#lord help me these allegiances are not consistent at all

[skyscratch-wc]

So I decided that I want to focus my rewrite/au on the period of time between Mapleshade's Vengeance and Into the Wild instead of DOTC because there are a lot of characters but most of them are blank slates aka more things I can change without it becoming super duper complicated.

But in order to do that I've been going through all the novellas, SEs, etc between those two books to piece together a decent idea of how old everyone is and so I can set up a family tree. Nothing is funnier than looking at some of these allegiances. Leopardstar's Honor is particular is a mess and that's a recent book. Mousefur, Runningwind, and Willowpelt are all listed as warriors while Thistleclaw is an apprentice which isn't even remotely accurate to every other book from that time period

Also like half of Thunderclan just pops out of the ether between MV and PC so that'll be fun to deal with.

Oh, and Windflight is alive forever

[aetherceuse]

"If you were mine...." The words began, but drifted off quietly after a few more moments, followed by a chuckle and a shrug.

"But you wouldn't be -- no more than a man can own a star. He may reach the cosmos, but can never actually own them."

Was this him giving up? Of course not. This is him being realistically charming in his own way; Lusamine was not a woman who deserved half-assed sweet nothings anyone could whisper. The two of them are well aware of how selfish most creatures were, how they looked for the best and highest of standards.

And those who were cowards would never dream to reach out towards the stars.

"I would prefer to word it as...if we could discover our universe together, I would help you reach the stars and beyond. I am not the kind of man who takes a knee, but I would be more than willing to hold out a hand and push you up towards your goals. And I'm sure you have such interesting ones. I want to see what kind of universe you live in."

”If you were mine. . .” | Accepting @thornychairman

She allows him the floor to speak. It is the most courteous gesture the president could give after all but snubbing the chairman’s attempts at connecting with her. Three times he has attempted to deliver these simultaneously blunt and flowery words, and three times, Lusamine has listened to them and given no response.

Persistence was a positive trait in the eyes of the frigid lord, only if it was consistent, and maintained the same energy that was brought to the war table.

What is courtship and deals, but an elaborate, emotional game of conquering, and leaving others to fall? Lusamine can only understand such conversation in the framework of strategy— or of the scientific truths of this world.

And so she folds one leg over the other, fingertips brought together. And she listens.

He really was a foolish man, to believe that Lusamine Delacroix was not looking at him like the next potential controlled variable in her grand experiment— or was he aware of the way that the mantis eyed the smaller male? Could he possibly be mad enough to walk willingly into such a gruesome trap?

“I live in the same universe you reside in, chairman,” she replied flatly, eyes kidding and drifting to the table separating the two of them. Lusamine brings a hand up, fingertip tapping the top of it; a touchscreen covered the entire surface, and it currently displayed an interactive map, marking every location where wormholes had appeared across numerous regions.

“Only, I perceive it entirely different than humankind,” her fingertip hovers over one that seemed to have appeared in the northern most region of Galar.

“You can share this knowledge, too, only if you are prepared for proper allegiance. This is a world full of decay, and, I am afraid that mother earth’s inhabitants are aware of the march towards extinction that they are taking. It is almost sad.”

Green eyes flicker up and stare Rose rather sharply.

“Are you inhumane enough to understand me, chairman?”

[phoenixyfriend]

Ezra and Fulcrum’s Wacky Adventure

Ezra's attempt to save Ahsoka on Malachor by fucking around with space-time goes wonky, and the two of them end up in the first year of TCW... with Vader in pursuit.

"You're Ahsoka... from the future?"

"Sure am, Skyguy."

"And that's your padawan."

"A friend's padawan. His master died recently, and I'm keeping an eye on him until we figure something out."

"Right, right... and, uh, mister tall, Dark, and horrifying?"

"Oh, that's future you."

"..."

"Yeah, Palpatine's a Sith Lord and he's been grooming you for a decade. Shit’s fucked. Anyway, get ready to jump, Vader’s gaining on us."

I just have this mental image of hyper-competent "I am no Jedi" Fulcrum leading 20yo Anakin and angstiest ever Ezra on a merry ride called "avoid Vader before he kills us all."

Intermittently she tries to talk Vader down with "Padme's still alive!" and that sort of not-quite-reassurance, and Anakin is getting very concerned about... many things.

Smol Ahsoka is very "future me scares me." Like yeah Fulcrum is a badass but Fulcrum is also incredibly blase about like. Really horrifying things.

Fulcrum's had a long time to come to terms with "Vader is probably Anakin" and a week or two to come to terms with "Vader is DEFINITELY Anakin and also trying to kill me and this child (teenager) I'm currently in charge of." She's coping by making very morbid jokes and being scarily calm about things, and just overall Very Unperturbed about, like, an explosion going off two feet away from her.

She keeps dropping bombs like "Yeah, all the clones have mind-control chips in their heads with orders to kill us or themselves and I remember like a solid half of you trying to kill me in particular, it was a very formative experience for how I dealt with the rise of the Empire" with the most unassuming, bland smiles.

Everyone's horrified except Fulcrum herself and Ezra, who grew up in the Empire and has never known anything else, but ALSO he's consistently freaking out and having negative reactions to shinies and even some of the older clones because even painted phase one armor is setting off 'These are stormtroopers' PTSD.

So there's:

- that general "Vader fucks around and everyone, including Sidious and Tyranus, is trying to figure out the identity of this absolute motherfucker wrecking everyone's shit with no restraint or apparent care in target allegiance"

- "a friend from The Future shows up to tell you about the horrible, horrible fate everyone is going to suffer, now you have to fix it"

- "Future Me tried to kill The Little Sister?????"

Do you think your teenager is traumatized now, Anakin? Think again! In eighteen years, it's going to be so much worse, and it's going to be in large part your fault!

Fulcrum, smiling: Humor makes the trauma bearable.

Anakin: [concerned noises]

@atagotiak: I have this mental image of Anakin and Fulcrum making the very inadvisable decision to spar

Fulcrum thinks she’s able to handle it. She’s not.

She has the skills! But. Uh. Panic attacks are fun, especially when they take the form of "my brain flipped a switch and I could no longer process that this was a spar and not a fight to the death."

Ezra suggests that maybe she'd be better off sparring with General Kenobi instead of Skywalker. Ezra can spar with Mini-Soka and Anakin, he's fine with that. He knows Vader is Anakin but it's just a Fact, like "there are this many stars in the Chommel sector." It's certainly true but he has no emotional connection to this information.

Tia: It’s not great for Fulcrum mentally and also tbh it seems like there might be a risk of her injuring Anakin. Probably not too seriously just because the sabers aren’t gonna be full power but still, seems like something to avoid

Does she flinch around non-Rex 501st clones? Probably!

Fulcrum: Here's a list of clones we're likely to encounter that I'm not going to panic around.

Anakin: ...there’s only three names on this list.

Fulcrum: Yeah.

Tia: Trying to figure out what her opinion of Bail Organa must be. Which is complicated by how I haven’t seen Rebels.

I mean yeah there’s some degree of trust and respect and stuff there. But in the novel at least I didn’t really get any friendship vibe from them. To be fair I’m pretty sure they barely knew each other at the point.

“He’s trustworthy but a much sneakier motherfucker than anyone gives him credit for.”

"We aren't friends but I would lay down my life for him without hesitation"

"He's very soft compared to Jedi or clones but he's almost stupidly brave and apparently tried to help when he saw the Temple go up in flames, it's wild."

"But you're not friends?"

"Nah, future Bail was kind of my boss and I saw him once every two years if that. He has my ultimate respect, though. Ten outta ten, would become a black ops agent for again."

Tia: “Also his office is very fun to break into”

The looks that last one gets her.

Obi-Wan was nodding along because Yeah, he Gets It, Bail is incredibly impressive for a politician, he's a good man with a good heart and nerves of steel! Obi-Wan also finds him worthy of total loyalty! This is all--his office is What.

Fulcrum: Hey, you wanna know something terrible?

Anakin: No.

Fulcrum: Too bad, telling you anyway.

Fulcrum gets a lot of mileage out of being the future version of one of Anakin's current Five Most Important People (Obi-Wan, Padme, Ahsoka, Palpatine, Rex) since the twins haven't been born yet and Shmi's already dead.

Also, Tia pointed out that Caleb is like eleven at this point, and that’s very awkward for Ezra.

[beaglesfoundindumpsters]

tw, slight mentions to suicide, manipulation, (specifically dream’s manipulation), slight violence and/or murder, and curse words

even though techno said sbi (as a family) isnt canon, im still gonna head canon it, because he said that was okay

so, here we go *takes deep breath*

SBI HEAD CANONS AND INCORECT QUOTES BABYY

im literally obsessed with how strong sbi is. i mean, of course theyre hilarious and tommy’s a child, but other than that... god damn.

starting off, we have techno, of course. and hes super strong just by himself. (TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES and BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD)

then, we have philza. angel of death. killza. he’s insanely strong. like, god.

then, wilbur. wilbur isnt physically strong, but he was always a leader. he started an entire country, for hells sake. he’s smart, a leader, and doesn’t give up. (he also went insane and died, but we dont talk about that)

im gonna think of ghostbur as this kind of seperate entity. (cause he kind of is) ghostbur isnt inherently strong, but no one would ever want to hurt him. hes nice.. a little too nice. now, forgive me if im overthinking here, i feel as if ghostbur might be hiding something. apparently, a few days ago ghostbur joined the server with a new skin, a skin with large goatlike horns.... hmm... little sus...

and, then, of course, tommy. tommy, tommy. the only person dream’s scared of. at the current moment in time, hes super confused. he keeps thinking that dream’s still his friend, and upon seeing the final control room his first instinct was to run back to dream, his abuser. but, techno’s taking care of him right now. hopefully techno can get tommy back on his feet and then they can become a great team.

another thing about philza, he doesn’t really have any allegiance to any country, (*cough* lmanberg *cough*), and he mostly only has allegiance to techno, wilbur, and tommy. aka, sbi. he also recently revealed that he doesn’t think that tubbo isnt actually doing a great job at being president. so, what does this mean for sbi? that once phil gets out of house arrest hes probably gonna go live with techno, tommy, and wil.

oh, lord, am i excited for that.

oh lordy lord lord

im so hungry

what was i doing

oh yeah sbi

nice

anyways, moving on from the immense power in that group,,, um tubbo? i like tubbo

he really cool

i mean, i really dont like the way hes ruling lmanberg right now, but before that he was awesome

i think a lot of pressure was put on him when he became president, especially because he didnt ask to be president and he didn’t even run for president.

and, since everyone else in the cabinet is being more controlling, (possible glatt possestion?), tubbo is seeming less and less like a president as everyone else starts making more decisions than the legit president.

so, i think that exiling tommy wasn’t only a plea for peace, it was also to show that hes the president, that hes in charge and he makes the decisions.

but, sadly he just lost his best friend

also, obviously dream is so bent on controlling tommy because tommy doesnt do what dream says. tommy does what he wants to, what he thinks is best, what he thinks will help his friends.

so, when dream manipulated tommy, and tommy kind of broke, dream thought he finally had him. he had gotten tommy, the uncontrollable hero, under his control.

but, when tommy made the room, dream used that as first; a sign that tommy wasnt completely under his control and second; a way to manipulate tommy even more.

but, that, (at least i think), is when tommy realized that something was wrong.

sitting on that wooden tower, looking at the blown up logsted he realized that... maybe dream isnt his friend.

i honestly cant wait for tommy and tubbo to make up with each other, though.

i really miss the consistent content that they made with each other, and i miss when it was “tommy and tubbo vs dream”

:(

another thing, after wilbur blew up lmanberg, tommy kept saying, “its me and you vs dream,” which i think is kind of ironic. both of them agreed that even before lmanberg, before wilbur, before everything, it was tommy and tubbo against dream. they were best friends and they had a common enemy.

then, they both seperately went to dream for help. tubbo becoming dream’s “ally” while plotting to kill him and tommy being manipulated into being dream’s friend.

obviously, the manipulation isnt tommy’s fault though.

back to more sbi themes

i literally live for how good techno is being to tommy rn

like, literally, he hid tommy from dream, protected him from mobs without a thought, let him live in his house, gave him armor and weapons, and when tommy saw the final control room he said, “its fine, it doesnt take one day to heal,” and got tommy out of there.

tommy’s still a little bitch tho

anyways, tommy’s first response to the final control room was that he wanted to go find dream. this is how manipulators and abusers work. they make you think that you need them, and so when anything bad happens you want to fall back onto them, and that’s what tommy had been doing for the past few weeks, so of course his first thought is, “where’s dream? i need dream.”

luckily, though, techno was there to help him through it, and i just think thats neat.

and, isnt it funny that a sixteen year old minecraft player is representing manipulation and mental illness better than most movies? hmm....

maybe now we can have some incorrect quotes OwO

(im sorry i never want to do that again but i was on a call with a friend and she told me to do that im so sorry god i feel so guilty i hate that i hate is so much i want it to die im so sorry for putting you through that omfg im so sorry)

phil: tubbo.. where’s tommy? tubbo, knowing that tommy is trying to light techno’s house on fire: who’s tommy? phil:

wilbur: tommy, i hate you. you are so annoying, not funny at all, and the worst child ever. you disgrace every other normal child with your weirdness. tommy: wilbur, to literally anyone else: im so proud of tommy and how far hes come. that kid, hes so funny, i dont know how the world will be ready for tommyinnit. he makes great content, and deserves all of the attention that hes got.

techno:  butcher army: im gonna kill technoblade. techno: butcher army: yeah, you are so dead, techno. you better count your days. techno: butcher army: *starts attacking techno* butcher army: *almost gets killed by techno*

thats all i have for now! *fades out of existence*

/rp of course

[gloves94]

Sunburn [Prince Zuko] 22

Warnings: None   Rating: PG-13   Pairings: Zuko/OC   Summary:  “You have everything you’ve ever wanted.” “No.” He said softly. “Not everything…”  His golden eyes looked at her with a melting intensity she had never witnessed before. “I guess not.” She responded with glassy eyes as tears welled up threatening to break the dam of her eyes.

My fanfiction: M A S T E R L I S T

Zuko tossed and turned in his bed in a fitful attempt at sleep. He didn't want to sleep. He couldn't sleep and if he did all he would have were nightmares. He would see his uncle's disappointed face and Tsai's twisted with pain. His eyes snapped opened and he turned to see the red head sitting next to his bed.

"Boo!" She said mockingly at the startled prince. He let out a small scream as he fell of the bed.

"What do you think of my new outfit?" She continued to mock him as she made a gesture to the servant rags she was wearing. Her hair was darker and wore her bangs combed back to the side. Her eyes didn't gleam with the same light anymore.

He turned away shaking his head and grabbed a cloak off a hook and swung it over his shoulders as he snuck out of his room. Her mocking laughter haunting his conscience.

He knew where he was going.

xxx

Tsai was in deep slumber. It was the first time she had slept in an actual bed in what felt like forever. It was stiff and would stab at a spot in her back, but she didn't care. It was better than the floor in prison. Besides, there were also no rats here.

She didn't want to think of the awful stuff that Azula would have in mind to her tomorrow. Knowing her she probably had a ranked list of humiliating tasks for her to fulfill. She had also succeeded in infiltrating the Fire Nation's heart. The palace. It would only be a matter of time before she could begin skulking around the palace and communicating with the others.

Zuko knew where Tsai was being kept. It was the room closest to the royal wing. One which was usually used for nannies, nurses and personal aides of the royal family during certain seasons. He stepped in quietly making sure he wasn't seen by any midnight prying eyes and shut the door behind him quietly. The room was small, windowless and austere. With a small bed and a desk and a wooden chair. Her brown dress was tossed over the chair. He knew she wouldn't run away. So did the Fire Lord. After all she had sworn her life and loyalty to the crown.

