#they made isg look so good
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ngis rkgk
#bllk#blue lock#ブルーロック#ブルーロックFA#isagi yoichi#nagi seishiro#nagisagi#ngis#fanart#the new streetwear merch that was revealed is so good#they made isg look so good
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I've been so burnt out over the last week or so. 😪 I gotta give myself a to-do list for next week.
👏 So! Items of my to-do list that are relavent to this account and my shop, crafts, etc.
I need to finish my dad's late birthday present, which is a sewn lion plushie made from fabric from an old tie of his (I designed it myself and it's taking forever because this is.... not one of the crafts I am practiced in. I wanted to try something new for it!)
I need to contact one or more artisan markets in my area to see about getting the chance to sign up as a vendor
On that note, I have to see if I can't do some networking with fellow Indie Sellers Guild members who might live in my area and be able to help
I also need to ease myself back into volunteer-work with the ISG. I know that member verification is still behind, and I've got some merch to finish, replicate to calculate price, and list
(The merch in question~)
Before that last point, I need to buy an appropriately sized hoop, and I'm running out of certain yarn colors that I'm planning on using further so I should just... go shopping for materials. My recent sale gives me enough cash to work with there!
And since I'll be going shopping, I may want to start looking for good packing materials. I've been putting things in generic envelopes and shipping them off, but it'd be nice to start getting a brand together. There are resources I know that other ISG members have put together, but aside from that I should be able to find things in my area.
Once I finish my dad's gift, I'll want to refocus on the socks I've started knitting. I gotta learn!!
I also want to improve and finish the first pair of fingerless trans mittens I was working on last week.
There's more to do, but I'll try and at least get to all of these over the next week + the weekend.
I'm also going to get through the second hearing for my legal name change on Tuesday. (More than half the price of filing has been made up for with shop sales!) Hopefully nothing will go wrong this time. 🤞 Wish me luck!
#craftblr#crochetblr#knitblr#on the shop#rambling hearts#captioned#to do list#actually adhd creator#trans creator#sewing#Embroidery
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hmyea would be great if dispatch could just fucking not
#look i get dispatch makes money of scandals#and i get fans wanting to know#but if it hurts u so much then don’t beg dispatch to release info on these couples??#why the fuck should we know who dates who?#i could care less?????? don’t put it on my dash??#i mean good for jennie and kai i wish them all the best but i didn’t need to know in the first place#isg if they release the lgbt couple#i will throw hands#scratch that i will throw fists#wasn’t there some unwritten rule that outlets didn’t out gay couples??? i can’t remember where i read that#it made me respect that industry just a little#but guess the fuck not
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DNP Rewatch: Internet Support Group 4
Date video was published: 02/01/2015 (X)
DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 258
Time for another Internet Support Group! The last one had been about 8 months before. This is the first ISG with the classic white shirt look that he’ll use for all the rest of them. The rest of the setup, including the pencil cup and decorations on the desk, are the exact same as since ISG 2.
0:22 - “uncle Dan” well that’s some foreshadowing for TATINOF, which I’m sure they were already working on at this point
0:43 - oh, poor Annie. Dan was all ready to give advice for that one too
0:58 - Dan is finding this one so amusing, lol
1:08 - “an insatiable slash fiction pervert” ...well that is a description
1:19 - why does it sound like Dan has used this excuse before 😂 (also his lips are SO dry looking in this)
1:31 - Dan is like...10? really?
1:45 - christ. also, he made it sound like the kid should just go in without knocking...oops.
2:24 - Dan is saying “candle” so much it barely sounds like a real word anymore
2:35 - that’s good advice actually about you not having to be friends with someone even though they’re nice
2:40 - this can be scary to do though
3:19 - I wondered when we were going to get to the needing-alcohol point
3:23 - we don’t see a bottle this time...that could very well be ribena. Though someone said that on Twitter and Dan said it was port.
3:52 - continuity error...the drink glass is gone now so this answer was filmed earlier
3:58 - you can tell when Dan wants to give good advice for some of these versus just trying to be funny in other answers
4:19 - again, we never actually see him take a drink. But setting the glass on the laptop makes me so nervous. 😨
4:28 - “bad Chloe” Dan values privacy.
4:35 - Dan posted a long explanation about the answer he gives here in the description because people must have commented interpreting his answer in a way he didn’t mean
5:05 - even Dan is shocked at that level of TV watching. Think this is a reference back to his Fictional Friends video.
5:31 - awww, what is Dan’s hair doing to his left side?! It’s so messy.
5:46 - I’m not sure fear is the best motivation. But it does work.
5:57 - still not actually drinking on camera
6:28 - Dan’s got his ‘existential crisis’ face on after that
6:39 - jesus christ. well he always does have to pick an out-there one to end on.
6:55 - he will start making them more often...the next one is just ~3 months later
7:26 - Dan very consistently tells people what he would like them to comment
I find it kind of hard to commentate on the ISG videos. They’re not my personal favorites, so maybe that’s why. I think ISG 3 is still my favorite of these so far.
The week ahead of this was spent celebrating Phil’s birthday! They went to see Les Misérables, with their friend Carrie in it (1, 2, 3, 4). (From here on, they tend to always see a show around the time of Phil’s birthday.) Dan tweeted a birthday message and the trivia that Phil doesn’t want people to tell him happy birthday until the morning. Phil got a Miyazaki movie collection (presumably from Dan), a wi-fi kettle from Martyn & Cornelia, a Baymax cake from Disney, Adventure Time Monopoly from his parents, and a bento box key chain. Phil (and maybe Dan? - it’s unclear) went up North for a couple days to visit his family too. Phil said it was a great birthday (1, 2).
#dan and phil#dnp#dnpRewatch#daniel howell#danisnotonfire#dan howell#daniel howell videos#Internet Support Group 4#tw alcohol
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Red Data Girl: Ice Shoes, Glass Shoes (Story 1- Week 2)
Red Data Girl: Ice Shoes, Glass Shoes By Noriko Ogiwara A Translation
Read Part 1 of the first story here.
I hope everyone’s been having a nice holiday over the past week! My family and I had a quiet Christmas and now we’re enjoying a quiet few days until New Years.
During this time, I’ve gotten a lot of translating done! I’m finished with this first story in ISGS (what you’re reading now), and have moved onto the second story. The more I can do over the next few days, the less time it’ll take me to get the next story up, so I’m working hard!
There are only three parts to this first story, so next week will be the conclusion.
Happy New Year!
Red Data Girl: Ice Shoes, Glass Shoes By Noriko Ogiwara Story One: The Puppet Show- Miyuki Sagara- Third Year of Middle School- Start of Summer Part 2
Miyuki had been accepted into Keibun Academy in the summer of his first year of middle school. At the time, he had been participating in the “fall training session” on Mt. Haguro, one of the three sacred Dewa Mountains in Yamagata Prefecture.
As the acceptance had come without forewarning and Miyuki had been so caught up in his training at the time, he couldn’t remember much of getting the news except for a vague memory of mixed feelings. It had felt like he would get left behind if he wasn’t with his uncle Harunobu Sengoku. While Keibun Academy was an elite school, his acceptance didn’t feel like something he could brag about.
The day the acceptance had arrived, Miyuki had been days into his training regimen. He chanted sutras from midnight to dawn, then walked through the mountains during the day, barely sleeping, eating, or drinking. The routine had been grueling and had no apparent rhyme or reason, but during those days, he had come to understand one thing. It was shocking to know that Yukimasa came to a sacred mountain to do training like this even once every two years.
