#plus they have no sense of moving out of the way

[jeanjauthor]

They may not have had a choice.

King County (the county containing Seattle, Washington, here in the USA) has some VERY STRICT guidelines for building new churches. Most newer church congregations find it far cheaper and easier to just rent & renovate an existing store in a strip mall, and if they get big enough, a box store like the one above.

And of course, King County isn't the only region-governing body to decide to be strict when it comes to building new churches. City ordinances across the US can also be quite restrictive. But honestly, it makes sense in the short to medium term. These buildings are not being used as stores anymore. They're just empty structures cluttering up the landscape. A lot of the bigger stores have switched heavily toward an online retail model and need less physical space. The "mini mall" construction boom of the 1990s has slowed down.

New construction is far more expensive than simply renting. With renting, you can keep your congregation going while saving up the money for that new construction. And as for churches that already have, well, established churches (the buildings)...many of them actually share their facilities with other denominations.

My mother's church, which is a bit of a sprawl of different building wings that's been added onto over the decades, has 3 different religious groups on top of her own (Methodists, the founding group). This includes Seventh Day Adventists (church on Saturday), Anglicans (holding services on Sunday at a slightly different time in the old church sanctuary while the Methodists use the new/modern one), and a Muslim community (services held on Friday in the community hall beneath the old sanctuary, where there aren't any seats set up; plenty of room for prayer mats that way).

Each one of these groups is not super-large, but at one time the Methodists had a big enough congregation to need to expand, but they still needed to conduct services, so they just kept the old sanctuary hall while building the new one more or less right next to it...and since the old building was merely small, not in bad condition, they kept it in place and started renting it out to other groups once they moved their congregation into the new hall.

For the other groups, it was far easier to just rent space in a facility that was already set up for worship services. And since my mother's church aren't jerks (they're a little conservative about some things, but they aren't bigots or sanctimonious by any means), they are perfectly fine with Islam services taking place within their facilities. It's a holy space, and both are Abrahamic religions; Islam acknowledges Christ as one of its great prophets, and that's 85% of everything right there. Plus, this decision to rent to Muslims was made back during the 9/11 era, when Muslims were being persecuted just for existing. Putting their mosque services inside of a clearly Christian church helped protect them from being attacked, and that was--and still is--A Very Good Thing To Do.

Frankly, with just that box store appearance alone to go on (I don't know what LCBC stands for), I would NOT have pegged it for a church of any kind. That could be serving as a sort of protective camouflage. It could be simply renting a building that already exists--a building that used to be a Pizza Hut or an IHOP will always look like a Pizza Hut or an IHOP, as they say. And they could be planning for the possibility of their congregation dwindling enough to the point where they might have to downsize their congregation...and don't want to try to sell a "lame duck" building that obviously looks like a church to...well, a group that isn't a church.

It's like how many new houses these days are made bland and boring in their construction, coloring, & details "so as not to hurt its resale value," as opposed to building a house meant to last for several generations in one family.

maybe it's because i was raised catholic but churches shouldn't look like furniture stores

[theformulaimagines]

Look at that woman (breaking my heart) | part one

Pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Vettel!Reader

Summary: For one and a half years Lewis and y/n managed to keep their relationship a secret, until it blew up in their faces. Now, they're trying their hardest to pick up the pieces...

Warnings: age gap (reader is 27), heat!!!!, other drivers are mentioned, tiny bit of angst, english isn’t my first language

Prologue

That night…

“As much as I absolutely adore you guys.”, Y/N says as she joins the group, her lips connecting with her champagne glass:” This party is super boring.” The men all look at her, while some eyes make their way up and down her body. One more often than the others.

“Well, I don’t think it’s that-.”, poor Lando gets cut off almost immediately. “I know that this is your first party, considering how they didn’t host them during Covid, however, believe me- back in the good old days these summer parties were the main event of the year for us.”

“Don’t say it like that.”, Lewis scoffs softly, furrowing his eyebrows in distress:” ‘Good old days’, please. Don’t make it sound like we’re in our sixties now.” George giggles.

“Anyway, Lando. When my brother was an active driver, we used to steal a bunch of champagne bottles and hide out in the Ferrari garage.” Her eyes shift back to Lewis, and she stares at him for a moment:” Don’t make that face.”

