#why did they show viktor becoming jesus and then not show anything he was up to for like three episodes straight | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

eclipsewxtch · 2 months ago

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NO SPOILERS BUT REACTIONS TO EPISODE 8 ARCANE S2 BUT IM LIVE TWEETING (TUMBLING):

• honestly i believe anything someone says abt ambessa in a negative way. if u told me she killed a bunch of kids in a preschool in a enemies territory or village i would 100% believe u. if someone watched episode 9, came up to me, and said “ambessa killed everyone” i would believe it. like. i would 100% take that at face value.

• MEL😍 AWOOGA😍 age ain’t nothin but a number ur like 30-35? it don’t matter come home ma😍 im a little young but im mature for my age 18 ain’t that bad sweetheart

• MEL OHH LORDDDDDDD wish i was jayce. or mel. or viktor. i wish i was apart of their weird ass lowkey love triangle bullshit

• LOVE MY PEOPLE OF COLOR!! jayce, ekko, mel… ambessa is wvil but not including her feels racist somehow so im gonna say i appreciate her villainy, character design, and hotness.

• i hate ambessa so much so so so much

• trypophobia is so ugh like i can not look at half of these scenes. like i feel bad but it is freaking me out /gen.

• isha my baby i love you

• maddie back the ENTIRE fuck up deadass. caityln u don’t hate u but u did become a fascist which none of the other characters did. i can excuse murder but not fascism. the whole jesus cult thing w viktor CAN be debated but i wasn’t a huge fan of That either although it is definitely funnier than. yknow. gassing people.

• “can’t erase our mistakes” yeah we know😭 ur THEE prime example 😭

• jinx PLEASE please please. i miss h.

• i love the crow stuff w jinx like idk this isn’t important or a spoiler or anything but whenever i see a crow in this show i think of jinx immediately. this ALSO isn’t important but i love the owl = ekko and crow = jinx

• OKAY BUT JAYCE WHEWWWW UR SO FUCKING FINE GOOD LORD HAVE MY BABIES PLEASE PLEASE OLEASE PLEASE! YOU AND MEL! TAKE TURNS! OR BOTH! AT RHE SAME TIME! SMASH SMASH SMASH!! they aren’t even a hear me out these ppl are so fucking attractive i am so obsessed with them

• everyone: i hope neither of those two sex scenes is between jayce and mel…

me, hoping and begging and praying: 🧎🏽‍♀️‍➡️🤤

• okay the fearsome threesome r back in business!! woooooo. oh. maybe not. MAY BE NOT WOW OKAY

• so did they MEAN for viktor to be a dogwhistle for eugenics or… like ik his game character was. yknow. but uh. yeah.

• is jayvik back or…? oh nvm

• okay but jayce in the black and gold and mel in the white and damn🤤

• oh i needed this hug. i them needed OH WHAT NO NO NO DAMN IT

• jayce and mel height difference and coloring and voices and— guys i’m so sorry i need them (im asexual) i would have their babies (i would rather die than have a kid come out of me) i WANT TO BE IN THEIR BED (okay im real with this)

• 10 mins left in the episode guys what could possibly go wrong🤗

• OH MY GOD SEX OH MY GOD YES LAWD YES LAWD YOU HAVE ANSWERED MY SEASON ONE PRAYERS OH I CANT WAIT FOR THE FANFICS TO RECREATE THIS EXACT SCENE. the animators sure did have fun w this like u can tell u can just TELL

• had to pause a couple of times to scream into my pillow we r all good tho giggling a little (a lot i sound like a fucking WITCH) anyway song choice was great actually

• machine herald is so sexy it truly is a shame he is a poster child for eugenics. viktor this isn’t u baby.

• god u hate ambessa i hate her i hate her i hate her i hate her.

• MEL UGH BEAUTIFUL!!

• i hate that bullshit “i did it for YOU” excuse bc sure u did it for me but that’s not truth is it? u did it for YOU u did all this for YOU. if u really wanted to do it ‘for me’ u should have told me like this shit makes me want to rip my hair out from the fucking follicle. i GET IT i understand why friends or parents or lovers say ts to justify their actions but they HAVE to get how completely batshit it is to use that excuse like they have to😭

• okay seriously the trypophobia is killing me here why couldn’t they make stripes or swirls like why holes why why why why why why—

• OH MY GOD WARWICK NO NO NO ik the game lore i knew this would happen but it still sucks anyway.

• song IS eating tho so

#arcane act 3 #wowowowow #mel and jayce please come home #gonna pass out tho like the visuals r stunning but i cant take it like god it’s so fucking disturbing

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avengersandlovers · 6 years ago

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Pick Me

Viktor Drago x Reader

Warnings: 18+ only!, smut, jealousy (just a little), drinking

A/N: REPOST FROM MY OLD PAGE! PLEASE REBLOG!

Working in the lumber yard wasn’t exactly a glamorous job, but it was what it was and it did have some perks. Well one, to be precise. That perk’s name was Viktor Drago. Most everyone you worked with was scared of him. After all he was a fighter, a Drago and even though people didn’t really respect the name anymore, they did still fear it.

But that’s not what you saw when you looked at him. He was always so soft when he talked to you, he never yelled or even swore around you, he was always polite; you would even go so far as to say soft spoken for the most part.

You two had become friends since you started working together. He would even come over to your apartment from time to time to talk and have a drink or two but it was always casual and seemingly platonic. He usually just needed to get away from his father and you were more than happy to keep him company.

Despite all that you were still surprised when he showed up at your door piss drunk on a Friday night. You were coming back from a blind date that had gone very poorly and he was standing still but swaying side to side with his forehead against the door.

“Viktor?” You questioned, putting your phone back in your purse.

“Heeyyyyyy!” He slurred, throwing his hands in the air as he stumbled toward you.

“What are you doing here? I told you I had plans tonight.” You placed your hands on his chest to steady him as he continued to drunkenly sway.

“I know, I know.” He whispered. “I’m sorry. But I needed to ask you something.”

You could smell the vodka on his breath as he leaned in close.

“Okay, okay, let’s just get you inside.” You moved slowly so he could keep up as you guided him inside your apartment.

Once inside you took him over to your couch where you sat him down.

“I’m going to go get you some food and water, stay here okay?” You walked away slowly, making sure he stayed put.

You pulled your leftovers from your date out of the to-go bag and grabbed a fork and a bottle of water. All you could do was hope this would be enough to sober him up a little. You set the items down on the coffee table in front of him and told him to take them. He drank the water quickly but didn’t seem interested in the food.

“So what did you want to ask me?” You asked while sitting down next to him.

“Do you hate me?” He slurred, his head lolling back to rest on the back of the couch.

“What are you talking about? Where is this coming from?” You grabbed his shoulder and shook him back awake.

“I lost the fight.” His eyes looked sad as he finally peered over at you.

“What fight? The one against Creed?” You were so confused by everything he was saying.

He nodded in response.

“Viktor I don’t care about that. You being a good fighter isn’t the reason I’m your friend.” You reached up and cupped the side of his face and he leaned into your touch and closed his eyes. “Why would you think that would have any effect on our relationship?”

“My mother left us when my father lost.” He mumbled.

You froze when you realized what he said. You knew she wasn’t around for him but you never knew why. He didn’t really like talking about his home situation and you didn’t push.

“Viktor, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” Your voice was barely above a whisper.

Viktor started to lean forward, his body weight finally overtaking you, his drunken form basically deadweight on top of you. He wrapped his large arms around you and his head rested on your chest as you both lay on couch together.

“So you’re not going to leave?” He whispered, his voice a little desperate.

You sighed and cradled his head. “I promise Viktor, I’m not going anywhere.”

His tensed body finally relaxed and it wasn’t long before he fell asleep on top of you.

It took some time and wiggling but after a while you had been able to get out from underneath Viktor so you could head off to bed. When you woke up the next morning you could hear the muffled sounds of vomiting coming from the bathroom.

You threw on a robe and walked over to the door.

“Viktor? Are you alright?” You asked quietly while knocking softly.

A moment later the door opened. Viktor wiped his mouth with his hand and rolled his half-open eyes.

