrecht looked up at the albino knight, his face appearing heartbroken.

"But-But why would she leave?" Albrecht gasped. His eyes glistened with small, barely-there tears. It could be because of his emotions, but it could also be the result of the sunlight streaming into the room. It was hard to say. Gilbert braced himself before responding, his eyes closed, and fists clenched as they hung at his sides.

"You see, that's the other part of the news. When (y/n) left, she didn't leave alone. She and my brother fell in love. And so, they decided to run away. To be together," Gilbert spoke slowly and deliberately, choosing each word carefully. But it didn't matter how carefully he chose his words. The message was still the same.

For a brief moment, there was nothing but stunned silence. Even the birds went quiet, as if they too were shocked by the news. The one to break air was Captain Nikolaus, whose face began to contort. Switching between expressions of shock, confusion, and overall anger.

"So you mean to tell me that Gillen, who is not only one of our best knights, but our resident doctor, allowed himself to be seduced by Miss (l/n)?" His voice was low, but threatening, causing a shiver to cascade through Gilbert's entire body. Even Albrecht seemed unnerved.

"Well, I wouldn't use the word 'seduced'. But yes, Gillen is gone," Gilbert tried his best to remain stoic, hoping to not make the situation worse. He glanced over at Albrecht and used his head to gesture to the door, asking him to leave. Albrecht complied, but not without giving them one last teary-eyed look.

The captain's mouth moved, as if trying desperately, and failing, to find the words he wanted to say. Once Albrecht had finally left the room, he turned all of his attention to Gilbert. Taking a deep breath, he attempted to calm himself down from a potential burst of rage.

"You clearly knew about this. And we've been discussing our concerns regarding them for some time. So I cannot imagine you knew about this for long."

"That's correct," Gilbert told him. "I was actually worried about something like this happening for the past couple of days. So, I tried to keep an eye on them. I caught them at the stables last night, all packed and ready to go."

"And you allowed them to leave?" The captain's face began to go red, his anger just barely restrained. He was clearly trying his best to hold back.

Gilbert gulped. "Yes, sir," He relented. The captain took a few steps forward to stand practically toe to toe with Gilbert.

"Why?" Was all he asked, his voice hard and cold. A stark contrast to his usual warm and pleasant demeanor. It was here that Gilbert could finally see the rage burning within those dark blue eyes. It was almost terrifying.

"Be-Because," Gilbert cursed internally at his stuttering. "Th-They have their free will. They can do as they please."

"You are his older brother. Why did you not stop him? Is it not on you to be your brother's keeper? To hold him accountable for his sins?! To hold him accountable for deliberately deciding to run off and break his vows?! VOWS HE MADE WITH THE LORD!?" By the end of his words, Captain Nikolaus was yelling into his subordinate's face.

At this point, Gilbert was no longer able to hold his expression as he held his breath. His face was fearful as he stood in the shadow of his captain, bearing down on him. The captain spun around and walked to the other side of the room, pacing. The force of the movement nearly causing Gilbert to fall. Allowing himself to breath, Gibert watched the captain about to rage.

"We all know first aid, but Gillen was one of the best trained doctors this fortress has ever seen. And now he's off cavorting around with some faithless whore, carnally breaking every vow we have!" Captain Nikolaus fumed, waving his hands in the air.

"Don't you dare speak of her that way!" Gilbert finally snapped.

"I will speak of her however I like. Both of them!" The captain snapped back, this time storming forward and savagely grabbing Gilbert by the collar of his tunic. "And you do not speak to your captain that way. Am I clear?"

"(y-y/n) and my brother don't deserve to be spoken of like that. They are good people, and I believe they know the value of waiting for marri-"

The captain cut him off by shaking him and practically raising him in the air. "I do not recall asking about that traitor and his vile little-"

"I said don't speak of her like that!" Gilbert shouted, kicking his captain in the shin, causing him to stop and drop him. Gilbert landed on his feet, but only barely as the captain smacked him across the face. A bright red mark began to gradually appear on the left side of the knight's pale complexion.

"Am I to believe she has seduced you as well?" He asked darkly, glaring down at Gilbert.

"Never," Gilbert insisted, lightly touching the reddening spot on his face. My heart already lies somewhere else. Always has. I wonder what Liz would say if she saw me now. I must look pathetic.

"Then you should have no problem fetching them," Nikolaus walked past him and toward the door.

"Wait, what?" Gilbert's head spun around before walking after his captain, the latter of which stopped at the door and turned to face him.

"We need Gillen here at the fortress, as is his responsibility. Meanwhile, (y/n) will be sent off to a convent," His voice returned to his usual calm tone almost immediately, giving Gilbert whiplash at the sudden and eerie change in tone.

Gilbert shuddered. Has he always been like this? I've seen him angry before, but this is different.

"Gilbert, if you think you need time to prepare for your journey, then do so. But understand that the longer you wait, the better chance they have of getting away," The captain left with these words, striding out of the room and down the hall.

Gilbert stood at the doorway, watching the captain proceed in the direction of the dining hall. His heart was pounding in his chest, and his mind was racing from the intense confrontation. He could hardly describe what he was feeling. Anger? Fear? Sadness? Shock? Perhaps it was all four.

Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

And so... The captain finally goes mask off. As always, please let me know your thoughts!

[theconstantsidekick]

Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (7) | s.r

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Stark!Reader, Tony Stark x Stark!Reader (siblings), Bucky Barnes x Stark!Reader (future)

Genre: Angsty city babyy!

Summary: The Avengers have a reunion... in Germany... at the airport... with a few new members.

(These scenes incorporate y/n, codename—Static, into the pre-existing story as a character without making drastic changes to the plot or mythos. All the major plot points from the MCU remain in place with the addition of the reader as Static, who is not only a Stark but also enhanced. Whatever events from the canon aren’t mentioned, take place without much change.)

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Past Trauma, Canon Typical Violence

a/n: this was so hard to write wtf?

Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (6) | Captain America: Civil War ft. Static (8) | Series Masterlist | Age of Ultron (Static Origin Story) | The Avengers (ft. Static) | Captain America: The Winter Soldier (ft. Static) | Static Verse Masterlist

As soon as she and Steve have the grounded chopper in sight, An electro-disabler slams onto the chopper, frying the systems and rendering it useless. Steve and Y/n look up. 

She watches with burning annoyance as Tony and Rhodey descend.

“Wow!” Tony fakes surprise looking at Rhodey, “It's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?”

“Definitely weird,” Rhodey answers.

“Hear me out, Tony,” Steve pleads. It almost seems genuine. “That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this.”

T'Challa leaps over a truck, “Captain.” 

“Your Highness,” Steve replies.

“Anyway” Tony begins, as he walks around, “Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?”

“You're after the wrong guy.”

“Your judgment is askew.” She’s seldom seen her brother this fucking furious, but then again, maybe it’s cause it’s Steve.  “Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday.”

“And there are five more super soldiers just like him,” Steve argues. “I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can't.”

And then, 

“Steve—you know what's about to happen,” Natasha chimes in joining the growing confrontation. “Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?”

No one’s addressed her since this entire thing—

“Why are you being so uncharacteristically fucking quiet!?” Tony screams at her.

Taken aback a bit, she straightens up. “What’s left to say?”

“Are you seriously going along with this? You know how this ends, way better than him,” Natasha tries to reason with her.

She shrugs. “I don’t—Frankly, I don’t care about any of this. I just want to go home.” She says it simple and sweet. Because it’s true. She understands that there is a threat looming but she’s sure Steve can handle it. If you asked her two weeks ago, she would have been enthusiastic about the whole thing, a mission to take down the last vestiges of HYDRA, of her nightmare—what’s not to love? 

But that was then and this is now, and now she has to fight her way through her friends to fight with some villain and that just—call her selfish but that just seems unnecessarily tedious. She just wants this all to be over. Part of her wishes things could just go back to that party at the Tower before Ultron attacked. Everything was… It was all so easy then. She misses it.

“Then let’s go home!” Tony urges.

And all she can do is let out a laugh in disbelief. “I said I wanna go home… Not a fucking prison cell.” 

Tony clenches his jaw. “ All right, I've run out of patience.” He cups his hands around his mouth and yells out, “Underoos!”

And suddenly, there is liquid spilling out onto tying up her and Steve’s hands. A person in tight fitted red and blue suit flips over and snatches the shield. He lands on top of a truck, joining the ensemble.

FUCK TONY! She thinks. What did you do?

“Nice job, kid,” Tony compliments with a smile.

“Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just the new suit—Wait! It's nothing, Mr. Stark. It's--it's perfect. Thank you.”

“Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation,” Tony comments.

“Okay. Cap… Captain,” Spider-Man nods. “Big fan, I'm Spider-Man.” If he weren’t wearing a mask, Y/n is sure he’d be smiling.

“Yeah, we'll talk about it later. Just—” He waves his hands dismissively. “—Good job.”

“Hey, everyone,” Spider-Man greets.

“You've been busy.” Steve notes, there is a blatant hint of disapproval in his words.

“And you’ve been a complete idiot!” Tony counters, pissed. “Dragging in Clint. ‘Rescuing’ Wanda from a place she doesn’t even want to leave—a safe space.”

“How are you any fucking different, Stark?!” Y/n bites back. She’s pissed too. If she hasn’t made it clear yet, she would like for it to be put on record that she is outraged, beyond outraged that she has to fight the tiny little family she has been able to piece together over something as heinous as her fear of being imprisoned again. She hates every second of it but this?

This is a new level of stupid on Tony’s part.

“What the fuck were you thinking? Why would you bring him here?” She asks, pointing at Spider-Man. She’s well aware of who he is. It is her job to know. Which means she knows, that he’s just a fucking kid!

Y/n is about to blow a fucking gasket.

Tony just runs a hand over his face, looking exhausted. “I did what I had to do. You’re not giving me a lot of options here.”

“Fuck off, Tony!” She throws back because that is nowhere near a valid excuse to bring the kid into this. 

“I'm trying to keep—” He sighs. “I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart,” Tony urges.

“You did that when you signed,” Steve answers. 

That might be the only thing that she and Steve agree on.

“Alright, We're done,” Tony announces. “You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. NOW! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys—with no compunction about being impolite.” He pauses for a second, and then a final plea, “Come on.”. 

Sam’s voice rings out over the comms, “We found it. Their Quinjet’s in hanger five, north runway.”

Instantly both she and Steve hold their hands up and Clint shoots the web off.

Tony’s helmet goes up as he turns to look at the source of the arrow.

“Alright, Lang,” Steve signals Lang to get to it.

And Lang does not disappoint. 

“Hey, guys, something—” Spider-Man is cut off by Lang sizing back up from Cap’s shield and retrieving it.

“Whoa. What--what the hell was that?” Rhodey asks aloud, confused as fuck.

Lang hands the shield back to Steve, “I believe this is yours, Captain America.”

“Oh, great. Alright, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, I'm gonna grab her.” Tony announces all their locations. “Rhodey, you want to take Cap?” He asks before flying off.

“Got two in the terminal, Wilson and Barnes,” Rhodey calls out, as he begins to take flight.

Steve launches his shield, aiming for the chest of Rhodey’s suit, temporarily incapacitating him. 

“Barnes is mine!” T’Challa runs off and Steve swiftly follows behind.

Spider-Man swings away upon receiving whatever order he receives from Tony.

“I’m gonna—” Lang points over to Rhodey, to which Y/n just nods in response.

“Guess that just leaves you and me,” Natasha notes.

Y/n smiles a little, “In any other circumstance I would’ve enjoyed that more.”

