#cross posing 4 jesus
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Judgement Day
Aziraphale's Edinburgh Journey: Part 4
Aziraphale's trip to Edinburgh - and most of S2 - is filled with hints and references to the Second Coming. Once you are clued into this, they are everywhere, with some clues more obvious than others. Gabriel's statue is one of them, but it has another role as well (and it's not for hiding anything under, sorry.)
We also have a lot of references to the Freemasons in S2, particularly in Edinburgh, but you can see related symbolism elsewhere - they use some of the same symbolism used around Memento mori, and they also believe in working towards upholding values in life to be rewarded in the afterlife. Judgement Day looms large for all, not matter what their belief.
Judgment in the Tarot
Judgement is the penultimate card of the Major Arcana in the Tarot - the final card is The World, where the journey ends and everything comes together in harmony. But first, one must be summoned to their reckoning, and the past weighed up. It marks the completion of a karmic cycle; its time for renewal.
Three naked figures, a man, a woman and a child, rise out of the darkness of the underworld. Their nakedness denotes their spirituality, they have thrown off the clothes and material things of a physical life. An angel in the sky with a trumpet summons them to be reborn.
But which angel is it on the card? The book I'm favoring to do these card interpretations says its Michael. The information I have about cemetery angels (below) would indicate it to be Gabriel, who is sometimes depicted on headstones blowing a horn. Yet other lore says it's Raphael/Israfel that will blow the horn to start the Day of Judgement. And reading further, on some texts it just says it will be an archangel, they don't specify which one.
Cemetery Angels
The statue of Gabriel in the Edinburgh cemetery is an example of a cemetery angel. The type and pose of the angel is supposed to give some indication of the life that was lived. Small cherubs for children, a lily held for purity, a circular wreath for everlasting life, for example.
Gabriel's statue is doing several things at once: its wings are open, indicating its ready to take flight upwards for the resurrection, and its holding a cross. This is because this statue is a replica of one of the angels on the Ponte Sant'Angelo in Rome and they all hold something relating to the Passion. A cross is probably the most recognizable symbol of all, and instantly connected with Jesus. Everything here is pointing us to the Second Coming.
The Missing Cross
But the cross isn't there in every scene. It's been pointed out that its missing when Gabriel shows his statue to Beelzebub in the present.
This only appears to be the case when we view this scene from a distance. When we see the statue from between their shoulders, the cross is still there.
This is an inconsistent message, and casts some doubt on what its trying to tell us. Can Beelzebub see the cross or not? It can't be a demon thing, as Crowley has no problem seeing the cross in 1827. Is it instead a comment about Gabriel and Beelzebub as a pair?
There are a multitude of meanings that could be applied here around that missing cross: is it do with death and resurrection or is to do with having your sins forgiven and achieving eternal life? If its the latter, then the demons have always been excluded from that, right from the start.
Gazing in Parallel
Then there's this parallel in acts of admiration of the statue:
The very first time I watched S2 and I heard Crowley say "he probably comes here to stare at it," I knew yep, he sure does, and so he did.
Parallel pairs like this usually give us a nugget of information about the characters or story, and this one seems to be another thing pointing us to Gabriel being the peacock mentioned in the Job minisode (i.e. "Did you give wings to peacocks, Job...") An old slang definition of a peacock is "a person, especially a man, who is arrogant or likes dressing or behaving in a way that draws attention to themselves" and "a man who is very proud of his appearance and gives a lot of attention to his clothes and the way he dresses."
Let us not forget at this point that Crowley is linked to Gabriel in S2 as both a parallel and foil, and he, too, takes some pride in his appearance. But while Gabriel admires the creation that is himself, Crowley tends more to admire creations that he has had a hand in working on himself.
But there is a curious moment here that links us up with a scene from the beginning of S2, in Before the Beginning. Notice how Aziraphale looks back at Crowley as he he says Gabriel "Probably comes here to stare at it. Marveling at his own beauty."
Aziraphale has the same jealous look on his face as angel!Crowley marvels at the beauty of his newly created nebula and stars.
We have to remember that Before The Beginning was one of the last parts of S2 to be written, even though its at the start, but it includes a repeated parallel to the dates at the statue - angel!Crowley admires his creation, and Aziraphale looks a little jealous that he's not getting that same attention from Crowley.
Demons in the Mist
There is another, larger, parallel sequence that the statue plays a part in as well, and this connects us to S1, and I suspect to S3 as well. This is one of the mobius strip parallels that I sometimes talk about, where the story history repeats itself ad infinitum. Notice the misty nature of the present day scene below; this is an indication we are seeing more than two times and places at once.
It starts here, as we switch suddenly from 1827 back to present, just after Crowley is sucked down into Hell, leaving Aziraphale gazing up at the statue.
The parallel scene to this is the sushi restaurant in S1E1.
In that scene Crowley has been summoned to the cemetery to receive the antichrist and start Armageddon. He was supposed to be on a date with Aziraphale at the sushi restaurant, but Gabriel turns up instead, on the other side of Aziraphale - the same side the statue is on in S2.
Next, there are two demons. The first time, Crowley was summoned to meet with Hastur and Ligur to start Armageddon. Only this time, in S2, its Aziraphale talking to the demons, not Crowley.
We have an indication that the Scottish pair are demon-related with the taller one having a misspelled tattoo on his forehead (and aren't there many stories of badly spelled tattoos?)
I think they also roughly match the height and size of Hastur and Ligur, too. And it's the Ligur-parallel that offers his phone - just like its Ligur that chats to Michael on the back channels that don't exist in S1.
Free phone call? Not a problem. It's been pointed out that when Crowley hangs up the phone handset in S1 after calling Aziraphale you can hear a coin falling into the coin return box - apparently there was a thing done in the old days of leaving some change in the coin return for people who didn't have any money and needed to make a call; a kindness for strangers, if you will. So it's not a worry that there is no credit on the phone when Aziraphale needs to make the call.
Lastly, we have some S3 foreshadowing, because this an Aziraphale scene and he connects us with the future. The old phone is looking worn and tatty, with the Union Jack on it, a sign of the Empire that is slowly fading, and is well past its peak. After he hands it back with a blessing, it looks renewed, with the St Andrews Cross of Scotland on it. I might live on the other side of the world from the UK but even I'm aware of the political debate around Scottish independence that has been ongoing for, well, many years now.
I can't help thinking we are going to see a parallel to this scene in S3 as well, with Aziraphale demanding some form communication from Hell or some demons for which he does "ask nicely" about. This is all working towards a change in the way the authoritative structure works for the angels and demons (the death and rebirth theme.)
Masonic Symbols
We are alerted to the presence of the Masons when Aziraphale does his detective cosplay and speaks to the barman in the Resurrectionist pub. If you are quick, you can also notice the square and compass symbol on the windows next to the pub as Aziraphale approaches, although most of us are looking at Jesus on the sign (and a reminder that we are looking out of a deliberate copy of the Eastern Gate of Eden here on the sign, too, into the deserted distance.)
The square and compass are a reminder of balance - the square at the bottom is about honesty and integrity, and the compass at the top represents wisdom and keeping one's desires within reach.
But why are we looking at Masons? I think this is because they represent a similar but different alternative to the Abrahamic religions the Good Omens AU is built around - they believe in a Supreme Being (God) and they believe in upholding certain virtues and doing good deeds in life so that they will be rewarded in the afterlife, and that there is an eternal afterlife; they just don't believe in going about it in the same way the church does.* The Catholic church doesn't allow one to be a Mason and a member of the church at the same time because of this clash in ideologies.
The other thing to note about Masons, is that Masons wear black tie evening dress to their Lodge meetings, like the corpse in the next image below. The barman in the present even says to Aziraphale "It's the first time I've seen one in a fancy grey suit, though." This is a big Clue - but you all missed it, because you latched on to the fancy grey suit part of the sentence that screamed "GABRIEL WAS HERE!!" at you and didn't hear the silent part that the barman was saying - that the other person that was with Gabriel was wearing a black suit.
Hello? Anyone paying attention here? No? Just me shouting into the void...right, well, carry on then.
We see three dead bodies in the Resurrectionists minisode, much like the three bodies on the Tarot card for Judgement. The first is this Mason, clearly identified by the apron he is wearing (the other two bodies are a priest and wee Morag.) The decoration on it would indicate what rank or degree of mastery he held within his lodge. The background was always white, for purity.
Coffins were a reminder that one day every one would die and return to dust. They were also a sign of leaving their previous life behind from before they joined the Masons and taking on their Masonic duties.