Yukimasa actually wants to do this?...
Miyuki had known that traveling around the mountain without sleep or food was part of the religious training that he was partaking in. What he hadn’t been able to handle, however, was giving up water. During the training, the participants completely forsook washing—their face, their teeth, everything. It had felt like breaking society’s rules.
There are plenty of people out there who say appearance is everything, but then they go around doing all sorts of unclean things. But Yukimasa?...
Whenever Miyuki thought about this, he could not imagine his clean-cut father going through the training. He would never do something with such questionable benefits. But that was what made Yukimasa such an unreadable person.
When Miyuki had gone to school after completing his ascetic training, normal life had somehow felt like watching a shadow puppet show. He hadn’t been able to fit in with his classmates who knew they were elite. That had been frustrating, but by the time he had realized why he was so frustrated, those feelings had grown to an unbearable level.
I’m only interacting with narrow-minded people who live narrow-minded lives here at this school. Everyone here looks like me, but that doesn’t mean that I’m the same as them deep down.
Once Miyuki had started thinking that way, things had quickly gotten a lot better. In the two years he had spent at Keibun Academy, he had become one of the most academically recognized students in the school. And the students around Miyuki had done their best to ignore his skillfully aimed sarcastic remarks.
But I can’t even compare Awatani Middle School, way up here in the mountains, to Keibun Academy…
Miyuki didn’t want to be here. He was only following Yukimasa’s instructions because of his father’s violence. But that didn’t change the fact that his present situation was attending Awatani Middle School along with Izumiko and the other students from the area, and being chauffeured back and forth by Mr. Nonomura. The current problem was how well was going to manage in this new school environment as a transfer student who had come out of nowhere.
Miyuki could tell that there was a laidback atmosphere to Awatani Middle School and that plenty of its students seemed oblivious to the world outside of their town. He couldn’t help but scoff at the fact that the school only had one class per grade as well. With so few students in the school, it probably wouldn’t take long for them to see through his forced demeanor. The groups of friends who had welcomed him at the beginning would start excluding him eventually. It was easy for Miyuki, who had transferred schools many times before this, to predict what would happen.
Or maybe I should start acting more laidback, too. I already finished the middle school third year textbooks at Keibun… I don’t have to study here. I don’t even have a desk in my room…
He also considered using everything he had learned at Keibun to make himself look smart and cool as a strategy to fitting in. That was new and novel to him as well.
Izumiko Suzuhara was with Miyuki for the car ride to school, although she appeared to be sitting as close to the opposite door from him as possible. As always, she sat there silent with her hands clasped on her lap, her eyes gazing out the window.
If he was going to have any fun thinking over his plans for fitting in, he would have to make peace with the knowledge that Izumiko would remain like that next to him for the entirety of the trip.
He would also have to make peace with the fact that Yukimasa had told him that he would serve this girl.
~*~
Because Miyuki and Izumiko were dropped off and picked up from school, they could never hang out with friends after class.
Miyuki could understand Izumiko’s embarrassment over the situation, but he decided to make the best of things and spend quality time with his classmates during lunch break instead. There was no reason for him to do nothing.
With so few students at Awatani, the number of clubs was limited. As a result, there wasn’t a soccer club. Instead, the more rough and tumble boys in their third year, Youhei Misaki, Tomoya Ogawa, and Kazuto Seya, went out onto the school field during lunch and kicked around a soccer ball as “practice,” claiming the lack of a club as an excuse. Miyuki had joined them.
Youhei and the others were under the impression that Miyuki had come from some sort of genius school where he had done nothing but study his entire life. He could be just as aggressive as anyone else though.
Those guys have absolutely no idea that I’ve been training to be a monk.
Everything Youhei and the others did was so opposite of how the Keibun students had conducted themselves that it was laughable. It would have been useless to say so to them, however. Instead, Miyuki had thrown himself whole heartedly into their lifestyle. If he felt at all ridiculous for hiding parts of his personality, surrounding himself with such wild students had kept him from noticing.
When Miyuki had first arrived at the school, he had noticed Youhei and his group scoping him out. In response, he had decided that a few minor changes to his demeaner were necessary to fully attract their friendship. With that said, while he kicked the ball around with them each day, he quickly forgot any misgivings he had originally had about doing so. Even if it had taken some adjustment, they were fun to hang out with.
…So, I guess being a monk in training has become part of my hidden identity as well.
That felt a little strange, even to him, but it felt like more than a strategy for getting along in a new place. It felt like giving into the real him. Suddenly, Miyuki had friends that he could run around and blow off steam with. He could forget all the things that were upsetting him when he was with Youhei and the others.
That day, when he came back in from the school’s field after lunch and returned to his desk, Misa Koshikawa, the student president, came over.
“Miyuki,” she said self-importantly. “This is just a suggestion, but you shouldn’t lower yourself to Youhei’s pace. He’s trouble, and he never studies. If anyone’s going to fail the Sototsugawa High School entrance exam, it’ll be him, and they take anyone.”
Miyuki smiled at her. “So? I haven’t had time to study lately, either. It’s fine.”
Misa’s eyes went wide, clearly making some sort of assumption from his words.
“You don’t even think your parents would let you go to a trade school?”
“No, probably not.”
“…Is your family struggling that much?”
It looked like he was going to make her cry. Miyuki considered saying something along the lines of having been forced to transfer out of Keibun Academy because he hadn’t been able to afford the tuition.
When he didn’t answer immediately, Misa continued talking. “Don’t give up. If you keep taking your studies seriously, I’m sure you’ll find a way to go to high school. You could find a scholarship system if you did some research or something. I’m cheering for you, Miyuki.”
While thinking that the conversation had been very one sided, Miyuki wasn’t sure how much to correct the conclusion she had come to. He supposed that if he could get on this girl’s good side, the quality of his school life would probably improve.
“You don’t have to worry about me.”
“That’s a lie. I do have to worry about you. Your shirt’s ripped. That wouldn’t have happened if you weren’t hanging out with Youhei.”
Misa pointed a finger at him and he noticed for the first time that the sleeve of his short-sleeved button up was torn at the shoulder seam.
“Oh. Shoot.”
He thought about what would happen when Sawa saw the rip. Dismay colored his face. It wasn’t like he had other shirts he could wear instead.
“Poor Miyuki,” Misa said, her voice full of pity. But then she abruptly turned and went back to her seat. No doubt, she thought she was playing the role of a heroine.
Poor me, huh?...
Feeling a little weary from the whole encounter, it seemed somewhat impressive that someone would feel badly for him. Maybe it was a point of view he should consider as well as he crafted his identity here at Awatani Middle School. Maybe he really was a desperate third year middle school boy worth feeling badly for. However, he would have been more grateful to have his shirt repaired than to receive pity. Misa didn’t seem to be that sort of person though.
She’s not very helpful, is she?
Misa was pretty in an average sort of way and as the student president, she had influence. But Miyuki couldn’t say that he was particularly interested in her. He wasn’t interested in girls who lived their lives based on assumptions, even if they were easy to handle.
What Misa really enjoyed was observing the people around her. She believed that she was more attractive, more educated, and smarter than other people. However, she would learn better soon enough when she had to compare the real world to Awatani Middle School.
Here at Awatani, she probably thinks of herself as a princess. If you take social status out of the equation, Izumiko’s way closer to the real thing.
For some reason though, Miyuki was pretty sure that Izumiko would never be as full of herself as Misa was, princess or not.