He approached the bed and took a seat next to her sleeping form. The mattress lightly sinking under his weight. He was hurting. He still couldn't believe they had hurt each other like that. Despite the pain it brought him, he smiled lightly when he heard her light snoring and couldn't help himself. He brushed a stray hair from her forehead and rested his hand there for a second. She looked so different from the morning. So, at peace. There was no pain in her rest. He couldn't believe that her conscience wasn't in turmoil like his.

Her drowsy eyes opened slowly, and it took her that same second to react. They blazed as she clawed at his arm ready to shout. She wondered who would be in more trouble if he was here? And just what Ozai would do to his son if he was caught visiting a servant's sleeping quarters during the late hours of the evening.

He pressed a firm palm to her mouth. "Shh!!!" He hissed silencing her.

He wasn't expecting her to actually bite him and hard.

"Ow!" He cried out really not expecting that and removing his hand. She shoved him off the bed and pushed him to the ground. He landed with a loud thud. Quickly jumping to her bare feet, she stepped on his chest pinning him down looking down at him. She didn't care if she was only wearing sleeping garments which consisted of a peasant top bandeau covering her chest and a pair of loose brown shorts. She looked down at him with judgement in her cold eyes.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't scream bloody hell and let your vile sister and maniacal father find you here." She threatened stepping harder. She wanted to hurt him. Make him feel the same pain she was feeling.

He looked up at her wrapping a hand around her ankle gently.

"Tsai," he said her name in a strained breath. Her weight pushing down on his lungs.

"You're a coward and a snake and above all a traitor! Get out of my room! I never want to see you again!" She cried out removing herself from him not wanting to even be touched by him.

"That's going to be a little hard," he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily. "You're right. Considering I'm your personal slave!" She lashed out in fury.

"You stood by them and did nothing! You choose them over the only person who truly loved and cared for you!"

Zuko's eyes widened. He felt something which felt like hope stir inside of him.

"You.. You love me?"

Her face scrunched up in an even angrier scowl. Her nostrils flaring in fury.

"I am talking about your uncle!"

"My uncle!" He connected the dots in his head. He was also probably the person she loved most in this world. Zuko had no doubt that she would always pick her uncle over him. After all they were both basically the same person. Her sudden betrayal to him and newfound allegiance to the Fire Nation. It still made no sense to him.

"You betrayed him too.” He let out in a hollow tone. “Why?” He asked in suspicion with narrowed eyes. Something was off.

She avoided his eyes and shrugged carelessly.

"I don't know what happened between you and Uncle, but I know one thing about you. And you would never go against him. You would never bow to my father like that- and all that talk about honor?" It wasn't her.

She huffed and shook her head. Her dark eyes meeting his concerned ones.

"You don't know me." She paused for a moment. "You don't know anything!" She snapped. Her voice louder. "You don't even know what you're talking about. You really think I would go against my nation? Betray my own family? For what? Because your uncle asked me to?" She lied through her teeth attempting to sound like Azula did when she spoke.

"No," he said softly. "You wouldn't do it because it goes against you. Everything you stand for." He explained calmly.

"Oh, you mean my 'socialist wet-dream' about equality?" She let out a cruel laugh attempting to push his buttons. She wanted to hurt him as bad as he had hurt her. Grab his heart and crush it in the palm of her hand. "I told you long ago. That dream was dead. It's trash. You said it yourself. I am never going to accomplish anything grand and you were dead right. I will now live the remainder days of my life as what you always saw me as - a colonial peasant."

"Tsai, no-" He pleaded. "I- I was wrong." He hesitated looking as if he was being split in two. He appeared distraught.

"Don't- call me that. You have lost the privileged of even calling me by my name. From now on you will address me as a slave or a peasant because that's what I am. That's what you made me!"

Each one of her words was like a ice dagger. Deeply burying and twisting painfully inside of him ripping at his insides slowly, painfully. She was beyond livid.

"Tsai it was-" She interrupted him again.

"After all. That's what you called me in front of your father. You disgust me. I can't believe I- I can't believe I-"

It hurt her. He had hurt her. The only promised he had ever made to her was that nobody would hurt her and how poetic and ironic was it that he had been the only person to do so? She was so hurt. Her heart and mind in shambles and now she had been entrusted with this dangerous mission from General Iroh?

"Tsai! It was the only way of keeping you safe!" He finally snapped his temper flaring to match hers in frustration. She ignored his outburst and continued in her furious spiel.

"And me?" she suddenly scoffed continuing her rant. "I understand. I get it. Hey, it was fun. You used me because you were bored and lonely and a pathetic worm!" She stomped down her foot in fury. "Let's not forget that colonial women are basically whores!'" She spat out venomously.

"Tsai," he pleaded his voice edging to a dangerous growl as his patience stretched thin. "It wasn't like that at all!" He stepped closer. How could he convince her? Tell her truth if she wasn't willing to listen? He wanted to take her in his arms, hold her close. Tell her how sorry he was. At this point he was willing to get on his knees and beg.

"I don't believe you." Her nose wrinkled as her brows knitted in a deeper scowl. "I don't believe anything that comes out of your filthy lying mouth!"

"Yeah?" He challenged. He moved so fast she was almost knocked back by the headbutt when he slammed his mouth against hers hard.

Zuko held his stinging cheek as he stepped back. His soul was on fire. He felt as if he had been brought back to life. She ignited the dying passion inside of him.

"Stay away from me," She breathed dangerously. Tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes. He knew she felt it too.

"I used to believe there was light and peace inside of you. That you could change. That you could let it out and become a better man. That we could change the world around us, but now I'm not so sure..." She trailed off sadly as a stray tear slid down her cheek.

"You sound like uncle," he lamented.

"Good." She said firmly. "At least one of us does."

xxx

It was strange… Her betrayal to his Uncle. He still couldn't wrap his head around it. He had replayed the events of that day over and over in his head and they still made no sense. She stood by it and admitted it to his father. Yet still defended the man's words. Something wasn't adding up.

He quietly snuck out of the palace and began the long trek towards the prison tower that was located inside a hollow volcanic crater northwest of the capital city.

The Fire Nation prince stopped at the base of the stairs that led into the prison and looked up, focusing intently on of the many darkened windows.

"Who's there?" The guard that had been patrolling one of the prison's balconies called out loudly when he spotted Zuko.

Without saying a word, the scarred prince turned and walked away, the guard resuming his patrol behind him.

Zuko walked slowly through the halls of the Capital City Prison, the hood of his cloak pulled low over his head. Ahead of him, the guard on duty stiffened at the sound of his footsteps and whirled around.

"You again?" The guard snapped furiously as he pointed his spear at the scarred prince, "Stop where you are!"

Zuko lifted his head and the guard faltered, his eyes widening.

"Prince Zuko..."

Zuko grabbed the guard by the collar of his uniform and slammed him against the wall roughly, his spear clattering to the floor.

"I'm going in for a visit. You're going to stand guard here, and no one is going to know about this." Zuko growled lowly then he released the guard and entered the cell.

His breath caught slightly in his throat when he saw his uncle sitting in the middle of the metal cell at the back of the stone room, his gray hair hanging in scraggly tangles down his back.

"Uncle," Zuko rasped as he approached the metal bars and lowered the hood of his cloak, "It's me."

Iroh shifted so his back was to the metal bars and his nephew, a faint scowl marring his face.

"You brought this on yourself you know." Zuko stated as he stood in front of the metal bars that split half of his uncle's stone cell, "We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!"

Iroh shifted slightly on the thin mat he was sitting on, keeping his back to his nephew and not looking at him. Giving him the silent treatment.

"You have no right to judge me, Uncle!" Zuko spat furiously, feeling the harsh judgement in his uncle's deafening silence. "I did what I had to do in Ba Sing Se, and you're a fool for not joining me!"

Iroh's shoulders tensed slightly, but he continued to ignore his nephew.

"You're not going to say anything?" The scarred prince demanded, his voice cracking slightly before he snarled and whirled around, kicking up a small stool before destroying it with a punch and fire bending.

"You're a crazy old man!" Zuko shouted angrily at his uncle's back, "You're crazy! And if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in the gutter!"

Zuko stormed out of the stone cell slamming the door behind him. Inside the cell, Iroh's lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes.

xxx

Tsai hadn't been able to sleep after Zuko's night visit. So by the crack of dawn she stood at the side of Azula's bed awaiting for the princess to awake. It would be so easy. She could smother the princess with a pillow and make a run for it. However, that would be counter productive.

Sometime later she awoke.

"Good morning Princess Azula," Tsai spoke in a tone with no hint of emotion when she awoke. "Good morning pet," Azula's smirk stretched across her face maliciously. How was it possible for somebody to wake up and already have malicious thoughts at this hour?

"Fetch my clothing and dress me," She instructed.

Without a choice she nodded and went off to get her clothes and bring them to the girl. Azula sat on the edge of her bed bringing her feet down and stretched. "Now dress me," she ordered.

“Oh, these?” She said as she picked up her royal garments. “Yes,” Azula repeated growing annoyed at the way she was looking at her clothes.

“I had a similar outfit back home,” she said in the most stuck up tone she could muster. “Very last year.” She spoke using the most judgmental tone she felt her mother would use.

“What do you know?” Azula snapped angrily. “Afterall you’re just a peasant!”

Tsai shrugged with a sly smile as she turned away and walked into Azula’s walk in closet hand picking out another outfit.

“I think this… Would suit the princess much better.” She pulled out a similar outfit and brought it to Azula slightly bowing her head before her.

She hated this. Hated being like this. She still wanted nothing more than to bury that knife Azula had so gracefully given her in their last physical encounter into her shoulder. An eye for an eye. But for now, she had no choice but to play nice. Azula watched her cautiously with narrowed eyes before making the girl dress her.

“See?” She said adjusting the back of her dress. Tsai wasn’t sure what to say next. She was egg shelling around the princess. One wrong move and it was all over, but how would she accomplish this? How did one become friends with a person like Azula? Did she have any friends at all?

“I wish I was half as pretty as you.” The girl added stroking Azula’s already swollen ego. On par, satisfied, Azula smirked before running a hand through her dark hair.

Tsai felt dirty saying such things to such a horrible person. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t what she was supposed to be doing.

"I've also got an attire for you," Azula suddenly said said. "I won't let my pet be seen wearing such atrocious rags."

The clothes she had been given consisted of a crimson maroon skirt that reached her mid tight and had one part in the front that was longer than the rest. It had a golden embroidered trim like most traditional Fire Nation clothes and fastened at the waist with a thin gold string. Azula had made her wear a crop top which revealed most of her abdomen. Something she really wasn’t comfortable with and wouldn’t usually wear.

"Perfect," Azula said as her eyes snaked over her servant’s body.

"One final touch." She approached her and standing before her put an actual dog's necklace around her neck. The accessory was bold, thick and dark. It was meant to be both demanding and humiliating. A terrible way of dehumanizing her into what she was in Azula's eyes, a pet.

Azula smiled wickedly her hands lingering on the other girl's neck for a moment.

First Azula made Tsai go and fetch her breakfast bring it to her bedroom chambers, feed it to her and then return it to the kitchen. Afterwards she made her brew some of her ‘famous’ tea which she spit out in her face and claimed it tasted like “shitty leaf water” and made her brew the same herb combination all over again.

Tsai would’ve been lying if she didn’t admit she considered poisoning her on the spot.

Azula made her do this several times until she grew bored. Afterwards she made her sit behind her and brush every single strand of her voluminous midnight black hair at least one-hundred times. Then she made her massage her feet. Organize her closet just for her to state she hated it and have her completely re-arrange the entire thing all over again.

Azula had gone who knows were to do who knows what when Tsai lay outside of her bedroom chambers polishing the palace marble floors with a dirty rag.

Her eyes couldn’t help but wonder around the grand palace as she mapped out the structure of the building in her head.

“Be silent and observant. Take note of everything and all detail-“

She shifted uncomfortably stopping the torturous polishing for a moment.

“-You will know what to do when the time is right.”

She had an idea of what Iroh had meant by that, but how? How was she to get away from the palace? Sneak off and away from everyone without getting caught?

“Are you just going to lay there like a fat cow or are you going to finish polishing my floors?” Azula suddenly stood before her hands on her waist.

The girl swallowed her pride and retort and turned her attention back to mindlessly polishing floors.

"Come with me," She barked out a contradicting order.

Tsai sighed and dropped the rag following after her 'Master.'

xxx

Zuko lounged on the picnic blanket on a cliff watching the sunset over the ocean with Mai, leaning against him, a content expression on her usually blank face.

This was painful. It reminded him of his first date with Tsai in Ba Sing Se. It was like cutting an open wound and applying lemon to it. It stung.

“Orange is such an awful color." Mai mused idly as she stared at the sunset.

"It's so beautiful," He remembered the look of awe on the colonial girl's face as they stood watching the sunset in the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko forced himself to remain relaxed. He thought of the golden light reflecting against her skin and her vibrant colored her and how happy the two of them had been that day.

"Stay away from me,"She breathed dangerously.

Her cold words still stung him. Those four simple words weighted so much. He shifted uncomfortably and Mai noticed and looked at him quizzically.

Mai tilted her head to look up at him with a soft expression, "Don’t worry. I don't hate you," she said looking at her through her full dark lashes.

"I don't hate you too." Zuko murmured back, leaning forward slightly to kiss her as her hand came up to cup his unscarred cheek.

"Ahem." A voice interrupted.

Zuko pulled away from Mai, ignoring the faint feeling of guilt he felt and turned to glare at his sister with an annoyed expression. His eyes went wide when he saw Tsai standing behind her and the revealing outfit his sister had forced her to wear. He swallowed nervously. Regardless she looked pale, almost sick, her eyes bore no signs of a jealous fire.

They looked dead as they met his.

He could feel Mai hugging his arm tighter as she looked between him and Azula's servant immediately sensing the growing tension in the air.

"Zuko, could I have a word with you?" Azula asked with false politeness as she stood near the couple, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Can't you see we're busy?" Zuko demanded sharply and wrapped his arm tighter around his new girlfriend.

Azula narrowed her eyes then smiled slyly and said in an offhand manner, "Oh Mai, Ty Lee needs your help untangling her braid."

Mai pulled away from Zuko and reluctantly got her feet, "Sounds pretty serious," she spoke in the same full, emotionless tone she said everything and anything.

She walked past Azula and Tsai glaring at both of them her from the corner of her eye. Azula glanced over her shoulder at the other girl's retreating back then turned to look at her brother with a sardonic expression.

"So, I've heard you've been to visit your uncle fatso in the prison tower."

Zuko surged to his feet with a furious expression, "That guard told you!"

Tsai flinched slightly at the way Azula spoke about Iroh.

"No." Azula replied flippantly with a thin smile, "You did. Just now."

'Iroh.…' Tsai thought sadly. 'So he went to see him hmm..'

She thought about Iroh with worry. Concerned for his well-being. She hoped she knew what he was doing. That he was okay.

Zuko heaved a sigh and sat back down on the blanket, his arms resting on his bent knees, "Okay, you caught me. What is it that you want, Azula?"

"Actually, nothing. Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you." Azula said, her voice actually sounding sincere, "If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him. Just be careful, Dum-Dum."

Azula let out what sounded like a scoff.

"I smell a rat." She said. "There's rumors of a traitor amongst us. Somebody has been leaking out information from the palace. Just the other day they shot down a fire hawk leaving the Nation with confidential war plans."

She turned on her heel. "You don't want people to think its you, right?" She turned her attention to her servant. "Now, let's go." She ordered.

