#save my angry oppressed son

[embryoed]

I cannot emphasize enough how much I start TWEAKINNGGG when I see ppl call Gale the “real villain” like guys… maybe take a moment to think here..

[chronicallylatetotheparty]

I think western media has relied on non-human races as shorthand for oppressed groups so much that audiences have been primed to look for that instead of actual imperialist ideology.

One of the criticisms I've repeated about the Dragon Prince is how the writers take the Aesthetics of fantasy imperialism/indigenous people and just switch them without bothering to change anything about their ideology or historical context.

Kenna on TikTok was right when she said that a franchise where the oppressor and oppressed were all the same species makes a better racism allegory.

The fact that the Four Nations were all human added to the themes of imperialism and genocide in ATLA. While on the opposite side of the coin, the Xadians all being different species undermines it.

You can say Fire Nation people were a bunch of imperialists without going into bioessentialism. You CAN'T say humans are a bunch of warmongering monsters without sounding like an eco fascist.

The Sunfire elves textually being the most fantasy racist group is fine because they're elves, therefore oppressed, and the white writers made them superficially based on African-French speakers.

Meanwhile Katolis is "obviously" a Fantasy European Imperialist nation and therefore the oppressor. Never mind that it's had a black, now mixed, ruling family for a thousand years. Or that it's citizens aren't just white.

I remember seeing a post comparing the taboo against Black Magic to Xtian fundamentalism. At first I thought that was a bit much but no. Season six revealed that TDP has a canonical Hierarchy of Beings so that guy was absolutely right.

In Xtian fundamentalism doing something good the "wrong" way is the same as doing something bad.

Save a kingdom from starving? Well you had to kill a rock monster so obviously the right thing to do was let hundreds of thousands of people starve to death. (I've had weirdos go onto my posts and literally say this.)

Break the chains preventing you from saving the people you love? Well it hurt you so the right thing to do was let your friends and loved ones drown I guess.

Your son is dying? Better protect some old man's sense of moral purity than save a child.

All of these actions are not considered bad because they had a negative effect. They're considered bad because they go against the dominant power's desired order.

They're inherently bad because "humans" are inherently bad. Because human ways are not as pure as a direct connection to an Arcanum.

Note: this^ is imperialist ideology.

The idea that a group of people fighting for their survival justifies ethnic cleansing and mass murder is imperialist ideology.

The idea that the scary, blasphemous practices of a people you don't understand makes them dangerous, and therefore justifies you "defending yourself", is imperialist ideology.

The Liberal focus on "cycles of violence" and "both sides are at fault". Instead of on reparations for the people they killed and the homes they destroyed is imperialist ideology.

But Katolis has a pseudo-medieval aesthetic and the elves do not.

I was so angry at the scene where Sol Regem burns Katolis because THIS is the poor helpless dragons the humans "colonized"!? This living air bomber is the "victim" of the big, bad humans? One Archdragon can destroy an entire city single handedly and you expect me to believe the elves and dragons ethnic cleansing of humanity was REASONABLE!?

No. We are past any doubt or rationalization. What Sol Regem did to Katolis was just a small glimpse of what the elves and dragons did during the Human Exile. Just a small glimpse into how imperialist powers treat those that they cannot exploit.

And then demonize them for daring to oppose/question/subvert the imperialist's god(s) given superiority.

[certainty2witch]

For Crocodad theory, imagine if the way everyone finds out isn't either of them admitting it. It's Sengoku being mad after the events of Marineford and deciding to hand over declassified info on the revolutionary army, collected by Cypher Pole, which proves that Crocodile is Luffy's birth parent, to Big News Morgan. Imagine everyone has just started their two years of training when they pick up the daily newspaper and right on the cover is confirmation that Crocodile is Luffy's parent.

Since you mentioned the revolutionary army, I suppose you’re talking about my revolutionary crocodile au, even if you talked about Marineford.

And i take some time for adding a bit of lore for my au because is important:

(Answer for anon’s ask after the ‼️‼️‼️)

Crocodile was never evil and with so he never did something wrong in Alabasta. But, he’s still a warlord, and a fake pirate, because he’s a revolutionary undercover.

But let’s say that the marines discovered Crocodile is a revolutionary and that’s a way for putting him in impel down?

Iva obliviously, since is there too, save him and bring him at level 5.5, they both wait for the right moment for escaping (imagine Croc being uncomfortable around all that extravagant people, he doesn’t like loud people, and Iva likes to torment him because they think Croc miss Dragon and Croc says he doesn’t.

Is the truth btw he just wanna run into Dragon’s arms and kissing him).

And with so, Impel down arc happens, but Croc is always with Iva instead of being locked at level 6. His reaction to his son almost dead is pretty devastating, just imagine that… I mentioned in a recent post that they have a deep and special bond when Luffy was little. With older Luffy this keep existing!

So Marineford is pretty the same with Doflamingo bothering him (lmao, sorry babe your love is busy with the world’s worst criminal, he’s not a single man), with him protecting Ace (this time for Luffy and only for him💕) and other canon stuff.

And he suffers seeing his son losing his sense after his brother’s death. He obliviously protect him and Jinbe from Akainu (in every au he always saves him in that scene *sigh* good daddy).

So after Marineford he and Luffy separate, and he finally reunite with Dragon.

‼️‼️‼️

And now about the ask.

But first i add little warning.

Cw //mention of gender dysphoria!

Somehow Sengoku knows and decides to reveal everything (my god you should just close that trap sometimes, stupid marine) I honestly can’t imagine why he would know something like that, maybe due to Garp? (Close that trap too!!) because yep Garp knows Croc is trans and Luffy’s other dad.

Crocodile never liked the idea of people knowing his secret: him being Luffy’s other parent. He knows in that world people like him are seeing in a bad way and if others will discover he isn’t cis, my god I’m sure people will keep misgendering him… and he would hate that. I imagine his past full of transphobic people, keep using wrong pronouns with him and forcing him to just be like “Mother Nature made him”… you know useless things like this. So well he grow up frustrated and angry, Iva was his light, the revolutionary army were his light. Even after hrt, Crocodile felt the oppression of not being cis (mostly when he got pregnant of Luffy). But in this Au, he with the support of others started to feeling more and more comfortable just being himself. He’s not cis? Who cares!

But if people will discover he is Luffy’s dad too and with so, the father that gave birth to him, i like to imagine him asking his friends (and love) some support. He is more comfortable being trans, but something like that is hard to handle anyway, because nobody asked for his consent! If that was his secret, and he wanted to keep that hidden, well there’s a reason.

I hope I explained everything at least in a decent way, feel free to ask for some more if you are curious or to ask something else in the ask box.

And correct me or tell me to change something, if you think is inappropriate please.

For a dear anon that i still didn’t answer, if you are seeing this, just know that your idea inspired me. I will draw what you said, because I know what to draw hehe but i need time because i have other art first 🙏🏻

[autumnmobile12]

Epic the Musical: Not Sorry For Loving You

Regarding the debate about Rivera-Herrans' choice in writing Odysseus as sympathetic to Calypso and telling her he loves her even though she trapped him on her island for seven years...I may have some context.

And I’m really hesitant in posting this because I know the ‘Calypso was Odysseus’ lover or abuser’ debate is a volatile subject. I guess what I’m saying is please be kind.  I don’t want to fight about this, but I do want to provide some insight with what I know about Greek mythology.

...

My guess is the song was largely inspired by this conversation between Calypso and Odysseus in the original Odyssey. (Abridged because the full text is too long to be concise):

“…Kalypso the goddess thus began: ‘Son of Laertes, subtle Odysseus--so then, your mind is firmly set on returning now without delay to your home and country? Go then, and joy go with you, in spite of all. Yet if you knew--if you fully knew--what miseries are fated to fill your cup before you attain your own land, you would choose to stay here, to join with me in calm possession of this domain, to be beyond reach of death…”

Subtle Odysseus answered her: ‘Goddess and queen, do not make this a cause of anger with me. I know the truth of everything you say; …. Yet, not withstanding, my desire and longing day by day is still to reach my own home and see the day of my return. And if this or that divinity should shatter my craft on the wine-dark ocean, I will bear it and keep a bold heart within me. Often enough before this time have war and wave oppressed and plagued me; let new tribulations join the old.’ -The Odyssey, Homer, trans. by Shewring.

…

In this conversation, we see Calypso asking Odysseus if he’s sure he wants to leave her and return to Ithaka, and that he would have an easier life if he remained with her forever immortal. And he asks her not to be angry/hurt and that whatever lies ahead on his journey, he’ll face it bravely. (Choosing a simple life but a life of obscurity as opposed to returning to hardship and being remembered as a stalwart hero.)

