#this is easily the best portrait ive made of him so far. I think it looks the most like him and captures the vibe i was going for

[transthatfag]

first time trying out digital collage

[sukifans]

IT’S ALL LATIN TO ME

ZUKO X READER COLLEGE!SMAU

⏎ MASTERLIST // part III « IV. seduction siri » part V

SUMMARY: you’re a premed student at BSSU and you thought it’d be a good idea to take a latin class, but you’re in way over your head here. good thing your buddy sokka knows a classics major in your section you can study with.

WARNINGS: language, alcohol/partying

Zuko felt... oddly nervous as he pulled up to her apartment building. He sent the text to let her know he’d arrived and anxiously scrolled through his Spotify, flicking quickly through his various playlists. He knew he was far too concerned about what music to play while she was in the car with him but he wanted to get “the vibe” right, as Sokka would say. That, and it gave him something to focus on that wasn’t panicking over conversation starters in case of an awkward lull. When he saw her coming he leapt out of the driver’s seat.

“Hey, Zuko!” (Y/N) smiled when she saw him and then furrowed her brow when he hurried over to the passenger side. Her face heated when he opened her door. “Oh, my gods. You don’t have to do that,” she said as she slid into her seat.

“It’s polite,” he said simply before shutting the door and walking back to his side. In reality he was already freaking out — had he fucked it up by being weird literally seconds into this?

“Making me feel like a princess or something over here,” she laughed, face still red. He looked over at her and she closed her mouth quickly, remembering he was actually a prince. Like, for real. “Sorry.”

She shook her head with a small smile. “Is this a date, then?” she teased and the tips of his ears went red.

“No,” he said quickly. “No, it just... sounds like you’re dating the wrong kinds of guys.”

“Tell me about it.” She rolled her eyes and slumped down into the seat. “My type seems to be chauvinist douchebag.”

“That’s unfortunate.” He never thought he’d ever wish to be a chauvinist douchebag. Maybe her type also included awkward but well-intended ex-royalty and she just didn’t feel the need to mention it.

“That’s unfortunate.” He never thought he’d ever wish to be a chauvinist douchebag. Maybe her type also included awkward but well-intended ex-royalty and she just didn’t feel the need to mention it.

“Very,” she said darkly before perking up. “So are you excited for the party?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Me too. I’m really glad you decided to come.”

“Didn’t really have much of a choice since I live with Sokka,” he joked lightly. She shrugged.

“Still, I’ll be happy to see you loosen up a bit. I know I haven’t known you for very long but you always seem so tense.”

“It’ll definitely be interesting,” he deflected deftly. “I have to say, though, that I’m looking forward to seeing for myself what Suki meant when she said you’re an affectionate drunk.” He shot her an amused smirk that made her stomach feel fluttery.

“Spirits, my friends are such gossips! Yes, I get a little more touchy and I like to dance with people and tell everyone how much I love them. But one time I hit the merlot a little too hard and started feeling sexy — as one does after drinking too much wine — and tried to make out with everyone. It only happens when I drink wine, though!”

He laughed at her animated retelling, her wild gesticulations visible out of the corner of his eye. He grinned over at her after he’d pulled into the store parking lot and turned the car off. “I guess I’ll have to be sure to grab a bottle or three, then.”

She laughed, looking away to hide her flushed face. “That’s on you, then. I’ll be your responsibility for the night.”

“It’d be my honor and immense pleasure.” He waggled his eyebrows and she groaned, covering her face with her hands. He was pretty proud of himself for his flirting thus far. He’d discovered he really liked making her blush, watching the pink tinge spread from her cheeks across the bridge of her nose and creep up her temples. He made her go red again when he made purposeful eye contact with her and slipped two bottles of red wine into the cart as they stocked up on liquor.

When they got back to his and Sokka’s apartment, (Y/N) started giggling at the amount of decorations Sokka had put up — the crepe paper and streamers being the least of it. He had even done a few very interpretative portraits of Suki and hung them. She looked up at the ceiling and laughed, elbowing Zuko and nodding up at the balloons.

“I thought they said Suki was blowing the balloons up?” she said. He looked up and frowned.

“Sokka, do you have helium somewhere?” he shouted into the apartment as he unloaded the alcohol. Sokka and Suki popped out of a room.

“Not anymore,” Sokka answered. “Used it all up. Suki had to do the rest.” He pointed at a few balloons scattered on the floor.

“Where the hell did you get it?”

“Found it.”

“Wh-“ she murmured, looking over to Zuko. He just shook his head. Probably better to not ask questions.

“Katara’s on the way with Aang and Toph,” Suki said as she started pulling cups from the cabinet.

“And pizza!” Sokka added. “Don’t worry, she got Hawaiian for you two.” He shuddered, glaring at (Y/N) and Zuko.

“You like Hawaiian too?” She grinned at him and held out her fist. “That’s what’s up.”

He hesitantly tapped his knuckles against hers. The first time Sokka had tried to fist-bump him he’d just grabbed his hand and shook it. Sokka liked to torment him about it often. “It’s about the sweet and salty.”

“It’s fucked up is what it is,” said Sokka. “Fruit doesn’t belong on pizza. And don’t say tomato is a fruit.”

“But it is,” (Y/N) said.

“That’s a moot point.” She and Zuko exchanged looks and he rolled his eyes, making her giggle.

Soon after the other three arrived, with the food of course. Sokka continued to spout slander about Hawaiian pizza until Zuko put him in a headlock while (Y/N) shoved a piece of pineapple into his mouth. He piped down after that while everyone else laughed. Once they’d eaten, they finished the beers they’d been sipping on started to break into the “good shit,” as Toph so eloquently said. She made everyone drinks, pouring with a very heavy hand. It didn’t take long before they all started getting a little tipsy and Sokka started setting up beer pong on the kitchen island, pouring shots in the Solo cups.

“Okay, so,” Sokka started, “Me and Zuko, (Y/N) and Suki, and Toph and Aang. Katara, you ref as usual. The winner of the first round plays us.”

Suki and Katara shared a look. “Don’t you want to be on my team, and (Y/N) can be with Zuko?” Suki asked.

“Sorry, babe, but Zuko’s the best shot pong player here and I’m not losing.” He linked his arm with Zuko’s.

“Don’t worry, Suki; Sokka doesn’t know that I’m actually the best ‘shot pong’ player here because he’s never played against me,” (Y/N) said, resting her hand on Suki’s arm reassuringly. Suki’s concern was more about forcing Zuko and (Y/N) together, but she nodded anyways.

“Yeah?” Zuko smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

“I think it is, Sparky,” Toph said, egging them on. They would just have to push them together from a different angle and obviously Sokka would be no help.

“You’re going down, hotman.” (Y/N) set her drink down, eager at the prospect of some friendly competition.

“Maybe later, princess. I have a tournament to win first,” he said smugly, grinning at the way she went bright red. Her stomach flipped at his words and she couldn’t even think of a witty response. She downed her drink instead, shuddering when the alcohol burned her throat.

“It’s on,” she growled. Zuko had to shake himself to tear his eyes away from the intense look she was giving him – it made him a little scared, but also a little turned on.

It all started off well and good. She and Suki pretty easily beat Toph and Aang. Though Toph was blind, she was definitely the better player of the two. When it came time to play the boys, Zuko watched, mesmerized, as (Y/N) rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck, shooting him a cocky smile.

“Ready to lose?” Sokka taunted, now starting to sway a little bit from the amount he’d indulged while the other game was happening.

“I don’t think that’ll be a concern, babe,” Suki said, looking on with amusement and, strangely, adoration when Sokka belched loudly and started laughing. Zuko chuckled at the look (Y/N) shot him from the other side of the island.

It was a tough game, they would both have to admit. Neither (Y/N) nor Zuko missed a cup at the start, but the alcohol began affecting the game soon after the start. Toph, Aang, and even the “impartial judge” Katara cheered when (Y/N) or Suki were able to sink a ball into a cup and groaned animatedly when Zuko or Sokka did. Eventually, both teams were down to one cup.

“Watch this,” Zuko elbowed Sokka roughly, knocking the other boy onto the floor. Undeterred, Zuko turned around and tossed the ball over his shoulder without looking. It missed tremendously, bouncing off Toph’s forehead. “Sorry, Beifong,” he laughed as she scowled in his direction. With a wink, (Y/N) easily tossed the ball into the boys’ last cup. Everyone cheered as Zuko drank, including Sokka from the floor. Suki hugged (Y/N) tightly, spinning her around as they celebrated their victory.

“Did we win?” Sokka asked, sitting up with great difficulty.

“Not this time, buddy,” said Zuko as he helped his friend stand again.

“You serious?” Sokka gasped and pushed him, causing both of them to stumble. “What the hell?! (Y/N), you’re officially my new shot pong partner from here on out!”

“Maybe. On the other hand, though, if Zuko and I teamed up we’d be unstoppable.”

“I like the sound of that,” Zuko mused and Sokka started babbling about betrayal and the “coup d’état” they were staging against him. Aang, bored of Sokka’s drunken whining, cranked up the music. (Y/N) grabbed Zuko and pulled him into a dance while Suki went to go comfort a pouting Sokka on the couch. She laughed at how stiffly he moved even when drunk, like dancing was a completely foreign concept to him. He just kind of shifted his weight from foot to foot, hardly even in time with the beat of the music. Zuko filled his cup again and hoped it would help unlock some secret rhythm or skills.

“I’m so sorry, Zu!” she giggled as she wobbled, grabbing onto his bicep for support. She’d bumped into the glass he was holding and spilled it everywhere, including across both of their shirts. Sokka looked over and cackled.

“(Y/N) made Zuko wet!” he crowed, making everyone else giggle at the pair.

“Shut up, Sokka!” Zuko laughed, chucking a kitchen towel he’d been using to mop up the mess on the floor. It hit the other boy square in the face, making a wet slapping sound against his skin. The group was nearly in tears at Sokka’s shriek of disgust. (Y/N) leaned heavily against Zuko to keep from toppling over.

“Can I borrow a shirt?” she asked of Sokka once she caught her breath.

“No,” he pouted. “Get one of Sifu Hotman’s shirts. We’re not friends anymore.”

“You are such a drama queen!” She rolled her eyes, still grinning. “You got a shirt I can borrow, Zu?”

“Yeah, sure.” He felt anxiety pulling in his gut as he led her to his bedroom. She followed closely behind, also feeling rather nervous but clutching his arm still as she wobbled. He tossed her an old t-shirt and, to his immense surprise and embarrassment, she’d already stripped off her soiled top when he turned to her. She giggled when his face went red and he quickly turned back around. Mumbling an apology, he started to pull off his own shirt.

