#mass murder? who cares <33< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[mongo-the-liensis]

A war criminal??? But, your hounour! He's never done anything wrong in his entire life!!

[quotesfrommyreading]

In the terrible winter of 1932–33, brigades of Communist Party activists went house to house in the Ukrainian countryside, looking for food. The brigades were from Moscow, Kyiv, and Kharkiv, as well as villages down the road. They dug up gardens, broke open walls, and used long rods to poke up chimneys, searching for hidden grain. They watched for smoke coming from chimneys, because that might mean a family had hidden flour and was baking bread. They led away farm animals and confiscated tomato seedlings. After they left, Ukrainian peasants, deprived of food, ate rats, frogs, and boiled grass. They gnawed on tree bark and leather. Many resorted to cannibalism to stay alive. Some 4 million died of starvation.

At the time, the activists felt no guilt. Soviet propaganda had repeatedly told them that supposedly wealthy peasants, whom they called kulaks, were saboteurs and enemies—rich, stubborn landowners who were preventing the Soviet proletariat from achieving the utopia that its leaders had promised. The kulaks should be swept away, crushed like parasites or flies. Their food should be given to the workers in the cities, who deserved it more than they did. Years later, the Ukrainian-born Soviet defector Viktor Kravchenko wrote about what it was like to be part of one of those brigades. “To spare yourself mental agony you veil unpleasant truths from view by half-closing your eyes—and your mind,” he explained. “You make panicky excuses and shrug off knowledge with words like exaggeration and hysteria.”

He also described how political jargon and euphemisms helped camouflage the reality of what they were doing. His team spoke of the “peasant front” and the “kulak menace,” “village socialism” and “class resistance,” to avoid giving humanity to the people whose food they were stealing. Lev Kopelev, another Soviet writer who as a young man had served in an activist brigade in the countryside (later he spent years in the Gulag), had very similar reflections. He too had found that clichés and ideological language helped him hide what he was doing, even from himself:

I persuaded myself, explained to myself. I mustn’t give in to debilitating pity. We were realizing historical necessity. We were performing our revolutionary duty. We were obtaining grain for the socialist fatherland. For the five-year plan.

There was no need to feel sympathy for the peasants. They did not deserve to exist. Their rural riches would soon be the property of all.

But the kulaks were not rich; they were starving. The countryside was not wealthy; it was a wasteland. This is how Kravchenko described it in his memoirs, written many years later:

Large quantities of implements and machinery, which had once been cared for like so many jewels by their private owners, now lay scattered under the open skies, dirty, rusting and out of repair. Emaciated cows and horses, crusted with manure, wandered through the yard. Chickens, geese and ducks were digging in flocks in the unthreshed grain.

That reality, a reality he had seen with his own eyes, was strong enough to remain in his memory. But at the time he experienced it, he was able to convince himself of the opposite. Vasily Grossman, another Soviet writer, gives these words to a character in his novel Everything Flows:

I’m no longer under a spell, I can see now that the kulaks were human beings. But why was my heart so frozen at the time? When such terrible things were being done, when such suffering was going on all around me? And the truth is that I truly didn’t think of them as human beings. “They’re not human beings, they’re kulak trash”—that’s what I heard again and again, that’s what everyone kept repeating.

  —  Ukraine and the Words That Lead to Mass Murder

[waytooinvested]

Forgotten, Not Forgiven - Chapter 33

This and previous chapters are also on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The takeout bag hit the roof with a soft thump as Lena and Kara turned to face Lex, sushi rolls spilling out across the too-short distance between them.

‘Lex. How long have you been here?’

‘Long enough. I was surprised to hear from you after all this time, so I thought I’d teleport in quietly and get the lay of the land before I revealed myself. Imagine my surprise when I arrived to find you not in a deadly battle for your life, but casually sitting up here doing nothing in particular. I considered that maybe you had just come round to my way of thinking and were ready to join your family, but then who should show up but Little Miss Blonde Ambition herself, and you all but tell her you’re trying to lay a trap for me. Not a very good one I’ll admit, but that still hurts Lena.’

‘It’s not like that. Kara followed me up here, and I was trying to get rid of her. Just because I didn’t want to let you kill her doesn’t mean we can’t still be on the same side.’

Lex shook his head pityingly.

‘I almost admire your attempts to salvage the situation sis, but lets be honest, we both know that I could outwit you with my wits tied behind my back. So shall we just cut to the chase?’

Lena took a cautious quarter step towards Kara, trying to get between her and Lex, but it was no good. She was standing just too far away to block without being obvious about it, and that would only draw further attention to her.

‘Alright, fine. But lets keep this in the family. Let Kara leave, and you and I can discuss things like adults.’

‘Really, Lena? Even now, that – creature – is all you can think about? After everything I did for you, after how generous I’ve been all this time, letting you have your way with your little toy when you should have been focusing on building our legacy? No matter how far I lower my expectations of you, you always find a way to disappoint me. You’re pathetic.’

‘HEY, don’t talk to her like that!’

Kara stepped forwards, fists clenched and jaw set with fury at Lex’s casual cruelty, though she hadn’t seemed to care a bit when he had insulted her. She seemed taller suddenly, a new set to her shoulders that recalled Supergirl more than Kara Danvers, a steely look in her eye that said she was ready to fight for Lena if it came to it.

Lena threw out an arm to stop her before she could move any closer, her own stare flint as she met Kara’s steel and struck sparks.

‘Stay out of this Kara.’

Her tone was a sharp rebuke, though inside she was more touched than she could express that even without her powers Kara was willing to go up against the mass-murdering maniacal genius who had very nearly taken down Superman at full strength, all for her sake.

But her best hope of getting Kara out of here in one piece was to have Lex dismiss her as beneath his notice, and her noble but ill fated attempts to defend her were not helping with that.

‘Yes, stay out of this Kara. Or should I call you Su-’

‘DON’T. She’s nothing to you, she’s not a threat. Just let her walk away, and I’ll come with you. I can help you.’

‘You think I need to bargain for your help? You’ve been helping me for months. Just imagine – DEO backed beta testing for my patented alien neutering technology with full, if unwitting, co-operation from the primary test subject. It’s been most illuminating.’

Of course.

Of course Lex had factored her attempts to restore Supergirl into his plan, and if Lena hadn’t been so laser focused on Kara the whole time she would have deduced that from the start . Not that it would have mattered anyway. After all, what other choice had there really been? Her brother had set up a situation where he won whatever move she played, and Lena stood by her decision to at least try to get Kara’s memories back. Besides, it might even work to her advantage now.

She tilted her chin up and flashed a sharp, self-satisfied smile worthy of Lex himself, conveying all the arrogant Luthor confidence that was her birthright as much as his.

‘And doesn’t that just go to prove my point? Leave the Danvers girl out of this, and I can help you with your real objective. You know she was never the one you really wanted anyway.’

‘And you’d be willing to go after my real objective, in exchange for her?’

‘Lena, whatever this is, you don’t have to-’ Kara tried to chip in, but Lena spoke over her, her eyes never leaving her brother’s face.

‘If that’s what it takes.’

She was lying of course. Once Kara was safely clear of Lex and she had access to his hideout, she would revert to plan A and find a way to get the information she needed out of him, and then kill him before he could carry out his intentions against Superman. She tried not to dwell on what she would do if things went wrong and the only way to save Kara’s life was to remove Superman’s powers for real, leaving the world at Lex’s mercy without either of its Kryptonian protectors.

It wasn’t going to come to that.

And… well, if it did, she’d just have to find a way to save the world herself, and then restore both of them. She’d do it if she had to.

Whatever it takes.

The silence between them lasted just long enough that Lena began to feel an inkling of hope that he might be considering it, then Lex shook his head.

‘As soon as you let go of the chess piece you’re committed to your move, you should know that by now. You broke a sacred trust today Lena, and you have to accept the consequences.’

Lex kept eye contact with her, his expression almost regretful as he pulled a gun from the concealed holster in his jacket and took quick but careful aim at her chest. Lena’s fingers twitched to reach for her own weapon, but as her plan had been to gain her brother’s trust she had compromised accessibility for discretion in her packing, and she had been so intent on getting Kara away that the risk of retrieving it had felt too great compared to what could happen if she failed. Now it was too late: by the time she realised what he was doing, Lex had well and truly outdrawn her. The moment echoed with all the other times it had come down to the three of them, and the choice she had to make between her xenophobic brother and the alien woman she had fallen in love with.

Only this time Lex was the one with holding the gun, and Lena was staring empty handed down its barrel at her own demise, knowing that once she was shot the choice would be out of her hands. There would be nothing she could do to save Kara.

‘It’s time to say goodbye, baby sister.’

The apparent regret in Lex’s eyes hardened into gloating satisfaction, and Lena had the brief, awful understanding that the brother she had once known was so far gone that he was going to enjoy watching her die. Somehow that knowledge hurt even now, and the spark of anger it kindled made her shift her stance, preparing for one last ditch, pointless effort to, if not save herself, then at least wipe the smug look off Lex’s face before she died.

She was preparing to spring when, at the very last second, the barrel of the gun swung from Lena to Kara, Lex’s finger tensing on the trigger as he recalibrated his aim. Lena, watching him intently throughout for any hint of an opening, caught the shift almost before it appeared and threw herself at Kara, shoving her hard to the ground and out of Lex’s line of fire even as Kara tried to do the same for her.

The gunshot rang out, deafeningly loud in the still night, and there was a spray of red as Lena staggered backwards.

She stumbled, off balance, her knees colliding with the low barrier at the roof’s edge.

Time stretched out into slow motion as Lena felt her centre of gravity shift. Her arms pin wheeled desperately, but there was nothing she could grab, and she tipped, agonisingly slowly, out into empty space.

‘LENA!’

Through a rush of tears she saw Kara above her, leaping the railing and launching herself off the edge. Lena couldn’t get enough air into her lungs to make a sound, but her mouth formed a silent howl of no, no, NO as she watched Kara plummet down after her, arms outstretched like a diver from the high board.

She hadn’t even hesitated.

Lena had been having nightmares like this ever since Kara’s accident, but now she wasn’t waking up with a jerk and a cold sweat in her own bed the way she should have been. She was wide awake this time, and Kara had thrown herself off a roof in a doomed attempt to save Lena’s life. Because this wasn’t like her parkour accident. They were a hundred stories up, and there was no surviving this fall.

In the distance behind Kara’s shoulder Lena saw Alex’s stricken, chalk white face appear over the edge of the roof, grabbing uselessly for her sister even though she was well out of her reach by now.

Where the hell had Alex come from?

But the thought slipped away as quickly as it had come as reality rushed in to replace the first seconds of shocked dissociation from what had just happened.

She was about to die.

Kara was about to die.

Lena’s ears were full of screaming and she wasn’t sure which of them it belonged to, or if the world had simply reduced to one long howl of anguish that would echo and rebound throughout eternity.

Unable to bear it, Lena closed her eyes. She didn’t want to risk seeing the moment that Kara shattered on the unforgiving concrete that was rushing up to meet them.

I’m so sorry I couldn’t save you.

And then the whistling of wind past her ears stopped. Her hair fell lightly back against her shoulders as gravity seemed to lose its grip on her, and she heard the soft thumping of a heartbeat that wasn’t her own against her ear.

Was this what dying felt like? Whatever came afterwards, she had at least expected there to be more pain at the moment of impact.

Very tentatively, Lena opened her eyes.

Kara was looking down at her, her expression full of mingled concern and fierce determination. Somewhere during the fall she had lost her glasses, her hair was standing out wild about her face from the wind, and a strange, detached thought came to Lena that she couldn’t believe she could ever have missed that Kara and Supergirl were so clearly the same person. Kara Danvers. Kara Zor El. Just, Kara.

‘Are you okay?’

Somehow Lena managed to reinflate her winded lungs enough to choke out a reply.

‘I… think so? Are you?’

‘Yeah, I’m okay.’

Tears flowed down her cheeks as her survival instinct panic spike began to drop out of fight or flight and towards shock.

‘Thank you. Thank you so much.’

‘Of course, you know I’ll always catch you Lena.’

Lena made a sound that was somewhere between a laugh and the yelp of a puppy being stepped on.

‘I actually wasn’t sure this time. You have… not been entirely yourself recently.’

‘What do you-?’

And finally Kara seemed to realise where they were and what she was doing. Her eyes widened, and for a moment Lena was afraid that the realisation would cause Lex’s barrier to snap back into place and they’d both plummet to their deaths after all. She cursed herself for not insisting that Kara fly them down immediately and tried to calculate whether they could keep their balance on one of the narrow window ledges if they could get to it before Kara’s flight cut out.

But rather than tumbling from the sky, Kara stared back at Lena with a pained expression and eyes rapidly filling with tears of her own.

‘Lena… you saved me.’

This time her laugh sounded more like a real one, if slightly hysterical with the potent cocktail of adrenaline and relief still pumping through her system.

‘Given our current situation, I’m pretty sure that’s my line. Kara, you just threw yourself off a building for me when thirty seconds ago you had no access to your powers. How did you know you were going to fly?’

‘I didn’t. I-’

The truth seemed to catch up with Kara then, and she shook her head in wonder at what had just happened.

‘I really, really didn’t. I just knew that I couldn’t let you fall.’

It was the purest, most sincere declaration of love that Lena had ever received, and she had no idea how to process it in this moment.

She wanted to tell Kara that she would jump off a building for her too.

That she would bend the laws of nature and unravel the very fabric of the universe.

That there was no line in any reality she would not cross, and while she never, ever wanted to hurt another person, if it came down to it she would choose to let the rest of the world crumble to dust if it meant that Kara would be safe.

The words burned inside her heart, but they were too big, too intense to be allowed out into the open air, especially when Lena was still reeling from their near brush with death, and in the end all she managed to get out was:

‘Now who’s the marshmallow?’

Kara smiled into her eyes, infinitely gentle in spite of her newly restored muscles of steel.

‘Still you.’

‘Honestly, I can’t even argue with that right now. I really want to be mad at you for jumping off a building again, but I am just so, so glad not to be a red stain on the sidewalk.’

Kara gathered her in a little closer against her chest, protective even now the danger was past.

‘Me too.’

‘HEY! If you two don’t get your asses back up here so I can hug you for not being dead RIGHT NOW, I’m going to kill you both!’

They looked up to see Alex glaring down at them from the edge of the roof, gesturing emphatically with one hand while the other held the railing in a white knuckled grip.

‘Oh, right, oops! BE RIGHT THERE!’

Kara began to rise easily back up the way they had come, and in another few seconds Lena found her feet on firm ground and she and Kara were being hugged so tightly that the air was squeezed from her lungs. There was no room to draw another breath to replace it, but still she never wanted the moment to end, because this was everything she had always wanted and never had, and she knew that no matter who she was born to or who raised her, this was her family now.

‘Alex, I can’t believe you’re here. How are you here?’

Alex shrugged, flashing a grin that was half cocky, half guilty.

‘I followed you. Well. Technically I had a drone follow you. I’ve had one in place since our text conversation last night actually, because I could see you were too much of a stubborn ass to back down, and I at least wanted to be there give you some back up if things went badly. So when I saw you sitting up here for no apparent reason I had a hunch that it was somewhere worth being. I’ve been hiding behind your solar panels for hours waiting for something to happen. I was sure you were going to find me when you started pacing, we were practically face to face at one point.’

‘Well, I was a little distracted.’

‘Yeah, no shit. And then Kara showed up and I damn near broke cover to get her the hell out of here, and maybe chain her to a radiator for real this time.’

‘Hey!’

‘Sorry Kara, but it was for your own good. You could have been killed.’

‘So could Lena.’

‘I know. I can’t even imagine what I’d have done if anything happened to either of you. Lex so nearly shot you, and then you both fell…’

Alex shuddered at the memory of watching them plummeting over the edge of the roof, but something else in what she said caught in Lena’s mind – the missing piece that had been niggling at her ever since they had touched down.

The last thing she had been aware of before she fell was the ringing gun shot, and a spattering of blood. She had thought in that brief, chaotic moment that she must have been the one who had been shot and was just too much in shock to feel it yet, but here she was, completely unharmed, along with a very definitely not shot Alex and Kara.

Which meant…

‘What about Lex? What happened up here after I fell?’