Izumiko was taken such good care of—she was more like a queen. What Miyuki didn’t understand was why someone with such an upbringing spent all her time dejectedly by herself.
Whether Misa realized it or not, she was the hardest on Izumiko. It wasn’t her intentions to show off how mean she could be in front of Miyuki, but since it was so engrained into the atmosphere of the class after years of being together, there was no way for her to hide it.
Once Miyuki had noticed it a little and begun observing, it had been easy to see that the third year girls were split into two groups. Misa Koshikawa led one group while the other leader was Ayumi Watanabe. Ayumi was the tallest girl in class and, unsurprisingly, was the captain of the girls’ basketball team. Izumiko was part of this group. It seemed that Ayumi and Haruna Mita protected her from Misa.
From Miyuki’s perspective, Ayumi was a more sensible student than Misa. If nothing else, she had a determination to her that he liked. Her hair was cut short in a boyish style, and she had straight forward, no nonsense personality that was appealing.
If I started hanging out with Ayumi and Haruna, I wonder if Izumiko would start feeling differently about me…
However, Miyuki didn’t talk much to girls. He usually only talked to the ones who came up to him. Things were different in this class, though. It seemed like the boys were the ones who liked to go and talk to the girls and that was the way it had always been. As a result, Miyuki had never talked to Ayumi before.
But… Well, I guess I’ll have a chance eventually.
As Miyuki thought this, his next chance to talk to Ayumi rolled right around thanks to the gym teacher, Mr. Kawasawa’s, invitation to join the district track and field competition.
-------
Keep reading!
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RACF Privilege Escalation
If you’ve been following this blog you’ve occasionally seen me post about the amazing scripts by @zospentest (@ayoul3__ on twitter). Around this time last year, literally out of nowhere Ayoub released ELV.APF.
Before I get too far in to what the script does we need to talk about RACF, z/OS and data areas.
If you’re really curious about data areas you can read the following. What I did was combine them all in to one PDF for easy searching. But everything you need is right here:
GA32-0935-03 z/OS V2R2 MVS Data Areas Volume 1 (ABE - IAX) GA32-0936-03 z/OS V2R2 MVS Data Areas Volume 2 (IAX - ISG) GA32-0937-03 z/OS V2R2 MVS Data Areas Volume 3 (ITK - SCE) GA32-0938-03 z/OS V2R2 MVS Data Areas Volume 4 (SCF - XTL)
On top of these is the Security Server RACF Data Areas (ICHC400) which discusses the various areas in memory (aka storage) that RACF uses.
The data area we’re most interested in is the ACEE aka the Access Control Environment Element. Rolls right off the tongue.
Long story short, after a successful login a region of memory is dedicated to your ACEE. The ACEE is made up of many components and you can read all about them in the Page 3 here. The way it gets created is with a call to RACINIT. Go ahead and read the entirety of the ACEE data area. I’ll watch this GIF while I wait.
If you actually did read it you’ll notice a very SPECIAL area thats worth digging in to: ACEEFLG1
Once you’ve logged in, RACF will make your ACEE and, in summary, copy your access rights to your ACEE. That way every access lookup is done in memory instead of a database lookup. But, if you look at ACEEFLG1 you’ll see that some global attributes (SPECIAL, AUDIT, OPERATIONS) are included in memory!
If you’ve read up on mainframe hacking, in relation to RACF, you’ll know that the ultimate goal is to get system SPECIAL. This attribute is the same as domain admin. Though it doesn’t give you access to anything itself, it allows you to give yourself access to anything you want. So, basically all we need to do is change the ACEEFLG1: ACEESPEC bit from a zero to a one. That’s it!
Now, you might be in a panic thinking ‘oh my god, you can just change your memory.’ Tell your stupid brain to shut the hell up. This region of memory is protected. i.e. only programs in supervisor state can make changes to this data area. I don’t really want to get in to supervisor state at this time there’s lots of documentation about it. The only important thing to know is that programs that are APF (authorized program facility) can get to supervisor state. If you’re an auditor you’ll recognize he term APF because it is #1 on every audit guide ever. And for good reason. Any APF library can change the ACEEFLG1 and set it to whatever we want.
So the attack works like this:
1 - Identify all APF authorized libraries
2 - Check if we have write access to any of these libraries
3 - Insert our own code in one of those libabries
4 - Execute our code
Step one is relatively easy, what we need to do is find every APF authorized library on the system and see if we have write access to any of them. I’m using library here when really the term should be PDS (partitioned dataset), or for non mainframers ‘a folder’. Conveniently the listing of every APF library is also stored in memory and we can use some simple rexx to extract that information.
Step two is even easier. We just issue a RACF command to check our access rights: LISTDSD DATASET(’<filename>’) GENERIC where <filename> is the library we want to check access to. Take a look at these two screenshots:
Notice the difference? Under “Your Access” it tells you if the access is READ/ALTER/NONE. For the first file (USER.VTAMLIB) we have READ access. BUT for the second file we have ALTER access!
Step 3 now requires us to write some assembler and get it compiled with JCL. That is WAAAAAY more complicated. But thankfully you can use metasploit to generate the code we need (thanks to @bigendiansmalls amazing work!).
We can use Metasploits msfvenom to create the JCL/Assembler we need to do the privilege escalation:
msfvenom -p cmd/mainframe/apf_privesc_jcl APFLIB=SYS2.OLDLIB JOBNAME=INFOS10A FTPUSER=INFOS10
Taking a look closer the magic is right here:
The other important bit is here:
//L.SYSLMOD DD DISP=SHR,DSN=SYS2.OLDLIB(APFPRIV)
That DSN (aka file) should look familiar. It’s the library we have ALTER access to!
Now, the msfvenom output also takes care of step 4 for us by executing the code for us at the compile step (ASMACLG means Compile, Link and Go). How convenient. Once its run, the user running the JCL has SPECIAL. But only so long as that JCL is running. So there’s an extra step in the JCL to make it permanent:
Basically, ALU <USERNAME> SPECIAL alters the UserID (ALU) for the user INFOS10 and sets it to system SPECIAL. Since our ACEE has the SPECIAL flag set RACF obediently obeys and changes whatever userID you supplied to system special.
Wow, that was a pain in the ass huh? This is where Ayoub’s script ELV.APF comes in. Imagine you could do all of this in two steps?
To show how easy it is I’ve wipped up this little rexx script to only show the important bits from RACF:
So, with ELV.APF we really only need to do two things:
1) Call the script with the command ‘list’
2) Call the script again with a name of a PDS you have ALTER/WRITE access to
Here it is in action:
Firs I’ll run the rexx INFO script to show my current ATTRIBUTES:
Next we’ll call ELV.APF with the ‘list’ command. Followed by passing it the only APF authorized library we have access to. Finally I’ll run the INFO script again. Notice how my ATTRIBUTE has changed:
And thats it! There are MANY more methods for privilege escalation this is just one method. But hopefully now everyone will understand why protecting APF authorized libraries is so important.
To those wondering how long this takes, I’ll leave with a parting GIF:
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It's So Meta Even This Acronym
"What, you expect us to say something in summary? You haven't even written the damn story yet," Dan said, scowling.
"Come on, play along," Phil urged, "There's no reason to get on their bad side."
"I'm not helping them peddle this stupid thing."
"I think you just did."