Zuko watched quietly as his sister walked back down the cliff. He turned to look at the setting sun. Tsai's sad eyes were lost as she gazed at the sunset. It saddened her heart. The memory of the last time the two of them had looked at the sunset. He looked at her and stretched a hand out to her. With a scowl and a sharp turn, she shifted away quickly and followed after Azula.

Zuko's eyes turned back to the setting sun. It was no use. No matter where he turned, he would see her. He now had to stifle the guilt that surged up inside him, making his throat close up and his chest feel heavy. Alone, he silently admitted to himself that he loved her. That Mai would never be able to replace the gaping hole she had left in his chest. That he had been happiest those last days in Ba Sing Se when he lived a simpler life with her and his uncle.

He then buried the feeling deep inside him, locking it away.

Xxx

'What did you expect? Hm.' She walked alongside him that night. The imaginary spectrum that had become his conscience. 'You really expected me to take your filthy hand and what? Watch the sunset with you after I see you KISSING ANOTHER GIRL?'  The imaginary girl in his head said with a jealousy he was more familiar with.

"Listen." He growled out almost sounding like her. "I miss you and you won't have me back. So, I'm trying to forget you. Can you make it easier for me and just go away?!"

'Fat chance,' she clicked her tongue. Hands on waist. On that outfit her sister had been making her wear. "Besides, I'm not all that bad to look at right?"She smirked and toyed with the dog collar she had been forced to wear.

He felt the heat rising to his cheeks and again struck her imaginary embodiment making it vanish. An evil laugh resounding in his head.

Zuko walked into his Uncle's cell and crouched down beside the bars, sliding a small basket of food between the bars.

"I brought you some komodo-chicken." He said quietly to his uncle's back, "I know you don't care for it, but I figure it beats prison food." He sat back on his heels and stared blankly at his hands, "I admit it, I have everything I always wanted, but it's not at all how I thought it would be. The truth is, I need your advice."

Zuko gripped the bars, his knuckles turning white, "I think the Avatar is still alive, I know he's out there, I'm losing my mind. I'm hearing voices, seeing things. Azula has taken Tsai as her personal servant, I need to help her. I can't stop thinking of the malicious ways in which she is torturing her." He stared at his uncle's back pleadingly and his voice turned desperate, "Please, Uncle, I'm so confused! I need your help." He pleaded.

Iroh didn't move and anger filled Zuko, burning his chest even as his heart pounded painfully against his ribs.

"Forget it, I'll solve it myself!" The scarred prince snarled as he stood up and stalked towards the door, "Waste away in here for all I care!"

Zuko hesitated a moment and glanced back at, but his uncle didn't move, so he slammed the door behind him. In the cell, Iroh bowed his head, a single tear sliding down his cheek.

xxx

Hiding in the shadow of his cloak's hood, Zuko walked silently down a dark alley until he reached the middle. He lowered his hood and looked around calmly, turning his head slightly when a noise reached his ears. He turned around completely and stared impassively at the large man with a metal leg and arm standing in front of him.

"You sure you weren't followed?" Zuko asked coolly and the man nodded slightly, "I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do, and even better at keeping secrets. The Avatar is alive. I want you to find him and end him."

The man stared blankly at Zuko, the third eye tattooed on his forehead briefly illuminated by the light of the moon.

Xxx

Zuko was making his way back to the Royal Palace when he saw a retreating form sneaking back into the palace. He lowered his hood as he observed from a safe distance.

He hid amongst the shadows and waited. Carefully observing. It was Tsai. He would recognize that mane of crimson shades hair just anywhere.

His eyebrows went up in shock as Azula's words from earlier resounded in his head.

"There's rumors of a traitor amongst us. Somebody has been leaking out information from the palace…"

He once again felt that sunstone burning in his pocket. Pulling it out he looked at it in the darkness of the night and prayed his eyes were playing tricks on him.

xxx

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CHAPTER MASTERLIST

[imaginaryelle]

some meta thoughts

I was reading some meta by @crowleyraejepsen about Aziraphale’s neoliberalist tendencies (which is extremely interesting and everyone should check it out), and it got me thinking about the relationships between Heaven (and Hell) and Earth, and the relationships between angels and demons and humans, as presented in the book and in the show. Some of my thoughts are about the in-universe, world-building implications, and some of them are about the book’s function as a work of satire. So, here we go.

One of the big themes of the book is free will, and how important it is. It is, to a certain extent, what separates angels and demons from humans and what makes Adam centrally important. And I was always kind of confused about that, because angels and demons obviously make choices that go counter to their “nature.” Demons fall because of choices they make, and the idea that they’re predestined to fall is pretty… well it’s pretty dark. And I don’t think it’s really accurate within the world-building, even though there are branches of Christianity that go in for that sort of determinism. So the conclusion I came to today is that free will, in this sense, isn’t about the ability to make choices, but about how those choices affect a being and their relationship to different power hierarchies. Humans can make a whole myriad of choices about their own nature. A human can completely change their morality, their relationship to power, the way they live their life, etc., quite easily and in a very short span of time, without really affecting their spirit, for lack of a better word. There’s no divine retribution for changing allegiances, for humans, during their lifetime, and it’s implied that even once started down a path in a particular direction, they can still course-adjust at any time (take Hastur’s priest temptation, for example). But for an angel or a demon, those sorts of changes are literally and immediately catastrophic. And while there may be other options (as seen in Aziraphale and Crowley adopting a lot of human mannerisms and behavior patterns), the only real example either angels or demons have for “what happens when I change my relationship to power or morality” is the Fall.

From an in-universe perspective, I think it’s safe to say that no one can be sure that absolutely everything isn’t predestined. That’s why ineffability is mentioned so often, but it’s especially why (I think) it’s consistently mentioned by Aziraphale, and also possibly why Aziraphale collects books of prophecy. Because prophecy represents a potential insight into ineffability, and because, for Aziraphale, it’s entirely possible that literally everything, including which angels fall when, is predetermined and part of the Plan. But he can’t be entirely certain. He can’t know, for example, that he won’t fall if he makes a big enough change in himself. He can’t know that he’s not going to, no matter how many texts he collects. Not even Agnes can tell him. And so his relationship to the power and hierarchy of the universe becomes to defend and reinforce it, mostly out of fear. Fear that if he changes himself too much too quickly, if he questions the way things are going, he could very easily lose his entire sense of self. We can see this in his repeated assertions that he can’t question the Divine Plan, and his defense of Heaven’s tactics, despite any misgivings he might have on personal moral grounds (see, the Noah’s Ark scene and crucifixion in the show, the “freedom fighters” and guns discussions in the book, etc.). Anything is permissible, as long the right side is doing it.

Now, Crowely. From the book:

People couldn’t become truly holy, [Aziraphale] said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about this for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, okay? You can’t start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle. Ah, Aziraphale had said, that’s the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. Crowley had said, That's lunatic. No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

Obviously, Crowley isn’t a fan of the Ineffable Plan, and I’d posit it’s precisely because he’s already fallen. Oh, everything is predestined but demons and humans still get punished? What sort of plan is that? A psychotic one, that’s what. And so it’s easier for him to challenge the idea of a Great Plan, even though it also challenges the power he is subject to in Hell’s hierarchy, because he’s more scared of immovable predestination (who is he, if even becoming a demon isn’t actually based on his choices?) than he is of retribution (though he is, admittedly, quite scared of retribution).

From the book:

“It’s not that I disagree with you,” said the angel as they plodded along the grass. “It’ just that I’m not allowed to disobey. You know that.” “Me too,” said Crowley. Aziraphale gave him a sidelong glance. “Oh, come now,” he said, “you’re a demon after all.” “Yeah, but my people are only in favor of disobedience in general terms. It’s specific disobedience they come down on heavily.” “Such as disobedience to themselves?” “You’ve got it. You’d be amazed. Or perhaps you wouldn’t be.”

This, in the same conversation where he’s trying to convince Aziraphale to help him interfere with Warlock’s upbringing. And then, after the fiasco of Warlock’s birthday party:

“You’ll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there,” he said. “I imagine they’re very similar to the sort of thing they can do to one up there,” said Aziraphale. “Come off it, your lot get ineffable mercy,” said Crowley sourly. “Yes? Did you ever visit Gomorrah?” “Sure,” said the demon. “There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific fermented date-palm cocktails with nutmeg and crushed lemongrass—” “I meant afterwards.” “Oh.”

So from these bits I infer that both Crowley and Aziraphale are, somewhat, operating under a sort of low-grade fear a lot of the time (and we can relate this to queerness and otherness and marginalization in a lot of societies too, but that’s a whole other essay or three). Fear that the power structures they’re aligned with but don’t quite fit into ("I suppose--get off the road you clown--your people wouldn't consider--and the scooter you rode in on--giving me asylum?" / "I was going to ask you the same thing--Watch out for that pedestrian!") are going to topple down on them.

But what are those power structures, exactly?

One of the most interesting differences between the show and the books for me was actually the depiction of Heaven and Hell. In the book, I got the impression that they were both bureaucracies, but that Heaven was run more like a government military (with commanding officers and a very strict chain of command, etc, but the Final Authority is actually someone else) and Hell is more like feudalism, with its dukes and lords and, ultimately, king, or as an office environment, with the contract department, etc. Both have paperwork, but somehow it’s not quite as bad as human paperwork (Crowley had been extremely impressed with the warranties offered by the computer industry, and had in fact sent a bundle Below to the department that drew up the Immortal Soul agreements, with a yellow memo form attached just saying:“Learn, guys”). 

But in the show, Heaven is depicted more like a large, abusive corporation where the CEO is just never around so you have a rich, overpaid management team running amok doing whatever they feel like to enforce their influence, and Hell is … I’m not really sure what Hell is because the visual design evokes post-apocalyptic dystopian psuedo-anarchy generally governed by corrupt oligarchy. There’s probably a better word for it that I’m missing. Lots of concrete and closed in spaces and visual markers for poverty and imprisonment (possibly because, contrary to more medieval ideas, modern Christian-dominated society tends to relate poverty with sin and criminality--and as Pratchett observed in the guard novels, owning a slum isn’t a crime, but living in one very nearly is). There’s not an official set power structure (presumably, anyone can advance if they gather enough influence), but there is a hierarchy all the same.

Stemming from both of those depictions is a really interesting (to me) tangled bit of world-building, because there is absolutely no explicit in-universe reason Heaven or Hell should be set up this way. Why are Heaven and Hell such strict hierarchies? Out-of-universe it’s likely because the authors needed that structure in order to actually criticize it. The book’s discussion of religion and Church philosophy is pretty firmly based in a Western interpretation of modern Christianity, which makes sense because that's what the authors have experienced, and it makes sense also that they’d update the show’s depictions to represent more present-day reflections. But if you start with Eden, there’s two whole millennia (half the Earth’s in-canon existence!) before Christianity is a thing at all. (I’m focusing on Christianity here because that’s what the book does.) Did Heaven and Hell look different in those early times? Did they change alongside humanity? Or did humanity change to resemble the shape of Heaven and Hell?

Obviously the latter option is the one the Church has leaned into throughout history, but my theory is that that Heaven and Hell changed in response to humans. Looking at both authors’ other depictions of religion, human belief probably plays a strong role in how the Good Omens universe is actually structured. Which means that human society shapes everything. We’re not actually looking at a top-down hierarchy from day one, we’re looking at a representation of the cosmos that is constantly in flux for four millennia. Which then makes me wonder: Were Crowley and Aziraphale less afraid before, say, the crucifixion of Christ? There is certainly a stark difference between Aziraphale saying “I must have put it down somewhere, forget my own head next” (re: flaming sword and said to actual God) and the business with lighting candles and trying to appeal to a Higher Authority and then ... not really arguing when the Metatron disagrees with him. Did Aziraphale have different moral standards around social inequality before the consolidation of the Church in the Middle Ages, when (potentially) European politics and religion intertwined so closely that the structure of maintaining power on Earth (feudalism) became the new shape of Heaven and Hell? Were there periods when the difference between angel and demon were less rigid? There were obviously periods when more of them showed up on Earth more often (Gomorrah, Christ’s birth, etc.). So what changed? Because something changed by the time the 15th century rolled around and Crowley was getting commendations for things he didn’t even know were happening (Spanish Inquisition, in the book).

My personal headcanon is that humans decided demons and angels didn’t come to Earth much anymore. They started writing doctrine about how divine will was actually executed through Earthly representatives, like popes, and priests, and kings, and fostered social mythology that evil could get into your head and make you do things, even without actual possession, and that made it so. Not just in the structure of Heaven and Hell, but even in the structure of angels’ and demons’ minds. “Oh, there’s nothing more for us to do, really, but wait for Armageddon. The Big One we’ve all been waiting for.” Earth just kinda hums along on its own. No more big displays of power from visitors on either side, just that careful craftsmanship of a soul, if you feel like it. But Aziraphale and Crowley are still on Earth because they’ve always been there, and they are, by definition, Earthly representatives; they’ve had to adapt already, and now they have to adapt faster. Between changes in doctrine and population explosions, they had to learn to use humans more effectively, which means they had to think more like humans, and, on a certain level, become more human. They had to develop imagination, and ended up developing other things as well; Crowley develops compassion and morals, and Aziraphale develops vices and guile.

And then we have Adam, human incarnate, who believes things on scales beyond even what whole societies can muster up. And he “knows all about” Aziraphale and Crowley. And he doesn’t want an apocalypse. And he thinks people should start doing better when they’re alive, instead of waiting until they’re dead to sort things out.

What do you think Heaven and Hell look like now? How does that knowing affect Aziraphale and Crowley? Are they more human, with more ability to change than ever before? Or less? Can Aziraphale actually still fall? Could Crowley be forgiven?

It’s a whole new universe, when Adam’s done with it. Anything could happen.

[ncfan-1]

Working The Battle at Gronder Into Silver Snow

Having gotten nearly all the way through Verdant Wind now, I can unfortunately see what people are talking about when they call Silver Snow Verdant Wind’s inferior reskin. I still like it. Silver Snow’s atmosphere is tragic and mildly apocalyptic in a way that really appeals to me. I also like the fact that we’re playing as the Lord of the game when we do Silver Snow; let’s be real, that’s what the avatar is on that route, even if it’s never made official. I think they missed an opportunity, though, in terms of post-timeskip re-recruitment, and in never letting us see the Battle at Gronder as portrayed in ‘Blood of the Eagle and Lion’ on Azure Moon and Verdant Wind.

The way I envision it, you pick up Ashe and Lorenz as per canon, but the rest of the students you recruited from other houses aren’t around in the monastery after the timeskip, not for a while. After Melusine (what I call Byleth) and her forces take the Great Bridge of Myrddin, they strike out in the month following for Fort Merceus, hoping to sneak by the Empire’s outposts to take the fort while their backs are turned. The fog is thick, and the Church’s army isn’t exactly sure where they are after a while.

Then, there comes a faint gust of wind, and Catherine says with unease that the wind is thick the smell of blood.

Then, the sounds of screaming.

Then, the fog lifts, and they find themselves caught in the middle of a raging battle.