The happy relief dropped from Alex’s expression, and her gaze slid over Lena’s shoulder to the expanse of rooftop behind her.

Dread pooled in Lena’s stomach.

Had she been keeping her back to it on purpose? Knowing, on some subconscious level, that she didn’t want to see what was there?

But she had to see now.

Lena turned slowly, and was confronted the thing she should have noticed as soon as they had regained the roof, despite the gathering darkness around them.

Lex lay spread-eagled in a spreading pool of blood, a hole no bigger than a dime in his shirt showing where the bullet had passed through him.

Such a tiny thing to end such a big life.

Lena’s legs felt numb as she left Alex and Kara and went to kneel beside her brother, though whether from her recent near-death experience or the sight before her she couldn’t have said for certain. She reached out a tentative hand to check for a pulse at his throat, but there was nothing to find.

He was gone.

She closed her eyes, and a single tear seeped from beneath her lashes to roll down her cheek, a traitorous admission of the grief she was trying so hard not to feel.

Even though she had tried to kill him twice now and had come here with the intention of doing it a third time, it was still hard to believe that Lex could ever really die. He had been such a permanent presence in Lena’s life since early childhood, first as her champion and role model, then as the dark shadow reminding her of all she must never become. She felt strangely untethered without him, as if a strong breeze might just blow her away to scatter to the winds like the seeds of a dandelion clock.

Somewhere in the background she was vaguely aware of Kara saying her name like she was about to come over, only to be stopped by Alex, their murmured voices dropping just too low to make out the words as they – presumably – argued about whether they should join her or give her time to say goodbye alone. She tuned them both out and instead took Lex’s still-warm hand in hers, allowing herself just this one moment of weakness.

I’m sorry it came to this big brother.

The pool of blood around him looked black in the gathering night, as if all the darkness was leaking out of Lex to leave him in death as the boy he once was, and the man he could have been if only he hadn’t let hatred and resentment take him over.

There was so much blood.

It had reached Lena’s knees now, and she could feel the wet stickiness of it soaking into her slacks, but she didn’t try to move away. It didn’t matter. She would never wear them again after this anyway.

She stayed where she was until it was too dark to easily distinguish the blood from the roof surrounding it, or to make out how unnaturally still Lex was lying, as if he might be merely unconscious after all. The idea sent a ripple of unease through her, for all Lena knew it wasn’t true. She sat back on her heels to put a few more inches between them, and became aware of someone else nearby. Her movement must have been taken as a sign that she was done with her silent vigil, because a hand came to rest gently on her shoulder, and she glanced up to find Alex standing over her.

‘I’m sorry Lena.’

‘Don’t be sorry. You saved Kara.’

‘YOU saved Kara. I was trying to save you. I saw Lex aiming at you about to pull the trigger, and I couldn’t let it happen, so I killed him before he could. I’m not sorry I stopped him from shooting you, but he was still your brother, and now he’s dead because of me. I understand if you don’t feel like you can be friends with me anymore after this.’

Lena turned away from the slack, lifeless features of the man who had once been her greatest hero to focus instead on Alex’s tear stained face, grim and still slightly spattered with Lex’s blood. She laid his hand carefully back down by his side, and rose to stand beside Alex.

‘I knew Lex had to die. He was my big brother and part of me will always love him for who he once was to me, but he was never going to stop no matter how securely he was locked away. Killing him was the only option, I knew that when I came up here, and I was prepared to do it. But then... you did it for me. You shot him so that I wouldn’t have to, just like you said you would.’

She met Alex’s eyes through the unshed tears still swimming in her own.

‘Thank you.’

Alex made a soft sound that was almost a whimper and pulled Lena into another tight hug, the motion pressing her face hard into to the armoured vest of her friend’s tactical gear, but she didn’t care. She hugged Alex back just as fiercely, pouring all her gratitude and relief into the embrace.

‘Guess I have two little sisters now, huh? Or... maybe that should be sister in law…?’

Lena’s cheeks heated and she broke the hug to give Alex a stern frown, but she couldn’t help ruining the effect with a slight watery grin at the implication.

‘It is way too soon for that kind of joke Danvers. You know Kara and I have a lot to talk about...’

Her gaze drifted up to where Kara was silhouetted against the full moon, evidently reveling in her newly regained power of flight as she gave them space to clear the air over Alex’s role in her brother’s death, and (hopefully) resisted the urge to practise her super hearing by listening in on their exchange.

‘I’ll take being your sister though. Whatever else happens next, you’re my family, and I don’t want that to change.’

Alex gave her a warm, genuine smile, then reached over to ruffle Lena’s windswept hair like she was an unruly puppy.

‘You know this means you’re going to be Lulu forever now, right?’

Lena rolled her eyes, swatting Alex’s hand away from her head more forcefully than she would have with any other friend, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would be taken as the gesture of affection she intended it to be.

‘Urgh, fine. But if anyone apart from you calls me that, I break their fingers.’

[m0ntylee]

My thoughts on the Anthony Warlow Jekyll and Hyde Musical songs. (my thought are in scrambles, and I'm 2 drinks in and FEELING IT!) 1. Prologue (I can imagine him saying the lyrics in eerie darkness, all ominous.) 2. I Need to Know (Jekyll is a fucking Disney princess and this is his moment!!!) 3. Facade (I would be scared if the houses were all flashy and swank.) 4. Bitch, Bitch, Bitch (SHUT YALL'S TRAPS!!) 5. The Engagement Party (I'm going to maul Simon Stride.) 6. Possessed (Lisa my beloved. Nothing can make me hate you) 7. Take Me as I Am (RAAAAAAAH LISAA!! 💖) 8. Lisa Carew (Nothing will make me like you Simon Stride) 9. Board of Governors (Ladies and Gentlemen, one at a time, I cant not understand all that shit) 10. Bring on the Men (how about this.... Bring on the Frogs! They are so funny, I swear.) 11. Lucy Meets Jekyll (Lucy serves and eats here.) 12. How Can I Continue On? (Utterson is so dear to me, I'm going to tear up wallpaper) 13. This Is the Moment (Can this not be the moment… Please) 14. Transformation (Now this is the moment at 3:17. Yea fellas, It's okay to be freaky, no judgment here.) 15. Lucy Meets Hyde (Indeed you are the man, Mr. Edward Hyde) 16. Alive (I SAID IT ONCE, I SHALL SAY IT AGAIN! HEADPHONES ARE NOT ENOUGH, I NEED THIS SONG UP MY ASS!!!) 17. Streak of Madness (The madness.. Its fucking streaking) 18. His Work and Nothing More (I don't like when the boyfriends are sad :(( ) 19. Sympathy, Tenderness (I love this song, and it makes me violently sad) 20. Someone Like You (Full of magic, whimsy, and pining) 21. Mass (Magic) 22. Murder, Murder! ("I brought you frankincense." - "and I brought you Mur.. Murder") 23. Letting Go (I love their bond) 24. Reflections ("As Hyde, I care only for myself- And nothing for Jekyll!" this is simply not true, buddy) 25. In His Eyes (Seep down this song makes me feel joyus and sad at the same time and my brain cant choose what it wants to do) 26. The World Has Gone Insane (MY FAVORITE SONG!!) 27. Girls of the Night (Another song that makes me :( i wish nothing but the best for them) 28. No One Knows Who I Am (I know who you are. :(( I want to give her a hug.) 29. It's a Dangerous Game (this duet goes HARD) 30. Once upon a Dream (Lisa) (Sigh...... Jekyll when I get you.) 31. No One Must Ever Know (I'm going to hold your hand while I tell you this.) 32. A New Life (This song made my mother frown and look at me all sad like. Then I told her.) 33. Once Upon a Dream (I think you were afraid to bud) 34. Confrontation ("I'm what you face when you face in the mirror." Mood) 35. The Wedding Reception (I feel a little cartoon cloud forming over my head.)

I don't know why I did this, but AYYYYY must there be a reason!! WELP TIME TO DO SHENANIGANS!!! (sleep)

[ribbytherabbit]

(TAWOG oc) VOIDI!

Although nobody really asked.. This is one of my TAWOG ocs, VOIDI!! (who's also the main protagonist for one of my projects :0) but they're somewhat "overpowered" so don't mind that 😭😭

Also, beware of incoming info dumping!! If you wanna read, go ahead!

They're a genderless celestial "god" who's basically a hybrid being of the void and the multiverse, who's an extreme perfectionst. But their way of "making things perfect again" is.. By tormenting, erasing and causing misery..

They're a thing that souls don't know of.. Unless ofc, VOIDI goes ahead shows themselves! (Which is rarely ever actually.) They're usually serious, calm (mostly) and get Annoyed easily- and they're an honest person! But.. They're also extremely cruel, selfish, narcissistic, and controlling.. Not to mention but they're also sadistic!

They can change size but they're always seen being extremely gigantic that everyone else is the size of an ant ☠️ and obviously they're omnipotent like an actual "god"! But the main ability they use are creating new universes, erasing one's memory, pausing/freezing people, mind control, void manipulation, telekinesis, and their favorite.. taking away souls! By just touching the victim's chest with their index finger.. The victim would feel their souls being sucked out and then.. They would become a soulless corpse.

.. ANYWAYSS they can also send those VOIDI deems as "flawed" into the void.. Like take rob for example! He got send there became nobody remember him, So he was send there. But in rare occasions.. VOIDI sends "flawed ones" somewhere even worse than the void.

Some things VOIDI dislikes is anyone annoying them, Mary sues, the "flawed ones", imperfections, the concept of hope, mullets, keytars, and.. Mr. Small's van?! What the fuc-

What about likes? Will.. They like tea parties (surprisingly), everything being in order, MASS MURDER, being alone, being sarcastic or a smartass, GENOCIDE, being more superior than others and DEAT- okay I should stop ☠️

But.. Despite being this powerful and all, they're completely weak against anything tin foil, specifically tinfoil hats! And another thing.. I'll keep that hidden 👀

WOOO that's alottt 😭😭😭 but I hope y'all like them or something!! Their concept has probably before but who cares? Lol XD hope y'all like them < 33

Reblogs, likes, follows and comments are appreciated!! :3

[butter--peanut]

I posted 1,817 times in 2022

That's 1,744 more posts than 2021!

329 posts created (18%)

1,488 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@wind-becomes-lightning

@skykashi

@kirpyee

@drowningindango

@sky-obito

I tagged 1,547 of my posts in 2022

Only 15% of my posts had no tags

#bp answers - 244 posts

#new recruit - 91 posts

#kkob - 89 posts

#kamui blues - 87 posts

#obkk - 52 posts

#kakaobi - 38 posts

#writer things - 38 posts

#pitch black - 33 posts

#bp shortfic - 32 posts

#fic rec - 26 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i’ve been so curious to see what these characters would look after outside of my own mind after switching up their most distinctive features

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Gradually, incrementally, Kakashi felt his breathing slow, coming in sync with Obito’s. They looked at one another, Sharingan across from Sharingan, as his companion guided him out of his panic.

Thank you so much @nyctibrae​ for this gorgeous commission from Chapter 19 of Kamui Blues �� I love this so so much! (scene under the cut).

“Come on, Companion,” Obito said gently. “Calm yourself. Pull yourself out of the cycle.”

And the fever of his killing intent broke.

Kakashi gasped, and then Obito was on him, pulling him towards himself and crushing him against his chest in an embrace. Kakashi kept gasping and choking, his chest heaving, and Obito was murmuring things softly, I’m sorry and you’re safe and I’m safe, and his side of the link was wide open, and Kakashi opened his too and connected his consciousness with his companion’s, and something that felt small and brittle like a twig snapped in his heart, and he felt the tears start to form on his face.

Obito moved his head away and looked at Kakashi, and his expression matched the twin emotions Kakashi could feel from him, of sadness and care. Then he cradled Kakashi’s face in his hand and pressed his forehead against Kakashi’s, like Kakashi had done for him when he himself had been brought back to life. Kakashi didn’t blink, didn’t look away; his eyes felt impossibly wide and his body shook on each of his gasping breaths. Obito accepted this, moving as he moved, keeping their foreheads pressed together.

Gradually, incrementally, Kakashi felt his breathing slow, coming in sync with Obito’s. They looked at one another, Sharingan across from Sharingan, as his companion guided him out of his panic.

125 notes - Posted August 8, 2022

#4

I love your fics so much, ty for writing!! But I have a question: in Kamui Blues why did Obito send Kakashi a note in the first place? Surely he knew that their dimension is connected via their Mangekyo and if he let Kakashi know someone else could use it the only logical conclusion would be someone has Obito's eye. Wouldn't he, as a mass murderer who's given everything for his plan, have been worried that Kakashi would figure it out?

Let me answer this question in 3081 words, because I’ve been wanting an excuse to write Ch1 of Kamui Blues from Obito’s PoV :)

Going to count this as Kamui Blues prompt request #13 (previous requests), t rated for swears.

Obito lay on his back, dazed, concussed, covered in leaves and dust. To his left lay a tree. It had landed with a heavy thump on his head from above, then toppled to the side, just as Obito himself had toppled backwards, momentarily blacking out from the force of impact.

He hadn’t seen it in time.

One might think that a tree-sized object would be a bit noticeable, but on the other hand, this had never happened to him before. Not in the fifteen plus years that Obito had been inhabiting this place formed by his eye. Random shit didn’t just show up in his dimension without him bringing it there in the first place.

As his hardworking Zetsu cells went into overdrive and the concussion began to ease, Obito tried to think through how this ridiculously improbable event could have happened.

Had he subconsciously brought the tree here?

Surely not. When the tree swirled through, he’d been thinking about the dream he wanted his future world to become. There were no trees that played a particularly prominent role in his dream. Just Rin and Kakashi, and the conundrum that Obito had to work through to make sure that his dream was realistic enough to be believable…

And there was no way for anyone else to access this space. This dimension was formed by his Mangekyo Sharingan, so could only be accessed via Mangekyo.

Although...

Well. There was, technically, one other person who had access to it.

Had Kakashi, after fifteen years, discovered his Mangekyo Sharingan?

He searched for Kakashi, wanting to see if his prediction was correct, and after growing steadily more annoyed at being unable to find him in his regular spots around Konoha, Obito eventually located him on a stretcher, being carried to the hospital, his pink-haired student walking beside his unconscious body looking concerned.

Chakra exhaustion, he heard Sakura say to one of the other accompanying medi-nins, watching through a sliver of a gap between his dimension and the Earth.

Chakra exhaustion.

Obito snorted, closing the portal.

It seemed Kakashi had, indeed, learnt that he had access to Mangekyo. And because he had laughable chakra reserves, the attempt to use it had caused him to pass out like a fresh pre-genin moulding chakra for the first time. What a weakling. Hardly the prodigy he used to be.

Well, that at least cleared one thing up. If this was what happened when Kakashi tried to use Mangekyo, his old teammate was hardly likely to try again. Obito once more had his dimension to himself.

Which was a good thing. He didn’t need the worthless version of Kakashi interrupting him while he spent his few hours of downtime trying to plan for the reunion with Rin and the non-worthless version of Kakashi.

Obito sat back down against the block, and closed his eye, and tried to continue his mental exercise.

Somehow, he couldn’t seem to stop opening his eye and glaring at the tree. Even half-dead and lying in the hospital bed, Kakashi was an annoyance.

Obito touched the tree and sent it far, far away, to some desolate rocky outcrop he remembered from the Land of Iron.

There. No more distraction.

He settled down again in his usual spot. Without the tree, his dimension felt oddly larger than normal. More cavernous, more empty.

-----

One month later, an acorn landed on Obito’s head.

Obito picked the tiny acorn off the floor and stared at it as though it held all the roots of this meaningless existence. Then he went again to find Kakashi.

He started from the location where he had found him on a stretcher last time and followed the lone path past patchy forest to just beyond the edge of Konoha. There he found Kakashi lying on his back in a training ground. His hitai-ate was up, but his Sharingan eye was shut tight. His other eye was open, staring up at the sky. He was very pale and breathing heavily.

After several minutes, Kakashi pushed himself up from the ground with shaking limbs and stumbled back in the direction of his apartment.

See the full post

137 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

#3

Sometimes writing is less like science or art and more like magic. Some days I struggle to write 1,000 words. And other days...I catch covid and spend the day writing in bed and manage to draft a 12,000 word story that came into my mind at 3am this morning. 