(Y/N) stared as the fabric lifted, revealing a massive tattoo across the expanse of his muscular back. It was a beautifully intricate dragon done in red and black ink and its angry eyes seemed to follow her as she swayed on her feet.

“Whoah,” she gasped and stepped forwards.

He was about to ask what was wrong when he felt her fingertips ghost across his skin, making him shiver involuntarily. “I didn’t know you had such a dope tattoo.”

“I didn’t know it mattered,” he said, closing his eyes and enjoying the feeling of her tracing the lines. It was hard to tell whether it was the alcohol or her gentle touch that was making his head fuzzy and his skin feel hot.

“Of course it matters!” His breath caught in his throat when she slid her hands around to his front and hugged herself to him, resting her cheek against his back. “Tattoos are sexy and cool, and you’re already sexy and cool, so now you’re, like, extra sexy and cool.”

“You- you think that I’m sexy and cool?”

“And warm,” she sighed happily. He turned and she wrapped her arms around his neck as he cautiously settled his hands on her hips. He pressed his forehead against hers in an attempt to bring her face into focus.

“Well... I think you’re sexy and cool.” He hiccuped. “And warm,” he added after a moment of thought. She giggled at the way his alcohol-scented breath tickled her face.

“Hey, c’mere,” she whispered, squishing his face between her palms.

“I’m already here,” he murmured back, pulling her in by her hips anyways so their bodies touched.

“I have to tell you a secret.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly. “I wanna... smooch your face.”

Zuko wrinkled his nose adorably. “‘Smooch?’ You spend too much time with Sokka.”

“Why, you jealous?”

Yes. “Shut up,” he grumbled.

“Make me.”

That means she wants me to kiss her, right? She just said she wants to kiss me and “make me” always means “kiss me” in the romcoms and romance books. But maybe not. “How?”

(Y/N) laughed. “You’re cute when you’re dumb.”

“Hey!”

“What? You are.”

“I’m not dumb!”

“You’re a little dumb. What else do you need, a written invitation? An e-vite maybe? Do you want to RSVP? I’ll need to know if you’re bringing a-“ He cut off her teasing by pressing his lips to hers, squeezing her hips. She responded immediately and enthusiastically, leaning into his chest and threading her fingers through his hair. She hummed contentedly into his mouth when he slipped his hands down to grab her ass. When she pulled back he chased after her lips needily and she chuckled, patting his chest. “We’re taking a long time, they’re gonna get suspicious.”

“So what?” he muttered, pressing a kiss to her jaw instead and trailing more down her neck when she tilted her head to give him easier access. He was feeling awfully emboldened by the kiss and the considerable amount of liquid courage he’d indulged in. “Sokka introduced us with exactly this goal in mind.”

“I don’t know about exactly this goal, but that’s ‘so what.’ I couldn’t stand to see him so pleased with himself.”

He considered this and pulled himself with great effort away from his ministrations at her neck. “You’re right. He’d be unbearable.”

She looked up at him with bright eyes and swollen red lips and he wanted desperately to kiss her again. With a grin, she pulled his t-shirt over her head. He’d completely forgotten how they’d even ended up in his bedroom in the first place. “Put your shirt on and let’s go, hotman. I’m gonna kick your ass at blackjack.” She started to pull him by his hand towards the door but he yanked her back, catching her in his arms she stumbled.

“Don’t think we won’t pick this back up later, princess.” His tone made her gulp, eyes wide. He gave her a wicked grin and led her back out to everyone else as he shrugged on a new shirt.

“Finally! What took so long?” Aang said, a knowing look in his eyes.

“Don’t ask that. I don’t want to hear them talk about making out,” Toph huffed. Both Zuko and (Y/N) blushed in response, looking at the floor. Sokka started cheering and shouting and Katara punched him in the arm to get him to shut up. (Y/N) and Zuko squished in together in the empty spot on the couch as Suki started dealing playing cards. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pretended not to know how to play the game so she could tease him and show him how. They were so engrossed in each other that they missed the satisfied smirks all their friends were shooting each other.

A/N: whenever i add a read more cut on my laptop tumblr freaks out and deletes half the fic so. sorry lmao. anyways this makes me miss drinking with my friends. woulda hugged the homies a little tighter if i knew it was gonna be like this 🥺😪

TAGS: @theblueslytherin @beifongsss @coconutsaiyan @5sos-wdw @silverreading @the-lva-way @cupofnctea @khaleesi-of-assassins @bloomkings @pyromaniac-olive @lil-lex1 @sokkas--boomerang @cece-lives-here @coldlilheart @royahllty @astralsaf @not-a-glad-gladiator @damianwaynerocks @darkskin-buttercup @emogril @plutaars @duh-dobrik @harajukukitsune @kangaroobunny @harmlessoffering @rosetheshapeshifter @past-2am @welovediaaxx @dailytrashypanda @thenutellabreadsticks @sara5208 @whalerus @fanworrior @andrevvminyrd @travvestys @rosesandpines @cipheress-to-k-pop @starryzxko @justab-eautifulmess @mochminnie @whoevenfrickenknows @asianequation @booksandwonderlands @thesstuff @dekumiya @ya-fwiend-rainbow @spookities @394pitterpatterpotter394 @rockinearthbending-marauders @beardsplittler @kurt-nightcrawler @sifucuteness

[tumblingclockwork]

HI LEAF IVE BEEN HYPERFIXATING ON MC STORY MODE AND ON STAMPYCAT PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT STAMPYCAT BEING THE WHITE PUMPKIN IT SOUNDS SO COOL

HELLO HI YES I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO EXPLAIN

Before I start I wanna give a huge shout out to @mephones-declining-mental-health who was actually the first to point a lot of this out. We spent a lot of time putting this all together and she deserves a ton of credit for it. So go check them out.

ok so mcsm is an old game so quick refresher on episode 6: Jesse and his gang end up in another world and are put into a murder-mystery type situation. They’re trapped in the mansion due to zombies and have to survive until the day while the person who invited them all to the mansion (who goes by “The White Pumpkin”) kills them off one-by-one in order to obtain the Enchanted Flint And Steel. Which Jesse is also trying to get. Minus the main cast, everyone in this murder mystery is based off and voiced by famous minecraft YouTubers from the time. This was a pretty genius move on TellTale’s part because it meant the players were already going in with a certain level of attachment to these characters, allowing the game to kill them off in a way that would be emotionally impactful without effecting the plot of the overall story that much.

The people you meet in the mansion are the following youtubers: CaptainSparklez, TorqueDawg, StampyCat, TheDiamondMinecart, LDShadowLady, StacyPlays, and CassieRose

Multiple of these YouTubers are killed off (though some can be either saved or killed depending on your choices) and [spoiler warning] Cassie Rose is revealed to be the white pumpkin at the end. Her motivation being that she’s stuck away from her home world for and desperate to get back.

Now here’s the thing: that doesn’t make Any sense.

Cassie doesn’t have a single line or any piece of evidence that would necessarily point to her being the white pumpkin. The only real evidence that points to her feels so last minute and forced. And just completely disregards any other scene in which you were collecting evidence.

This would be less frustrating if there weren’t multiple other people that had far more evidence against them. But the one who has the most undeniable evidence against them? StampyCat.

Now I don’t know if they changed the story halfway through development or if the writers at TellTale are just bad at their jobs (equally likely but there is some evidence to suggest Cassie was not always the intended White Pumpkin) but Stampy has the most evidence, best motive, and would have just been a very interesting villain entirely.

Let’s go over everything.

So for starters. The first murder.

Spoiler alert! But the first murder is TorqueDawg. He stands under a dispenser that shoots him with a poison tipped arrow and he dies.

Now, tipped arrows were a relatively new thing at the time, and the game makes a point out of this. A lot of the characters in the mansion Don’t Know what a tipped arrow is. But a few do.

After the second murder (which we’ll address in a moment) you have the ability to interrogate three of the characters. LDShadowLady, TheDiamondMinecart, and StampyCat

Lizzie (LDShadowLady) is fully aware of the tipped arrows. Both Dan (TheDiamondMinecart) and Stampy point this out. When you ask her about it, she says she does know how to make them and taught others about it.

One of the people she talked about the tip arrows to is Cassie, aka the white pumpkin. So story-wise it does make sense. But Lizzie also states that Stampy had asked her about the tipped arrows, and specifically how to make them. So we know he has full knowledge of them.

But what does Stampy say when you ask him about the tipped arrows?

“I’ve never seen anything like it before”

This is Never addressed. Not once. Stampy blatantly lies about knowledge of a murder weapon when he seemingly has no reason to do so and he gets away with it.

So Stampy 1. Has the ability to create the weapon used for the murder and 2. Felt the need to hide this ability.

So that’s pretty suspicious right off the bat.

Now these interviews are caused by the second murder. So let’s talk about that.

Second murder: CaptainSparklez is pushed into a sand pit and suffocated by a very elaborate redstone trap. The trap is activated by one of the buttons on the table that they’re all sitting at.

Each of the buttons activates the trap, but only one of them was actually pressed. The connection we’re supposed to make here is that the White Pumpkin set up multiple buttons to keep suspicion off of themself.

The people sitting at the buttons were StampyCat, TheDiamondMinecart, LDShadowLady and Jesse’s friend Lucas.

Now you’ll notice that CassieRose, the actual White Pumpkin, is not on this list.

TheDiamondMinecart (Dan) is the one who presses the button. Dan is supposed to be a Red Herring here as he didn’t know what the button would do and pressed it anyway (though he’s a bad red herring. And we’ll discuss that in a moment). Even with the knowledge that it wasn’t the white pumpkin who pressed it, it doesn’t make any sense for her to have not been sitting at a seat with a button. And this is never really addressed either. Making this scene a complete waste of time, unless of course the original white pumpkin was intended to be one of those 4 people.

The interviews give us a lot of knowledge about the interpersonal relationships of the characters and what their skill levels are. Such as what I discussed earlier about the tipped arrows. But one thing that stays consistent is Jesse’s insistence that whoever the white pumpkin is, they must be good at redstone.

And he’s right. Every trap set by the white pumpkin at this point was redstone activated. Whoever made it must have been very skilled with it. And out of all the suspects there’s only one who has that level of ability. Stampy.

Both Dan and Lizzie make a point of saying that Stampy is a master of redstone and his skill is unmatched. But when Stampy is asked about this, his first instinct is to lie about it. When you catch him in this lie, he immediately back-tracks.