Giving this the context of the Ancient Greek cultural lens, Odysseus and Calypso were lovers.  The above conversation is immediately followed up with this:

So he spoke; and the sun sank and darkness came; then the pair withdrew, and in a recess of the arching cavern they took their pleasure in love, and did not leave one another's side.  -The Odyssey, Homer, trans. by Shewring.

Yes, Calypso trapped Odysseus on her island for seven years and by today’s standards, that's gonna be a huge yikes.  But their ‘lovers’ dynamic becomes easier to understand when you look at the wider collection of Greek myth stories and remember that what we consider a lovers’ relationship by today’s standards is practically nonexistent in this genre and if there is 'love,' it’s probably closer to what we’d recognize as Stockholm Syndrome and so on.

Look at Hera and Zeus’ eternal marital problems.

Jason the Argonaut just setting aside his wife Medea so he can marry another princess.

Helen of Sparta either willingly left Menelaus or Paris kidnapped her, depending on which version you hear.

Theseus abandoning Ariadne and then she marries Dionysus almost immediately after he stumbles across her.

Hades kidnapping Persephone, even in modern retellings where they form a mutual love.

I think the closest we can get to a romantic love story in Greek mythology is possibly Perseus’ rescuing of Princess Andromeda because that has more of the classic ‘hero saves princess from monster, they get married, happily ever after’ trope we're familiar with in fairy tales.

Even Odysseus’ marriage to Penelope calls consent into question because he technically demanded her as payment for helping her uncle, King Tyndareus, out of a difficult situation.

Getting back to the song and Epic: The Musical, the tone of the original text does give the impression that Odysseus is sympathetic for leaving, and I think Rivera-Herrans is trying to reconcile that because he portrays Odysseus as a faithful husband and that clashes with the Greek portrayal where Odysseus and Calypso were lovers in the poem, hence Odysseus giving a more heartfelt goodbye than Calypso may deserve. I go into the original story a bit more with this post.

It’s not a bad portrayal of Odysseus and I do like that Rivera-Herrans chose to resolve the toxic masculinity of the original story. Women in Greek mythology, especially if they’re mortal, are more often than not little more than a plot device while the men get the glory. That said, I think if Rivera-Herrans really wanted Calypso to be a sympathetic figure to his audience, it might have been better suited if he'd referred to the poet Hesiod’s version of events where she held Odysseus prisoner because Poseidon commanded her do it.  He could have easily spun her story as,

“Forgive me, I can’t disobey the sea god.”

That option would have robbed her of free will as much as Odysseus and we could have gotten more on board with pitying her for her loneliness when he leaves, and it would have still preserved Poseidon's role as the villain of the musical. As it stands, the ‘playful but socially clueless’ demeanor he gave Calypso only works if she detained Odysseus a day or two. Seven years of drawing that out is a little much and portrays Calypso as a foolish girl and not as the ‘mighty and beautiful’ goddess she’s described as, by Odysseus himself, in the original.

But that's me.

[firetrucks-fastcars]

Your Home's Really Only a Town You're Just a Guest In

2.5k words | Logan Sargeant/Oscar Piastri | The Miami GP is over in a matter of seconds for Logan. Losing it all at his home race makes him realize a few things about what home and family truly mean

He was spinning before he’d even registered the impact. He barely had the brain capacity to cross his arms over his chest as his car went careening off the track. The gravel trap rattled his teeth and he tasted blood as he bit down on his tongue. He braced himself for impact just before his car hit the barrier, sending a shockwave down his spine, making his toes tingle and his head snap forward, despite the brace holding him in. God, that fucking hurt.

He’d never get used to this feeling. One might think he had, considering the amount of times he’d been in this position over the last year. He pushed down the self-deprecating thoughts for now, only focusing on moving his hands enough to press the radio button and answer his engineer’s desperate pleas to know if he was alright. 

“Oh mate,” he groaned, unable to think of a more intelligent response.

“Not your fault. Not your fault.”

“Ugh. I bit my fucking tongue.”

He knew SkySports would be angry at him for having to spend money on the bleep effect but he didn’t have it in him to care at the moment.

“You okay? Are you okay?”

He huffed into his helmet, trying to catch his breath, “I- yes. I think so. Did I do something wrong?”

He couldn’t think of anything he could have done, he couldn’t even see Kevin in his mirrors. The first look he’d gotten at the car had been blurry at best as he spun his way off the track and the Haas kept on racing. 

“No I don’t think you did. I’ll look at the review. Can you get out of the car on your own?”

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

He began undoing his seat belts as the marshals moved toward his car. One gave him a helping hand and he stepped over the halo, hopping from the cockpit, the crunch of gravel under his boots. This was it. His home race was completely undone in less than 30 seconds. And he’d been doing alright too. He’d been on pace with Alex, he’d placed higher in the sprint. For the first time since Australia he’d felt a little glimmer of confidence. However, this sport and everyone around him seemed determined to put out any fire he had as quickly and as harshly as possible. 

The marshal led him to the evacuation car and he slid into the backseat, placing his helmet next to him. He wished the ride to the Williams garage was longer than a few minutes. He wished he had more time to come up with something better to say to his team other than a weak apology for fucking up another car. His only saving grace was that his parents weren’t in the paddock. Instead they were probably shaking their heads from their couch, turning off the tv and moving on to do something else since their son had failed so spectacularly, yet again. 

As he stepped out of the car into the oppressive Miami heat, he found himself wishing for England. So rarely did he miss the gray skies, but today they would match his mood much better than the inescapable Florida sunshine. He wished for the milder temperatures of Monaco, where the sun didn’t feel like quite as much of a mockery. Where he could hide in Alex and Lily’s apartment and neither of them would push him to speak until he was ready. Where he could escape to Lando’s and play games with him and Oscar and Max Fewtrell until his throat was sore from yelling and he felt slightly human again. Where Max would grow tired of Lando complaining about him moping and invite him over for dinner. Where he could sit in his designated seat on the balcony (declared as such by a drawing featuring entirely too much glitter, made of course by Penelope) and drown his sorrows in cheap European beer. Where people actually cared about him, or at least pretended to. 

But no. He was trapped here, as if held down by the humidity that blanketed the entire state he had once called home. Now, he felt more like a guest. He knew that after this race was all said and done, he’d crawl back home to his parents’ house that bore no signs of their second son, save for a few pictures on the walls, relics of his karting and junior formula days. He was a guest in the place where he was raised.

A firm hand gripped his bicep as he was led into the garage, “Are you alright?”

Elias had practically materialized next to him and was leading him past all of the engineers and mechanics, their well wishes and promises of “There was nothing you could have done” nothing more than tv static as they made their way hastily toward his driver’s room. Elias unlocked the door and pushed Logan inside but didn’t follow.

“Take your time. Get cleaned up and settle down. Don’t come back out until you feel human again.”

“What if I never feel human again?” The vulnerability spilled from his lips in the worst case of word vomit he’d ever experienced. He didn’t have a chance in hell of stopping the words once they started flowing. 

“You will. I know it doesn’t feel like it and you don’t want to listen to my pep talk right now, so I’ll save that for Alex later. But you will feel human again Logan. You will come out on the other side, stronger and better because of everything you’ve been through.”

“Can you ask James if there’s still room on the flight back for me tomorrow?” he asked instead of acknowledging what his trainer had just said.

“I thought you were staying for a few days. You had plans to fish with Kyle and go to the hockey game.”

“I know. And I’m sorry, I do really want to take you out on the boat. I just don’t know how much longer I can be here before I suffocate.”

“I understand. Don’t worry about me, I’ll get everything sorted with James. Just promise me that you’ll talk to your brother before we go. He’s worried about you.”

“Dalton is always worried about me.”

“He loves you. Don’t take it for granted.”

With that Elias slipped back out into the hallway, closing the door behind him. Logan sighed and laid back on the massage table, staring at the ceiling. He could hear the faint roar of engines in the distance. He wondered if Lando was still leading? Maybe one of them would finally have some good luck. He forced himself into a sitting position and leaned over to retrieve his phone from the front pocket of his backpack. He pulled up his brother’s contact and sent a message.

To Dalton: with mom and dad?

From Dalton: Yeah but I can leave. Need me?

To Dalton: yeah

From Dalton: Okay. Give me five

Logan counted in intervals of sixty until his phone began to buzz in his palm. Dalton always kept his promises.

“Hey little bro.”

“Are Mom and Dad around?”

“Nope. I went down to the dock. I figured you wanted this to be a private conversation.”

“Are they still watching the race?”

“Yeah. We’re all rooting for Lando’s first win. They aren’t mad at you Loges, there was nothing you could have done.”