Natasha smiles too, before she lunges at her. 

Y/n easily dodges every attack that Natasha throws at her. Nat’s trained. She’s amazing, agile and utterly formidable… But Y/n is better. Looking at her, it’s easy to forget that while she’s damn near ancient at this point. But she is. She has done this a lot longer than any other member of her team.

“You’re not fighting me,” Natasha notes.

Dodging another punch, “I don’t want to,” Y/n answers.

“How do you plan on fixing this?” She asks.

Taking a step back, with furrowed brows, “Why am I supposed to solve it?”

“Well, it was supposed to be us—you and I, together. But then you decided to leave with Steve.” Natasha counters. Her attacks are getting more intrusive, it’s taking a lot more work to dodge them.

“I left cause of Sergant Barnes, Steve cannot handle him alone and you know it,” Y/n reasoned.

“And you can?” 

“I’m not alone, am I?” Y/n’s getting a little annoyed.

“That doesn’t feel like a betrayal at all,” Natasha bites back, kicking her hard in the side.

“Fuck!” Y/n curses. Clicking her tongue, she swallows a groan while holding her side. “Yeah, like you didn’t fucking betray me signing that goddamn document.”

“These boys are demarcating the playground, claiming a side of their own.” Natasha lands another blow on her chest, making her stumble back sputtering. “They can’t clean up after themselves. They are too headstrong, too naive to see sense. We have to fix this!”

Y/n has had enough. When Natasha carges at her again, she stops her. Blocking with one hand, she knees Nat in the side. “It’s not my fucking responsibility!” Pushing her back, she counters Nat’s attacks easily. “I never wanted to be a part of this shit show. I didn’t want it then, I don’t want it now. This is not my fucking mess!” Y/n throws a punch. ”I just want to go home.”

Natasha blocks her. And then… then she fucking smiles.

It’s not a cunning one. It’s not mocking either. It’s something like sympathy. 

“You’re fighting me,” Natasha notes. And belatedly, Y/n realises, that yeah… yeah she is. “You’re always going to be a better fighter than me, Y/n. But this,” she taps at Y/n’s chest, right above her heart, “you let this loose way too easily. You make it too damn easy for me to do this.” Natasha manouvers herself around Y/n and pins her to the floor, trapped between fucking her legs. Fuck me, Y/n thinks. With a crippling elbow punch to the gut, Natasha gets up on her feet, leaving Y/n coughing on the floor.

“Just say what you want to say,” Y/n asks from where she’s lying flat on her ass.

“You cannot keep claiming Switzerland. You don’t want to pick a side? Don’t. Be on your own side, but don’t keep pretending to be uninvolved. Look around you, Y/n… you already are involved.”

With that, Natasha is off too, leaving Y/n to gather up her leftover dignity.

The fight, or well should she call it the fights—cause there are multiple—the fights continue. Vision enters the arena and draws a literal line in the sand. 

“Captain Rogers,” he says, levitating above them, “I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good you must surrender now.”

As politely as it’s worded, it still remains a warning. Warning Steve to stop, but come on. Has that ever fucking worked with Steve ‘Bullheaded’ Rogers? 

Both teams charge at each other and Y/n just hates all of it. It feels absurd to fight against the people she has fought shoulder to shoulder, but in the moment, it feels like she just doesn’t have a choice… Does she?

She loses track of everyone she faces off, but rest assured it’s everyone but the Spider-Man. She tries her best to avoid using her powers, bringing up her armour only as defence. The powers—her attacks are meant to harm. These aren’t the people she would ever wish harm upon.

Eventually she stumbles upon Spider-Man, barely holding up what once must have been a gangway. Manifesting the armour onto her arms and then curling her hand around the hilt of her sword as it’s forming into existence from her dimension, she glitches in just above him and free falls to the ground, cutting the whole thing down.

She lands on her knee. 

“Miss Stark!” Spider-Man yells out in excitement, dropping the halved gangway with ease. “It is so great to meet you! I am a huge fan, especially of your—”

She cuts him off, her sword disassembling out of existence, “Who did that?” she asks, pointing at the completely unrecognizable gangway.

“Captain America,” he answers easily. “Aren’t you on his team?”

“I don’t know which fucking team I’m on!” Y/n answers, throwing her arms up in utter frustration. 

The kid for his part remains calm, giving her a moment to compose herself again. 

Sighing, she looks up at him, “Do you make it a habit of willing following men dressed like stop signs to Germany, or is this one off thing?”

“Mr. Stark said he needed help… How could I say no?” 

There so much fucking ernestness in his words it burns Y/n from within.

“Go home, kid,” she tells him. “Tony—he…” She shakes her head. “All this is way too bigger than you…”

“I can handle it,” he replies, sounding almost desperate. 

“I don’t doubt it,” She answers, because she doesn’t. “But you’re better at being the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.” With that she begins to walk away.

The kid, however, has other ideas. He shoots a web at her and instantly her sword manifests once again, cutting it down before it can stick to her. “Don’t be dumb, kid,” she scolds gently, glitching a few meters away. “Go home!” She yells out and glitches out of his sight.

As it goes on, at some point, a realization strikes them all.

“We gotta go,” Barnes’ voice rings out over the comms. She’s not sure she’ll ever get used to having that voice in her ear speaking anything but crude monosyllabic words in German. “That guy's probably in Siberia by now.”

“We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Tony. You get to the jet,” Steve replies. “Y/n, think you can take on Vision?”

“You bet you star-spangled ass—” She’s cut off before she can verbally assault Steve for questioning her at all.

“No, you get to the jet! All three of you!” Sam reasons, sounding a little strained. When she spots him in the air, Rhodey hot on his trail. “The rest of us aren't getting out of here.”

She wants to cut in, but before she gets the chance to, T’Challa throat punches her, pissing her off. Her focus shifts to handling the King of Wakanda.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it,” Clint chimes in.

“This isn't the real fight, Steve,” Sam urges softly.

“Alright, Sam,” Steve acquieces. “What's the play?”

“We need a diversion, something big,” Sam says.

“I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long,” Scott answers instantly over the comms. “On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half—don't come back for me.”

“He's gonna tear himself in half?” Barnes questions, sounding just as confused as she feels.

“You're sure about this, Scott?” Steve asks him.

“I do it all the time. I mean once…in a lab,” Scott answers.

“And then what happened?” Y/n asks, finally being able to find her voice, having pinned T’Challa on the ground with her thighs roped around his neck.

“Then I passed out,” Scott answers.

“Awesome,” Y/n remarks before, T’Challa lands a blow on her side, making her losen her grip. Both are quickly on their feet again. 

“You’ve gotten better, your majesty,” She tells him. T’Challa has always been a great fighter—trained by the Dora Malaje, of course she expects no less. “It feels like it was yesterday when I saw your father teaching you how to wield a staff.”

He charges at her with so much anger. “How dare you talk about my father when you choose to protect his murder!”

“T’Challa—” She tries but he’s not in a listening mood. He’s in an attacking mood; he keeps coming at her relentlessly. She dodges every strike.

“After all the kindness he showed you, you protect Barnes!? You are a traitor!”

“He didn’t kill your father, T’Challa! You have to know that,” Y/n tries to reason but clearly it has no affect. In the end she realizes she is not left with much of a choice. 

Before she can react on her realization, however, Scott fucking Lang decides to grow to the size of fucking building. 

“Mother of whore-loving motherfucker,” Y/n is damn near astounded.

“I guess that’s the signal,” Sam’s voice comes in from the comms.

As soon as the shock fades, T’Challa charges at her again and she does the same. Running at him, she uses the momentum kneeing him in the chest. He stumbles back a little, she takes that moment to kick him in the back of calve, disbalancing him to make him fall and as he falls, she strikes him in the chest. 

With that, she glitches away.

“Y/n, you coming?” Steve asks over the comms.

“I don’t know,” she answers honestly, spotting Vision who’s eyes are set on Steve and Bucky who are running towards the quinjet.

She’s glitching in and out. Popping out of her dimension to attack Vision and then popping back in to stop herself from falling. It’s a fucking taxing thing, fighting an super-enhanced android with weird magic powers in the air, especially when you can’t fly.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” Sam asks her on the radio.

“It means I’m fucking thinking about it!” She bites back.

“What’s there to think about?” Clink asks.

“I don’t know!” She glitches into her dimension. “Fuck” She says to herself, then glitches out. “Something about my responsibility in all this—I don’t fucking know!”

And then Vision decides to shoot a beam at her with the mindstone. Her armour deflects but the force throws her to the ground. 

The fall hurts, it aches. It makes her ache in places she hasn’t ached since HYDRA had her. It’s all very fucking meloncholy if you ask her. So, you cannot blame her when she lies on her ass for a couple seconds, trying to recuperate. 

Meanwhile, Vision uses his beam to cut the control tower in half. It begins to collapse over the entrance to the hanger the quinjet is in. Wanda tries to hold off the debris from crumbling to the ground, keeping the way clear for Steve and Barnes who are fast approaching on foot. However, Rhodey intervenes, blasting her with a sonic boom, making her loose control. 

All of that is for naught, though, because Steve and Bucky do make it in. 

“Need a hand?” A gold-titanium allow hand, painted bright red is extended to her.

She takes the hand, letting it help her stand on her feet. “Thanks,” she tells him. “Shouldn’t you be spending this time stopping them?” She asks, pointing at the scene unfolding behind them.

“I’m trying to stop you,” Tony says evenly. And then, before she can even tell him she’s not sure if he needs to, if what she really wants to do is stick around and fix it—she doesn’t know how exactly but she wants to try, if any of this is necessary, she hears a sound. It’s a sound that has become almost ambient to her, a sound that used to bring her comfort, a sound that used to mean there was someone watching her back—the sound of Tony’s repulsors being activated. 

She feels the hit before he even aims for it.

“Don’t make me stop you, Stark,” Tony says sofly, his eyes are welling up but so are hers. She has categorically avoided him the entire time, knowing full well that faced with him, she’d just surrender and find a way to escape at a later point. But this… This fucking hurts.

It burns her. It burns her from within. 

The man doesn’t even have to take the shot to make her bleed. 

But his arms come up to aim the repulsors at her anyway.

“Really?” She asks him.

“I don’t want to do this,” he begs.

It doesn’t matter though, it doesn’t fucking matter because he is doing it. He’s aiming at her. Her baby brother is aiming his weapons at her, hesitantly but he’s aiming nonetheless. It fucking breaks her her. 

Her hands clench into fists. A tear escapes her eyes. And a single word slips out of her lips “Traitor.” 

She glitches away. 

When she glitches out, she’s facing Natasha. 

As their eyes meet, Natasha fires a widow bite from her wrist. Y/n waits for the hit but it never comes, turning back she met with T’Challa, who’s being incapacitated by the low voltage shocks from the widow bite.

“Oh,” Y/n notes, turning back at Natasha.

Her brows forrow at that reaction. “What?” When all Y/n does is point at T’Challa behind him, Nat continues, “What are you waiting for? Go!” 

“I—I’m not going…” she answers, dumbly. “I came here to stop you from stopping—” her eyes fly to Barnes and Steve who are already inside the jet. “—them…”

“Not going?” Natasha asks, with a smile.

Clenching her jaw, Y/n replies, “Not yet.”

Natasha just nods at her.

As the two super soldiers take off, T’Challa frees himself and tries to grab onto the jet but fails inevitably, landing easily on the ground.

He comes to face Natasha and even with the mask on Y/n can practically see how pissed off he is.

“I said I'd help you find him, not catch him. There's a difference,” Natasha tells him with a somewhat false sense of confidence, knowing very well herself that she’s lying. 