Skulls and cross bones were part of Memento mori - reminders that life was short. They also appeared on Mason tracer boards.
The hourglass was a particularly special symbol. While it, too, was a reminder that life was finite, it was also a reminder that life and death was a cycle. By turning the hourglass over, one started the cycle again. This also demonstrated the need at times for one to turn one's thoughts and actions around on their journey through life.
It was also a reminder that time was the great equalizer - it didn't matter your station in life, time always moved forward, and death would come for us all.
Onward to Part 5, dear readers! Time to see if we really know where we're going with all this!
Thanks once again to @vidavalor for pointing out the parallel between the statue of Gabriel and the sushi restaurant in S1, where Crowley is pulled away by Hell both times and Gabriel appears on Aziraphale's right.
@kimberleyjean has also put together a collection of all the infinity loops and mobius strip references in GO here.
*I'm not sure what it was like in other countries, but I know in Australia during the mid 20th century to get anywhere in certain jobs and industries you either had to be a Catholic or a Mason. Without the backing of one of those organizations you wouldn't get far. My grandfather was a Mason, but not religious, and consequently rose quite high in the government dept he worked for - took me a long time to put all those pieces together, because it was never talked about in my family. I just knew he went to Lodge. It was only listening to some podcasts about history that I was able to work it out.
The other posts in this series can be found here:
Part 1: Detective Aziraphale
Part 2: Aziraphale-Beelzebub Parallels
Part 3: Stocktaking in the Basement
Part 5: I Know Where I'm Going
#good omens#good omens 2#good omens meta#aziraphale#judgement day#the second coming#cemetery angel#archangel gabriel#the sushi restaurant scene#free phone calls#masonic symbols#memento mori#every day#its getting closer#its all just a little bit of history repeating
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The Hacker - Part 5
Pairings: Bucky x Reader
Status: Ongoing
All feedback is very welcome and appreciated!
Warnings: cursing, angst, action during a mission.
Please let me know if i missed any warnings and I will add them.
Part 4
Series masterlist
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A few weeks passed since the team found out about your past. Since then, you've been working hard to get back on track and focus on helping out during the missions.
This mission was different; you were on the field.
"Wait what?!" you and Bucky yelled in disbelief.
"You want me to be ON THE FIELD? like in person with Bucky, not in my office, like real life?" you asked incredulously.
"Yes, it's necessary for this mission. You can't hack into these systems because their firewalls are extremely advanced. The only way to give you access is to sneak in a USB and attach it to their mainframe. Once you have access, you can download all information. Get in, get out. Simple."
"I understand that this is your first mission on the field. Be assured I will have Sam in the air to cover for any undesired attention. Natasha will be on the rooftops with her sniper. Steve will be on the floor with you, scouring for guards and keeping your path clear. I trust that you can do this."
You stare at him silently. Unsure what to say you nod your head and turn to walk away.
"One more thing, you and Bucky will be posing as a couple. You have great chemistry that will make it believable. This is an extremely upscale gala, you must look and act the part completely. Outfits and transportation have been arranged for you."
Bucky sighs "Cyber, it's going to be alright. We'll be covered on all fronts. Just follow my lead and we'll get this done quickly."
You nod, staring at your feet as you walk away toward your room. There's a dress, heels, gloves, and accessories waiting for on your bed and vanity.
A long satin dark blue strapless dress is hanging on your closet door. There's a corset in the dress to give your body that hourglass shape and cinch in your waist. The dress has a slit from your mid-thigh down. There are matching satin gloves on your vanity and luxury brand nude high heels.
You stare at yourself for a long time in the mirror as you put on the diamond earrings and necklace provided to match the elegance of the dress.
Your hair and makeup were done professionally, opting for a simpler hairdo with a smokey eye that made your eye colour pop.
You've never felt more beautiful in your entire life.
You exit your room and walk to the main floor of the compound where the team is waiting for you.
The first person you notice is Bucky, he's wearing an elegant dark blue suit to match your dress and a black bow tie. His hair has been cut and is slicked back with a fade on the side, accentuating his features.
His piercing blue eyes find yours as you stare at each other.
"Jesus, get a room!" yells Tony as he gets up and leaves the room.
You all chuckle at Tony's antics. Bucky walks up to you, offering his arm to you as you link it with yours and walk out to the front where your limo is waiting.
Once you're in the limo, you're suddenly aware at how high the slit is as your entire leg is out and you cross your legs in the seat.
"You clean up well. Never though I would see you out of those sweatpants." Bucky smirks as he chuckles to himself.
You blush and slap his arm playfully. "You don't look too bad yourself. Finally cut off that mop of hair?"
"Yeah... do you like it? I thought it would fit in more with the event" He says, running his hand through his hair nervously.
"It looks amazing. You look very handsome tonight."
"I'm going to be honest with you, it's going to be hard focusing on the mission with you in a dress like that Cyber." He says huskily as he stares you up and down.
"A bit of a predicament isn't it? Look away to focus on the mission, or take it all in and mess up the mission, because you won't be seeing me dressed like this for a long while" You answer back flirtatiously.
You notice his eyes darken as he leans forward and lays his hand on your thigh. He stares into your eyes, faces inches apart as he breathes out"I guess we'll have to find reasons to make you dress like this more often. Train my eyes and mind to focus on both you and the mission because right now, the mission is the last thing I'm thinking about"
Just as you're about to answer, the car comes to a stop. You pull away from him and fix your dress, clearing your throat.
The door swings open and Bucky exits, you follow suit and grab onto his outstretched hand and link your arms together.
You step onto a red carpet that is flowing down the steps of a large mansion. You look up at the grandiose building in awe as Bucky tugs you up the steps that lead to large doors held open by two men dressed in flashy suits. It opens to the main entrance of the mansion with a circular cascading staircase that wraps around one end of the mansion to the other, like a fairytale. The ceilings are at least 20 feet tall with large diamond chandeliers hanging throughout. A wall at the back has floor to ceiling windows, overlooking the entire landscape of New York City. The bustle of the crowd brings your attention back to the waiter in front of you, offering a glass of champagne. You take it gingerly with a small smile and turn to Bucky.
He pulls you to a corner at the back of the floor and turns to you.
"We have to stay hidden in plain sight. We can't attract any attention. We're going to get the mission down and get out before people even realize we were here. As planned, we wait for Steve and Natasha to give the all clear before we move." he whispers to you.
"Okay, got it." you nod your and swallow nervously. Your hands are clammy with anxiety, hoping the mission goes as smoothly as planned.
Bucky notices your apprehension and gives your hand a small squeeze followed by a smirk, letting you know that all will go well.
The night continues with classical music playing in the background from the orchestra at the top of the gorgeous staircase. Your wringing the pamphlet handed out to you previously as you nervously await for the clear signal to move.
Bucky covers your hand with his and removes the pamphlet "Relax. You're acting too nervous, people will start to notice. Just breathe, I won't let anything happen to you. We got this." he whispers to you, staring directly into your eyes to understand his sincerity.
You sigh and nod your head.
"Bucky, Cyber, all clear to move." you hear Steve say through the intercom in your ear.
Bucky grabs your hand and guides you through the kitchen. Dodging employees and walking quickly to the emergency staircase. You pull out your phone and de-activate the alarm for the doors. Bucky pushes them open and you run up 3 flights of stairs and wait for Natasha's signal to go to the main server room.
You hear the sound of three sniper shots followed by three thuds.
"All clear." says Natasha.
You push through the doors and walk towards the main server room, following the blueprint you pulled out in preparation for the mission. You override the lock and walk in with Bucky who stands watch as you set yourself up.
You start plugging in your burner phone and tablet to the servers and the hologram keyboard shows up on the floor: Tony's new gadget to keep the mission quiet and avoid the clacking of the keys from standard keyboard and it's portable.
As you're hacking into the systems you notice a small icon pop up on your tablet. That's weird, what is that?
You click it and your tablet shuts down. Fuck! What the hell just happened?
The screen opens up to the main screen of a video game. It's a clown, dancing across the screen.
You press "Start Game".
You have to catch the balloons for the clown and avoid them from falling to the ground. Confused, you play the game, thinking it's a firewall made to confuse hackers. You assume that if you beat it, you'll break through the firewall.
As you're about to win, the screen goes black again followed by the words on repeat in red:
"All work and no play, makes Y/N a dull woman"
Your eyes widen in shock. You know who this is and it isn't good.
You unplug everything and smash them to ground.
"What the hell are you doing?!" yells Bucky.
"We've been compromised, you say to Bucky and through the intercom for the rest of the team to know. I was caught in the game, they know who I am and where we are. These are really bad people that you do not want to mess with. We have to go now!"