So Stampy

Has knowledge on how to build the first murder weapon (which wasn’t knowledge everyone had at the time)

Completely lies about this knowledge and is never called out for it

Was sitting at one of the buttons that caused the second murder

Is the only one with the redstone knowledge capable of creating the white pumpkins traps.

Lies about his redstone ability

So there you go! That’s a ton of evidence against him! And pretty much no evidence against Cassie other than the fact that she also knew about tipped arrows at the time.

In fact the dinner scene confirms Cassie can’t be a suspect unless we’re supposed to believe she just hoped someone else would do the job for her. Which considering she’s later characterized to be super paranoid and unwilling to leave things to chance, I doubt it.

While looking through secret tunnels you manage to find a secret conversation between Dan and Lizzie where Dan admits that he was the one who pushed the button on accident and that he feels super guilty about it. Jessie spots the white pumpkin looking through a painting at this moment. And considering he’s also seeing Dan and Lizzie, and he knows where Lucas is, out of all the people sitting near buttons, Stampy is the only one left. If the White Pumpkin was someone who was sitting at one of the buttons (which it should have been) it would have had to be Stampy

Now I do think having Dan push the button is realistic and fine. It’s a button. Everyone likes pushing buttons. But the fact that the white pumpkin would Bet On That Happening and not sit near a button at all feels like it couldn’t possibly be right, especially because everything else is so thought through and calculated. It feels out of character for Cassie to do. Cassie being the white pumpkin also means those interview scenes were an entire waste of time. They gave us no real information that could be used in the case and crossed off the real murderer as a possible suspect.

If *Stampy* was the murderer however, this would have made a lot more sense. As the interviews would have given us a lot of info about him and against him. Plus his relationship to the others. Even if Dan turned out to be the one who pressed the button, we still would have gotten that important info on Stampy. Not to mention that Dan just so happening to press the button before the White Pumpkin got a chance is a lot more believable than the White Pumpkin betting on that.

Now the way the story actually goes is that Stampy is revealed to have the enchanted flint and steel (even though before he claimed to not even want it) and as I’ve said, Cassie is revealed to be the white pumpkin.

We learn she’s the white pumpkin because she’s the only one who didn’t have a portrait of herself with a red X over it, which is a sign someone had died. Meaning she was never intended to die at all.

Now because the writing team didn’t put any actual evidence of her being guilty before this, they slip in a Not At All Subtle clue that she’s the white pumpkin.

The white pumpkin’s hide out is Filled with calico cats. The same cats as Winslow (the cat that Cassie had kept with her). And while this is obviously supposed to tell us it’s her, it doesn’t really make much sense as a clue. Considering Winslow is just one cat. A bunch of cats that look like him is sort of out-of-nowhere. She’s had no real evidence against her other than the final connection, meanwhile all signs seem to point to Stampy.

This doesn’t necessarily mean anything but I do think it’s worth mentioning that there is one character who Does have a ton of animals like the ones we see in the white pumpkin’s room. And that’s Stampy. He has a ton of dogs that could have easily taken the place of the cats. But anyway.

This last second Right At The End clue seems to almost indicate that there was some change in writing half way through the process. Before Stampy is revealed to have the flint and steel (which is something that any character could have confessed to and the story would be pretty much the same), the story makes a lot more sense with the idea that Stampy was originally intended to be the white pumpkin. We can also gather that it seems they intended the white pumpkin to be a man, as the protagonists refer to the white pumpkin by he/him pronouns and that assumption is never addressed when they learn the white pumpkin is a girl.

Either that or the writers are just. bad. Which is also very likely.

That’s all the evidence I have. So let’s talk about how story-wise it would have been so much more interesting to make Stampy the white pumpkin.

Cassie is great. But she didn’t get a lot of actual screen time in game until her villain reveal because she really never had any evidence against her. Stampy however got a lot of screen time and was generally the fan favorite when it came to the youtubers that were in episode 6. He was one of the most beloved youtubers at the time and the writers took that into account.

Whenever Stampy was accused of something, he’d play the innocent card. He’d say things like “it’s me! Stampy! I’m everyone’s friend!” In an attempt to get sympathy. Instead of defending himself, he played at the emotions of the people around him. He was played as the sweet innocent character who wouldn’t do anything wrong. I think this would have made him a Great twist villain. It would have made a lot more sense for the end scene as well, as the other youtubers defend Cassie, saying she would “never do something like that”. Which never really made sense considering they all knew one of them must have done it, and none of them had any real connection to her. Defending Stampy or being shocked would have made a lot more sense regarding the relationships of the characters.

His villain reveal would have been so much more surprising as well, as Cassie’s tone quickly shifts to much more malicious once she admits to being the White Pumpkin. And while I do believe shes a very good actor, I do believe the scene would have had an extra punch if the lines were delivered by someone who was previously set up to be the trustworthy friend who wouldn’t hurt a fly

But it’s Cassie’s motive specifically that I think would have fit So Well if Stampy had taken her place.

Cassie wants the flint and steel so that she can return to her home dimension. She’a been stuck here for a very long time and is willing to do anything to get back home. Specifically saying that she needs to get out of this “stupid world”.

Now this will only really make sense for those who are familiar with StampyCat outside of mcsm. But I’ll do my best to explain.

Stampy, as a YouTuber, was known for his “lovely world”. The minecraft world that he loved and cared about a lot. If the plot line was that Stampy specifically was separated from his lovely world, it would have been a great motive that he was desperate to get back it it.

So uh. Yeah! I think that’s all I got. I’m sure me and Worm aren’t the only people who have come to this conclusion but I’m just here to put it all into writing. I’m not sure if this was all a last minute change or sloppy writing but either way I think it’s interesting!

[edwad]

If you had to choose 10 marxian econ books for someone who has only read marx, what would you recommend

by “marx” i have to assume you mean capital because that really is the root of “marxian econ”. it won’t suffice to just have read the manifesto or something like that and i don’t want to recommend books that will be saying things that you’re totally unfamiliar with because you’re skipping straight into the secondary literature which already largely assumes a reader which is familiar with capital. anyway, heres a list, which isnt in any particular order and which includes a few things that i’m still working through for myself:

1. essays on marxs theory of value - isaak rubin 

hugely important book which essentially all value-form theory derives from. written by an extremely knowledgeable marx scholar who had a much better idea of what marx was doing in capital than most marxists today. last month brill published a book called “responses to marxs capital” which includes some of rubin’s other writings, most of them being published in english for the first time. hes a huge figure in the literature and definitely worth looking in to. 

2. marx, capital, and the madness of economic reason - david harvey

i was obviously going to put something of harvey’s in here and i think his last book is a fairly good summary of the best of what hes done up to this point with some welcome additions (the visualization of capital, the stuff on anti-value, etc). not perfect but he definitely provides a good framework for how to understand the geography of capital which doesnt require necessarily agreeing with him on everything. honestly, if you keep up with harvey at all you’ll be able to tell that its mostly just typical harveyisms with the inclusion of some stuff from his recent talks (which have all been almost exactly the same). 

3. in the long run we are all dead - geoff mann

maybe this looks more like a book on keynesian rather than marxian econ, but its real argument is that keynesianism as a long historical project (meaning long before and after keynes himself) has been an immanent critique of liberalism and revolution and that keynes is to us what hegel was to marx. a really great book that covers a lot of ground which isnt always explicitly economic, but definitely worth the read if you have the patience. if you want a longer review, i left a pretty lengthy one on amazon a few months ago where you can get a better idea of what i got from this book, what its limitations are, and why i think its so important. 

4. monopoly capital - paul baran & paul sweezy 

an older book which hasnt exactly aged well, but its thesis has become extremely popular again since the crisis. written by baran and sweezy, the fathers of “the monthly review school” of economics, its played a huge role in the direction of marxian debates from the 1960s up until today. the authors were both tending in the same intellectual direction in their earlier works (sweezy’s theory of capitalist development and baran’s political economy of growth, the former still being considered one of the best introductions to marxs work and its relevance to the 20th century, with much controversy of course) and this was the result of them coming together to talk about what they saw as a monopoly capitalism which was fairly different in character than the “competitive capitalism” of marx’s day and therefore had to be dealt with differently. 

5. capitalism - anwar shaikh

probably the most ambitious work the left has seen in a long time which tries to thoroughly critique neoclassical theory and develop an alternative economics which is rooted in what shaikh calls the “classical” school (”classical-marxian” would probably be more appropriate but i think hes trying to downplay his reliance on marx). in it, shaikh takes a good look at many of the competing schools of thought (neoclassical, post-keynesian, sraffian/neo-ricardian, etc) and sees how they stand up analytically and empirically, taking issue with their underlying assumptions and the inevitable problems which arise from building a theory on false foundations. 

one of his bigger points is that the neoclassical theory of “perfect competition” is nonsensical but wasnt thoroughly combatted by heterodox economists, who only made it so far as asserting the “imperfect” nature of competition, which, in shaikh’s eyes, is to simply add imperfections after the fact into the theory which necessarily begins with the absurd assumption of perfection. the book’s argument is that the theorists of “imperfect competition” still rely on the theory of “perfect competition” as their starting point and never really manage to escape the latter because they havent actually created an alternative way of thinking about competition, they’ve just inserted a complication into a theory which was a completely unrealistic assumption to begin with. much of his attack is directed at the monthly review school and the idea of a “monopoly capitalism” which is supposedly different in form than the allegedly “perfect competition” of capitalism during marxs life. in this sense, this book serves as a counterbalance to the MR approach and is also probably the most successful attempt at situating marxs TRPF within an empirical study of kondratiev waves. 

hes also got a website with a bunch of resources and a lecture series from a course he did on the material in the book which is pretty interesting, but it assumes a good deal of familiarity with economics. 

6. a history of marxian economics - michael howard & john king (2 volumes)

this is a pretty thorough history of the internal debates among marxian economists ever since the death of marx all the way up to 1990. it covers a lot of ground and doesnt shy away from controversies where marx didnt come out on top. of course, a good amount of this is subject to the interpretation of the authors and they definitely have a great deal of input, but its a very impressive work which i frequently use as a marxian encyclopedia of sorts. 