“Bet you regret it don’t you?” You smirked at him.

He nodded slowly, clutching his head.

“Take a shower you’ll feel better, and please do me a favor and use some mouthwash. I’ll make breakfast.” You grabbed him by the shoulders and turned him around, pushing him back into the bathroom.

Seconds after you set the two plates on the table Viktor came out of the bathroom, towel hung low around his waist.

“I’m sorry about last night.” He apologized before you could even say anything else.

“Viktor it’s fine, you don’t have to apologize.” You were struggling to maintain eye contact with him while your face grew hot.

“I didn’t do anything too stupid did I?” He laughed at himself.

“No, nothing stupid.” You rolled your eyes.

“And we didn’t…” He trailed off.

“Well first of all, you were wasted so absolutely not. Second, if we had, do you really think you would have woken up alone on my couch?” You laughed at him.

He took a few steps forward, closing the space between you two quite a bit and your breath caught in your throat.

“I’d like to hope not.” He smirked.

“Um, well breakfast is ready if you’re hungry.” You turned around to take your seat and Viktor sat down across from you.

“Well I did eat your leftovers already but I could definitely eat more. Where did you get those from anyway? They were not good.” He smiled at you.

“Oh it was from my date last night. I don’t remember the name of the place but I didn’t want to be rude so I took them home. I figured you were so drunk it wouldn’t matter that it wasn’t good so I left it out for you.” You shrugged as you took a bite of toast.

Viktor froze. “You were on a date last night?”

“Yeah, what did you think I was doing dressed up on a Friday night?” You laughed, not noticing the tensing in Viktor’s jaw.

“Oh. Well how was it?” He asked flatly.

“Well I spent the rest of my night taking care of your drunk ass so how do you think it went?” You rolled your eyes.

A smirk flashed across Viktor’s face.

“You know I really should make it up to you.” His voice almost seemed a little suggestive but you tried to brush it off. “After all you did take such good care of me last night.”

You rolled your eyes, picked up your plate from the table and walked to the kitchen.

“Viktor, I told you it’s fine-” When you turned back around he was standing behind you.

He took one large step towards you, backing you into the counter. He pulled on the tie that held your robe together until it came undone, letting it fall open and reveal that you were still just in your underwear.

“Let me make it up to you.” He whispered as he began to sink to his knees.

You couldn’t even form words as he began to kiss the soft skin of your stomach, inching his way closer to your panties. His large hands ran slowly up the outside of your legs, his calloused fingers tickling you just ever-so-slightly along the way. He looked up at you, his pale green eyes glazed over with lust as he rested his chin on your lower stomach. His thumbs hooked around the edge of your panties and slowly pulled them down while he watched you to see if there was any sign of you wanting him to stop.

Your breathing was ragged and your knuckles were turning white from clutching the edge of the counter. Viktor lifted your leg and placed it over his shoulder. You both watched each other as he began to devour you. His tongue flicking over your clit before swiping back and forth, back and forth.

“Jesus and I thought you would just be good with your hands.” You moaned, your head falling back as your eyes fell closed.

He moaned against your skin, kissing the inside of your thighs.

“You think about my hands often?” He teased, looking up at you through his lashes.

“Don’t you have something you should be doing?” You smirked, grabbing the back of his head and pulling it towards you playfully.

He smiled at you, giving your stomach one last kiss before standing up.

He pushed the robe off your shoulders, letting it fall to the floor before wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close as he undid your bra. You grabbed his towel and tossed it to the side. He grabbed your leg once again as he lips crashed down on yours, pulling it up and hiking it over his hip while he carried you out to the living room where he dropped you both onto the couch.

He gripped your ass with one hand as you rocked your hips back and forth over his. He moaned in your ear as he kissed down your neck. His other hand found its way up your torso and to your breast where he kneaded the soft flesh and rolled your nipple between his rough fingers. The shaft of his hard cock pressed against your wet cunt as you continued to grind on him while lost in his kiss.

“Condom?” You asked as you finally pulled away.

“Pants.” He groaned as you got up from his lap, holding onto you just for a moment before letting you walk away.

You quickly ran to the bathroom and snagged the condom from his pants pocket. When you got back he was sitting there mouth open, head lolled back and stroking his cock as he waited for you. You smirked to yourself as you walked quietly back. Sneaking up on him you dropped quietly to your knees in front of him. His head shot up and his eyes open as he felt your hands run up his thighs. You leaned forward and licked up the underside of his cock, making him growl.

You tore open the small package and slowly rolled the condom over his cock. You could tell his was growing impatient as he began to squirm while he waited for you to climb back into his lap. Finally you straddled his thighs and slowly lowered yourself down. Once he was fully inside you his hands firmly gripped either side of your hips and rocked them back and forth for you. You leaned back, resting your hands on his thighs as he did the work for you.

He let go of one side of your hips and let his hand drift over your body. First it ran up the center of your stomach to your chest where he let it rest on your sternum before finally reaching over and gripping your breast. His hand drifted from your chest around to your back where he finally pulled you forward. He took your breast in his mouth, sucking on the skin, leaving bruises in his wake before taking your nipple between his teeth. You cradled the back of his head and held him close.

He slid down on the couch so he wasn’t sitting as up-right as before and began to thrust up into you. He repeatedly bottomed out inside you, his hips snapping against yours hard as he started to become more aggressive, feral even.

He buried his face in your chest, wrapping both arms around your back and holding you in place. Your hands clung to his shoulders and your nails dug into his flesh. You could feel the pressure building inside you with each thrust.

Swear words started to pour from his mouth as he started kissing your skin again until he reached your collarbone where he bit down. He grunted and moaned your name as he held your hips down while he thrusted up as hard as he could. When he finally let go he reached between you both, his thumb finding your swollen clit.

You mewled and whined as he began pumping hard into you once again. With his thumb circling your clit it wasn’t long before you reached your peak. You lurched forward, gripping the couch behind him for support as you rode out your high while he kissed the marks he had just left on your skin.

You both slowed down as you struggled to catch your breath. Your sweaty bodies sticking together as your limbs remain entangled with one another. It was you that finally made the move to detangle from him. He let out a whiney groan as you went to stand, reaching out to you as you started to walk away.

“Viktor, I have to clean up.” You laughed at him.

He rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his face as he watched you walk to the bathroom.

You could hear your phone ringing from the other room so you poked your head out. “Hey Viktor could you answer that for me? It’s probably Sasha calling with my work schedule for next week.”

Viktor picked up the phone without looking.

“Hey Sasha” His voice was gruff from exhaustion.

“I’m sorry I think I have the wrong number, I was looking for Y/N.” Another man’s voice rang out from the other end of line.

Viktor’s jaw clenched again. “No you have the right number.”

“Oh great, um, can I speak with her then? This is Adrian.” The other man asked.

Just then you walked out of the bathroom, you saw that Viktor was still on your phone and gave him a confused look.

He had an irritated look on his face but handed you the phone as you approached. You looked at the screen and saw a number you didn’t recognize.

“Who is it?” You whispered.

“Adrian.” He replied, rolling his eyes.

You laughed at him, taking the phone from his hand.

“Hello? Adrian?” You smirked at Viktor as you climbed back into his lap.

He ran his hands up your sides and kissed your chest and jaw.

“Uh-huh. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah.” You just kept repeating absent-mindedly while Adrian droned on. “Look Adrian, you’re a nice guy but I don’t think this is going to work. Sorry.”

You felt Viktor smirk into your neck and swatted him on the shoulder.

“Yeah Adrian. Yeah I’m sure. Okay. Bye.” You rolled your eyes as you finally hung up.

“At least you don’t have to ever eat at that restaurant again.” He laughed as he pulled you close.

You rolled your eyes again, cupping either side of his face you leaned down and kissed him. “You’re such a jerk.”

He laughed against your lips before flipping you over so you were underneath him.

He beamed down at you. “Maybe but remember, you picked me.”