“Yeah that time. What about all the others? They’re disappointed and you know it.”

“I know what they can be like Loges. Trust me, I know better than anyone. They want you to succeed but they don’t understand what the pressure does to you.”

“‘Pressure makes diamonds son’.”

Logan’s poor imitation of their father’s deep southern accent made Dalton chuckle. 

“Pressure makes dust. You can’t let them get to you bud. This is how they are about everything, it's how they always will be. You just have to prove them wrong.”

“They won’t give me a chance.”

“Mom and Dad? Or the team?”

“Both. Every time something starts to go well for me, Williams tears the rug out from under my feet. Mom and Dad will always side with them, especially Dad. Nothing is ever good enough, I don’t even know why I bother anymore. I love a sport that hates me and I’m a guest in my own fucking family. I don’t belong anywhere Dalton. I don’t belong in Europe, I don’t belong here, I should just fucking disappear and then everyone would be happier.”

“I wouldn’t. Kyle wouldn’t. Neither would Alex or Oscar or even fucking Lando. Loges, you’re so focused on everything that’s working against you, that you can’t acknowledge that there are people in your corner. Williams fans fucking love you, but all you care about is the keyboard warriors who think you should make your car levitate to avoid being hit. Fuck them. And fuck anyone who ever says you can’t do something. Fuck Mom and Dad. But don’t toss aside the people that want to help you. When was the last time you talked to Oscar about how you feel? Or are you just telling him that you’re fine and that none of this shit affects you? Because I know the truth, Loges. When are you gonna stop lying to yourself and playing tough guy and accept some help? Because until you start leaning on the people around you, you’re gonna keep crumbling. And I won’t be the one that’s left to pick up the pieces. Not again. I love you way too much to watch you destroy yourself because you’re stubborn.”

“I love you too.”

“Now what are you going to do?”

“Stop feeling sorry for myself.”

“And?”

“Go out tonight to celebrate Lando’s win. Then I’m gonna go back to England tomorrow with the team and work over data with Alex so we can find a way to fix this tractor of a fucking car.”

“Good. I’m proud of you little brother. Call me anytime, day or night. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ll see you soon. But not until you’re ready.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

As he cleaned himself up and changed from his sweaty race suit to his usual team kit, he turned on the monitors to watch Lando win the race. He left the team (with permission from Gaetan) to run down to the pit lane and congratulate his friend. He found Oscar and Alex, leaning against the wall together, waiting for their turn in the media pen and joined them so he could fulfill his own duties to the press.

“Hey Osc,” he linked their pinkies together briefly in greeting, before pulling away. “Shame about your race.”

“Yeah, some people were just itching for penalties today,” Oscar rolled his eyes. “How are you doing? You seem surprisingly carefree.”

Alex regarded him with a raised brow, “You are suspiciously calm.”

“I talked to Dalton. I’m still annoyed about the crash but Kevin got what he deserved and there’s nothing else I can do. Other than comb through the data and try to figure out a way to make this God forsaken tractor go any faster.”

“I’m with you,” Alex agreed. “I already told Gaetan and James to book a conference room and stock the fridge with Monster because we’re gonna be there a while.”

Logan chuckled and bumped their shoulders together, “I’ll be there Monday.”

Alex raised his brow again, “I thought you were staying for a few more days?”

“I was going to. But, I need a change of scenery. And living in London has ruined me. I can’t handle the heat.”

Oscar gave him a look that said they’d talk about it later, but was called away by his press officer, “You’re coming out with us tonight. We’re celebrating Lando’s win!”

“I expected nothing less.”

*****

It was way too late (or early, depending on how you looked at it) when they finally made it back to the hotel Mclaren was staying in. He and Oscar had left the party a few minutes early, leaving Lando in Max’s capable hands. Elias had already retrieved his luggage from his parent’s place and had it brought to Oscar’s room. Once they were both showered and half asleep, Oscar finally asked what he’d been dying to all night.

“So what made you decide you want to leave early?”

“I talked to Dalton. And he made me realize that how I’ve been acting lately isn’t healthy. I’m tearing myself down to meet these unrealistic expectations my parents have set for me and I’m killing myself to try and prove myself to people who don’t actually care. I’ve been realizing lately that I feel like a guest here. Florida isn’t really home. I don’t really feel at home anywhere to be honest. Only with you, or Alex. Sometimes Lando and Max.”

“You know what my mom told me once? It was right after I left Australia for good and I was so homesick it hurt. And boarding school sucked and I was just about ready to give it all up and come home. But my mom told me that home isn’t really a place, it’s people. And family isn’t just the people who raised you. So I’d always be welcome at home with them, but I was also responsible for making my own home and my own family and that once I did that, I wouldn’t be so lonely. A few months after that, we became teammates. And I figured out pretty quickly what my mom meant. I know you’re proud of being from America, to be the first American in F1 in a long time. But that isn’t your whole identity, Loges. And Florida doesn’t have to be your home because you were born here. Your home can be in England with me, or Monaco with Max, Lando and Alex. You can consider both places home if you want because all of us are your family. We care about you so much baby, especially me. It has hurt so bad to see you struggle for so long. I just want you to realize you’re with so much outside of racing and outside of your hometown. You will never be a guest with me Logan, I hope you know that.”

“I do. And I’m starting to figure out this family thing. I just think it’s going to take some time. I have to really figure out where I belong in the world.”

“I know. And I’ll always be with you, there is nowhere you can go that I won’t follow.”

“I’m stuck with you forever huh?”

“You bet your ass you are. You’re stuck with Lando too because he’ll tag along just to be annoying. And Max because he has to supervise when I’m not around. And Alex, because he’s just along for the ride.”

Logan laughed and hugged Oscar close, “I think I’m okay with that.”

He stared at the ceiling as Oscar snored lightly next to him, waiting for sleep to come. So what if he felt like a guest in his home? He’d just make another.

[theghostwife]

They Only Want The Boy

Summary: The thoughts of Helaena Targaryen as she grapples with her dreams of blood being spilled by rats holding knives and a certain little boy sleeping without his head

Word Count: 652

Pairing: None

Author's Note: See bottom of the fanfic

Warnings: Major Character Death

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"They only want the boy."

I whispered, always a whisper…these were words that were never to be spoken aloud where others could hear them. I had hoped that perhaps…if I did not share my dream it would not come true. It would stay a figment of my imagination. I could draw my dreams, scribbled amongst pages, or on my walls. Murals of death and fire and blood, the end of houses, of possible rebirth. Murals full of possibilities and yet…the dream that haunted me today was never that. Never a possibility.

"They only want the boy."

I had to prepare for an event I did not want, nor could I fully understand it, despite the feeling of despair and fear sitting heavily in my gut—in my womb. I tried to warn Aegon but I could never say what it was I wanted. I can never explain my dreams in ways my family could understand. It was as if someone filtered the words before they left my mouth; as if my family were not fit to hear my warnings in their entirety. Only I would know, a burden that only I could bear. I couldn't save Aemond's eye or the innocent smallfolk. I cannot save my son. Jaehaerys was dead the moment he took his first breath in this world. I wept that day, grieving a child I had just met. My mother believed I was simply overwhelmed and perhaps I was…I knew he was not destined for much in this world. I simply did not know how he would leave me before. I know how now. It changes nothing.

"They only want the boy."

Hopefully, Aegon enjoys his time with his firstborn. He won't have time again. None of us will.

"They only want the boy."

His knife was cold on my neck but the droplets of blood were warm. Unnaturally warm and I did not know which sensation I liked the least.

"They only want the boy."

He told me his name was Cheese but I already knew. I sounded odd coming from his mouth instead of my head. He smelt like Cheese. Old, rotten, curdled cheese that's forgotten about…except for the rats. The rats never forget. He told me to be quiet, his whispered against my cheek. His beard was scratchy, and his hold on me was suffocating and oppressive. I wanted nothing more than to push him off and escape with my children. I wanted for all this to be a dream. I had forgotten in that moment…it already was.

"They only want the boy."

We were soon joined by another. He seemed softer than the other one. He was less quick to anger but he wore the same brutality on his face and in his eyes. He was no different. He never is.

"They only want the boy."

Perhaps if I offered a necklace?

"They only want the boy."

A son for a son he said. A son for a son. A son for a son. A son for a son.

"They only want the boy."

I cannot. I can't.

"They only want the boy."

A shake of the head.

"They only want the boy."

A deep breath

"They only want the boy."

A pointed finger.

"They only want the boy."

I gave them my son and escaped with my daughter clutched to my chest. He was sleeping so soundly…his last moments of peace alive. His last words will forever be engrained in my head. I can hear it repeat over and over to the sounds of his flesh being ripped apart. My sweet boy. Dead before he ever had the chance to live.