7. the making of marx’s capital - roman rosdolsky

despite some problems, rosdolsky’s classic book on the development of marx’s critique of political economy is easily one of the most important marxological works ever written and it still holds a lot of sway. taking the grundrisse as its starting point, the author unpacks marx’s project and constantly asserts marx’s method and in particular his explicit reliance on hegel’s logic, pitting marx (as he was in his drafts) against the then contemporary thinkers and critics which were prone to misusing or misunderstanding the arguments in capital. as a disclaimer and partial criticism of rosdolsky’s portrait of marx, i dont believe that we can simply say that marx in the late 50s was identical to the marx of the 60s and 70s that wrote and published capital, but i also dont think that means we necessarily have to discount the grundrisse (or theories of surplus value, etc) simply because they werent written at precisely the right time for marxs thinking. 

i only just got my own copy a couple of weeks ago so i cant say too much more but i have skimmed through chunks of the pdf and its totally unavoidable in the secondary literature so im not totally unfamiliar. its one i plan on tackling in full very soon.

8. moneybags must be so lucky - robert paul wolff

another marxological one, this tiny book is a literary analysis of capital and in particular the first part of volume 1. wolff does a great job of deconstructing the arguments in chapter 1 to try and clarify what marx is doing and why with a lot of humor and philosophical tangents. one of his biggest points is that marxs heavy reliance on irony was the only adequate way of capturing the contradictory nature of capitalism and is therefore part of the theory itself, rather than simply being a way to dress up the theory and make it more palatable to readers. i approached this book after id already “read marx” too, but it was extremely useful because it wasnt until i read it that i finally started to actually understand marx. for that reason, i dont feel particularly bad about recommending it to anyone thats already familiar with capital because it does a great job of making the most difficult part of volume 1 infinitely more exciting and comprehensible – especially since its never enough to just read capital once. 

9. the production of commodities by means of commodities - piero sraffa

against my better judgement, i’m putting this on the list knowing full-well that i’m going to be harassed by an anon which has been on my ass for about a year now ever since i first recommended sraffa’s book in a reading list despite the fact that ive never finished it (barely even read it to be more precise). i do, however, know that its had a huge influence on the trajectory of marxian thought since 1960 and that many of the thinkers are still trying to recover from the theoretical displacement implicit in sraffa’s thesis. 

its a math-heavy book (which is why i havent been able to wade through it) and its status as a work coming from the “marxian” approach is hotly contested, but its certainly had its way with the marxian school (not to mention the neoclassical school, which has an easier time simply ignoring sraffa entirely), generating countless debates among scholars, many of whom simply wish that this book had never been written. for a short summary of the debate and whats apparently at stake, ive got an old post where i worked out some of the initial responses to sraffa and how this has snowballed into the controversy that it is today. ive got it on this list because of how unavoidable it is. you cant go into the secondary literature at anything resembling an intermediate level without knowing sraffa’s name and why everyone feels so strongly about him.

10. an introduction to the three volumes of karl marxs capital - michael heinrich

i dont quite like that im ending this list with a book that presents itself as an “introduction” when we’ve already established that this is a bunch of recommendations for someone thats already acquainted with capital, but sadly this is the only full-length book that heinrich has in the english language and its reading of capital is so unorthodox that it feels totally alien against all the traditional interpretations of marx. honestly, it doesnt feel like an introduction in the first place, reading more like a challenge and an intervention into the secondary debates about what marx is saying in capital which derives from the german debates which constitute the parameters for the “neue marx-lekture”, or “the new reading of marx”, which sits uncomfortably among the more typical marxisms that surround it on all sides, especially among non-german theorists/readers. 

as far as the dominant reading of marx goes, nearly everything this book says betrays marx’s project, but heinrich knows marx very well, better than most of us (as even his biggest critics readily admit). this may be considered reflective of a “new reading”, but that doesnt mean the old ones are any better or that this one is necessarily a “revisionist” project as many claim (or at least, i wouldnt consider it to be revising marx even if its guilty of revising “marxism”, which is by no means necessarily a bad thing). on the contrary, i think heinrich has the best understanding of marx out of pretty much everyone else right now and thats why i wanted to end with this one. yes, you should read all of the others, especially since you cant understand the way we read and think about marx without coming across the work of people like sraffa and sweezy, but that doesnt really change the fact that heinrich points to a big problem with the way we read and think about marx, that the debates have been getting it wrong all along and largely misunderstanding marxs actual project, miscontextualizing it and falling into dogmatism for various political or academic reasons. 

what heinrich does is to show how the way marx is read and interpreted often misses or downplays the most crucial elements of what marx is actually trying to get across. marxs critique of political economy simply gets converted into a newer, more correct political economy which simply builds on the classical school (shaikh), or it suffers in the hands of those that believe its foundations need to be updated as if it isnt all that relevant anymore (sweezy and baran), or that many of its categories are lacking utility and can simply be done away with (sraffa). rubin’s work plays a big part in establishing the NML reading and harvey draws on heinrich’s scholarship a lot, but nobody really does it as well as heinrich himself and i genuinely think hes lightyears ahead of everyone else. a lot of people are starting to agree and i was one of the most recent converts on the heinrich hype train which has been growing for the last couple of years. 

any day now, we should be getting one of his older books, the science of value, in english and i plan on devouring it as fast as i can, but sadly its been in limbo for several years, with its initial release scheduled for 2014 (if i remember correctly). in the mean time though, we’ve only got his introduction to capital and a bunch of shorter pieces/videos.  

so i guess thats my list of 10 things to read after marx with some explanations on why i think theyre important, culminating in ideologically correct heinrich-worship. this was sorta fun and if you have any other questions feel free to ask. 

[romancatholicreflections]

16th March >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections on John 7:1-2,10,25-30 for Friday, Fourth Week of Lent: ‘We all know where he comes from’. Friday, Fourth Week of Lent Gospel (Europe, Africa, New Zealand, Australia & Canada) John 7:1-2,10,25-30 They would have arrested him, but his time had not yet come Jesus stayed in Galilee; he could not stay in Judaea, because the Jews were out to kill him. As the Jewish feast of Tabernacles drew near, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went up as well, but quite privately, without drawing attention to himself. Meanwhile some of the people of Jerusalem were saying, ‘Isn’t this the man they want to kill? And here he is, speaking freely, and they have nothing to say to him! Can it be true the authorities have made up their minds that he is the Christ? Yet we all know where he comes from, but when the Christ appears no one will know where he comes from.’ Then, as Jesus taught in the Temple, he cried out: ‘Yes, you know me and you know where I came from. Yet I have not come of myself: no, there is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him, but I know him because I have come from him and it was he who sent me.’ They would have arrested him then, but because his time had not yet come no one laid a hand on him. Gospel (USA) John 7:1-2, 10, 25-30 They tried to arrest him, but his hour had not yet come. Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret. Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, “Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, “You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me.” So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand upon him, because his hour had not yet come. Reflections (5) (i) Friday, Fourth Week of Lent People often ask us where we are from. We ask others what part of the country they are from or if they live in the city what part of the city they are from. We sense that if we know where people are from, we are in possession of information that might help us to understand them. It is not surprising that people often return to where they are from, if only to visit it. They know they are getting in touch with their roots. In the gospel reading, the people of Jerusalem say of Jesus, ‘We all know where he comes from’. They were aware that he came from a very different kind of place to Jerusalem, from a small village far to the north of Jerusalem, in the region of Galilee. Jesus acknowledges that, in one sense, the people of Jerusalem know where he comes from, but, in a deeper sense, they do not know where he comes from. As Jesus declares, ‘there is one who sent me, and I really come from him, and you do not know him’. Jesus speaks as one who, ultimately, comes from God, and the people of Jerusalem do not know God as well as they think. It is as if Jesus was saying, ‘the place of upbringing does not explain who I am’. That is true of us all. We cannot be fully understood on the basis of our place of origin. It is even truer of Jesus. He was not simply the son of a carpenter from Nazareth in Galilee. He was also the Son of God. If there is more to each of us than meets the eye and ear, that is true to a much greater extent of Jesus. There is such a depth to the mystery of Jesus’ identity, that we are always only coming to know him. Part of the adventure of faith is coming to know the Lord more and more. I have always liked the prayer associated with a 13th English bishop, ‘O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly, day by day’. And/Or (ii) Friday, Fourth Week of Lent It is just over a week now to the beginning of Holy Week, the week when we remember the events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. The gospel readings are beginning to have a more ominous tone. In this morning’s gospel reading we hear of Jesus’ enemies who want to arrest him and are out to kill him. There are others in the gospel reading who are not hostile to him but they claim to know him when in reality they do not know him. They say about Jesus, ‘We all know where he comes from’. By that they mean that they know he is from Nazareth in Galilee. However, Jesus reminds them that they do not really know where he comes from, because he doesn’t just come from Nazareth. He comes from God and those who claim to know where he comes from are not aware of that. Jesus says to them, ‘There is one who sent me and I really come from him, and you do not know him’. There is much more for them to know about Jesus than they realize. It is the same for all of us. There is always more to Jesus than we realize. When it comes to the Lord we are always seekers. We may know him to some degree but there is always so much more to Jesus that we do not know than we know. In one of his letters Paul prays that we would ‘know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge’. There is a love to Jesus that cannot be fully grasped by the human heart or mind. As Paul says elsewhere, now we see as in a mirror dimly; it is only in eternity that we will see the Lord face to face and know him as he knows us. In the meantime we are on this wonderful voyage of discovery in his regard. And/Or (iii) Friday, Fourth Week of Lent As we approach Holy Week the gospel readings have more of an ominous tone to them. Jesus is spoken of in this morning’s gospel reading as the man they want to kill. Yet, in spite of that, Jesus is described as ‘speaking freely’. The gospel reading suggests that Jesus did not allow the hostility of some people towards him to deter him from doing what he had been sent to do. Twice in that gospel reading Jesus speaks of himself as having come from God and of God as having sent him. Jesus was faithful to his God-given mission, even when that mission made people very hostile towards him. Jesus teaches us to be faithful to our own calling, regardless of the environment in which we find ourselves. The environment in which we live has not been all that supportive of a life of faith. We could easily get very discouraged as people of faith who are trying to grow in our relationship with Jesus. The portrait of Jesus in today’s gospel reading teaches us to keep living out our baptism as best and witnessing to the gospel even when it is difficult to do so. Just as Jesus knew the support of his heavenly Father, we will know the support of Jesus. And/Or (iv) Friday, Fourth Week of Lent As we draw nearer to Holy Week, you will find that the gospel readings have a more ominous tone. Today’s gospel reading begins with the statement that Jesus could not stay in Judea, because the Jews were out to kill him. By the term ‘Jews’ John’s gospel nearly always means the Jewish religious leaders. That gospel tends to distinguish between the Jewish religious leaders and the people. In the gospel reading, it is not said that the Jewish people were out to kill him. However, they do make the following statement about Jesus, ‘We all know where he comes from’. They were saying, in effect, ‘we know that he comes from Nazareth’. Jesus, in reply, declares that he really comes from God, the one who sent him. To know that Jesus came from Nazareth falls far short of knowing who he really is. It is generally the case in John’s gospel that those who say ‘we know’ don’t really know. The evangelist is reminding us that there is always more to Jesus than we realize. When it comes to the Lord, we are always on a journey of discovery. What really matters is to keep travelling that journey, to keep striving to know him more fully. And/Or (v) Friday, Fourth Week of Lent Sometimes we can claim to know more than we actually know. We are no humble enough in our knowing. We fail to recognize our ignorance about some issue or some person, as well as our knowledge. What we know is only a fraction of what can be known, and that is the case with every human person and every human situation. It is even more the case with matters of faith, with what pertains to God and to his Son, Jesus. In that domain above all, it is true that, in the words of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, ‘Now I know only in part’. In this morning’s gospel reading, the people of Jerusalem declare concerning Jesus, ‘we all know where he comes from’. They were saying that they all know that Jesus comes from Nazareth. Yet, at a deeper level they did not know where Jesus really came from. In that gospel reading, Jesus goes on to state, ‘there is one who sent me, and I really come from him, and you do not know him’. Jesus ultimately came from God his Father and not from Nazareth. The people of Jerusalem who are suspicious of him do not know God and, in that sense, do not know where Jesus came from, in spite of their claims to know. This morning’s gospel reminds us that when it comes to God and his Son Jesus, we will always be learners. There is always more to him than we realize. We constantly need the Lord to teach us. Later on in John’s gospel, from which this morning’s gospel reading comes, Jesus promises to send us the Spirit of Truth who will guide us into all the truth. If we are to come to know the Lord more fully we need to keep praying, ‘Come Holy Spirit, come Spirit of Truth’. Fr. Martin Hogan, Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin, D03 AO62, Ireland. Email: sjtbclontarf@eircom.net or frmartinhogan@gmail.com Parish Website: www.stjohnsclontarf.ie Please join us via our webcam. Twitter: @SJtBClontarfRC. Facebook: St John the Baptist RC Parish, Clontarf. Tumblr: Saint John the Baptist Parish, Clontarf, Dublin.