This is awkward, is all Y/n can think as she stands between the two of them.

As the three of them make their way out, she watches as Lang is going down in all his (Gi)Ant-Man might, Spider-Man’s webbing tied around his legs. Tony and Rhodey punch him out of the sky and Y/n can see the last vestiges of her ‘side’ crumbling.

In front of her, a few meters ahead, Vision has Wanda in her grasp, holding onto her and protecting her gently. 

While the jet flies off, Rhodey and Tony both take off after it, Sam is hot on their trails. Either of the two iron-men must call out an order because then Vision looks up at them in the sky. He uses the mind stone again, shooting off a beam. She’s sure it’s meant for Sam, but he folds away his wings, dropping altitude so the beam misses him entire, hitting Rhodey instead.

For the next minute or so, everything happens in slow-motion. 

Rhodey begins to fall. He begins falling from the sky.

Her confusion over his inaction only lasts a second but the moment its clear that the beam hit Rhodey’s core, shutting the suit down, Y/n runs into action. 

She begins glitching in and out, trying to get higher and closer to Rhodey, coming out only to calculate how much farther he is from her reach.

Glitch, need to be higher.

Glitch, need to be closer.

Glitch, need to be further.

Glitch, need to be faster.

She can reach him. She’s sure.

But…

But the ground is creeping in and Rhodey’s been falling for way too long.

She needs to slow his speed or he’ll—

No time to think. 

No time for anything but action.

The next time she glitches out, she grabs Rhodey.

“Y/n!” He yells out, afraid and lost.

“I got you,” she tells him. “I got you, Rhodey.”

She glitches him into her dimension, trying to decrease his speed. 

“FUCK!”

It’s not easy. 

Fuck it’s damn near impossible for her. 

She’s not good enough.

Especially not good enough at controlling her dimension when he’s been freefalling from the sky, in an impeccably heavy suit of weapons, and machine and metal. He’d been falling too long, with too much weight.

She holds onto him, making her dimension denser, not enough but still, denser. 

Manouvering herself under him, she extends her armour from her arms to span across her back. If she can’t slow him to a halt, she can cushion his fall.

When they glitch out of the dimension, the change in force hits them hard, slowing them down a little bit more. But the wind does not cooperate. The wind is a fucking bitch. Y/n cannot completely sustain the suits weight on her, but she tries her best.

As they brace themselves for what will undoubtedly be a rough fucking landing, the last thing she sees is Tony flying towards them.

They crash. 

The impact creates a fucking pit in the ground.

Before she can try helpless to move Rhodey off of her to check on him, Tony lands next to them and does it. 

He pulls off Rhodey’s face plate, and asks F.R.I.D.A.Y. to check his vitals.

“Heartbeat detected. Emergency medical is on its way,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. replies.

His eyes fly over to Y/n then. Hand on her chest in an instant, He says, “ F.R.I.D.A.Y. assess damage.”

“I’m fine,” Y/n tries, pushing him off of her but the blood she coughs out makes it seem like an act.

“Six broken ribs and heavy internal bleeding, sir. But her hearbeat holding steady. Miss Stark will be fine till the emergency medical arrives.” F.R.I.D.A.Y. tells him.

Y/n doesn’t care, she tries to get up but struggles somewhat hopelessly. Tony’s hands come to help her and she manages to get onto her knees to look at Rhodey. 

He’s bleeding, she notes, from his nose. 

Her jaw clenches, eyes watering up.

Somewhere behind them, Sam lands on his feet and apologizes. Tony blasts him with his repulsors but Y/n can’t bring herself to give a damn.

Both siblings wait there—lost and scared, each with a hand on the chest of their best friend, and prayers on their lips to a God they stopped believing in, waiting for help to arrive.

Find the next part here. Find the series masterlist here. Find other Static Verse works here.

tag list : @aryksworld @freeflyingphoenix @arikarapli @just-anotherstan @justab-eautifulmess @ceo-of-daichi @roxannejblack @liketearsintherainn @paintballkid711 @starkleila @heyitsmereading @fairlygothparents @euphoria-svt @sidepartskinnyjeans @mini-kunoichi @third-broparcelicito @siwiecola @haleybutnotthecomet @mvaldez7821 @rockybutmakeitlame @romanoffswoman @ashpeace888 @hopeofwinter @percabethfangirl987 @lilfuturescars @hailqueenconquer

hit me up if you wanna be added to the tag list.

[nocompromise-noregrets]

20 questions for fic writers

The impossibly lovely @mihrsuri tagged me in this a couple of weeks ago, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get round to it - but I find myself in need of distraction, just a little bit, as Last Cat Standing is in the veterinary hospital getting his radioactive iodine treatment for his thyroid, and we can't have him back for maybe ten days as he's going to be somewhat radioactive for a little while; I'm sure he's going to be fine (this is the treatment described to me by the treating vet as both 'the gold standard' and 'magical', in that it's effective in 99.5% of cases, and in the 0.5% it isn't, they just give it another go and then it's effective), but we haven't had an entirely cat-free house for this long in 20 years, and I'm feeling a bit weird about it. Also I'm procrastinating finishing off an essay plan (I'd rather just write the damn essay but no, we have to submit a plan for tutor feedback to make sure we're on the right lines, and as you all know by now, that's really not how I work XD )

1. How many works do you have on Ao3? 362 (plus another 76 on the other account for the fandom that does not speak its name...)

2. What’s your total Ao3 word count? 1,491,388 (good grief; nearly 1.5 million?! and if you add in the 270,606 on the other account, that's 1,761,994 O.O )

3. What fandoms do you write for? Tolkien (chiefly the Hobbit movies, and LotR, a mix of movie and book-'verse); King Arthur (2004); Fisherman's Friends (fandom of one); The Alienist (TV; occasionally); Marvel (occasionally, chiefly bits of the MCU and X-Men comics/Evolution); Top Gun (here and there) - and a bewildering number of others...

4. What are your top five fics by kudos? My Heart Is An Empty Vessel (621); Shape Up (422); Safe (414); Not Alone (413); The Unworn Jumpers of Molly Weasley (343)

This is bewildering but also a fine illustration of the vagaries of AO3 and the absolute folly of measuring anything by the amount of kudos a fic has: Empty Vessel is three and a half years old, took two years to post and has 115 chapters, so was at the top of the tag many many times over those two years. Shape Up and Safe were written and posted not long after Top Gun: Maverick came out (I don't know how busy the tag still is, but it was very busy when the film came out so the fics in that fandom got a lot of interaction because a lot of people were there looking for fics) and are both one-shots. Not Alone is also a one-shot (for X-Men: Evolution) and has been up on AO3 for nearly twelve years (and has had a bit of a boost with the release of X-Men '97). And Unworn Jumpers (on which I really ought to put some sort of disclaimer, along with the small handful of other ancient HP fics I've got up there) is a seasonal one-shot that's been up for over ten years and tends to get a bit of a boost every December. So *shrugs* go figure. And if anyone wants to help the only HP fic in the top five not be in the top five any more, Come Home is only 36 behind it, and it is fluffy and cute and has Elrohir persuading Maglor to come to Imladris for Midwinter somewhat in the guise of the Elfling he hasn't been for a very long time... :D

5. Do you respond to comments? Yes. Sometimes it takes me a while (oh god six months, but I got up to speed with them all and now I'm trying to make sure I do it within a week) as I am a champion procrastinator but I feel it's important for me to say thank you. And sometimes squee a bit. :D And sometimes it makes me a new friend, which is extra-awesome.

I have a few very very old comments on the stuff I posted before 2020 which I never did get round to answering, which I feel bad about, but I also feel like it would be weird to go back and answer them now...I dunno, what do you guys think?

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't do angsty endings very often, but The Last Watch (in which Bard dies) is really sad, and Never Forgotten and See This Storm Through (in which Sigrid and Thranduil comfort each other after the funeral, and Legolas comes home to Dale to look after his father and his family and grieve with them, respectively) are almost as sad although they both end with a small amount of hope.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Ah, most of my fics end happily :D I'm far too tired for anything but, most of the time, these days. But let's face it, My Heart Is An Empty Vessel ends with a coronation and a wedding (spoiler alert! XD ) so let's go for that one.

8. Do you get hate on fics? I am lucky; the closest I've had was some anon complaining about Empty-Handed being a spoiler for the then-unposted Empty Vessel although the events it 'spoiled' were inevitable in the context of a mortal-immortal relationship, and someone whingeing in a bookmark comment that Thorin and Bilbo don't even talk until the end of Mr Underhill's Finest Seafood Specialities, thus completely missing the point of the fic (and the 'past' after the pairing tag) - it wasn't about them - which made me chuckle as much as the rudeness annoyed me.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Sometimes. I have phases when I feel like it, and (much longer) phases when I don't. It's generally only fairly tame and euphemistic (with the single and solitary exception of that one hanahaki fic about the twins the premise for which, although not the smut, came to me in a dream) and probably not all that imaginative since, as the acest of aces, the whole idea completely bewilders me XD

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? Not unless you count various different parts of the Tolkien legendarium. My brain just doesn't work that way.

11. (there doesn't seem to be a question 11; I feel like this might be one of those Tumblr traditions, as I've definitely done question memes on here before that have been lacking in a question 11...)

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? I have! I am deeply honoured that my KA fic Anniversaries was translated into Russian by Elenabu some years ago, and It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... appears on Lofter in Mandarin, translated by AntheaXi. There were a couple of other Russian translations of some of my very old stories, but that was 15 or 20 years ago and I can't actually remember which or where.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? I have! A long long time ago, the fic that eventually became the original novel that is Two of a Kind, the tale of Hal and Jack, was a co-production, and I really enjoy bouncing ideas back and forth - and of course, there is the Tudors OT3-'verse fandom stuff that @mihrsuri and I have been pinging to and fro just recently, which is also hugely enjoyable. :D :D :D

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? Oh, too many to name! Gawain/Galahad from KA2004, the bi widower dads, Legolas/Imrahil, Elladan/Elrohir, Erestor/Glorfindel, Sigrid/Tauriel, to name but a few.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I am determined to finish All I Want Is You. I am also determined to finish part whatever it is now of It's Always Been You, although that's been on the back burner for a long long time. There's one WIP on the other account which I'm also determined to finish although who knows if I'll ever get there. I'm not one for saying never, though. I was out of Tolkien fandom for 16 years, and after the fandom that does not speak its name fizzled out, I genuinely thought I'd never write again. And yet...here I am.

16. What are your writing strengths? Ooooh, I dunno. Spelling, punctuation and grammar, dialogue, leavening the serious romantic stuff with a bit of humour, kindness and love for the characters and settings, happy endings and quite a lot of fluff. :D

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. XD Can't plot to save my life.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? Only when necessary for character reasons, and always provide a translation. Otherwise you're shutting out readers who don't understand (unless it's not important that they actually understand precisely what's being said as long as they get the gist).

19. First fandom you wrote for? Knowingly? X-Men (comics), and that fic is here, although I posted it ten-odd years after first posting it to ff.net.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written? All of them. I cannot possibly choose.

Thank you so much for the tag, lovely! Entirely no-obligation tags go to @lemurious, @verecunda, @writerman, @scary-grace, @seagull-energy, @herawell, @thenookienostradamus, @sallysavestheday, @myeaglesong, @palavapeite, @bigneonglitter, @bishkebab, @peonybroadbeltofbuckland, @redeemer46, @spiced-wine-fic and anyone else who wants to do this - if you see this and fancy it, please consider yourself well and truly tagged!