Chapter one
Word Count: 2.3k
Warnings: strong language
Read on ao3
Excerpt: Dan poured himself cereal and headed to the lounge, where he flopped onto the couch. He couldn't watch anything new—Phil wasn't up, and probably wouldn't be for a few hours. He settled for an old episode of Steven Universe and started on his cereal.
A couple of episodes had played when he realized he was staring at the screen without seeing anything. His bowl was empty, sitting on the coffee table. Again, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What had gotten into him? He felt strange the past few days, but it just kept getting worse. Every moment was worse than the last: fuzziness, confusion, disorientation. Maybe he was getting sick.
Dan sat in his sofa crease, scrolling through tumblr. He had a word document in another window, so he could claim he was writing a script for a video. He scowled as he came across another “rip Dani Snot On Fire” joke. He was really beginning to regret the rebranding. It had seemed so necessary, but it turned out to be so much work. Changing all his social media, changing the links in all his video descriptions, contacting everyone he'd ever done a collab with to ask them to change his information. Maybe he should keep the placentas in the trash but give up on Daniel Howell. It would be months before anyone really knew him as that name…if they ever did. That stupid teenage screen name might stick with him for life, no matter how hard he tried.
He sighed loudly, hoping for sympathy from the man on the other side of the couch. But Phil was absorbed in something on his own laptop and didn't seem to hear. He was still in Star Wars pajamas and Dan had to recheck the time. It was three in the afternoon. They'd been slipping into the habit of slobbing around, sometimes not even changing into real clothes.
Dan realized he'd thought the word “pajamas” instead of “pyjamas”. He shook his head slightly; he'd been spending too much time on the American-dominated internet. He found himself using ‘miles’ and ‘dollars’, too. There was no escaping the Americanisms. Maybe he'd do a video about that. He was certain someone had made a compilation video of every time he used an Imperial measurement or American word. He opened his document of video ideas and jotted it down. He frowned. It was thin, but maybe he could at least shitpost about it.
He stood up and walked to the kitchen, grabbing two glasses of Ribena. He frowned as he walked back to the living room. Wasn't he supposed to be decoupling himself from Ribena? He couldn't—
Wait. He'd said living room. Had he ever said that before in his life? It was the lounge.
He sat the two glasses down on the coffee table. It caught Phil's attention and he mumbled a thanks before grabbing it and drinking. He was actually writing a script for a video. Dan took another drink then stared blankly at his screen.
The day stretched on. Dan started looking for games for their next video. Phil tapped away at his script. There was evening, and there was morning. Tuesday.
Wednesday saw Dan wake up unusually early. He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes and groaned. Why was he up at—he checked his phone—seven in the morning? There was no reason for this stupid consciousness.
He gave up with a sigh and threw off his greyscale bedcovers. There was no use sitting in bed trying to sleep when he clearly wasn't tired. He shivered as he sat shirtless. It was unseasonably cool for…fall? He frowned. It had taken him several seconds to remember what season it was. What was going on with him lately?
He got dressed—okay, so it was only a t-shirt and sweatpants. But it was better than pajamas. He ran his fingers through his hair and brushed his teeth. Staring into the mirror, he frowned at himself. It had been a weird couple weeks and his face was showing it. Purplish bags sat under his eyes and he looked paler than he should. He splashed water on his face and some color returned to his cheeks. But his complexion was definitely less olive and more pink than usual—he looked like Phil.
Shaking his head, he flipped the light off and shuffled to the kitchen. He poured himself cereal and headed to the lounge, where he flipped on the television. He couldn't watch anything new—Phil wasn't up, and probably wouldn't be for a few hours. He settled for an old episode of Steven Universe and started on his cereal.
A couple of episodes had played when he realized he was staring at the screen without seeing anything. His bowl was empty, sitting on the coffee table. Again, he shook his head, trying to clear his mind. What had gotten into him? He felt strange the past few days, but it just kept getting worse. Every moment was worse than the last: fuzziness, confusion, disorientation. Maybe he was getting sick.
He opened his laptop and pulled up his email, intending to respond to business emails. He had gotten through exactly two when he decided he was fed up with them. There were a few too many pointed “Daniel Howell”s to be entirely professional. Why wouldn't people leave him alone about it?
He logged into his Internet Support Group email for shits and giggles. There were hundreds of thousands of unread messages. But these ones weren't overwhelming. He was under no obligation to answer any of them.
He tried to pick earnest ones to read. The funny ones were best read and reacted to on camera. But he probably wasn't doing another ISG for months anyway, and he liked he use relatively fresh ones when he did, so what did it matter? Whatever. He clicked on another with the subject “Should I go to grad school?”
It explained that this student had just finished her degree and was planning on going to a four-year graduate school. But she was feeling burned out. But there were literally no jobs available in her field with only a bachelor's degree. After a lengthy explanation, she said she had been listening to everyone's advice. Her sister told her to stay in school, but a close friend told her to take a break. And somebody once told me—
Dan broke out laughing. He couldn't stop himself—they'd caught him completely off guard. He wiped the corners of his eyes and starred the email to show Phil.
As if on cue, soft thuds echoed down the hall. Phil was tired, he'd seen that Dan was awake, and so he didn't care that he was all but stomping. He fixed himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of cereal and made his way blearily into the lounge.
“Couldn't sleep,” he mumbled by way of explanation. He looked it. His glasses were askew, his hair rumpled, and his mouth set stiffly, as though he'd been grinding his teeth.
“Sorry,” Dan said, moving the television remote to beside Phil's bowl. “Anything you want to watch?”
“This’s fine,” he nodded at the screen and pressed a button to resume the episode that Dan had paused.
Dan considered showing him the ISG email he'd read, but figured that he'd wait until Phil woke up a little. He wasn't known for his early-morning sense of humor. No, even on the tour, his raven-haired friend—
Dan actually snorted out loud.
“Hmm?” Phil said, not bothering with a full question. Dan shrugged off the feeling of déjà vu.
“Have you ever noticed the fandom leaking into your real life?” Dan asked him. Phil looked blankly at him, so he continued. “Like when you see something on tumblr or read something in fanfiction enough times that you start to incorporate it into the way you think?”
“I don't think so,” Phil said, frowning a little in thought. His voice was still gravelly with sleep. “What happened?”
“I just referred to you as my ‘raven-haired friend’ in my internal monologue,” Dan said, halfway between amused and embarrassed.
“What the heck,” Phil said, laughing. “Stop reading so much fanfic.”
“I know, I know,” Dan said, “Besides, that would require us being friends.” Phil stuck his tongue out at Dan, who just laughed.
“You know, maybe I get it,” Phil said after a moment of thought, “I've seen you portrayed so many times that sometimes I catch myself thinking you're a nice person.”
“What a crock of shit, you never think that.”
“I did once.”
“Psh, when?”
“Do you think I would have wanted to meet you if I knew you were such a dick?”
Dan reached over and kicked Phil. Not hard enough to hurt, though. Maybe.
The more years that passed, the more they were comfortable teasing each other. They'd grown more secure in their partnership and they'd both become more confident; Dan from 2009 would have been devastated to hear his idol call him a dick.
Then again, Dan thought, 2009 Dan wouldn't have thought his idol would prank him with habanero gummy bears. Or put a banana peel down the back of his shirt on camera. He still hadn't gotten revenge on Phil for that. He'd have to come up with something fittingly awful, but still believable…
Dan spent a few seconds staring at Phil's profile as the latter scrolled away on his laptop. Phil looked tired too. His jaw was still tight. It looked like he'd had several bad nights in a row. Maybe the new house had a gas leak too, Dan thought bitterly. At least it would explain why he felt so strange.