"They only want the boy."

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Please. Don't take him. Don't take her. Don't take them. Take only him. Only him. They will take only him. Only him.

"They killed the boy."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: So while the acting on the parts of Phia (who was AMAZING) and the actors for Blood and Cheese...that whole scene was... anticlimactic, horrifying, and disturbing. Firstly, I'm angry they deviated so much from the book material. I understand artistic creativity but the writers made the scene so much less emotional than it was supposed to be. I get what they're trying to do with Helaena's character, she's a dreamer, which affects how she acts and responds to the world around her. It makes her emotional responses more muted than say Rhaenyra, so that silent horror she portrays, that's what makes the scene so disturbing. She's terrified and horrified at what's happening around her and what's going to happen to her son but she can't emotionally respond, at least not outwardly.

However, in the book scene where she begs for the lives of her children, where she weeps and screams on the floor, where it takes a threat of rape against Jaehaera to finally make her choose, there was none of that. None of that desperation and that's why for me, the emotional response that I was supposed to have didn't come. I said it on Twitter before but the fact that we heard her say "They only want the boy" in an earlier scene and then after she tries to barter her necklace (not her life?) she shakes her head no but then points to Jaehaerys because she already knew he was going to die. I felt like that also lent so much to the scene but in the worst way possible. It was an act of preserving her other child but it's so vastly different from the book where she gives up Maelor because he's the youngest so it would be the most merciful action compared to killing her oldest only for her oldest to die anyway, but it changes that harrowing experience. It's still tragic in a way, but it just sits very heavily in my stomach because they completely changed how Helaen's path is set as she tries and ultimately fails to grapple with that tragedy and her part in it. I do wonder how they'll play on this scene going on but I'm just eh about the whole thing.

Now where it gets horrifying is solely on the part of Jaehaerys and the brutality of his death. Now before I continue, I'm not upset that Jaehaerys death wasn't like the book. I have no desire to see any child get beheaded, I'm mainly upset that Helaena's role was greatly diminished but I've seen so many fans say that they were mad that the scene was compared to the Red Wedding but the Red Wedding wasn't horrifying because of the blood spilled. It was horrifying because it was brutal and despite not seeing Jaehaerys killed, we can hear it. We hear his muffled whimpers as they wake him up by covering his mouth. Imagine how scared a 4-year-old little boy is (Ryan Condal stated Jaehaerys was four in the show, not six like the book) to have two large men standing over you as one of them covers your mouth. He was scared and we heard that. We hear the moment his whimpers cut off because they sliced his neck and we continue to hear the slicing of his flesh along with Helaena saying "Please" as she escapes with Jaehaera. It's a brutal scene, it's brutal.

Another thing...what the fuck was that Alicole scene???? I'm not mad they had sex, I'm mad because 1. It's too eerily similar to Laena's funeral where Daemon and Rhaenyra have sex but it lacks the emotion and love (obsession) they could have for each other. 2. They had sex in Rhaenyra's old room??? Seriously writers?? Rhaenyra does not need to be centered in Alicent's narrative to this degree. It makes very little sense.

[tendertenebrosity]

Confession

Getting a little burned out on the novel, so here is something fun, whumpy and minimally edited, featuring Julien, my old OC.

“All right,” the guard who’d driven the cart said. “I think it’s time. Say your piece.”

The crowd hushed, then stirred and hushed again, like ripples of condemnation spreading across the sea of faces looking up at Julien, where he stood on the dais.

He had already been trying to hold his head up as well he could in the face of the crowd; he made more of an effort. The chains on his wrists clinked - they made it impossible to stand as straight as he would have liked.

“I,” he began, and had to stop to wet his lips. “I am… Julien Monthaith, formerly Julien Caithir. Until recently, self-styled Prince Regent and First of the Council of Chiefs. Known to many of you as the Usurper.”

A murmur ran across the crowd. Well, it’s true, he thought. Did you think I didn’t know you called me that? It stopped hurting me a long time ago. Didn’t it?

He tried not to pick faces out of the crowd. Elene had wanted this to be done at the time when there’d be peak traffic in the square, but he’d probably have drawn people here no matter what hour. Is there not one of you whose life was better under my rule? Not one of you who I helped? Nobody with me to thank for their job, their education, their son or daughter still being alive?

They’d be unlikely to say so, if there was. Not in this crowd.

“I confess. To conspiring with Laithann’s enemies, subverting her laws and her sovereignty, and oppressing her people.” He took a deep breath. “I confess to treason. To betrayal of my family and the rightful heir. My seizure of the throne was unlawful, and the titles I claimed illegitimate. I now pledge my loyalty - completely and unreservedly - to the true and rightful monarch of Laithann, Queen Elene.”

That last part was true. He suspected nobody would really believe it, but it was. Actually all of it was true - he had just left out any lines in which he said he regretted any of it. Perhaps unwise of him, when he’d been given the leeway to write his own words rather than just rattling off whatever confession he’d been given to memorise in his cell.

Faolan had fought hard to save his life, Julien knew. Elene could change her mind just as easily.

Maybe one day you’ll understand, Elene. Of all of us, you surely know more than even me of what they were capable of.

Then again, maybe she wouldn’t. Julien wasn’t sure he could blame her.

The crowd started up again once it was obvious Julien had finished talking. A babble of voices, some of them jeering and angry, some of them almost jubilant.

Not many of those. He was a little surprised - nobody had laughed or cheered at most of the public punishments Julien had been to, but he thought this time would be different.

This time it was Julien.

“All right,” the second guard said. Julien knew her; she’d been a Montaith soldier since she was old enough to hold a sword. “One down, four to go.”

The guards motioned for Julien to come down off the dais, and he came easily, his head held high.

He had a sickening feeling he wasn’t going to be able to keep that up for long, as they fastened the short length of chain between his wrists to a rope behind the cart.

The cart set off, with Julien walking behind it, the Montaith soldier guard a little way behind him.

Oh, they were only going slowly. A walking pace. This was supposed to be humiliating, not lethal. But somehow - when he’d pictured this, in the small hours of the morning - he hadn’t accounted for how tiring this would be after the first street. How heavy and awkward it was with his wrists in chains in front of him.

Even before the gauntlet really started.

How did they decide who got to take part in this bit? He wondered, with a detachment he tried to cling to. Was there a lottery, was it whoever got there first, had they appointed people… surely competition had been fierce.

The first stick that cracked across his shoulders made him stagger, but he kept his feet. Pain in a line across his back, not unbearable, just - striking. Distracting. Enough to make him hiss between his teeth but nothing more. The crowd was weirdly quiet here, too - Julien had always kind of thought there was supposed to be a lot of noise at this sort of thing?

The second - the third -

He fell at the fifth, couldn’t get his feet underneath him fast enough to keep up with the cart. The Montaith guard was quick on her feet though, calling for the cart to stop before he could be dragged far at all, scooping him up off the road.

“Thank you,” he said, dazed, his arms and knees afire, as she steadied him. Like an idiot.

She looked at him like - oh, like he was disgusting. And he was, wasn’t he? That was what all this was about.

He’d done this for them. Hadn’t he? In the beginning. He let his gaze drift, unfocused over the crowd as they started to walk again. Someone stepped forward - he did not look at them - whistle, crack, across his shoulders.

I did it for you. And you hate me.

That’s fine.

-

They didn’t have him walk all of the way around the city. After all, they weren’t trying to kill him. Then again, he thought dizzily on one of the sections when he’d been allowed to climb up into the back of the cart and rest with his head on his folded aching arms, if some overenthusiastic citizen had suspiciously good aim, if the guards were a little too slow in calling a stop to things… what was Faolan going to do about it?

There were five major squares in the city. Julien stood in the centre of each, on a dais or atop steps if there were any. He said the words he’d prepared - project your voice, Julien, what sort of public speaker are you, he thought with vague hysteria at the third stop, with blood seeping through the shoulders of his shirt and the knees of his pants, and his legs trembling. He'd bitten his cheek at the last fall. Not going to command any hearts and minds if you mumble!

The crowd murmured angrily, and swallowed up his speech like an empty cavern with no echoes, and arranged itself behind the lines of people with switches to watch him walk through again.

The Montaith guard - what was her name? He knew it - hauled him up each time he fell, told the other guard to stop the cart and bundled him up into it on the last stretch. He didn’t thank her again. Even if he’d wanted to… he didn’t have the breath or thought to spare for anything but pain.

-

“I… I…” Julien blinked, his vision blurry. His ears roared; was it the crowd? Or just in his head? He couldn’t see them. The crowd he knew was there.

He was supposed to be talking.