“What face? I’m not making a face.”, he blinks in confusion. Y/N shakes her headc while holding her index finger up at him: “Don’t act like you weren’t the main burglar back then. Sneaking behind the bar and just handing those bottles over to me like your life depended on it.” At that, all the other drivers in the group laugh out loud. “That was the old, alcoholic me.”, Lewis explains, his eyes scanning her features- almost as if he’s searching for something he can’t quite put the finger on.

“Well, what’s stopping us from doing that again?”

“Wait what?”, Charles asks and exchanges looks with the men around him:” Are you implying we-.” “Bingo.”, she takes another sip of her drink. There���s just something about the way Lewis looks at her side profile that makes her knees weak…he has been staring a lot lately. After a few seconds, Lando is the first one to react, he nods almost violently:” Okay, well- I mean, why not? Could be fun! Lewis and Y/N, you go get the bottles, and the rest of us-? I don’t know. We just distract the others?”

Lewis nods:” Well, yeah. Sure.” He chuckles as he notices the smile emerging on his best friend’s face and the woman quickly sets her glass down on the closest table :” We’ll meet you guys at the exit in five.”

Y/N can sense his presence close behind her. She doesn’t have to turn around to check. His brown eyes are moving down her backless dress and he subconsciously wets his lips at the scenery in front of him. “What’s so funny?“, he asks, as if he knew she was silently giggling to herself.

“Oh, nothing.”, Y/N replies as they reach the bar. The y/h/ced woman quickly leans over and grabs two bottles before shoving them into his hands. Then she takes two more. “You’re still good at this, aren’t you?”, he asks, voice low. “Only when it comes to expensive things. Now, let’s hurry.”

landonorris has made a post

liked by y/nvettel, mclaren, f1 and 378,500 others

landonorris: first f1 summer party- many more to come 🥂🥂

view all comments…

user 1: 😍😍

user 2: hes so fine GOD

y/nvettel: cheers 🙂‍↕️🥂

user 3: my favorite 🤩

user 4: is it true that y/n and lewis left together

user 5: please you guys are starting to sound ridiculous they’ve been friends since forever

user 6: @/user 5 thank you!!! plus friends don’t date their friends younger siblings

user 7: @/user 6 yeah they do

mercedesamgf1: that garage sign looks familiar 👀

“I think we should head out.”, Lando lets out and yawns, pointing at the clock on the wall. 03:56 am. A soft sigh leaves Y/N's lips while she eyes how the men all get up from their spots on the floor.

“Wait, you’re all leaving?”, she asks, a hint of disappointment in her voice. “I don’t think Lewis is.”, Charles says and cracks his neck. Y/N turns her head to look at her best friend who merely shakes his head.

“Well, okay. Yeah, sleep tight you guys.”

A silence falls on the garage, as the sounds of the voices and footsteps gradually fade away. “I like your outfit, by the way.”, she suddenly declares, cringing as soon as those words leave her lips. She doesn’t understand why she’s becoming so nervous around Lewis- it’s only Lewis, right?

He chuckles:” Thanks. It’s the new collection.” Y/N's gaze falls to the glass in her hands.

“You look stunning.”, he whispers, and when their eyes meet again Y/N suddenly understands why she has been feeling so strange around him recently. “This is going to sound creepy.”, she clears her dry throat:” But I’ve read your latest Vogue interview, where you said-.”

“I like black dresses.”, he cuts her off, eyes once again roaming her body:” You’re trying to impress me?” He knows the answer already. “Well, what kind of impression are you trying to make?”

The younger woman chuckles softly:” A good one.”

“Ans you’re successful. You look unbelievable.”

There’s a line. And they both know it.

Y/N takes another sip of her drink while peeking out of the garage door and into the night sky. She shouldn’t be doing this, she really shouldn’t. Instead, she should be getting up and leaving. Walk away before she does something extremely stupid.

“Can I ask you something?”, Lewis tilts his head. “Of course, yeah. Always.”, Y/N tears her gaze off the stars and looks back at one of her brother’s oldest friends. She should leave.