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Complaining & Grumbling

 MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

=========================

+ Ephesians 5:8 For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

=========================

VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ Deuteronomy 1:41: “Then you confessed, ‘We have sinned against the Lord! We will go into the land and fight for it, as the Lord our God has commanded us.’ So your men strapped on their weapons, thinking it would be easy to attack the hill country.

=========================

** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM NOT COMPLAINING

I AM NOT GRUMBLING

I AM AT PEACE

I AM OBEDIENT

========================

READ TIME: 7 Minutes & 10 Seconds

========================

THOUGHTS:

=======================

   God won't tolerate disobedience; some of us feel we have gotten away with a lot because we think we have, but we haven’t. God is looking for people who will listen and serve him; many of us are like the Israelites. We listen when it's convenient for us, but we must start listening to God. He knows what is best. The Israelites started complaining, and they did this a lot. Many of us look at them, and we say how dare they complain against God ,when we have done it too, sometimes we don’t go to him and ask him; we just complain so much and leave after prayer , but during prayer, we should praise him and thank him for what he has done for us.

 Verse 30-31: The Lord your God is going ahead of you. He will fight for you, just as you saw him do in Egypt. 31 And you saw how the Lord your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Now he has brought you to this place.’

  God cared for them as he cares for us now, and this wasn’t good enough for them. They were still afraid, which showed they didn’t trust him. He went before them to guide them with pillars of fire. He gave them water and food to eat, and they still complain. Some of us are the same way. We won’t praise God about anything, but we will complain about everything and only praise him for the good. Job said this once: “But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”

 Deuteronomy 1:32 But even after all he did, you refused to trust the Lord your God, 33, who goes before you looking for the best places to camp, guiding you with a pillar of fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day.

  They refused to trust him; when we refused to trust God, we are saying no matter what you're doing for me, God, I can't believe in you; you are saying, no matter what happens, God, I can't believe you will come through, but when we obey God, and we trust in him we are truly submitting to God and what he has planned for our lives

    Verse 34-36: When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So, he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors.

   Sometimes, we lose our blessing because of grumbling and complaining, and the lord was so tired of the complaining and ungratefulness that he took away their blessing. Often, we don’t realize that what we do can take away our blessings and hurt our relationship with God. We must try our best not to complain and take our problems to God, and it’s the right way to do anything; without complaining, we must let God know how we feel by being humble.

 Exodus 16:8 And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full because the Lord has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the Lord

  When we grumble and complain, we aren’t doing it about our situation; we do this against God, and God doesn’t want us to grumble. The Israelites thought they were doing this towards Moses, and really and truly, they were doing it against God; when we have a man or woman of God in our life, and we are upset, we have to be careful with how we react with them because sometimes in our angrier we can cause a big problem for ourselves because we are getting angry against that man or woman of God you’re going against the spirit of God. When we do this, we can stop blessing and our destiny from coming forth. We are blocking ourselves!

  Psalm 106:25 They murmured in their tents and did not obey the voice of the Lord

  They refuse to listen because things weren’t going their way; we must ask maybe the way we wanted wasn’t what God wanted, maybe the way we wanted was going to cause us some difficulties; we must slow down and ask God why this didn’t go my way, or why did this happen when we don’t ask, we will never know but being HUMBLE IS KEY TO ASKING.

 ***Today, we learned about disobedience towards God and grumbling and complaining. God knows everything we want to do, and he knows we aren’t going to like everything he wants us to do, but the things we aren’t comfortable with and the things we have questions about, don’t complain, don’t fuss, ask God and he will give you an answer. The Israelites did this so much that they blocked their blessings from coming through.

 Numbers 14:27: “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.

   He heard them grumble, he heard their awful complaints, and he took it all until he couldn’t take it anymore; it’s a difference between saying I don’t like this or that, and it’s a difference from complaining so much that you quench the spirit to move. We must be careful because once we have offended the Holy Spirit, we are in dangerous waters, friends; anytime you think you have quenched the spirit, you must ask God for forgiveness; a lot will happen in our life, and sometimes by what we do and sometimes by what God allows but whatever happens don’t complain don’t grumble go to him humbly and ask him, and he will tell you. ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

========================

PRAYER

========================

Heavenly Father, thank you for everything you have; forgive us for anything we did. Lord, we love you so much and ask you right now to help us not complain or grumble. Lord, we thank you for the good and the bad. Lord, we give you everything and ask you to help us to have a heart of obedience and a heart of listening. Lord, we thank you for the fresh anointing in our life and the favor you have poured into it, in Jesus Name, Amen

========================

REFERENCES

========================

+ Genesis 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

 

+ Exodus 16:7 And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord because he has heard your grumbling against the Lord. For what are we that you grumble against us?”

 

+ Proverbs 19:3 When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord

========================

FURTHER READINGS

=========================

 Proverbs 14

Exodus 23

1 Samuel 2

Hebrews 11

=========================

[editoress]

Some D&D Character Questions! Ranna- 12, 19, and 38; Char- 4, 25, and 36; Eravin- 6, 26, and 35. Also for fun, feel free to throw in a question for any of them that you just really want to answer!

You know what we're all here for <3

12. How does your character show affection towards other people, if at all?

Words, of course! You can trust a bard to whip up an encouraging or flattering verse. Ranna never hesitates to remind someone of their better qualities if she sees them, just as she's quick to honestly point out things that annoy her. And whatever she says, she says it with her whole chest and her killer charisma score.

She can be touchy as well, once she's comfortable. She hugs her friends and occasionally grasps their hands for emphasis. With romance, she turns courtly: kissing knuckles, lightly brushing their cheek, daring to take a lock of hair between her fingers. Like she's not allowed.

19. Is there any special object that your character never goes without? If so, is it because of sentimental value or practical use? Or maybe both?

Ranna may treat musical instruments like sacred artifacts, but she isn't compelled to lug them around all the time. After all, her focuses are history and poetry. For various reasons, there are three things you can almost always trust Ranna to be equipped with: a pen, a saber, and a gaudy hat.

38. How well does your character control their emotions? Do they have a lot of breakdowns or do they generally hold it together pretty well?

Ranna has made an art of turning breakdowns into performances. It's the only possible compromise between the overwhelming, honest way she feels and the image of dauntless bravery and cheer she is constantly trying to project. Turn misery into a monologue! Entertain the masses! Convince them (and yourself) that you have it well in hand!

If valiant proclamations aren't possible, she'll usually seek privacy. The last thing Ranna wants is to appear genuinely mournful, hurt, or cowardly in front of anyone else.

4. What are your character's sleeping habits? Can they fall asleep anywhere, or do they need perfect silence and darkness? Do they tend to stay up late or get to bed early? Would they be comfortable sharing a bed with someone they don't know very well?

Char sleeps wherever, and she sleeps light. That's a ranger for you. Her sleep schedule has historically been all over the place. I think giving her second watch is usually the right choice. You know the post about "that one homie who takes watch so that they can contemplate the stars in solitude"? That's her.

Because her secret is out and the party has a working relationship, she can share an inn bed with a party member. Unfortunately, I think she's pretty bad at sharing a bed in general. She doesn't sleep as well with someone else in the room. It'd never work with an acquaintance or stranger.

25. Is your character more of a "thinker" or a "doer"? Would they rather be part of the planning or the execution of an idea?

Char aims to do both with utmost efficiency. For most of her professional life, she's been given a task and decided for herself how it gets accomplished. They go together, because she's planning around her own goals and limits.

36. Does your character have any scars? If so, where are they located, and where did they come from?

She has a collection of little miscellaneous scars: nicks on her arm, and one on her shin from a fall, stuff like that. But nothing major. She always took pride in not having taken too many hits. At this point, though, we're about to find out whether you can scar in limbo.

6. If your character was greatly outnumbered in a fight, would they stand their ground or run away? Does their mindset in this matter ever get them in trouble?

Depends on how mad he is. Eravin is perfectly capable of flying into a heedless rage and getting his ass kicked. This is in fact how he spent much of his formative years. So yes, it often gets him into trouble. That said, under the temper he's got a fair instinct for self-preservation that tends to kick in at the last minute.

26. Does your character tend to take unnecessary risks, or are they more on the cautious side? If they are a risk-taker, does it ever get them into trouble? If they're cautious, do they wish they were more gutsy sometimes?

Eravin sounds cautious, pointing out the way things can go wrong and why the plan sucks. But consider: he's standing next to Delethil. Of course he looks like the reasonable one, but he's still there, going along with all these mad schemes. And he'll say he wishes otherwise and speak fondly of retirement, but he'll do the same thing again tomorrow.

This is indirectly a consequence of experiencing unchanging despair day after day for about ten years before he met Delethil. You mean something different could happen tomorrow??

35. What's the worst physical injury your character has ever suffered? Does it still affect them today?

He's gotten stabbed twice and shot a few times, and he's had some ribs broken. Right now, he's young and stout enough to shrug it all off after a few weeks. I think if anything gives him trouble later, it'll be the stab wound to the lower thigh. Knees always go first.

[kingsmedley]

I posted 3,633 times in 2022

That's 3,587 more posts than 2021!

2,268 posts created (62%)

1,365 posts reblogged (38%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@strawberry-barista

@limitlesspossibilities

@pureposer

@skater-brain

@shibuyacrossed

I tagged 3,628 of my posts in 2022

#to dust or to gold || ooc - 1,735 posts

#you are king || post-neo verse - 652 posts

#strawberry-barista - 376 posts

#i smile easily because it does me well || chatting - 366 posts

#i see things that others won't believe || normal kid verse - 258 posts

#let me see you show your fangs || asks - 206 posts

#i don’t care what you think as long as it’s about me || dash commentary - 153 posts

#took me to the sky || aesthetics & musings - 148 posts

#the giggle at a funeral || memes - 138 posts

#nothing more than an empty ghost || headcanons - 95 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#i'm not going to push myself rn but i might respond later. for now please know that i see them and i appreciate them and i love you 💜💜💜

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

@strawberry-barista​

It had been a while, hadn’t it? Since he’d travelled like this, felt that thrill of a new world--excitement mixed with fear. Anticipation.

And that while had been almost comfortable. Settling into a routine. Going to school, exploring, starting to make friends, even if it was just two. Pretending things were permanent.

So now, looking around a familiar place he didn’t know, he wasn’t sure how to feel.

Besides, it was just... Shibuya. That was the case a lot of the time, but it was also just a tad disappointing. Sure, the differences were interesting sometimes, but he knew how many other, more exciting worlds there were, so being sent to one that resembled his own wasn’t optimal.

He’d done some poking around and found that this world didn’t seem to have any major deviations from his own, making it all the more boring, but he was curious about something, which was why he found himself down in the café on Cat Street.

30 notes - Posted September 2, 2022

#4

@pureposer​ [continued]

Joshua nods along. After all, that would have been his answer only a couple years ago.

“I completely understand,” he says. “Though, these ‘weird results’ you mentioned intrigue me. Tell me, are you disturbed by the thoughts humans have?”

36 notes - Posted June 6, 2022

#3

@skater-brain​

Wildkat was empty. It wasn’t an unusual sight, especially after the three-year-long hiatus, but it was nonetheless a disappointing one.

Joshua made himself a cup of coffee. He tapped his fingers against the table as he waited for the mug to fill, watching it with dull eyes. When it was done, he took a sip, considered pouring the rest down the drain, decided against it, and took his usual seat at the counter.

Behind him, the door swung open. He must have forgotten to lock it.

Lazily, he spun around in his seat, and by the time the visitor came into view, his usual smug smile was sat secure on his face.