TAGS:

@amour-quinn @mypanda-kun @chewie-danvers @palaiasaurus64 @lady-thor-foster @myluvislikewow @chezzire-cat @zuni21798 @of-sebstan-and-chrisevans @trippinjenni @dinnafashsoldat @xxpapasfritasxx @mintballoons @themyscxiras @sugardaddytonystark @army2224@charmedluna @champagnesugamama @dragosdaughter

#viktor drago #viktor drago smut #viktor drago x reader #viktor drago fic #viktor drago fanfic #viktor drago fanfiction #viktor drago imagine

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morgue-ndorffer13 · 7 years ago

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Yuri on Ice ask meme

I thought it would be fun to answer these ^-^

1.how did you find out about the show

This one is a little fuzzy but I’m pretty sure my best friend @evangelinedares showed me the trailer, I’d also been very into sports anime for a while

2.favorite episode and why

Everyone says episode 10 and I’d have to agree with the majority. Not only because of the amazing reveal of the banquet incident (completely changing the narrative altogether) the start of the episode is in Viktor’s pov which was very interesting because up until then (whiles he’s an amazingly well written character) he’s very hard to read so it was nice to here his inner thoughts about what was happening around him... and the “sleeping beauty” comment.

3.favorite character and why

This one was difficult as Yuuri and Phichit were my favorite characters instantly and they hold a special place for me. I’d have to say Yuuri Katsuki. Answering why will be hard hopefully it won’t get too long XD I just love how realistic his character is. I love how un-protag he is. The same archetype of loud, bumbling, loveable anime guy™ has been done to death. I also love that throughout the show we see so many sides of him, one surprise after another. The fact that from the first episode alone he mislead me to believe he wasn’t a big deal, that he wasn’t that good. Third episode in I realize “hey this guy competed in the Grand Prix?? and obviously seems like an important person in his town.” The way he fools you, shrinking his accomplishments is refreshing as a main character and makes him very relate able. I also think he represented how anxiety affects people’s life in a pretty accurate way.... anddd I was in love with his design from the start. Dark hair and glasses are my thing.

4.least favorite character and why

I don’t think I can really answer this? I like them all in their own ways, but funny story I did not like Yuri Plisetsky at all in like the first 5 minutes he was properly introduced (sorry @evangelinedares XD) I thought, “man, what is this guy’s problem?” but he definitely grew on me once I understood his character.

5. favorite rare pair

Mila and Sara. We don’t see much of them together (people ship them after seeing like one frame of them together.) I want to see them having a fun friendship (they would definitely be a cute couple though.)

6. favorite costume(s)

The eros costume really appeals to my darker aesthetic so naturally I fell for that one.

7. favorite short program

Yuuri Katsuki, On Love: Eros

8. favorite free skate

Yuri Plisetsky, Allegro Appassionato in B minor

9. favorite location

The onsen in Hasetsu (when is was snowing)

10. favorite victuuri moment

Two moments, Episode 7: Parking garage argument and Yuuri dropping his tissue, poking Viktor’s head and skating with a smile.

11. favorite line of dialogue

"Just have more faith than I do that I'll win..." jesus, this scene hit me hard, this part of the quote in particular really struck a chord with me. I understood it as, “I’m not very confident in myself but I can make up for it with you having confidence in me.” it’s a very vulnerable thing to say/admit.

12. favorite meta

it would take forever to find the post XD

13. best character development arc

Obvious answer would be Yuuri Katsuki because his changes are again very obvious throughout, I mean I argue that (It could be canon according to Kubo I have to find where I read it) Yuuri Katsuki did not change drastically, I feel like he just realized what was always in him, he’s always been talented, he’s always had confidence buried inside, he realizes people care about him, he’s always been good at putting himself back together. So, I would have to say my favorite arc is Yuri Plisetsky (funny because originally he was my least favorite character.) his evolution was beautiful to watch and I love how all the changes weren’t positive, yes he reached his full potential and won the Grand prix but we also see him say that halfway through his program he “blacked out” which is really not a good thing. I want to see who he grows into.

14. who would you want to be rink mates with

Phichit <3

15. who would you want to get turnt with

Chris?

16. who would you want to be your coach

Minako Okukawa

17. which character are you most like

This one is tricky as I see myself in both Yuuri and Viktor, I go on and on about how much I love Yuuri but between the two I think I’m the most like Viktor. Most people who know me wouldn’t see it as I’m often described as “chill” by most people who know me and Viktor obviously has a fairly cheery disposition (when he’s with Yuuri). That’s one thing right there. I have one person in my life that gets to know other sides of me, it’s often said in canon “only Yuuri sees this cute side of Viktor.” Being lost when someone tells me they just want me to “be myself.” Feeling like I have to put on different personas to please different people. Feeling isolated/unsatisfied (indifferent) when people marvel at my achievements, losing interest in things you once loved. (common symptom of depression but lets not get too deep! moving on XD)

18. who do you think should have won the gpf

Despite loving the fuck out of Yuuri Katsuki, I feel the results aligned perfectly with everyone’s arc. I read a wonderful meta that explained how Yuuri winning silver drove home the theme of how Yuuri learns about love. In the beginning Yuuri places all his self worth on winning gold and when he doesn’t he beats himself up hard. It’s a bit of a parallel to how the series stars, Yuuri failing the gpf so badly that he wants to retire and by the end making the podium (still not getting the gold he wants) but is stronger to keep going. It seems his self esteem went up a little by the end of the show.

19. what are you expecting/hoping will be in the movie

mannnn at this point I don’t ask for much I’ll gladly watch them mow a lawn for 2 hours but jokes aside I want to know Yuuri’s past how he grew up and same for viktor. VIKTOR’S FUCKING PAST, FAMILY, EDUCATION, ANYTHING THAT MAN IS SO MYSTERIOUS.

20. headcanon for what yuuri and Phichit majored in in university

Honestly never gave this much thought? Yuuri in dance, Phichit in some type of photography

21. headcanon for victor’s level of education

Firstly I’d like to say that I headcanon Viktor as being very intelligent. I don’t think he went to any kind of college/university. There are a lot of metas I’ve seen to back up that Viktor is a bookworm and I agree wholeheartedly. I also have an angsty headcanon that when he was young (like teens) he was shut down anytime he tried to talk about books, science (ect.) and was told that people just want him to be pretty and skate so he adopted this ditsy persona that people mistake for him being air headed. It bugs me when I read fics of people portraying him as this airhead that can’t cook, the trope-y hot dumb guy XD ugh it just bothers me.

22. favorite katsuki

If I’m bein honest, I’ve been lovin on Yuuri this whole post XD I fucking love Mari Katsuki, she doesn’t get enough love. She’s such a mood; smoking, deadpan, lowkey alternative older sister™

23. favorite russian skater

Viktor <3

24. headcanon for how vicchan died

I read a really amazing fic where they went to detail how Mari accidentally let go of the leash while walking Vicchan and he was hit by a car indirectly making it her fault. It adds a bit more depth to her cool persona she has.

25. what’s your eros

thicc girls with glasses and pixie cuts.

26. what’s your agape

@evangelinedares <3

27. were you already a fan of figure skating before watching the show (if not, have you become a fan now because of the show)

My Nana who passed a while ago would always watch it when I was young and I would watch with her and was a longtime fan (I was a big fan of Hanyu Yuzuru and Yulia Lipniskaya). Two years prior to the release of yoi I remember thinking “man I wish there was an anime about figure skating” and my prayers were answered XD

28. do you own any merchandise (share pics!!)

29.favorite official yoi event so far (and share if you’ve been to any)

Didn’t attended but watched the Chihoko drama online it was glorious.

30. favorite fanworks (art and/or fic)

fic:

ANY FIC BY EBENROOT OR SHYSWEETTHING

Like your French Girls by Ebenroot amazing Artist Viktor and Skater Yuuri au

Not Gold like in your Dreams by Ebenroot beautifully written penelope au with pig nose Yuuri

Undiscovered Country by Shesweetthing An au where Yuuri remembers the banquet the next morning. You must give this a read.