“What’s your end goal here?”

”I think we both know what my end goal is.”

[thewritetofreespeech]

Can I please request Astarion with a flirty yet oblivious plus size Tav? In the way that they do flirt because it's fun and light like their companions/friends with benefits thing, but they think that their feelings are unrequited (because of some slight insecurity about their size) until Astarion is like I actually like you and Tav is like '???' (Idk if that makes sense lol) Thank you!

-------------------------------🩸-------------------------------

“So, Astarion, what is your actual type?”

“My ‘type’,” Astarion repeated at Shadowheart’s question as they traveled, “is such a broad prevue. I can’t think to narrow it down to just a single collection of words.”

“That’s a unique way to say you’re a trollop.”

Tav snickered at Shadowhearts retort, getting a stern glare from Astarion. “What? It was funny?”

“Pft. And here I was going to say you, my dear, but if you’re going to be so incredibly cruel.”

“Aw shucks. Always a bridesmaid I suppose.”

During their journey together, Tav had grown very fond of Astarion. He was a little shit, but deep down he was very funny and undeniably charming (although not for the ways he tried to be). The two of you had picked up a friendly banter over your time together, sometimes even flirty, but only that. And Tav was fine with that. Well aware that a handsome rake like Astarion could have his pick of the litter, and they were just happy to be considered a friend.

Later that night, while everyone was finishing their day and slinking off to bed, Astarion came over to Tav by the fire to sit with them. “You know I really meant it earlier by the way.”

“Meant what?” Tav asked. Lost, by this point, on what he was talking about.

“That you’re my….‘type’.” He seemed loathed to use the word. Even scrunched his nose. Tav just laughed.

“Yeah. Right. I’m sure.”

“No, really, I mean it.” He insisted.

“Come on Astarion, the only way you’d be interested in me is because I’m a a keg instead of a flagon.” Tav gestured to themselves and their full frame. “I have ample blood to spare.”

Astarion frowned. “Yes, your blood is certainly a bonus, but that isn’t why I care for you.” He huffed and crossed his arms dramatically. “Honestly, why does everyone think I’m not being serious when I am?” Astarion asked with a bit of flabbergast. “Is it something about my expression?”

Tav looked more than a bit flabbergasted at his remark. They didn’t really think they liked them….that way. Friends sure. Allies, of course. But romantically? “You…really have feelings for me?”

“Ugh! What is it with you new generation and wanting to put a name to everything?” Astarion bemoaned. “Feelings. Type. Can’t we just enjoy this for whatever…this is? All I know is that out of all the people in this whole wicked world I would want to be stuck with, it’s you.”

“Gee, that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.” Tav teased.

Astarion frowned again, but then leaned in close to Tav so all they could see was his piercing red eyes. “I could wax poems for you, if you’d prefer. How your eyes are the stars. How your curves are roads I would never get tired of roaming. How your ample bosom feels like a place to call home. All true, but you’re so much more to me than that.” He moved back to sit in his original spot. Wrapping his arms around his knees at his chest as he looked into the fire. “You’re the first person I’ve trusted in…well ever. You mean more to me than just your body. Though, again, that is certainly a bonus. I had hoped….you feel the same about me.”

Tav blushed, but then quickly gathered their voice and told him, “yes! Of course.”

Astarion seemed relieved. Then leaned over to give Tav a simple, sweet peck on the cheek. “Good. Now, get some sleep. We’ll probably have a completely eventful day tomorrow as well. You’ll need your beauty sleep. Not that you need it, of course. I’ll keep watch until the morning.”

Tav smiled, blushed again, and then went to their bed roll. Tentative in accepting Astarion’s confession & feelings, but hopeful it was all true. Perhaps, for once, they could really be the bride instead of the bridesmaid.

[tides-that-bind-us]

What is the best way to become friends with your OCs

A question from one of the prompt lists I used gave me anxiety with how it's written and it makes me feel rude sending the same prompt to anyone. I get the sentiment, and it's a way to break the ice but it doesn't work for me, unfortunately! So as an alternative, I wanted to write up notes about my OCS about ways to earn their friendship. Plus, I get to talk about my blorbos and get some ideas out, win-win!