“Hello, Daisukenojo Bito,” he said. “Fancy seeing you here.”

54 notes - Posted March 31, 2022

#2

@strawberry-barista​

Joshua stood outside Wildkat for a good few minutes, just gathering his composure enough that he wouldn’t fall apart the moment he opened his mouth.

He didn’t know why he was here. If Mr. H caught on that something was amiss, he���d likely press the issue like he did last time, and Joshua... didn’t want to open up about this. Right? So maybe it was just that he had no way of contacting Neku on his own, their current arrangement dependent on Neku taking the initiative, and this was the only other place he could think of to go when he so desperately needed to get out of the house.

Taking a deep breath, he put on his usual smile and entered the café.

“Hi, Mr. H,” he called cheerfully as he approached the counter. “Remember me?”

60 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@strawberry-barista​ [continued]

“Aw, come on. You like gambling but you don’t like games?”

101 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[seth-figment]

Buck got Rack

[intro girls] Oh, my, god. Susan, look at his rack. It is so big. [scoff] He looks like one of those trophies. But, you know, who understands those tv demons? [scoff] They only talk to him, because, he looks like a total prostitute, 'kay? I mean, his rack, is just so big. I can't believe it's just so pointy it's like, out there, I mean— gross. Look! He's just so… red!

[Verse 1: Sir Vox-a-Lot] I like big bucks and I can not lie You other demons can't deny That when a deer walks in with a itty bitty waist And a rack with sixteen points You get sprung, wanna pull up tough 'Cause you notice that rack was sharp Up high those points he's flaunting  I'm hooked and I can't stop staring Oh buck, I wanna get with you Still got your photo My colleagues tries to warn me But that rack you got makes me so horny Ooh, Tail-o'-fluffy-red  You say you won't have me on your show? Well, use me, use me 'Cause I ain't that average groupie I've heard them screamin' To hell with romancin' He's cruel, red, Got me goin' like a geforce rtx (4090) I'm tired of News casts  Sayin' pink spiders are the thing Take the average demon and ask him that He gotta pack much rack So, fellas! (Yeah!) Fellas! (Yeah!) Has your buck got that rack? (Hell yeah!) Tell 'em to flaunt it! (Flaunt it!) Flaunt it! (Flaunt it!) Flaunt that shapely rack! Buck got rack!

[Chorus: Sir Vox-a-Lot] (Radio face with Monarch rack) Buck got rack! (Radio face with Monarch rack) (Radio face with Monarch rack)

[Verse 2: Sir Vox-a-Lot] I like 'em sharp, and big And when I'm throwin' a show I just can't help myself, I'm actin' like a hammerhead Now here's my scandal I wanna make a deal And ugh, double-up, ugh, ugh I ain't talkin' bout a meal 'Cause my parts are made of plastic   You want that venison, thick and juicy So find that juicy double Vox-a-lot's in trouble Beggin' for a bite from that smile So I'm lookin' at porn videos Bitches begging and dancin' like hoes You can have them bitches  I'll keep my bucks like Aly A word to my dear show host, I wanna get with ya You can bite or gore me But I gotta be straight when I say I wanna [moan] Till the break of dawn Buck got it goin' on A lot of simps won't like this song 'Cause them sinners like to run and hide from you And I'd rather stay and play 'Cause I'm new, and improved  And I'm down to get those upgrades  So, gents'! (Yeah!) Gents'! (Yeah) If you wanna be featured on the show (Yeah!) Then offer it up! Sign the deal! Even owned souls got to shout

[Chorus: Sir Vox-a-Lot] Buck got rack! Buck got rack!

[Bridge: Sir Vox-a-Lot] Yeah, bucky… when it comes to deer, 666 News ain't got nothin' to do with my selection. 15 inch waist? Ha ha, only if he's 6'6".

[Verse 3: Sir Vox-a-Lot] So you interfere with my drones, playin' hard to catch on camera  But my camera got backups playin' you up on repeat My sharks they don't want none Unless you've got deer, dear You can do talk shows or stand-up But please don't disappear  Some demons wanna play that "hard" role And tell you that the smile ain't gold So they run and they hide And I pull up quick to join in So Killjoy says you're out Well I ain't down with that! 'Cause your waist is small and your antlers are curvy  And I'm thinkin' bout stickin' To the beanpole whores in the pornos: You ain't it, Miss Hoe! Give me a killer, I can't resist him The jambalaya didn't miss him Some knucklehead tried to diss 'Cause their souls are on his list He has game and he chose to eat 'em And I pull up quick to get wit 'im So gent', if the rack is sharp, And you want a triple X throw down, Dial 1-666-VOXXX And kick them nasty thoughts Buck got rack! Buck got rack!

[Outro: Sir Vox-a-Lot] Little in the middle but he got a huge rack [4x]

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

Some notes:

Changed Becky to Susan

Ooh, Tail-o'-fluffy-red .... The og lyrics are "Oh, Rump-o'-smooth-skin"....

A stag with sixteen points and more is called a Monarch stag (he gets lots of points when he goes full eldritch/demon)

Changed 36-24-36 to 15 inch waist to be closer to vivziepop proportions. 15 inches is the world record for tight-lacing waist.

Changed 5'3" to 6'6" to be closer to vivziepop proportions ( Alastor is somewhere around 7 feet I think)

Link to genius lyrics for Baby got Back

Forgot to post this here for a while...At this point, my brand is just dumb jokes jklfasghlaknsd

[fast-faith22]

"But what about you?" [Jesus] asked. "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ."

—Mark 8:29

I think the surrounding text of this verse reaches even deeper into my heart, so here it is as well:

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

>People of Christ's time didn't even fully know who he was. He was a man of God, that they knew, but which one? Elijah, the only man in the bible who never died. Elijah, who in his last moments offered Elisha a gift he could not guarantee, leaving it up to God to gift him double his own spirit, his faith. Thats how Godly they thought of this man

What of John the Baptist then? Because they were both a bit crazy? John eating locusts and wearing some questionable clothes, doing God's work in the desert. Jesus touches those with leprosy, lived 40 days in the desert alone to fight satan, personally.

They didn't completely know Jesus of Nazareth, but his disciples did. And he warned them to tell no one, why??

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

>This is why. Because it was enough in those times for them to just see God in him, not necessarily be sure he was the son of God. Not only because such things are earthly thoughts, but because he Needed to be killed. He neeeded to be rejected in the end, if people had known who he was, then not on a donkey, but a throne would he have been welcomed into the city and place of his death, and condemnment. People would have overwhelmed the rulers, demaning Christ be King. Instead, they just knew him as a man of God, whispers the King of the Jews, was the Son of God even an option for them to think in that time, more than venemous whispers that pontious pilate was forced to act on?

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

>This last passage is a jump in what I said last, but once again he reiterates in a few ways that Earthly thoughts actions and ways would not be the path to heaven. I think I'll let those last words say most of it for itself, but I love this passage in even more depth than Ive gone here

How Peter is so very close to Jesus he pulles him aside in the middle of teaching, and He follows. The tenderness, trust and friendship between them, and us knowing what Peter was about to do.

Its a heart filling passage

[christian-perspectives]

Blessed Are Those Who Delight In The Lord

Do you consider yourself a godly person? I'm sure those of us who do want to be blessed by the Lord. Even better than that, God wants to bless us as well. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction. Psalm 1:6 Let's take a closer look at the sixth verse of this Psalm before we look at the first five verses. Those who live godly lives are blessed because they walk in the path of righteousness. The Psalmist referred to the paths he walked during his life. Not only did the Lord watch over those paths, but God lit the way for him. Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105 Receive your Free eBook The Psalmists remained conscious of the fact that God continually led them. Why am I using the word Psalmist in the plural? Because many people contributed to the collection of Psalms. - Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Psalm 5:8 - My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you. Psalm 17:5 - You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. Psalm 18:36 - Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow. Psalm 25:4 - The Lord says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8 While walking on the path of life, King David prayed to the Lord in Psalm 139. We, too, should also pray it often, especially those of us who want to be blessed with eternal life. Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Psalm 139:23-24 The flip side of verse 6 talks about the fate of the wicked. As we look around, many of those people seem blessed as they enjoy the "good things" of this life. But unless they turn to the Lord before they go into eternity, their blessings will cease. The Psalmist says the path they've walked will lead to destruction.

Blessed Are Those Who Follow Not

Have you noticed that many Christians don't have joy? All of those who want a life blessed with joy, raise your hand. It comes from the Lord, and verse one tells us how to maintain it. Interestingly enough that verse begins with a negative so we can experience a positive. A life blessed with joy comes from what we don't do and those we don't hang out with. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. Psalm 1:1 This verse offers advice that we should consider sound advice. You have the freedom to choose who you want to pal around with. But, your choices will result in either rewards or consequences. Verses two and three layout for us rewards for making godly decisions. Verse 2 says the godly will enjoy the Word of God, and those who meditate on it will live a blessed life. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Psalm 1:2-3 The Holy Spirit will reveal new understandings to us when we read and meditate on God's Word. The Spirit of God also helps us to live within the bounds of His Word every day. Like trees planted along the river, our lives will become rooted deep in the ways of the Lord. But it also says we will prosper in everything we do.

When a Christian Becomes Prosperous

The Hebrew word for prosper in this verse means to push forward. It carries the idea of thriving and succeeding in what you do. Compare a tree growing beside a running stream with one planted in a dry, parched desert. The one in a dry place has to send its roots searching for a water source. The one planted by the stream flourishes and produces fruit because of its never-ending source. Just like our delight in God's Word moves us towards prosperity and spiritual nourishment. When we look at the next two verses, we see a sharp contrast between the godly and the wicked. However, we often don't see ungodly people the same way the Lord sees them. But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind. They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. Psalm 1:4-5 The Bible speaks about how God has blessed Christians while not sugarcoating those who reject Jesus. Verse four compares them (the wicked) to worthless chaff. When a plant like wheat grows, a thin husk called chaff surrounds each grain. The farmer hits the stocks of grain to knock the chaff off. Then he tosses handfuls of grain into the air. In the process, the wind blows the chaff away, leaving it lost forever. The Psalmist painted a very vivid picture of what happens to the unsaved.

Word Pictures Painted by Jesus

Jesus also painted some word pictures describing those who will experience condemnation instead of the blessed hope. Check out the following examples. - Just as the weeds are sorted out and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the world. Matthew 13:40 - Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. John 15:6 - Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 22:13 - Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25:30 Let me ask you the following question. Do you want to enjoy the delight of God's Word and His prosperity? Or would you rather fit in by choosing the way of the world? Following the counsel of the wicked, sinners, and mockers puts you on the path leading to destruction. In other words, blessed or not blessed, which of those two will you choose? Lord, we want to walk in the path of the godly. We want to delight in your Word and prosper. We know we will be counted with those you call blessed when we do. Check Out these Related Posts on How to Depend of God - How to Trust God in Difficult Circumstances - God Will Pour His Holy Spirit Upon All People - Are You Living Under The Shadow Of His Wings - God Keeps His Promises, Guaranteed Read the full article

[archangels-bible-annotations]

Chapter 30

30:1 Rachel was envious of Leah and wanted Jacob to bear children with her. Rachel says, "Give me children, or else I die."

30:2-4 Jacob becomes angry and states that he is not God, the one who "withheld from you the fruit of the womb." Rachel then says to bear children through her maidservant, Bilhah.

30:5-6 Bilhah gave birth to a son, and Rachel named him Dan because "God has judged [Rachel]; and He has heard [Rachel's] voice and given [Rachel] a son."