[rainbowdragon117]

There Will Always Be Hope (IV)

Fandom: RWBY

Faunus Weiss AU

From a young age, Weiss knew she wasn't normal. Having a tragic past she prefers not to think about, she tries to live her life, helping her surrogate dad work the club.

She never really thought about pursuing her dream of becoming a huntress, that is until she helps the world famous Glynda Goodwitch, helps stop a robbery, saves a couple Faunus and stops a couple of Grimm from destroying the neighbourhood.

Now she's been given the chance to attend Beacon Academy, she has to choose between hiding herself from the world or living her dream?

Also posted on AO3 (X)

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The first thing Weiss noticed when she came to was the unbearable heat.

Taking a breath, she couldn't help the coughing fit as she choked on fumes, using one hand to push herself up and the other to clear the smoke from her face she looked around at her surroundings with unfocused eyes. The bomb had destroyed most of the East wing and started a huge fire, expensive paintings and other flammables had already been burnt to a crisp as the flames grew along the walls, to her left the security room door had been blown into itself, trapping people in the control room. Hearing rubble shift Weiss looked to see her mother freeing herself from the fallen debris, once she was free Elizabeth took in the damage caused before spotting and limping over to her daughter,

"Weiss dear, we need to leave!" Using some of the last reserves of her aura, Elizabeth used the rubble to create two giant molten groundhogs, she commanded one to break the door to the control room whilst the other began clearing the blocked off path that led to the rest of the house. Weiss watched in amazement as her mother's creation got to work, tearing through the weakened metal as if it was made of plastic, within minutes the door was gone and the beast stood to the side as its creator walked past to inspect the damage to the room. Thought the metal aligned in the walls had saved most of the security team from the damage the roof had still caved in, crushing one of the staff and destroying most of the consoles.

Coughing to her left dragged Elizabeth away from the destruction in front of her, Alison supported himself on the only functioning console, trying to clear the dust and smoke from his lungs, opening one eye - the one not filled with blood - he gave the room a once over before addressing his employer,

"What the devil is happening?! Code 7 Ms Schnee?" His heavy Mistrial accent bleeding in between gasps, limping over he began helping clear his colleagues out one by one, handing the most injured over towards the giant Groundhog statue. With a flick of her wrist, Elizabeth transformed it into a dire wolf before commanding it to take its injured load to the nearest hospital. The summon nodded before exiting the hole in the side of the building and heading downhill towards the nearest town. Watching her summon go Elizabeth knew the people on board would get the best help and turned towards Alison and her daughter,

"We need to regroup with everyone else that's still here, I know my husband is awake and most likely with Winter, that explosion rattled the whole building hopefully it's the only one," kneeling down she brushed a few loss strands of hair that clung to Weiss' face before kissing her forehead and smiling, "I'm sorry I didn't believe you earlier snowflake, we're going to find your sister and get out of here okay?" She waited for Weiss to nod before heading over to whatever console was left working, "Where did you run into the White Fang? Hopefully, I can find out if they're still here"

White Fang? Weiss didn’t know what her mother was talking about, seeing the confusion on her face Elizabeth elaborated, "The scary people in the masks" she quickly explained. Keying in the coordinates she wasn't surprised to find the main cameras had been disconnected, using a special password only her husband knew she quickly changed the feed to the three hidden cameras they used to keep an eye on their children, turning it to the centre of the room she watched as a tall slightly muscled woman grabbed the head of an equally tall man with cat ears before tilting his head and staring straight into his eyes, after a few seconds he ceased struggling before standing upright and walking over to his comrades.

Typing in a new command she quickly flicked through the cameras stationed throughout the house, most of the mansion was clear except the backyard and gardens were three trucks with the horrid White Fang logo on the sides, "How the hell did they not set off the perimeter alarms and how did your men not spot this?!" Elizabeth turned to Alison motion in to the security feeds.

Stepping past her and using the other have of the console, Alison typed in his clearance codes before flicking through the cameras, unlike Mrs Schnee footage however his feed showed up clean, checking the video logs however he noticed that the video was stuck on a loop between 8 pm to 11 pm, "They've sabotaged most of the cameras Ma'am, as far as the others knew the garden and the backyard leading to the forest was clear, I'm terribly sorry we should have been more vigilant." Alison lowered his head before smashing the side of the console with is a fist, feeling something around his leg he looked down to see Weiss hugging his leg, tail happily swaying behind her. Smiling he gently patted her head before steeling his nerves, he needed to get both these people to safety, no matter the cost.

∞∞∞

Weiss rode on top of the remaining rubble summon, Elizabeth had felt some of her aura gently return to her earlier letting her know her summon had gotten its injured cargo to safety. They were now walking around the empty mansion seeing if they could find anyone, friend or foe, they’d already bumped into a few staff along the way telling them that there were a few White Fang members running around killing staff and most of the staff had evacuated to the downstairs carpark and were loading into the emergency armoured vehicles. With his pistol raised, Alison peered around another corner, checking it was clear before beckoning the others forward, so far they had only found three dead corpses, one of them being a white fang member. Elizabeth made sure to keep her daughter preoccupied so she didn’t have to see the horrific sights. Walking deeper towards the kitchen, Weiss’ ears began to flicker as she picked up the sound of movement up ahead, noticing Elizabeth signalled Alison back only for a door to his left to slam open and a White Fang guard to come crashing out. Raising his gun, he aimed at the door only for the body to drop to the floor lifeless, aiming his pistol again when he heard more footsteps he quickly let out a lengthy breath when a familiar face came into view. Jensen, the Schnee’s loyal butler limbed of the body before all but collapsing into the unprepared security guard, holstering his weapon in record time he grabbed the shofar before he could collide into the floor,

“I am so glad to see you Mrs and Miss Schnee, after we saw your husband run off with Winter without you, we feared the worst.” Trying to stand on his own. Jensen buckled again before being caught by both Ms Schnee and Alison, looking over his tatted and ripped clothes, Elizabeth knew the butler wouldn’t be able to walk on his own, making eye contact with her trusted head of security, she easily conveyed the message that she wanted. Shifting his weight so he was fully leaning on Alison, Elizabeth walked around so she could face Jensen,

“Jensen? I need you to hold on for me okay? Alison is going to escort you and Weiss to the emergency carpark while I continue to look for survivors.” Jensen tried to shift his wait onto his own legs, pushing off his colleague, he opened his mouth to argue but saw the look in woman’s eyes stopped, sighing he leaded back onto Alison. Elizabeth nodded and turned around went to call her summon over, only to notice it wasn’t there, figuring out what their friend was looking for they too began to look around for the youngest Schnee only to find she wasn’t there.

∞∞∞

Weiss continued to ride on top of her mother summon through the mansion, when they had stopped earlier, she had been so scared when the door crashed open and the White Fang appeared she had grabbed the summon around its neck and closed her eyes, for a second she felt weird before the summon turned white and left the room. Now they were in the second Kitchen further down the estate, timidly looking around each corner and avoiding areas where Weiss could smell blood and smoke. Entering the Piano room, Weiss was struck by fear causing the summon to freeze; two White Fang grunts were currently sweeping the room looking for any humans whilst the third had his back turned, scowling at a giant-sized family portrait. Deciding he had had enough of the picture he extended his clawed hand and slashed at the photo, effectively beheading the two adult Schnee and defacing the eldest daughter but missing the youngest, looking towards the two made noises of approval whilst the vandal looked over his work to turn and face his two comrades only to notice the new arrival, he looked at the destroyed picture just to confirm he was seeing it with his own eyes before looking back at the child with a sinister smile,

“I missed that time, I won’t miss again.”

Stalking towards the terrified child, he heard his companions cocking their weapons ready to fire if someone else came. Just as the terrorist was about to lung, however, he was blinded as the room filled bright blue flash before he felt something slam him across his side, sending him flying and crashing on the other side of the room, coughing up blood as he didn’t have enough time to draw up his aura, he shakily looked to were his two clanmates were and saw what looked like a glowing white bear standing where he once was, glaring at the image he let out a gurgled growl before his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he slumped down against the wall. Looking at their dead-squad leader, the two remaining terrorists looked at each other before raising their weapons and firing at the creature in front of them, two shots rang out and then the firing stopped.