Cironus

He's friendly to everyone! He's not-in-your-face-friendly, but he'll happily listen if you have something to say, and ask questions if you have things to share. Main qualities that catch his attention are kindness, compassion and a good sense of humor. He doesn't mesh well with folks who use cruelty as a form of humor (insults as a term of endearment, making fun of his interests as examples), and he doesn't take to sarcasm very well. Too much of that and Cironus will distance himself from you.

Music means a lot to him since it's the one way he can truly express himself, so if someone sincerely compliments his work he'll be gushing for days. Another great way to bond is by playing music with him! It's a great opportunity to see how well he can work with other musicians and get a read on their personality.

Sardon

He's the type who doesn't make the first move when it comes to striking a conversation. Not because he's unfriendly, but because he knows it can be off putting to those smaller than he is. Sardon uses his siblings as a buffer; he'll hang around them while they do all the talking and it gives him the confidence to speak up once in a while. On his own he's very serious and tight lipped. He shows a softness only around his family and children.

Sparring can be another way to get him to open up since he's in his element when fighting, and it's another a good way to strike up banter. Like Cironus, he doesn't take kindly to those who are cruel, especially towards others. He can take a witty/snarky remark, and throw back his own in return, but unlike his brother, Sardon will be confrontational if a situation escalates.

Kaska

Surprisingly, she is the hardest to befriend of the siblings! She's very kind and friendly, and will engage in conversation, but it's her job as a diplomat to be...well, diplomatic! Kaska can't afford to be her genuine self when she's on the job, especially when her family depends on her to earn favor from other kingdoms and territories.

Outwardly, she comes off as the responsible one, especially when she's with her brothers. Kaska will never talk about herself unless its in regards to her duties, or she will put someone else on the spotlight and allow them to speak about their interests. She doesn't even realize she does this! Kaska is so used to putting her personal interests aside for the sake of others she's unaware of the mask she has on. Her brothers encourage her to relax, and though Kaska swears that she can, they can tell she's still holding back.

Kaso

Kaso is a bundle of endless energy tied to a string of never-ending questions. He's very bold and curious when it comes to approaching strangers, and can be very mischievous as well! Because he's so young and sheltered he doesn't consider particular boundaries with other people. Kaso isn't disrespectful but his lack of understanding can come across as insensitive. If shown patience and a little firmness, Kaso is willing to learn from his mistakes!

Any trouble he comes across is usually headed off by any of his siblings who are never far behind. If someone thinks they can pick on him they should be prepared to be confronted by two angry zorca men!

The Zorca

While each individual zorca is unique, the pod as a whole functions together as a unit. They travel as one, they hunt as a team, and make decisions together (for the most part). It's one collective personality, and for outsiders it can be a little overwhelming and frightening at times. The zorca have a matriarchal society, so its the women strangers will be speaking to the most. Exceptions like Cironus, Sardon and Kaso are only because they are away from the pod temporarily.

Befriending the pod as a whole is not as difficult as it might seem. The main issue is stereotypes surrounding the zorca. Some zora believe them to be bullies, who eat anything and anyone they set their eyes on. But if you can make nice with even one zorca, news about you will travel fast among the pod. The same goes for negative encounters too! At worst, they'll avoid any one looking for trouble. The zorca are not violent but don't push your luck.

Just be careful though. Some zorca women have a strong mothering instinct and tend to adopt those they dote on.

[the-nosy-neighbor]

Looky Loo Puzzle

Looky Loo Code

I’ve been wrestling with this thing for a couple of weeks now, so I’m passing this on in the hopes that it makes sense to someone, or sparks an idea of their own.  I just ask that you let me know what you think, so I can stop making myself crazy.  I am very bad at puzzles as much as I like them.  We start with the stickers page.

Notes on the stickers: 

Directions they are looking

Wally looking left

Julie is closing one eye and winking with the other; the text in news says “keep an eye on” which makes me think this is a major clue, but I’m not getting it.

Frank is looking off to the right

Howdy is looking to the center

Home is looking off to the right

Poppy is looking up and to the right

Eddie is looking down and to the right

Sally is looking up and to the right

Barnaby is looking to the left.