“We should do something,” Dan said suddenly.
“Like what? Why?” Phil asked, surprised, as he looked up from his laptop.
“I don’t know,” Dan admitted, “Something. We’ve been cooped up for too long. It’s weird.”
“We just came back from Vidcon,” Phil reminded him, “Traveling halfway around the world and back isn’t exactly cooped up. And since when do you have a problem staying inside all day?”
“Since the tour,” Dan said, “It’s just one giant letdown since then. Relaxing was good for a while. Now it just feels like nothing.”
“Okay, then, what do you suggest we do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, let me know when you have an idea.”
“Come on, I know you’re just humoring me. Don’t you want to do something? I feel like I’m imploding.”
Phil sighed and closed his laptop. “Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what you’re on about. You’ve been happy to stay put for months now. Did something change?”
“I don’t know,” Dan admitted, rubbing his forehead, “I feel strange. Like something is different or there’s something in the air. I was kind of hoping you’d know what I mean.”
“Tell you what,” Phil said, “I have the next game picked out. We’ll shoot a gaming video then do something. Get out of the house. Whatever you’d like.”
“Can’t we do it now?"
“No. Work comes first.”
Dan groaned. “Yes, Dad.”
“Stop calling me that!”
“I’ll stop when you stop acting like a dad,” Dan said. He pulled himself off the sofa and started to walk to his room.
“I wouldn’t have to act like a dad if you acted like an adult,” Phil said to his back. Dan looked back and stuck his tongue out at Phil. “You’re proving me right!” Phil said, laughing. He, too, had to drag himself up and to his bedroom.
The gaming video went badly. Humorously badly, hopefully. They’d played GeoGuessr and probably offended a wide variety of viewers. They were both well-traveled; who’d have thought they would do so utterly horribly? Dan had bragged about doing geography at A level and then failed spectacularly. But it was a Dan vs Phil and Phil wouldn’t let his win go to waste, so they’d just have to hope that no one was legitimately offended.
Phil turned the camera off and plugged it in to let the footage upload to the computer.
“So, you wanted to go somewhere?” He asked Dan.
“What about the park?” Dan suggested.
“You hate the park,” Phil pointed out, frowning.
“I changed my mind. Just for a bit, okay? Then we’ll order in tonight.”
“Pizza. And you’re paying.”
“Fine,” Dan said, “But we’re leaving right now. So you can’t weasel out of this.” He walked out of the room to put his shoes on.
“What is with you?” Phil asked to his back, shaking his head.
He followed Dan and shoved his shoes on. The younger man waited at the door, bouncing slightly, impatient. When Phil was ready, they stepped out and began the walk. The wind bit at Dan’s face, but he’d left his jacket at home intentionally.
Maybe if he got cold enough, he’d remember how much he hated being outside. He’d want to go back in and hibernate with his laptop. He’d stop being so restless. Or maybe the fresh air would revive him. He wasn’t sure which he wanted more. Anything to stop this bizarre ambiance that apparently only he could feel.
#phanfiction#dan and phil#fanfiction#writing#daniel howell#amazingphil#phil lester#dan howell#chaptered#phandom#plz give me validation#this is the first i've written in a while#and the first writing i've ever posted on tumblr
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dan and phil - march 2017
3/12
first week (1-7): phil tweets a cool sketch (and also a vague hat fic ref..) and it turns out they went to a really cool restaurant (expensive dates anyone?). new gaming video: FIFTY SHADES OF NEIGH - Dan and Phil play: My Horse Prince #2. phil liveshow! (highlights: oscars party, dan and phil are having a creepshot war, forgetful little guy forgot to tweet, for pancake day they got pancakes delivered, giving away a lot of clothes to charity, extraterrestrial dan makes an appearance, wholesome howell, he almost bought a goldfish). phil tweets about the nintendo switch cartridges.. an apocalypse on the horizon tbh. a calm before the storm.. what in slow motion :( dan tosses a hat on phil’s head. new gaming video: LICKING NINTENDO SWITCH GAME CARTRIDGES. (reaction: many very upset!) dan laughs in the face of tomska. dan’s mii likes winking. new gaming video: 1-2-Switch - DAN vs. PHIL! (so much better than the last). the dan and phil residence has a lovely banana scent. dan stole a dog.. thank you god. dan liveshow! (highlights: dan is not a blanket person, so he petted his neighbors’ dog earlier for an hour and he loves it so much and 10/10 would recommend watching him ramble about the dog what the heck, nintendo rejected them, he won’t apologize for the licking cartridges video, dan would join the golf lifestyle aka he wants to be a rich white suburban mum, not straightening hair is enjoyable, they take turns cooking or just don’t cook for each other, decisions with rock paper scissors because they are adults, creepshot war, dan loves moonlight).
second week (8-14): international women’s day tweets (dan + phil). new gaming video: HAVING A BLAST - Dan and Phil play: Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes. phil liveshow! (highlights: productive day, gifts for his friend haul, he got big hands, the blue switch controller is his because it’s his color… red and blue theory is real, he is definitely getting a dog at some point, more of a dog person, had lunch with hazel hayes then met up with dan to sign posters, he likes ducks, he’s having yogurt instead of cereal in the morning who is phil lester anymore?, he is not good at angles). dan’s grandma saw a gross comment on one of dan’s videos. phil teases a new video from him with a dove emoji and people freaked out. new gaming video (in lieu of a phil video): We hAVE to SHOUT to juMP??! - Dan vs. Phil: YASUHATI Don’t Stop Eighth Note. dan has a harrowing experience with a dead bumblebee. new amazingphil video: Why I can’t go back to the gym.. . dan let’s us know he was the first to hear this horrific story of phil’s. PHIL GETS FOUR MILLION SUBS ON YOUTUBE. dan liveshow! (wowza phil hit four million subscribers what a cultural landmark, went to a sushi dinner with pals earlier, he loved his zen garden dessert, dan was so ANGERY about phil’s gym incident, his rant is reminiscent of rich white suburban mum.. i’m sensing a trend, his next video was something he made for himself, kickthepj is a dick with no talent, ANNOUNCEMENT DAN AND PHIL ARE ATTENDING PLAYLIST LIVE THIS YEAR, dan believes love is real, dan loves chanel by frank ocean :), phil is a weirdo magnet, dan accidentally calls phil’s trainer by his real name, nature is cool, hydrate, meditate, contemplate, try to get a mate).
week three (15-21): pj calls dan out for being a dick with no socks, dan and phil as one drink.. thanks phil. new gaming video: Making Eliza PREGNANT - Dan and Phil Play: Sims 4 #37 (one of the better sims imo). phil liveshow! (smells like a marshmallow, edited his last video to perfection, phil printed out a six pack instead of using the apron, he got a lot of sweat bands, tentacle friend in the sea of his imagination is a yes, he likes corgis and sausage dogs, they stayed up to watch firefly, he wiped the camera with a glasses wipe, he likes tattoos but the permanence is too much of a commitment, he likes how he looks in yellow, thinking of getting laser eye surgery and does not care about if people like him in glasses). new danisnotonfire video: Internet Support Group 9 (lots of #drama over it including dan replies on twitter and eventually stops the conversation with a sad tweet about the bee movie.. i wasn’t there for the drama so i don’t really know much about it but the was probably the best isg so i truly don’t understand the drama.. w/e). dan’s sad firefly was cancelled. dan continues to get bee movie emails now. new gaming video: CHOKE ME HORSEY - Dan and Phil play: My Horse Prince #3. phil can’t sleep because he thinks justin bieber is a lizard. phil is in love with the horse prince.. confirmed. dan replies to hank green about the restricted mode on youtube i am alive and living! dan and phil release more plushies and a nice picture of them. dan liveshow! (highlights: sad goth, he is responsible for many lesbian hookups, a scandal in five years, he’s gonna get ‘me and phil’ tattooed on his forehead, he likes get out, my horse prince will end in one long video, daniel lester good suggestion *snort*, sucking balls might not be a bad thing, he feels cool wearing black, just because you’re a fan doesn’t mean you can’t have opinions, audience does not make him cringe, dan is 7/10 weird, schools separated by gender are dumb because sexual attraction and all that shiz and toxic masculinity, you don’t have to use labels for your sexuality, he blushed hard when someone said they were dansexual). wow goth thumbnails for the liveshow. phil had a bare pear scare (which dan retweeted because support ya know).