You start pulling every wire in the room possible, destroying all servers. Might as well leave with a bang while you're there.
You and Bucky run out to the staircase and climb up to the roof where Tony's helicopter is waiting for you, you both climb in and start flying off.
Suddenly, there's a bright flash followed by a loud bang. The tail of the helicopter is on fire and everything is spinning uncontrollably. You're screaming as you look at Bucky whose eyes are filled with worry and fear.
He's the last thing you see before you crash land and everything goes black.
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#bucky barnes#bucky x reader#captain america#fanfic#natasha romanoff#steve rogers#steve x reader#tony stark#tony x reader#marvel#fluff#angst#action
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Analysis of the cover of the future 25th volume of Bungo Stray Dogs.
Attention: to analyze it, I will resort to a couple of other art from Harukawa, there may be a lot of text.
1. The diagonals drawn from the ends of Atsushi Nakajima's two legs and two katanas have a similar angle and separate the largest subject of the composition, Dazai, and the smallest, Dostoevsky.
2. Diagonal-cross composition shows the division into black and white, good and evil. This division was created by Fukuchi. The blue diagonals show Fukuchi as evil and Fukuzawa as good. Fukuzawa raises his head, showing the superiority of good, Fukuchi, on the contrary, bows his head obediently. The diagonals drawn by Atsushi's legs and katanas, indicated in green and red, give the same division: the middle is almost completely white, and the sides go into darkness, to the very depths of this water. These same diagonals in their centers show the main compositional parts of the drawing: Osamu Dazai and Fyodor Dostoevsky. These are the ones we first focus on.
3. Red camellias - previously, a symbol of a short but very vibrant life in Japan. These camellias create another diagonal across Dazai's neck, creating the appearance of his decapitation. And one of the camellias lies right on his heart. But the flower next to the neck, connecting the two sides for this diagonal, is pierced. I suppose this is a refusal of his death. After all, no matter how much Dazai talks about his desire to die, he actually doesn’t want this.
4. Continuing with camellias and returning to Harukawa's past art. Blooming white camellias depicted on Fyodor’s side are a symbol of success and happiness, showing Fyodor’s superiority. His figure is higher than Dazai because he wins their game.
5. In addition to white camellias, a staff with an egg and snakes around it is depicted. The meaning of an egg in Christianity (and Fyodor is a Christian fanatic) is a reminder of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, salvation and eternal life. And at the same time, the symbolism of the Gnostic snakes and eggs is the emblem of the self-born, those who are reborn anew in the light of their gnosis (the pinnacle of knowledge). It is this staff that can give us the essence of Fyodor’s personality and his abilities.
6. Dazai has a crown and a sword on his side. Both objects symbolize power and superiority, which may refer to the fact that Dazai usually has everything under control and shows his personal sense of confidence in victory, while the olives in the background represent peace and victory, that means of his bright thoughts. Likewise, Dazai’s head is in the part of the light, showing the purity of his ideas.
7. And now only about the figure of Dostoevsky. In one of Harukawa’s past works, Fyodor sits in a completely closed pose, covering his face and his eyes. At that time, we still do not know anything about him or the benevolence of his intentions. But now we know what kind of person he is and what the meaning of his ability is. If we take into account that Harukawa conveys characters through their eyes, illuminating the soul in them, then this is why his eyes are open, and he no longer hides his smile. Now Fyodor appears before us half-open, his head tilts diagonally into the darkness, reflecting not his best essence, but the lower part, which may mean his intentions, is still closed, but is in a “diamond” of light, which means that his ideas are still good.
#bsd#bungou stray dogs#dazai osamu#fyodor dostoevsky#bsd theories#bsd analysis#fukuchi ouchi#fukuzawa yukichi
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A special agent of God, codename: Sunrise, is handed a mission that requires him to take on the role of father. Little does he know that the Child placed in his care can read the hearts and minds of those around Him, and that the wife he's taken for his mission is the a̴s̴s̴a̴s̴ sinless virgin, codename: Thornless Queen! Together, they’re the HOLY†FAMILY!
This is the combined version of my three “Spy x Family”-themed wallpapers!
$5 patrons can download these for their desktop/phone at patreon.com/posts/75944379
___
The idea for wallpapers based on the "Spy x Family" comic/show has been suggested by a few people across social media. I've been a big fan of it for a few years now, and the "Holy Family" joke is so perfect -- especially for Christmastime -- so here it is! These poses for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus are based on the covers for the first three collections of the comic.
JOKE-OGRAPHY:
1. The title of the comic/show is "Spy Family", rendered with an "X" between the two words. Not sure why. Since my parody replaces the three main characters with the Holy Family, I replaced the "X" with a cross (though, of course, "X" is also a Greek letter that represents Jesus anyway, so I was in a no-lose situation there).
2. Instead of Twilight (the fake father and genius spy from Spy x Family), Joseph is Sunrise, an agent of God who's mission is to raise the Son of God.
3. Instead of Anya (the psychic girl who offers endless comedic moments and goofy faces in Spy x Family), Jesus is just God as a human child. He can also technically read minds, right? Instead of Anya's stuffed animal or her dog, Bond, Jesus has the Holy Spirit beside Him, wearing Bond's signature tie.
4. Instead of Yor Briar (the fake mother and dangerous assassin from Spy x Family), the Blessed Virgin Mary is here holding a thornless rose. Yor's codename is "Thorn Princess", so I've given Mary the codename "Thornless Queen".
#tomics#tomics comics#catholic#christian#cartoon#comic#holy family#spy family#loid forger#joseph#st joseph#anya forger#jesus#young jesus#baby jesus#bond forger#holy spirit#holy ghost#yor briar#mary#virgin mary#blessed virgin mary#christmas#catholic art#catholic memes#christian art#christian memes
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Hmm.
[ID: A still image from episode 4 of Blue Eye Samurai. In the foreground, a man's arm holds a large hammer covered in blood. In the background is Taigen, who is shirtless and shackled to two wooden planks set against a stone wall. He's held up by his wrists in a vague Y shape with his head down and long hair falling to obscure his face. He's covered in wounds from being tortured and is bleeding freely. It strongly resembles crucifixion imagery. /end ID]
[ID: A still image from the subsequent scene in episode 4 of Blue Eye Samurai. It's a distant shot of a disused and cobwebbed chapel illuminated from a skylight. In center view is a similarly posed statue of Jesus on the cross during his crucifixion. /end ID]
These shots are from scenes right next to each other in the show. The chapel is right next to the dungeon where Taigen is being kept.
I've connected some dots
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Random assortment of silly doodles of Simon being silly cause I think he should be allowed to be silly sometimes.
The text says (in order):
1. “God won’t let me die” on the back of some shorts lmaoooooo
2. CAUTION: Smokin’ Hot Dad and there is a grill in the middle of the shirt too. Especially hard to read cause he also has a cross necklace over it.
3. Knows exactly the abomination he is wearing and is just waiting for someone to notice it -> and the shirt itself says “Je-Sus” and as an AmongUs Jesus on it.
4. <- Looking up cool rocks (on Google)?
5. He says “eh?”
6. No text for this one but that is one of those gag shirts that has the NES controller on the chest in a specific spot, if you’ve seen them you know lol idk how else to explain them.
7. (Imagine the Simon’s Quest text box sound) HAVE SOME CHOCCY MILK CAUSE UR AWESOME! (Choccy as in chocolate, every time I read this one I think of chalk-y milk and then die a bit imagining the texture of that eeee)
8. No text, but haha dragon ball death pose
9. The one in the bottom corner says “evily scheming” in quotes cause whatever he’s thinking about is not evil at all lol
10. No text for this one, but I doodled this cause I kept missing the jump in this level, it was my first time playing it when I drew this so I was not very good yet. I love how the rings have little bats tho, like that’s such a cute detail. :3
#castlevania#castlevania games#simon belmont#art post#my art#simon’s quest#castlevania nes#super castlevania iv#I have also drawn Simon in a Korn shirt before but I don’t know where that drawing is oof#I need to redraw it anyway it’s been a few years lol#I feel like he’d like stupid stuff like this lmao#have the whole leather armor and everything over a shirt that says Elvis is dead Sinatra is dead and me I also feel not so good#he can be a little silly as a treat#he kinda deserves it tbh bro’s been through hell#silliness earned#also you cannot tell me he dresses like that in the 1600s and doesn’t have at least a little sense of humor come on like#bro has at least three designs with a corset and those would’ve been considered women’s underwear at the time#he also out here eating chicken out of a wall sometimes#idk I think I would laugh if I was getting killed by a frog tbh#I do imagine that getting him to put his guard down enough to be silly or smile at all would be pretty hard and uncommon tho#he’s probably stressed out and sleep deprived most of the time tbh#I’m aware he died in the ye olden times but sometimes is just fun to have every character meet each other in modern day for no reason :)#so sometimes I do that lol#I have to redraw a couple character interaction comics tho#some of them are paced really weird#feel free to add you’re own silly ideas in the comments or tags or something I wanna hear them#silly doodles
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FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Cross-dressed by his grandmother as a child, abused by his uncle, confused and hurting, Walt Heyer sought to become a woman. As a young man, he underwent attempted gender-reassignment surgery, lived as a trans-identifying woman for eight years, and ultimately detransitioned.