Characters they are looking at if you follow the gaze:

Wally is looking at no one, unless off page counts as a continuance, then it would be Frank

Julie is looking at Frank

Frank, same as Wally but reversed (and I kind of have them as adversaries in my head)

Howdy is looking at Poppy

Poppy is looking off screen, or at Wally

Eddie is looking off screen or at the mail or at Julie

Sally is looking at Poppy

Barnaby appears to be looking at Sally

Additional details:

Almost all of the water balls have a character with their eyes closed.  The exceptions are Howdy (in between two characters with their eyes closed) and Wally (eyes seem to be open but facing away from us)

3 characters (plus 2 of Howdy’s family members) are singing

On the sparkly versions of the gifs, Poppy’s and Eddie’s mouths are moving

Some of the characters have sparkles on their blue areas only.  Exceptions are Julie (full sparkle below the neck), Frank (sparkles on the black, he doesn’t have much blue), Poppy (all of Poppy, but not her nest, Howdy (full sparkle)

Only on blue:  Wally, Eddie, Sally, Barnaby

So, I have two different methods I was considering:

 Use an alphabet cypher, with the alphabet listed out in rows of five, with one square housing 2 numbers.  I used c/k as it was the example I found, but I/J or X/Y makes more sense.

That one doesn’t really use the stickers page, so in trying to adapt the model to the stickers page, I thought maybe the characters need to be turned into the alphabet code, with three letters for each character, and one for home.

Using the first method, I solved for two variables.  Everyone is pointing to the “start with a musical monster” as the instruction as to where to start, but I’m torn between starting with J for Julie or M for Musical Monster.  So I did both.  The way this went was laying out the alphabet in a 5 x 5, with C/K:

And then I used the directional arrows to take me to the next letter.  If on an edge and told to go northwest, for example, I would move one line up and then one line west. In the instance of V, that would be U.  There is the difficulty of what to do with the eyes that are looking straight ahead, but I used that as a repeat of the letter before.  On other matches, I treated those directions as individual.  So if I started on M, it would be S then Y.

Starting with M (Remember C/K is shared):

SYZDY/XCGCI/DCWQM/HMMMS

Starting with J:

LRSWR/QVEVB/WVUOJ/AJJJL

Obviously, this makes no sense, so I put it in a substitution cipher decoder and got things that looked almost like words:

M—CTINTHERMONEDASUSSSC

IN THERE

J—NTISTHEREASEDCOLOOON

IS THERE A SECOND LONT; THERE IS A SECOND

There is also the option of treating the repeated directions as the same letter, in which case it is:

M—SSTXS/RWAWC/XWQQM/HMMMS

J—LLMQL/PUYUV/QUOOJ/AJJJL

Through the decoder, and it is:

M—TTHETWASAREALLINIIIT

THE REAL WAS A LINIT TT; THERE WAS A

J—TTINTHEREONELLSASSST

THERE IS ONE LAST TT

Also almost words.  These seem to be more words than the above.  I have also considered that the repeated positions indicate a capital.

I went ahead and calculated for a shared I/J and got:

M Repeated=TTONTHEREANESSIMIT

M No repeated=MONTOHEREDSTICALAM

J Repeated=OOSHOWERETHELLINIO

J Not repeated=URPARTISIONATHELEC

Shared W/X:

M Repeated=OODCONTHERIESSANAL

M No repeated=CISMORELETTHEYCANAM

J Repeated=RMCOMANINGONTHESNER

J No repeated=TTINTHEREANESSOFOT

Now for 2: 

Seeing as there were some references to brickwork/masons, the pig pen cypher seems like a logical choice.  Also, there are 4 images for each character. 

Based on the 4 gif being very different and the letters of the alphabet, I went with 3 for each character and one for Home:

And so on, with Home being N and a shared I/J

The weakness of this theory is that I have no indication of which letter in the grid to select for each character.  I could take the doubled symbols at an indication it is the second letter, but there isn’t really any indicator for the third. 

Or it could be that closed/open eyes are an indicator?

I have also tried the straight up follow it around the stickers and use the first letter of the names, but Home and Howdy kind of ruin that to start with, and it is a very limited set of letters.