week four and extra days (22-31): phil watched a weird video but then made a salty remark about the restricted mode on youtube i am alive and living! dan got a fake burrito salad. new gaming video: DUMB WAYS TO DIE - Dan vs. Phil! (interlude: cornelia and martyn pose for great shirt promo pics). little red riding phil (also a deer and a banana). someone nice lookin met phil at the train station. phil was a bit shocked by the british summer time. dan confirms he walks around in his underwear when it is warm enough that is so good to know thank you for this information. new gaming video: 14 YEAR OLD PHIL’S GAME - Dan and Phil Play: The Mark Of Oxin! dan wishes to give all the awards to 14 year old phil’s rpg. dan is also shocked by british summer time. happy mothers day from phil (i love you cath). new gaming video: THE BEST GAME EVER MADE - Dan and Phil Play: The Mark of Oxin #2 (END) (wow i wonder who came up with the title.. but honestly these are some of the best gaming videos ever.. 80 minutes well spent). two pretty people meet dan and phil (one, two, three). dan and phil ask for 7 second challenges and post one of dan exercising. phil sort of complains about the doggo that lives under them but also wants more doggos.. dogbaiting is real. new amazingphil video: My DNA Test Results. joint liveshow! (highlights: dan lives in space but jumpscared phil, both got haircuts from fabrice and there are rules that phil gets to do his first because he wants the small talk and they have the same lives so their small talk is the same, dan thinks gifs are ugly in tweets, curling phil’s hair for #content, dan is forced to clean us, they have been busy, phil ordered flowers for his mum but put his address instead so they now have flowers, dan is pollinating all over the shop, wholesome lester, dan looks like a meatball, they played club penguin, dan would be sad if phil died.. duh, they got these little books and dan got one about a shibe and phil got one about his cactus, they are either not wearing proper bottom attire or they don’t want to show their butts because when either of them gets up they have to turn the camera away.. it seemed like phil was wearing jeans and dan was covered in a blanket whom really knows, phil says blue exorcist 2 three times because dan was being loud and it’s the best moment in the world it’s at 42:15 if ya wanna give it a watch, they are gonna be busy doing stuff the next few weeks). cute thumbnail tweeted by dan. so dan and phil visited the youtube illuminati and there were just so many pictures heck! (one two three four five six seven eight nine ten)
march was nice👌🏼💯why⁉️do💩dan and phil👬😈do so much🔥😩
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DECEMBER 2017 Updates
TOM & KAREN VIRTUE
We love celebrating Christmas. We love seeing it through our grandchildren’s eyes as it brings fun, humor, and is simply life-giving in every way. BUT, the main reason we love celebrating Christmas is because of how much truth is refreshed in our minds during this season. It is renewing to our hearts. One of the things that has caught our attention this year is the how often “King” appears in Christmas carols. Why don’t we think of Jesus as King throughout the year? Life takes on a whole different character and significance when we acknowledge the reality of Jesus as King. That’s why this time of celebration is so valuable! Then let us all with one accord Sing praises to our heavenly Lord That hath made Heaven and earth of nought And with his blood mankind has bought. Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel Born is the King of Israel! (“The First Noel” - vs. 6)
Merry Christmas from our family! We don’t get to be together often but were able to get a photo together in July!
It’s a privilege to bring the news of the incarnation to students together! Tom & Karen
Thanks so much for your care and prayer for us. We wouldn't be able to invest in college students without your prayer and financial investment! Donate here! give.cru.org/0054578
Our mailing address is: Tom & Karen Virtue 3842 San Anseline Ave Long Beach, California 90808
CAROL POSTHUMA
Greetings! For some reason, last year I decided to actually read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, rather than simply watch one of the many movie versions. You may already know that Dickens was a Christian, “I have always striven in my writings to express the veneration for the Life and lessons of our Savior.” But I had not previously realized how many Biblical themes are in this enduring story! For example, as Stephen Skelton, author of A Christmas Carol: Special Church Edition, writes: “Dickens established the first part of the story to deal with the principle of sinfulness, specifically selfishness. This would take us from the start of the story all the way up till the ghost of Jacob Marley appears. “Next he moves into the principle of regret, which Scrooge experiences with the Spirit of Christmas Past. Then, Scrooge experiences repentance with the Spirit of Christmas Present. And finally, Scrooge experiences salvation when he prays for forgiveness as the Spirit of Christmas Future leaves him. So the story takes you from sinfulness to regret to repentance to salvation—which is not only Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey, but it’s our journey as well. “…The stories that use that biblical language, such as A Christmas Carol, continue to be celebrated and embraced—which allows an excellent opportunity for Christians to reveal what biblical meanings actually call people to that story.”
Speaking of the Bible, did you know this about Bible translation progress?
There are 7099 living languages in the world
670 languages now have the complete Bible + 1521 have the New Testament + 1121 have portions/stories of scripture = 3312 languages with some scripture
1.5 billion people still do not have the full Bible in their first language
2584 known active translation/language programs are currently in progress
Additional Bible translation programs are needed in 1636 languages
Faith Comes By Hearing audio scriptures are in over 1100 languages
The Jesus film is in over 1500 languages
The impact of this is incalculable. A Chatino man (from Mexico) said shortly after the dedication of his language – the West Highland Chatino NT, “This book is telling me so many good things about God that I never understood before… This is God's Word for my people, I cannot leave it now.”
It isn’t possible to count how many lives have been positively affected as a result of Bible translation. Speaking on behalf of millions of lives across the world, Thank you! -- Merry Christmas! as well as we celebrate Christ’s coming and the stupendous message of salvation that He brought with Him.
Carole Posthuma
209 Whitehaven Cir, Highlands Ranch, CO 80129 303-250-3957 [email protected]
CHARLES & CHERYL WARNER
Merry Christmas from the Warner family! We've attached two items to this email: 1. Our Christmas prayer letter, and... 2. The latest update of our "Back to Ukraine" Fund. Currently we're at 13% of our goal. In honor of his 85th birthday Cheryl's father, Dick Anthony, has had a Wikipedia page created covering his over 50 years in music ministry. The web link is: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Anthony_(musician) As we contemplate the incarnation of the Lord Jesus this Christmas season: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." (Romans 15:13) Kind regards, Charley and Cheryl
BRIAN & CHRISTINE VIRTUE
Prayer Requests & Pig Heads!
We’ll keep it short and let pictures do the talking as we come into the Christmas season. But here’s a few updates for prayer as we wind down our second trimester.