Blood was trickling through his hair and down the side of his face; he made a cut-off movement of his hand to try and brush it aside, but the metal around his wrists was so heavy he didn’t get it more than a few inches.

He clung to the arm of the guard shamefully tightly, knowing that if he didn’t he would fall. He had lost count of how many times he had fallen, and it hurt more every time. And the words - he needed to get out the words. What had the words been?

“I am Julien Montaith,” he said, to whoever might be there. “I am… I was… self, self-styled, Prince Regent, and… and… I am the Usurper.” The words he’d repeated to himself in the cell below the palace were gone, and he floundered after them. God, everything hurt. Everything hurt so much.

“And?” she muttered at his side.

“I confess,” he started, and let his head sag. “I’m sorry. I’m trying. I confess - I don’t - I confess to treason, and betrayal, and - and - I seized - I conspired - please, I’m trying….”

Was the crowd roaring still? Had they heard him? It was really important that the crowd heard him.

His knees were jelly. His whole body seemed to throb, in time with the roaring in his ears, except for one long stripe from shoulder to opposite hip that burned no matter what everything else was doing. It felt deep. What had it been? Who had it been?

“Come on,” the guard said, giving him a little shake. It hurt, but he didn’t think she meant it to. She was going in and out of focus. “Nearly done. This is the last time.”

It was? Julien wasn’t certain.

He lifted his head anyway. “I c-confess to the betrayal of Laithann,” he said, the words coming out strained but audible. They were just words, he no longer really understood their meaning; it had seemed really important to him when this had started that he mean it, but he didn’t. Couldn’t. “The titles I… I claimed were not l-lawful or le…legitimate.” This last bit was the most important, wasn’t it? “I pledge… I pledge my loyalty to the true Queen, Elene...”

“There,” the guard at his side said. “Finally. Done.”

“No, it’s not. He hasn’t said it properly,” someone said, distant - the other guard? “That wasn’t what he said at the other stops. It wasn’t what he was supposed to say.”

“Look, I think it’s all we’re going to get,” the guard at his side said. She let go of Julien’s arm - he swayed - slithered down onto his knees on the cobblestones.

Everything was spinning. Everything hurt. He’d said the words wrong. Were they going to make him walk? He could not. He could not walk. He heard the guards arguing quietly over his head, and the dissatisfied muttering of the crowd.

If Julien could have talked, he would have told them just to run him through right here, if they were going to try and make him walk more. Would the crowd finally cheer at that? Or would they just - buzz and roar, like so many bees?

I loved you once, he thought, with difficulty, through the fire raging across his back and his head and his joints. You loved me, once. His mind had shrunk down to just his body, just pain, and something important was behind that thought but he couldn’t think of what it could be.

Evidently the Montaith guard won. They slung Julien’s arms over their shoulders, and loaded him into the cart, and took him home.

Did I say I was sorry? Am I sorry?

I don’t think I am. Still.

[nortaeventcouncil]

Red Queen Fanfiction Awards Nominations: Best Alternate Universe (AU)

Sinners & Saints by neverthecanonotp @king-maven-calore

15260 Words (ongoing) | Explicit

Boredom can be a dangerous thing if a person has too much power and not enough morals. Not for Mare though, the Reality TV star of Norta's most successful TV show. Cal, a guy who's too busy fixing cars to watch it, will soon wish he'd paid attention to celebrity gossip when his livelihood comes to depend on it. 

A Good Neighbor by neverthecanonotp

56571 Words | Mature

Mare is the proud owner of the last house to the left on Notch street. Where she lives a simple, quiet life with her son, Shade. When the empty lot across the street is bought and an obnoxious, luxurious house is built there, disrupting her peace, Mare swears to hate the new neighbor forever.

The Stolen Bride by imjuliaandilikecats @imjulia-andilikecats

7,731 Words | Teen & Up

"Dating back centuries ago, when mermaids were plenty and naïve, they were hunted down for sport and harvested for their exquisite scales. As their numbers dwindled, so did their kindness. Their sweet lullabies that calmed the seas turned into hunting tunes that lured sailors to their deaths. Leaving behind sunken ships and floating bodies, that made them feared and hated by humans. Mare swallowed as she looked at the angry mermaid before her, will he sing her to her death or will he be like the ones her mother told her about. "

Some of us die young by TwistedNym @nymphenberger

41,085 (series) | Teen & Up, Unrated

Thomas doesn't really expect much from counseling. After all, he is nothing but a street rat--estranged from home and ignored by the rest of the world. But, amongst the ruins of his life, he finds the treasure lurking beneath, meeting someone he doesn't want to, but easily falls for. And just like that, he finds himself wanting to try to turn his life around somehow. Unfortunately, it's much easier said than done.

To Drink a Poisoned Cup by beforeilearnedcivility @lucy-the-cat

3,537 Words | Explicit

She was sitting at the window when he came. Well-dressed as always, hair coiffed and suit pressed, with the same question as the night before. The same question he always asked, as if he could ever hope for a different answer. He knelt, eyes never leaving hers. “My dearest Mare.” His voice was a caress. “Will you marry me?” The room was dark, too dark to read his expression. Whether he knew the answer already, or thought the luxury had softened her. Her fists curled to steel. “Never.” _ Mareven but make it vampire

How to Flirt (Without Really Trying) by neverthecanonotp @king-maven-calore

94,000 Words | Explicit

Mare Barrow wanted to do something nice to save her failing relationship. Might as well have shot it in the face. Or: Cal was tired of girls trying to seduce him… until he met Mare.

Newblood Queen by beforeilearnedcivility

8,529 Words (ongoing) | Teen & Up

In war, healers are the first to die. House Skonos stood tall and proud before the Newblood uprising, a noble house that served the highest titles in the land. Their head would heal the king himself, easing wrinkles and gray hairs for all his days. Mother liked to grumble about it in the mirror. Then came the mutations. Their sister house, Blonos, was able to flee. As their ability was to heal themselves, they thought they had nothing to fear when the rats came pounding at their door. But one arm was grabbed, then another, the life force draining from their skin. Leechers, they were called. House Carver, they named themselves. Skonos healed others. They could not heal themselves. _ Mareven Role Swap AU where Newbloods rule, Reds are still oppressed, and Silvers exist in a hazy space in between

[thegrllldiaries]

the golden calf shows the hypocrisy and bad side of isra3lis/j3ws

yes im relating this back to the g3nocide happening

According to the Bible and the Quran, the golden calf (Hebrew: עֵגֶל הַזָּהָב, romanized: ʿēḡel hazzāhāḇ) was a cult image made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as "the sin of the calf" (Hebrew: חֵטְא הָעֵגֶל, romanized: ḥēṭəʾ hāʿēḡel).

The Golden Calf of Islam

In this world, we have one of two choices either the path to God or Satan.

[36:60] Did I not covenant with you, O Children of Adam, that you shall not worship the devil? That he is your most ardent enemy?

(٦٠) أَلَمْ أَعْهَدْ إِلَيْكُمْ يَابَنِي آدَمَ أَنْ لَا تَعْبُدُوا الشَّيْطَانَ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

God’s path is strict monotheism, while all the other paths lead to idol worship. This is a mandatory test that every generation will deal with, and while it will come in different forms and shapes, the underlying structure is one and the same.

An example of these two paths can be seen in the history of Moses. After God saved Moses, Aaron, and the Children of Israel from the oppression and persecution of Pharoah, we see the two paths that the people took. That while Moses took a straight path to God, the Children of Israel followed a path toward Hellfire.

[20:80] O Children of Israel, we delivered you from your enemy, summoned you to the right side of Mount Sinai, and we sent down to you manna and quails. [20:81] Eat from the good things we provided for you, and do not transgress, lest you incur My wrath. Whoever incurs My wrath has fallen. [20:82] I am surely Forgiving for those who repent, believe, lead a righteous life, and steadfastly remain guided. [20:83] “Why did you rush away from your people, O Moses?” [20:84] He said, “They are close behind me. I have rushed to You my Lord, that You may be pleased.” [20:85] He said, “We have put your people to the test after you left, but the Samarian misled them.”

[20:86] Moses returned to his people, angry and disappointed, saying, “O my people, did your Lord not promise you a good promise? Could you not wait? Did you want to incur wrath from your Lord? Is this why you broke your agreement with me?” [20:87] They said, “We did not break our agreement with you on purpose. But we were loaded down with jewelry, and decided to throw our loads in. This is what the Samarian suggested.”