Heyer, now 83, has spent the past few decades offering support to men and women who also have been taught to believe they were born in the wrong body. As part of that effort, he told The Daily Signal, he’s written a number of books and answered “thousands” of letters from individuals, often men, who seek his help.
Now, he’s partnering with Ascend Pictures Productions to produce a movie about his story, tentatively titled “Who Am I.” That movie will pose the question, Heyer says: “Who do we think we are?”
“There’s been nothing like it,” he said in a Tuesday telephone interview. “It is a powerful movie.”
Heyer knows his story has inspired many people, and he believes it should be shared through movie. When he was only 4 years old, he has shared, his grandmother would secretly dress him in a purple chiffon dress.
The attention and affirmation—which made Heyer feel very special as a child—“would be his mustard seed of torment.”
Heyer sought transgender treatments that “promised relief,” but those treatments only “led to the destruction of his marriage, his family, and his career.” The movie would explore Heyer’s journey, he said, which includes his ultimate discovery of his Christian faith and the “road back to redemption” and forgiveness.
Heyer emphasized to The Daily Signal that he wants the film to focus on sharing his story, rather than being preachy: “We really want it to appeal to people who don’t know Jesus. And I think it will.”
He wants viewers to understand that the issues he was dealing with, and the issues that other individuals who try to transition are experiencing, go much deeper than gender. And gender therapists are not going to be able to help individuals struggling in this way, Heyer maintains.
But the movie will need financial support to make it happen. Heyer encourages supporters to visit the prospective film’s website, where they can sign up for updates.
“We need support,” he noted. “We need the crowdfunding to get it off the ground. Crowdfunding is the most important part.”
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Take My Picture~ Seonghwa/ 4
Pairing- Seonghwa x Named Reader
Word count- 1.3k
Includes- public sex, fingering, missionary, multiple orgasms, fluff
Tag List- @mingtina @jaxxmine @yeosayang @delightfulmoonbanana @tannie13 @y00nzin0 @marsstarxhwa
@yeosxxx @seokwoosmole @jjongsbebe @wisejudgedragonhairdo @meowmeowminnie @woo-stars @borntowalkaway @usagionthered @san-realblkwife @seonghwasstar @jejeyeppeo @soulseobi05 @kpop-bambi
Masterlists- check out for more fics
📝Series Masterlist 📝Masterlists
📝 ATEEZ Masterlist 📝 Seonghwa Masterlist
Seonghwa POV
After snapping a selfie, I look at my girlfriend
"Jagi can you take pictures please?"
She looks up from her spot on the pool chair, "Seriously? Didn't you take like six selfies?"
"Yeah but please baby?", I whine
She rolls her eyes, "Fine. Drama queen"
I pout at her name calling and she sighs, "Stop it Hwa. I'm coming"
She stands up and I take the chance to drink in the sight of my girlfriend in a bikini
Or that tiny white thing she calls a bikini
She's so fucking perfect and great I'm getting hard
Not what I need right now
She comes over to me and sits cross legged in front of me, her boobs in my face
God I just wanna squeeze them
"I'm up here Hwa", she scowls and I avert my eyes to her face
"Sorry jagi"
"Honestly Hwa, you see them all the damn time. Without a top on"
"Yeah jagi but I just...I like them"
She snorts, "Whatever baby. Ok pose"
Leaning against the edge of the pool I turn my head to the side, my eyes closed because of the sun and go to touch the back of my head
She snaps a picture before I can
"Fucking hot baby", she praises, then holds up the camera again
This time I push my hair back off him face and she snaps another picture
"Post that one too. ATINYS will go feral"
She turns off my phone and puts it out of reach of the water
"That's it?", I ask
"That's all you need. Professional photographer over here remember? Those pictures are top class and get across what you want"
"And what is that?", I question
"That you're a sexy motherfucker when you're wet and in the pool"
My mouth drops hearing her talk like that
It always surprises me when she talks a little rough because she normally doesn't
"Is that what you think?"
"Of course Hwa. I'm not blind you know"
I blush, "Thanks jagi"
She nods, leans over and kisses my forehead then makes a move to get up
I grab her thighs stopping her
"What's wrong Hwa?"
I pull her closer to me leaning over the edge of the pool, brushing my lips against hers
I feel her smile before she kisses me back
Moving my tongue in her mouth, I deepen the kiss, my hands moving to her boobs
And groping them
"Really Hwa?", she say, breaking the kiss
"Mmm hmmm", I murmur, pressing kisses to her pretty neck
Slipping my hand down, I move her bikini bottom to the side, running my fingers on her pussy
I'm so fucking hard and I just want her
Like always
"Park, Seonghwa", she whispers yells
"Shh jagi. Let me"
"The guys could come out", she argues
I shrug, "Then we better hurry"
My fingers haven't stopped touching her and she's so fucking wet
"Ok jagi?"
"Yeah", she moans
As soon as she finishes talking, I move two fingers inside her, feeling her cunt suck them in
"Mmm jagi", I whimper, immediately moving in and out of her, pressing on her spot every time I go in
"Hwa", she moans
"Yeah baby. So wet jagi. So fucking wet"
After a few pumps, I add another finger and move my thumb to her clit, moving my fingers at the same time
"Oh fuck", she groans, pleasure all over her face
She's so fucking beautiful
I move her bikini top to the side, popping one of her boobs out and I immediately latch on to her nipple sucking hard
"Seonghwa Jesus"
I lift my gaze to hers, smirking around her hard nipple when I see her watching me
She bites her lip, her hand moving in my hair and holding on tightly
Her pussy is fluttering on my fingers so fast and I move faster to get her to cum
I love making her cum
Letting go of her nipple, I look at her other clothed boob
"Gimme", I demand
As soon as she pulls her bikini to the side, I'm on her other nipple, licking and playing, my cock so hard it hurts
I need to be inside her
I press hard on her spot, flicking her clit at the same time and that's just the push she needed
"Seonghwa", she moans, coming so beautifully and completely flooding my hand
"Good girl", I praise her, finger fucking her through it
Her body relaxes and I take my fingers out, immediately putting them in my mouth and sucking her off my fingers
So fucking good, fuck, I can't get enough
But right now I need her pussy around my cock
I'll eat her out later today
I softly push her down on the ground telling her, "Need to fuck you"
I get out of the pool, on top of her, pulling down my swim shorts, "Please let me fuck you"
"Yes god, you better fuck me", she answers, moving her legs around me and pulling me into a passionate kiss
Pulling her bottoms to the side, I go right in, impaling her on my cock, both of us moaning
God the feeling of her around me, the throbbing, how wet and warm she is is fucking heaven
"You're so fucking perfect jagi", I groan
"Mmm you're perfect Hwa. So fucking big. You fill me so perfectly baby"
"I was made to be with you", I murmur, truly believing that
I love her more than anything in the world
We were meant to be with each other
"Kiss me Hwannie"
I smile right before I kiss her, her arms wrapping around my neck
Moving my arm under her lower back, I hold her against me, pulling out, then slam back in hard
Swallowing her moan, I fuck into her hard and fast, bottoming out every move
Her back arches as she kisses me desperately, her hand pulling my hair hard
Plunging in and out, her cunt gets so tight on me and it feels fucking amazing
"Don't stop Hwa", she whimpers in my ear
"Not until you cum baby", I promise
Shifting my hips slightly, I brush against her spot the next hit inside
"Seonghwa", she cries, her cunt clenching on me wonderfully
Continuing to move into that spot, her pussy tightens, holding my cock in a vice grip
A few more thrusts and she's coming
I can't wait to feel it
Rolling my hips into her, my cock goes in so deep and she snaps
"Seonghwa, yes, Seonghwa", she cries, pulling my hair so tightly, my head tilts back
Her orgasm is causing so much ecstacy that I immediately cum
Shoving my length inside her, I moan her name as I fill her up
"Yes Hwa. Fuck so good. Want all your cum"
Fuck that's so fucking hot
"Giving it all to you", I moan
"Good boy", she praises and I groan loudly
I had no idea I would love being called a good boy
Her good boy
"I love you", I whisper in her neck as I finish
"I love you Hwa", she murmurs, hugging me tightly
"I don't wanna move", I say
"Me neither. But how about we go to our room, shower and then we take a long nap"
"That sounds amazing jagi"
Everything I could ever want to do with her
A perfect lazy day with my jagi
"Good baby. Let's go"
Lifting my head, I smile down at her, then press my lips to hers in a soft kiss
After I move off her pulling my shorts back up while she fixes the top of her bikini, then the bottom
I stand, holding my hands out to her
She takes them and I pull her up, her giggles making me laugh
She takes my hand, lacing our fingers and pulling me behind her, leading me to our hotel room
#take my picture#ateez seonghwa fanfic#park seonghwa fanfic#seonghwa fanfic#ateez fanfic#ateez seonghwa smut#park seonghwa smut#seonghwa smut#ateez smut
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Thinking About JCS Too Much, Vol. 1: "Jaded Mandarin" - Lost in Translation?