Units available to be deployed: 10 Imperial Enemies: 21—Edelgard (Armored Lord), Hubert (Dark Bishop), 5 Paladins, 6 Fortress Knights, 2 Dark Bishops, 1 Sniper, 2 Pegasus Knights, 2 Demonic Beasts, 1 Assassin Kingdom Enemies: 13—Dimitri (High Lord), Dedue (Fortress Knight), Felix (Swordmaster), Sylvain (Paladin), Ingrid (Falcon Knight), Mercedes (Bishop), Annette (Warlock), Gilbert (Fortress Knight), Rodrigue (Holy Knight), 2 Swordmasters, 1 Paladin, 1 Warlock Alliance Enemies: 14—Claude (Wyvern Master), Hilda (Warrior), Raphael (Grappler), Leonie (Paladin), Lysithea (Warlock), Marianne (Bishop), Ignatz (Sniper), Judith (Lord), Nader (Wyvern Lord), 1 Warrior, 2 Snipers, 2 Warlocks

Army Positions: Empire—West; Kingdom—North; Alliance—East; Church—South

Imperial Reinforcements: Starting on Turn 3, Imperial reinforcements of 6 units (2 Paladins, 2 Pegasus Knights, 1 Warlock equipped with Thoron, and 1 Bishop equipped with Abraxas) will spawn at the south of the map. Once all of these units are killed, on the next turn, more will spawn in their place. Kingdom Reinforcements: Staring on Turn 4, Kingdom reinforcements of 4 units (2 Swordmasters and 2 Heroes) will spawn at the north of the map. Once all of these units are killed, on the next turn, more will spawn in their place.

Items: Four chests positioned at the four corners of the map. At southeast: Elixir. At northeast: Extra Large Bullion. At southwest: Silver Shield. At northwest: Speedwing.

Objective: Escape with all units

Your units start out at the far south of the map, midway between the far west and the far east points of the map. Were the map still the same as it was five years ago, this would be right where that chest boxed in by two lines of fence was, but Gronder Field’s looking a bit different, nowadays. Edelgard figured that if anyone intended to invade Enbarr, they would of course try to take Fort Merceus first, and would likely pass by Gronder Field before that. So she made some changes.

In addition to the ballista on the central hill, there is now a Fire Orb to the west; it’s under Imperial control, manned by one of the generic Dark Bishops when the map starts, and is fenced in, with only one opening. The central hill is more fortified than it was five years ago, with more layers of fences to get past to reach the ballista—and no easy way to escape when Edelgard sets off the fire trap. The stream at the north of the map has been dammed some ways downstream, causing flooding. The only bridge across is now three paces long, and on the south side of the stream, you have to cross four tiles of mud terrain (reducing movement and avoid for non-fliers) to reach it. The bridge is located north-center.

There are three escape tiles at the far northwest of the map, and to clear the chapter, every unit you’ve fielded who’s still standing must escape via one of the tiles. When the first your units gets within six tiles of any of the escape tiles, an Imperial ambush spawn consisting of 2 Assassins, 2 Snipers, and 2 Wyvern Riders will appear. They will only target your units, no matter what Kingdom or Alliance units might be in their range, so be careful about which unit you send up first. Thankfully, there’s only one ambush spawn of this nature, and once you’ve defeated all of the ambushing units, the ambush doesn’t refresh itself.

The Imperial army is moving semi-aggressively, pushing steadily east towards the Kingdom and Alliance armies. Their priorities for targeting whichever enemy units come into their attack range are Kingdom › Church › Alliance. As per Verdant Wind, the Kingdom army has been whipped up into a murderous frenzy and is fanning out in all directions, attacking anyone who comes into their attack range with no special prioritization assigned based on allegiance. The Alliance army is playing things defensively for now, mostly sticking to the trees on the eastern side of the map.

If you can get your avatar to Claude and talk to him before any of your units engage with Alliance units, the Alliance units will become ally units that will help cover your escape. The good news is that on Normal difficulty, Claude starts out pretty close to your army’s start position, and is a stationary boss, so if you’ve got a footbound avatar who can tank a couple of hits, it doesn’t hurt to just unequip weapons for a turn or two, have Linhardt or Dorothea use Physic as needed to patch you up, and go in to talk to Claude.  The bad news is that on Hard and above, Claude starts out considerably further away, and is not a stationary boss.

If you send your avatar to Edelgard, Claude, or Dimitri, you get unique dialogue with each. Edelgard expresses regret that you two are meeting now as enemies. Claude will warn you that the Death Knight has been placed in command of Fort Merceus. Dimitri’s dialogue actually sets up his ghost coming to you for guidance after the battle is over. You can’t attack any of the three of them, and they can’t attack you, but they’re surrounded by units who can, and will (including Claude, if the right conditions haven’t been met) attack once the Enemy Phase begins.

The big incentive to clear this map as quickly as possible and/or doing a pacifist run is that once you’ve cleared it, every recruitable student unit who is still alive as of your clearing the map will join you back at the Monatery. After all, both the Kingdom and Alliance armies have been smashed to bits; Dimitri’s dead, and Claude is missing. If they want to keep on fighting the Empire, allying with the Church is their only real option. Odds are good that even on Normal difficulty, at least a few of them will die, though.

The map will be difficult to clear, even on Normal Casual. On Classic, it will likely be very difficult to clear without losing any of your units, and on any difficulties above Normal, it may be difficult to clear at all, especially without killing any of the student units. This is a map that I hope succeeds in being a brutal, chaotic fight.

And I wanted something to match the tragedy of Silver Snow. This time, you can’t lead any one side of the war to victory at Gronder Field. You can’t convince Edelgard, Dimitri, or Claude to join forces with you or withdraw. There’s nothing to do but watch as these three armies of students you taught and cared for, so long ago, try their best to kill each other. Nothing to do but take your army and escape the field as quick as you can—but not quickly enough to avoid suffering losses great enough that you must retreat to Garreg Mach to lick your wounds instead of pressing on to Fort Merceus. Indeed, if not for the remnants of the Kingdom and Alliance joining forces with you, you might not have been able to press on at all.

(All this, because I kept thinking about how great a song like ‘Between Heaven and Earth’ would have been for a route like Silver Snow, and what a shame it was that we never got that combination.)

[lifeofresulullah]

The Life of The Prophet Muhammad: The Battle of Tabuk and Afterwards

Delegation of Sons of Hilal

Among the delegations that came to Madinah in order to pay allegiance to the Messenger of God was the delegation of Sons of Hilal. The delegation consisted of two people: Abdi Awf b. Asram and Qa­bisa b. Mukhariq.

When Abdi Awf came to the presence of the Prophet and became a Muslim, the Prophet asked him, “What is your name?”

He said, “Abdi Awf.”

The Prophet said, “You are Abdullah,” and changed his name.

Is it Permissible to Ask Help from People?

Qa­bisa b. Mukhariq, one of the delegates of Sons of Hilal, said to the Prophet, “O Messenger of God! I stood security for somebody from my tribe; now, I am in debt. Will you help me with it?”

The Messenger of God said to Qa­bias, “All right! Wait a bit. When zakah goods come from somewhere, I will pay your debt.” Then, he said, “O Qabisa! Know it very well that it is not appropriate to ask something from people except for the following three situations: 1) a person who becomes indebted in order to mediate between two people (or two tribes and clans), 2) a person who loses all of his property due to a disaster, 3) a person who is definitely poor by the witnessing of three sane people from his tribe. O Qabisa! It is haram to beg for the other people.”

Thus, this demand for Qabisa became a means for the determination of an important criterion in social life.

In Islam, begging, asking something from somebody though one is not in need is regarded as a bad characteristic. There are several hadiths of the Messenger of God regarding the issue.

The Death of Abdullah bin Ubayy

Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul, was the leader of the munafiqs. He worked very hard throughout his life in order to humiliate the Messenger of God, to prevent the development of Islam and to set Muslims against one another. He cast aspersions on many people in order to realize his evil aim. He committed some deeds in order to destroy the solidarity among Muslims when they needed solidarity the most. However, all of his attempts failed due to the help of God Almighty and the precautions of the Messenger of God.

Due to what the organization of mischief that he led did, many verses and even a complete chapter called “al-Munafiqun” were sent down.

Therefore, the Messenger of God acted cautiously against them, controlled their attitudes and took precautions against their plans that aimed to break the alliance and solidarity of the Islamic community.

Abdullah, who used every means that he had in order to break the unity of the Islamic community, died in the month of Dhul-Qada in the 9th year of the Migration.

The Prophet Leads his Janazah Prayer

Abdullah b. Ubay was the leader of munafiqs but his son Abdullah was a very sincere and pious Muslim. It was a manifestation of the power and wisdom of God Almighty, “who brings out the living from the dead and brings out the dead from the living”. The father was the leader of munafiqs but the son was a mujahid...

When his father died, Abdullah went to the presence of the Messenger of God and said, “O Messenger of God! Will you give me your shirt? I want to enshroud my father on it.” Then, he said, “O Messenger of God! Will you lead his prayer and ask for His forgiveness?”

It is very surprising that the Messenger of God took off his shirt and gave it to Abdullah to enshroud his father, who made plans against Islam and worked to realize those plans throughout his life, with it and said,  “Inform me when the janazah is ready; I will lead his prayer.”

The Warning of Hazrat Umar

The dead body was ready. When the Prophet stood up to perform the janazah prayer, Hazrat Umar held the garment of the Prophet and said, “O Messenger of God! Did God not prohibit you from performing janazah prayers of munafiqs?”

The Prophet smiled. He said, “I was left free to ask for their forgiveness or not. And I made my choice. God states the following in the Quran: ‘Whether thou ask for their forgiveness or not, (their sin is unforgivable): if thou ask seventy times for their forgiveness, God will not forgive them.’ (at-Tawba, 80)”[5]

Then, the Messenger of God (pbuh) performed the janazah prayer of  Abdullah b. Ubay and went to his grave.

The Verse that was Sent down

Before long, the Prophet was given the following order by God Almighty regarding the dead bodies of munafiqs:

“Nor do thou ever pray for any of them that dies, nor stand at his grave: for they rejected God and His Messenger and died in a state of perverse rebellion.”

After that, the Prophet did not lead the janazah prayer of any munafiqs and did not go to their graves.

Wisdom

There were many reasons behind the Prophet’s leading the janazah prayer of a man who worked hard to divide the Islamic community throughout his life.

The most important reason was to make people who had gathered around him have belief. As a matter of fact, when the Messenger of God was asked why he gave his shirt and why he led the janazah prayer of Abdullah b. Ubay b. Salul, he gave the following answer:  

“My shirt and the janazah prayer I performed will not save him from the torture of my Lord. However, I hope that one thousand people from his tribe will become sincere Muslims thanks to them.”

Indeed, one thousand people became Muslims when they saw that the Messenger of God treated Abdullah b. Ubay so graciously.

Hazrat Umar regretted his act and said,  “God and His Messenger definitely know better.”

[ac-liveblogs]

The only thing that bothered me is that there should've been a specific ending for Byleth not affiliated with any side. I was thinking that after convincing the three leaders to join forces after the TWSITD unveil their true motives of reviving Nemesis, betraying everyone in the process, the route would then consist of the professor and the other houses exploring Fodlan, learning about its true history... (1/2)

this would make the leaders consider their objectives and maybe bring some type of understanding between Edelgard and Dimitri, the former now knowing that what she “learned” was inaccurate. Rhea could still be missing, probably captured by the enemy, and the final battle would be the Fodlan United Army against Nemesis’ Legion. After beating him, saving Rhea, and bringing peace to Fodlan, the territories remain the same, but they’re working together with the Church being a middle ground (2/2)Alternatively, Setheth would be the new leader and Byleth travels the world, now leading Jeralt’s mercenaries - going back to their roots while still acting as a peacekeeping force, eliminating threats and solving problems to keep the stability. This includes aiding the other lands outside of Fodlan and helping them establish connections with the country to create a more peaceful and unified world (3/2) 

There could’ve, debatably should’ve. But that runs very close to Fates’ Revelations route, and Three Houses is VERY much in Fates’ shadow, trying to be… Fates done right? Fates, but not Fates?

With that in mind, that kind of neutral ending was never on the table.

Unification is treated as the “good end” in this game, so “neutral route” inverts Revelations entirely - starting with a solid allegience, but ending with no allegience to any Lord at all. 

Three Houses is trying really hard to avoid a “true” end, and any kind of neutral route that recruited all three Lords would definitely be read as the True End. (Like, Golden Deer being the route that deals with Slither AND Nemesis is bad enough.) With that in mind, it was never really an option. 

It’s still really fun to speculate about, though. I’ve been considering the Blue Lions route where Edelgard took Dimitri’s hand. Seems like it could be pretty interesting…

(i also never liked byleth as the archbishop, or byleth as the leader of fodlan, so i’d be totally down with them returning to their routes as a mercenary.)

[thousandeyesand-one]

Cersei Lannister with the wits & cunning of Tywin Lannister..

Recently I read an anti's perspective of this scene where cersei is very cunning with her fear mongering. Apparently cersei wasn't lying in this scene about daenerys, she wasn't inaccurate about who the Mad King's Daughter is & every last bit of info she dropped on her. So here's a breakdown of this scene & the amount of "truths & lies" it contains.

This statement coming from cersei is really something considering she has steered the War of the Five Kings which has destroyed the realm, wiped out several noble families & caused innocent lives the count of which is still unknown.

Open Rebellion which happened because of how cersei ended the future of a great house who were actually the crown's greatest ally. Olenna was playing a last move against cersei for justice for her family that is the only reason she allied with daenerys.

•House Tyrell aren't Targaryen Loyalists really! during the rebellion they sided with the Targaryens as long as they were the winning side as soon as Rhaegar died & Lannister's sacked KL they lifted the seige on Storm's end, similarly in the War of the Five Kings they sided with the Crown right after renly died. So, a family who has stayed Loyal to nobody but themselves in the past will have an easy case built against them by cersei. Their past isn't very convincing on their loyalties for Tyrell's bannermen to stay loyal to their Lord Paramount in a state where they side with a foreign army against the crown. Cersei isn't lying here but definitely hand picking selective facts to back her case up.

•Mindless unsullied soldiers or more correctly Loyal unsullied soldiers. When daenerys gave them their freedom back & the right to choose whether they fight for her or not & they chose to fight for her they stopped being mindless. When Kraznys Mo Nakloz shows daenerys the ranks of unsullied more than half of them were of dothraki stock, some from lys & Qarth. They seem to have no allegiance to anyone but their commander unlike the golden company consisting of sell swords from around the world & a number of exiled westerosi men whose only allegiance is to gold not any commander. They aren't mindless atleast not the unsullied with daenerys. But yeah I guess Unsullied in general have that reputation of being mechanical to consequences of war. Again cersei isn't lying here but these are hand picked facts she needed to back her case.

"Unsullied are brave soldiers ... But not warriors. Not knights"

                                                       -Ser Barristan Selmy

While the unsullied are helpless to their own nature to the way that they were created to be as soldiers not warriors or knights. Yet there are those like Ser Gregor Clegane, who was knighted for his sadistic brutality on Princess Elia & her children. Also known for being pretty brainless with his brutality of innocent & women, children & in burning of villages. Rmember the way Lannister men tortured people in harrenhal without question?! If the unsullied are mindless then so is the Lannister army, the Northern army & every other army who fights & follows their commander's orders as in that's what armies do. As of now in the show mountain is just as brainless as any foot soldier in the army of the dead. There is nothing that the Dothraki does that the Lannister men haven't done in a time of war. Dothraki way is the barbaric way, that's the only way they know unlike the Lannisters. So again, cersei hand picked the facts to back her case.

Also I love how they cut to Jaime when cersei says the following..

•Ned Stark's service & loyalty was also rewarded in a particular fashion of unfair brutality by cersei for the sake of her children. Olenna is doing the same in fact her motivations are the same that of cersei's. Cersei was protecting her family Olenna is avenging hers.

•Mad King is cersei's strongest champion in this discussion, she strengthened her own position by using mad king to exploit daenerys & her reputation before she builds one in the eyes of westerosi lords. Cersei knows as much about Aerys & Daenerys as much as the next person in that room. But Ser Barristan Selmy not only served Aerys but also had seen Rhaella, Rhaegar & Daenerys. Other than varys he might be the only person who saw the Last of House Targaryen pretty closely. He thought Daenerys was like Rhaegar who was widely believed to be nothing like the Mad King.