Uncurling from a ball, the now giant blue rubble armadillo summon released Weiss from its protective shell before transforming back into a rather large canine of some kind, before Weiss could process what was happening she was quickly engulfed in a strong hug, looking up she could see the crying face of her mother, closing her eyes as she kissed her wherever she could get hold, “Don’t you ever run off like that again!” watching her daughter nod she stayed crouched and hugging her daughter for a while longer. Hearing heavy footsteps, Elizabeth looked up to see her husband barge into the other side of the tarnished main dining room, he looked around spotting his wife before having to step back to avoid a flaming support beam from crashing into him, covering his to stop the ash and smoke getting into his face he tried to peer throw to make sure his wife was okay. Unable to he yelled at his wife to meet him in the foyer before making his way there himself, decapitating the head of a fallen Faunus that was trapped under what he guessed was he great great grandfather’s statue, sneering in disgust before flicking the blood off his sword, he made his way through the passage and around the corner, in the distance he could see Elizabeth’s summon holding up a wall that had been knocked down from one of the many bomb explosions earlier, glancing at the wall he wondered how such an uncivilized group of animals were not only able to penetrate the perimeter of his home but able to plan and execute an attack of this magnitude, deciding to question it later, he decided to head back around and wait for the pair near the entrance.

Distracted, he didn’t notice the Snake Faunus come hobbling up the left corridor.

∞∞∞

The snake commander limped down the corridor, one hand holding her empty pistol and the other holding a cloth to a wound on her side as she waited for her Aura to heal the wound. That nurse had proven to put up more of a fight than she had expected, refusing to tell her where those blasted Schnee basterds had run off to, instead drawing a shard and slitting the throat of one her subordinates and then trying to stab her, she’d managed to embed her with the makeshift weapon before Snake grabbed the offending wrist and snapped it, her scream was cut short with a bullet to the head and Snake was on the move again, trying to find at least one Schnee before she called for a retreat, the higher ranks would be more forgiving if she hadn’t completely wasted their original plan.

Rounding a corner in this maze of a house, she heard faint footsteps up a head, sticking to the shadows she made her way to what was properly another fancy room. Getting closer she saw that wretched freak Faunus child from earlier standing with its back towards her, looking towards what looked like a glowing bear made up of rock. Removing the red cloth, she inspected her wound to find her Aura had finally closed it up, testing her arm and rips she felt a light tingle but that’s it. Dropping the useless gun, she unsheathed a small blade from underneath her coat, and stalked towards her oblivious prey.

∞∞∞

Watching her Summon hold the wall up, Elizabeth moved over to where her daughter stood admiring the Kodiak bear as it pushed and held up a wall that would have sealed them in earlier. Kneeling, she cleaned the dry tears off her face and picked a few pieces of rubble from her face, looking at her she couldn’t help but smile at her little survivor,

“I love you dear, don’t ever forget that.” She kissed her on the forehead, and smiled before going to scoop Weiss up in her arms, “Love you too Mumma.” Releasing the hug, she was about to say something when she felt a hand on her shoulder and a burning hot pain in her chest. Looking down she saw a blade covered in blood – her blood her dying mind realised – sticking from her chest, looking up she saw Weiss frozen with fear, her face and clothes also covered with her blood as well,

“Well that was touching.” Snake whispered in the dying Schnee’s ear, all while staring into the face of the little, “and a little pathetic.” Hissing she pulled the blade out of her stomach, and flung the body off to the side, bringing the blade up she flicked her tongue out to lick some of the droplets on her hand, “If it makes you feel better, you just saved that creature you call an offspring’s life!” Shell shocked, Weiss crawled over to her mother’s body, tears streaming down she took her mother’s outstretched hand and put it towards her check, closing her eyes she felt her mother raise her other hand to her chest before a warm sensation took over her, in her dying breaths her mother quickly chanted,

“For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. *cough* Through this, we become a paragon of v-virtue and glory to rise above all. I-Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I *cough* I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee.” Elizabeth watched as she fully unlocked her daughter’s Aura and began channelling the last remaining reserves she had, “I love you Weiss, remember that, when-whenever you feel alone, I’ll be watching.” Looking over she gave her Summon one last command to protect her youngest daughter, before changing it from a Bear into a Beowulf. Due to its change of size, the Summon couldn’t hold the wall in place so went for the next best thing and quickly cocooned itself around its new charge, without the support the wall began to crumble and eventually collapsed. Seeing the impending doom, Snake quickly dived out of the way, covering her face as dust and rubble began to fall near.

∞∞∞

Eric felt the mansion shift, bracing himself against a wall he turned around to see dust and rubble traveling up the hallway he had just come, looking around he couldn’t see his wife or the Faunus child anywhere. Pulling a handkerchief from his inside pocket, he holstered his weapon and covered his mouth, using his free hand to wave the dust from his eyes he quickly jogged back into the room to find that it had collapsed in on itself, peering through the dust he saw something twinkling from the corner of his eye. Peering through the dust he recognised his wife face, bloodied and lifeless as well as he favourite bracelet and her wedding ring glistening on her exposed hand. Knowing she was dead, he quickly bowed his head in respect before heading back to the garage, there was nothing left for him here, the best thing he could do was regroup with his only daughter and leave this place before it buried them all.

Watching the Schnee scum slip away, Snake looked at the corpse of his wife with a little satisfaction, she felt better having killed her like they killed her wife, looking at the rubble next to her she contemplated whether she should dig up the little Schnee mutant child to show the higher ranks before dismissing it and making her way out herself, she sent a message to the remaining White Fang troops to retreat and head back to HQ.

Though it wasn’t the plan, she was sure the Alphas would be happy with the fall of the White Mansion and the death of two Schnees, even if they didn’t know about the child.

∞∞∞

Hours later, when the fires had died out and what remained of the building had stopped falling, a pile of rubble began to stir. Brick, ruined furniture, and wood moved until finally the Beowulf freed itself from its tomb, sensing no danger it quickly picked up its charge and started making its way away from the young Schnee’s home and towards the nearest town.

∞∞∞

Hei Xiong hated quite a few things; he hated cheap alcohol, he hated Grimm infested forests, he hated the cold and he hated waiting, but most of all he hated being stood up. One of his current contacts had set up a meeting to have someone meeting him here whilst he was on a trip to Atlas in the hopes of doing some business in exchange for Hei clearing a debt he had racked up at one of his bars. Stubbing out his cigar, he pulled his fur lined coat to try and keep warm and began heading back to car, messaging one of his thugs to “take care” of their little money leech. Looking up, he stopped when he saw something over his car in the distance coming towards him, putting away his scroll he pulled out his weapon Ontario and held it to his side, as it came more into view he could make out the shape of a Beowulf but the colour was all wrong. Deciding to see what the creature was he made his way around the all-terrain vehicle towards it, changing Ontario into its bazooka form and being ready to blast it away when it noticed something in its arm. Putting the weapon away he quickly made his way over when he saw the small child, checking her over, he saw she was still alive but unconscious, her clothes were tattered and there was dried blood and rubble everywhere, her face was the worst, with a gash across her forehead and another going across her right eye to her check.

Searching around, he saw smoke polluting the early morning far to East, hearing something crack he looked over to the Beowulf to see chunks of it falling apart, swiftly he grabbed the cataleptic child before taking a step back and watching the Summon break apart into a pile of rubble, a small orange orb slowly evaporating into the sky. Sighing, he looked down at the buddle in his arms, having a closer view he noticed one of her lion ears sticking out from the matted hair, readjusting the girl he made his way back to his car, deciding to go home and call it a night, he made a mental note to get one of his nurse contacts in Atlas to stop by and check her out for any injuries. After making sure she was safely buckled into the passenger seat and that her tail – wait tail? – didn’t almost get trapped in the door again he jogged over to the driver’s seat and got in and started the car, looking over one more time to make sure the girl was still okay he chuckled to himself before putting the care into drive and heading into the city,

“Well, Miltia and Melanie did say they wanted a younger sister.”

[carpethefanfics]

Unrequited III

You have been so kind to my original Unrequited piece and Unrequited II

I know I said this would be three parts buuuuut I got caught up in my feelings and thought both my OTPs deserved their moments so stay tuned darlings.

Also thank you so much for the continued love.

Unrequited IV Unrequited V

Enjoy.

He watched Remus’ face turn to him

Those amber eyes a dull, tired gold

‘M’sorry’

He could feel Remus’ muscles tense, his eyes narrowing at Sirius

A look that reads as confused

A look that shows Sirius he’s taking this a completely different direction than Remus anticipated

‘You know … for being so distant, for all the late nights. I-I haven’t been a good mate and I know that.’

Remus’ voice cracks as he speaks

It’s raspy like his throat is thick with sand

Like he’s been laying in his bed for hours letting his mouth parch and his body become sore and his thoughts wrestle

Just swarmed by whatever he isn’t telling him

‘Sirius …’

But Sirius doesn’t want to hear it

He knows Remus

He knows whatever is coming is what Remus thinks he should say

And not what he really wants to say

‘No really Moony I should have realized sooner that all those distractions would catch up to me’

Remus stifles his words

Whatever was coming falling away because he’s utterly perplexed

‘Distractions?’

‘Y-yeah. That’s all it really was. All they really were. I mean, you know, I tried to make it something more but-but it just didn’t feel like anything ...’

‘What?’

Sirius knows he’s babbling

And that his ideas aren’t coherent

And that he’s dancing around the thoughts he needs to say

That he’s making it about himself

But how do you go through the day thinking that you’ve created this rift

That you’ve pushed your best mate so far they hid themselves from you

Thinking the words sorry I’ve been an utter idiot for trying to move on from something we never had because I didn’t want to ruin anything we already did

How do you not admit the thing you’ve been biting your tongue on for years in a moment like this when you’re being consumed by it?

When you’re overwhelmed by the pure vulnerability and weakness that brought you here

The inescapable notion that after speaking with Evans he would have always come here

Despite the heart racing jumbled thoughts that are sputtering from his lips

That are obviously confusing Remus

Obviously confusing him

‘It doesn’t matter. What matters is this and us and you. I’m sorry for being such a prat you felt like you couldn’t talk to me.’

It doesn’t seem that Remus has caught on to whatever he’s been trying to say

Or trying to avoid saying

‘It wasn’t about that Pads.’

And now Sirius feels his own not so subtle disregard for his best mate’s feelings

Because there he goes assuming it was about him when obviously there is so much more

It’s Remus after all

The man over analyzes and takes his time and stares vacantly into space when he’s got something to think through

He’s everything Sirius isn’t and it’s what Sirius envies most

Because Remus never jumps in unprepared

He never takes a step without imaging the consequence

Never feels like he’s put his foot in his mouth like Sirius feels he just did

‘You didn’t go talk to Evans because I was being a right tosser?’