Intro
In my second attempt at an introduction for this blog, I pondered aloud, "Ever wonder if you’re too big a fan of your favorite piece of entertainment?" Suffice it to say, that is far from the only time that thought has crossed my mind.
You see, unlike many faded celebrities attempting to jump-start their careers afresh by "finding religion," I followed the opposite path. I don’t remember hearing about God, Jesus, or anything like that before a certain age. I was about 4 when I first started becoming aware of religion. Something related to Christendom spawned a cover story in Time magazine, and they had this beautiful traditional artwork of Jesus on the front that caught my eye. I became obsessed with religion in general, and the Christ story in particular. (Even today a lot of my extracurricular reading is devoted to religious fiction and non-fictional religious studies, and the shelves of my film collection are strewn with biblical epics, both Old Testament and New. I’m by no means invested in the Abrahamic faiths -- in fact, I'm now an avowed atheist -- but I won’t deny that I’m very knowledgeable about them.)
This obsession led me to Jesus Christ Superstar, and so my life as a show biz professional, and my switch from a special interest (yay, spectrum!) in religion and the surrounding scholarship to one in a single telling of a story that happens to deal with religious subject matter, began.
Naturally, this has led to a few embarrassing incidents of over-thinking where I nerd out just a little too much, primarily from a literary perspective. (Case in point: my answer to a recent question posed to this blog about the lack of a detail from the biblical story in the show. Did I need to go "all in" on whether or not Jesus was actually prophesying that Peter would deny him three times by the time a rooster crowed? Probably not. Did I anyway? Oh, c'mon, you've read it by now, don't make me relive it.)
So, in a similar vein, I'm going to periodically write about those moments where I nerd out too much, in hopes that my immense nerdiness will maybe give someone a deeper understanding of the show, even just a small part of it. You've seen one, thanks to an inquiry from an anonymous fellow fan; after the jump, here's another.
Translation vs. Adaptation
Among the many unique features of JCS, it was one of the first musicals of its kind to be widely adapted into the local vernacular when presented internationally, rather than merely importing an English-language cast as the custom used to be.
Besides its mother tongue, JCS can (theoretically) be heard in:
Czech
French
German (anecdotally, it has been reported that the German translation is not the best, which is why many productions in German-speaking countries opt for the English instead; however, that might be about to change, as the production at the Luisenburg Festspiele Wunsiedel this summer is supposed to mark the debut of a new authorized one -- we'll see how it goes!)
Hungarian (there's two Hungarian ones, actually)
Japanese
Polish
Portuguese
Romanian (in a translation recently debuted in, of all places, Chicago)
Russian (there are several, both official and unofficial; we will deal with all of them today)
Spanish (both the European variety and two Mexican ones)
Swedish (at least two that I'm aware of, the original and whatever Ola Salo uses for productions involving him)
(And those are just the ones I know about.)
While I appreciate JCS most in its original language, being a native English speaker myself, I realize translation and adaptation are important, for all the reasons that they usually are: not everybody speaks a foreign language with dexterity, or is capable of processing it at the pace a play or musical is performed; almost without exception, people respond better to the language they grew up speaking, especially in a piece of entertainment; and, most importantly, translation allows ideas and information to spread across cultures, sometimes changing history in the process. (After all, no matter what your religious belief, part of the reason the Bible -- the show's source material, as if you needed a reminder -- has had such an impact on history is the sheer number of translations, which, at last count, is 531 languages.)
However, translation into any language (pro or amateur) is a delicate art, especially where a play or musical is concerned. As Don Bartlett, who has translated Danish, German, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish books into English, put it in a piece where several translators were interviewed for The Guardian, “There’s always a tension between being true to the original and being readable.” On the one hand, translating the meanings of words and phrases in a literal way maintains fidelity to the text; on the other, translating sense-for-sense, taking into account the meanings of phrases or whole sentences, can improve readability. And that’s just books… imagine doing this for theater or film!
Personally, I subscribe to the assessment of Edith Grossman (also interviewed in the aforementioned Guardian piece), who once said: “…the most fundamental description of what translators do is that we write — or perhaps rewrite — in language B a work of literature originally composed in language A, hoping that readers of the second language — I mean, of course, readers of the translation — will perceive the text, emotionally and artistically, in a manner that parallels and corresponds to the aesthetic experience of its first readers. This is the translator’s grand ambition. Good translations approach that purpose. Bad translations never leave the starting line.”
(Or, to tie this back into our topic somewhat more closely, I'm mashing together two quotes from two different interviews with the late Herbert Kretzmer, the adaptor of such popular foreign musicals as Les Misérables, Marguerite, and Kristina: "Words have resonance within a culture, they have submarine strengths and meaning. If I wanted a literal translation, I would go to the dictionary. Translation — the very word I rebut and resent, because it minimizes the genuine creativity that I bring to the task. [...] I offer this advice to any lyricist invited to adapt or translate foreign songs into English: Do not follow the original text slavishly. Re-invent the lyric in your own words, remembering that there may be better ways of serving a master than trotting behind him on a leash.")
Nowhere is this job harder than JCS, especially in Russian. As languages, Russian and English are just too different from each other, each very rich in emotional shadings that the other language lacks (or at least conveys differently), to a point that nearly every new production of JCS over there has led to a fresh translation. Tim Rice's unusual wordplay, masterful (at times) in English, is very difficult to convey in a foreign tongue, especially when it can be safely argued that the expression in question is hardly common to its native audience.
The Piece We're Evaluating
As if the title didn't give it away, I speak, of course, of a certain insult Judas hurls at Jesus during their climactic argument at the Last Supper, calling him:
A jaded mandarin
A jaded mandarin
As a jaded jaded faded jaded jaded mandarin
That's a doozy in English, to say the least. I may have written on this blog previously that I’ve heard enough jokes about the Last Supper being at an all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurant or Jesus’ penchant for citrus fruits to be tired of them all.
In case you missed Tim's actual meaning: mandarin is not just a variety of orange, a form of the Chinese language, or a term for an official in any of the nine top grades of the former imperial Chinese civil service (or clothing characteristic of what they’d allegedly wear or porcelain objets d’art depicting them). The root word for mandarin in Hindi means “counselor,” and – unfortunately, given this definition’s origin in unkind Asian racial stereotypes – the term came to refer (in colonialist British parlance) to a powerful official or senior bureaucrat, especially one perceived as reactionary and secretive. When he calls Jesus a “jaded mandarin,” Judas is saying that Jesus is corrupt, washed up, and useless as a leader.
Could Tim Rice have found a better way to say that? Probably. But this is the method he chose, and for better or worse, it has gone down in history ever since, including a recent parodic reference in the second season of the Apple TV+ series Schmigadoon! to a “sour macaroon.”
Now, it took all that explanation to convey its meaning in English. How well do you think it crossed over to Russian? Well, no less than 16 translators decided to try; some were official, others fan translations that were used in little-known productions. (The number should not be surprising. This is very much the viewpoint of an outsider looking in who lived long after that time, but when an album is banned by the government, bootleg copies change hands for huge sums "underground," and the music on that album is in a style also banned by the government… well, let's just say something "forbidden" is going to attract a lot of people. After that initial burst of enthusiasm, then it's like any other piece of literature which is translated a number of times by multiple people -- someone who thinks they can do a better job of conveying the foreign meaning in their native tongue, perhaps in a more modern dialect or a more relevant way.)