I have tried converting the positions to numbers, starting with 1 at Julie and going clockwise (because we have had a couple of clocks, as well as Julie’s one eye is closed and the other is open and looking to the right). 

I used 9 for home in one string and 0 for home in the next.  I also considered the centered eyes on row 5 to be home:

W=8

J=1

F=2

H=7

00,99

P=3

E=6

S=5

B=4

I also reversed it into counterclockwise, because why not.

44361755241788236994

If it is going to be analogous to letters, there can be no value greater than 26.  I decided to try to assign each number to a letter, using two integers when it wasn’t over 26

4 4 3 6 17 5 5 24 17 8 8 23 6 9 9 4

4 4 3 6 17 5 5 24 17 8 8 23 6 0 0 4

(there is no letter for zero)

Adding is an idea, but I don’t know what quantities to group.  I could go as high as possible without going over 26, I could do pairs?

25 24 21 17 13

25 24 21 10

These aren’t many, so it doesn’t seem to work

8 9 8 10 6 8 16 5 15 13

Not a lot of variety in pairs.

And what to do with those?  I can give them a letter assignment:

4 4 3 6 17 5 5 24 17 8 8 23 6 9 9 4

D D C F Q  E E  X  Q  H H W F I I D

But what to do then, I would assume the same decoder as before:

RRENATTHASSINGGR

Nothing stands out there.  I’m at a loss.  Ideas?

[slotumn]

So, first off: when I do these kinds of in-universe political analysis posts, I'm not as concerned with individual characters and their personalities and hangups and inclinations as much as the material and political circumstances of the world around them. 3H fandom is very prone to character-focused analysis of everything, as is expected in a character-focused franchise, but that's not the approach I am taking in posts like these.

I'm not saying the characters' personalities have no effect on their decisions, but I don't believe that's the only thing that matters, or even that it's the most important thing. I do my analysis under the assumption that when it comes to political decisions, the larger circumstances/conditions of the world around the characters are far more important than their individual inclinations. So I focus more on dissecting said world/circumstances, rather than the individual characters.

From that: circumstances change, and the nature of politics is that people can make just about any decision under the right ones.

Example: the beginning of BE route in Hopes literally has Edelgard taking advantage of a very slim window of opportunity and pulling a quick one on Slithers with the Church's help.

It makes sense, really; in the end, both the Agarthans and Church get in the way of Adrestian power. Whichever they ally with/get rid of first really just depends on what works for the parties involved at the moment. A longer term Church-Empire teamup could very well come about, in my opinion, if that's what's convenient. So basically my hot take is that whatever personal vendetta Edelgard has against Nabateans won't override the necessity/political convenience of working with the Church, if such a circumstance happens to come about.

From that, Rhea and Church trying to avoid war/conflict: again, this also depends. Seiros herself led the war against Nemesis and Elites because she believed peace with those guys wasn't an option, and more importantly, others in Adrestia agreed and supported her cause. What's to say she won't decide the same about Slithers once she gets a hard confirmation that they're still around? Plus if the Slithers try to move their operations to the other nations, which they very well could, it would be even easier to convince her that Adrestian + Church intervention is necessary there.

And the rest of the Church, even if they don't know the nitty gritty details, probably won't be pleased about the prospect of losing influence in those territories because of a bunch of shady bastards moving there either, and hence agree that intervention is necessary. If their interests align with military action, they'd support it; institutions want power and influence, and the Church, in function, isn't so different, regardless of what principles and ideals they were founded on.

On this note, I also think Edelgard's decision to work with the Agarthans and prioritize getting rid of the Church first in Houses instead of the other way around had less to do with her personal vendetta and more with other political circumstances and factors.

Namely that

1. Domestically, the Agarthans have entrenched their influence into the Adrestian nobility too deeply to root out on her own; her father is just a figurehead at this point, and she probably will be when she inherits too, unless she manages to consolidate power by getting those same Agarthans on her side, which is exactly what she does.

2. Externally (for conquest purposes), it's confirmed Agarthans have powerful weaponry and technology, as opposed to the Church who has more or less lost control of all their Relics. From an imperial heir's POV Agarthans are just a more reliable/convenient ally militarily. Unless something changes, they'll probably stick with that.