30:7-8 Bilhah gives birth to a second son, named "Naphtali." Rachel states, "God has helped me, and I have wrestled with my sister; and indeed, I have prevailed."

30:9-11 Leah gives her handmaiden to Jacob to bear another son. Gad is born and Leah says, "Good fortune!"

30:12-13 Asher is born through Zilpah, Leah's handmaiden, and Leah says, "I am blessed, for the women will call me blessed."

30:14-15 Reuben finds mandrakes in the field and brings them to his mother Leah. Rachel asks for some but Leah accuses her of taking Leah's husband and now wanting mandrakes. Rachel says for Leah to sleep with Jacob tonight in exchange of the mandrakes.

30:16-18 Jacob sleeps with Leah and they give birth to Issachar stating, "God has given me my wages, because I have given my handmaiden to my husband." In verse 17 it says, "God listened to Leah..."

30:19-20 Leah bares Zebulun and says, "God has endowed me with a good endowment; now my husband will choose me, because I have borne him six sons."

30:21 Leah bore a daughter named Dinah.

30:22-24 We see the quote "God remembered Rachel." This is when God opened her womb and she bore Joseph

30:25-26 Jacob requests Laban to go home with his wives and kids.

30:27 This is a beautiful verse, "If I could find grace in your eyes, I would seek for it divinely, for God has blessed me by your coming."

30:28-30 Laban asks Joseph what his wages should be for working for so long. Joseph replies that since Joseph came, Laban's cattle/possesions have increased.

30:31-33 Joseph demands no wages and states that if Laban allows Joseph to take all of the gray sheep and the spotted/speckled goats then Joseph promises to "again feed and keep your sheep." He also states that if Laban is missing any pure-colored cattle, it would mean it was stolen.

30:34-36 Laban agreed to Joseph's request, and the cattle were given to Jospeh's sons. Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks as per his word.

30:37-40 Joseph collects green poplar, almond, and chestnut rods (branches?) and makes rods that help the animals conceive.

30:41-43 Joseph essentially repeats the process and gains a massive flock of sheep and goats that make him rich.

Other Remarks:

The name Dan means "Judge." (v.5-6)

The name Naphtali means "my wrestling" or "crafty, cunning one." (v.7-8)

At the birth of Naphtali, Rachel states that she has won victory over her sister. It is hard as the reader to say she has won 'full victory' considering that her sister bore 4 sons and Rachel was only able to conceive through her maidservant. The only view that Rachel has won is if she is looking at who conceived the most recent. She could also try to make a case that Jacob loves her more than Leah, but she never needed to prove that because Jacob went through so many trials and tribulations for her, not Leah. (v.7-8)

Leah gives her handmaiden to Jacob to continue to bear offspring. This could be seen as a dig at Rachel for trying to conceive the youngest son. Leah did not bear Gad herself, implying she became too old or her womb closed. This tied in with the struggle for Jacob's love would give enough motivation for her actions. Leah's acts show that she has not rid of her feelings to 'win' her husband's love and respect. (v.9-11)

The name Gad means "Good Fortune." Gad more accurately is defined as a cut that later reveals treasure. This name was intentionally chosen by Leah rather than the many different names for good fortune probably to symbolize her struggle with Rachel to win her husband's love. (v.9-11)

The name Asher means "happy" or "to go right on." (v.12-13)

Mandrakes are root plants. A quick search tells us that they have various properties such as sedative and hallucinogenic. (v.14-15)

Jacob seems to intentionally avoid Leah, which is evident by Leah's statement to Rachel for stealing her husband. It is also evident that Rachel controls Jacob, in at least the emotional aspect because she says that Jacob will sleep with Leah tonight for exchange of the mandrakes. (v.14-15)

Leah's wordage is interesting as she uses "wages" when she describes the blessing of another son. She is trying to say that her time has finally come as a mother because after birthing 4 sons, her womb was closed, which is why she gave over her maidservant to bare children in her steed. I still see this as one wife trying to one-up the other. It also seems that to get pregnant was Leah's intention from the exchange of the mandrakes rather than "love and affection" from her husband. I think it is a little funny how when Leah says she hired Jacob for the night, Jacob is not seen to complain and just goes with it. (v.16-18)

Issachar means "Man of Hire," which immortalizes the struggle for attention and the circumstances in which Issachar was conceived. (v.16-18)

Leah still has not learned her lesson to stop proving the need to fight for love and attention because she says that after the 6th son, now Jacob should give her attention. If giving sons was the factor, wouldn't the first few been more than enough? Especially considering Rachel was unable to conceive for a long time. (v.18-20)

Zebulun means "Glorious Dwelling Place." (v.18-20)

Since Dinah is explicitly mentioned, it can be assumed that she is the only daughter in the string of births between Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants. (v.21)

Dinah means "Judgement" and is the female version of Dan. (v.21)

The phrase of "God remembering" appears again. Another instance we see this is when Noah leaves the ark. This is not to say that God forgot and then remembered; rather, it is time to fulfill a promise. In this case, it would be to make Jacob multiply among nations. (v.22-24)

Joesph means "Increaser" as Rachel says "The Lord shall add another son to me." (v.24)

If we interpret the gray and speckled cattle to be 'imperfect,' then it might not be a stretch to consider this small portion of the story a premonition of Christ. Christ takes care of those who are lost or are 'imperfect' by sin. (v.31-33)

Questions

Rachel says that she would die if she does not bear children with Jacob. Is this a suicide threat? (v.1)

What does it mean that "God has judged [Rachel]"? Usually "judge" implies a negative connotation and we see punishment follow. However, this time it seems that this 'judgment' is a blessing. (v.5-6)

Dinah's name means judgment, but why. Is this implying that negative judgment has come across Leah because of a birth of a daughter rather than a son? Another aspect to consider is that Leah does not bear anymore children after Dinah. (v.21)

Why does Joseph want the speckled and gray cattle? Are they considered inferior, or was it just cosmetic differences? (v.31-33)

What does "[Laban] put three days' journey between himself and Jacob" mean? Originally I would have thought it meant there was 3-days worth of travel between the two people but this is followed up by Joseph feeding the rest of Laban's flocks, which couldn't be 3-days away from Laban. (v.36)

How do the different rods make the animals conceive? (v.37-43)

Things to Add to Prayer:

Reference this quote when talking about guests: "If I could find grace in your eyes, I would seek for it divinely, for God has blessed me by your coming."

-Mikhael

[wolint]

STAY IN THE STORY!

STAY IN THE STORY

1 Corinthians 15:58

There are many stories in the Bible, and the most iconic of them are about people who followed God’s plans and stayed in the story. You must stay in the story to continue promoting the Lord’s kingdom. What’s your story? “If you know my story…” “If I tell you my story…” “You don’t even want to know my story…” These are some of the ways of telling others that we each have a unique story.

Everyone has a story! Some are disappointing, some painful, others traumatic, some funny, and many more are exciting, inspiring, and encouraging. Whatever your story, be sure that someone who hears it may learn something from it. Jesus Christ, the author of our stories according to Hebrews 12:2, has written a story for us all to be lived out according to God’s timetable. Psalm 139:16 beautifully states, “In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” As the finisher, He also knows how your story will unfold, so it would be in our best interest to remain in the story. What’s your story?

Life can be so unfair sometimes, tempting us to want to jump off the pages of our God-ordained story. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Don’t faint! Don’t give up! Things will work out as they were intended by God in His own time, according to 1 Timothy 6:15. Stay in your story! Whatever your story is, stay in it! John 4:1-42 tells us the story of the Samaritan woman. Her life was hard, she could have wanted to give up, but she stayed in her story until she encountered Jesus. Our victory is only if we remain in the story until the end, as Hebrews 10:35-36 states, “So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.” “Then you will receive all that he promised.” I hope you didn’t miss that? Ask yourself this, “How do you expect to receive all that God promised you if you don’t stay in the story for the long haul?”

Lot is a perfect example of someone who didn’t stay in the story. Straying from the story is the fastest way to self-destruct. When we step out of God’s will and plan, anything can happen. The Lord only guides us through the story that He ordained, but because of His mercy, He delivers us when we cry out to Him. Because life happens in unexpected twists, and often beyond our control, we may intentionally or unintentionally step out of the Lord’s will and story and end up taking a longer route to find our way back, like the Israelites through the wilderness.

No matter how tempting it is to give up or step out of the story, stay strong and hold on. We may or may not know the story, we may not even be aware of the depth of the story, but Matthew 1 recounts the story of Joseph and Mary, and in verses 19-21, we see Joseph’s decision that almost led him to step out of the story, but for the grace and mercy of God.

The same grace and favour that God has granted and bestowed on us, that no matter what we face and experience, we can keep staying in the story if we hold on. I know the road is rough and tough! I understand that the pain and difficulty is real! But Jesus is enough for the storm. Stay in the story!

PRAYER: Lord, my refuge and strength, help me hold on and not be frustrated enough to step out of the story in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT PRAYER MIN

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion The Father Answers Our Prayers With Wisdom

#DailyDevotion The Father Answers Our Prayers With Wisdom Heb. 5 7In His humble life on earth Jesus came to Him Who could save Him from death and prayed and pleaded, crying loud with tears, and because He feared God, He was heard. 8Although Jesus is the Son, He learned from what He suffered what it means to obey. 9And when He was finished, He became One Who gives everlasting salvation to all who obey Him, 10proclaimed by God a high priest like Melchizedek. You know, if there was any picture of the Christian life it is this picture of Jesus here. I'm absolutely serious. If you learn this lesson well, you will not become disappointed or disillusioned about God. The problem we all face is we want to test the Almighty, and I used that name purposely here. We often will hear other say and we may think it ourselves, "If God is Almighty, if He is all loving, if He is ______(fill in the blank) then why doesn't He_____(fill in the blank with whatever great wisdom you think you have here). Now read the above verses again. Jesus, in His humble life (humble, having humility, not thinking He is better than anyone else, including God the Father) came to God the Father, "Who could save Him from death and prayed and pleaded, crying loud with tears..." And what did Jesus pray, three times no less, sweating what seemed like drops of blood because of the stress He was going through? Mark 14:36 “My Father,. . . You can do anything. Take this cup away from Me. But let it not be as I want it but as you want it.” You may need to read this a few more times. What did the Father answer? Apparently, that isn't my will. You are going through this. You may think the Father did not hear Jesus' prayer or answer Jesus' prayer. He suffered under the Jewish Sanhedrin. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified, died and was buried. By all looks of it, the Father did not hear or answer Jesus' prayer. Yet what did the author write here? He says, "and because He feared God, He was heard..." He was heard. God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. This is how God the Father answered Jesus' faithful and fearful prayer. He went to the cross, died (of course He gave up the Spirit by His own will), was raised from the dead on the third day, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. You see, Jesus, God's Son, "learned from what He suffered what it means to obey." This is much like the previous statement in the book in 2:10, "He should make the One Who gives them salvation perfect through suffering." Having gone through this, " He became One Who gives everlasting salvation to all who obey Him." Jesus learned obedience through suffering. Now we are called to obey Him. What does it mean to obey Him than to suffer with Him? You should think of all your prayers in light of Jesus' prayer to God the Father in the Garden. Jesus submitted His human will to God the Father in His prayer. Do you submit your human will to God the Father in prayer or are you acting like a spoiled brat? True, God the Father is almighty and loving. Do you trust His wisdom? In the movie "Bruce Almighty" is given all of God's power but is not given God's wisdom and Bruce makes a mess of things. We need to obey Jesus and be like Jesus trusting in God's wisdom when we pray. Then we will not be so disappointed when what we think we pray for doesn't come to pass. Look how Jesus' prayer was answered. He was raised from the dead and glorified. Shall not all those who obey Him, suffering with Him, be raised to glory as well? We most certainly shall. O all wise Father, You use Your might and love for our ultimate good, if we only trust You and Your Son. Give us humility so we may be obedient like Jesus and trust in Your wisdom when You answer our prayers. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[yokefellows]

Growing Closer to God

Today’s Saying

When it comes to the Lord. I want connection. I want communion. I want closeness. Not only in a distant heavenly future but right here. Right now.