Inspired by a conversation I had on ye olde JCS Zone Forum (RIP) with Russian fan Pasha Levcovetz, we're going to take a look at all of them, evaluating them for literal vs. poetic accuracy and also offering opinions on which might have even -- dare I say it -- improved on the original. For the sake of most of my readership, I'll render the Russian in (literal but accurate) English so you can understand what the adapted lyrics intend to say. (Special thanks to Pasha for his help!)
Translating "Mandarin"
As one might expect with a phrase that is not exactly common linguistic currency, and the number of jokes made about Tim's choice of words, the first problem Russian translators might encounter is "mandarin" -- more specifically, whether or not it is a literal reference to mandarin fruit.
Much to both my dismay and my amusement, two of the official translators and three of the fans decided that the lyric indeed referred to the fruit.
In the Teatr Mossoveta production in Moscow, which has been presented numerous times from 1990 to the present (and which made much larger departures that I've previously written about in response to a question from @nemoverne), Yaroslav Kesler rendered it like so:
Like a pitiful tangerine
Like a pitiful tangerine
Like a pitiful, pitiful, pitiful, pitiful, yellow tangerine!
For the more faithful version recorded on CD in 1992, Vyacheslav Ptitsyn traveled in a similar direction:
Squeezed lemon!
You are a squeezed lemon!
You are a pathetic, petty, pathetic, petty squeezed lemon!
Lastly, for something that is not a variation on either of the above, fan translator Yevgeniy Susorov gives us:
You are a withered fruit
You are rotten, tasteless fruit
You are a withered fig tree that will die in the flames!
I can see their intention, and, in my opinion, both Ptitsyn and Susorov improved on the original line, although this was probably coincidental in the former's case.
As far as Kesler is concerned, it's more of a vague fruit comparison that sort of makes sense. A yellow tangerine is overripe, and as tasty as overly ripened fruit can be, it's prone to developing patches of mold, and goes bad when left uneaten for too long. The meaning here when Judas applies it to Jesus as an insult should be clear, as he's been saying something like this about him -- metaphorically speaking -- for the entire show. (In the fan category, Vadim Zhmud makes the same choice and is even more explicit about his intentions, rendering the fruit as a "lethargic," "well-fed" tangerine. Mikhail Kokovikhin's take also chooses "tangerine," but gets caught up in trying to use it in exactly the way Tim uses "mandarin," repeating the word for emphasis and relying on the fact that Russian has three different synonyms for the word "rotten" to pad out the stanza. There's nothing wrong with trying to match Tim's choices as closely as possible, but just calling someone a rotten fruit in all the ways one can is a little weak.)
Ptitsyn's is more intriguing, partially because of a (likely) unintentional double meaning. If you recall, he refers to a pathetic lemon that has had all the juice squeezed out of it. In American English, in addition to referring to the fruit of the same name, "lemon" is also used to refer to a product, usually an automobile, that has flaws -- like manufacturing defects, in the car's case -- too great or severe to serve its intended purpose. (To cite a more abstract usage, the late Jim Steinman aptly used the "lemon" analogy in the Meat Loaf song "Life Is a Lemon And I Want My Money Back.") In Russian, the phrase "squeezed lemon" similarly refers to someone very tired, a person who has lost their strength or abilities. Poetically speaking, Judas calling Jesus a "lemon" at this moment has an extra layer of meaning that works really well in either language.
Lastly, my favorite (if only as an atheist theologian) is Susorov, who doesn't just spin the line into a much better fruit metaphor -- he even gets biblical with it, referencing both Jesus' teaching about "trees bearing bad fruit" and also one bad tree in particular that figured into Jesus' final week in the original Passion narrative.
Quoting loosely from the King James Version of Matthew's Gospel (an incident also recounted in Mark, chapter 11): "And seeing a fig tree by the wayside [Jesus] went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, 'May no fruit ever come from you again!' And the fig tree withered."
In Susorov's text, Judas is not only condemning Jesus as the tree bearing bad fruit against which he preached, but also comparing him to a specific, very recent failure that might still sting.
(Susorov's choice is made even more ironic by the fact that Lloyd Webber and Rice intended to musicalize this moment in JCS themselves, but ultimately decided to cut it from the original album when concerns of length were raised, as previously discussed here. If that scene was still in the show, this would be quite the burn!)
Getting at the Meaning
Moving away from the poetic toward conveying the lyric's literal intention without getting bogged down in language, both official and fan translators seem to settle for general insults, so it becomes a different question: whether they are just that (i.e., general insults) or they convey the same meaning as intended by "jaded mandarin."
The latter is achieved adequately by Viktor Polyak (Yaroslavskiy Gosudarstvennyy Teatr Yunogo Zritelya, 1989-1994):
You are a crashed idol
You are a crashed idol
You are a crashed, broken, dirty idol!
It works. The show is called Jesus Christ Superstar; a fallen celebrity metaphor is far from out of place. Maksim Samoylov, in the fan department, goes for a similar take, having Judas call Jesus a "little, fallen star."
Svetlana Peyn, whose translation has appeared at Stas Namin in Moscow from 2011 to the present, is on a similar wavelength:
You are a pompous hero
You are a pompous hero
With poisonous loud glory you are a self-important pompous hero
Ouch!
Mikhail Parygin, a fan translator, is in the same boat, going for "a [...] pathetic, petty, pompous king." Likewise Andrey Voskresenskiy, with "a [...] surrendered, fallen, finished prophet," and Vera Degtyaryova, who settles for "a miserable [...] former leader." Also rather close is Aleksandr Butuzov, who has Judas call Jesus "a loser" and "a mediocre, brainless, stupid leader." Though Russian fans I've spoken to don't especially care for his choice of words in their own language, it's on the mark as far as literal meaning goes.
Another official translation is not quite in the same realm, but close enough to make sense. Specifically, Grigoriy Kruzhkov and Marina Boroditskaya, holding the pen for the St. Petersburg Rock Opera State Theater in an adaptation which has been produced since 1990, provided:
Like a rebel!
Like a simple rebel!
Like a deceiver and a thief! Like a self-proclaimed king!
Metaphorically speaking, if you squint at it, it looks similar; full-bore insults that at least fit the plot.
Things get a little more interesting when translators move farther afield. For example, on the official front, Valeriy Lagosha's version for the "Free Space" Theater in Oryol, which ran from 2003-07, is:
No, I do not want this, prophet
I do not want this, prophet
After all, in this life I was able to do much more
It's an interesting idea to follow Judas' suggestion in "Heaven On Their Minds" that everyone would be better off if Jesus had not become famous and reinforce that point.
On the fan front, Kirill Sukhomlinov chooses to turn Jesus' biblical language about the religious authorities back on him:
You are a pathetic hypocrite
You are a pathetic hypocrite
You are a pathetic, pathetic, pathetic, pathetic, nasty hypocrite!
And Maksim Zakharov doesn't really hit on the exact idea, but manages to create something that at least fits the character and situation:
You are a dark person
You are a terrible person
I am glad that you will end your life in prison!
Conclusion
Will there ever be a perfect translation? The jury's still out, especially -- it would seem -- in Russian. (There are more examples just from Russian translations to talk about that I will contemplate in future posts.) But it's always fascinating to view a piece from someone else's perspective, isn't it?
#jesus christ superstar#andrew lloyd webber#tim rice#jcs#jesus christ super star#jesus christ super-star#jcss#jcs study
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Fontaine Act 5 spoilers
I'm not that far in but I'm making a thread to post my thoughts. Spoilers after cut
ough. ough i am almost crying and i am 30 minutes in. Navia navia please don't cry. Neuvillete is crying (it's raining). grief. anguish even. we are 30 minutes into this act.
Unrelated thought that made me stop crying. Why is the gravestone a cross. Is jesus in genshin impact. is there a secular reason for a cross shaped grave
WAAAAAAAGH
Why does it have to be so pretty when it rains. Monsieur Neuvillete please don't cry but also please do this is so pretty and foggy
Next point, a prediction. I feel fairly confident saying that Furina and Focalors are to an extent, separate identities/perhaps entities and have since like, before 4.2 came out since many others were suggesting it, however I think that fact is also reflected in her design. For instance, have you noticed that when the name Focalors is used, often times only Furina's light blue eye is visible? It happened once at the beginning of Act 3, but i was unable to screen shot it. It was during the scene in which she begs Neuvillete to attend the meeting with her, and the scene ends in this pose. When she describes herself as Focalors, the camera cuts off half her face, leaving only the light blue eye.