(In Hopes, the "something" was Shez, who was confirmed as having similar powers to the Agarthans right off the bat but isn't as malicious; while Edelgard and Hubert do admit at one point they suspected Shez of being an Agarthan spy, they also seem to think Shez can be controlled/kept in line much more easily than the Agarthans. In Houses, though, it takes a while for Byleth to gain the Creator Sword, and by then the collaborative plots with Agarthans are already underway and way harder to back out of.)

Tl;dr my analysis is not about Edelgard or Rhea as individuals, it's about circumstances and institutions and power.

Now, as for Rheagard and the matter of whether the shippers of a pairing tend to favor one side of the ship over another... that is a whole another essay-worthy topic on (general, not just 3H) fandom tendencies and behaviors.

I might write about that one day but for now, I'm just gonna say that it's one of those ships I see like, conceptual potential with but don't actively ship. I don't really engage with Rheagard fanworks enough to make a judgement on whether it's biased towards one or the other, and tbh I don't know if I even care about that subject, because neither Rhea or Edelgard are my blorbos in the way the Golden Deer are.

Tl;dr I have no horse in the race and don't care enough to watch (you can probably tell from which section of this reply is longer lol)

In 3H canon, it's kind of taken for granted that Church sides with either Faerghus or Leicester. Leicester also gets treated as sidekick/allies to both Faerghus and Adrestia by canon and fanon; see the amount of combined BE+GD or BL+GD route works. And although it's much rarer than the others, I've even seen BE+BL combined route tag.

However, I think that a Church-Empire team-up route to conquer the other two nations would actually be very convincing in-universe politics wise, and convenient. If Edelgard wasn't as dead set on getting rid of the Church first, or if any other Adrestian emperor tried to re-conquer the rest of the continent at any point, I think allying with the Church and getting their blessing to do it would almost certainly have happened.

It's stated in-game that the Empire has grown distant from the Church as of late, but despite all that, Adrestian connection with the Church runs way deeper than other two countries. The nobles of Adrestia literally have the saints' Crests! If anybody could claim the legitimacy to being the truest and oldest believers, it's them. Plus Empire is still the largest and presumably the strongest nation in Fódlan, so the Church probably won't mind getting close to them again, either.

It wouldn't even take much for the Adrestian imperial heir to repair relations with the Church, too, especially if they go directly to Rhea. Rhea would have a soft spot for Wilhelm's descendants, so Edelgard or any other Hresvelg saying the Southern Church will be reopened might literally be all it takes to win her over.

Then the stuff like the Miklan incident can be used to accuse the Kingdom of not taking good care of Crests/Relics like they were meant to. The political disarray in Leicester can be used to accuse them of being unable to rule themselves. And if the Empire pays a bit of lipservice, swearing that they will retake those lands and rule justly under the guidance of the goddess as their founders did, the Church would probably give the stamp of approval and tell them to go for it.

Whether this alliance lasts or whether the Empire turns on the Church once the conquest is done and take all the power for themselves would depend on the emperor (if Edelgard is in charge, it would definitely be the latter).

But the prospect of a Church-Empire team up is actually way more politically plausible in-universe than fandom thinks imo.

[navree]

i think if you go to see the cherry blossoms at uw during the week you deserve to get hit by a car

[puppyeared]

Atla live action 😐

[hellaverse-critical-confessions]

(from this video)

[sysig]

One better (Patreon)

[otamotone-dnp]

about to vent in the tags real quick gonna be annoying and emo sorry in advance

[girls-are-weird]

hi. unlabeled person here. i consider myself a part of the LGBTQ+ community. i don't identify as queer. come at me, bro.

[fatherramiro]

looking at the posts on the 1899 netflix instagram like “all i do is live in fear”

[fakecrfan]

I know most people on here don't like to go to the gym because you're all gay nerds. I like to go to the gym. For the purpose of understanding this post please try to imagine that you, too, enjoy going to the gym so that you can empathize with my point here.

Anyway, so imagine you are going to the gym. You're pumped about the concept of getting some muscle on you. Plus, the gym has this "lift weights every day!" challenge with a feasible plan to slowly and safely increase the amount of weight you can lift by the end of the month. Cool!