An unexpected challenge this fall was Brian being appointed as the interim Executive Director of IGSL this past September through January. He has been leading the school day-to-day and overseeing the IGSL Leadership Team in addition to his regular responsibilities of teaching and overseeing Leadership Development & Human Resources. It’s been pretty demanding, but he has been able to provide timely leadership to IGSL during some critical and strategic moments. He has a few more weeks leading out of these dual roles so pray for wisdom and some needed rest and space to catch up on doctoral studies.
We celebrated Christmas last week with our small group “ISG” families (see above). Families from Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Korea, 2 from the Philippines, and us :) We had a great time celebrating 2017 and celebrating the joy and power of the incarnation. We had a beautiful time of sharing as we shared with one another how our lives have been transformed through incarnating with one another over the last year. Four couples graduate at the end of the year so we wanted to have a special time together for their last Christmas with us. Please keep praying for them!
I (Christine) wrapped up this week our ministry communicationclass (see below). I love this class because I get to coach women on how to tell their stories in ways that communicate the gospel. These stories always humble me how God works such beautiful redemption through tragically painful stories. I am starting to prepare for my evangelism and discipleship class that begins in January.
The big family news is that Morgan and Colin both got braces this fall which is a new chapter of life for us. The most difficult thing is getting them from their school to the orthodontist through Manila traffic. Not easy!
A highlight for me (Christine) was being able to help put on a day of prayer and intercession for Asia and the world. As you can tell to the right, it’s just powerful to meditate on the name of God, worship, and pray together for Asia with women from all over. The need is great and the workers are few, but what a blessing to be a part of training and sending workers into the harvest. For the next few weeks I'll be serving as the interim director of our Partners in Ministry Program so pray for wisdom.
We are so grateful to have been sent here by you and to be prayed for consistently by you. God continues to use us here in ways beyond our wildest expectations for what He is doing in Asia and you make that possible. We pray you have a blessed Christmas season!
If you have ever wondered what Filipino's do to celebrate Christmas, well - the answer is "A lot!" But big celebrations here tend to involve "Lechon" and here is the aftermath of our big annual Christmas party for the IGSL student body.
Merry Christmas, Brian & Christine
MARK & LISA SUDMAN
Dear Family and Friends,
One year ago today we said good bye to Stephanie as she left for her assignment in DR Congo to help the church train up Sunday School teachers and to help them develop youth programs. It was very hard to see her go but now that we see how well she is adjusting and all the connections she is has been making it makes things a bit easier for us, and perhaps a bit proud . She has even gotten into eating locusts!
In other news, Merry Christmas! We are looking forward to spending Christmas in Texas with Rebekah and her family. We also have plans in January to take some international students skiing (if there is snow locally) and then we’re planning a trip to Kenya for a bit of a vacation and some AIM meetings in January and February.
Our hope is that this month you will have an enjoyable time as you celebrate our Savior’s birth. We are reminded each year that Christmas is not about the decorations, the parties and the gifts. It is about God becoming a man who became our perfect sacrifice so that we might be free from death and sin. May we all be like the Magi who believed and worshipped Jesus.
1 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” … 9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-2; 9-11 NIV)
Merry Christmas! Mark and Lisa Sudman
[email protected] / 562-304-6304 [email protected] / 562-308-7272 AIM donation website Click Here Christ Centered Churches Among All African Peoples with a priority for the unreached http://www.aimint.org/usa P.O. Box 3611 Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611
STEPHANIE SUDMAN
Bonjour! I am not sure if this is a very late Thanksgiving letter or a Christmas letter. I sat down to write a Thanksgiving letter but I never finished it so I’m adding Christmas to it. Here’s a short list of what I’m thankful for:
I am thankful for my first year in Congo! Yep, that’s right - it has been almost one full year since my arrival in Congo! It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a year. There is a lot that has happened and it has gone by so fast.
I am thankful for my language teachers. At the end of October, I changed my language lessons from 3 hours of Swahili a week to 6 hours of Swahili and 2 hours of French. Yep, that’s 8 hours a week! Some days my head doesn’t know what language my tongue is speaking.
I am also thankful for the friends that do life with me and have become like family here. I am thankful but I do miss my family every day.
I am thankful this year for my dad’s health. It has been over a year with no major health incidents and he is currently tumor free!
I am thankful for every Congolese who has patiently talked with me and given me advice as I stumble through speaking French and Swahili with them.
I am thankful for the two churches who have been willing for me to come in and help them with their Sunday Schools. And for the faithful teachers who come to our weekly pre-Sunday School training/ Bible Story Study.
I am thankful for your constant prayers. I know without them this year would have been entirely different.
I am thankful for your faithful financial support. It would be impossible for me to be here without it.
I’m thankful for a baby that was born to unlikely parents and in an unlikely place. Against all odds he survived and grew-up to do the unimaginable (to our human minds) (It’s Jesus if you haven’t guessed it). I am thankful that through him, though I am imperfect, I still can have a relationship with a perfect Father and God. I am thankful that no matter how many times I mess up he is always willing and able to forgive me.
I am thankful that no matter how hard a situation seems, He is there with me each step of the way.
American Thanksgiving in Congo is just another ordinary day so this year for Thanksgiving (actually celebrated on the Friday) I made tacos and pumpkin pie for some friends (none of them are American). The pumpkin was picked from our garden, and the tortillas and salsa were all homemade. It was a lot of work and I am thankful I don’t have to do it every day.
Christmas, however, is celebrated here. Most of the celebrating is done within the church, usually with an especially long church service with lots of choirs and maybe a performance by the kids. This year for Christmas we currently have planned a Christmas party for the kids at Senga Nzambe and Fichama. Both will be the weekend right before The Sunday School teachers and Pastors of Senga Nzambe December 2017 Christmas. The churches are planning a full meal (bbqed meat, rice, and french fries), games and a telling of the Christmas story.
Please pray for each of these events. Pray for the pastors and teachers who will be hosting and telling the story. Pray for the children who are going to be hearing the story, that they grasp the importance of the Birth of Jesus and all that he has done/is doing for us.
Happy belated Thanksgiving and Joyeux Noel!
Stephanie Sudman [email protected] AIM Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3611 Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611 DRC Mailing Address: c/o CECA-20 B.P. 143 Bunia, Ituri DRCongo (**PAPER LETTERS/ CARDS ONLY! It will take at least a month to arrive)
To see even more pictures, go to my Instagram page (even if you don’t have Instagram!!) http://www.instagram.com/stephsuds/
If you are interested in joining my financial support team, please go to: https://usgiving.aimint.org/missionary/1057300
BRIAN & CHRISTINE VIRTUE
FROM NOBODIES TO SOMEBODIES FOR GOD’S GLORY!