"Prince Viserys was only a boy, it would have been years before he was fit to rule, and ... forgive me, my queen, but you asked for truth ... even as a child, your brother Viserys oft seemed to be his father's son, in ways that Rhaegar never did."

                    -Ser Barristan Selmy ASOS (Daenerys IV)

"I think you are Rhaegar Targaryen's sister," Ser Jorah said with a rueful half smile.

"Aye," said Arstan Whitebeard, "and a Queen as well."

                                                     -ASOS (Daenerys IV)

While Jorah & Whitebeard knew daenerys that well to make that comparison of her to Rhaegar. Tyrion on the other hand knows both cersei & Daenerys well enough. He chose to serve daenerys over his own sister & did her bidding one on one to cersei. Neither does he want daenerys to launch a dynasty nor does he wants to see cersei win. He wants to build a new world with daenerys with the help of the power she holds because according to him, her mind & heart are ultimately in the right place when it comes to the overall picture!

"Cersei is as gentle as King Maegor, as selfless as Aegon the Unworthy, as wise as Mad Aerys. She never forgets a slight, real or imagined. She takes caution for cowardice and dissent for defiance. And she is greedy. Greedy for power, for honor, for love."

                                                -Tyrion Lannister ADWD

Tyrion never refers daenerys in anyway ever as unworthy, mad or cruel, ever! Neither in the books nor on the show. All he says is "Daenerys is not her father" Cersei is wrong with her comparison of mad king & daenerys.

•I agree daenerys has made mistakes in the past, done things that when given a second thought to, come of as cruel. But to remember the fact that she was brought up on the road in exile with an abusive Half-mad brother, whose decent into madness she saw & lived with. Both Jon & Daenerys are Targaryens, both very similar people at the core of their personalities; Innocent & introvert, pure & kind the only reason why Jon is such a flawless beloved character is because he was raised by Ned Stark unlike daenerys who was raised by Viserys & his own twisted perspective of the world & people. Yes She crucified 163 masters of meereen, most of whom had a hand behind the crucifixion of little children at every mile on a post for 163 miles. All those children were brutally tortured so daenerys learns a so called lesson masters wanted to teach her. Maybe not all those masters were behind the said brutality but daenerys is a women in a hurry to establish power in meereen not to enjoy the fruits of power but for the betterment of the mereenese, the slaves & the children. Regardless of the consequences her intentions were never evil.

•About feeding the masters to her dragons. This doesn't happen in the books neither does Ser Barristan dies. So purely from a Show viewer perspective cersei humiliated Ser Barristan Selmy out of his servitude in the Kingsguard, the sworn brotherhood like the Night's Watch whose oath frees one upon their death.

A little history on Selmy; he was sworn into the brotherhood of Kingsguard during the reign of Jaehaerys II who was weak but a fine king Selmy was happy to serve him yet he died quickly after which Aerys II ascended to the throne who wasn't mad initially but soon acquired the said madness & Selmy grew to respect his oath over the king he serves. He fought for Rhaegar at the trident because he believed he would be a better king than his father unfortunately he died too. Leaving Selmy in a clutch of his oath & honor, upon being pardoned by Robert Baratheon he decided to serve him because he was a great knight but even he turned out to be a Bad King. Let's not even talk about Joffery! After being free of the oath that bound him to the Crown he went looking for someone he would follow & serve out of sheer will. Ser Barristan Selmy made daenerys feel closer to her family than Viserys ever could in all the time that she was with him. On the show Selmy dies fighting the harpies in a betrayal, for daenerys this was her losing her family all over again. Arya fed Frey's sons to Walder Frey only on the show by far, sansa fed ramsay to his hounds again only on the show by far & Daenerys fed the men whose betrayal costed her Selmy after finding about jorah's betrayal.

In all honesty she only fed one man to her dragons with an intention to terrify the others into divulging the truth. Yet again cersei hand picked the facts to back her case up.

sure.

A Solution? More like an attempt & a failed one at that!

Cersei is outright lying here, playing with incomplete selective truths. Neither did she depict the past accurately nor the future. Hypocrisy is written all over this scene, This is fear mongering 101.

[wisdomrays]

PROPHET MUHAMMAD (pbuh) AS  COMMANDER : The Battle of Badr.Part1

The Quraysh always felt their trade route to Syria under serious threat because of the Muslim concentration in Madina. They first threatened the Madinans, in a letter addressed to 'Abd Allah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, to kill their males and enslave their females unless they expelled God's Messenger from Madina. The Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, put a timely end to the mischief which Ibn Ubayy inclined to cause. Besides, when Sa'd ibn Mu'adh went to Makka to perform minor pilgrimage (Umrah), he was stopped at the entrance of the Ka'ba and prevented from performing circumambulation. Also, the Makkans quite regularly sent invading parties. In such circumstances, the Muslims were left no choice but to gain and consolidate control over that trade route in order to force the Quraysh and other tribes unfriendly to the Muslims to reconsider their hostile policy. It was also time for the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, to give a lesson to the Quraysh and the tribes allied to them, as well as the Jews and hypocrites in Madina, that it was impossible for them to bar the spread of Islam, let alone eradicate it from the hearts of people and the surface of the earth. The front or pact of polytheism and unbelief would undoubtedly surrender to the light of Islam.

It was, at last, at the beginning of 624, two years after the Hijra that a large caravan of the Quraysh, escorted by no more than 40 security guards en route to Makka from Syria, arrived at a place within reach of the Muslims. Fearing that the Muslims would attack their caravan, Abu Sufyan, the leader of the caravan, rushed a messenger to Makka and sought help and reinforcements.

This caused an uproar through Makka. The leading chiefs of the Quraysh decided to wage war on the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, and about 1000 fighters moved out of Makka with much pomp and show. They had decided to deal a crushing blow to the rising power of the Muslims. They also wanted, as always, to terrorize the neighbouring tribes so as to ensure the safety of their trading caravans in the future.

God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, who always kept himself abreast of developments which had any bearing on his mission, realized that if an effective step was not taken right then, the preaching of Islam might suffer a blow from which it might be very difficult for it to recover. Had the Quraysh taken the initiative and launched an attack on Madina, it might have put an end to the existence of the small Muslim community in that town. Even if the Quraysh restricted themselves to taking their caravan to Makka safely by dint of their military strength, this would have adversely affected the political and military prestige of the Muslims. Once their prestige had been undermined, their lives, property and honour would have been jeopardized.

Having decided to use the resources available to him, the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, left Madina. 

Although he may have been intent upon a decisive battle with the Quraysh, most of the Muslims desired to capture the caravan. In order to inform his Companions of the situation, the Prophet gathered them and told them that the trading caravan of the Quraysh was in the north whereas the invading Quraysh army was in the south and moving towards Madina. He also informed them that God had promised the Muslims that they would be able to seize any of the two parties they wished (al-Anfal, 8.7) Now it was for them to make the choice whether they wished to attack the trading caravan or the approaching army. Aware of the Prophet's intention, Miqdad ibn 'Amr, one of the Emigrants, replied as follows:

O Messenger of God! Proceed as God has commanded you to. We are with you wherever you go, even as far as Bark al-Ghimad. We shall not say as the Children of Israel said to Moses: 'Go forth, you and your Lord, and fight, We shall remain here sitting!' We rather say: 'Go forth, you and your Lord, and fight, and we shall fight on your side as long as the eyelid of any one of us keeps moving.' (Sa'd, Tabaqat, 3.162.)

Until the Battle of Badr, God's Messenger had not sought help from the Helpers in military expeditions. 

This was the first occasion when the Helpers would prove their commitment to support Islam. Without addressing them directly, God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, again put the same two alternatives before his audience. Realizing that God's Messenger aimed to ascertain the views of the Helpers on the question, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh rose and spoke as follows:

O Messenger of God! I think your question is directed to the Helpers. We have believed in you, affirmed the veracity of your claim to be the Messenger of God, and borne witness to the truth of your teachings. We took the oath of allegiance to you that we would hear and obey you. O Messenger of God! Do as you wish! By the One Who has sent you with the truth, if you were to take us to the sea and plunge into it, none of us should remain behind. So take us along to the battlefield with God's blessings. ( Muslim, Kitab al-Jihad, 83; I. Hisham, Sira, 2,266; I. Kathir, al-Bidaya, 3.322. )

The decision was given in favour of fighting. This was also the decree of God:

God promised you that one of the two hosts would be yours, and you wished that the one with no power should be yours. But God willed to establish the truth through His words and to annihilate the unbelievers to the last remnant, that He might prove the truth to be true and falsify falsehood, even if the sinful are averse. (al-Anfal, 8.7-8)

The Makkan army consisted of 1000 fighters, including 600 soldiers in coats of mail, and 200 cavalry. They were accompanied by singers and dancers. Whenever the army halted, dancing and drinking parties were held. Also the army arrogantly vaunted its military power and numerical strength before the tribes and localities which fell on the way, and boasted of its invincibility. ( Tabari, Tarikh al-Umam wa l-Muluk, 2.430. ) What was even worse was that they were not fighting for any lofty ideal.

Against the force of the Makkan army, the Muslim army was made up of 313 fighters. Of these, 86 were Emigrants and the rest, the Helpers. Such was the scarcity of resources that only two or three Muslims had horses. The number of camels was no more than 70 so that three or four persons took turns on each camel. God's Messenger himself took turns with two persons. When they asked him to ride the camel to exclude themselves from the turns, God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, answered: You are no better in strength than me. Concerning the reward, I am not in less need of it than you. ( I. Hanbal, 1.411, 418. )

The Muslim soldiers were fully devoted to the cause of Islam and were fired with the zeal to sacrifice their lives for their cause. In order to accomplish what He had already decreed, God made the Makkan army appear as small in number in the dream God's Messenger had, just as He made the number of the Muslims appear smaller in the eyes of the Makkans (al-Anfal, 8.44).

The two armies finally encountered each other at Badr. The Makkan army outnumbered the Muslims by three to one. Moreover, the Muslims were scantily equipped. However, they would fight for the most sublime of causes, to establish God's religion based on belief, good morals and justice. They were deeply convinced of the truth of this cause and accordingly ready to sacrifice their lives. They had reached the battlefield earlier than their opponents and been positioned around the wells. Apart from that, the heavy downpour which had come the previous night, was to the advantage of the Muslims. It had provided them with an abundant water supply which they quickly stored in large reservoirs. Rain had also compacted the loose sand in the upper part of the valley where they had pitched their tents. This helped the Muslims plant their feet firmly and facilitated their movement. But in the lower part of the valley, where the Quraysh army was stationed, the ground had turned marshy. In addition to all those Divine blessings, God brought on them drowsiness and gave them a feeling of peace and security (al-Anfal, 8.11).

God's Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, positioned his army in the upper part of the valley overlooking the whole of the battlefield, and divided them into three parts, one centre and two flanks. The central force consisted of the leading figures among the Emigrants and Helpers, who were foremost in devotion to God's Messenger. Mus'ab ibn 'Umayr was carrying the standard of God's Messenger. Mus'ab belonged to one of the richest families of Makka. He had accepted Islam as an adolescent. He was very handsome, and when he used to go out, before his conversion, in silken clothes, the Makkan girls used to stare at him from the windows of their houses. However, after he embraced Islam, he became a whole-hearted follower of God's Messenger. He sacrificed whatever he had in the way of God and finally died a martyr at the Battle of Uhud, during which he was again the standard-bearer of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. When he lost his right arm, he took the standard in his left hand, and when a blow of an enemy sword took it away too, he was left with a 'head' to protect God's Messenger, before whom he was finally martyred. ( I. Sa'd, Tabaqat, 3.120. )

[dfroza]

grace doesn’t give us what we deserve.

grace is the purest gift from our Creator that offers His Life and eternal Breath when we “believe…” in the heart in the True illumination of the Son and speak it from a body of earth. for just as God created the universe by speaking living words, we hold the power of rebirth of the heart (by the Spirit) in our words of faith spoken through grace. and this is our eternal hope of seeing all things reborn at some point.

Paul illuminates this in his writing with Today’s reading of the Scriptures of the New Testament Letter of Romans in the way those who share God’s message become His living “Voice” on earth:

My beloved brothers and sisters, the passionate desire of my heart and constant prayer to God is for my fellow Israelites to experience salvation. For I know that although they are deeply devoted to God, they are unenlightened. And since they’ve ignored the righteousness God gives, wanting instead to be acceptable to God because of their own works, they’ve refused to submit to God’s faith-righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law. And because of him, God has transferred his perfect righteousness to all who believe.

Moses wrote long ago about the need to obey every part of the law in order to be declared right with God:

“The one who obeys these things must always live by them.”

But we receive the faith-righteousness that speaks an entirely different message:

“Don’t for a moment think you need to climb into the heavens to find the Messiah and bring him down, or to descend into the underworld to bring him up from the dead.”

But the faith-righteousness we receive speaks to us in these words of Moses:

“God’s living message is very close to you, as close as your own heart beating in your chest and as near as the tongue in your mouth.”

And what is God’s “living message”? It is the revelation of faith for salvation, which is the message that we preach. For if you publicly declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will experience salvation. The heart that believes in him receives the gift of the righteousness of God—and then the mouth confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scriptures encourage us with these words:

“Everyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.”

So then faith eliminates the distinction between Jew and non-Jew, for he is the same Lord for all people. And he has enough treasures to lavish generously upon all who call on him. And it’s true:

“Everyone who calls on the Lord’s name

will experience new life.”

But how can people call on him for help if they’ve not yet believed? And how can they believe in one they’ve not yet heard of? And how can they hear the message of life if there is no one there to proclaim it? And how can the message be proclaimed if messengers have yet to be sent? That’s why the Scriptures say:

How welcome is the arrival

of those proclaiming the joyful news of peace

and of good things to come!

But not everyone welcomes the good news, as Isaiah said:

Lord, is there anyone who hears

and believes our message?

Faith, then, is birthed in a heart that responds to God’s anointed utterance of the Anointed One.

Can it be that Israel hasn’t heard the message? No, they have heard it, for:

The voice has been heard throughout the world,

and its message has gone to the ends of the earth!

So again I ask, didn’t Israel already understand that God’s message was for others as well as for themselves? Yes, they certainly did understand, for Moses was the first to state it:

“I will make you jealous of a people who are ‘nobodies.’

And I will use people with no understanding

to provoke you to anger.”

And Isaiah the fearless prophet dared to declare:

“Those who found me weren’t even seeking me.

I manifested myself before those

who weren’t even asking to know me!”

Yet regarding Israel Isaiah says:

“With love I have held out my hands day after day,

offering myself to this unbelieving

and stubborn people!”

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 10 (The Passion Translation)

and the closing line of chapter 10 in The Message:

Day after day after day,

I beckoned Israel with open arms,

And got nothing for my trouble

but cold shoulders and icy stares.

(verse 21)

to be reiterated by these lines of great significance from The Voice:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the good news we have been called to preach to you). So if you believe deep in your heart that God raised Jesus from the pit of death and if you voice your allegiance by confessing the truth that “Jesus is Lord,” then you will be saved! Belief begins in the heart and leads to a life that’s right with God; confession departs from our lips and brings eternal salvation.

The Letter of Romans, Chapter 10:8-10 (The Voice)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 29th chapter of the book (scroll) of Isaiah that looks at humbling pride and a restoration that occurs as well through this to establish Justice:

O Ariel, woe to you Ariel, our Jerusalem,

where David set up his camp to stay.

Go ahead, go on with your fruitless festivals,

your calendar of events, year in and year out.

In the meantime, I will trouble Ariel to the point of mourning and crying.

She will be for me a fiery hearth.

I will surround you, enclose you, cut you off.

I will isolate you from aid or reprieve;

I will attack the city walls with towers and siege works.