So anyway you go there, and you're having a good time. But then you notice something. Some people are coming in with these guys in shirts that say LIFT FOR HIRE. You're curious, and you notice over time that some people are actually paying these guys to come in and do the lifting challenge for them.

"Huh," you say to your mega hot, muscled gym buddy. "That's so weird. What's in it for the people paying these guys?"

"Dunno," says your friend, mid bicep curl.

"Um, actually!" says the gym owner. "Some people are disabled, so the only way they can lift weights it to pay LIFT FOR HIRE, inc."

"But wait," you say. "They still aren't lifting the weights though? Paying someone else to lift for you doesn't mean you've lifted the weights."

The gym owner gasps. "How could you SAY that?"

"Because... it's true?" you say. "Uh, if you pay guys to lift your weights, that's probably really good for the guys you are paying. But it's not going to develop your ability to lift at all. Your muscles aren't going to grow, you're just going to lose money and get no results."

"That's ABLEIST," they say. "How DARE you! Some people are LITERALLY paralyzed, did you think of that?"

"Well, yeah, some people are, and that means definitionally they can't lift weights," you explain. "And paying someone else doesn't change that. Maybe if they wanted to like, move something in their house it would make total sense to hire these guys! But if you hire them to do your workout you get nothing, because the purpose of a workout is personal development. I'm not morally condemning people who do it, but it seems like a waste of money when this event is, again, about improving one's personal abilities."

"This is absolutely DISGUSTING, CLASSIST rhetoric!" the gym owner roars, and then turns to one of the LIFT FOR HIRE guys, "Pay no attention this disgusting person, dear sponsor, we support your business and we totally want you to keep funding our gym!"

"Sponsor?" says your hot muscled friend who was way too busy actually doing their workout and getting gains to engage in dumb discourse. "Oh, now it makes sense."

"Shut up, you don't understand our love!" says the gym owner, before sloppily making out with a LIFT FOR HIRE guy in front of you.

Anyway, that's what learning about the whole AI nanowrimo controversy was like for me.

[the-bluestreak-cat]

My extremely personal red flag is if you’ve never lived independently.

Do not open tags it’s just a personal vent and I hit the tag limit (30) and that’s never happened to me before ajskdlf

[whatudottu]

Honestly I think a “Galvan friend meeting your Tetramand friend” scenario would be very professional, all-business, and somewhat cold, basically “we clearly don’t see eye-to-eye on certain topics but I see we have common interests so I’m willing to be civil and cooperate with you despite our differing viewpoints”, meanwhile a “Cerebrocrustacean friend meeting your Appoplexian friend” scenario would basically just be “if you so much as breathe in my direction I am literally going to kill you with my bare paws/claws” the second their mutual friend leaves the room

Both your galvan and tetramand friend, who individually do not care for one another personally, finding agreement that there is some degree in overlap between them housed within YOU is very nice I think. Each coming to their own conclusion that whether or not they like each other shouldn’t affect their civility since them becoming friends with you, you reflect in both of them as their mutual and they into you, the person which they do not relate to relations to you in some way and comes around to appreciating you more. If that isn’t a fucking ouroboros of a sentence-

When it comes to your cerebrocrustacean friend vs your appoplexian friend however, particular interests are not quite so central to the friendship as it is the feelings, and since both of your friends have a desire to nurture their in-groups (cerebrocrustaceans being cliquey and detesting out-groups, appoplexians being more so a ‘protect the clan’ type ‘back the fuck up’ kinda urge), leaving them alone in a room together is a hazard. I mean of you’re friends individually with a cerebrocrustacean and an appoplexian you’d probably already be aware of how crabby/catty they can get with strangers (so don’t go trying to lock two sentient beings in other rooms so they can slowly get introduced to one another), but eventually they will both get the picture that either one of them both have your best interest in mind and probably - despite near immediately entering a battle of mind and claws - they’ll soon to have each other’s best interests if there’s more to connect to each other with beyond their mutual :P

Essentially, immediate mutual neutrality that may not develop into anything vs the closest equivalent to an enemies to friends speedrun you have ever seen :P