[20:88] He produced for them a sculpted calf, complete with a calf’s sound. They said, “This is your god, and the god of Moses.” Thus, he forgot. [20:89] Could they not see that it neither responded to them, nor possessed any power to harm them, or benefit them? [20:90] And Aaron had told them, “O my people, this is a test for you. Your only Lord is the Most Gracious, so follow me, and obey my commands.” [20:91] They said, “We will continue to worship it, until Moses comes back.”

[20:92] (Moses) said, “O Aaron, what is it that prevented you, when you saw them go astray, [20:93] “from following my orders? Have you rebelled against me?” [20:94] He said, “O son of my mother, do not pull me by my beard and my head. I was afraid that you might say, ‘You have divided the Children of Israel, and disobeyed my orders.�� ”

[20:95] He said, “What is the matter with you, O Samarian?” [20:96] He said, “I saw what they could not see. I grabbed a fistful (of dust) from the place where the messenger stood, and used it (to mix into the golden calf). This is what my mind inspired me to do.” [20:97] He said, “Then go, and, throughout your life, do not even come close. You have an appointed time (for your final judgment) that you can never evade. Look at your god that you used to worship; we will burn it and throw it into the sea, to stay down there forever.”

Moses

Moses rushed to God, hoping God would be pleased with him. Additionally, he said that the people were close behind his footsteps. The two words in Arabic that are critical in the understanding of this history are the words rushed (‘ajal) and my footsteps (athari).

[20:83] “Why did you rush (aʿjalaka) away from your people, O Moses?” [20:84] He said, “They are close behind my footsteps (athari). I have rushed to You my Lord, that You may be pleased.” [20:85] He said, “We have put your people to the test after you left, but the Samarian misled them.”

(٨٣) وَمَا أَعْجَلَكَ عَنْ قَوْمِكَ يَامُوسَىٰ (٨٤) قَالَ هُمْ أُولَاءِ عَلَىٰ أَثَرِي وَعَجِلْتُ إِلَيْكَ رَبِّ لِتَرْضَىٰ (٨٥) قَالَ فَإِنَّا قَدْ فَتَنَّا قَوْمَكَ مِنْ بَعْدِكَ وَأَضَلَّهُمُ السَّامِرِيُّ

for those who want to learn more i reccomend reading riyad us saliheen.

[riverdamien]

The Kingdom of God Is Within You!

https://storage.penzu.com/g/DdVibsKaYp8rfXYy

"Sloughing Towards Galilee!

The Kingdom of God Is Within You!

As we enter the political season we hear more and more of God's will in the election; and as I work with people on the streets, I see individuals come out and tell them how to be "saved"; I was raised in that environment.

Fr. Richard Rhor clarifies for us the reason this approach is so prevalent:

I suspect that Western individualism has done more than any other single factor to anesthetize and even euthanize the power of the Gospel. Salvation, heaven, hell, worthiness, grace, and eternal life all came to be read through the lens

of separate egos, crowding God's transformative power out of history and society. Even Martin Luther's needed "justification by faith" sent us on a five-hundred -year battle for the private soul of the individual, thus leaving us almost no care for the earth, society, the outsider, or the full body of Christ".

Soren Kierkegaard put it:, "purity of heart is to will one thing."  This is the message of Jesus when he said the pure of heart would see God(Matthew 5:8). They alone keep their eyes in one constant and consistent direction, and thus overcome the divisions created by divided hearts and loyalties that plague our nation and us.

St. Francis of Assisi was connected to the Source. He truly experienced real, and radical participation in God's very life. Knowing his value and true identity he was willing to let go of status, privilege, and wealth. Francis knew he was part of God's plan connected to creation and all beings in communion and in love. Francis taught his followers to own nothing so their possessions would not own them, "And the Lord told me. .he wanted me to be a new fool in the world of God."

People are terribly in need in this world of division, and electronics; we are afraid of life, losing our Center.

I frankly make people angry, or uncomfortable when they find out I am a priest, they have been hurt by the institution of Christianity, very hurt, but so have I.

Through the last thirty years, I have been going through a decentralization process, of struggling with who I am regarding the "institutional Church," and through the process, I discovered that I was hounded about "sins", cussing, having a glass of wine, and so on; my son was adopted out without anyone knowing because of my sin of sex and ultimately I committed the ultimate sin of being queer; but through many struggles, I have prospered; but have seen, listened to, counseled, and buried many who were frankly destroyed in being discovered. It is only this week in their national conference that my former denomination is considering removing the haunting phrase, "intrinsic evil," and will continue to be haunted, as are the other denominations that have opened their doors by the ghosts of the past. You do not simply remove a phrase and open your doors to ordination, without looking back and repenting and working towards truly being a group that reaches all; that is what is going on in the racial struggles in our country today, we pass the laws, we give blacks the right to run for election, win, and many gain wealth, yet the majority remain in poverty, and feel the oppression of past slavery still remaining. Those of us who are white have not  faced our own continued racism, after all, we changed the laws, and the past is the past.

Through the "decentralization" of my life and ministry, I am  "outside the Gates" Hebrews 13:12, where Jesus was crucified.

The heart of what I hold dear in my relationship with God is found in I Corinthians 15: 3, ff: "For I handed on to you as of first importance what I, in turn, had received that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day, and he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve..

He died because humanity has failed to honor his commandments of love of our neighbor--to feed, clothe, provide housing, non-violence in actions, visit them in jail and prison, and stand with them as they die. I have spent thirty years on the streets seeing violence after violence, having myself covered in blood, and holding the hands of young men and women as they suffer and die and for me whatever comes after death only comes as we work for his reign here, and all will be included. The only way no one will be included is if they walk away, and I have a good hunch the loving God will reach out and bring them back. 

We suffer the consequences of our actions but the Source of our being is ever-loving and welcoming and calls us to be his hands and feet.

The more life is decentralized, the more alive Jesus becomes in my life, yet he is but one of many streams to the Source.

I believe we need to narrow our focus, become like Jesus more single-focused, and find the Source of how inner beings, and in doing so find ourselves more alive, more single-focused on others.

When we come to our inner selves, when we live in pure hearts, and let our nakedness our naked being we become more real. We're able to draw from the abundance and share freely with others.

By being more naked with our inner selves we can be "Story Catchers", who catch the story of one in need, without judgment, and bring care to another, for loneliness kills, and we need relationships.

Father Henri Nouwen gives us a prayer form, to assist in finding The Kingdom of God is "Within You:

"The Jesus Prayer, or any other prayer form, is meant to be a help to gently, empty our minds from all that is not God, and offer all the room to God alone.

But that is not all. Our prayer becomes a prayer of the heart when we have localized in the center of our inner being the empty space in which our thinking and feeling, knowing and experience, ideas and emotions are transcended, and where God can become our host. "The Kingdom of God is within you."(Luke 17:21).

The prayer of the heart takes these words seriously. When we empty our minds of thoughts and our hearts from all experiences, we can prepare in the center of our innermost being the home for the God who wants to dwell in us. Then we can say with St. Paul, "I live now not with my own life, but with the life of Christ who lives in me"(Galatians 2:20.

Then we can affirm Luther's words, Grace is the experience of being delivered from experience. And then we can realize that it is not we who pray, but the Source who prays for us.

Narrow your path into seeing the One God who loves all of us, and become a "Story Catcher" for others. Do Gratias! Thanks be to God!

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

Wednesday, May 1

We Celebrate the 91st birthday of the Catholic Worker Movement!

---

We have a special rosary prayer for this day If you would like a copy email me at temenos@gmail.com.

Fr. River Damien Sims, D.Min., D.S.T.,Director

P.O. Box 642656

San Francisco, CA 94164

www.temenos.org

425-305-2124

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[the-firebird69]

They finish the selection of the alternatives and if they want to remove a juror that has to be a inquiry and it takes a lot of effort right now the guys on trial and it has to be there or they're warrant is issued and he is the war on he is a moron and yeah everybody's at war with this prick and they were when he was Clinton too he's such a mindless a****** and he could have just let something go and it would not have done that and he just kept pushing and pushing and to bother my husband and to hold him in the mental hospital cuz he's a f****** loser this is what are you doing instead of killing off your idiots and taking everything you have why the hell wouldn't I guess how this weekend he said it's very easy everybody beats you up to see you at this time I don't have to say a damn thing and it gets done it's you with your mouth open and you started it and you made it happen it doesn't get you squat who's sitting there wondering why he's doing it and he says no I know why I'm doing it says who cares this professional Killers who are doing it and your people just be killed as I say shut up and say will you like a little child your little boy you can't heal lazy little boy who cannot handle anything you put me in this s*** hole and you're going to die we're in a dark alley or dead meat because the places like this and I realize sometimes I can do things to you so you got really mad and he started saying s*** then you got you out of there it is an idiot so this is how it goes I've been watching him my whole life I don't want to watch some his waste of time cuz he doesn't do anything unless we make him and we don't want to do that. And he's out for you soon thankfully I have to thank people for this my husband Thor and Freya Nevada and Ariana who did a lot of work and zig zag and the guys of course Frank Castle hardcastle Duke and Blockbuster and not to forget as my husband says our children who saved their lives when they do or drowning because of this idiot and his people and other people have used for us and a very big use we're really important people here and they can't even saved us and actually they said hello to my husband and he felt so much better I almost died inside now but I'm so angry that people are not doing their job here

Hera

We're not going to let this happen again he was almost lost his son says you're not doing anything you're wrong and he's right

Thor Freya

It's a testament to love and I'll tell you if this story is going to help our people so I have to publish

Zues

Olympus

It is that I love I love it and my father and my mother and we are getting along and we're going to tell people Savage oppress has a wonderful family in my family helped out too but he came to him himself and it's always been helpful to him this is great

[lordgodjehovahsway]

Judges 2: God Sent An Angel To Remind The Israelites Of His Promise To Them And Their Disobedience To Him

1 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, 

2 and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? 