Shysweetthing’s tumblr

Artist:

Savi link to their twitter, lovely facial expressions

GO PURCHASE THE FOOT THING ITS ONLY $4 AND THE BEST THING YOU WILL READ

#shysweetthing #yuri on ice #yuuri katsuki #viktuuri #viktor nikiforov #yuri #yoi #yoi meta #yuuri on ice

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pamphletstoinspire · 7 years ago

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Angry with God

My older sister Patricia died of spina bifida before I was born. My younger sister Linda died of spina bifida when I was 3. Given that I was raised in a traditional, stoic, Irish-Catholic family, my sisters and their deaths were never talked about. In fact, I didn’t even know they existed until I was 5 and found their names in our family Bible. “Who are these people?” I asked my mother.

“They are your sisters”—that was all she said.

As I grew, I thought about them a lot. Eventually, I began to ask my mother why God did this to our family. She said simply that some crosses were heavier to carry than others. Somehow that answer and the related resignation didn’t work for me. And so I began to become angry. Specifically, I began to become angry with God.

For most of my youth, I felt this anger was wrong, sinful. Yet it didn’t go away. I encountered more and more suffering that did not make sense. A friend lost both his parents by the eighth grade. A very good priest dropped dead of a heart attack. The brother of a friend died in Vietnam.

As I began my work as a psychologist, I would touch on spiritual matters with my clients. I found that I was not alone in my anger. Worse, I met people whose explanations for tragedy were heartbreaking.

One woman, for example, believed that her prayers for a dying daughter did not work because her prayers were “not worthy of God’s attention.” Even my own father, as he dealt with a series of strokes, told me they were “punishment for my sins.” As I heard such struggles, I felt more and more that, because of anger, I was bound to grow away from my faith. Then I read the Book of Job.

Job: Not Merely Silent Suffering

Given that the Catholicism of my youth did not include a great deal of biblical study, I knew very little about Job other than the phrase “the patience of Job.” When I read this marvelous book, I realized among other things that Job was hardly patient. In fact, like me, he was angry!

The story of Job begins with a bet. Satan is arguing with God, saying that faith is easy when everything is going well in one’s life, but that people tend to lose that faith when times are tough. He then brings up Job, pointing out that Job has great faith but is also very comfortable and successful. But suppose, suggests Satan, that Job falls on hard times: Will he then be so faithful? God gives Satan permission to take away everything of Job’s but not to harm him. Satan does this, but Job holds on to his faith. So Satan ups the ante by asking God to let him harm Job directly.

And so Job ends up homeless, penniless, and afflicted with horrible skin diseases. He begins to seek an explanation from God. In fact, Job demands an explanation!

Job’s friends show up and offer standard explanations for his troubles. “You must have sinned,” suggests one. “You haven’t prayed hard enough,” says another. And yet Job continues his outcry, ultimately demanding that God show up and explain himself.

And God shows up! Granted, God tends to put Job in his place and never really answers Job’s “Why?” question. But the important points are that God shows up and that he never punishes Job for his outcry.

But Why, Lord?

I think the Book of Job is there to encourage us to embrace our outcries, not suppress them; and to struggle with the “Why?” question, not dismiss it. And so, somewhat timidly, I began to allow myself that anger.

It soon became clear to me that I needed to explore my anger at several levels. The most immediate level was the “Why?” question that was a large part of my youth. As I began to read, I found out that the “Why?” question has in fact given rise to a specific area of theological study called theodicy. Specifically, theodicy examines the issue of how an all-good, all-loving God can permit evil.

As I explored my anger, I came across the book May I Hate God? by Pierre Wolff. Despite its provocative title, this is a very gentle-spirited book that reminds us that God is a loving parent; and that loving parents, upon learning that their child is angry with them, want to hear about the anger—not necessarily condone it, but hear about it. This opened up to me the awareness that, when I am angry with God, my tendency is to express that anger in the same way I do at a human level. I shut down and use the “silent treatment.”

Novelist Joseph Heller put it another way in his novel God Knows. King David is reflecting on whether he is angry with God and concludes, “I’m not angry with God. We’re just not speaking to one another.” So it was with me and the God of my understanding.

In any case, Wolff’s book helped me to accept my anger. But I still struggled with the “Why?” question. Other thinkers offered helpful insights. Viktor Frankl did not answer this question, but he observed that, while we don’t always have a choice over what happens to us, we always have a choice regarding how we face it. Similarly, Rabbi Harold Kushner, in his well-regarded When Bad Things Happen to Good People, offered what for me was a novel idea—that perhaps God wasn’t responsible for some of the bad things that happened to us.

At first, Kushner’s notion was comforting. Maybe God wasn’t behind my sisters’ illnesses or children with cancer or senseless random shootings. Maybe those things just happened. Somehow that thought made me fear God less. Yet the thought that perhaps God wasn’t behind all bad things that happened created another question articulated by Annie Dillard, who wrote in For the Time Being, “If God does not cause everything that happens, does God cause anything that happens? Is God completely out of the loop?”

My anger at God brought me to wrestle with some important issues. It challenged me to reexamine my image of God. Did I see God as punitive, misreading the Old Testament? Did I see him as loving, as in many New Testament stories? Did I see him as uninvolved, caring for the big picture and leaving the details to us, as the Oh, God! films suggest?

My anger also brought me face-to-face with my struggles about prayer. Does God answer prayers? Clearly not all prayers. It’s been said that there are many unanswered prayers at deathbeds. If God doesn’t answer all prayers, to follow Dillard, does he answer any prayers?

These struggles have been productive, prodding me toward a more mature understanding of God, as well as a more clear appreciation for prayer. But I still come face-to-face with my anger.

A Personal Encounter with God

Over the past few years, I have read the entire Bible three times. It has been a truly enlightening experience. I saw clearly that Job wasn’t the only one to argue with God. Abraham did it; Moses did it; even Jesus did it! I was in good company.

I saw, too, that David’s Psalms were at times outcries. Within the poetry, one can hear the oppressed poet yelling out to God, ��Do something!”

I’ve learned from my many clients who sit and try to understand tragedies in their lives. In asking these great teachers, “Are you angry with God?” I’ve heard many instructive answers. One woman wrestling with a lifethreatening illness said, “Of course I’m angry with God! But he’s God. He can take it!” Another very spiritual young woman observed, “No, I’m not angry. But I sure would like to have a peek at his operations manual.”

Harold Kushner recently published a piece on the Book of Job titled The Book of Job: When Bad Things Happened to a Good Person. It is a literate and scholarly book that offered me a new note of comfort. Kushner suggests that Job is comforted and consoled not so much by God’s explanation but by the encounter itself. Job deeply experienced God’s presence and took comfort in that meaningful experience. I found a note of personal truth in this thought. I realized that, yes, I’ve had meaningful encounters with God in nature or in the world of great art or in the sound of my grandchildren’s laughter.

But I realized that I have also encountered God in my anger in a way that has been profound. As I voice that anger, I feel God in a manner as profound as, albeit different from, my experience of God in nature.

The story of this journey of anger has a more recent turn to it, one with which I am still dealing. I recently saw an episode of The West Wing, a program from the early 2000s starring Martin Sheen as a fictional president. Prior to this episode, the president had lost a much-loved secretary in a senseless car accident. After the funeral, he stands alone in the National Cathedral and unleashes an anger that shocked me. As an example, his character refers to God as a “vengeful thug.”

I felt I’d long validated the importance of anger in my relationship with God, yet I found myself uncomfortable with the intensity of President Bartlett’s anger. But, upon reflection, I understood it. My anger is more than annoyance or disappointment—at times it is rage. Yet, out of fear, I withhold that rage and instead, like David in Heller’s novel, stop talking to my God or at least temper my feelings. Yet, when I allow myself to approach that rage, I find God waiting for me.

And so I come face-to-face with the God of my understanding. Is that God a vengeful parent who will not tolerate my anger and will punish me for speaking up? Such was the God of my youth. Or is the God of my understanding a loving God willing to wrestle with me, willing to accept my vented rage in the name of open, ongoing dialogue and genuine encounter? And do I have the courage to fully embrace this understanding of God and remain in dialogue in the midst of my rage?

The great Jewish scholar Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote, “God stands in a passionate relationship with Man.” Anyone who has lived in a longterm, passionate relationship learns that passion is a package deal. You can’t have the joy and ecstasy unless you also accept and embrace the anger and alienation. I’ve dealt with several couples who say they don’t fight. But they are in my office because their relationship is stagnant. Without the struggle, there is no passionate intimacy.