Like.... whoa how did that happen who gave my writing wings today 

174 notes - Posted July 20, 2022

#2

See the full post

323 notes - Posted August 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

And through the link Kakashi felt his fear mingling with his awe, now that Obito could see what Kakashi had been able to see for several days.

After everything, the Jonin uniform does suits him. 

Thank you @vita-divata​ for this stunningsweetgorgeous commission of Obito and Kakashi from chapter 21 of Kamui Blues. You brought the scene to life in a way that was even better than in my head. I love it more than I can possibly convey. 

1,545 notes - Posted April 29, 2022

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[gatekeeper-watchman]

The Bible and Abortion...4/11/2023

Of all the issues in our culture today, surely abortion is one of the most volatile. Perhaps no other issue has raised so much debate and anguish, plus time spent by various interested parties to educate to public on their views on it. Amid such a controversial issue, many simply throw up their hands and vow to stay out of it altogether. In the name of freedom and under the guise of “it isn’t my business” many choose to look the other way from this troubling issue, leaving the decision in the hand of lawmakers, doctors, and pregnant women. Although there are many different issues concerning abortion, the following is designed to focus on what the Bible says about abortion, and the consequences thereof.

Does God Care about Abortion?

What does God say about abortion? Do the millions of abortions that have taken place in this land bother Him? Is a fetus a “real person” in the eyes of God? If so, where does that leave us? If an unborn life is truly just a mere mass of fetal tissue to God, we should want to know. If He considers the life of the woman more important than her unborn child, we should want to know. And if He does consider that unborn life a “real person,” and just as important as the life of the mother that bears it, we most certainly should want to know. After all, we are all accountable to God not only for our individual lives but also as a generation and a nation.

Thou Shalt Not Kill and Its Application to Abortion

Throughout the Bible, God has plenty to say about the taking of innocent life. Most people in our nation, though they may not be familiar with all of the Ten Commandments, know that “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is listed there somewhere. The word “kill” in this instance specifically refers to “murder” — a premeditated and deliberate act of taking someone’s life. It is different from other forms of taking a life, which could be accidental, or in self-defense. God has different laws regarding different sorts of death. But He continually opposes and speaks against murder, especially the murder of the innocent.

Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land and atonement cannot be made for the land on which the blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live. Numbers 35:33-34

God’s judgment against the killing of an innocent life grows out of His love for humankind. The crime of murder is not only an offense against the sanctity of life; it is a pollutant upon the very land we live. God wants to spare us from the variety of ways this pollution is manifested. When the land becomes defiled with sin, people cry out “Where is God?” yet they refuse to take responsibility for breaking His laws, which were only given to us for our protection and good. Each sin that we commit is not merely an isolated incident but will set off a chain reaction of other sins if not dealt with. Since the legalization of abortion, for instance, child abuse has increased by over 1000%. This is the exact opposite of what those who legalized abortion thought it would do since it was assumed that only children who were initially unwanted were abused.

In Psalm 106, God speaks specifically against killing innocent children and babies. He says of His people: “They mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshiped their idols which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughter to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.”

Today we may scoff, or wonder in disbelief how anyone, especially someone who claimed to follow God, could sacrifice their child to an idol or a demon. Yet, an idol is anything that we worship before God. Today, children are sacrificed to the idols of selfishness, convenience, “freedom,” and ambition — sacrificed to the very demonic powers that are behind such idols. Times haven’t changed that much. Human nature hasn’t changed, nor have Satan’s schemes against that which God considered so precious that He died to redeem it–human life.  To this day, it has become so critical to understand what the Bible says about abortion.

When Does Life Begin?

One may argue here that they agree that it is wrong to murder, but they still don’t see how a fetus necessarily qualifies as a human being. Perhaps God doesn’t feel the same way about a very young fetus, as He does an older fetus, a newborn, or a 50-year-old. It may be a different issue altogether with Him. Does the Bible say anything specifically about unborn children?

In Exodus 21:22 God gives a specific law regarding social order for the Israelites. He stated that if two men were fighting and hit a pregnant woman, thus causing her to give birth prematurely, they must be fined according to any damage done to the baby. The fine must be paid for the amount of damage inflicted upon the child. If God would make a law specifically referring to the rights of the unborn, then surely the unborn must mean something to Him!

It has been stated, “If the womb had windows, there would be no abortion.” As humans, we are not omnipresent and cannot know the full scope of what each human life is worth. We cannot dwell in the womb with a fetus, nor can we see it as it matures. But God can.

A Scientific View of Abortion

Just 18 days after conception, the baby’s heart begins to beat. At six weeks, brain waves can be measured. At eight weeks, the vital organs are functioning and fingerprints have formed. At nine weeks, the unborn baby can feel pain. Over 700,000 abortions each year are performed after this point in the pregnancy. By the beginning of the second month, the unborn child, small as it is, has begun to look distinctly human, though the mother may not even be aware that she is pregnant! By the time the baby is eleven weeks old, he or she breathes (fluid), swallows, digests, sleeps, dreams, wakes, tastes, hears, and feels pain. Babies born prematurely can survive outside the womb as young as 20-25 weeks old. Yet, all that is necessary to make the baby a grown human being is already there from the moment of conception. All it needs is time to mature.

Former Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop stated “We now know when life begins because the test-tube baby proves that life begins with conception. What do you have in the dish? An egg and a sperm. What do you add to it to get a baby? Nothing.” Though it is wee, it is still a real person, just as a crumb of bread is still real bread. No one who has been given the gift of life should dare despise the day of small beginnings. Have we forgotten so quickly that we were once as small?

“In the tiny, almost invisible thirty-two cell blastocyst–in that one gram or so of tissue–there is a physical potential and moral destiny unparalleled in our universe. Next to it, a gram of plutonium is a triviality: plutonium cannot compose a symphony, cannot cure cancer, cannot plan our course to the stars”. -Bernard Nathanson, M.D., and former abortionist-

A Spiritual View of What the Bible Says about Abortion

God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knew this man before he was born. As he was forming in his mother’s womb God gave him his personality, talents, and temperament. If his mother had gotten an abortion, the “fetal tissue” she aborted would have been a real person named Jeremiah; a mighty prophet of God and the gift of God’s voice to the nations, though she would never have known.

The Lord hath called me from the womb: from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Isaiah 49:1

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us within our mothers? Job 31:15

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13-14

The above verses are only a sampling of the many Biblical references we find to live inside the mother’s womb. From them, it is clear that life begins when God creates it, not at some later point in time when it has grown to look like a newborn. God does not judge things according to their stage of development the way humans tend to. According to the above passages, even the tiniest embryo is the subject of His love and care. God sees each of our lives in the realm of our total existence, whether we are yet unborn, a young woman in the prime of her life, or an old man on his deathbed. He is patient with all of us, longing to bring each one of us into His maturity.

Do We Look Like God?

To destroy innocent human life is a crime against God and a rejection of the truth that we were made in His image. Everything in the universe belongs to Him anyway. Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and ALL who live in it.” Our own lives are a precious gift given to us, but ultimately, we belong to God! We are His possessions; we have merely been granted stewardship over our lives, talents, money, time, the earth we live on, and the things we “own.” Though children pass through us they are not ours, any more that we are the property of our parents. Each of us has been given the gift of life and freedom, for which we are responsible and accountable to God. None of us has the right to deny that same gift to an unborn person. It is an honor to carry that powerful force of another life within our very bodies– a life made in the very image of God! (Genesis 5:1-2)

God is no respecter of persons. If He knew Jeremiah in the womb, He knew you too. Do you believe that God lovingly fashioned you and loves you dearly? Do you believe that He has had a plan for your life from the beginning of time? A plan that none other can fulfill in quite the same way you can? That you came to this earth “trailing clouds of glory?” Or do you believe in your heart that you were a mere “accident” and that God has no personal concern for you or your life? Is it easier to believe that you are just a highly evolved animal? An animal (especially an undeveloped one) may certainly be easier to dispose of. It seems somehow even “natural,” as the laws of nature lend themselves to the survival of the strong and the equipped. Yet it seems doubtful that even an animal would come up with a way to deliberately kill its unborn offspring.

Even the jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert. Lamentations 4:3

Oh, let us turn from our heartlessness and defend the sanctity of human life! Out of respect for God, let us offer mercy and compassion to every life around us, born or unborn. Let us be givers of life instead of takers of life.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Every 20 seconds another baby is aborted in this country, yet very few seem to notice. Statistically, one out of every three of us will die by abortion, and we will never know what we lost in those lives. Our country goes along its way leaving lawmakers to decide how the carnage should continue. We’ve bought into the lie that those we dispose of are not real people. It is the same old lie that was used to keep slavery legal and to exterminate masses of people in holocausts all over the world. We should be able to see through it by now, but as usual, most of us let circumstances and the current cultural climate dictate to us what is acceptable or not. Yet God tells us to: “Rescue those being led away to death, hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say ‘But we knew nothing of this,’ does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Proverbs 24:11).

In our society today, we face a myriad of social problems as a result of our hypocrisy. Most of us have had to become somewhat double-minded just to keep a vestige of sanity. We put warnings on cigarettes and alcohol, that their consumption is dangerous to an unborn child. Yet we deem it perfectly legal, even “responsible” for a mother to have a doctor poison that same child inside her, or rip it to shreds with a surgical instrument. We might charge a man who kills a pregnant woman with a double homicide, yet what if that woman was on her way to the abortion clinic to dispose of her baby anyway? Do we then charge him with a single homicide? Why do 21 states have legislation to delay a death sentence imposed against a pregnant woman who is guilty of a crime, until after she delivers her baby? If we believed what we said about the unborn child is a mere blob of tissue, it would seem that no one would mind if that baby died along with the mother in the electric chair.

We wonder how respectable college kids can throw their newborn babies into a dumpster, yet what are we supposed to think? We’re the ones who told them that it is irresponsible to raise a child at a young age and that an “unwanted child” (which is a fallacy) is better off dead. They are not to blame as much as the media, the lawmakers, the abortion counselors, the doctors, and the voters. When a woman can have an abortion on a nine-month-old unborn child, and yet a week later be tried for murder if she disposed of the child outside the womb (which at that point, would seem to be a much easier and practical way to dispose of the baby) what are the young people of this nation supposed to think? Do we have to wonder at the lack of respect for human life that we see around us?

Evil prevails when good men, in the name of freedom, do nothing. 1 Peter 2:16: “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.” Very few of us would argue that crack cocaine or rape should be legal simply because people are going to do it anyway, yet that is the argument that is applied to abortion. As a nation, our morals and ethics vacillate between honor and convenience, integrity and greed. This double-mindedness has become cancer-eating away at the very heart of our nation.

History will speak of our abortion as a mark of the absolute decadence of our era. There will come a time when we will look back on abortion with the same shame we do now towards our evil treatment of the American Indians, and the blight of slavery. We wonder why history continues to repeat itself. It is because evil starts in little ways–it starts as a seemingly innocent thought in the heart of man. Sin always seems practical, necessary, or even “cute” in its initial stages. It is only in hindsight that we can see just how atrocious those massive exterminations were and how they went against the very core of what the United States was supposed to be. Yet, we have no right to condemn previous generations for the same deeds we commit today. Then, as now, the masses simply went along with whatever was the popular opinion. With slavery, it was even argued that the government didn’t have a right to tell people whether they could own slaves or not… That it was a personal choice to be made and that freedom of choice is what our country is all about. Only in that case, they forgot the rights of one whole people group. Sound familiar?

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said. “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” Genesis 4:9-11

As a nation, we must repent for the heartlessness we have displayed to the most helpless members of our culture. Though God is merciful, He is also just. He cannot ignore the cries of the blood that has soaked our ground and stained our hands. We are bringing ourselves under a curse, but do not have the eyes to see it. We only see the fruit of that curse and we wonder what went wrong. Like Cain, our ears have become deafened to the cries of those we have murdered.

True Freedom Comes from Following the Bible’s Teachings

There are too many of us who prefer to let the media do our thinking for us. Should we disagree, many of us are too intimidated to ever speak out with conviction. As we let time go by, our godly convictions begin to slip away and we become numb. Eventually, we may even support that which we had earlier condemned. This is called the “searing of a conscience.” It happened in Hitler’s Germany and it is happening today. How can we bring a dead conscience back to life? How can we know the difference between right and wrong? As was just established, we cannot merely “listen to our heart” and follow what seems best at the time. Some of the most horrifying deeds in history have been done by those who were following whatever moral code was most convenient at the time. Freedom is not doing whatever suits our fancy at the moment. That will only bring slavery and sorrow to our souls. True freedom is having the power to know what is right and to choose accordingly. But how can we choose, if we do not know? How can we obtain true freedom?

You shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free. John 8:32

We must cleanse our minds by washing them with water through the WORD. Ephesians 5:26

God’s WORD is the Bible — ancient, yet ageless and seething with life. It will clean our thinking and bring life to our sin-deadened minds so we can see what He sees and feel what He feels. It will reveal our very thoughts to ourselves.

For the WORD of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Respect for God, His creation, and His Holy WORD, is the only way we will ever find true freedom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

Wisdom and compassion cannot be found outside of God for He is wisdom and He is love. Long before heaven and earth were made, and long after they disappear, His WORD will remain. On the Day of Judgement, abortion and every other atrocity we have tried to justify will be shown for the evil it is. We must seek God now, while we have the time to do it! Today is the day of salvation.

It is not too late to repent and turn our hearts back to the Lord. We can bring healing and life to this land that we love if we will humble ourselves before God’s mighty right hand.

If my people, who are called by my name, and humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

God Loves You!

If you are planning an abortion, please reconsider. Though your situation may seem hopeless, God will work something beautiful in your life if you trust and obey Him. Choosing to “remove” your problem will only create new ones. Michah 6:7: “Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” You will have to bear the guilt of your abortion or else harden your heart to not feel guilty. God loves both you and your child very much, and if you feel incapable of raising him or her, there are thousands of couples who have waited years for the chance to adopt a baby. Though it may be difficult to give it away, you will have given it the greatest gift of all–life. As Mother Theresa put it so simply “Love means to be willing to give until it hurts.” Give your child to a family that will truly love it. You can make the dreams of a childless couple come true… and you can bless the heart of God.

If you have already had an abortion, please do not feel that this was written only to bring you under guilt and condemnation. What is done is done and cannot be changed. God has your child in heaven with Him and longs to forgive you if you ask Him to. Once God forgives a sin, He forgets it, and DOES NOT HOLD IT AGAINST YOU ANY LONGER! Please do not hold against yourself what God has forgotten. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:18, 25). Receive His love, for He loves you just as much as the child you lost. He already took your sin and bore it upon Himself so you would not have to bear the punishment, which would be eternal separation from Him. He knows the agony you’ve gone through better than any other, for He was there too, with you. Open your life to Him and let Him give you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair. He will make you into an oak of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor (Isaiah 61:3).

In conclusion, the words of God ring out as clearly now as they did over 3,000 years ago:

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before your life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 30:19-20 From: Elder Steven P. Miller @ParkermillerQ, Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, https://twitter.com/StevenPMiller6 Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman, https://www.tumblr.com/gatekeeper-watchman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller https://www.facebook.com/StevenParkerMillerQ #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller,#Eldermiller1981

[yougotthewrongidea]

You Should Commit... Murder? Is it murder? Glad I'm Not Involved...

But... I will give a perspective. This might shake the world or in the least show a different thought to the Abortion topic. Let me speak before you yell at me.

For decades, I got the notion that girls who had that naughty sinful unprotected sex before marriage; they go and get an abortion. (Bye twerp, didn't sign off on you existing; just wanted that "good-good") That is where the problem first is applied. If you make it that girls/women are accountable and it is either no sex or baby could happen. Done here.

Since the drapes got ripped open, the ones fighting for abortion to be legalize is due to: mom is having complications, baby could not make it, mom and baby are in peril, rape victims and incest "heathens". Those are the ones who should have it / are wanting abortions to exist and be instated.