It also happens during the discussion with The Knave in act 4.
You may state in this case, its just her hair covering her eye and isn't deliberate. However we very easily could have looked over the other shoulder, and why is Furina's dark blue eye covered? I believe it represents her humanity. She constantly attempts to portray herself as a capable, completely disconnect and above her people. A celebrity, a judge. A god. She tries to hide what I call her "shy little girl voice", which I think is closer to her real personality, with her bravado being mostly an act she puts on to protect herself from harm and scrutiny. Because you can question a mortal leader, but you can't challenge the wisdom of a god.
More thoughts on the archon quest will be attached through reblog because this post is getting long. Please keep an eye out of that!
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The Sailor Moon Reboot Universe: A War Veteran's Memories
UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
As someone who loves and appreciates art, I just. I can't with Crystal/Crystal Season 3/ Eternal/ Cosmos anymore. The Moonie community has been failed time and time again by Toei. From animation to animation change, the quality of SMC/III/E/C continues to be lackluster because Toei refuses to give the project the attention it deserves, and pay their animators. As Sailor Moon Cosmos draws ever nearer, (ye gods), I would love for you to partake in my little Sailor Moon Crystal Failures Recap Sampler Platter, as we share in the succulent delights of generic animation, terrible character designs, and empty animated eyes.
Sailor Moon Chrysler:
Ok, so in Crystal we see an attempt at Naoko Takeuchi’s manga artstyle. There are some difficulties here though. We all know the Crystal song and dance- Web series budget, overworked and underpaid Filipino animators, Toei being the worst, etc etc. But hot take? At least they tried *something* original.
I mean, this doesn’t look Amazing. The shading on the hair is bland, the face lacks the elasticity and expression of the manga, there is very little detail, ya know. But it’s something newish! With the proper budget, this style could look immaculate, and in some shots it do:
Gorgeous shot, detail, 15/10, no notes. For the majority of the show though? Mmmmm. 4/10? 3.5/10?
SMC: World War III:
Although Toes gave SMC3 the semblance of a budget and moved it to TV broadcast, they also changed the character designs to be. Well.
They look very Pretty Cure.
And look, I adore Pretty Cure, ok? I am consuming Hirogaru Sky content on my TL like a queen ant consuming food from worker ants. I am Just as invested in my son Cure Wing as all you other magical girl ne'er-do-wells. But the style of Pretty Cure does not suit the Sailor Moon manga style-some would say it is diametrically opposed to it in many ways.
Look at the gorgeous flowing hair, delicate linework, transparent effects.
Now, the criminal on trial:
Overly cutsiefied proportions and faces, thick, (by comparison), linework, far too much shine effect on the hair and eyes, zero amounts of ethereal beauty, and also Mercury’s AWOL eye.
UGHHHHH.
Considering how iconic Sailor Moon is, and how fucking POPULAR IT IS, JESUS ON THE CROSS TOEI WHAT IS THE MISCOMMUNICATION HERE?
And I know that discourse about the SMC animation is a bit, shall we say, expected, but I needed this little refresher to make my point.
Sailor Moon Cosmos/ Eternal is not an improvement, and just continued neglect on Toei’s part to get literally any part of this project right.
CosTernal:
Ok, so, when we first got the character designs for eternal in 2019, I was skeptical. The return of Kazuko Tadano, an excellent animator on the original 90’s Sailor Moon anime originally heartened me, and then:
They just look kind of??? Cheap?? None of their poses are particularly eye-catching, the proportions look Very strange (Mars’s legs are broken, wtf is Jupiter’s knee, Venus’s left arm is Way too short, Moon’s right foot is missing, etc), and the faces just look. A bit dead inside. Moon and Moon Jr are the only ones with *expressive* expressions; the other girls just have these flat smiles, with Jupiter/Mars having the same mouth, as do Venus/Mercury.
This was official art, after years of silence, from a renowned animator.
What the Fuck.
The style is still lacking that singular SM manga flair, and just looks like the 90’s designs with the actual heart of the characters removed. It was deeply frustrating to me as a long time Sailor Moon fan.
The animation in the actual movies wasn’t much better-nothing stand out, nothing even close to the lovely ethereal style of the manga.
One more time for the people in the back, bad proportions, zero detail, empty eyes, personality-less Senshi, can I get an Amen?
The Present:
Sailor Moon Cosmos parts 1 and 2 are scheduled to be in theaters this summer, and from the looks of the promotional images we’ve received so far, they don’t appear to be an improvement:
Another piece of official promotional material that’s off model, (what is happening with her head? Her hands????), and uninteresting. Sailor Moon, sitting on a roof, in front of Tokyo skyscrapers. Very hecking original and cool, very interesting, much creative. Its composition is off, but more importantly, it lacks the Rizz one would expect from an official Sailor Moon poster. Take a look at these from the 90’s anime:
Dynamic, interesting poses, great composition, stunning colors, consistent art quality. A tall order, huh?
The most recent poster we got is slightly, better but not much:
At least there is some pizazz, but the stale air remains. This looks like *generic movie poster here*, like
*characters posed in front of Bad Guy, looking Determined and Angry*.
Final Thoughts:
I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade; if you are genuinely earnest and excited for Sailor Moon Cosmos, I hope it blows your socks off bestie. If you loved the animation for or just the Sailor Moon Reboot Universe in general, that’s amazing! Please keep enjoying it, and let it make your life a little better.
Personally, though, I just can’t get over the disappointment. An amazing, universally beloved franchise with this much room for creativity only comes once in a while. Imagine if we had gotten a reimagining of the Sailor Moon story, a la PGSM, or Sera Myu? What if Toei had given the project CardCaptor Sakura: Clear Card levels of love and budget. Instead, we were given half-assed animation and designs, with little story to go with it, (that’s another post though).
If you were wondering why the new reboot was rubbing you the wrong way, or didn’t have the words to describe your nagging doubts, I hope this helped! If any Sailor Moon fan found this worthy and informative, I did what I meant to do. Sailor Moon Crystal/Season III/ Eternal/ Cosmos is nice in sentiment, but in practice Toei continues to lure fans with the promise of quality Sailor Moon animated content, only to provide next to nothing, and screw their animators over in the process!
However much of a blow-hard I sounded in my screed though, I am actually not too worried. The Sailor Moon fandom is uniquely creative and amazing- we continue to make our own art, animations and contributions to the lore- all without exploiting workers! Sailor Moon Crystal was a disappointing project, and Cosmos is a lackluster end, but I’ve got all the Moon content I need right here.
Sarada ba!
#sailor moon cosmos#sailor moon essay#bishoujo senshi sailor moon#sailor moon#sailor moon animation#sailor moon crystal#sailor moon eternal#sailor moon crystal season three#sailor moon manga
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Kiki my darling dear can you please explain to me the premise of. Whatever the fruity men with wild ass names is because I am going insane /silly lighthearted.
The premise of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure?
Oh boy
The explanation is going under this cut because of how long winded this will be
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an anime series focused on a family, and their bizarre adventures, shocker. There are 9 parts, each focusing on a different member of the family, all of whom can be referred to by the nickname of JoJo. Part 9, JoJolands, has very recently just released its first chapter.
JoJo is welll known for being over the top, especially in the anime with the constant colour palette changes, ridiculous character designs and poses. And yeah, it does end up being extremely gay. This is evident in the often homoerotic dynamics the JoJo has with their "JoBro"
There's also a LOT of musical references, especially with Part 4 onwards.
Parts 1-6 follow one universe, with part 6 being reset by its main villain, causing a new universe. CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, this new reset universe is not parts 7-9. They are 2 separate stories about two separate Joestar families. The first 6 parts are this:
Part 1, Phantom Blood, is Jonathan Joestar, a young man in early 1900s England, who is the adopted brother of Dio Brando. Dio is evil as shit as a child, seemingly mellows out, until the pair of them are both about 19 or so, when it's revealed that Dio is still a power and money hungry little shit. He turns into a vampire and the part then becomes about killing him.
Part 2, Battle Tendency, is Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's 19 year old Looney Toon character (not even a joke, he deadass quotes Looney Toons) grandson, and starts in 1940s America before moving to Italy. He and his friend/JoBro Caesar Zeppeli are tasked with having to fight ancient Aztec Gods, the Pillar Men (yes, really).
Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, is Jotaro Kujo, Joseph's 17 year old deliquent grandson, as he, Joseph, Noriaki Kakyoin (the JoBro!), Jean Pierre Polnareff and Muhammed Avdol go on a 50 day cross contiental trip to Egypt to fight Dio in the late 80s. Yes, the same Dio. He's a vampire, ya know?