The Path of Relationship

I realize at this point that, for me to have a joyful, peaceful, vibrant relationship with the God of my understanding, I must also embrace the rage. Not just annoyance, but rage!

And so, as I struggle, I return to reflect on my mother’s faith in the face of tragedy. I see that her faith was not some passive, shoulder-shrugging, “Oh well, it could be worse” type of faith. Throughout her life, she believed not only in the power of prayer but also in the persistence of that prayer. Like the woman in the parable seeking justice, she would not quietly plead or go away. Rather, she would “storm heaven with prayers.” Nor did she let tragic loss engender cynicism: on her deathbed and with absolute certainty and joyful anticipation, she said, “I’m going to see my girls.”

And yet I know my path is one of wrestling and arguing. It occurs to me that perhaps within the mystical body of Christ, we both play a part. People like my mother indeed inspire me to not lose hope and to continue to believe that understanding God’s mysterious way is possible.

But perhaps people like me—the questioners, the wrestlers—help others not to lapse into passive, depressed resignation. Perhaps in encouraging others to “fight back,” we help them experience real encounters with God. Perhaps we wrestlers help others to hope that our pain and anguish do matter. And perhaps together we can link arms and sing those words of Job offered not as an answer but in hopeful expectation: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!”

Richard B. Patterson, Phd, is a clinical psychologist and freelance writer from El Paso, Texas.

#angry with god

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jam2289 · 6 years ago

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88.9 Hey Radio, Collision of Innocence, and Me

Today we have a band that is quickly gaining popularity. Lucky for us they were helpful enough to give me some insight into their inspiration for a specific song.

Collision of Innocence was formed at the beginning of 2018. Bill from 88.9 Hey Radio messaged me and wanted me to take a look at their song "The Void". It's an excellent song, but I wasn't able to find the lyrics anywhere. So, I messaged the band on Facebook. Not only did they send me the lyrics, they also told me that the inspiration for the song had come from a message by Billy Graham. I have all of that for you, then I'll dive into the song myself and see what I pull out of it.

You can listen to the song on Youtube here: https://youtu.be/QlRBXG5ZYwc

And, here is their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/collisionofinnocence/

Ever wonder about the secrets of making connections like these? Here's how I do it, in a straightforward manner. No matter what happens there won't be complications this way because there aren't secrets or hidden agendas and then there can't be drama. Here's the message that I sent them:

- - - - - - -

I'm working on an article for 88.9 Hey Radio on your song "The Void". I haven't found the lyrics for it online. Could you send me the lyrics?

- - - - - - -

Most likely one of two things is going to happen here: 1) They're going to send you the lyrics. 2) They're never going to respond. Either way, there's nothing to fear in reaching out.

They sent me the lyrics first, which I'll show in a minute, then they sent me this:

- - - - - - -

Thanks Brother!

This song is about about the void of the human heart and how we try to fill that with a lot of things but God is the only thing that completes us. In a nutshell... there’s also an amazing article that ties it together by Billy Graham. I’ll try to find it

- - - - - - -

Well, a response doesn't get better than that. It does put some pressure on me though. Since I'll be going through and pulling my own personal meanings from the lyrics it will seem odd if I have a different perspective than the band that wrote the lyrics and Billy Graham who was the inspiration for the lyrics. I'm guessing that's going to happen though. Luckily I don't feel a strong need to agree with people or conform, and if I did I wouldn't do any writing or public speaking. It will be interesting to compare and contrast. (It reminds me a bit of the article that I wrote on Grandpa Loves Rhinos about their song "Aquaman" where I assumed it had something to do with Aquaman and I learned that I was completely wrong when I was messaging with the band after I wrote the article. It's like that, but in reverse.)

Here's what they sent me from Billy Graham:

- - - - - - -

We all have a hunger in our hearts for God — an empty place in our souls that only He can fill. The Psalmist in the Bible put it this way: “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:2).

The problem is that instead of turning to God and letting Him fill our souls, we turn to other things — pleasure, fame, money, sex, or drugs and alcohol. Some people even turn to false philosophies or religions, hoping these will lead them to the truth and fill the empty place in their lives. For a time, they may think they’ve found what they were looking for, but in the end, they’re just as empty as they ever were. Tragically, some will even discover that they’ve almost destroyed their lives.

Only God can satisfy our inner hunger, and He will, as we turn to Him and by faith open our hearts and lives to Christ’s transforming power. God doesn’t want us to wander through life, constantly wondering who we are or why we’re here. Instead, Christ came into the world to bring us back to God, and He will, as we commit our lives to Him.

Don’t be deceived by those who urge you to take a wrong road, no matter how glamorous or famous they seem to be. Instead, make Christ the center of your life. God’s Word is true: “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?… Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:2-3).

- - - - - - -

Alright, now it's time for the lyrics. I think the lyrics are better than Billy Graham's quote. Here they are:

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This emptiness

Inside so cold my spirit seems dead

I long to fill this hollow void

This world can’t help it only destroys

Escape into me

And you’ll find the rest that you need

Confide in me

I’ll eclipse, surpass all of your dreams

In this dark abyss

Here I’ve found anything but bliss

Offer me their medications

For this ache they don’t know the remedy

Escape into me

And you’ll find the rest that you need

Confide in me

I’ll eclipse, surpass all of your dreams

Behold I’m coming soon

Knew you before the womb

I’ll never leave you, never deceive you

My arms are open wide

I want you by my side

Wipe away all your tears, diminish all your fears

How long will you wait? How long, so long so long I’ve been waiting

Escape into me

And you’ll find the rest that you need

Confide in me

I’ll eclipse, surpass all of your dreams

- - - - - - -

(I feel like I should have done a bigger intro, maybe something like, "For the first time being presented to the public in written format on the internet, I bring to you, direct from the band, a JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com and 88.9 Hey Radio exclusive collaboration, the lyrics for Collision of Innocence's "The Void"! You have to read it in a boxing radio announcer's voice to really get the effect. Anyway...)

I like the structure of this song. It's both obvious and subtle at the same time. I didn't realize this the first time I heard it, but I realized it as soon as I saw the written lyrics. There are two characters in this story, and they both speak from the first person perspective. Depending on which perspective you take in this song you could be one of those voices, or you could have a separate third person perspective of either a dialogue or duel monologues that are happening. What I'm talking about will become more clear as I go through it stanza by stanza.

- - - - - - -

This emptiness

Inside so cold my spirit seems dead

I long to fill this hollow void

This world can’t help it only destroys

- - - - - - -

This stanza is from the perspective of a suffering person. The first three lines are the suffering, the feeling of suffering. This type of suffering is a lack, something is missing from the person's life and they have an urge to find it to feel less empty, less spiritually dead, and less hollow. Let's dive into this a bit more because that fourth line will be its own thing.

This lack of meaning in life is common. In modern society it's even becoming pervasive. This is especially true for people that don't have to struggle to survive. You get time and energy to think about what your life is about and what your life is worth. Unfortunately, many people have a hard time finding answers to these questions. Philosophy and psychology have largely dropped the ball in this area, which is probably the most important area of life. Some people have confronted it and have useful insights, others are less useful.

The philosopher Albert Camus proposed the idea that the most important question in philosophy is "Is life worth living?" In a series of articles titled "The Most Important Question in Philosophy" I proposed the idea that there is a better question, "What makes life worth living?" Albert Camus doesn't offer great answers, really they are quite disturbing. He founded the philosophy of Absurdism as a branch of Existentialism. The basic Absurdist take on this matter is that humans have an inherent yearning for meaning in life, but there is no meaning in life. This is an absurd situation, thus Absurdism. The best answer that Camus can give is that there is also a defiance in humans that allows us to press on in the face of this absurd situation in spite of it all.