Today’s Scripture

“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” Luke 9:23 (NIV)

Today’s Sermonette

I would love to tell you that I have a long and impressive list of goals for this New year.

But I'm not really into writing out my goals for the new year. Honestly, I just want to follow hard after the Lord every day and let Him renew me and shape me into the person I need to be this year.

I want to grow ever closer to God -- pressing into Him so He makes the deepest impression on me.

So that's my goal. Maybe it’s one of your goals too. Growing closer to God.

But how do we do that? How can we position ourselves to grow closer to God this year?

In Luke 9:23b, Jesus tells His disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

His words seem surprising at first. The disciples had already given up everything to follow Jesus. Or so it seemed ...Family. Friends. Jobs. The comforts of home.

Yet, in our key verse today, we find Jesus telling them the cost is going to be even higher than they had originally anticipated.

The disciples aren’t being asked to lay down some things. They are going to need to lay down everything. Their plans. Their agendas. Maybe even their own lives.

And while it may sound like a lot to ask, because of their willingness to continue following hard after Jesus they will get to experience a level of closeness with Him unlike anyone else.

Closeness when they take communion with Him before He is crucified. (Luke 22:12-20)

Closeness when He bends low to wash their feet. (John 13:1-17)

Closeness when He eats with them after His resurrection. (Luke 24:36-43)

Closeness when they are among the first to receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:1-4)

So not only did they have the promise of eternity with Him in heaven, they also had the privilege of experiencing unparalleled intimacy with Him on earth.Could they have received any sweeter gift?

This is what my heart hungers for when it comes to the Lord. I want connection. I want communion. I want closeness. Not only in a distant heavenly future but right here. Right now.

That’s why I’m so thankful Jesus’ invitation to the disciples in Luke 9:23 is for us, too. We are also invited close. Which means we are also called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.

Today’s Supplication

Father, this is what my heart hungers for in relation to You. I want connection. I want communion. I want closeness with You. Not only in a distant heavenly future but right here. Right now. Amen!

[scribeforchrist-blog]

Love Endures Forever

MEMORY VERSE OF THE WEEK

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Psalm 33:21 For our heart is glad in him because we trust in his holy name.

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VERSE OF THE DAY

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+ Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good, and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

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** SAY THIS BEFORE YOU READ; HERE’S SOME CHRISTIAN TRUTHS **

I AM LOVING REGARDLESS

I AM OPEN TO LOVE

I AM SETTING ASIDE BITTERNESS

I AM FILLED WITH LOVE

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THOUGHTS:

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We can never doubt the love of God ; he loved us so much that he gave his son to us; and Jesus even showed us in 3 years what we should be doing as Christians or believers of God and how to love and care for someone who's a stranger. A lot of times, we base our Christianity on a set of rules, which is (legalism), we forget how he loved and how he acted and what he did and we need to allow the Holy Spirit to mold us so that we can be just like him.

God love endures forever; we forget that we must love even if someone doesn't love us back; we must love even if the person makes it impossible to love; we must push through as he did , no matter what we do and how much we push and reject his love he still holds on to us and say it's okay I got you.

Pslam 107:8 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!"

Some of us refuse to love certain people , and some of us refuse to love even when we are proven wrong, but no matter how much sin is in our hearts, God love doesn't change; I have heard of people saying that family left them when they needed them, or family stops loving them because of their lifestyle change. Still, God isn't like that; no matter how much change we make, no matter what we do, what we become, he doesn't care; his love is STEADFAST, and we have to become these same people.

There are so many wicked things that is happening in this world , it’s so much hate and fighting and confusion but long with world peace we need LOVE in this world most of all, this world lacks that because people don’t care for one another anymore , some of us only care about things that’s beneficial to us , if it doesn’t help us we DON’T CARE and that not how we should be .

For some of us, we want to be loved unconditionally, and no one will ever love us like that. YES, sure we can get married, we can date, and someone will love us, but not like God does because his love doesn't change or fluctuate; it doesn't come in waves; his love stands on the basis that we were created in his likeness. And unlike what ophrange have to endure , he won't turn us away. It’s mentions so much about his steadfast love in the word of God.

•Psalm 107:15 Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!

•Psalm 103:17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children

•Psalms 36:5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

Love should be unmoveable; it should be something that never changes; we change, our age changes , what we wear or like and dislike changes , but love shouldn't; we should be able to show love to anyone and everyone, and if someone declines our love we have to love them still and move pass it and give them unto God, because we can’t make people change , but God can.

***Today love is not something we can take on off it shouldn't be but some of us do , the bases of our ongoing relationship with Christ is love! When Jesus told us to love our neighbor this isn't because our neighbors gave us a house warming gifts , but we love them because they are supposed to be our brother and sister.

Parts of us want to give up on loving people, but we can't call ourselves Christians and stop loving; all we can do is give love. God showed us even while we were yet sinners, God still shows us love even when we trip or stumble , God still loves us through everything , and this is what we must do love someone regardless not based on looks , money status , background . It doesn’t matter , it shouldn’t matter we must love like GOD LOVES US ! ©Seer~ Prophetess Lee

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PRAYER

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Heavenly Father we thank you for letting us see another day ! We thank you caring for us even while we were slaves to the enemy. Lord forgive us of everything we have done wrong please keep us near you ! Help us to love someone regardless help us to have that steadfast love . Sometimes it’s hard to love people because of their ways and what they say but father please help us to be focus on you and how we can please you . We desire to please you with our whole heart . Please show us how if we are missing that step, lord if it’s any bitterness in our heart please remove it , if it’s any hurt in our heart please remove it , lord we know we can’t have that in our heart and grow in you in Jesus Mighty Name Amen

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REFERENCES

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+Psalm 107:1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever

+Psalm 86:5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

+Psalm 36:5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.

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FURTHER READINGS

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1 Kings 7:1-50

Acts 7:30-50

Psalm 128:1-6

Proverbs 16:31-33

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[musecaravan-info]

Basil Hallward

"The act of painting is about one heart telling another heart where he found salvation." ~ Francisco Goya ~

Basic Information

FACE/BODY CLAIM: Ben Chaplin

NAME: Basil Hallward

AGE: 36

EYES: Dark Brown

HAIR: Dark Brown and wavy; almost shoulder length

HEIGHT: 5'11

PRIMARY OUTFIT: Basil is usually fastidious about his clothing, and even when he's dressed 'down' he stills pays attention to how things look together and how they fit him. As with his art, he has a bit of an eye for fashion, and enjoys looking good (even if he's the only one looking.)

Personality

This can actually depend heavily on the verse. Overall (in any verse) he's a kind-hearted and empathetic individual. He responds readily to beautiful things (which possibly comes off as a little shallow) but he'll be the first to admit that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it isn't always physical beauty that he's drawn to.

In any verse that revolves around his main story, Basil tends to be humble and soft-spoken. He doesn't have a lot of confidence in himself except where his art is concerned. And even then, he's not very good about 'promoting' himself. I think some of this has to do with the fact that he's forced to keep a part of himself hidden, and he's worried that if he draws too much attention to himself people will see through his 'act' to the truth beneath.

In most of his modern verses, Basil's a little more at ease with himself and comfortable being who he really is. He's friendly and open, and tries not to let past betrayals color how he handles new people in his life.

Abilities & Weaknesses

Basil is a skilled painter (and photographer in his modern verse.) Regardless of the verse, his name is well-known in certain elite circles, and people seek out his skills regularly.

As for weaknesses, that would have to be Basil's desire to be wanted/needed. Regardless of the verse, he needs to feel useful to others - whether it's as a painter or a friend or something more. This need can have him agreeing to things he wouldn't otherwise.

Romance

This is heavily dependent on the verse. In his main verses, Basil exercises HUGE amounts of caution for obvious reasons. Any relationships in this verse will probably have to be talked about in advance just so we can figure out HOW to make it happen. LOL!

In his modern verses, he's usually more open about sex and relationships in general, but he's not an outright flirt. He still maintains some subtlety before approaching someone he’s interested in.

In his immortal verses (especially in a modern setting) Basil’s not really shy about anything. If he’s interested in someone, he propositions them. He’s also not interested in anything long-term in this verse. He tells himself it’s so he won’t get attached, but that’s mostly a lie. He forms attachments so quickly… but can’t bring himself to give up having connections with mortals.

Where to Find Him

This one is technically verse-dependent, but there are so many overlaps. Places like his studio, or a gallery, or a charity event. In his Main, he might be at a gentlemans' club, while in Modern it might be a coffee shop. I'm open to a variety of meeting spots depending on the verse, so share your ideas with me and we'll find something that works. :)

Verses

Just because a verse isn't listed here doesn't mean I'm not interested in writing it. I adore all kinds of AUs, and welcome the chance to get creative with my muses. If you've seen a verse that another of my muses has, and you'd like to see this muse in something similar, let me know. You can also check out my 'Plot Ideas' tag, too. ^_^

Main Verse:

Just like it says - this verse take place before Basil’s death in the movie, sometime in the mid to late 1800’s. He’s a well-known artist in London, and would like to make a name for himself, but seems content to merely be well-regarded amongst the circle of friends he already has.

Modern Verse

I’m willing to play this Basil a variety of ways. He can be a struggling artist who makes ends meet by doing odd jobs around the city. Or a well-off photographer who’s name is moderately well-known. Or a painter who’s only doing okay because of his inheritance from his grandfather and moonlights as a street artist, and wants to follow in the footsteps of his idol, Banksy. Honestly, just ask and I’m willing to play with things. For more info on some offshoots of Basil’s Modern verses, GO HERE

Ghost Verse

Basil was murdered by Dorian and exists as a ghost in the house where he was killed. Even once it burned to the ground, he continued to haunt the ruins and the grounds, and should another house be built on top of the ruins, he would haunt there, too. His abilities - what he can and can’t do - are taken (mostly) from the movie, Ghost.

Immortal Verse

Basil was murdered by Dorian, but after his burial, he woke up on top of his own grave. (If RPing in this verse with a muse from his canon, it’s likely Basil will approach them after this, confused and needing to figure out what’s happened.)Basically, when he dies, Basil will always be resurrected - but only if his body has actually been buried. Once his body has been fully covered by earth he reappears on the grave within 24 hours. For ‘at sea’ situations, he reappears in the water above. Not ideal - obviously - and one of the reasons he tends to avoid traveling by boat whenever possible.

Angel Verse

In this verse Basil is actually an angel sent to watch over and protect Dorian’s soul. Depending on my partner, Harry may or may not be a demon working to make sure Basil fails. (If RPing in this verse with a muse from his canon, I’d like to start things at the beginning and allow the story to become AU from there.)For non-canon muses, this would likely all be in the past. Basil’s failure began when he found himself falling in love with Dorian. It was completed when Dorian killed him to keep his secret and his immortality. When Basil lost Dorian’s soul to Hell, he was punished for it. Punishments can vary depending on the muse I’m RPing with.