Remus pauses for a moment

An intake of breath followed by the rise and fall of his chest

‘No.’

And now Sirius knows he should ask why

Should delve into those thoughts that have been heavy on his back all day

That have clearly been heavy on Remus

Questions about what’s keeping Remus awake

What he can’t seem to let go of and find peace  

But his skin prickles

Because he’s the one whose dealt with this

Who sought comfort in Remus when the night felt like it was driving him to the point of insanity

When the loss of the sun meant the loss of laughter, meant his friends have gone to sleep

Meant he was left with the demons that crawled out from underneath his bed

And from inside his head

But Remus didn’t find him

Didn’t find comfort in him

‘Well then why didn’t you come to me Rem? If you had just told me I would have dropped everything you know? Would have helped you with whatever you needed.’

‘I know but I didn’t want you too.’

Sirius can feel Remus’ muscles tensing more than they already are

His thumb is still tracing patterns into Remus’ skin but it doesn’t seem to be calming him like it has so many times before

It feels like he’s itching to be released from Sirius’ grip

To move away

To be alone

‘And Lily understands.’

The spark in the pit of his stomach is lit into a raging fire with those words

Sirius takes a deep breath

A pool of frustration and jealousy filling him

He wants to bite his tongue

Take a few calming breaths

Because it’s not about him

It’s about Remus

But he’s always been led by his emotions, always been too brash and too forward

Just like he’s going to be now

‘What and I don’t?’

‘Not in the way I would have needed you too.’

The hair on Sirius’ neck stands on end at Remus’ words

Words so soft and fine and not meant to cause Sirius any harm

But it cuts deep inside him

Because Remus is his .. his Remus, his Moony

Sirius is the one who strokes his fingers through his curls when the moon has been rough

Who reminds Remus that he has to shower

Who tucks him right back into bed when he’s done

That forces him back to the dorm when he nearly drowns in his eggs from the pure exhaustion of it all

Who pulls him out into the snow when he’s been cooping himself up in the library  

Who brings him extra parchment and ink

Who slides his hand over his to show him just how to twist his wrist in Defense when he’s frustrations are peaking f

Not Lily

Him

‘How could you possibly know that without telling me?’

The silence that ensues is deafening

Because Sirius feels hurt now

And how best to mask hurt but with anger?

Sirius with his hand tightly clasped around Remus’ wrist

His eyes narrowed as Remus closes his own and turns his head back to face the ceiling

His wrist gently pulling away from Sirius

It’s like he’s recoiling and Sirius has no idea why

‘What’s going on?’

His voice comes out so low

He wants it to be harsh and guttural

He wants to pull Remus back in and drag whatever he’s holding back out of him

But he feels so helpless now

His anger just falling away

Because there is this gaping hole between them

And Sirius can only think that it has to be all his fault

For pushing Remus away, for trying to move on in the wrong way at the wrong time

For trying to move on before even trying at all

And he can feel the tears that flow over

That drip down his cheeks

He’s closing his eyes and pulling his lower lip in between his teeth

Tucking his chin close to his chest to hide the hurt that’s written all over his face

To hide the anger that he feels at himself for being so selfish and volatile

For the assumptions he’s made that makes him feel he never really took into account Remus at all

He wants to tell him how sorry he is for whatever is going on

For the space he feels he’s created that makes Remus feel unsafe or insecure

That made him reach out for Lily

‘It’s just … Sirius? Siri …’

He can feel the mattress as it rustles underneath him again and his body dips closer towards Remus

A cold hand is cradling his cheek, lifting his chin

A thumb padding at the tears

He can feel Remus’ warm breath on his face

And when he opens his eyes the amber colour in front of him, the closeness knocks the breath right out of him

‘Pads’

He brings his own hand up to rest on Remus’

‘M’sorry.  I-I- dunno why m’crying. Dunno why I pushed. And you felt me doing that. And I-I just didn’t know how to deal with it.’

‘Deal with what?’

Remus sounds so concerned

And so confused

And Sirius hates himself that he’s brought them here

That’s he’s crying in Remus’ arms when maybe it should be the other way around

But the years leading up to this, the last few months

And the battle that’s been waged in his head it’s too much

He never thought it would hurt this badly to feel Remus pull away too

And he regrets everything, every idea him and James ever had

Every move he made that made Remus feel this kind of pain

If Remus even felt this way at all

‘With-with you know, with ...’

‘Pads what are you talking about?’

‘This. Us. You and me. I can feel it there all the time and it’s like it’s burning a hole and I-I didn’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do. So I pulled and now you’ve pushed and- and … Can’t you feel that?’

It’s like Remus’ eyes are liquid gold as they open wide

And at this distance Sirius can see the way Remus’ lips part slightly

And Remus’ thumb has stopped rubbing along his cheek bone

He can feel the heat warming his fast as he realizes what he’s admitted

What Remus is probably putting together in his head

But his shoulders feel light

And he hopes, he prays, that Remus feels that weightlessness too

‘That’s why you’ve been off with all them? Because of this? Because of me?’

Sirius barely nods

His teeth biting much harder into his lower lip

‘Me too ...

With Evans I mean.’

Sirius furrows his brows

A confusion settling there that he knows Remus needs to explain

‘I couldn’t be here … alone … knowing you were out there. The thought, merlin the thought Sirius. I-well I just ... And Lily, Lily understands that.’

And then it clicks

A jagged puzzle with edges now smoothed out fitting so neatly together Sirius can’t believe he’s never seen it before

But then again he’s always been so easily caught up in his own head that seeing the bigger picture is practically impossible

He thinks back to the moments him and James stumbled through the portrait hole

The thought that that hole in his chest was finally closing

That maybe he could tuck whatever has been rumbling inside him for Remus away  

And then the feeling of everything crashing down around him

Because there they were

Curled up by the fire

Their heads resting together, their hands intertwined

Sirius would never forget the ache, that dangerously low feeling that practically toppled him over when it hit him

‘You feel it then? Feel this?’

Sirius is placing Remus’ hand on his chest

His heart is raging in his own

Because of their proximity and the words on Remus’ lips and the words still on his own

He knows Remus is blushing by the way he speaks

‘Y-yeah I feel it. Have for some time.’

Some time

Some time

It’s all the words he needs to lean his face towards Remus

To brush their noses together

To run his hand up and feel Remus’ jaw

Their lips brush

Their knees knocking together

Remus’ jutted hip bone pressing into Sirius’ thigh

There’s barely any pressure when their lips touch

It’s not needy or hungry

It’s an affirmation

Something sweet and soft and just enough for right now

‘I should thank that brilliant redhead’

Their faces are still so close

Remus’ fingers moving hesitantly across the planes of Sirius’ chest

Sirius is brushing his nose gently against Remus’ skin

Inhaling a mixture of chocolate and chamomile that is just so him

His thumb brushing Remus’ lips

His fingers dancing along the freckles that slope down his jaw

‘And why’s that?’

Remus’ can feel the beating of Sirius’ heart is a rhythm he wants to memorize

‘She told me you needed me. I just didn’t think this was what she meant.’

He’s lost in thought when he hears those words

And then he looks up to catch Sirius gazing at him

‘What? When?’

‘Potions. Said she was worried about you. Something about your sleeping. Probably knew I would come find you.’

Remus’ eyes are wide

And all he can think is Lily how dare you

And Lily thank merlin for you  

Because now he’s here laying in his bed with Sirius wound up around him

And at the same time it’s painful

He’s trying to keep the doubts at bays

Keep the anxieties rising in his mind down

How will this work?

How could this ever work?

Sirius is immediately explosive and overly flirtatious and so unbelievably possessive

Whereas Remus can’t help but be introverted and drives himself past the point of stubborn and his anger is practically volcanic

But Sirius is also everything he needs

Because his heart never wavers

And he always knows just what to say, knows just when to say it

And that means so much more

He just wants to be here for a moment

Because even if it doesn’t work, even if they shatter it into a million pieces

Won’t it be worth it?

Isn’t the feeling that’s running through his whole body, isn’t that look on Sirius’ face worth it?

Remus lets the tension wound up in his muscles fall away

The corner of his lip curving ever so slightly as Sirius continues to trace his lips

As Sirius’ eyes roam his face

Watching him as the gears of his anxiety stop turning in his mind

Remus focuses his eyes back on him

Staring into Sirius’ eyes

Because right now they’re this beautiful rare silver colour

And it knocks him right out of his head

It’s a colour that Remus has only seen a few times before

Times when Sirius was so completely elated, so utterly mended

Like when the Potter’s called him their son

Like when Regulus had cornered him to say goodbye, to tell him that family comes before blood no matter what he does in this life

And it sends a shiver through Remus’ entire body to have Sirius looking at him like that

Finally looking at him like that

‘I should thank her too then’

To be continued ...

[live4thelord]

The Priority of Personal Prayer

This Sunday’s Gospel is the very familiar story of Martha and Mary. Martha is the anxious worker seeking to please the Lord with a good meal and hospitality; Mary sits quietly at His feet and listens. One has come to be the image of work, the other of prayer.

Misinterpreted? In my lifetime I have heard many a sermon that interpreted this passage as a call for a proper balance between work and prayer. Some have gone on to state that we all need a little of Martha and Mary in us and that the Church needs both Marthas and Marys.

Such a conclusion seems to miss the central point of this Gospel passage. Jesus does not conclude by saying, “Martha, now go do your thing, and let Mary do hers.” Rather, He describes Mary not only as choosing the better part but also doing the “one thing necessary.” This does not amount to a call for “proper balance” but rather underscores the priority and primacy of prayer. This, it would seem, is the proper interpretation of what is being taught. Many other passages of the Scripture do set forth the need to be rich in works of charity, but this is not one of them.

With that in mind let’s take a look at the details of the Lord’s teaching today on the priority of personal prayer.

I. PROMISING PRELUDE – Jesus entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. In the beginning of the story Martha is shown in a very favorable light. She opens her door (her life, if you will) and welcomes Jesus. This is at the heart of faith: a welcoming of Jesus into the home of our heart and our life. Surely, Revelation 3:20 comes to mind: Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

While we acknowledge this promising prelude, we ought not to miss the fact that it is Jesus who initiates the interaction. The text says that Jesus entered a village. In the call of faith, the initiative is always with God. It was not you who chose me; it was I who chose you (Jn 15:16). Hence, while we must welcome Him, God leads. Martha hears the Lord’s call and responds. So far, so good.