3 And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”

4 When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, 

5 and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

Disobedience and Defeat

6 After Joshua had dismissed the Israelites, they went to take possession of the land, each to their own inheritance. 

7 The people served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had seen all the great things the Lord had done for Israel.

8 Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. 

9 And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.

10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 

11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 

12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 

13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 

14 In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 

15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.

16 Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders. 

17 Yet they would not listen to their judges but prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly turned from the ways of their ancestors, who had been obedient to the Lord’s commands. 

18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 

19 But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their ancestors, following other gods and serving and worshiping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

20 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, “Because this nation has violated the covenant I ordained for their ancestors and has not listened to me, 

21 I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations Joshua left when he died. 

22 I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their ancestors did.” 

23 The Lord had allowed those nations to remain; he did not drive them out at once by giving them into the hands of Joshua.

[spiritsoulandbody]

#DailyDevotion The LORD Jesus Will Deliver The Church From Her Foes

#DailyDevotion The LORD Jesus Will Deliver The Church From Her Foes Psalm 76 God has shown Himself in Judah; His name is great in Israel. 2His tent is in Salem; His home is in Zion. 3There He broke the flaming arrows, the shield, the sword, and war itself. In the Greek version of the Old Testament this Psalm is entitled, “Ode against the Assyrian.” This would be in reference to the LORD defeating Sennacherib in 2 Kings 19, 2 Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 37. Such an event was as it was reported in three places. Sennacherib had already defeated the kingdom of Judah. He was at Jerusalem having defeated all the land down to that point. Hezekiah prayed and the LORD heard him. In Isaiah 37 it is reported: 33 “And so the LORD says about the king of Assyria: “He will never get into this city, shoot an arrow here, march against it with shields, or put up ramparts against it. 34He will go back the way he came without getting into this city,' says the LORD of armies. 35'I will shield this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.'” 36Then the Angel of the LORD went out and killed 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians, and those who got up in the morning saw all the dead bodies. 37Then Sennacherib, king of Assyria, left and went home and lived in Nineveh. 38While he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords and escaped to the country of Ararat. In this manner God had shown Himself in Judah. He demonstrated His tent is in Salem and His home is in Zion. The Assyrian king insulted the LORD and the LORD made quick work of him while defending the city of Jerusalem. 4You are shining with might more splendidly than the mountains of prey. 5Valiant men were plundered and went to the sleep of death – not a fighting man could lift a hand. 6At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, chariots and horses were paralyzed. The LORD had killed 185,000 of those who came against Jerusalem and eventually made Sennacherib pay for his insult. The mountains of prey, i.e. the Assyrian army, was no longer glorious there. The LORD showed His glory. 7As for You, You terrify - who can stand before You when once You are angry? 8From heaven You announce a verdict, the earth hushed in fear. 9When You rise to judge, O God, to save all who suffer on earth, (Music) 10surely the anger of men will praise You; You will wrap the remaining anger around You. 11Make vows to the LORD your God and keep them to the One Who is to be feared. 12He cuts off the lives of rulers and terrifies the kings of the world. As the LORD rescued His people in Jerusalem, this was a type of battle on the Last Day as pictured in Revelation, chapters 19 and 20 in particular, so will He rescue His Church on the Last Day. Our LORD Jesus Christ will wrap anger around Himself and pour forth His wrath upon the people of the world who rejected and who persecuted His Church. At once, He will cut off the lives of the rulers and terrify the kings of the world. Since this is the case we need only fear the LORD and not men who try to oppress us. Let us show our great love and trust to Him with pure lives of thanksgiving. Almighty God and Father, preserve our faith in Your Son Jesus Christ, so we may praise Him on the great day of His wrath as He delivers us, Your Church from all its enemies and so we may live lives worthy of such a great salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Read the full article

[nidhogg-of-nastrond]

I really love how Massimo is introduced as this big scary dude who hunts sea monsters and is really aggressive about it for some reason and the audience is left speculating for a moment about why and the two most obvious answers are almost immediately shut down.

Is a sea monster to blame for his missing arm? Nope. "This is how I came into the world." He was just born that way.

Okay, then is a sea monster responsible for Giulia not having a mom? NOPE. "During the school year, I live with my mom in Genova." They're divorced, or separated. Also would love to point out how there's no implication that they hate each other either. Straight people seem to love that trope.

They gave him the appearance of a widower/amputee revenge seeker and then shot those overused tropes down before the central conflict even comes up. He's just a single dad following a common belief that sea monsters pose a threat to humans.

And after spending so much time with one of them he easily drops those beliefs because he doesn't have any old grudge to settle. No recycled revenge plot. No internal struggle over taking revenge vs forgiveness and moving on(which isn't really a good message anyway).

This to me makes the queer reading that much better! While the widower/amputee revenge storyline is just what you'd expect out of a story with a humans vs misunderstood monsters conflict, if we take that revenge plot and add it to a queer reading it would just basically say that there's justification in hating queer people if some of them have wronged you first, even if you stop actively fighting them.

Sure, a revenge storyline is more about "not ALL members of this group are shitty and out to get you" and while that is true... that isn't the point of accepting people's differences. You shouldn't accept people just because these specific ones weren't shitty to you and they just happen to be different. You should just accept that people are different, period, and also accept that maybe your views are outdated and need to be challenged.

Massimo has no reason to hate sea monsters. It's just what he was taught with propaganda that didn't portray sea monsters accurately to how they actually are, which is exactly what people tried to do with gays early on. (All the queers know about the "gays are p*dophiles" propaganda right??)

I think that makes Massimo's change of heart at the end so much sweeter. He sees that the boy he grew a sort of father-son bond with turned out to be part of the group he participated in the oppression of and passing harmful stereotypes off as jokes.(*catches Alberto staring at his missing arm* "*joking* A sea monster ate it.")

But then he sees Alberto's true form, sees how he risked his life for his friends(one being his daughter who he adores), exposed his true identity to help Luca when he was in danger of being outed and Giulia when she injured herself trying to save them and it doesn't take him more than a few seconds to challenge his beliefs and determine that they were wrong. And he's not angry. There's no angst involved in Massimo's decision to defend his boy against his fellow fishermen who aren't as easily onboard with rejecting their beliefs. He's just.. immediately accepting.

And Massimo's support doesn't just end there. He adopts Alberto, asks him to move in, gives him a loving home because he knows that Alberto needs it. He sees a young boy who was abandoned, who probably hasn't been eating properly for however long he was alone, and he wants to give him the happy loving home he deserves and all the pasta he could eat.

Had he seen Alberto as a sea monster first? He probably would've harpooned him first and asked questions later(as seen in the scene where he just instantly attacks a cluster of sea weed before even taking a second to look.) He probably wouldn't have even given Alberto a chance. Not because he has a vendetta against sea monsters, but because he was taught to be afraid of them and the only good sea monster is a dead one.

I'm just so glad we got a new dad character. I love how this movie portrayed someone who so easily could've fit into recycled plots and said "fuck you" to them. Widower/amputee who's tragic loss is the driving force of his subplot? No, disabled from birth single dad with shared custody of his daughter who does his best to support her passion. I hope we get more of those.

[red-doll-face]

I just found your blog and I LOVE IT.

If I might ask: What’s your saddest dbd headcanons (killers or survivors)

Call me crazy, but I must know! ❤️

Ohh this one was a good one but it hurt me so badddd, ahhh. I’m glad to share , I have some bad dbd brain rot lmaooo I didn’t do every character so I hope these are ok 🥺 these are a bit long too

Sad Dead by Daylight Hcs

Claudette Morel:

Claudette is one of the criers. Probably cries while getting mori’d and can't help the tears during the really bad matches. Her pain tolerance isn’t very high, hence the willingness to waste time healing herself if it means she can stop being in so much pain.