That will humble you so low, you’ll speak from the earth itself.

And when you do, your voice will issue from the very dust where you lie;

Your voice will rise from the ground like the voice of a ghost,

like a soft whisper from the earth.

But in an instant your ruthless enemies, who seem too many to count,

will become as fluttering dust, as wind-driven chaff.

They will be blown away in the snap of a finger.

For the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will visit you

with thunder and earthquake and great noise,

With raging wind and tempest and consuming fire.

And all those armies intent on destroying Ariel,

that great international coalition of Jerusalem’s enemies

Battering against the city of God, will disappear.

They’ll evaporate like a night’s dream in the light of day.

As when a starving person dreams of eating at a banquet and wakes hungry,

or a thirsty person drinking his fill in sleepy night visions

Finds himself still parched when the morning comes,

that’s how it will be for the horde attacking Mount Zion, His chosen place.

But it will take some time. Wait and wonder.

In the meantime, make yourselves unable to see or understand.

Make yourselves drunk and unsteady,

but not from wine or liquor.

For the Eternal One has poured you a cup of sleep—

deep, heavy sleep.

O prophets and seers, He has closed your eyes and covered your heads.

Everything God is disclosing to you will be like the words recorded in a book that is sealed. When it is given to one who is literate, he can’t read it because it is sealed. When it is given to one who is illiterate, he can’t read it because he doesn’t know how.

Eternal One: These people think they can draw near to Me by saying the right things,

by honoring Me with their lips, but their hearts are far away from Me.

Their worship of Me consists of man-made traditions learned by rote;

it is a meaningless sham.

Therefore, I will do something extraordinary with this people.

I will add wonder to wonders—

Shut down the wisdom of their wise

and hide what the discerning have figured out.

Oh, it’ll be bad for those of you who conceal your thoughts from the Eternal,

who do your deeds in the dark and say:

“Who sees us? Who knows what we are doing?”

My goodness, how you’ve turned things around!

You seem to think that the potter is equal to the clay;

Should the pot say about the potter, “He didn’t make me”?

Or does the thing formed say about the one who formed it,

“He doesn’t understand anything”?

Surely you know that in just a little while

the forests that clothe Lebanon will become rich fields

And the fields will be considered as valuable as the forests.

Then the deaf will hear the words read from a book,

and darkness and gloom will fall from the eyes of the blind.

A renewed sense of joy will come over the humble, thanks to the Eternal;

and joyous celebrations will break out among the poor, because of the Holy One of Israel.

For cruelty and mean-spiritedness will come to an end,

and those who laugh dismissively will be silenced.

All those who are determined to do evil will be cut down.

Those who level a false charge against an innocent person,

who twist an honest testimony and tell lies

in order to incriminate the innocent, will be stopped.

So the Eternal One, who rescued Abraham, says concerning Jacob:

Eternal One: The people of Jacob’s line will no longer be ashamed,

nor will they grow pale with embarrassment.

For when they lay eyes on their children, the work of My hands,

they will protect My name and keep it holy.

They will recognize that I am sacred, the Holy One of Jacob,

and stand in awe of Me, the God of Israel.

Whoever thought otherwise and wandered off will know the truth,

and whoever said otherwise and voiced criticism will quietly learn.

The Book (Scroll) of Isaiah, Chapter 29 (The Voice)

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for Wednesday, july 7 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about “crossing over”:

Our father Abraham is called ha-ivri (הָעִבְרִי) - “the Hebrew,” a term that means “one who has crossed over” (עָבַר) from another place. Rashi identified this “other place” as Ur of the Chaldees (אוּר כַּשְׂדִים), located east of the Euphrates River, though the midrash (Genesis Rabbah) symbolically identifies it as the realm of idolatry: “The whole world stood on one side, but Abram crossed over to the other.” Abram separated himself from a world steeped in idolatry and polytheism by worshiping the One LORD God who is the sole Creator of all things.... Understood in this way, being “Hebrew” means being an “other,” a “stranger,” or an “outsider” to idolatrous and worldly culture. Therefore all those who "cross over" from the realm of death to life because of Yeshua are rightly called “Hebrews” (John 5:24).

The term "Jew," on the other hand, refers to one who praises the LORD (יְהוּדָה). The word (יְהוּדִי) comes from a root (יָדָה) which means to “confess” or to “praise” God (Gen. 29:35). The Apostle Paul alluded to this by saying that one whose heart has been circumcised by the Spirit is "one who is praised by God -- not by men" (Rom. 2:29). Being a Jew therefore means you are “chosen” to receive blessings and grace to live in holiness for the glory of God and for the healing of the world. The performance of various mitzvot are for the greater purpose of tikkun olam, the “repair of the world,” in order to reveal God’s goodness and love (Eph. 2:8-10). Doing so makes someone a Jew, since his praise comes not from man, but from the LORD. God is the source and the power of what makes a true tzaddik (righteous person). After all, Israel was meant to be a “light to the nations” (Isa. 42:6; 60:3), and God had always planned for all the families of the earth to come to know Him and give Him glory through his chosen servant Abraham (see Gen. 12:3; 22:18). “Jewishness” is therefore not an end in itself but rather a means to bring healing to the nations... Indeed, the entire redemptive story of the Scriptures centers on the cosmic conflict to deliver humanity from the “curse” by means of the "Seed of the woman" who would come. The gospel is Jewish because it concerns God’s great redemptive plan for the whole world (John 3:16; 4:22). [Hebrew for Christians]

7.6.21 • Facebook

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

July 7, 2021

The Eternal God

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Psalm 90:2)

This verse was written by Moses as the children of Israel prepared to enter the Promised Land. Perhaps the most basic of all the attributes of God is that He “inhabiteth eternity” (Isaiah 57:15). He is “from everlasting to everlasting,” the God who ever was and ever shall be.

Creatures of time cannot really comprehend the idea of past eternity. “But who made God?” children ask. “Nobody made God,” we answer. “He always was.” The alternative would be to believe in the eternity of “space” and “matter,” but these in themselves are utterly incapable of producing our complex universe. God, however, is an adequate First Cause to explain all the effects of our infinite, intricate cosmos.

There are many other Scriptures assuring us that God has always been. “Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting” (Psalm 93:2). He is “the everlasting God, the LORD” (Isaiah 40:28). And this truth applies to God the Son as well as to God the Father. The Lord Jesus could say, “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Revelation 22:13).

We find it somewhat easier to contemplate the fact that God will live forever. Still, certain foolish men have imagined that God is dead, but “the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king” (Jeremiah 10:10).

The most glorious fact of all is that this living God did also become man, in the person of Christ Jesus, and He did die. But He soon defeated death and now can say, “I am alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:18). And now, since “we believe that Jesus died and rose again,...so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:14, 17). HMM

[nyangibun]

GoT 7x07 Finale Thoughts

So it’s finally here. The finale. The epic conclusion for this epic season... lol I’m kidding. This season has been a mess and so was this episode. But as always, let’s begin to unpack the nonsense to hopefully find some sense to it all. 

We begin the episode with Grey Worm and the Unsullied and Bron and Jaime overlooking them before the Dothraki come riding up. At first, I’ll be honest, I was wondering how the hell Grey Worm managed to escape Casterly Rock while Euron surrounded the place with his ships? Of course, it’s because everyone’s going to the Dragonpit meeting and bringing the might of their armies in the case it all goes to shit. I find that interesting because if not for this meeting, I believed there was no way Grey Worm would’ve come out unscathed. I still feel like either Grey Worm or Missandei is going to die soon and it’s going to take a large toll on the other, forcing them to question their previously unwavering loyalty to Dani. 

Nevertheless, this episode isn’t about that. It was just a stray thought. Let’s move onto the next scene, which I found interesting. Jon looks towards King’s Landing and asks, “why would anyone want to live there?” which just goes to cement his love for the North. So repeat after me, Jon Snow would never be happy in King’s Landing or anywhere south of Winterfell. It’s not who he is. It’ll never be who he is because Jon Snow is loyal to the North. Although it really doesn’t feel like it this episode, we’ll get to that in a moment. 

There are a lot of reunions happening during the Dragonpit scenes. A lot of it feels very gratuitous, like D&D is all ‘look we got all your favs in one place, isn’t this cool!’ But nah D&D, what would be cool is a consistent and sensical plot with character continuity. Nevertheless, this is what we got and I did really love the interactions between Tyrion and Podrick, Tyrion and Bronn and the original OT3 together again. Also, the little exchange between Brienne and the Hound was kind of adorable, which is not an adjective I would’ve used for their relationship. I just really liked how proud they both seemed of Arya.

On this walk to the Dragonpit, there was one conversation that I paid particular attention to, which was Jorah talking about the history of the Dragonpit and why it was created:

“Dragons don’t understand the difference between what is theirs and what isn’t. Land, livestock, children. Letting them roam free around the city was a problem.”

We’ve already seen that this is the case with Dani’s dragons when it burnt a child and I feel like this may come up again in S8. Look, if centuries of Targaryens couldn’t control their dragons, how will Dani? She ain’t that special. Even she’s said that those dragons can’t be tamed. They’re a danger to Westeros, just as the Others are. Both ‘Ice’ and ‘Fire’ are destructive forces to the fate of the Seven Kingdoms. By the end of the story, both will die. 

Speaking of dragons, Dani flying down to the Dragonpit meeting on a dragon when last we left her she was on the boat with Jon was so extra. It was actually quite uncomfortable to watch because it was such a gratuitous scene. On the one hand, Dani is asserting her power, using her dragons to once again instil fear in her enemies. If I had dragons, I’d do it too. It’s a good power move. But on the other hand, she’s there to strike up a truce and speak calmly about a larger threat, so this feels unnecessary. The power move thus feels more arrogant and kind of dumb under the circumstances, and clearly, Cersei felt the same way. The unimpressed look she had when Dani arrived says it all. And that’s the thing. Cersei may be a cold-hearted bitch, but she stands her ground in the face of her enemies, she looks them in the eye and says, “that it?” because she refuses to let them intimidate her. It’s awesome. She’s awesome. You can’t help loving her whenever she’s on screen. 

Now we have the long awaited reveal of the wight. First of all, I still think it’s a dumb idea and will always think it’s a dumb idea, but I guess it got everyone to understand the scope of what they’re facing up North even if it is a stupid contrived way to get everyone together. There are several things I want to unpack about the following scenes, so I’m going to start with the simplest: Euron. 

He makes a great show of not wanting to face the wights and wanting to sail back to the Iron Islands and hide out there till everything is over. I honestly believed it too until Cersei revealed her real plan to have Euron bring over the Golden Company while Jon and Dani are up fighting the Others. It’s clever, it’s underhanded and it’s so completely Cersei. And finally, we see Euron being utilised. I’m actually really excited to see him play a larger role in S8, which I think he will. With that in mind, now we fast forward a little to Theon winning over Yara’s men to go save her from Euron. I’m so proud of him, so proud of his ability to fight through his PTSD to do what he feels is right and proving to people (characters & audience alike) that he’s not a coward. But now, how many men does Theon even have? Not that many from the looks of it, and Euron is about to go pick up the Golden Company. I think Theon is going to tail after Euron from a distance, figure out what they’re planning and hopefully send a raven to Jon. After all, I think it’d be pretty easy to tell that Euron isn’t sailing for the Iron Islands and is instead going to Essos. But I don’t see how Theon will successfully get Yara back. Him dying on a failed mission also feels unsatisfying after everything he’s gone through, but I also don’t see how he’ll be able to take on Euron’s fleet.

That’s speculation for another day I guess. 

Moving on, let’s get right down to it. Jon’s (dumbass) speech: 

“I am true to my word or I try to be. That is why I cannot give you what you ask. I cannot serve two queens and I’ve already pledged myself to Queen Daenerys of House Targaryen.”

And then this bit: 

“I’m not gonna swear an oath I can’t uphold. Talk about my father if you want, tell me that’s the attitude that got him killed, but when enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything, then there are no more answers, only better and better lies. And lies won’t help us in this fight.”

This speech is highly contradictory to the above speech because Jon did swear an oath and that was to the North as their king. As their king, he is to uphold his duties to them and to his people as best as he can, and that does not include giving Dani the North and pledging their allegiance to her. It doesn’t work like that. The Northern houses are proud men and women, who are loyal to their own and definitely not to a Targaryen queen, so they won’t kneel. Or did everyone forget what happened when Jon said he was going to Dragonstone?

“Your Grace, with respect I must agree with Lady Sansa. I remember the Mad King all too well. A Targaryen cannot be trusted, nor can a Lannister.“

“We called your brother king, and then he rode south and lost his kingdom.”

“Winter is here, Your Grace. We need the King in the North in the north.“

This is all seems rather foreboding and I still believe Jon is going to lose the North in S8. They’re all sailing to Winterfell now. How well would Jon be received when he arrives with Dani in tow? How well would the Northern houses take to Dani, a Targaryen? Nevertheless, what I’m trying to say is Jon swearing his fealty to Dani is a betrayal to the North in and of itself, so saying that he’s not going to swear an oath he can’t uphold is hypocritical at best because that is his first and foremost oath. 

Unless he’s not betraying it at all. Unless he’s saying it because he has no intention of not upholding his oath to the North. 

Also, it’s interesting Jon brings up Ned and how he’d rather be honest than make false promises, but that’s a lie. He made false promises to Ygritte and to the Wildlings. He’s done it all before. And what was the point of having Sansa say this to Jon if he was just going to follow the same mistakes that Ned made and subsequently that Robb made by taking up with a ‘foreign whore’ (sidenote: I hate the word ‘whore’ but I’m quoting here as it’s something Lord Glover said):

"You have to be smarter than Father. You need to be smarter than Robb. I loved them, I miss them, but they made stupid mistakes, and they both lost their heads for it.”

It would be completely pointless if after 7 seasons of character development and plot progression for Jon to be exactly like Ned and do the exact same thing as Robb and get away with it while the other two both lost their heads for it. Now I love Jon and I love his character, but if this is his trajectory, if he comes up on top, especially now it’s revealed he’s not even a bastard, that he’s the trueborn heir to the Iron Throne, then Jon Snow is starting to look a lot like Gary Stue. 

I want to believe otherwise. After all, I still have faith that D&D is leading us to the same conclusion as GRRM and he would no way want a fairytale ending for his complex and all morally grey characters. And that faith also led me to pick up on this exchange Jon has with Theon: 

“....It’s always the right step.”

“It’s not. It may seem that way from the outside. I promise you it’s not true. I’ve done plenty of things I regret.” 

So it may seem like Jon is betraying the North for Dani and his trust/love in her, but it’s not true. That’s what I took from it and what I will continue to take from this episode because I still have faith in Jon Snow. Before any anti’s come screaming at me about how I’m reaching for the sake of my ship, stop right there. I would rather Jon and Sansa end up platonic than let D&D ruin the characterisation of Jon or Sansa. Before I was a Jonsa shipper, I was a shipper of complex characters and decent sensical development, so you can leave your hate right where it is. 

Moving on again, can we please talk about Lena Heady? Can we please just stand up and give a rousing applause for Cersei ‘Badass Bitch’ Lannister? And Peter Dinklage too. That entire scene between them was so great. I’ve always really liked them together. But let’s talk about this a little. The entire conversation is dancing around their grief over Myrcella and Tommen and Cersei’s anger at Tyrion for ‘ruining’ their family, but then it ends with Tyrion realising she’s pregnant. The look he has on his face is a little like horror. At first, I thought that maybe the horror comes from the knowledge it’s another Twincest baby or that Cersei is procreating again and will it be a Joffrey or a Myrcella/Tommen? But now that I think about it, I think it’s more about the fact that Cersei will have an heir. Westerosi politics is built on these houses being able to produce heirs to carry on legacies and continuing ruling after their parents are long gone. It’s how they create stability. When there is no one true heir or no heir at all, there’s a power vacuum that causes civil wars (Dance of Dragons) and other such chaos. If Cersei has an heir but Dani doesn’t, who will the people want on the throne? At this point, Dani isn’t seen as a much better option than Cersei. She’s probably seen as a worse option since she’s a conqueror, or rather specifically, she’s Aegon the Conqueror come again. 