Problem. Big problem. Yes, your body is yours. True. But what about the one that was forming? The ones who would die anyways, not a part of this. The ones we should be concerned about are the ones that weren't doing anything and are being birthed from a bad situation. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE. A doctor who invented something to save lives? A scientist that cured cancer?! A politician or many who discharged the old geezers from office and address Global Warming in the late 80s so it is not a problem?! That is the problem. To eliminate the baby to be should have consequences. (That we do not know)

If you want to play "God", fine. We need a machine that can tell the future potential of the baby / zygote. Then you can eliminate it if it amounts to nothing. If the baby would become a scientist and find breakthroughs while the mom is a clerk in a Stuckeys.... guess not is being "aborted", not the baby. Sorry. The technology would worsen things but show that you are ridding possibilities. Delaying the change and progress that we sadly need. The machine would turn the doctors or the wielders into a wannabe god. But hey, you might get that abortion if your kid amounts to nothing. But if they have the "assigned" potential to do something great, you will be having that child. After that, you would get money and kicked to the curb. No, you don't get to see the child ever again. You wanted to aborted them. (Hopefully with the machine, there will be a financial decision to make an orphanage academy where the baby gets mass potential than the average that they would get with the one who is like "have no money or etc".)

The rape victims. There is always this verse: Genesis 29:33 She said, “The LORD has given me this son also, because he heard that I was not loved”; Given there is a bit more content however some pastors point to this verse. God gave you that child because the man did not love you. Might also be just your body following the biological setup. But should the child really be punished because of the father or you think you are not ready to be a mother. Didn't Tupac say how beautiful it is that a rose is growing from concrete is. It happened for a reason. The result should not be negated. All actions affect the world we live in.

In the end, it is about "your body, your choice". It should be "will this abortion affect the world in any way or is the person trying to be born is just a nobody who don't deserve to be born?" Sounds harsh, doesn't it? Well that is the truth. Abortions are good for those who seek it but bad for the rest of the world if the person that would result from it could impact the world making it a bit better by their existence.

Probably just the wrong idea but ... it is just a mere opinion. Maybe a screwed opinion. The calculations are sadly on point. But might just by a hard wake up call for those who are too into their bodies to care.

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for September 3

Morning

“They went and told Jesus.”

Mark 6:14-29

The stir made by the mission of the twelve readied all classes of society.

Mark 6:14

Where there is an idle faith there is generally a busy imagination: Herod would not obey John’s religion, and yet became the slave of superstition. His conscience was not powerful enough to prevent his murdering the good man, yet it was not so dead as to allow him to rest in peace after the cruel deed.

Mark 6:15-18

This was faithful preaching. What is the good of a minister if he does not tell us our faults?

Mark 6:19 , Mark 6:20

Herod is a warning to us. He was not a mere hearer of John. He was an attentive and delighted hearer, and up to a certain point a doer of the word. Surely he bade fair for good things; and yet he became the murderer of the very man to whom he had listened with so much respect. If hearing the gospel does not change our nature, it has done little or nothing for us.

Mark 6:23

Probably he had become drunken while feasting, and so uttered the rash promise and confirmed it with an oath. When vice dances in the presence of drunkenness no good can come of it. This young girl danced off the prophet’s head: we have never read that any good at all proportionate to this evil ever came of dancing. For a child of God to join with the frivolous in their idle dances, would be as unbecoming as for an angel to wallow in the mire.

Mark 6:25

I will that thou give me by and by in a charger or a large dish

Mark 6:29

Or as another evangelist tells us, “they went and told Jesus,” which was the very best thing they could do. Happy are they who have learned to take all their trials to Jesus. Let us speak with him now in our prayer.

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare,

Jesus loves to answer prayer;

He himself has bid thee pray,

Therefore will not say thee nay.

With my burden I begin,

Lord, remove this load of sin;

Let thy blood, for sinners spilt,

Set my conscience free from guilt

Lord, I cast on thee my care,

Thou hast bid me leave it there;

For my heavenly Father knows

All my griefs, and wants, and woes.

Evening

“He satisfieth thy mouth with good things.”

Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30

Ministers are accountable to their Lord both for their doings and sayings, and they should neither do nor teach anything which they will be ashamed to relate to their Master.

Mark 6:31 , Mark 6:32

The most active servants of God cannot always have their minds upon the stretch; they must have relaxation. Their tender Master was careful to provide it for the apostles, and those who are of a kindred spirit should enable poor ministers at set times to enjoy a little needful retirement. Jesus took his apostles to a place where they could be alone, for rest in a crowd is not the rest ministers need.

Mark 6:33

No bell was wanted to call them together. The spirit of hearing was abroad, and the people flocked like doves to their windows, and this all the more eagerly because the preacher was going away. If we knew how soon good ministers will be called home to heaven, we should be far more eager to profit by them while they are spared to us.

Mark 6:34

He was not angry at losing his rest, but ready to bless the people, for he saw their need.

Mark 6:35 , Mark 6:36

This is the disciples way out of the difficulty. No doubt they can take care of themselves: ”send them away.” We hope something may be done for the masses, and there we leave it.

Mark 6:37

Meet their wants yourselves. Alas! the command sounds very hard when the exchequer is low!

Mark 6:37

They calculate the need, but forget the omnipotence which is at hand to meet it.

Mark 6:38 , Mark 6:39

The Lord had thus provided a noble banqueting hall, splendidly carpeted, and of vast dimensions, and there his guests sat in order, as became a royal entertainment.

Mark 6:40

For it was not a scramble, but a royal feast.

Mark 6:41-44

When Jesus blesses our slender gifts, he makes them sufficient for the feeding of thousands. It is ours to do our best, and trust in the Lord to make it useful. Lord, help us so to do.

Thy providence is kind and large,

Both man and beast thy bounty share;

The whole creation is thy charge,

But saints are thy peculiar care.

My God! how excellent thy grace,

Whence all our hope and comfort springs;

The sons of Adam, in distress,

Fly to the shadow of thy wings.

Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim,

And publish abroad his wonderful name;

The name all-victorious of Jesus extol;

His kingdom is glorious, and rules over all.

Salvation to God, who sits on the throne,

Let all cry aloud, and honour the Son;

The praises of Jesus the angels proclaim,

Fall down on their faces and worship the Lamb.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[peakwealth]

An Unbearable Absence of Justice

It has been more than eight years since someone pushed a button or turned a switch that sent a Russian BUK antiaircraft missile soaring into the sky over eastern Ukraine. We still do not know who that person was, but we do know that the missile reached its target, a Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 flying at a standard cruising altitude of 33 000 feet. It was on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

The elimination of flight MH 17 was a successful military strike. When the warhead detonated right outside the flight deck, the aircraft disintegrated and all its contents rained to earth, including 298 civilians. None survived the ten-kilometer drop.

The reconstructed hull of the aircraft, pieced together from debris collected in the fields where it fell, still stands in a Dutch hangar. It must be one of the most amazing pieces of forensic evidence ever shown at a criminal trial.

Remnants of MH 17 (Source: Openbaar Ministerie /Strafdossier MH17 = Dutch public prosecutor. *)

The judges prosecuting the case did not establish who executed the order to fire, presumably by mistake, but yesterday they handed down their verdict, finding three men guilty of murder, two Russian nationals and one Ukrainian. The defendants (if you can call them that) were tried and sentenced in absentia, the Russian Federation having refused to cooperate with the tribunal. In other words, they are unlikely ever to be troubled for what they were found to have done.

The evidence of Russian military involvement was overwhelming. It was their launcher on their truck brought in from across the border to execute the attack and then driven back to Russian territory after they realized what they had done. But Moscow looked the other way, declining all responsibility and suggesting the Ukrainians had done it to themselves.

To many, including myself, the tragedy of MH 17 foreshadowed the war that was to come. It was its gruesome prelude. What Vladimir Putin had unleashed in Ukraine created a precedent of denial and of impunity from which there was no way back.

The victims' relatives, most of whom were Dutch, were left with an unbearable sense of powerlessness, a maddening failure to hold anyone accountable for mass murder.

The MH 17 disaster also marked another turning point. For the first time in a major judicial investigation, open source intelligence from the internet was used to establish some of the incriminating facts beyond reasonable doubt. This was done, or at least initiated, not by the international task force set up to investigate the crash, but by an Amsterdam-based group of amateur sleuths who took an immediate interest in the case.

Bellingcat, which calls itself An Intelligence Agency for the People, had already used the same method to trace and expose war crimes in Syria, but MH 17 made it famous. It revolutionized investigative journalism around the world by turning the ubiquitous presence of the surveillance state to its advantage. Bellingcat showed that, with cellphones and cameras that never sleep, there was a lot of information floating around on the internet. If you were smart enough, that information could be harvested, correlated, geolocated and used as evidence. In the end, there was nowhere to hide, not even for the Russian military.

The problem was that Vladimir Putin, the man in charge of the Russian military, didn't care.

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

See also:

https://peakwealth.tumblr.com/post/189144742517

https://peakwealth.tumblr.com/post/94605441742

* The full interactive file of the prosecution of MH 17 makes for compelling reading and is available in Dutch or English at: https://www.prosecutionservice.nl/  under “Criminal Case MH 17″

[fannish-karmiya]

I've often noticed people in the MDZS fandom imply that the narrative essentially punishes all of the antagonists for their crimes and that, by extension, anyone who survives the end of the novel is thus not that bad, or at least redeemable. Personally, I find this a very flawed idea. MDZS is not a novel where justice prevails; it's a novel where those in power act with impunity and never face justice for it.

In fact, I think the only times anyone faces justice is when their victims happened to also be upper class.

No one in cultivation society cares that Jin Guangyao mass murdered prostitutes (twice). They don't even care that much about the smaller, less important sects who were massacred by Lanling Jin. They definitely don't care about the Wens. No, they care that he killed Nie Mingjue. They care that he married his sister, killed his father, and killed his son. Nie Huaisang only acted against Jin Guangyao because he wanted revenge for the death of his brother.

No one cares that Jiang Cheng led the siege and helped massacre 50 innocent people who were non-combatants (none of the Wen remnants had swords). No one cares that he spent 13 years hunting down people he suspects of practising guidao and torturing and killing them, regardless of whether they truly did or not, or whether they were using guidao to harm others or not. They also don't care that he sometimes killed people simply for having the name Wen and being unlucky enough to cross him.

That is why he survives to the end of the novel. Not because his crimes weren't horrific, not because he's been deemed redeemable or 'not that bad' by the narrative. But because his victims were people their society doesn't care about.

Dare I say it, it's the same with the Lans. Lan Xichen isn't being 'spared' by the narrative because he's just a hapless victim; his survival has nothing to do with whether he's a good person or not. In fact, he survived in the end because, to paraphrase MXTX: even scum has someone they care about. Gusu Lan's failings go unaddressed because their victims were people they could get away with hurting. Who will judge them as unrighteous for taking part in the siege, when all the other sects did, too? Who will judge them for how they imprisoned Lan-furen for life, when her fate was kept a secret and she had no powerful family to speak for her? Who will judge them for whipping Lan Wangji 33 times, when that, too, was kept a secret, and he was being punished for protecting Wei Wuxian, who the cultivation world only viewed as a dog to be put down? Who will judge them for not wanting to give shelter to Wen Yuan, an innocent child, when their whole world wanted to kill said innocent child?

Jiang Cheng is not left alive at the end because his crimes weren't 'that bad'. Lan Xichen isn't still alive because he's actually a good person (I'm sorry, when does he ever do anything actively good in the novel? he's very neutral). Lan Qiren isn't still alive and a respected elder of the Lan sect because he's a good person with no blood on his hands. All of the other sect leaders and cultivators who took part in the siege aren't alive because they were less culpable.

They're alive because their victims were people society doesn't care about, and still does not care about. That's it. That's the only reason.

[writteninkat]

Heyy🦌 May I have any of the MHA/BNHA boys watch/listen to you simping over other anime characters?

you can pick any characters just remember to have fun with it☺

its can be NSFW or SFW which ever you in the mood for🤗

and of course drink some water and eat daily🥰 we love health people here💅🏿😍

BNHA GUYS REACTING TO YOU SIMPING FOR ANIME CHARACTERS

w/ Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari, Iida, Todoroki

a/n: SORRY THIS TOOK A LIL LONG MY GRADE IS D FOR TIME MANAGEMENT + hope you stay healthy too <33 i had just started working out again and honestly my muscles are begging me to stop 😩

navigation

KATSUKI BAKUGOU

either you're with me or you're not, there's no in between. this man gets jealous

and no not the [sulks in the corner crying] jealous I mean the "HAH?! I BET IM BETTER THAN HIM AT THAT" jealous, usual katsuki

the character you simp for can cook? Katsuki will cook you ten meals a day to prove to you he's better than said character

the character has an amazing body? he'll walk around shirtless in the dorms when you're around just to show off his body

who cares if Aizawa might put him in detention for not wearing a shirt? he's got a dignity to uphold and no amount of detention hours can pull him back lmao

SHOTO TODOROKI

definitely gets competitive and not the Katsuki kind of competitive

you simp for Sasuke? he will give you a list of a hundred reasons why Naruto is better.

you simp for Oikawa? "I think Tsukishima is better. He made it to nationals."

you think Levi is hot? "We should call him 'Lev' now that he lost his 'I'. Lmao I think Jean is a better partner for you."

no matter how great the character you simp for is, he will mention another character and explain why the character he chose is better

long story short, just don't mention anything about simping for characters unless you want to have a bad day

he still babie tho <3 will watch your fave anime and read your fave manga with you, just don't mention anything about characters being simp-worthy

DENKI KAMINARI

mf simps with you

nah he doesn't get jealous cause he knows they're just fictional characters and he's the real thing (sounding pretty ironic there, don't ya think?)

"DENKI DID YOU SEE THE NEW AOT EPISODE??!! WE FINALLY GOT EREH PUTTING ON HIS JACKET ANIMATED"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP IM TRYING TO SAVOR THE MOMENT" he yells back, a feet away from his TV as his jaw hangs at how Eren looks.

"ugh I'd let Kaneki eat me." you groan, pausing the anime to look at your boyfriend who's smirking lazily at you, fist bumping you. "you and me, babe."

"I don't understand why girls in black clover simp for Asta so much." You frown to which your boyfriend groans at in agreement. "Exactly! Like Captain Yummy out here serving us mommy milkers for free and the girls don't bat an eye at him."

"babe on three, tell me your first anime crush." you grab onto his knee, shaking it to get his attention. "alright, bet." he nods.

"1..."

"2..."

"3!"

"Usui Takumi!"

"WE REALLY ARE MEANT TO BE!" he yells, pulling you into a bone crushing hug.

TENYA IIDA

doesn't understand why you do

"holy shit Eren's hot!"

"Why would you think that? He's a mass m*rderer."

"Babe you think Kaneki can like...get it?"

"The cannibal?"

"Fuck, I'd eat Sukuna's fingers too, fo sho."

"He didn't help Itadori save Junpei and left him to die. He laughed while he rejected Itadori's request. He also killed Itadori without hesitation once and I don't think he'll bat an eye for you."

"...Never mind Sukuna. Have you seen Megumi's father?"

"Hon his list of crimes are assassinations, mutilation, attempted murder, attempted child-"

"Okay I'm done with your shit just shut up."

EIJIROU KIRISHIMA

he's the exact opposite of Shoto, he'll definitely back you up.

give him ten reasons why you think Kageyama would be an amazing boyfriend and he'll give you an additional twenty more.

he's actually up to date with all the stuff about what's going on with the anime, and if he comes across a new update, he'll text you the link

whenever he finds merchandise of the character you like, he immediately buys it just to see your excited face <3

"Eij, so there's this convention thing about that anime I'm obsessed with and-"

"Sure, what time?"

"What."

"Like what time are we going? I'll need to know so I can clear up my schedule before hand."

he'll let you do his make up and wear the character's costume without a second thought just so you can live out your fangirl dreams <333

[stromuprisahat]

His pride inspired him to protect the Grisha who were being horribly treated, looked down upon, shamed, killed or maimed.

Actually, it was his compassion.

He understood then. The Grisha lived as shadows did, passing over the surface of the world, touching nothing, forced to change their shapes and hide in corners, driven by fear as shadows were driven by the sun. No safe place. No haven.

There will be, he promised in the darkness, new words written upon his heart. I will make one.

Demon in the Wood

But he didn't actually protect them in the end, did he?

No, he was murdered by his own and his enemies took it as permission to freely hunt Grisha even on Ravkan soil. Khergud, Fjerdan breeding facilities...