A much better discussion of this topic is handled by Viktor Frankl who founded the philosophy and psychology of Logotherapy. He's known for being a neurosurgeon and psychiatrist that survived the Nazi concentration camps. The three basic axioms of Logotherapy are: life is intrinsically meaningful (Unconditional Meaning of Life), we are capable of discovering opportunities for meaningful action (Freedom of Will), and we are motivated to want to make our lives meaningful and purposeful (Will to Meaning). There is so much that is good, useful, and relevant from Frankl here that it would be an entire article. I won't dive into all of that. Just to get a taste of some of the great insights he has you can check out the article I wrote titled "An Interesting Note of Suicide from Viktor Frankl" which is where this feeling of emptiness can lead when it's at its worst. Here's that article: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/01/an-interesting-note-on-suicide-from.html

Now, that fourth line brings up some interesting things, controversial and debatable things. "This world can’t help it only destroys". This is a world denying stance. The idea is that the world is corrupt, a wholly corrupt manifestation of a greater and purer spiritual plane of existence. This is one of the basic tenets of Gnosticism. The Gnostic movement was quite big in early Christianity and survived for several centuries before the Catholics were able to eventually kill them off. In some ways it will always survive and humans will always come back to it. The Apostle Paul was criticized right at the founding of Christianity of being too Gnostic. At that time there was quite a mix. There was no bible, the parts of the New Testament were still being written, many pieces of writing about the accounts of Jesus were in circulation with a bunch of different factions vying for control and sway over the beliefs of the public. It was a huge deal for the early Christians trying to figure out how Jewish they were and there was a lot of integration, disintegration, and debate about that. We would think of them as a bunch of denominations now. There were many, but it was fewer than the current 34,000 different Christian denominations. It's overly simplistic to say that there are two sides to this debate, but... to avoid this article turning into a series on the history of theology I'm going to say that there are two basic takes.

One view is that the world is something to be overcome and let go of. This has some movement in modern Christianity, but it's overshadowed by the world affirming versions of Christianity. You see this same theme most clearly in the modern world in Buddhism, where the world denying factions are the major force and the world affirming versions of Buddhism are smaller. I think it might be the case that all religions have different versions of these two camps. The ideas about an ideal realm of forms is prominent in the philosopher Plato as well. (John Vervaeke is a psychologist from the University of Toronto that delves into many ancient and modern perspectives on these things in his online course "Awakening from the Meaning Crisis". It's worth a look if you want to delve deeply into it.)

This idea of a duality is easy to comprehend and comes up again and again. Some versions of Christianity raise the power of Satan up to equal, or at least challenge, that of God. That's one type of dualism in religion. Zoroastrianism has a good god and an evil god. It's a fairly straightforward idea.

The other major way for dualism to work is to have the idea of a material world and a spiritual world. We also see this type of dualism in the philosopher Descartes where the idea of the mind is separated from the body. The dualism that puts two opposing forces against each other in the world is still world affirming, they just acknowledge various corruptions from the opposing force. The dualism that posits a good plane of existence and a bad plane of existence is necessarily world denying, although there are a lot of details to those views that we aren't going to dive into here.

(The Cathars in France and Italy had this type of dualistic good spiritual world and bad material world view too. The Catholics were eventually able to wipe them out in the 14th century. But, we see here that this dualistic view of a good world and bad world is something that comes back. I'm not sure about the specific religious views of Collision of Innocence, but I'm going to guess they're Protestant because they're from the United States and there aren't that many Catholics, Anglicans, or Eastern Orthodox here. Protestants are generally considered heretics by Catholics too, although there hasn't been a major war in awhile. Really, every group considers every other group heretical. Rarely is it noted that heretics are the saviors of religion from itself, or that Moses was a heretic, Jesus was a heretic, Luther was a heretic, etc.)

Personally I try to be world affirming, but acknowledge the major limits of that view and see the perspective taken against it. I think all of these perspectives come down to different takes on modes of being that are developed in humans. The psychiatrist Harry Stack Sullivan calls these steps prototaxic, parataxic, and syntaxic. Sullivan founded Interpersonal Psychiatry, which is all about human interactions. In the first step things aren't perceived as separate. In this second step things are distinct from each other but in unclear ways. In the last step things are well defined. An adult human uses all of these modes of being to a greater or lesser extent. Limits on the personality are created by approval and disapproval of the person right from infancy. This forms two basic models of interaction, the good and the bad. This is the same basic concept we have been talking about, and this is why it exists in all people. You could also make a case that it's an archetype, as in biologically embedded in humans. That's the take from psychologist Carl Jung, but I like Sullivan's formulation more.

Wow! That was a lot. Let's look at the second stanza. I'll speed this up a bit too.

- - - - - - -

Escape into me

And you’ll find the rest that you need

Confide in me

I’ll eclipse, surpass all of your dreams

- - - - - - - -

This is not the same person talking. This is God talking to the person. That's the interesting structure that I was talking about before. These first four stanzas are a back and forth between this suffering person yearning for meaning and God.

Here we see the same call to step away from the world, to escape this place of suffering. The second line is interesting. You need rest because you are exhausted from being in the world. What's the answer to being exhausted and worn out from this material world? To escape to and confide in God. (You could also take the perspective that this "rest" is talking about something that is lacking and there is a searching for the rest of it. I like that idea, but I won't develop it here.)

The etymology of confide is revealing here. Etymology is the history of a word. The best place to look up etymologies is etymonline.com. Confide is like confidence, it comes from the Latin confidere. Con fidere literally means "with faith," or "with trust." (As a wedding officiant last year I noted this in the ceremony.)

So, that line could be translated from English into English as "Trust in me" or "Have faith in me". What will you get if you do this? You'll have all of your dreams surpassed. We don't get a reference to what dreams this entails, but if we remember that God is talking to a person searching for meaning then we get some idea.

Notice that it doesn't say you'll get all of your dreams. It says your dreams will be eclipsed and surpassed. To eclipse means to fail to appear. To surpass means to go beyond. So, to eclipse and surpass your dreams means that you definitely won't get your dreams, you're going to get something else.

Wow! There is more here. I feel like I'm not even halfway done talking about this. I think I could write a series of essays on these first two stanzas, but let's look at the third to keep things moving.

- - - - - - -

In this dark abyss

Here I’ve found anything but bliss

Offer me their medications

For this ache they don’t know the remedy

- - - - - - -

Darkness is a symbol of the lack of knowing. This is also good Gnostic symbology. In a very general way the Protestants propose that salvation is through faith. Others, namely the Catholics, propose that salvation is through works, sometimes faith and works. The Gnostics propose that salvation is through Gnosis, knowing, knowledge. I agree with that view. I just disagree as to what the knowledge is and its interaction and relation with faith and works. I lay out some of those basic ideas in my article "Theoconceptualist Theology" here: http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2018/12/theoconceptualist-theology.html

In the second line we see that what this person has been searching for is their bliss. The idea of following your bliss is associated with the mythologist Joseph Campbell. Here's a good quote from him about it:

- - - - - - -

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Wherever you are — if you are following your bliss, you are enjoying that refreshment, that life within you, all the time.

- - - - - - -

It's the idea that you are doing what you're supposed to be doing, what's important to do. This is about values.

(I can't believe I haven't talked about values yet. Really though this entire article is about values, and the song is about values, and everything every living being does is about values. So, it's in there, just under the surface.)

The idea of having an ache and seeking a remedy that's a medication works literally, but it also works great metaphorically. It works materially, where I have found the medical system to be horrible. But it also works mentally and spiritually, where many of the options we have are also a letdown. Questioning meaning and value in life is not a disease that can be fixed with drugs, it's part of being human and needs to be solved in a human way, a chemical way won't work. And other short term, simple, and quick solutions won't work either. You have to go down deep into the soul to deal with these things. (Here's something disturbing, in 2014 the best selling prescription drug in the United States was the antipsychotic Abilify. That's right, for psychotic people. It had 7.5 billion dollars in sales. Here's the thing, many or most of those sales were for people that weren't psychotic. Guess what happens when you aren't psychotic and you take antipsychotics designed to change your brain chemistry in major ways? You become psy____. Thanks big pharma, for preying on people in the throes of spiritual upheaval and offering a solution that makes the world a worse place, and makes people less healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually.)