So let’s fast forward to the much-anticipated boatbang of the century, which was... anticlimactic. But that’s not what I want to discuss (yet). I want to talk about Tyrion standing outside the room, looking on with a strange expression on his face. Some people have suggested he’s jealous, but why would he be jealous if he’s the one that suggested to Dani that Jon is in love with her? Maybe he is, but it’s a weird way to show his jealousy. He actually steps out from the shadows and then stands there for a long time. Has he been spying on Jon or did he come walk over after the door’s closed because he already knows what’s going on? Besides, I feel like he looks more concerned than jealous, like something’s eating him up about it. Someone suggested that maybe Tyrion urged Jon to go to Dani. I wouldn’t say Tyrion explicitly said ‘go bang her’ or anything like that but maybe he implicitly suggested it because Tyrion has been rightfully concerned this season about Dani and the line of succession. If she can produce an heir, it would solidify her claim to the Iron Throne. Without one and being actually barren would make her less of a viable choice. Of course, this feels very tinfoil. It’s just bizarre for Tyrion to stand there looking so ominous. In fact, this entire scene was bizarre. 

I mean let’s really look at it. Not only is the boatbang scene being shot after a scene of Rhaegar and Lyanna marrying and supposedly being in love, but in between is also a shot of Lyanna dying while whispering Jon’s true name, ‘Aegon Targaryen’, and Bran’s voiceover saying he’s the trueborn heir to the Iron Throne. If that isn’t foreboding, I don’t know what is. You can hardly show an epic romance between two characters when you’re also cutting away to the romance of one character’s parents, which also confirms that said two characters are aunt and nephew. Nor can you have an epic romance scene when it’s being voiced over by one character’s brother-turned-cousin. That’s weird, especially when you go back to 7x02 when Missandei and Grey Worm had their long-awaited sex scene. The focus was entirely on them for several minutes as they undressed and took each other in. That entire scene was 4+ minutes dedicated to them, whereas Jon and Dani had about 15 or so seconds altogether and this is the supposed ‘epic romance’ of the entire story. This is the anticipated sexual tryst between two main characters, whereas Missandei and Grey Worm are secondary characters at best. It’s underwhelming. There wasn’t even a buildup to the sex or a closeup shot of their first kiss. It was just ‘wham, bam, thank you, ma’am’. And then you factor in the scene before Jon knocks on the door. He stands there for some time like he’s steeling himself to do it. He doesn’t look nervous, not in the way one would be before going to bang someone he apparently loves. It’s just odd and frankly, rather ominous.

Anyway, let’s head to Winterfell for literally the best part of the entire episode. I honestly don’t have much to say about it. I just really loved the fact that Sansa and Arya were playing Littlefinger. I still hated that they had to butcher Arya like that to get this across, but the bond between the sisters seem stronger than ever and their final scene together was beautiful. 

But honestly, how loud did everyone scream at this part:

“You stand accused of murder. You stand accused of treason. How do you answer these charges, Lord Baelish?”

“My sister asked you a question.” 

It was poetic to have Petyr die at the hands of his own dagger and in a similar way to how Cat, his supposed beloved, died too. It’s perfect. Goodbye Creepyfinger, we won’t miss you! 

But before we say goodbye completely, Creepyfinger did give us a little Jonsa nugget if you were paying attention. When Sansa receives the letter from Jon that he bent the knee to Dani, LF says this: 

“I heard gossip that the Dragon Queen is quite beautiful.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Jon is young and unmarried. [Dani] is young and unmarried.”

“You think he wants to marry her?” 

“I think an alliance makes sense. Together, they’d be difficult to defeat.”

I know he’s trying to manipulate Sansa into betraying her family and taking the North for herself, so he could marry her and gain power, but commenting on Dani’s beauty seems a strange thing to add. He could just say Jon is young and unmarried and so is she, an alliance would good. But he starts with commenting on her beauty. He already goaded Jon earlier this season, figuring out his feelings for Sansa, and now he’s goading Sansa, who seems shocked and confused by it, only to deflect and bring the topic back to Arya. Perhaps it’s shipping goggles, but it’s an interesting add-on to the conversation. 

Back to King’s Landing though, Jaime and Cersei just had their massive, inevitable fallout and last we see is Jaime riding off on his own. Now, where would our conflicted little lion be heading? The North to Winterfell, right? And I wonder where a certain blonde-haired angel is going? Same place. Oh my, look how that worked for Braime <3 Sorry lol. I’m just very happy for the possibility of Braime and also very interested to see Jaime interacting with Sansa, which I hope he does. If/when Sansa becomes Queen of the North, I need Jaime to swear his fealty to her over Pyroqueen. Please. 

Final thoughts: 

The Night King is still the badass he is with this badass new child, Viserion, who is finally getting the recognition he deserves. All hail the Night King!

But only if Tormund doesn’t die. I swear to Lucifer if Tormund dies, I’ll kill the Night King myself. 

Also, Sam is at Winterfell!!! Please give me a Sam x Sansa friendship!!!! And his scene with Bran was hilarious. I don’t know why, but I just found it really funny. 

What did you guys think? 

[truthlives4ever]

Righteous Rebellion or Political Power?

It would be ungrateful of me if I didn’t first mention that my spiritual life has greatly benefited from John MacArthur’s bible teaching over the years. Many of his sermons helped carry me through one of the most challenging times of my life as a young man moving across the country and transitioning into independent manhood. And I suppose the truth of those statements is the very reason I’ve wrestled with the way this story has unfolded. For decades, MacArthur has been a controversial figure in Christianity who is known for facing adversity head-on. Nevertheless, he’s also a man who is widely regarded for his firm faithfulness to Scripture and his intentional avoidance of political entanglements.

However, in his recent responses to COVID-19-related restrictions on in-person church gatherings of larger congregations, he has now taken a stand against the California government which seems to have created a conflict between his politics and his sermons on biblical submission to government. As someone who has always known MacArthur to be fairly consistent with aligning his words with his deeds, his recent political zeal and resistance came as somewhat of a surprise to me, which led me to discuss it with my pastor. The challenge for me hasn’t been in my ability to view him as a flawed human being who is prone to blind-spots and error like the rest of us. Instead, the challenge has been in my attempts to reconcile what appears to be contradictory positions, while also seeing him encourage many other pastors to follow his lead in defiance of adhering to COVID-19 restrictions that are put in place for people's safety.

In order to make sure I was doing my due diligence, I read the California COVID-19 Guidelines for Places of Worship issued by Governor Gavin Newsome. Upon reading the guidelines, I discovered that they still allow for in-person church gatherings. The guidelines limit indoor attendees to a maximum of 100 people and encourage outdoor attendance that observes physical distancing, face coverings, and other safety measures that make sense for a mega church with thousands of members. Despite MacArthur describing the restrictions as "utterly impossible" to follow, another mega church in Riverside, CA (Harvest Christian Fellowship) is complying successfully. Given the fact that conditional provisions exist in the guidelines that actually do allow MacArthur to lawfully have in-person service, it begs the question, “is this really about the suppression of religious freedom or something else?”

Considering the fact that MacArthur is refusing to comply with government guidelines not because there are no accommodations for in-person church gathering but because he doesn’t personally consider the restrictions to be fair enough, according to his sermon transcripts, the biblical basis for breaking the law doesn’t appear to exist. What adds more room for speculation about this potentially centering around a political power struggle is the fact that Donald Trump has personally told MacArthur that he’ll have presidential backing and access to his personal attorney—which harkens back to a 2016 speech Trump gave in Iowa where he stated:

“Christians make up the overwhelming majority of the country and yet we don’t exert the power that we should have. Christianity will have power. If I’m there, you’re going to have plenty of power, you don’t need anybody else. You’re going to have somebody representing you very, very well. Remember that.”

Thus far, keeping that promise has won Trump deep loyalty from White Evangelicals. Does that mean we should view MacArthur’s new political posture and powerful allegiance with President Trump as a move that discredits his 50+ year legacy of prioritizing gospel preaching? I don’t think so. Nevertheless, I do think it’s important that the church continue to have broader conversation around how healthy this kind of political alliance for “Christian Power” is for the body of Christ—particularly for those who may now feel somewhat confused/uncertain about what biblical submission to government looks like and what the valid exceptions truly are. Am I writing this this because I seek to cast aspersions or assign ill motives to MacArthur and his elders? Not at all. I’m writing this for the sake of pursuing clarity as someone who desires to help protect the church’s witness to the world.

Ultimately, my concern with this issue for the church is that if we don’t closely examine this controversy with honesty and transparency (which is often difficult for us to do when someone as prolific and impactful as John MacArthur is involved), we could potentially repeat some of the same mistakes we’ve made as a church historically when we allow our deference for those we consider heroes to prevent us from examining whether their words and actions are aligned in the same ways they encourage ours to be. Unfortunately, this then perpetuates the narrative that Christian orthodoxy fails to match its orthopraxy. In repeating these problematic patterns, we also run the risk of subconsciously training ourselves to be partial and selective about other inconvenient/uncomfortable truths we aren’t ready to deal with (i.e. Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and other Reformers in Christian history who rationalized, justified, or overlooked the prevalent racism in their congregations and societies).

All that said, I hope I’ve made my intentions clear. These observations are in no way meant to disparage or harshly condemn John MacArthur or his elders. On the contrary, they’re meant to share the things I’ve been closely considering regarding the perceptual challenges of the case while also expressing a loving concern about an issue that I believe has massive implications. We’re in a time where politics are infiltrating the church in ways that are causing confusion, division, and anger. Lord knows I’ve been prayerfully trying to guard my heart from bitterness towards those I see as encouraging and condoning injustice. My hope is that through open and respectful discourse around this issue, we can sort through the more troublesome aspects of these trends rather than remaining distant, tribal, passive-aggressive, condescending, and judgmental. May we all increase in patience, grace, and love toward one another in these tense times.

[2nd-rate-film-school]

Why Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End Is Actually a Masterpiece of Modern Blockbuster Cinema

This is a review written by my friend and fellow filmmaker, @kubrickking. It’s a bit long, since she is a huge fan (and good film critic, imo), but it is definitely worth the read.

Since my sisters and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in 2003, we have all shared a sense of undying loyalty to the franchise. As BIG Disneyland people, the ride was a staple in our short lives long before we even understood how the concept could become a movie. Thus, we’ve enjoyed going to the midnight premieres, viewing the ride updates, and gathering pirate merchandise through the years. At this point, however, I think it’s fair to say that while we will see whatever film they release, we consider ourselves more fans of the original trilogy than what has followed with Dead Men Tell No Tales and - what was that fourth one called again?

To that point, this review is going to be biased as shit. I was an impressionable kid when I first saw these films and I will always remember them fondly. That being said, I just rewatched them at the age of twenty and feel my reaction is very similar. I was only fourteen when I saw the fourth film and was able to admit that it was terrible. In addition, know that this is not a reflection on Johnny Depp or any of the recent publicity he has faced. I am, and would hope you are as well, able to separate his work as an actor in this series from the recent revelations about his personal life.

As a side note, I am operating this review under the information given in the films, not the historical accuracy of pirates during this time. I don’t know if pirates regularly helped transport slaves and I acknowledge that the themes related to pirates having duality as both savage criminals and good men shows undeniable moral ambiguity regarding the historical truth. Jack, along with Will, is a romanticized version of a “good” pirate for the sake of a family-friendly protagonist in a story about pirates. And this analysis operates under a full awareness of that fact.

Regardless, one of the things that has always bothered me is the dismissal of the third film subtitled At World’s End. Common criticism of the film labels it as too long, too odd, and too exaggerated with little at stake and even littler sense to it. I do agree that any viewers expecting a simple, enjoyable action flick will be undoubtedly disappointed with the third Pirates offering. However, if you’re the part of the audience that is at all invested in Jack’s dive into the Kraken at the end of Dead Man’s Chest and is smart enough to realize the film is only truly 15 minutes longer than the other two, At World’s End delivers more than you could ever ask for as a conclusive chapter.

While the first film is obviously the most efficient and coherent on both a plot and tonal level, the third film acts as a bridge for cohesiveness between the entire trilogy without shying away from taking risks. And I firmly believe these risks pay off. Unfortunately, a majority of viewers feel it is more madness than brilliance. And to them I say, “It’s remarkable how often those two traits coincide.”

The film begins on such a dark note that it’s easy to see how people get the initial impression that it will not be a “fun ride.” A montage of hangings with a somber pirates hymn that ends with the murder of a child who can’t even reach the noose without a barrel to stand on is quite a way to open a film. And those are the kinds of risks you will see taken throughout the entirety of the movie’s 169 minutes. And I intend to prove to you that they are worth it.

From that first moment onward, you are given a direct association for the villain which up to this film is still underdeveloped and has done the majority of his evil actions off screen. The actions of Lord Cutler Beckett - or the pathetic cousin from another Keira Knightley film: Pride and Prejudice - now have tangibility. He’s no longer just the plot device for the evil Davy Jones, but a bastard in his own right. While Jones did senselessly murder sailors with the Kraken, his actions were motivated by a personal and justified search for Jack. But he never murdered children during a crackdown on pirate conspirators. Beckett’s actions serve as a power play, but also as revenge for Jack's refusal to transport slaves for the East India Trading Company; okay I’ll admit, Beckett’s motivations are still a little glossed over. But the film is juggling so many of the series' villains, anti-heroes, and “bloody pirates” with selfish motivations that a further explanation just isn’t necessary. Let me clarify that. Beckett’s specific personal motivations beyond greed for fucking everything up would simply distract from what we all really care about: Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, and Elizabeth Fucking Swann.

The film proceeds to build characters and set up future plot efficiently as the setting moves to Singapore, which is not a “random” or “meaningless” choice as some would have you believe. Dialogue from Jack in the first film and during the search for him in the second have previously established Singapore as a hub for a significant band of pirates. Their journey there serves a two-fold purpose of procuring mythological navigational charts that will provide a course to Davy Jones’ Locker as well as a ship and crew to get them there. They do all the pirate-y things like misdirect attention to allow an alternate plan of stealing the charts including a crew below the floorboards ready to provide weaponry and the secondary motivation of enlisting Sao Feng in the meeting of the Bretheren Court. It also gives just a glimpse of the assertion and decisiveness that Elizabeth has carried over from her choice to sacrifice Jack to the Kraken at the end of Dead Man’s Chest.

The number one thing I love about the romance at the center of Pirates is that Elizabeth and Will still have their individual character arcs, motivations, and plot. Even after the revelation that Elizabeth indeed left Jack, they do not immediately fall back into the simple conflicts related to their affections. A confrontation below deck parallels the scene from the first film as secrets and feelings are once again revealed. But instead of making this the focus, they both decide to carry on their journeys making their own choices. In fact, the root of their individual character arcs can be traced back to the first twenty minutes of the first film, Elizabeth’s being a more internal struggle and Will’s a more external one. Elizabeth continuously evaluates her own evolving moral beliefs and desires for her life; does she condone, participate in, and forgive the actions of pirates or does she condemn them. Meanwhile, Will must focus on the familial promise and connection with his pirate father Bootstrap Bill Turner that has been a source of conflict for him since the opening sequence of the series.