He fought for Ravka, fought for Grisha as long as he was the hero and his vision was what saved them, and did not care for the sacrifices that were made so much that I would argue he lost his original goal. The fold makes sense considering how often Ravka is at war, but was taken to too much of an extent and killed many, making people hate Grisha again.

A bit of contradiction, don't you think? The Fold makes sense, but it was too much?

It killed "many"? Who? One village docks city (depending on the book...)? How many were destroyed by Fjerdan raids? Or Shu Han? But we never get to see these, do we. That might make us question the narrative and who's the real evil here.

I can agree The Fold shouldn't have been used on Ravkan territory in books, that doesn't make sense, but I've always seen it as bad writing in order to make the Darkling the villain Alina needs to defeat. Not the stategic mind we're introduced and shown again and again.

How do we know Aleksander doesn't care about sacrifices? Because he doesn't break down every time something bad happens? He's been watching the most horrible events for centuries, often helpless to do anything about it. It might have made him numb enough not to cry about it, but that hardly means he doesn't care. He merely learnt to make every single sacrifice count. And he's the first one to make them, when it's needed, to a point of self-destruction.

“I have lived a long life, rich in grief. My tears are long since spent. If I still felt as you do, if I ached as you do, I could not have borne this eternity.”

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 15

He paused, studying me. “How are you finding life in hiding, Alina? You don’t look well.”

“Neither do you,” I said. It wasn’t just the scars. He wore his weariness like an elegant cloak, but it was still there. Faint smudges showed beneath his eyes, and the hollows of his sharp cheekbones cut a little deeper.

“A small price to pay,” he said, his lips quirking in a half smile.

Siege and Storm- Chapter 1

He let a nichevo’ya form behind Azarov, towering and bewinged. Calling on merzost was painful, like a breath torn from his lungs, a moment of terror as his life was ripped away to form another. Creation. Abomination. But he was used to it by now.

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 33

The funniest part is saying (parrotting the author, really) he's been doing his job "as long as he was the hero". That happened when, exactly? Because the Darkling we're introduced is feared and hated, othered by masses and Alina both, yet it doesn't stop him. He's readily embracing the role of a villain, if it serves his purpose and he'll be allowed to continue his carefully laid out plans.

Alexei insisted that I retell the story of the Grisha coaches, and it was met by the usual mix of fascination and fear that greeted any mention of the Darkling.

“He’s not natural,” said Eva, another assistant; she had pretty green eyes that did little to distract from her piglike nose. “None of them are.”

Alexei sniffed. “Please spare us your superstition, Eva.”

“It was a Darkling who made the Shadow Fold to begin with.”

“That was hundreds of years ago!” protested Alexei. “And that Darkling was completely mad.”

“This one is just as bad.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 1

“Someone has to lead, Alina. Someone has to end this. Believe me, I wish there were another way.”

He sounded so sincere, so reasonable, less a creature of relentless ambition than a man who believed he was doing the right thing for his people. Despite all he’d done and all he intended, I did almost believe him. Almost.

I gave a single shake of my head.

He slumped back in his chair. “Fine,” he said with a weary shrug. “Make me your villain.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 21

I'd also love to see that utopia, where Grisha weren't merely tolerated it Ravka. Even the Retcon duology admits they're hardly equal citizens...

“Perhaps you don’t give the people enough credit,” said Yuri.

“No?” said Zoya from her perch. “The people who still call Grisha witches despite the years they’ve kept this country safe? Who bar them from owning property in their towns—”

“That is illegal,” said Nikolai.

Zoya raised her glass in a mock toast. “I’ll be sure to inform them the next time a Grisha family is driven from their home in the middle of the night.”

King of Scars- Chapter 12

And the retaliation and punishment for going against him was severe and enforced by him. Was it necessary? Hell no. This part of his pride, the selfish, controlling pride was what made him the villain, and is clearly negative.

Are we talking about him not treating traitors and deserters in kid gloves? Really? Because what would you have him do? Sit them down, patiently listen to their fears and objections and explain his every single move?

That's not about someone's pride, but actual order and how military usually works. Do you think disobedience is tolerated in organization build on the opposite? This is 19th-ish century army, not democracy of 21st. You don't like the comparison, don't use the set pieces.

From what I can tell others such as Alina and the Triumvirate are positive activists. People like them have his old pride, have his rage and need for justice. But they aren't as selfish and have more compassion. Even Zoya. And that's what separates him from them.

Genuinelly laughing my ass off on this.

Alina- an activist? Alina "I want to be left alone" Starkov? She isn't proud, she's persuaded the world revolves around her and has love/hate relationship with the notion. Totally different thing.

Also have no idea, where you gathered those "heroes" have "rage, need for justice, compassion and aren't selfish".

Poor Genya became one-dimensional perpetual victim and anti-Darkling mouthpiece that likes to blame everything on him, probably including fall of Roman empire and they don't even have one...

David's personality is "loves his wife, tinkers and occasionally feels guilty for helping the Big Bad". We don't really get to see more of him, his main purpose, aside from the above, is to die, which tends to anger anyone, who liked glimpses of his (NOT)autistic ass.

Don't even get me started of LB's overpowered self-insert. She likes to list all her people, who died due to the Darkling, but the living matter only as long as they're one of hers. Facing hard choices, she has plot armour to make everyone love her and bow down to her just in time to save those 3.5 people she cares about and knows by name. That's unlikable character and bad writng right here.

“This is a trap,” said Genya. “Not a negotiation tactic. He wants you to do something rash. Zoya? Zoya, what are you doing?”

Zoya stalked back to the tent. “Something rash.”

“We have a strategy,” Genya argued, hurrying to follow. “It’s working. We need to stick to it. And Nikolai needs you to help guide our rockets.”

…

She shook her head and plunged into the tent, stripping off the First Army uniform she’d worn to disguise her identity. “There are other Squallers,” she said as she dug through her trunk for something less recognizable. “Adrik can guide the missiles. And I’ll be back in plenty of time. With Nina Zenik in tow.”

“She may not even be alive.”

Zoya nearly tore the roughspun shirt she’d drawn from her trunk. “She is not dead. I forbid it.”

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 36

Pretty sure if the Darkling had the power to make his wishes come true, we wouldn't be having this conversation...

The part of his pride which made him want to fight for and protect Grisha was could have made him good, or at least the person Grisha and Ravka needed. But he failed and became the monster Grisha haters needed to confirm their beliefs. That is where he went wrong.

I don't know how you think prejudice works, but it's sort of in the word itself. It's about judging pre-meeting whoever it's against. There was no excuse needed to hate Grisha. That's been happening this whole time, Ravkan General's military decision or not. The Fold just got on the list of reason, why is it justified, and it's terrifying to watch real, living people accept such notions.

But then again, operating on Good/Bad scale is rather tell-tale... We're not in a fairy tale.

#sorry for disagreeing but I think it definately needs to be remembered#I agree with the point that his orignal pride was admirable and courageous and if he'd stayed like that he would be the protagonist #except he wasn't #and he killed and punished many

I know the narrative likes to treat his actions as a result of arrogance, but he's literally military leader and the only person actively doing anything, offering real solutions, not just "Let's make a pretty speech and hug it out!".

#plus i disagree with the show in the banning of Keftas# like bruh #their Keftas are what makes them proud to be who they are in a time and country where what they are is frowned upon #like a pride flag or something

They're certainly a symbol. (And protective garment.) Not the only thing making Grisha proud, but celebration of their difference. And their enemies know it.

A large pyramid-shaped skylight looked down on what seemed to be a training room, its floor emblazoned with the drüskelle wolf’s head, the shelves lined with weapons. Through the next glass pyramid, he glimpsed a big dining hall. One wall was taken up by a massive hearth, a wolf’s head carved into the stone above it. The opposite wall was adorned by an enormous banner with no discernible pattern, a patchwork of slender strips of cloth—mostly red and blue, but some purple, too. It took Jesper a moment to understand what he was seeing.

“Saints,” he said, feeling a little sick. “Grisha colors.”

Wylan squinted. “The banner?”

“Red for Corporalki. Blue for Etherealki. Purple for Materialki. Those are pieces of the kefta that Grisha wear in battle. They’re trophies.”

“There are so many.”

Hundreds. Thousands. I would have worn purple, Jesper thought, if I’d joined the Second Army.

Six of Crows- Chapter 30

@glitter50000:

#I feel like also his pride in why its viewed as negative is that he doesn’t like to admit he’s wrong #Or it’s rare for him to admit that and he doesn’t like it when people get the best of him either

He's literally crawling to Alina any time she beats him somehow. He even offers her the throne after she tricks and almost kills him.

#You know he made the little palace and thanks to it the grisha are feared and respected at least by others and they don’t have to hide #But then his own actions with the Fold regressed that progress and he doesn’t want to admit it even if I believe that he knows that’s true

So we're back to "otkazat'sya have reasons to hate Grisha and it's the Darkling's miltary action, not the fact they've been doing it this whole time anyway"?! Please...

#But to admit it would mean to have to change how he’s been going at this for years but he thinks he’s right in how he views it #When how he thinks goes more for how it was when he was growing up and not now. When he was growing it was a dog eats dog world for grisha #Better to strike first and give them something to be afraid for then give them any chance to get you but #they’re not really in that world anymore in the present time

I bag you pardon, where? Look, I know the show made sure to skim over or straight up erase Grisha oppression, but how are Grisha better in present? When the best case scenario is live in Ravka with life-long military service and being basically property of the Crown, frowned upon, distrusted and viewed as something other?

The Darkling's pride is constantly presented as a negative trait, but I'd argue it's the exact opposite. He's living in a world, which treats "what" he is with suspicion at best, disgust and outright hatred more often than not. Not only he's refusing to accept such views, he's openly defiant. That takes a lot of courage and for me, it's worth admiration, not negative judgement.

[vladdocs]

The Crusader Vlad and the organization of his country's army and its defensive system When we refer to the remarkable merits of Vlad Țepeș's head of state and army [1], we cannot ignore his takeover of a politico-military conception that has its origins in the old Byzantine imperial crusade tradition, Dragula being indisputably the first of our voivodes who rose to fight against the Ottoman Turks after the entry of Byzantium into the rule of Sultan Muhammad II the Conqueror [2]. Of course, this takeover was also made because he considered himself the legal continuator of the anti-Ottoman struggle of the Byzantine basilicas (emperors) and the great Romanian rulers, especially after the death of Iancu de Hunedoara [3], "the last great European crusade" [4]. Thus, edifying for the pro-crusade politico-military thinking of Vlad Țepeș is also the “crusade duchy [5]” discovered at Târgșor (in Prahova county), ie in the place where Vlad built a church (…) and where there was, in the 15th century, a royal court ”[6]. The currency was struck, in all probability, between 1459-1461, in this case being a second monetary issue made during the reign of Vlad Tepes [7], because, wanting to intensify trade for economic development of the country (which resulted in the procurement of the financial resources necessary to fight the anti-Ottoman struggle), the Romanian voivode was also concerned with this aspect. The only copy of the respective monetary issue, discovered so far, the silver duchy mentioned above, has on its two facets images inspired by the Byzantine iconographic tradition. On the obverse, there appears the face of Vlad Ţepeş with a beard, seen from the front, standing, wearing a crown [on his head] and holding a long cross in his right hand, and the cruciferous globe in his left ”[8], practically“ the typical representation of the Byzantine emperor, in his double position of defender of Christianity and holder of the power of universal aspiration ”[9]. On the reverse is shown "the bust of Jesus Christ, seen [all] from the front, blessing with his right hand, and with his left holding the gospel to his chest" [10]. Practically "this image was also taken from the Byzantine iconographic tradition, being the representation on coins of rex regnantium, ie the hierarchical top of all Christian sovereigns" [11]. Putting the two effigies together on the same coin, certainly on the initiative of Vlad Ţepeş, leads to the conclusion that we are dealing with “a crusade duchy", the Romanian lord considering himself the direct heir of the old Byzantine crusade traditions and , therefore, the main Christian adversary of the Crusent [12], after the disappearance of Iancu de Hunedoara ”[13]. It is interesting to mention the fact that the first coin struck by Vlad Țepeș was a “penny” of anepigraphic silver (ie without any inscription) on the reverse of which appears a star with a tail in the shape of the letter «S», so a comet. The fact that, according to astronomical data, on June 8, 1456, the famous comet Halley (which could be seen for a whole month) appeared in the sky of Europe, led the specialists to conclude that Vlad Ţepeş was influenced in choosing the image for the reverse of the coin. issued from his order, right at the beginning of the second of his reigns, precisely by this rare and interesting astronomical phenomenon, "disturbing image, as it seems unique in the European numismatics of the time" [14]. Considering the uniqueness of Dracula in our history, but also in the universal one, we cannot fail to notice the amazing connection between the evolution of his politico-military career and the mentioned astral phenomenon, which, while at that time instilled a terrible horror in the population. For Europe, it was for him a "heavenly" sign under which he managed to defeat (and kill) his rival (Vladislav II [15]) and ascend to the royal throne of his ancestors [16]. Aiming to consolidate and protect the royal authority and the economic and socio-political bases of the anti-Ottoman resistance and “preparing the reopening of the war

with the Ottoman Empire to ensure state independence and restore the territorial unity of Wallachia, Vlad Țepeș took numerous measures to strengthen the court army (The permanent army- nnTC), the backbone of the "great army", making full use of its revenues for its reorganization, endowment and training, according to the requirements of the time ”[17]. Dragula was also concerned with hiring a large number of specialized fighters from the sister countries (ie Transylvania and Moldova - nnTC), especially those trained in the campaigns of Iancu de Hunedoara, giving a similar status to the soldiers in the country "[18 ]. At the same time, he "raised and strengthened in military positions faithful and talented people (…), chosen with discernment, according to the value criterion" [19]. In the time of Vlad the Impaler, the country's "small army" (as well as its personal guard) consisted of mercenaries, viteji(Braves)[20], courtiers and servants or princely servants, while "the great army" ( mobilized only in case of great danger) was composed of all those able to bear arms and fight (mostly of them, these being inhabitants of villages, but also of fairs and cities, which, "unlike the guard the lord [as well as the army of the courtiers, the troops of the princely servants and the troops of mercenaries], an elite army, were inhomogeneously armed, that is, each came with the weapon he had in the household ”[21]) [22]. In fact, Dragula is the first Romanian ruler, since Mircea the Elder, who raised to battle all those capable of wielding a weapon, an act of great courage that proves his ability to maneuver large masses of people on the battlefield [ 2. 3]. Constantly in a categorical and overwhelming numerical inferiority to the Ottoman invaders he had to face [24], Vlad Țepeș always resorted to a series of measures aimed at a "consistent application of the strategy of the struggle of the whole people (specific to the Romanians - nnTC), he destroying everything in the way of the invading army - thus depriving it of any logistical support in the invaded territory - and triggering bold actions of harassment, the latter - the prelude to a decisive battle - must undermine the combative potential of to the enemy and to decisively weaken his morale ”[25]. Relevant to the care given to military matters is the fact that according to tradition, after the end of any of the battles in which he took part, Dragula (who was a good fighter himself instilling in the whole army a spirit of order and discipline" [26], as well as great courage and love for the country to the point of self-sacrifice), he personally searched each fighter and “who was wounded in the face, gave him great honor and made him brave, [but] who was struck in the back , he ordered that he be put (put - nnTC) on the stake ”[27]. Being "agile and as good as possible in military affairs" [28], a fact recognized even by his enemies, the Ottoman Turks [29], Vlad Țepeș " enlarged and strengthened the military institution promoting peaseants to small rank boyars , exempt them from taxes and benefits in exchange for military service, thus cementing ties with the majority class of the time - the peasantry - a class that understood to serve with devotion the one who defended it from the abuses of the great nobility "[30]. Therefore, "the peasant soldiers of Vlad [Țepeș] defended the entire land of Wallachia, from the Danube, where the Ottoman fleet could not be controlled, until the mountains transformed into a natural fortress of resistance" [31], and Dracula "He himself, as an example of bravery and heroism, often fighting in the front lines, personally leading the attacks on enemy camps, established himself as a valiant defender of his country's independence, [as] a great lord and army commander, [he being] one of the the most brilliant leaders of the Romanian people ”[32]. Vlad Țepeș also paid special attention to the defensive system of his country (as, moreover, was normal in the context of his anti-Ottoman policy), he strengthened it with new cities of refuge, fortresses on