What happens next isn’t exactly clear, but the impression given is that Martha goes right to work. There is no evidence that Jesus asked her to prepare a meal for Him. The text from Revelation quoted above does suggest that the Lord seeks to dine with us, but it implies that it is He who will provide the meal. Surely, the Eucharistic context of our faith emphasizes that it is the Lord who feeds us with His Word and with His Body and Blood.

At any rate, Martha seems to have told the Lord to make Himself comfortable and has gone off to prepare the meal. That she later experiences it to be such a burden is evidence that her idea emerged more from her flesh than from the Spirit.

II. PORTRAIT of PRAYER – She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Now here is a beautiful portrait of prayer: Mary, sitting at the Lord’s feet, listening.

Many people think of prayer as something that is recited or said, but it is better understood as a conversation—and conversations include both speaking and listening. Vocal prayer, intercessory prayer, and the like are all noble and important, but the prayer of listening is too often neglected.

Prayer is not just telling God what we want; it is discovering what He wills. We have to sit humbly and listen. We must learn to listen, and we must listen in order to learn. We listen by slowly and devoutly considering Scripture (lectio divina) and by pondering how God is speaking in the events and people in our life, how God is whispering in our conscience and soul.

As we shall see, Jesus calls this kind of prayer “the one thing necessary.” What Mary models and Martha forgets is that we must first come (to Jesus) and then go (and do what He says), that we must first receive before we can achieve, that we must first be blessed before we can do our best, that we must first listen before we leap into action.

III. PERTURBED and PRESUMPTUOUS – Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me.” Martha, who is laboring in the flesh but not likely in the Spirit and in accord with the Lord’s wishes, is now experiencing the whole thing as a burden. She blames her sister, but the Lord’s response will make it clear that this is not Mary’s issue.

One sign that we are not doing God’s will is experiencing what we are doing as a burden. We are all human and thus limited; we will naturally feel ordinary fatigue. However, it is one thing to be weary in the work but another to be weary of the work.

A lot of people run off to do something they think is a good idea—and maybe it is a fine thing in itself—but often, they haven’t ever asked God about it. God might have said, “Fine,” but He also might have said, “Not now, later.” Or He might have said, “Not you, but someone else.” Or He might just have said, “No.” Instead of asking, however, they often just go off and do it, and then when things don’t work out will blame God, saying, “Why don’t you help me more?”

Martha feels burdened. First, she blames her sister. Then she presumes that the Lord does not care about what is (to her) an obvious injustice. Then she takes presumption one step further and presumes to tell the Lord what to do: “Tell her to help me.”

This is what happens when we try to serve the Lord in the flesh. Instead of being true servants who listen to the Lord’s wishes and carry them out by His grace, we end up angry and mildly (or more) dictatorial. So, here is Martha, with her one hand on her hip and her index finger in the air . Jesus will be kind to her, but firm.

IV. PRESCRIBED PRIORITY – Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her. Don’t let the Lord have to call you by your name twice! It is clear that He wants Martha’s attention and that she has made a fatal mistake (one we all can easily make): she leapt before she listened.

The Lord observes her and remarks that she is anxious about many things. Anxiety about many things comes from neglect of the one thing necessary: sitting at the feet of the Lord and listening to Him.

The Lord will surely have things for us to do in our life, but they need to come from Him. This is why prayer is the “one thing necessary” and the better part: because work flows from it and is subordinate to it.

Discernment is not easy, but it is necessary. An awful lot of very noble ideas have floundered in the field of the flesh because they were never really brought before God and therefore were not works of grace.

Jesus does not mean that all we are to do is to pray. There are too many other Gospels that summon us to labor in the vineyard to make such a conclusion. What Jesus is very clear to say is that prayer and discernment have absolute priority. Otherwise, expect to be anxious about many things and have little to show for it.

Scripture makes it clear that God must be the author and initiator of our works: For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not from you; it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so no one may boast. For we are his handiwork, created in Christ Jesus for the good works that God has prepared in advance, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:8-10).

[voicesofchaos]

Castlevania (Netflix) Review

Super Castlevania IV was one of the first videogames I ever played when I was like 5, maybe 4 years old. Needless to say I love the games and the series! I have played a large number of them like Symphony Of The Night, 64, Legacy Of Darkness, Legends, Harmony Of Dissonance, Aria Of Sorrow, Dawn Of Sorrow, and Portrait Of Ruin, Order Of Ecclesia, Lament Of Innocence, Dracula X Chronicles (Rondo Of Blood), Lords Of Shadow, and am even a fan of the game the whole fandom hates. Judgement. In addition to all those games listed I have briefly played several others like Castlevania III:Dracula’s Curse which this show is based off of. So I have been waiting for a Castlevania movie or series for over a decade! I have constantly planned out how I would write and direct it if I was in charge. I’ve waited a very long time for this series to come to life in a movie-like media. So what did I think of this delivery?

Let me just start off by saying that I am immensely happy this was animated. I was always worried they would make it live-action and would just look horrible. Being animated allows them to do a lot more with it which exactly reach the full potential with but more on that later. Also many people call it “Castlevania anime” but this is a fairly American-ish style which I do think is good. We all know I am a complete anime obsessed freak but Castlevania and anime are two great flavors that don’t taste as well together. We see most clearly when comparing the art style shift from Aria Of Sorrow to its more kind-friendly sequel Dawn Of Sorrow.

It is so cringey! So yeah Castlevania works best with a cross between Japanese and American art in a European gothic style. Now the the art style of Castlevania as a whole has changed and evolved a lot throughout the years but that is where it has find its most resonant identity.

So the Netflix series does a passable job at art. I do wish a few things were a bit more touched-up and polished but hey animation is hard and takes time. I do hope the sequel can look a little bit more crisp. The character designs are distinct enough. Trevor looks different from everyone else. Sypha stands out among the speakers. For the most part you can even tell the clergymen apart. I especially like the part between Dracula and Alucard. In their scene other Dracula was surrounded by darkness while we only see see Alucard’s silhouette which mirrors Dracula’s except surrounded by white light. Where I am most disappointed is not the human design but the monster design! The most beloved Castlevania game, Symphony Of The Night, has nearly 150 entries in its bestiary. Sure a lot are reskins or bosses but still that is over 100 different unique monsters. In this series we got generic demons and a cyclops. Come on! I know this is not a videogame so of course we will have far less enemy variety but the plain demons got old way too fast. I can’t believe we did not get skeletons as they are pretty iconic to the games. Season 2 better have flying medusa heads!

Somehow though I skipped over the story which should have been the most important part. As I said I only played a little bit of Castlevania III but it does make sense as the best place to start for many reasons. Now I don’t like the original Trevor Belmont as character for silly personal reasons (Sonia Belmont should in canon be the first Belmont to fight Dracula!) but it does have a strong cast of supporting characters which not too many Castlevania games can claim. As well it is one of the first entry in the timeline. Lament Of Innocence is the only real canon game before it since Castlevania Legends was made non-canon and that Lament Of Innocence is a kind of nifty prequel but not a real compelling starting point actually.

With Castlevania III we get that badass D&D party going through Dracula’s infamous castle to defeat the boss. You know the party that consists of Trevor Belmont, Sypha Belnades, Grant Danast, and everyone’ favorite character Alucard/Adrian Farenheights Tepes. Wait a second, WHERE THE HELL IS GRANT! I mean he is definitely the least popular of the quad and while I am sure he has some fans out there no one is really going to miss him not being part of the cast yet. But still if he is not in season 2 then they missed a great opportunity to just have another well known supporting character. They could easily develop his character to be more beloved by the audience.

While what about the other characters that were included. I think most people character from this will be Dracula. He comes off very sympathetic and seems more like the hero than the villain of the story despite his plans for mass genocide. The other character who I feel was very point and true to the original was Sypha. I think she is easily the most likable character. I am glad that they didn’t take too long to reveal her gender. They did a little tease and shoutout to the fans by the elder only referring to her with gender-neutral pronouns and Trevor even makes a joke about her being dressed as a boy. Otherwise though that would have been an outdated gag if they kept it in. As I have mentioned many times we also have Alucard who I guess has a satisfactory role so far. I feel like his battle to test Trevor went a little long despite being so cool. I guess more so his questioning of Trevor’s determination rather than the fight itself is what felt lengthy as it made Alucard seem more bratty than an noble prince of vampire-human blood. Trevor’s character here I feel very mixed about. He does get cool by the end of it. But him starting off as a rundown beaten anti-hero at first just felt a little too drawn out. Most Belmonts are supposed to be quintessential heroes. Giving him some character development and not being a goody two-shoes is a good idea but I feel the execution could have been a little better.

Then we have minor characters. The speakers, especially the elder, do their role but there isn’t much else to say about them. Then we have the church. Ehh I question if they went the wrong direction here. Don’t get me wrong I love the story about the church causing the downfall of humanity and being the ones to bring fourth the evil they preach against as they try to assert control over people no matter who is the victim. But again the execution here feels meh. Castlevania is mostly a black&white good VS evil story. But many times there have been hints that humanity and religion are not so pure and might not be worth saving. Maybe they should be devoured by darkness. But it is subtle. It makes you think and question it. Here the show hits you over the head with “The church evil and Dracula is a saint!” It is over the top in the wrong way. As I said Castlevania has a wealthy lore of monsters, the point of the game is to have the heroes fight horrifying monsters. Yet this entire series Trevor mostly fights humans. Not even well-trained or fearsome humans. Mostly just angry mobs. This is definitely one of the most disappointing things in this series.

The other most disappointing part, THERE IS NO CASTLEVANIA! Seriously it is in the title of the series and we barely see the most important character in any Castlevania game, Dracula’s Castle! We see it raise up and that is it! What should set Castlevania as a story out from other vampire or horror stories is the setting. The castle should feel very much alive and part of the story. Luckily we did gets traps and gears so they didn’t completely forget to include some CASTLEVANIA in the series. Still though we spent a little too much time in the city and not enough time getting to the destination.

I have a lot to complain about and be disappointed with in this series but I definitely would NOT call it bad. It is still pretty good and appeals to a wider range of audience. It is a long intro for a short season. These 4 episodes could have definitely been done in 3 episodes, maybe even 2! As said many times, season 2 has a LOT of hype to live up to. I heard season 2 was approved for 8 episodes before I watched this so I figured that season 2 would be moving on to Christopher Belmont and SImon Belmont. But no no no. We still have a long way to go in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse. The Castlevania lore is very vast and has a lot to explore so I do hope this goes on for a long time and they can get creative with it as they pump up the quality.