In celebrating Thanksgiving far away from home we took time to give thanks for you - for your prayers, partnership, generosity, and faithfulness to the Lord. As many here express their thanksgiving for our family living here and serving at IGSL, that thanksgiving quickly is reproduced in our own hearts with you in mind. This past month, my team and I (Brian) hosted an IGSL alumni couple for three weeks as part of an immersion experience that is central to our process of recruiting and accepting new IGSL faculty members. We are excited about potentially adding another Southeast Asian couple to our faculty team, but we want you to hear their story because it’s an amazing testimony to God’s power and sovereignty. Prateep grew up as a Hmong refugee in Thailand, when his family fled Laos shortly after the Vietnam War. He could not get an education because he did not have Thai citizenship and his father, when given an opportunity to settle in America or Australia, chose to stay in Thailand. He finally received Thai citizenship 17 years after arriving in Thailand and immediately enrolled at a Bible College while also taking night classes to earn his high school diploma. Phailin, also from the Hmong people group and an animist family, worked in the fields from the age thirteen on. When she had enough money after several years of working in the fields she found a school to attend in Chang Mai. After several years of schooling she was introduced to Christ and upon graduating she enrolled at the same Bible college Prateep was attending. They connected over a common passion to serve as missionaries to different marginalized ethnic groups because of their own stories. Several years later, they had the opportunity to attend IGSL. Prateep enrolled in the MA Divinity program and Phailin took the Partners in Ministry program that Christine teaches in. They have shared how life-changing their time at IGSL was for their marriage, leadership development, and ministry vision. Upon graduation, Prateep was offered the position Dean of Students at the Bible College they both attended. As the school was drawing more and more students from Hmong, Ahka, Lahu, Khmu, and Karen tribes from Laos, Thailand, China, and Vietnam, they returned to serve together. In their time as Dean of Students, Prateep and Phailin passed on many of the things they learned at IGSL. They developed small group mentoring for their students based on their experience in IGSL’s Iron Sharpening Groups and began mobilizing students for field ministry as part of the curriculum as well to the point where multiplying discipleship became part of the culture and they were sending out pastors and church planters with that vision. Phailin was inspired by the Partners in Ministry Program (PIM) at IGSL and felt led to start a similar program at their Bible School. She asked the IGSL PIM Faculty for help and she launched the first PIM-Extension (PIM-EX). In 2015 they saw their first batch of PIM graduates - 9 women that wanted to be equipped to partner with their husbands in the ministry. Just this past term, Christine helped champion PIM-EX training for our current PIM women and as a result there are now several dozen women from Pakistan to Vietnam with vision for providing Bible and ministry training to women whose husbands are in the ministry, but who have lacked the education, training and vision to support them and better yet, partner with them. Phailin’s vision and faith has now expanded IGSL’s own vision for what PIM’s impact could be in Asia and there are multiple PIM-EX ministries now being conducted by IGSL alumni throughout Asia! Now, Prateep and Phailin have sensed God might be expanding their ministry and impact again as IGSL Faculty. When we met with them on their visit, they shared that they saw God use them so much as a result of their IGSL education and the mentoring they received, that they want to multiply their impact through students just like them when they first arrived at IGSL. Prateep will be joining me in the Leadership Department and Phailin will be helping teach the PIM Bible courses.
“I want our story to show how great God is in raising nobodies like us to become somebody for His glory.” — Prateep W.
We’re so excited about adding this couple to our faculty team, but they also serve as vision and as a great reminder that IGSL students are really bearing fruit back in their ministry contexts after graduation and multiplying the ministry. This is what you are giving to and what we are praying for! As we come to the end of the year we want to invite you to make a year-end gift unto the Lord towards our ministry at IGSL to missionaries, pastors, and leaders like Prateep and Phailin who are living boldly for Christ and multiplying their lives for God’s purposes. In addition to the expenses of Brian’s 2nd year of PhD Coursework ($3000 for 4 classes), we have been invited to attend CRU’s Asia Midyear Conference for missionary care and spiritual refreshment and to reunite with the families we coached and connected with at X-Track this summer. We will help coach our CRU mission teams in Asia and contribute by giving seminars on conflict resolution in an honor shame context. Attending this conference was part of our “well-being” action plan from X-Track. The cost will be about $3000 for our family to fly to Chang Mei, Thailand and attend the week long Conference. Would you prayerfully consider giving a year-end financial gift of $100, $300, $500 or other amount towards these expenses? If God leads you to give, please follow this link to our online giving page to make a one time gift. We are so grateful to have been sent here by you and to be prayed for consistently by you. God continues to raise up Spirit-filled laborers for all parts of Asia in ways that bring Him glory. We pray you have a blessed Christmas season!
Merry Christmas, Brian & Christine
Watch an Online Presentation of Our Ministry Vision!
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Swell Vision - Riding the Wave to Success
It began with a phone call. Out of the blue? No. Inquiries such as these come from your silent weapon that never sleeps or eats or wants time off - the website. Luck? Again, no. So long as your web content is smart and good looking luck plays no part. At least that’s what the marketing wonks tell you. Luck? That’s for web-less, content-less chancers. Real companies sport beautiful messaging with analytics tucked in their back pocket.
It was a familiar conversation. The voice on the other end explained his foray into garment production spending thousands of dollars for poor product that was late if ever materializing at all. “Welcome to manufacturing overseas,” I thought. The caller’s Waterloo? China, that great dichotomy of opportunity and disaster.
Happily, the conversation moved beyond this and onto what we could do for him and his Swell Vision brand - purveyors of bamboo sunglasses and watches, and soon-to-be adding men’s button down shirts and boxers. That’s right, he’d gotten burned and now was ready to put his blistered toe back into the water. He wanted another chance to test his courage to see his brand make it to market.
Swell Vision’s family of boxer shorts (photo courtesy of Swell Vision).
So many brands never get past the ideation stage or the first round of prototypes or an initial crash-and-burn because mistakes, poor funding or diminishing nerves hijack the plan. But not this guy. Not Allen Saum. He was intent on seeing this through. He wanted his boxer shorts made of bamboo fabric and his shirts in organic cotton and hemp to bust the market wide open. “Hell,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, we can always roll up the shirts and smoke ‘em.” Needless to say, entering the world of apparel also takes humor.
The Swell Vision brand at play (photo courtesy of Swell Vision).
We shared stories, got comfortable with one another and decided this new partnership could work. We hung up, having promised to send a contract his way followed by payment for design work sent back to us. This was in May, 2016. Nine months later, Swell Vision is launching its apparel line at the Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishing Market. And boy do their garments look fabulous. Gorgeous hand feel, cool looking motifs (ever worn boxers with shark fins on them?) and all the design touches that set them apart and gives the brand a cohesive look. What more could you want? Actually, plenty. Nice gear is great. But that won’t get it done. That won’t ensure sales. That won’t recoup the investment or hit the projected earnings. Sales and marketing strategy get you that. And Swell Vision has it. They have sales rep groups - ever heard of Fieldstone? Big...like monster big. They have online sales as well as West Coast reps beating at their door (ever worn boxers with campfires on them? Thought not.), a public relations firm and, again, an owner with nerves of Samurai steel.
Swell Vision at the Atlanta Gift and Home Furnishing Market.
Private label is many things; great ideas; bad ideas; superb taste; no taste at all; big vision; not a snowball’s chance in hell. I suppose that’s true for every industry and their gamut of clients. Once in a while, however, you come across an individual or young company who put their faith in you; allow you to help shape their ideas, welcoming you in on their plans, and at every turn when the bills start coming in: mold charges; dye lot charges; new design fees; re-design fees, and the miscellaneous charges that all add up, have the courage to carry on with only CAD drawings as proof that something that is in the works thousands of miles away will actually bear fruit. These, in our experience, are the people who succeed...who make a dent in a marketplace saturated with good ideas and hip brands built to draw attention and sell product. For Swell Vision, this Millennial brand from South Carolina started by a family with great intention and intuitive collaboration, they are on the cusp. The market awaits. The court of public opinion is in session. Time to swallow hard and put those nerves once more to the test. Good luck Allen, Ellen and Mitchell. You deserve it.
L-R: Michael Persson (iSG), Mitchell Saum, Susan Krueger (iSG), Ellen Saum and Allen Saum.
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