the probable directions of invasion and fortified monasteries ”[33]. Dracula proceeded both to repair, enlarge, strengthen and even raise the foundations of some fortresses, and to "build or rebuild the defensive walls" [34] of some monasteries, such as Cozia, Govora, Tismana, Snagov and Comana [ 35]. Among the fortresses rehabilitated, consolidated and enlarged by the worthy Romanian voivode is the fortress of Poienari (on the upper course of the river Argeș), which, between April-May 1457, he renovated and expanded, which was done according to Povestirilor about Vlad Ţepeş and the forced labor of a significant number of boyars and townspeople from Târgovişte (along with their families), who had plotted against him (these are the ones who took part in the murder of his older brother, Mircea]) [ 36]. The next is the fortress of Bucharest (on the river Dâmbovița), where, in order to monitor the Danube line (given that the fortress of Giurgiu had been occupied by the Turks), he ordered the construction of a strong fortress (which was built in the current area). center of Bucharest, now the well-known archeological ensemble "Curtea Veche"), which is considered the most important plain fortification erected by Dracula (practically, it rebuilds, expands and strengthens the fortress existing here since the time of his grandfather, of Ungrovlahia ”Mircea the Old) [37]. In fact, the first definite documentary attestation of Bucharest dates exactly from the time of Vlad Țepeș, more precisely from 1459, when, through the deed of September 20 (“true birth certificate of our Capital today” [38]), the great Romanian ruler it exempts donations and strengthens the property rights of some inhabitants [39]. The document, very damaged, was discovered around 1900 [40], it represents, more precisely, a deed that strengthened, through the signature of the fierce voivode, an act of sale-purchase of some estates from Ponor (locality today in the county Mehedinti). The act concludes with the following text: "It was written on September 20, in the city of Bucharest, in the year (according to the" Byzantine era "- nn TC) 6968 (ie 1459 [according to" our era "- nn TC]), Io Vlad voivod, by the mercy of God, sir ”[41]. Also, on the last line of this document is mentioned the name “Bucharest [42]. If we take into account the large number of documents written on the orders of Vlad Ţepeş from his residence in Dâmboviţa, we can conclude that, starting with 1459, he led the affairs of the state here, practically Bucharest (or Dâmboviţa Fortress, as it was also called urban settlement at that time) becoming (along with Târgoviște) the second capital of the Romanian south-Carpathian state [43]. Finally, another fortress built by Vlad Țepeș is the fortress of Frumoasa, which, being located on the valley of the river Vedea (right on its bank), "controlled the access road coming from the Danube ford, from the right Zimnicea locality ”[44]. This "fortification, with an area of ​​2.5 ha, consisted of three rows of waves and two ditches arranged concentrically, the central wave, square in plan with a side of 43 m, carrying the wooden structure of the palisade [45], and the other two were of the simple type, having a rectangular route (the second) and trapezoidal (the outer one) ”[46]. Vlad Țepeș also ordered the expansion of the military constructions of all voivodship residences [47], such as the one in Târgovişte (at that time the largest urban settlement in the country and the main royal residence) [48], where, among other things, he “rebuilt the walls of the fortress with Transylvanian stonemasons” [49] and at the same time, “it seems to have been erected [by his command] and the famous tower of Chindia” [50], which was built , initially, for military purposes, the building serving as a guard point, and later it was also used as a fireplace, as well as for storing the country's treasure [51]. By investing large sums of money in the construction of solid buildings, made of stone and brick, Vlad Ţepeş made both the city and his royal court in Târgovişte to

have a truly princely appearance [52]. "The repair and enlargement of the walls of the royal court made it much stronger and, from now on, to be called a 'fortress'" [53] (on this occasion the royal palace was extended here, erected in a first form by Mircea the Old) [54]. In this sense, the opinion of Ştefan Báthory [55] (the supreme commander of the Transylvanian troops sent to Wallachia by King Matia Corvin to help Vlad Ţepeş to return for the third time to his reign) is also relevant. 1476, he visited Târgoviştele (after it was occupied by the army led by the Transylvanian “captain” and Dracula) and, at his sight, he stated that it was “a real fortress” [56], his opinion being an informed one, because where he came from, the art of building large fortifications was well represented, "and the notions of the military were much more precise." Referring to the exceptional qualities proved by Vlad Ţepeş as organizer of the defense of his country, and not only, as well as as a fighter with a gun in his hand and a leader of the army on the battlefield, a great specialist in military history in the eighteenth century , the Frenchman M. de Follard, appreciated them as remarkable, which is why, in his vision, the brave Romanian prince proved to be "one of the greatest captains (army leaders - nn TC) of his century" [58] , bringing as the main argument for this cataloging his famous victory obtained after his unprecedented and daring night attack, executed on 16/17 June 1462 on the camp of the huge Ottoman army near Targoviste (led by the conqueror of Constantinople, Sultan Muhammad of II), a battle that entered the popular tradition and historiography under the name of "Night Attack" [59]. ________________________ [1] Also nicknamed Dragula, Vlad III Ţepeş was the son of Vlad II Dracul (in his turn illegitimate son of Mircea cel Bătrân [who ruled the medieval Romanian state in the South Carpathians between 1386-1418 - History world in data, Romanian Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1972, p. 567], he ruled Wallachia between 1436-1442 and from 1443 to 1447 [Ibidem]) and Mrs. Anastasia (one of the daughters of Alexander the Good [Virgil Ciocâltan, Between the Sultan and the Emperor: Vlad Dracul in 1438, in “Revista de istorie”, XXIX, No. 11, Bucharest, 1976, pp. 1777, 1782], the lord of Moldavia between 1400-1432 [History of the world in data, p. 569]), he being, therefore, nephew of the two great voivodes, who completed the Romanian statehood in the south and east of the Carpathians. Dracula ruled over "Ungrovlahia" (the name of Wallachia in internal documents written in Slavonic) three times, namely from October (before 17-19) until the beginning of November (certainly after October 31) 1448; from July (before 3) 1456 to November (before 26) 1462 and from October (after 7) / November (before 📷 until the end of December 1476, possibly even until the beginning of January (certainly before of 10) 1477 (Constantin Rezachevici, Encyclopedia of Romanian Lords. Critical Chronology of the Lords of Wallachia and Moldova, vol. I [XIV-XVI Centuries], Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 2001, pp. 101, 103, 115, 117, 801 , 802). [2] Mehmed II ruled the Ottoman Empire between 1444-1446 and 1451-1481 (History of the World in Dates, p. 567). [3] Remarkable politician and brilliant leader of the Romanian army, who lived between 1407-1456 and held high dignities in the Kingdom of Hungary, including that of regent or governor general of Hungary (between 1446-1453), he being the main promoter of the struggle of Christendom against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire, which he led, practically, between 1441-1456. Also, Iancu de Hunedoara was the father of the most important king of Hungary, Matia I Corvin, who reigned between 1458-1490 Tiberiu Ciobanu, «Fortissimus athleta Christi», Iancu de Hunedoara 555, Eurostampa Publishing House, Timișoara, 2011, p 15-28, 118, 192-193). [4] Ioan-Aurel Pop, The name of the family of King Matthias Corvinus: from period sources to contemporary historiography, in "Studies and materials of

medieval history", XXVI, Bucharest, 2008, p. 138. Regarding the related aspects of the “imperial idea” in Romanian, see also Dumitru Năstase, The imperial idea in the Romanian Lands. The genesis and its evolution in relation to the old Romanian art (XIV-XVI centuries), Athens, 1972; Petre Ș. Năsturel, Considérations sur l’idée impériale chez les Roumains (Considerations on the Imperial Idea in Romanian), in “Byzantina”, tom. V, Thessaloniki, 1973, pp. 397-413. [5] In the Middle Ages, in Wallachia, the "duchy" was a silver coin, weighing about one gram and worth three "money" (the name given to coins that have circulated over time on the territory of today Of Romania and whose value varied according to epochs and regions, small coin, initially silver, then copper, having the lowest value [Tiberiu Ciobanu, Glossary, in Stephen the Great and Saint and his brilliant victory in Vaslui against the Turks Ottomans, Eurostampa Publishing House, Timișoara, 2015, p. 366]), whose prototype (model) was the Venetian silver duchy, beaten since 1202 (Ibidem, p. 431). Stephen the Great was "great voivode and lord" of Moldavia from April 14, 1457 to July 2, 1504 (History of Romania in data, Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1971, p. 457). Being the son of Bogdan II (who ruled the eastern Romanian-Eastern Carpathian state from October 12, 1449 to October 15, 1451 [Ibidem]) and the nephew of Alexander the Good, he was closely related to Dracula [they were primary cousins] , because the mother of the latter, Mrs. Anastasia, was in turn the daughter of Alexander the Good and, therefore, sister (at least in paternal line) with the father of Stephen the Great (Virgil Ciocâltan, op. cit., p. 1777 , 1782). [6] Ştefan Andreescu, Vlad Ţepeş Dracula between legend and historical truth, second edition, revised, Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1998, p. 99. [7] Ibidem. [8] Ibidem. The term "globe cruciger" refers to a Christian symbol of authority, which was used in the Middle Ages, but which is still found on some coins, as well as in iconography. It represents a globe on which is placed a cross, used as a royal insignia, for coronation, in several monarchies in Europe. This is especially the case of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, where it was designated as the "imperial globe". The cross on the globe, which symbolizes God's dominion over the entire world, is much larger than the globe, suggesting God's priority over human affairs. The globe, in the hand of the emperor, also signifies the divine origin of the power he exercises. The term comes from the Latin phrase "globus cruciger", consisting of the words "globus", meaning "sphere, globe", and "cruciger" [composed in turn from the noun "crux, crucis", meaning "cross" and the verb "gero , gerere, gessi, gestum ”, meaning“ to carry ”], which means“ bearer of the cross ”) and has the meaning of“ bearer of the cross ”(ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globus_cruciger). [9] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., pp. 99. [10] Ibidem. [11] Ibidem. [12] Part of the Moon's semicircular disk, illuminated by the Sun during one of the phases of the star; The moon seen in the phase of the first and last square. Symbolic sign of Islam, representing the Moon in the rising phase, in the form of a "sickle". Figuratively, the Ottoman Empire, the Turks, the Muslims; Islam, Mohammedanism [13] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., pp. 99; Octavian Iliescu, Unknown Duchies issued by two voivodes of Wallachia in the 15th century, in the “Bulletin of the Romanian Numismatic Society”, years LXXVII-LXXIX (1983-1985), Bucharest, 1987, pp. 268-278. [14] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., p. 63. [15] This was the son of Dan II the Brave (who ruled over Wallachia between 1420-1431, with four interruptions [History of the World in Data, p. 567]), who in turn had him as father on Dan I (who ruled the medieval Romanian state in the South Carpathians between 1383-1386 [Ibidem]), considered to be the father of Dăneşti, one of the two main branches of the princely dynasty of the Bessarabians, along with that of the Drăculeşti Vlad

Dracul, Vlad Țepeș's father, but who generally refers to the descendants of Mircea cel Bătrân). Vladislav II ruled between 1447-1456, with a brief interruption in the autumn of 1448, when the throne of Targoviste was first occupied by Vlad the Impaler (Ibidem, p. 568). In unknown circumstances, Vladislav II was executed by order of Dracula, on August 20, 1456 (after his defeat and capture following the battle of Târgșor [Prahova County], which took place before this date), finding- and eternal rest at Dealu Monastery (Constantin Bălan, Dealu Monastery, 2nd edition, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1968, pp. 6-8, 24). [16] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., pp. 63; Jean Delumeau, Fear in the West (14th-18th century). A besieged fortress, vol. I, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1986, pp. 118-119. [17] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, Militară Publishing House, Bucharest, 1986, p. 259. [18] Ibidem: Ioan Bogdan, Documents regarding the relations of Wallachia with Brasov and with Hungarian Country in sec. XV-XVI, vol. I, Bucharest, 1905, p. 99. [19] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 259. [20] In the Middle Ages, in the Romanian Lands, the term "brave" meant a person who belonged to a category of landowners, similar to the knights of Western Europe and having special military tasks. Our princes raised many of their soldiers, who stood out on the battlefield, among the brave, especially from the second half of the fifteenth century and, especially, by Stephen the Great and Vlad the Impaler (Tiberiu Ciobanu, op cit., p. 633). [21] Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, In the footsteps of Vlad Țepeș, Sport-Turism Publishing House, Bucharest, 1979, p. 123. [22] Istoria Românilor, vol. IV, Editura Enciclopedică, București, 2001, p. 352; The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 259; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., pp. 119-123. [23] Ibidem, pp. 123; Tiberiu Ciobanu, The Night Attack, in From Rovine to Călugăreni. Great victories of the Romanian armies over the Ottoman Turks, Eurostampa Publishing House, Timișoara, 2014, p. 68. „In addition to the numerical increase of the soldiers who depended directly on the reign - mercenaries, servants, heroes, courtiers his army, mercilessly punishing those who did not respect his dispositions ”(Istoria Românilor, vol. IV, p. 352). Honestly and strongly "impressed by this discipline" (Ibidem), the Grand Vizier Mahmud Pasha * himself stated in the summer of 1462 that if Dracula had a larger number of fighters he "could reach great power" ( Laonic Chalcocondil, Historical Exhibitions: The Rise of Turkish Power, The Fall of the Byzantine Empire (Romanian edition by Vasile Grecu), RPR Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 1958, p. 289). * Nicknamed the "Greek" (probably due to his origin), Mahmoud Pasha was the son-in-law of Sultan Muhammad II the Conqueror and Grand Vizier (the first counselor and his deputy) between 1455-1467 and 1472-1473 or, according to another opinion, between 1456 -1468 and 1472-1474 (Mustafa Ali Mehmed, History of the Turks, Scientific and Encyclopedic Publishing House, Bucharest, 1976, p. 383; ro.-wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmud_Pașa). [24] Dracula never had more than 30,000-32,000 fighters (Military History of the Romanian People, vol. II, p. 263) and this only by decreeing the general mobilization, on this occasion being recruited all men and young people from his country, capable of carrying weapons, "from 12 years upwards" (the magazine "Trajan's Column" [edited by BP Hasdeu], NS, IV, Bucharest, 1883, p. 36). [25] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, pp. 272-273. [26] Ibidem, pp. 259. [27] The Slavo-Romanian chronicles from the XV-XVI centuries. Published by Ioan Bogdan (critical edition by P. P. Panaitescu), R.P.R. Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 1959, pp. 207-208. [28] Foreign travelers about the Romanian Lands, vol. I (edited by Maria Holban), Scientific Publishing House, Bucharest, 1968, p. 176. [29] "The results of his reorganization and training of the army and his qualities as a