Just as it has always been, their love story at the heart of it is pulled apart and put back together by the choices they make and, thus, the people they choose to become. Neither needs the other for fulfillment per say - this is why Will always waits until the last moment to profess his love or insist they marry - but they work better together than they do apart. And that is why their ending is both ironic and essential. Their marriage being officiated by Barbosa in between sword fights with cursed pirates is the only appropriate setting for the unification of the two and one of the best damn scenes.

Call me dumb or sappy, but this romance still feels honest and emotional to me in its restraint. Even though I know it was cooked up in some board room meeting of Hollywood execs, I still genuinely feel invested in it. I think it comes down to the fact that they don’t hit you over the head with it. They allow the female character room to breathe and grow independent from the romance; which is perhaps why you can interpret her ending as either the greatest or worst conclusion to a character arc. Elizabeth’s speech to the crew of the Black Pearl before they enter into battle with the Flying Dutchman gives me chills every time. Because of her heart, dedication, and true duality, she is able to understand and act on the conflict with a decisiveness and purpose that none of the other pirates can. She has allegiance to her beliefs unlike the fickle criminals around her. She fights with and for values and a purpose, enjoying the adventure and adrenaline along the way.

In a similar way, Jack Sparrow’s character is fairly consistent through this film. There is justified criticism about Depp’s performance becoming a parody of the original idea as the series has progressed, and I would agree that it has never been as pure as it was in the first film. However, I don’t feel that Sparrow becomes a full caricature until the fourth film onward and I will tell you why.

Sparrow has always been defined by equal parts wit and luck. The details of his plans or the existence of them at all has always been left up to the interpretation of the audience, with rather blatant characterization from British soldiers about if he “plans it all out or just makes it up as he goes along.” While we can assume he gets lucky a lot and doesn’t always win - i.e. the mutiny that is ingrained in his character’s history - there is obvious intelligence lurking underneath all his actions. He’s persuasive and charming in the way a dirty, murderous pirate shouldn’t and doesn’t need to be. For example, Jack spends most of the second film convincing others that the only way to get what they want is to help him first. He weighs their desires and presents ultimatums, using whatever he has as leverage against them. Jack’s long-winded dialogue scenes where he talks someone around his finger function in the same way that deduction scenes do for Sherlock Holmes.

What makes this most impressive, or the laziest writing ever, is that the people around him are often not unintelligent people. Elizabeth, Barbosa, and Will have all outsmarted Jack on screen by the beginning of the third movie, Elizabeth’s trickery even proving fatal for him. Because of this, Jack’s character is only half what’s written for him.  He is also half Depp’s performance, which does not feel strained in the original three films. Some classic Jack Sparrow moments you may have forgotten actually take place in this film include the canon firing springboard onto the pearl with Beckett’s toy figure in the mouth of the barrel, the discovery and following flipping of the ship to return home, and the manipulation of the Bretheren court to approve a vote for pirate king and subsequent battle with Beckett.

Also, if your argument is that Jack became the main character when he should only be a strong supporting character, HE DOESN’T EVEN APPEAR ON SCREEN UNTIL THIRTY-TWO MINUTES INTO THE FILM. He is a supporting character in this movie. That is tremendous restraint considering the major draw for most viewers, which was heavily capitalized upon by Disney, was Depp’s performance as Captain Jack. And when they finally do show him, it is a lengthy eight minute sequence of him arguing with himself, eating peanuts, licking rocks, and rocks becoming crabs that roll the Pearl over sand into an ocean. Not necessarily the audience-catering character re-introduction you’d see in a Marvel film. Jack is in a mythological purgatory or hell that represents the silly and truly odd essence of pirate lore, and the filmmakers honor that. From the moment Jack is back with the crew on the Pearl, his comedic moments hit every time - with the exception of the angel and devil shoulder Jacks. His interactions with everyone from Barbosa to Will to Davy Jones to Beckett are spot on. Jack is witty, wily, and wondrous as ever while twisting the desires of those around him to spare his life time and time again.

But it’s not just the comedic moments this film gets right, it also nails the emotional and dramatic ones. Particularly Will’s final moments after being stabbed by Davy Jones and Jack’s confrontation with the now dead and beached Kraken hit perfectly. Still, my favorite scene of the whole film has to be Elizabeth’s speech which leads the Pearl into battle with the Dutchman. Dialogue from three male characters plays out in the background as the camera circles Elizabeth, in solemn reflection over the release of Calypso and the impending fight. “Then what shall we die for?” she questions Barbosa. Then she continues with the fiercest fifty second monologue, throwing Barbosa’s words back at him and using them in a way he never could to inspire the pirates aboard the Pearl to rise to the occasion and “hoist the colours” - effectively answering the plea of the chain gang in the beginning of the film.

As with many blockbusters, there is a dramatic scene where the audience typically laughs out of turn. So let me be clear: if you even laugh a little bit during Elizabeth’s desperate attempts to bring her ghostly father aboard, you have no heart whatsoever. It is quite obvious to the audience, who has already been told the people in the boats are dead, that Governor Swann is beyond help. However, to the eye of someone who has seen the mythical Kraken devour the living person beside them, it may not seem so impossible that her father can also be saved. As a matter of fact, why couldn’t they save him?? I am still crying during this scene ten years later. Not because I loved his character, but because I can easily imagine my own parent afloat in one of those boats and my own hysterical attempts to reach them. Take a moment, please, and imagine your parent in this position. Not so stupid now, is she??

And this brings me to my favorite thing about the film: the visual language. Working with supernatural fables and period piece restrictions, At World’s End utilizes an array of solid and effective visuals that stimulate on levels of both the studium and the punctum. An Asian pirate ship floats on still water like glass that reflects the starry night into a mirror image, as they travel into a dimension of suspended time and space at the world’s end to retrieve a dead soul from eternal purgatory. Jack Sparrow gazes into his own reflection in the dead eye of the rotting beast that killed him and contemplates the true nature of freedom in relation to immortality. “The world used to be a bigger place,” says Barbosa and Jack responds, “The world’s still the same. There’s just less in it.” The wrath of a scorned lover materializes into a swirling maelstrom that becomes the setting for the separation of another pair of lovers. Jack holds the heart of a monster in his hand, blade at the ready, and hesitates in completing the task for fear that he faces his own future cruelty. These images as well as others in the film elevate interesting and elaborate themes into dynamic expressions of consciousness. Don’t even get me started on the coloring. And you get all those layers with an amazing dose of action and thrills.

Also, the effects in this movie still look great because they are 90% practical. Wait, you mean the series with skeleton and fish pirates has practical effects? Yes, you asshat, CGI was only used to supplement the majority of the special effects you see. While certain settings and the crew of the Dutchman are obviously computer generated, all the scenes involving ship effects were either done with the built-to-scale, fully functioning set pieces or models before receiving any post-production visual effects aid. The scenes underwater were actually shot underwater with all the lead cast and the final twenty-minute storm battle was shot on the ship decks with manufactured torrential rain for 10 weeks straight. Not cool enough yet? They also actually blew up Beckett’s ship and layered the shots of him and the other soldiers on it. That Singapore set they blew up was indoors with at least four feet of water and an entire series of buildings on stilts. And honestly that’s almost nothing compared to the shit they actually did in the second film.

Okay. I think I have to wrap this up now because if I even get started on Hans Zimmer’s score, this could double in word count. If you can’t tell already, I really enjoy this super under-appreciated film and I absolutely adore this series as a whole. It has flaws, it can be stupid at times, and sometimes moments fall flat. But the code for a “good” film is "more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules." I still feel my love for this series has been well-founded and well-intentioned for 14 years strong (nearly 70% of my life). Now if you remember "Pirates 3” as being a dud, I encourage you to rewatch and rediscover the magic within. If you were waiting for the "opportune moment," this is it!

[movieswithkevin27]

Bright

Deciding which film - Bright, The Mummy, Amityville: The Awakening, or The Circle - is worse is a tough task. The Mummy is so bad it is good, so it gets ahead of the competition. The Circle feels incomplete, so it is probably the worst, whereas Amityville feels like multiple movies slapped together. Bright, however, as the third worst (or second best, but I do not want to sound too complimentary), is old school bad. It is boring, it is horribly written, it is incompetently directed, and yet it is coherent. Nobody can mistake Bright for being multiple films or an incomplete film. Instead, it is a straight-forward film with a plot that easily mistaken for actual depth or world-building, characters who are intended to be engaging, thematic content working throughout, and a clear narrative arc that will engage less discerning viewers quite adequately and deliver “a fun movie”. However, in having seen Bright, it is hard to imagine how one could find this slop fun. A pig would think this is just too shitty of a pen to play in if given the option between its own shit and Bright. Compared to the other ⅕ star films I have seen thus far in 2017, Bright is the only film that is just not horribly made, but it is a completely horrible film. It is exactly what the filmmakers wanted to put together, which earns it some points for being less horrible, but is hardly an endorsement of its quality as director David Ayer and writer Max Landis have found a way to waste a seemingly. compelling and original idea. To accomplish this, they put it into a buddy cop film, inserted lame pop culture comedy (“swipe left” right as he swipes to detonate a bomb...hello my fellow kids), had dull action scenes, stilted dialogue, and forced racial commentary that would make Paul Haggis and the filmmakers behind Crash think Bright is too heavy-handed.

The opening act of this film pours on the racial commentary hot-and-heavy. Establishing this as a world in which orcs are hated due to their allegiance to the “dark lord” in a literal race war 2,000 years ago, Bright shows humans to be normal middle class folks, elves to be the 1%, and orcs to be the minorities in the hoods who become gangsters. Meanwhile, the LAPD has hired an orc cop as part of a forced diversity initiative, but every other cop wants to kill orc cop Nick Jakoby (Joel Edgerton). Paired with Darrell Ward (Will Smith), the two traverse Los Angeles, encounter racism towards orcs, discuss the tribalism of orcs and how they are indebted to their clans, they discuss orc culture and being “blooded”, cops want to frame and kill Jakoby, and fellow orcs call Jakoby a traitor. The racial commentary, tragically, is established even further through imagery that aligns orcs with inner city black Americans with graffiti showing images of cops killing orcs without reason. All of this racial commentary could have been fine and even a unique take in a fantasy world, but Ayer and Landis are so blunt and on-the-nose in their treatment, it often feels as though Bright reaches out and slaps the audience in the face while shouting, “Do you get it?! THEY’RE RACIST!” While the film may have its heart in the right place in regards to racism in society and the need to see equality between races, Bright is simply not film that executes on this theme well enough for it truly resonate or have its desired impact. Instead, it just plays out as a hamfisted theme that is never developed in an interesting fashion.

A lot of the films issues in following its racial commentary in a more subdued and compelling fashion is the same reason why its general plotting and originality falls apart. It all felt very surface-level. Ayer was unable to actually make things work beneath the surface, instead opting for a cliche buddy cop movie - which is in his wheelhouse, as End of Watch shows - with cliche action “the hero never gets hits” shootout scenes, one-liners, a generic group of bad guys that want to summon the “dark lord”, and useless federal agents who, despite possessing a threat, disappear for the final half hour after pin-pointing where Ward and Jakoby were within a few blocks. This rather uninteresting foundation for the film, leads all of the cliche fantasy elements such as prophecies, orcs, elves, references to past wars, wands, a dark lord, fairies, etc to just feel like a magic trick. It is a way for Ayer and Landis to distract audiences from the rather shallow and skin deep treatment of its fantasy setting it is giving in favor of exploring a rather straight-forward buddy cop action-comedy set-up. For many audiences, they will praise this distraction and even point to a shot of a dragon flying over Los Angeles as a hint to the depth and possibilities this world holds. Unfortunately, it is merely akin to putting lipstick on a pig. It is still a pig with nothing special or unique about on the inside compared to the other pigs, all it has is some lipstick. Bright is that pig (I do like my pig comparisons for this one, maybe all of the forced racism via calling orcs “pig-faced” is influencing me here), with some nice glossy fantasy elements but without the heart and soul of a fantasy film underneath.

This leads perfectly into the film’s horrific script. With forced comedy, exposition, and awkwardly stilted dialogue, it is easy to see that David Ayer was looking for his next, “So that’s it? We some kinda Suicide Squad?” through the entirety of the dialogue. Between a prolonged bromance scene, a cliche villain waiting just long enough to kill someone for them to be stopped, any discussion about prophecies (Will Smith literally says, “So we’re in a prophecy, huh?” after previously saying, “We are not in a prophecy. We are in a stolen Toyota Corolla.”), and really any joke attempt all mark true lows in Bright. Further lines such as “You need to unfuck this. Magic us to Palm Springs or some shit,” and the “it’s time to go home / “It’s too late to go home” / “Fucking kill me,” back-and-forth between chief antagonist Leilah (Noomi Rapace) and her sister Tikka (Lucy Fry) who is helping Darrell and Nick, are examples of just how horribly written Bright is, with awkward dialogue that continuously misses the boat. References to Tinder (previously quoted in introduction) and the elves having killed the illuminati additionally demonstrate that not only is Bright poorly written with awkward jokes, terrible “intense” dialogue, and continuous exposition explaining where they are in Los Angeles, who they are meeting, what they are doing (“We need to protect the wand”), regurgitating of a prophecy far too many times, and through racist interactions, but it is also a film that is trying far too hard to be “hip”. It drops in pop culture items it knows millennials will love, while trying to serenade them with the latest pop hits from their favorite “hip” rappers and singers as a means to elicit a positive association between Bright and the apps or songs the young folks of America love to use. As such, Bright comes off as not just a long music video like Suicide Squad did, but also a pandering work that consistently tries to reassert just how badass and in-touch with pop culture it and its makers are. To top it all of, the parade of cliche interactions - such as the final moment where Nick nervously tells the feds what happened without being prompted to do so - only serves to help Bright’s script become worse, solidifying it as certainly the worst element of an already horrible film.

The film’s direction and action further harms the film, both through inane and cliches action set-pieces with car chases, shootouts, and crashes, that never really capture the imagination of the audience. As opposed to his work in Fury, Ayer seems content to stick with rather incoherent, dull, and cliche action scenes - there is a scene where Leilah jumps through a glass window in an incredibly similar way to Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell - which only serves to help Bright become even more uninteresting. An already dull slog of a film becomes worse every time an action scene starts up with nothing but explosions, endless gunfire, “cool crashes”, and forced moments of intensity as the bad guy pauses just long enough to be shot or as the good guy runs out of bullets at exactly the wrong time. These cliches and rather dull exploration of a fantastical world - could we really not get some cool fantastical gun or weapon? - are what really pull down the facade of fantasy put up by Ayer and Landis. It is in these derivative shootouts that Bright screams out to the audience that this is not some adventurous or daring original film. Instead, it just another action movie that is happy to become mere white noise in the background as viewers opt to pay their taxes or bills instead of paying attention. Adding to these issues with direction, the film’s final act seems to occur at least three times with multiple almost endings that hint at putting the audience out of their misery before, somehow, finding more (and worse) content to tack onto the end of the film. This one winds up feeling entirely unending with Ayer and Landis managing to concoct new ways to keep this one dragging on for an eternity.

A dull, unredeemable, and decidedly unfun film, David Ayer’s Bright makes one wonder if he actually wrote Training Day and directed both End of Watch and Fury or if he just killed or blackmailed whoever did before taking all of the credit for himself. Will Smith finds yet another bad movie to star in and Joel Edgerton is saved by the fact that we cannot see his face through the make-up. Honestly, it is entirely possible that this was just a cliche buddy cop film until Edgerton signed on because he needed the money and demanded his dignity was saved by wearing makeup that hid his face, giving birth to this fantastical world. It would certainly explain why the fantasy world is so shallow and uninteresting. The fact that this film is earning such acclaim from audiences and is doing well enough to earn a sequel demonstrates just how starved audiences are for “original” films, willing to accept anything that slightly fits the bill.