Sex Worker Verse

Can take place in any time period. Basil is a struggling artist who willing (and sometimes not so willingly) sells himself to make ends meet, so that he can keep painting. He was disowned and kicked out of his house when his father discovered his homosexuality. He tried to make it on his own, but eventually fell into sex work.

Survivor Verse

Basil survives Dorian’s attempt on his life and flees. Where he winds up afterwards pretty much depends on who the RP is with and where we decide to take things.

Current/Ongoing Threads

If your thread with Basil isn't listed here it's probably because it's been long enough since your last reply that I thought you'd dropped it. Message me to let me know you're still interested, and I'll happily add you to the list (with no pressure for a reply.) ♡

Ash/Eric/Mike/et al:

Let Our Illusions Die (Survivor Verse)

Beckett and Lavinia:

The World is Wide (Main Verse)

Jim:

A Simple Hello (Modern Verse)

Kurt:

Lost (Marvel Verse)

Maximus:

Across the Coffee Shop (Immortal Verse)

Stelios:

Better Things Ahead (Immortal Verse)

Stuff That's Good to Know Before Starting a Thread

I'm... actually having trouble thinking of anything for Basil. He's pretty low-maintenance especially in comparison to some of my other muses.

If there's something you think should be here... or if you just have questions, let me know. ^_^

Links

Please keep in mind, this blog is an ongoing work in progress. Not all of these links may lead somewhere, but they're here because they link to potential tags for this muse.

All Things Basil

Headcanons

Drabbles

All Threads

Ask Replies

Meme Replies

Aesthetics

Face

Special Links

Original Blog

Basil's Art

Basil's Home

Return To Full Muse List

[mrlnsfrt]

But God was with him

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him down there. - Genesis 38:1 NKJV

The first verse of Genesis 39 links this story to Genesis 37:36 but we now see it from Potiphar’s perspective. This verse also connects with Genesis 38:1 when Judah leaves his brothers and goes down. The main difference here is that Joseph was taken down against his will and Judah left and went down on his own accord. (For more on Genesis 37 you can read my post Betrayed by Family and for more on Genesis 38 check out my post Strong Female Character)

Descents

The story of Joseph is shaped by three descents.

Joseph’s first descent took place when his brothers lowered him the lowering of Joseph into the pit (Genesis 37:24–25).

His second descent is his forced descent into Egypt (Genesis 37:36; 39:1)

His third descent is more symbolic and will take place a little later. (Genesis 39:20).

The LORD was with Joseph?

The LORD was with Joseph, and he was a successful man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. - Genesis 39:2 NKJV

If you were in Joseph’s situation would you feel like the Lord was with you? If your own family members had betrayed you and sold you as a slave? Being betrayed is a terrible experience, being betrayed by those you love is a special kind of pain. Oftentimes, our family members are the ones able to inflict the most pain in our lives.

The phrase “The LORD was with Joseph” reminds me of a story from the book of Judges. The story of Gideon begins in Judges 6 and in verse 12 the Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon and says “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” to which Gideon replies,

[…]“O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.” - Judges 6:13 NKJV

If I was in Joseph’s shoes I would have felt similar to Gideon. If the LORD is with me, why is my life so difficult?

If the LORD was with Joseph why did He allow Jospeh’s brothers to sell him?

If God is really with us, why do we experience bad things?

That is a huge question and I am not ready to tackle it here, but I will not ignore it either. How free do we wish to be? How much do you appreciate your freedom being removed for your own good?

If we don’t like it when our government or our employer limits our freedom, why do we demand that God limit the freedom of those around us?

How free are you if you are only free to do good things? Do you develop a character when you can carelessly go through life knowing that only good things will happen? You can drive carelessly knowing no one will be hurt.

Should God restrict the freedom of Joseph’s brothers and force them to be kind and loving to Joseph? How would you feel if everyone was kind to you only because they had no other option?

Would love feel like love if no one could ever choose to not love?

I do not have all the answers, but this is part of how I wrestle with these questions. My wife’s love for me is more meaningful because she is also free to hate me. When my children are kind to me and obedient it is meaningful because they are free to disobey and to be mean.

When you choose to read my blog is it meaningful to me because you are free to not read it.

In this story, we witness the complexity of life where God is moving yet without limiting the freedom of humans. God is with Joseph, but those around Joseph are free to decide how they want to treat him.

Described above are my personal views on this topic. This was a super brief approach to a small portion of the argument regarding pain and suffering in light of a powerful and loving God. My favorite resource on this for those who want to go deeper is Dr. John Pekham’s book Theodicy of Love (if you use this link to buy the book it does not add to your cost but I receive a small benefit)

Evidence of the LORD’s presence

And his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. - Genesis 39:3-4 NKJV

It is likely that Joseph felt betrayed and maybe even cursed. He went from the favorite son in his father’s household to a slave to an Egyptian. We have a tendency to interpret hardships as evidence of God’s displeasure. Whether we articulate it or not, we expect blessings from God to look like a life of ease or even idleness. But there is no biblical evidence of that that comes to my mind.

Genesis 2:15 indicates that before the fall, before sin came into the world, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it. So work was not a result of sin, the result of sin was for work to become burdensome (Genesis 3:17-19).

Even in the midst of hardships, there is a blessing and dignity that comes from work well done. Joseph had plenty of reasons to be a terrible worker. He could have been bitter and destructive. Many of us have reason to be rebellious, angry, and destructive. However, just because it would be understandable for you to behave in an angry and destructive way does not mean that it is what you should do. Being angry and negative does not solve problems. Joseph had limited resources, as a slave he had no one to help him except God, and God probably felt a million miles away.

Instead of despairing at the great injustice done to him and how unfair his life was Joseph focused on what was under his control. Joseph could choose his attitude. Joseph had control over how he would direct his efforts and energy. He could be an unruly, undisciplined, incorrigible slave that no one wanted. He could have been the worst young man Egypt had ever seen. Though his rage and frustration would have been understandable, they would not have fixed anything, but would likely have made things worse. Joseph could have caused those around him to feel a fraction of the pain he felt, but that would not have helped him. Causing pain to those around him would not have soothed his pain.

Do we ever hurt those around us because we have been hurt? Because we are having a bad day we guarantee that everyone around us will also have a bad day. If everyone heaves this way it is an easy way to guarantee no one will ever have a good day.

What I see Joseph doing is starting a revolution, a rebellion. Joseph is refusing to behave in a way that would make sense by this world’s standards. Joseph chooses to live in a way that brings honor and glory to God’s name. Joseph chose to behave in a way that brings blessings to those around him, not pain. He had suffered so much, and he did not want to be the cause of the suffering of those around him.

What if more people behaved like Joseph? What if our attitude was, I have suffered so much that I want to alleviate the suffering of those around me? I know, it’s backward. Because I have experienced pain, I want to help you avoid the pain I have been through.

Context is so important. As I write these words I am aware that there are those who will use this to take advantage of you. Spiritual abuse is a real thing and I want to take this opportunity to warn you. Joseph had extremely limited options as a slave. He did not have the freedom to leave. I do not want anyone to take this lesson of doing good despite being treated in a horrible way, and remain in an abusive relationship. If your work environment is abusive and is causing you and your family harm, prayerfully consider other options. If you have an abusive family member or friend, seek help. Do not stay in an abusive relationship. Seek help. Look for options. This is a nuanced conversation and we should all strive for healthy relationships.

Joseph had one thing under his control. His attitude. He chose to be the best worker Egypt had ever seen, and everyone around him noticed there was something special about him. Joseph’s master, Potiphar, recognized that God was with Joseph and God blessed everything that Joseph did. I do not interpret this to mean that Joseph had an easy job, but rather that his hard work paid off. As Joseph put forth effort in accordance with God’s will, God blessed his efforts and caused him and all that he did to prosper.

Joseph was promoted to the point that he was the highest authority in Potiphar’s house, second only to Potiphar, his master. But the way I see it, Joseph was not working for Potiphar, he was working for God.

It’s like Joseph was aware of the principles that were described in more detail in the New Testament.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. - Colossians 3:17 NKJV

Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV

Potiphar did not deserve the quality of work that Joseph delivered. Joseph worked like he did because it was an act of worship. It is easy to blame our low effort and sloppy performance on the shortcomings of our superiors, our bosses, our teachers, our parents, etc. But what if the way we lived our life, the way we treat others and the way we work instead reflected our relationship with God? It is true that people do not deserve your best effort. But what if people need it? We don’t always deserve love, but we need it. We don’t necessarily deserve help, but we need it. What if we could be more generous and merciful to those around us, not because they deserve it, but because we also receive blessings we do not deserve from God?

I often wrestle with this. I do not want to become a workaholic. I cannot spend my whole life just giving, it would drive me to an early grave. My personal life is a constant balancing act, between giving, and also taking some time to rest and heal so that I can continue to give in the future. A healthy life allows me to give for many years as opposed to giving everything over a relatively short period of time.

We need to become aware of our boundaries and how much we can give. What I want to encourage you to do is to live from a place of generosity and kindness, desiring to be a part of the good that is in the world.

Blessed for Joseph’s Sake

So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. - Genesis 39:5-6a NKJV

Your personal relationship with God does not impact only your life. People around you are blessed because of your relationship with God.

Only when we get to heaven will we fully realize how many people around us were blessed because of our relationship with God, as well as how often we were blessed by the relationship those around us have with God. I have been so blessed throughout my life, and continue to be blessed by people who have gone out of their way to bless me, even though I have no way of repaying them. I have been so blessed how can I refuse to bless those I can?

At every stage of my life I have been helped by others, how can I withhold help from those who need it?

Once again, I do struggle with finding that balance. But I consciously want to help as many as I can, and I pray for God to teach me the best way to do it. I want to invite you to do the same. Life is difficult, and there will be struggles, but I find it better to struggle to do good and to help as many as I can, as opposed to struggling to amass power and wealth at the cost of those around me.

Joseph’s master trusted Joseph with everything he had, he didn’t even bother to check. I struggle to come up with a more powerful sermon, or a more compelling argument about the existence of God, His power, and His character. When you live like Joseph, people around you can’t help but be exposed to God and His power and character. Witnessing is much less about having the right argument and much more about living an authentic life of worship.

I remember being impressed by Christians who have large portions of scriptures memorized, and who live a careful and disciplined life. But I now realize I often did not enjoy their presence, and neither did their kids, their spouses, their neighbors, or even other members of their church. The memorization of scripture is not the problem. The problem is that they did not memorize scriptures to encourage and bless others, but rather as weapons to win arguments and shame and coerce others. Scripture was used as a means of control and power.

Yet here we have Joseph, a slave. No sermons from Joseph are recorded, yet the Bible says that “his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD made all he did to prosper in his hand.” (Genesis 39:3) Joseph did not have a theological argument. He simply lived his life in a way that revealed God to his master. Joseph was no ordinary slave. I would argue that Joseph was not a slave, because his work went above and beyond that of a slave, Joseph went the extra mile as a free man. His work was not based on how closely he was being supervised. His motivation was not to avoid punishment. Joseph worked for God, his true Master, Potiphar had front-row seats to watch Joseph worship God in everything he did and to see God’s power at work in Joseph’s life blessing all that he had.

Practical Application

Let us live our lives as worship. We do not work for our employer or our client, we live for God. We engage with our clients and bosses in order to bless them, to reveal to them the heart of our God. God is our provider and the source of everything that is good. God is also our source of strength to face life’s challenges. So I encourage you to go above and beyond in all you do, not because of who you’re doing it for but because of your relationship with God. May that be your sermon.

A life well lived.