military commander were appreciated even by his fiercest opponents, and Turkish chroniclers regarded him as" famous among his peers and in his craft. to lead armies. He was also unique in serdaria (ie in command, this word coming from the term "serdar" * - nn TC), a second like him not being in the land of the ghiauri ", Sultan Mehmed II himself (ie Muhammad II- the Conqueror - nn TC) “considering him a brave man, and praising him to others” ”(Military History of the Romanian People, vol. II, p. 260; Turkish Chronicles on the Romanian Lands, vol. I [compiled by Mihail Guboglu and Mustafa Ali Mehmed], RSR Academy Publishing House, Bucharest, 1966, p. 199). Ghiaur = pejorative name (ie unfavorable, derogatory, contemptuous), used by the Turks to designate those of a religion other than the Mohammedan, in Turkish meaning "unbeliever" (Tiberiu Ciobanu, Glossary, in Mircea cel Batran the most agile of Christian principles », Eurostampa Publishing House, Timișoara, 2013, p. 188). * The generic name, in the Ottoman Empire, of the commander-in-chief of a large Turkish expeditionary military corps (Idem, Glossary, in Stephen the Great and Saint and his brilliant victory at Vaslui against the Ottoman Turks, p. 593). [30] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 259-260. [31] Ibidem, p. 283. [32] Ibidem, p. 283-284. [33] Ibidem, p. 260. [34] Ibidem. [35] Ibidem. [36] Gheorghe I. Cantacuzino, Poienari Fortress, 15th-16th centuries, in “Studies and researches of ancient history”, tom. XXII, no. 2, Bucharest, 1971, pp. 263-289; Maria Ciobanu, Nicolae Moisescu, Radu Ștefan Ciobanu, Poienari Fortress, Sport-Turism Publishing House, Bucharest, 1984; The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, pp. 88-89; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., 109-112. [37] Panait I. Panait, The Citadel of Bucharest in the 14th and 15th centuries, in “Revista Muzeelor”, no. 4, Bucharest, 1969, pp. 310-318; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., pp. 103-105; Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., pp. 97; Gheorghe I. Cantacuzino, Problems of the relations between the beginnings of the medieval urban settlements and the princely courts from Wallachia, in “Studia Valachica”, Târgovişte, 1970, pp. 104-105. [38] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., p. 94. [39] H. Chircă, Historical-Philosophical Commentary on the Chrysostom of September 20, 1459, in "Studies", vol. XII, no. 5, Bucharest, 1959, pp. 5-7; Radu Olteanu, Bucharest in dates and events, Paideia Publishing House, Bucharest, 2002, p. 14. [40] Ibidem; H. Chircă, op. cit., p. 5-7. [41] Ibidem; Radu Olteanu, op. cit., p. 14. According to the “Byzantine era”, the date of “Creation” is the year 5508 BC. Often encountered in the form of "years since the creation of the world" or "years since the building of the world" or "years since Adam", this chronology was officially used in the Byzantine Empire (by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople) and other churches. Orthodox from 692 to 1728. In the Romanian Lands, it was used mainly until the middle of the eighteenth century, being gradually replaced, until the middle of the nineteenth century, with "our era" (abbreviated "en"), which we count from the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is why the abbreviation "AD" is used. Because the "Byzantine era" is considered to be 5508 years older than "our era", in order to transpose the years of the "Byzantine era" into the years of "our era" this difference of years must be taken into account, using operations. subtraction or addition, depending on the situation(ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Era_bizantină). [42] Radu Olteanu, op. cit., p. 14; H. Chircă, op. cit., p. 5-7. [43] Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., p. 105. In fact, Dracula spent four of the more than six years of his reign “in the city of Bucharest”, preferring it to the royal residence in Târgoviște, this, especially, out of the desire to be as close as possible of the Danube, in order to be able to better supervise the movements of the Turks (Radu Olteanu, op. cit., p. 14; H. Chircă, op. cit., p. 5-7). [44] The military history of the Romanian people,

vol. II, p. 90; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., p. 123. [45] Wooden fence or "wall", used in the past as a defense structure; fortification element, used in older defensive arrangements, consisting of thick and long poles, knocked to the ground, tied together with planks, ropes, ropes (tree branches, tree branches, etc.) etc. and having between the spaces braids of twigs, sometimes also a filling of beaten earth. The height of a palisade could be up to three meters. Synonym: (rarely today) lever ((ro.wiki-pedia.org/wiki/Palisadă; dexonline.ro/definiție/palisade). [46] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 90. „The ditches (fortress from Frumoasa - n.n. T.C.) had oblique walls, with a maximum width of 8-12 m; the difference between the wave coast and the ditch wire was between 6 and 10 m. Outside the central palisade there was a platform, approx. 3-3.5 m, on which the defenders of the fortress circulated. For the construction of the central palisade, two ditches were dug with a depth of 1-1.30 m, on the bottom of which were fixed, in an oblique position, thick oak poles, at a distance of 0.15-0.25 m from each other . Between the rows of stakes, at different levels of them, thick beams and beams were fixed, horizontally or obliquely, thus compartmentalizing the skeleton of the palisade, which was then covered with beaten earth ”(Ibidem). [47] Gheorghe I. Cantacuzino, op. cit., p. 104-105; Istoria militară a poporului român, vol. II, p. 90; Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., p. 97; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., p. 123. [48] ​​Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., pp. 97; The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 260; Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., pp. 123-126; Nicolae Constantinescu, Cristian Moisescu, Royal Court of Târgovişte, 2nd edition, Meridiane Publishing House, Bucharest, 1969. Royal and capital residence between 1396 and 1714, Târgoviște held for more than three centuries the status of the most important economic, political center -military and cultural-artistic of Wallachia, currently being the city-municipality of residence of Dâmbovița County, administrative-territorial unit from the central-southern part of the country, more precisely from the central-northern area of ​​the Romanian geographical-historical region Muntenia (ro .wikipedia.org/wiki/Târgoviște. [49] The military history of the Romanian people, vol. II, p. 260. [50] Ştefan Andreescu, op. cit., p. 97. [51] Also known as the "Chindia Tower", it is currently part of the "Royal Court" Historical Monument Ensemble and measures 27 meters in height and 9 meters in diameter. Between 1847-1851, the tower was completely restored by the rulers of Wallachia, Gheorghe Bibescu (who ruled between 1842-1848 [History of the world in data, p. 568]) and Barbu Știrbei (who ruled between 1849-1853 and 1854). -1856 [Ibidem]), the current form being due to the first one, including its elevation by about 5 meters compared to the initial construction. The Chindia Tower is the most important tourist attraction in Târgoviște and, at the same time, the symbol of the city, specific elements of the building being present on the coat of arms of the respective city, both at the top and at the bottom. In fact, now, the tower is also the most important tourist attraction of the entire Dâmbovița County, currently hosting the exhibition entitled "Vlad the Impaler - Dracula, legend and historical truth", which presents documents, weapons and objects from the reign of the fierce Romanian voivode, but also maps with the surroundings of those times. From an administrative point of view, the Chindia Tower is under the tutelage of the “Curtea Domnească” National Museum Complex in Târgoviște. There are two hypotheses regarding the origin of the name of the tower, but there is no consensus on this fact. The first claims that areas in the vicinity of the tower were places of feasting, called "chindii", hence the origin of the name. It has also been suggested that its name comes from the word "chindie", an archaism meaning "sunset", a time of day when soldiers

defending the tower were required to give the signal that the five gates of the city were closed. After this moment, it was forbidden to enter or leave the city throughout the night, and the inhabitants had the obligation not to drive on the streets and not to maintain outdoor fires, which would have made the city visible from a great distance (ro.wikipedia .org / wiki / Turnul_Chindiei). [52] Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., pp. 125. [53] Ibidem, pp. 124. [54] Ibidem. [55] This is Stephen I Báthory of Ecsed, who was a prominent member of the powerful Hungarian noble family Báthory. He lived between 1430-1493 and held the position of voivode of Transylvania from July 1479 to January 1493 (History of Romania in dates, p. 461; History of the Romanians, vol. IV, p. 807). Very ambitious, he will be appointed, in 1471, by Matthias Corvinus as a judge of the Royal Court (ie royal judge, in which capacity he was the king's legal deputy [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judge_royal]), holding this high position until his death. Due, however, to his warlike nature (warriors - nn TC), along with the cruelty he had shown countless times (especially to the Szeklers, whose committee [governor] had been for a time - nn TC), István (Ştefan - nn TC ) Báthory will end up being dethroned in 1493 "(Cristian Ioan Popa, The Battle of the Field of Bread [October 13, 1479]. From the universality of the medieval lied to the recovery of national heroes, in" Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis "[ Yearbook of the Municipal Museum „Ioan Raica” from Sebeş], No. 2, Sebeş, 2010, p. 276), dying shortly afterwards (see also en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ştefan_Báthory_de_Ecsed). The special merit of Stephen I Báthory was that together with the Timiș counties, Pavel Chinezu will obtain, on October 13, 1479, on Câmpul Păinii (near Orăştie), a brilliant victory over the Turks who had invaded Transylvania (Military History of the People). Romanian, vol. II, pp. 334-337). * Famous for his Herculean strength, for his extraordinary skill in handling weapons of all kinds, especially the sword, usually he "fighting with two swords at once" [Antonio Bonfini, Rerum Hungaricarum decades quatuor cum dimidia, Buda, 1770, p. 639]) and for his remarkable qualities as an army leader, Pavel Chinezu was a Romanian from Banat, who lived between 1432-1494 and held a number of high positions in the political-administrative and military hierarchy of Hungary, among which the leadership of the entire province of Banat and the supreme command of the troops from the south of the Hungarian Kingdom were counted (at one point, he was appointed by Matthias Corvinus at the head of all the military forces of the Hungarian Crown), which he exercised from 1478 until his death. sa (Tiberiu Ciobanu, Pavel Chinezu and his great victory on the Field of Bread against the Ottoman Turks, Eurostampa Publishing House, Timişoara, 2014, p. 15-42). [56] Radu Ştefan Ciobanu, op. cit., p. 125-126. [57] Ibidem, p. 126. [58] M.de Follard, Histoire de Polybe (Istoria lui Polybius), II, Paris, 1727, pp. 49-50. Polybius = Greek politician and historian, who lived between 200-120 BC. and he was an unconditional admirer of Rome, compiling a vast history (in 40 books) of the Roman Republic (and of the states which came into contact with it, practically a universal history), which entered historiography under the title of General History, which deals with the events that took place between 220-146 BC. (Dominique Vallaud, Historical Dictionary, translated by Nicolae Șarambei, Artemis Publishing House, Bucharest, 2008, p. [59] For information on the development of the sultanate campaign in the summer of 1462, undertaken north of the Danube, as well as details on the "Night Attack", see Tiberiu Ciobanu, The Great Sultanate Campaign in the Summer of 1462 undertaken in Wallachia and the Night Attack ”, In Vlad Țepeș and“ The Night Attack ”555, Eurostampa Publishing House, Timișoara, 2017, pp. 99-172; Sultan's campaign = large-scale military action led personally by the sultan.

[fayemarvels]

Two sides of the glass pt.1

Lokixfem!reader

Part Two:***

Summary: Loki's punishment for his New York attack is a cell in Avengers tower. But the worst torture is being away from his wife, who is stuck on Asgard. Will she find a way to get to him

Warnings: none, bad writing

Word count: 1.6k

! Please don't repost my work anywhere without my permission. Thank you!

my masterlist: ***

also, this is part one, if you like it and would like to read part two, comment your username and I will tag you.

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It has been 7 months since she last saw him. Odin forbade it. She tried to reason with him but he shrugged her off. She was fed up.

“I want to see my husband, you can’t keep me away from him.” She declared but shut her mouth when the All-father glared at her.

“I won’t allow you to see him, or have any contact with him. This is his punishment. Now leave, I have more important things to tend to.” He glared at (Y/N) and she nodded.

She walked through the hallways of the palace and tried to not cry from the frustration.

“Lady (Y/N), wait up.” She could hear someone shouting at her and she turned towards the voice. It was Thor. He walked quickly towards her and she smiled sadly at him.

“Hey, Thor what’s up?” She asked in a monotone voice and he furrowed his eyebrows.

“I’m sorry for disturbing you but I heard you talking to my father and I think I have an answer to your problem.” She looked at him with wide eyes.

“You will take me with you?” she gasped but her expression fell when he shook his head.

“I’m afraid I’m not able to do that at the moment.” He then reached to the pocket on his leather satchel and pulled out some paper and envelopes.

“You could write some letters to him, tell him how much you miss him or something.” He suggested and grinned widely.

“You are the best Thor.” She kissed his cheek and ran to her quarters.

***

They have been exchanging for about 4 months before Odin realized and called her in to talk to her. When the guards first called her in, she nearly passed out from fear. She knew what happened to people who didn’t respect his orders. She took a sharp breath in and started walking towards the throne room.

When she stepped into the room, the first person she saw was Thor. She looked at him puzzled and he just shook his head. He was right, this wasn’t the time.

“If I remember correctly I forbade you from contacting him or seeing him. Do you have anything to say for yourself?” He spoke, and the tone of his voice made (Y/N)’s hands shake.

She shook her head and looked to the ground.

“I don’t have anything to say, your highness.” She awaited the worst. What would he do to her? Throw her into the prison? Or maybe send her to another planet so she wouldn’t be able to talk to Loki ever again?

“Pack your stuff. You will leave for Midgard today with Thor.” Her head snapped to look at him.

“Thank you your highness I really appreciate it.” He nodded.

“I won’t be merciful the next time you disrespect me and my wishes.” His voice boomed through the halls but she didn’t care. She would be able to see her husband. And that’s all that mattered.

***

When they landed, it was night. (Y/N) looked around her and saw the tall buildings above her. She fell in love with the city at the first sight.

“Come on, the Avengers tower is only a couple blocks away,” Thor said and the girl beside him nodded. The walk was quite short but very interesting.

The city was so alive; she couldn’t get enough of it. After a few minutes of walking, they stopped. They stood in front of a huge tower, with a big A at the top. Thor took her wrist into his hand and pulled her lightly towards the entrance.

He greeted the receptionist, the security and walked towards the elevator. (Y/N) wasn’t new to the Midgardian technology. She quite enjoyed Midgard and all things that come with it.

The door closed behind them and (Y/N)’s mind started to wander. ‘What will he say when he sees her? Will he be happy? Will he be angry at her? She didn’t come to see him for nearly a year, she wouldn’t blame him.'

She came back to reality when the elevator stopped, and the doors opened.

“The team doesn’t know who you are so it will surprise them.” He explained and she hummed in acknowledgment.

“Let’s do this.” She rubbed her palms together and they walked out of the elevator together. The pair walked down the hallway. They stepped into a room with some couches and a bar.

“Hello, friends I am back.” Thor cheered and the people looked in his direction.

“I also brought a friend with me.” He looked behind him and all people in the room looked at her.

A tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes came closer to her and offered his hand. She took it, and they shook hands.

“I’m Steve Rogers, it’s nice to meet you ma’am” he greeted and (Y/N) introduced herself. She made a round around the room and introduced herself to everyone.

“So, what’s she doing here Point Break?” Tony asked and (Y/N) laughed at the nickname. Thor only glared at her.

“She came to see Loki.” He stated and the room went quiet. Natasha glared at her

“Why do you want to see a mass murderer?” She questioned and (Y/N) explained.

“Long story short, he is my husband and I haven’t seen him in nearly a year.” Clint choked on his water and Bruce stepped away from her.

“Look, I know you don’t like him I still do and I would really like to see him.” She stated and Tony nodded.

“Okay, Point Break, take her to his cell.”

Thor nodded and moved towards the hallway and (Y/N) followed him.

“Does he ever get to walk outside?” she asked and Thor shook his head.

“We can’t contain his power so he has to be in a cell. But Tony and Bruce are working on it.” He assured her and she nodded.

***

Loki’s cell was on floor -5. All the way below garages, and boilers and stuff. They stepped out of the elevator and (Y/N) immediately noticed the presence of heavily armed guards.

“Before you go in I have to walk you through some rules.” He started and she looked at him.

“You can’t go into his cell, open his cell door or take any items he gives you through the glass with his magic.” He clarified and (Y/N) hummed in agreement.

“I understand, can I go see him now?” Thor nodded and (Y/N) rushed to the room with his cell. When she stepped in, she took her surroundings.

The room was quite large, bland and about ¾ of it was just the cell. The ‘visiting area’ was pretty boring. A couch with some pillows and a blanket, a water fountain, and some magazines were the only things in the space.

Loki’s cell was more interesting. There was a comfortable-looking bed, a little bookshelf with some books, a writing desk, and a chair that came with it.

The door behind her closed and Loki’s head turned towards her. His eyes widened and he stood up from the bed.

“Is it really you, my love?” He whispered and (Y/N) nodded. Some tears welled up in her eyes and she wiped them away.

“I thought I would never see you again.” She confessed and came closer to the glass. She pressed the palm of her hand on it and he did the same.

Loki’s heart broke when he felt the cold glass instead of the warm touch of his lover.

“How did you even get here?” he questioned and (Y/N) laughed lightly.

“Odin let me actually.” She said and Loki’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. His lover smiled at his face and continued.

“I couldn’t believe it either.”

“My love, I have to ask you something.” She said and Loki tilted his head.

“Why did you do it?” she asked with tears in her eyes and he glared at her.

“Oh, so that’s why you are here huh? They sent you to get information from me” He chuckled sadly and turned his back to her. (Y/N) shook her head immediately.

“No, I came here because I wanted to see you. I am asking you because I want to understand.” He turned around and she could see the doubt in his eyes.

“I promised you I will help you and protect you, why would I break that promise.” (Y/N) questioned and she could see the doubt disappear from his eyes at the mention of their vows.