Other than drugs, many other solutions don't work either. If your life feels empty you need to find the values that will fill that inner void. These won't be things that we usually classify under the headings of power or pleasure, but that's what many people try, and many people try those things for their entire lives. If you do that then your emptiness will never go away. There are three major types of values: creative, experiential, and attitudinal. This song is talking about taking a certain perspective on life, a religious perspective guided by God. That attitude will lead to a different experience of life. That experience will lead you to do and create things differently than you would have otherwise. And it all starts with the attitudinal value. (The framework that I presented in this paragraph is right from Viktor Frankl.)

Here's what I haven't covered yet.

- - - - - - -

Behold I’m coming soon

Knew you before the womb

I’ll never leave you, never deceive you

My arms are open wide

I want you by my side

Wipe away all your tears, diminish all your fears

How long will you wait? How long, so long so long I’ve been waiting

- - - - - - -

The thing is, I'm psychologically exhausted from writing this article. You've probably only been reading for a few minutes at this point, but I've been writing for hours. It takes a lot more time and effort to create something than it does to consume it. So, I'm going to skip the detailed analysis of this last section. I'll let you imagine what I would say about it. Or, message me, let me know what you think about it. I know the normal take on it, my take would not be the normal take, it never is. What can you see in it that might be a unique perspective?

Well, that was a pretty wild ride of an article. I'm sure that Collision of Innocence wasn't expecting anything like that when they sent me those lyrics. If there's something that you liked in this article then message me and let me know. If there's something that you don't like then you can message me about that too, I get love and hate mail about everything I write. But, I suggest that you sleep on it one day before you respond if it's a disagreement. In the heat of the moment we are less articulate.

I would like to thank all of my sponsors. (I'm just joking, I don't have any sponsors. Although, I've been thinking about setting up a donation page on my website so that people can support my work. I know there are some people place a high value on it, and with some financial support I could do more. Maybe, maybe...)

Last thought. It's amazing how powerful and deep songs are. I don't usually comment on anything having to do with the music or the sound because I don't know much about those technical areas, but I wonder what this song would be like with two singers? One for the suffering person and one for God. It might be interesting.

________________________________________________

You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com

#music #lyrics

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tokyoteddywolf · 8 years ago

Text

Even More Russian Antics

ahahahahaha i can’t stop making these :D

updates, how to get kicked out of russia, and i like how they turned out. So have a laugh! (No skaters were harmed in the making of these little pranks. Possibly. Well, what else do you expect from Yurio???)

Enjoy 41-80!

333 Ways To Get Kicked Out Of The Rink And Russia Itself

1. Switch the drinks at the banquet with random condiment liquids.

Yuuri was more than confused when he went to drink some of the fruit punch and found it was just watery filtered ketchup with lemons thrown in. Yurio was nowhere to be seen.

2. Hit people with pirozhki's.

This backfired on Yurio when Viktor's hair became a victim. He went MIA after said older Russian skater finally caught him….

3. Walk up to some old geezer and yell, “Grandpa! You're alive! It's a miracle!”

Viktor wouldn't stop sulking under the benches in the locker rooms when Yuuri tried this….

4. Dart around suspiciously humming the Mission: Impossible theme song.

Everyone was highly concerned for Phichit's mental state.

5. Buy several dozen fishing rods. Go on the roof and test them out, saying you're fishing for toupees.

Mila caught 35, Yurio got 31, and Georgi won with a staggering 108.

6. Hold Barbie hostage.

Yurio didn't really mind, Otabek was his friend after all. Besides, he quite liked the horrified looks of his fans when the Kazakhstan skater grabbed him as he sped by on his motorcycle.

7. TP as much of the rink as you can.

Nobody suspected innocent Yuuri to be good with his throwing arm, but almost every inch of the rink was covered in toilet paper. Viktor was automatically blamed.

8. Hide in the skate racks. Whenever someone comes to grab a pair, yell “Pick me! Pick me!”

Yuuko was incredibly unimpressed when the triplets pulled this prank on their father. However, hearing Takeshi scream like a child was worth it, and they all got ice cream that night.

9. Dress as Batman and burst into the rink screaming, “Come Robin! To the Batmobile!”

Guang-Hong was just extremely confused at Leo's antics, wondering if all Americans were this weird.

10. Challenge people to duels with wrapping paper.

It was the best birthday yet, in Viktor's opinion.

11. Buy several singing toy Viktor's from Amazon, and once you have them, set them up on the ice and get your friends to turn them on. Proceed to act like a conductor.

Yuuri was actually really good at anything music related. The impromptu concert certainly amused the others.

12. Go up to random people and poke them. If they ask what you're doing, inform them that you're trying to find out what they ate for breakfast.

Georgi got kicked across the room when he tried this on Yurio.

13. Leave cryptic messages all over Instagram as an anon.

Nobody knew Phichit could even scream that loud.

14. Skate around screaming “There's a dead body in here!”

Yakov was unamused at Mila's actions.

15. Go up to the Russian Fairy and say, “Yurio, I am your father.”

It wasn't even remotely funny for Viktor. It just opened up more wounds.

16. Make evil eyes at people and whisper “I am the Lady Of The Well…..i've been waiting...”

Minako's Halloween party was the bomb.

17. Ride around in a Barbie car and pretend to be a posh upperclassman, sipping vodka from a teacup and saying things like “Top hole!” and ��By Jove!”

Yuuri should have never let Minako watch Doctor Who.

18. Start dancing like mad. Wave your arms and flop like a fish.

Everyone assumed Yuuri was drunk again. The ensuing dance battle was certainly better than last year.

19. Balance everything you see on the tip of your nose, fingers, on your forehead, and top of your head all while singing the circus song.

Otabek won with 4 water bottles, Yuuri's duffle bag, 5 pairs of ice skates, and Yurio, all while skating circles around Phichit, who was filming the entire thing.

20. Start singing songs through the PA system at the ice arena.

The entire skating crew all joined in on a perfect rendition of Stammi Vicino. The announcers were extremely entertained.

21. Blackmail your friend into giving you a piggy back and have them run around the town, screaming “The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!”

The next GFP was certainly better prepared after Yuuri and Phichit gave the warning. Though Phichit on Yuuri's back was certainly a weird mode of transport….

22. Take a fishing pole, a bag of money, and go people fishing.

Georgi was still bored, and eventually caught Yurio.

23. Pretend to be Spiderman by running up walls and saving people.

Guang-Hong really had to get Leo to stop watching those superhero movies of his, this was getting ridiculous.

24. Pretend to have an asthma attack, and bite anyone who tries to help you.

Emil went to the doctor after Yurio pulled this stunt in Barcelona… that's what he got for trying to be a nice friend…..

25. Lie on the ground. Just lie there. It's guaranteed to freak people out.

Revenge for the Grampa joke. Yuuri was panicking like crazy when Viktor pulled this stunt after a failed jump.

26. Announce an ice sliding contest. Take off your skates and proceed to do just that.

The game had to stop after Georgi slid too far into the rink wall.

27. Put on a black ski mask and cape and run around declaring “Zorro has returned!”

Nobody was sure where Sara went during the hours when a masked vigilante ran rampant through Russia.

28. Protest against cat abuse.

Nobody knew what the fuck just happened after Yurio ran down the streets, completely drunk and screaming “Run my feline friends! Run!” at the head of a cat stampede.

29. Start a barbershop quartet.

Yuuri, Viktor, Chris and Phichit soon become number one on the charts with their hit song, When Drunk People Dance On Poles.

30. Dress in a trenchcoat and sunglasses, go up to random people, hand them marshmallow guns, and say, “You know what to do.”

Thus started Russia's Marshmallow War 1, thanks to Phichit stealing Viktor's clothes.

31. Go up to random people carrying a paper bag and say “Trick or treat!” When they refuse, give them puppy dog eyes.

Guang-Hong's legendary puppy eyes were something to fear.

32. Cover your hand with blue paint. Run up to someone, put your hand on their face and yell “A clue! A clue!”

Yurio's knife shoes were the talk of the town after JJ tried this on the Russian Fairy and subsequently had to go to the hospital for minor lacerations.

33. Scream really loudly and when someone asks you to be quiet, scream, “I WON'T BE SILENCED!”

Apparently, Yuuri was trying out a new anxiety coping method.