Meg Thomas:

Spends time alone thinking about her past life. Her mother is a subject that makes her really frustrated. People mentioning their moms makes her a little standoffish. Wishes she had a chance to say goodbye in some way.

Ace Visconti:

Ace doesn't have much family to even miss him. He wonders if they noticed he’s gone or hasn’t come back. Maybe they think he hit big bucks and left them behind. Ace is stuck really. Even if he were to go back, he’d be dead or working off his debt.

Feng Min:

Gets super mad when she loses, it makes her so angry that she doesn’t control the trials. She blames other people for her losses but actually is very critical of herself. Casts the blame on others so she doesn't have to face her own mistakes.

David King:

All of his perks are about putting his ass on the line for his teammates yet everyone seems to think he’s selfish and a dumb brute. David doesn't know what to do to be more approachable; genuinely wants to be seen as a friend.

Laurie Strode:

Laurie never got the chance to mourn her friends. She thought she won. Finding out she’ll never truly escape Michael or be able to forget him makes her so mad. When she gets Michael in trials she makes sure the glass in her pocket is extra jagged and serrated.

Jane Romero:

Jane only wanted recognition and acknowledgement. Everything she's worked so hard for feels like a waste for her now. She should have spent more time on herself or with her father. Jane feels like she has no purpose anymore besides running and screaming for the enjoyment of the entity.

Yui Kimura:

Yui can’t stand the Clown or the Stealth Killers. Reminds her of bad memories. When she loses against killers like ghostface, she is especially angry.Her fighting spirit can’t help her actually get back at them.

Zarina Kassir:

Spent so much time fighting inequality only to spend the rest of her life where the odds are never in favor of the survivors. Where the oppressed are destined to lose. Each one of the people is subjugated, both killer and survivor and there's nothing she can do to free them.

Cheryl Mason:

She's been through literal hell and back just to end up in a weird recurring nightmare. At least Silent Hill had an escape. She's killed a god and somehow someone her size with a boxcutter can kill her? Huh.

Élodie Rakoto:

Feels guilty over the loss of her parents and feels extremely disillusioned by this realm. It's so much more boring than she thought it would be. All of her searching and traveling was not worth this shithole.

Steve Harrington:

Steve, though 18, is very much still a kid. Steve is naive about certain things and his optimism gets chipped away at a lot. Wasn’t too enthusiastic at having to care or look after Dustin and his friends but misses having people to protect.

Jeff Johannson:

Someone who definitely ends up taking hooks for people and ends up dying. Has a reputation among the killers as a survivor who is easy to leverage during the endgame because he will try for that save.

Kate Denson:

Feels very lucky to even have her guitar. The other survivors didn't get to bring many things with them. Makes her feel a little bad when she Often feels too worn out and exhausted by the trials to play it.

Quentin Smith:

Unfortunately stuck in pseudo-hell with his abuser. Gets really anxious against Freddy. Leans on his fellow survivors. Will sometimes accidentally bring Freddy to others in an attempt to get Freddy the hell away for him.

Evan ‘The Trapper’ Macmillan:

Actually has tried on numerous occasions to remove the metal rods and shrapnel embedded in his skin. It hurts like hell and just when he thinks he’s got it, he loses grip. These attempts never work.

Philip ‘The Wraith’ Ojomo:

When he’s alone, Philip will try and talk to himself. His vocal cords are warped, his voice a scratchy growl and garbled gurgle. He remembers what he used to sound like but he tries talking less and less.

Max ‘The Hillbilly’ Thompson Jr.:

Besides being named after someone who locked him away for most of his life? Max has to rest a lot between trials. The constant movement puts strain on him and causes him dull pain. His back causes him a lot of grief. The Entity is barely merciful.

Michael ‘The Shape’ Myers:

Meant to be forgotten by everyone who ever knew of him and he knows it. Loomis, after deciding that Michael couldn't be ‘fixed’ just hoped that the system would swallow him. If it weren't for the entity, Michael knows he'd either be dead or caught and back with Loomis.

Bubba ‘The Cannibal’ Sawyer:

Used to be one of the nicer killers to go against and might have been sweet to certain survivors who deserved kindness. But the Entity punished him for it. Bubba isn't very nice anymore. Probably a little meaner to avoid being in trouble again.

Amanda ‘The Pig’ Young:

Another one down to give second chances, much like the second chance she saw in John Kramer. Doesn’t do this a lot however, therefore escaping the ire of the Entity. She’s spent a lifetime hurting others emotionally and physically. Now, she’ll spend an eternity.

Rin ‘The Spirit’ Yamaoka:

The pain and anguish is so heavy but time is no cure in a place where time is nonexistent. No happiness to replace her rage. Especially in a place where her anger is a weapon for a greater power. Also has tried to pull the glass out of her skin and press her limbs back together. Can’t stand to see herself in the mirror.

Adiris ‘The Plague’:

Her body is always on the precipice of falling apart. Her skin rots; her flesh aches and feels like it will tear away at any moment. She is immortalized yet so close to death. Her body hurts so much but she has a purpose to serve. (makes me even sadder bc jannneeeee my mainnnnn😔)

Kazan ‘The Oni’ Yamaoka:

Misses his son. Never got to see him grow up, considering he;s already met his descendant. Proud from a distance because that's all he can be. The beginning of something so angry that it passes down his family line.

Caleb ‘The Deathslinger’ Quinn

During his life, was under the control of people who made him work for their gain who used him. The Entity emphasizes the killers as a position of power but Caleb does much of the same here. Works and works. Never for himself.

Pyramid Head ‘The Executioner’:

His existence has always included pain. He’s not quite sure what it’s like without it. He’s made several efforts to take the pyramid off. It pulls painfully at his neck. Makes awful groaning noises and roars.

Ji-Woon ‘The Trickster’ Hak:

Has never been much more than entertainment for other people since he was a child. Never expected to be much more. To the point that now, if he doesn't feel impressive in some way, he feels incomplete. The entity is his way to really indulge his ‘true artistry’.

Yun-Jin Lee:

A bit selfish when it comes to surviving. A few people around the campfire dont like her for that reason. Some of the meaner people will even leave her behind because they remember all of the times Yun-Jin might have done something similar.

Thanks for reading!!! I’m sorry I don’t post often but I have Shit ton of hw and I recently started a new project sooo ya know 💖💖💖

[animentality]

I think cardassians are the best star trek species because you get one off characters like:

- Aamin Marritza, who felt so guilty over his past cooperating with genocide that he wanted to be executed for the sake of saving cardassia's soul and forcing cardassia to acknowledge its guilt.

- Natima Lang, who showed that not all cardassians are just brutal dictators that like oppressing people, there are dissidents who believe in a non military government and they are as diverse politically as well...twentieth century humans.

- Tekeny Ghemor, who was a high ranking official that still believed in the radical dissidence movement and a civilian government. A wonderful father with a complicated past but an ultimately good heart.

- Enabran Tain who was a crazy son of a bitch and a major asshole but gosh was he spectacularly crazy.

And then you get the reccuring characters:

- Gul Dukat, possessed by demons and one hell of a villain. I can't deny it, I love how he really veers between almost good/ relatable and...going off the fucking deep end with a firework taped to his butthole. him snapping over Ziyal after he lost everything...I mean it's hard not to feel bad for that guy even after like seasons and seasons of him actively fucking with everyone and selling out an entire quadrant for his self serving interests.

- our favorite bisexual former spy, Garak. No more words, you understand.

- DAMAR. And I won't lie. I think he's kind of underrated in terms of characters. He starts off as such a bastard, just a Dukat toady. But then he witnesses Dukat's breakdown, and he begins to see how the Dominion disrespects the Cardassian people as the war goes on, and he realizes, with appropriate horror, how his nation treated the people of Bajor and what it feels like to be on the other end. He's the natural culmination of seven seasons of dealing with the bajoran genocide, and his face heel turn is glorious. that scene where he speaks with kira and says...how could the Dominion kill Cardassian families that have nothing to do with our terrorist acts? And she looks right back at him and says yeah how could someone do that? And in the end, even though he's angry, he realizes that his cardassia is gone. In order for it to survive...it must do as Aamin Marritza suggested in the FIRST SEASON...it must acknowledge its guilt, its sins, in order to survive and rebuild with a better foundation....and that's what Damar does for his people. My only complaint is that he shouldn't have died.

But in conclusion...

Cardassians are the best race in star trek.

I'm sorry to all the Ferengi and Klingon fans out there but it had to be said.