“I..” he started and she could see his bottom lip wobble a bit. She knew he did that when he was trying not to cry.

“He made me do it, it was horrible.” He rushed his words out.

“Who made you do this Loki, my love tell me please.” She pushed but he shook his head.

“Can we talk about this later I want to talk about something else; I promise I will tell you everything.” She sighed and nodded her head.

“Talk to me my love, what did you do here?” Loki looked to the ground.

“Nothing much. I read some books, waited for your letters, and wrote you letters.” He confessed.

“I have to say, the letters were the only thing that made me happy.” She said and he chuckled.

“I had it the same. When I was feeling sad, I reread your letters again, and again, and again.” She laughed and he looked at her lovingly.

***

The next 3 hours were filled with laughter, talking, crying, and ‘I love you’s. At about 2 a.m., Loki fell asleep with his cheek squished to the glass. (Y/N) looked at him and stood up. She took the pillows and blanket from the couch and made a little sleeping place beside the glass.

The girl could feel her eyelids drooping, and she looked at her sleeping husband one last time. They would get through this and be able to touch each other.

Eventually.

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

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[gatekeeper-watchman]

What the Bible Says about Abortion – The Bible and Abortion The Bible and Abortion: Numerous Scriptures Address the Issue

Of all the issues in our culture today, surely abortion is one of the most volatile. Perhaps no other issue has raised so much debate and anguish, plus time spent by various interested parties to educate the public on their views on it. Amid such a controversial issue, many simply throw up their hands and vow to stay out of it altogether. In the name of freedom and under the guise of “it isn’t my business” many choose to look the other way from this troubling issue, leaving the decision in the hand of lawmakers, doctors, and pregnant women. Although there are many different issues concerning abortion, the following is designed to focus on what the Bible says about abortion and the consequences thereof.

Does God Care about Abortion?

What does God say about abortion? Do the millions of abortions that have taken place in this land bother Him? Is a fetus a “real person” in the eyes of God? If so, where does that leave us? If an unborn life is truly just a mere mass of fetal tissue to God, we should want to know. If He considers the life of the woman more important than her unborn child, we should want to know. And if He does consider that unborn life a “real person,” and just as important as the life of the mother that bears it, we most certainly should want to know. After all, we are all accountable to God not only for our individual lives but also as a generation and a nation.

Thou Shalt Not Kill and Its Application to Abortion

Throughout the Bible, God has plenty to say about the taking of innocent life. Most people in our nation, though they may not be familiar with all of the Ten Commandments, know that “Thou Shalt Not Kill” is listed there somewhere. The word “kill” in this instance specifically refers to “murder” — a premeditated and deliberate act of taking someone’s life. It is different from other forms of taking a life, which could be accidental, or in self-defense. God has different laws regarding different sorts of death. But He continually opposes and speaks against murder, especially the murder of the innocent.

Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land and atonement cannot be made for the land on which the blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live. Numbers 35:33-34

God’s judgment against the killing of an innocent life grows out of His love for humankind. The crime of murder is not only an offense against the sanctity of life; it is a pollutant upon the very land we live. God wants to spare us from the variety of ways this pollution is manifested. When the land becomes defiled with sin, people cry out “Where is God?” yet they refuse to take responsibility for breaking His laws, which were only given to us for our protection and good. Each sin that we commit is not merely an isolated incident but will set off a chain reaction of other sins if not dealt with. Since the legalization of abortion, for instance, child abuse has increased by over 1000%. This is the exact opposite of what those who legalized abortion thought it would do since it was assumed that only children who were initially unwanted were abused.

In Psalm 106, God speaks specifically against killing innocent children and babies. He says of His people: “They mingled with the nations and adopted their customs. They worshiped their idols which became a snare to them. They sacrificed their sons and their daughter to demons. They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood.”

Today we may scoff, or wonder in disbelief how anyone, especially someone who claimed to follow God, could sacrifice their child to an idol or a demon. Yet, an idol is anything that we worship before God. Today, children are sacrificed to the idols of selfishness, convenience, “freedom,” and ambition — sacrificed to the very demonic powers that are behind such idols. Times haven’t changed that much. Human nature hasn’t changed, nor have Satan’s schemes against that which God considered so precious that He died to redeem it–human life.  To this day, it has become so critical to understand what the Bible says about abortion.

When Does Life Begin?

One may argue here that they agree that it is wrong to murder, but they still don’t see how a fetus necessarily qualifies as a human being. Perhaps God doesn’t feel the same way about a very young fetus, as He does an older fetus, a newborn, or a 50-year-old. It may be a different issue altogether with Him. Does the Bible say anything specifically about unborn children?

In Exodus 21:22 God gives a specific law regarding social order for the Israelites. He stated that if two men were fighting and hit a pregnant woman, thus causing her to give birth prematurely, they must be fined according to any damage done to the baby. The fine must be paid for the amount of damage inflicted upon the child. If God would make a law specifically referring to the rights of the unborn, then surely the unborn must mean something to Him!

It has been stated, “If the womb had windows, there would be no abortion.” As humans, we are not omnipresent and cannot know the full scope of what each human life is worth. We cannot dwell in the womb with a fetus, nor can we see it as it matures. But God can.

A Scientific View of Abortion

Just 18 days after conception, the baby’s heart begins to beat. At six weeks, brain waves can be measured. At eight weeks, the vital organs are functioning and fingerprints have formed. At nine weeks, the unborn baby can feel pain. Over 700,000 abortions each year are performed after this point in the pregnancy. By the beginning of the second month, the unborn child, small as it is, has begun to look distinctly human, though the mother may not even be aware that she is pregnant! By the time the baby is eleven weeks old, he or she breathes (fluid), swallows, digests, sleeps, dreams, wakes, tastes, hears, and feels pain. Babies born prematurely can survive outside the womb as young as 20-25 weeks old. Yet, all that is necessary to make the baby a grown human being is already there from the moment of conception. All it needs is time to mature.

Former Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop stated “We now know when life begins because the test-tube baby proves that life begins with conception. What do you have in the dish? An egg and a sperm. What do you add to it to get a baby? Nothing.” Though it is wee, it is still a real person, just as a crumb of bread is still real bread. No one who has been given the gift of life should dare despise the day of small beginnings. Have we forgotten so quickly that we were once as small?

“In the tiny, almost invisible thirty-two cell blastocyst–in that one gram or so of tissue–there is a physical potential and moral destiny unparalleled in our universe. Next to it, a gram of plutonium is a triviality: plutonium cannot compose a symphony, cannot cure cancer, cannot plan our course to the stars”. -Bernard Nathanson, M.D., and former abortionist-

A Spiritual View of What the Bible Says about Abortion

God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God knew this man before he was born. As he was forming in his mother’s womb God gave him his personality, talents, and temperament. If his mother had gotten an abortion, the “fetal tissue” she aborted would have been a real person named Jeremiah; a mighty prophet of God and the gift of God’s voice to the nations, though she would never have known.

The Lord hath called me from the womb: from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. Isaiah 49:1

Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us within our mothers? Job 31:15

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:13-14

The above verses are only a sampling of the many Biblical references we find to live inside the mother’s womb. From them, it is clear that life begins when God creates it, not at some later point in time when it has grown to look like a newborn. God does not judge things according to their stage of development the way humans tend to. According to the above passages, even the tiniest embryo is the subject of His love and care. God sees each of our lives in the realm of our total existence, whether we are yet unborn, a young woman in the prime of her life, or an old man on his deathbed. He is patient with all of us, longing to bring each one of us into His maturity.

Do We Look Like God?

To destroy innocent human life is a crime against God and a rejection of the truth that we were made in His image. Everything in the universe belongs to Him anyway. Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world and ALL who live in it.” Our own lives are a precious gift given to us, but ultimately, we belong to God! We are His possessions; we have merely been granted stewardship over our lives, talents, money, time, the earth we live on, and the things we “own.” Though children pass through us they are not ours, any more that we are the property of our parents. Each of us has been given the gift of life and freedom, for which we are responsible and accountable to God. None of us has the right to deny that same gift to an unborn person. It is an honor to carry that powerful force of another life within our very bodies– a life made in the very image of God! (Genesis 5:1-2)

God is no respecter of persons. If He knew Jeremiah in the womb, He knew you too. Do you believe that God lovingly fashioned you and loves you dearly? Do you believe that He has had a plan for your life from the beginning of time? A plan that none other can fulfill in quite the same way you can? That you came to this earth “trailing clouds of glory?” Or do you believe in your heart that you were a mere “accident” and that God has no personal concern for you or your life? Is it easier to believe that you are just a highly evolved animal? An animal (especially an undeveloped one) may certainly be easier to dispose of. It seems somehow even “natural,” as the laws of nature lend themselves to the survival of the strong and the equipped. Yet it seems doubtful that even an animal would come up with a way to deliberately kill its unborn offspring.

Even the jackals offer their breasts to nurse their young, but my people have become heartless like ostriches in the desert. Lamentations 4:3

Oh, let us turn from our heartlessness and defend the sanctity of human life! Out of respect for God, let us offer mercy and compassion to every life around us, born or unborn. Let us be givers of life instead of takers of life.

Am I My Brother’s Keeper?

Every 20 seconds another baby is aborted in this country, yet very few seem to notice. Statistically, one out of every three of us will die by abortion, and we will never know what we lost in those lives. Our country goes along its way leaving lawmakers to decide how the carnage should continue. We’ve bought into the lie that those we dispose of are not real people. It is the same old lie that was used to keep slavery legal and to exterminate masses of people in holocausts all over the world. We should be able to see through it by now, but as usual, most of us let circumstances and the current cultural climate dictate to us what is acceptable or not. Yet God tells us to: “Rescue those being led away to death, hold back those staggering toward slaughter. If you say ‘But we knew nothing of this,’ does not He who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?” (Proverbs 24:11).

In our society today, we face a myriad of social problems as a result of our hypocrisy. Most of us have had to become somewhat double-minded just to keep a vestige of sanity. We put warnings on cigarettes and alcohol, that their consumption is dangerous to an unborn child. Yet we deem it perfectly legal, even “responsible” for a mother to have a doctor poison that same child inside her, or rip it to shreds with a surgical instrument. We might charge a man who kills a pregnant woman with a double homicide, yet what if that woman was on her way to the abortion clinic to dispose of her baby anyway? Do we then charge him with a single homicide? Why do so many states have legislation to delay a death sentence imposed against a pregnant woman who is guilty of a crime, until after she delivers her baby? If we believed what we said about the unborn child is a mere blob of tissue, it would seem that no one would mind if that baby died along with the mother in the electric chair.

We wonder how respectable college kids can throw their newborn babies into a dumpster, yet what are we supposed to think? We’re the ones who told them that it is irresponsible to raise a child at a young age and that an “unwanted child” (which is a fallacy) is better off dead. They are not to blame as much as the media, the lawmakers, the abortion counselors, the doctors, and the voters. When a woman can have an abortion on a nine-month-old unborn child, and yet a week later be tried for murder if she disposed of the child outside the womb (which at that point, would seem to be a much easier and practical way to dispose of the baby) what are the young people of this nation supposed to think? Do we have to wonder at the lack of respect for human life that we see around us?

Evil prevails when good men, in the name of freedom, do nothing. 1 Peter 2:16: “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil.” Very few of us would argue that crack cocaine or rape should be legal simply because people are going to do it anyway, yet that is the argument that is applied to abortion. As a nation, our morals and ethics vacillate between honor and convenience, integrity and greed. This double-mindedness has become cancer-eating away at the very heart of our nation and the world.

History will speak of our abortion as a mark of the absolute decadence of our era. There will come a time when we will look back on abortion with the same shame we do now towards our evil treatment of the American Indians and the blight of slavery. We wonder why history continues to repeat itself. It is because evil starts in little ways–it starts as a seemingly innocent thought in the heart of man. Sin always seems practical, necessary, or even “cute” in its initial stages. It is only in hindsight that we can see just how atrocious those massive exterminations were and how they went against the very core of what the United States was supposed to be. Yet, we have no right to condemn previous generations for the same deeds we commit today. Then, as now, the masses simply went along with whatever was the popular opinion. Regarding slavery, it was even argued that the government didn’t have a right to tell people whether they could own slaves or not… That it was a personal choice to be made and that freedom of choice is what our country is all about. Only in that case, they forgot the rights of one whole people group. Sound familiar?

Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The Lord said. “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.” Genesis 4:9-11

As a nation, we must repent for the heartlessness we have displayed to the most helpless members of our culture. Though God is merciful, He is also just. He cannot ignore the cries of the blood that has soaked our ground and stained our hands. We are bringing ourselves under a curse, but do not have the eyes to see it. We only see the fruit of that curse and we wonder what went wrong. Like Cain, our ears have become deafened to the cries of those we have murdered.

True Freedom Comes from Following the Bible’s Teachings

There are too many of us who prefer to let the media do our thinking for us. Should we disagree, many of us are too intimidated to ever speak out with conviction. As we let time go by, our godly convictions begin to slip away and we become numb. Eventually, we may even support that which we had earlier condemned. This is called the “searing of a conscience.” It happened in Hitler’s Germany and it is happening today. How can we bring a dead conscience back to life? How can we know the difference between right and wrong? As was just established, we cannot merely “listen to our heart” and follow what seems best at the time. Some of the most horrifying deeds in history have been done by those who were following whatever moral code was most convenient at the time. Freedom is not doing whatever suits our fancy at the moment. That will only bring slavery and sorrow to our souls. True freedom is having the power to know what is right and to choose accordingly. But how can we choose, if we do not know? How can we obtain true freedom?

You shall know the TRUTH and the TRUTH shall set you free. John 8:32

We must cleanse our minds by washing them with water through the WORD. Ephesians 5:26

God’s WORD is the Bible — ancient, yet ageless and seething with life. It will clean our thinking and bring life to our sin-deadened minds so we can see what He sees and feel what He feels. It will reveal our very thoughts to ourselves.

For the WORD of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

Respect for God, His creation, and His Holy WORD, is the only way we will ever find true freedom.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

Wisdom and compassion cannot be found outside of God for He is wisdom and He is love. Long before heaven and earth were made, and long after they disappear, His WORD will remain. On the Day of Judgement, abortion and every other atrocity we have tried to justify will be shown for the evil it is. We must seek God now, while we have the time to do it! Today is the day of salvation.

It is not too late to repent and turn our hearts back to the Lord. We can bring healing and life to this land that we love if we will humble ourselves before God’s mighty right hand.

If my people, who are called by my name, and humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

God Loves You!

If you are planning an abortion, please reconsider. Though your situation may seem hopeless, God will work something beautiful in your life if you trust and obey Him. Choosing to “remove” your problem will only create new ones. Michah 6:7: “Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” You will have to bear the guilt of your abortion or else harden your heart to not feel guilty. God loves both you and your child very much, and if you feel incapable of raising him or her, there are thousands of couples who have waited years for the chance to adopt a baby. Though it may be difficult to give it away, you will have given it the greatest gift of all–life. As Mother Theresa put it so simply “Love means to be willing to give until it hurts.” Give your child to a family that will truly love it. You can make the dreams of a childless couple come true… and you can bless the heart of God.

If you have already had an abortion, please do not feel that this was written only to bring you under guilt and condemnation. What is done is done and cannot be changed. God has your child in heaven with Him and longs to forgive you if you ask Him to. Once God forgives a sin, He forgets it, and DOES NOT HOLD IT AGAINST YOU ANY LONGER! Please do not hold against yourself what God has forgotten. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:18, 25). Receive His love, for He loves you just as much as the child you lost. He already took your sin and bore it upon Himself so you would not have to bear the punishment, which would be eternal separation from Him. He knows the agony you’ve gone through better than any other, for He was there too, with you. Open your life to Him and let Him give you a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of the spirit of despair. He will make you into an oak of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor (Isaiah 61:3).

In conclusion, the words of God ring out as clearly now as they did over 3,000 years ago:

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. Deuteronomy 30:19-20

From: Elder Steven P. Miller Saturday, April 15, 2023 @ParkermillerQ, Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, https://twitter.com/StevenPMiller6 Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman, https://www.tumblr.com/gatekeeper-watchman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller https://www.facebook.com/StevenParkerMillerQ #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller,#Eldermiller1981