34. Grow out your hair.

Needless to say, Yuuri and Viktor disappeared for a little while once Viktor noticed how long Yuuri's hair had gotten… Yurio was disgusted.

35. Grab a can of whipped cream, find a bald guy, and spray it on him.

Yakov blasted Mila's eardrums for that one.

36. Start singing horrible karaoke.

Nobody's ears were ever the same after Mickey took the mic.

37. Loudly announce that you will be the one to win gold this year.

Yuuri actually didn't care, he just wanted to see the chaos.

38. Go magical creature hunting.

Yurio was unamused at Otabek and Phichit.

39. Run up to someone, slap them, and scream, “WHAT IS THIS?!? I THOUGHT WHAT WE HAD WAS SPECIAL!!!”

Viktor stared after Yuuri in horror, holding his damaged cheek. He was just talking to Chris!

40. Fall over and scream “Ah! The pain! The terrible pain!” When someone asks what's wrong, stand up and say “Nothing, why?” and walk away as if nothing had happened.

Chris just liked making people's days a little more surreal.

41. Dress up as an emo person, and whenever someone talks to you, scream, “WHY HAVE YOU COME TO WORSEN MY MISERY?!?”

“Mila, is Georgi always like this?”

“You'll get used to it, Yuuri.”

42. Host your own radio show.

Phichit and Otabek made a great commentary team.

43. Hide a walkie-talkie somewhere and whisper, “I know where you live.”

Yuuri's scream was worth it, in Yurio's opinion.

44. Run around Russia in a swimsuit singing “Surfin' USA”

Note to self, NEVER LET LEO NEAR THE VODKA. Phichit recorded the whole thing, and Leo became a meme.

45. Look for Narnia.

Viktor thought this was hilarious when he managed to pull a dazed Yuuri out of his wardrobe.

46. Release pigs into the rink labeled 1, 2 and 4.

They lost it when Yurio calmly taped a piece of paper labeled “3” on Yuuri's back.

47. Go on a road trip.

You've seen the official art, why are you asking me?

48. Learn to play the banjo.

Once again, Yuuri dazzled the Russian Crew with his music skills, and the ensuing hoedown inspired a new routine or two.

49. Go mattress surfing.

It was Phichit's idea, and it made Detroit a lot more fun than before, in Yuuri's opinion.

50. Hold a snowball fight.

Yurio was terrifyingly good at this.

51. Sing everything you say, and when questioned, inform them that you're in a musical.

Even Yakov joined in, and Musical On Ice was a huge success.

52. Play Human Dominoes

Otabek's day just got that much better.

53. Crash a party.

Episode 10, anyone?

54. Create a giant conga line.

Jesus, how many fans did JJ have???

55. Have a rap battle.

Nobody knew Otabek could rap that fast, but he did. Very well. He was, however, beaten out by Yuuri.

56. Get a pinata and bust it open.

Yurio had taped JJ's picture on it. It was a great stress reliever.

57. Dress someone up as a chicken.

Minami had no idea what was going on, but he went along with it.

58. Play frisbee on the ice.

It wasn't a problem until they nailed Yakov in the face.

59. Write angsty and gory fanfiction.

Nobody was the same after finding Yuuri's account.

60. Stage a riot.

“WHAT?! YURATCHKA DIDN'T WIN OVER JJ???”

“THOSE BASTARDS!'

“GET THEM!”

61. When someone asks for your help, begin to cry and say, “Why won't you people leave me alone?!”

Everyone was alarmed when Celestino burst into tears every time someone asked him for help on jumps.

62. If a skater with more than one gold medal comes within 30 feet of you, scream “GET AWAY FROM ME!!!” and run out of the area.

Viktor started sobbing when everyone careened away from him, even his beloved Yuuri. JJ was just confused.

63. Glare menacingly and hiss like a pissed off cat whenever someone comes near you.

Yurio had half the town terrified, with the glares, hissing, and raising of a leg with a freshly sharpened knife shoe attached.

64. Cover your face with cream cheese and thunder down the streets of Saint Petersburg chanting “We love bagels! We love bagels!”

Another reason why Yakov needed headache medicine after he forgot the breakfast bagels one time.

65. Run around singing, “I KNOW A SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYBODY'S NERVES!”

Yuuri hid in the lockers, only for the rest of the skater crew to bust down the door, still singing.

66. Dress up like a fairy, climb up a ladder and say to every person that passes by, “Your wish is granted!”

Drunk Yurio is best Yurio, until he started crying when he realized he was afraid of heights.

67. Ride in a Barbie sports car with Barbie in the backseat and say “Let's bust this joint!”

Yurio had to admit, that Viktor certainly had an interesting choice of vehicles to ride in.

68. Wrap a hose around you and scream, “AH! I'M BEING HELD HOSTAGE!”

The scary thing was, Guang-Hong wasn't joking.

69. Walk up to someone and act like you can read their mind, then say, “Sir/Madam… don't do that.”

Yurio was stunned speechless when Otabek told him this just seconds after he had come to the decision of cutting JJ.

70. Hit your head and say, “Shut up in there!”

Everyone was extremely concerned for Yuuri.

71. Act as though you're being beaten and fall to the ground, screaming and having convulsions.

Georgi's performance got a 10/10 rating from the rest of the skaters.

72. Swing on the banners.

Apparently, dance battles were not enough for drunk Yuuri, and soon the “Congrats On The Gold!” banner was ripped on the floor while Yuuri sobbed over his aching bum, and for once it wasn't Viktor's fault.

73. Grab heavy, but not too heavy objects and see who can throw them the farthest.

The game had to be discontinued when Seung-Gil calmly picked up Yurio.

74. Knock over all the tables at the banquet and scream, “EARTHQUAKE! EVERYBODY RUN!!!”

Phichit was having too much fun in California, and scared the living hell out of Leo when he pulled this.

75. Hold a 12 pack of vodka over your head and shout “FEAR ME AND MY ARMY OF ALCOHOL!!!”

Viktor and the Russian gang actually conquered a bit more territory for Russia this way, by invading towns and getting the villagers drunk off their asses.

76. Get popcorn and throw it at people, sneaking up to them unstealthily and screaming war cries.

Russia War 2 commenced when JJ threw the first kernel at Yurio.

77. Try on all of Viktor's old costumes and go to the rink and proceed to do the worst, overly dramatic impression of him you can manage without falling over in laughter.

If Viktor hadn't been laughing so hard at Yuuri and Yurio, he probably would have been lightly offended and possibly crying, but no, it was too funny seeing them flip their hair and say dramatic things in Russian, with Phichit recording everything.

78. Stare at the ceiling. See how many people look up.

Yakov felt immensely proud when he pulled this on his skaters and it worked.

79. Dress up as a ninja and go around karate chopping people.

Mari was quicker than she looked, and the only hint of a warning anyone got before they were chopped was a flash of dirty blonde brown hair and the smell of cigarette smoke.

80. Climb up to a tall place and scream until someone comes. If they try to get you down, scream, “HELP! KIDNAPPER!”

It was funny until Yurio realized he was actually stuck.

#ice skate gang #yuuri katsuki #viktor nikiforov #yuri plisetsky #yurio #yoi #yuri on ice #funny #my writing #entertaining #hope this makes your day a little bit brighter #the entire yoi cast

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pamphletstoinspire · 8 years ago

Photo

Angry with God

“They are your sisters”—that was all she said.

Job: Not Merely Silent Suffering

And so Job ends up homeless, penniless, and afflicted with horrible skin diseases. He begins to seek an explanation from God. In fact, Job demands an explanation!

But Why, Lord?

These struggles have been productive, prodding me toward a more mature understanding of God, as well as a more clear appreciation for prayer. But I still come face-to-face with my anger.

A Personal Encounter with God

I saw, too, that David’s Psalms were at times outcries. Within the poetry, one can hear the oppressed poet yelling out to God, “Do something!”

The Path of Relationship

I realize at this point that, for me to have a joyful, peaceful, vibrant relationship with the God of my understanding, I must also embrace the rage. Not just annoyance, but rage!

Richard B. Patterson, Phd, is a clinical psychologist and freelance writer from El Paso, Texas. He is also the author of the article “Welcome Home, Soldier.”

#angry with god

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