Part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, is Josuke Higashikata (the kanji for the suke in his name can also be read as jo), Joseph's illegtimate 16 year old son in the summer of 1999 in Japan. He and his friends track down their local town serial killer, Yoshikage Kira, 33 years old, lives in the North East section where all the villas are-
Part 5, Vento Aureo, is Giorno Giovanna (Yes it's pronounced JoJo), the illegtimate son of Dio and Jonathan Joestar (it's GENUINELY not what it sounds like.) in 2001 Italy. He and his band of friends all named after Italian foods go on an adventure to kill the leader of the Italian mafia, Diavolo/Doppio Vinegar, in order to stop drugs being sold to kids.
Part 6, Stone Ocean, is Jolyne Kujo, the 19 year old deliquent daughter of Jotaro, and takes place in 2011 Florida. She and her friends break out of prison, save Jotaro and stop Pucci, a priest and follower of Dio, YES THIS GUY AGAIN, from resetting the world.
Those are the first 6 parts, and the first 6 JoJos. We then leave this universe, and join a completely new one. Important side note: Stands are only introduce in Part 3, with Parts 1-2 having this type of magical breathing named Hamon!
Part 7, Steel Ball Run, is Johnny Joestar, who is this universe's Jonathan, in 1890s USA. In order to regain mobility, he partners up with JoBro Gyro Zeppeli in order to win the Steel Ball Run horse race to learn the Spin and collect the corpse parts of Jesus Christ. He ends up having to kill the US President, Funny Valentine.
Part 8, JoJolion, is Josuke Higashikata, nicknamed Gappy, who is clearly this universe's Josuke in 2011 Japan. I never read JoJolion, so I'm not too familiar with the plot, but I do know that Gappy is actually two men. Like. He's a Steven Universe fusion of Yoshikage Kira and Josefumi Kujo. I'm not shitting you.
And now, we have the newly released Part 9, JoJolion! This is 15 year old Jodio Joestar, and we don't know much of the plot yet due to us having only one chapter. He seems to be this universe's Giorno, but maybe not a son of Diego Brando was ran over by a train. Apparently, it's the story of how he got rich. Right now, he's a drug dealer who was born in New Jersey and now lives in Hawaii in the present day with his sister (IDON'TCAREWHATARAKISAYSSHEISATRANSWOMAN) Dragona Joestar and his mother.
Something interesting to note is that the 7-9 JoJos are very much unlike their counterparts. Jonathan is a gentlemen, Johnny is a pretty selfish cold blooded killer. Josuke is a sweet kid, Gappy kills without remorse. Giorno resents drug dealers, Jodio is one.
So that's the premise for each part! I could go even more indepth, but I think this gets the point across. JoJo's premise is that it's a bunch of bizarre stories 2 families go through.
Anyways, part 3 is my favourite and my favourite character is Kakyoin ^-^ but my favourite JoJo is Johnny
#YOU ASKED FOR IT#winterly!!!#505 radio#also fun fact!#kika is my actual nickname#but i thought it'd be too hard to say right for english speakers#and i was inspired by jojo to anglicise it to kiki!#jjba
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i would really like to know what part of vol2 was a masterpiece beyond it looking and sounding slick and cool.
first off. the Vecna reveal as the big bad behind everything when nothing in the previous seasons even hinted that he and his family existed? Those murders would have become a town urban legend in no time!! Especially since it only happened 30 years ago?? And as evidenced by the writers keeping in the line "the murder house" when Jason and co. talked about it, other townspeople beyond Eddie's uncle did know about the Creels so why did none of the other born and bred main characters ever know this?? This reveal was an ass-pull of a retcon plain and simple.
Max ending up in the coma?? Completely diminishes the Dear Billy scene. Oh, music and human connection saves you from despair?? SIKE! actually it doesn't because we really just wanted to use this Kate Bush song for style points. Trauma does actually get you in the end wdym? then they used the song again, for what I don't fucking know, but certainly not for thematic reasons. Timing the lyrics to come back just as Robin throws the molotov?? ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. And also we get to El to "revive" Max because El really is just that special. No one would know what to do without her!
Not even going to get into that indulgent close-up of El's feet.
Not even going to get into posing dead Brenner like Jesus on the fucking cross.
Lucas' speech ending with "normal is just a raging psychopath". Really?? Really?? Was this supposed to be a shot at Jason? The same guy who, upon seeing Max - a stranger to him- immediately tried to rescue her?? I will die on the hill that S4 accidentally created a compelling antagonist in Jason and just never fucking knew it. (i've cooled down on my thoughts with this one. still think the line was stupid as hell though and that jason was a lot more compelling than vecna)
Eddie dying for no reason, plot-wise or narrative-wise?? WHY? So he could die a hero? BITCH HE COULD HAVE LIVED AS A HERO. I didn't care for Eddie all that much but he should have died right after his guitar solo if he was already marked for death. at least that would have been cool instead of stretching it out like what happened
Not even going to get into how Steven, Nancy, and Robin were choking for what seemed like an hour or longer. Pacing was off the entire 4-hour runtime but that especially seemed egregious.
The El and Hopper reunion feeling like an afterthought?? It was so emotionally dull. They might as well have made them reunite at the start of S5. El going "I always believed you were alive" BENCH WHERE. YOU LITERALLY CREATED A SCHOOL PRESENTATION TO HONOR HIM AS A DEAD HERO. This one actually got to me the most because I live for loving father and daughter dynamics and I was rooting for them to reunite but what we got.... it fell so, so flat.
The entire two day timeskip in the first place. Absolutely abhorrent. Completely cutting into the climax, completely removing the falling action.
Hopper fucking beheading a Democreature in slow-mo. The entire Russia story arc was already very heightened but you know what. yeah sure why not. WHY THE FUCK NOT
Mike's monologue about loving El even when she's not a superhero when she is literally doing superheroism right in front of him. Mike straight up saying with his full chest that his life started the day after Will went missing. Will who is next to him as he's fucking saying this shit. Will who has done nothing else this season except to help mend his relationship with El.
Robin seeing Vickie again at a fucking weapons emporium. WHAT FOR? They didn't even rationalize this with a throwaway line that maybe she and her (ex) boyfriend were going hunting or whatever. Literally just did this so we can see Robin upset. Because really? We could have that scene in the gym WITHOUT THE WAR ZONE SCENE.
Whatever the fuck they did to Steve "oh actually I wanna have six kids" Harrington.
Will not even getting the dignity of saying his feelings. Was a simple last longing look at Mike as he says, " I really am stupid for falling for him, huh, Jonathan?" Too Fucking Hard? No need to say Mike's name, no need to say the word GAY (calling him a fag or a queer or a fairy was fucking fine though) to make it clear as day where Will stood. it could have been done so easily with how they set up the Jonathan and Will scene. And now we have to contend with people arguing that maybe he really wasn't in love with Mike at all or the even stupider take that maybe Will was actually in love with Eleven.
Brenner getting shot multiple times was actually very cathartic and I'm glad El left him to rot. But again this just comes back to why is El's storyline the only one handled with this much grace and understanding for her agency?
The Russia storyline just fucking ending with them being able to cross country borders no problem??? and no sign of Dmitry or Yuri at all?? Fucking sloppy.
Mike just... existing as El's cheerleader now apparently?? What the hell happened to him. They couldn't even make him a malewife right because he had to have Will push him into his monologue.
Speaking of monologues, fucking Henry got pages and pages of the most uninspired villain script I've ever had the misfortune of hearing in this year of 2022. Yeah yeah we live in a society. yeah yeah El is actually just so special she even created her own super villain what else is new.
S4 Volume 2 was a total let down and I am not going to be blinded by the beautiful cinematography into saying it was better than it is, than what it could have been. All style, no substance.
And as redditor timlest said it best:
#ku blarghs#stranger things season 4#stranger things vol 2#strangely blogging#there are probably some more things i forgot but whatever i already wrote a lot as it is#S5 is going to need a miracle to make up S4's faults
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NXT World's Collide - Initial Thoughts
Now to part 2 of 3
In NXT UK's last hurrah before taking a hiatus and becoming NXT Europe, what remains of the UK roster are to be integrated into the normal NXT, including their titles. The World's Collide event sees NXT UK cross NXT in battle in our second PPV of the Weekend, All Out will be (somehow) fitted in tomorrow
Spoilers for the PPV
No matches for the Kick-Off, bit remiss given how it's only a small card
Starting with NA title with Pretty Ricky, but Melo with the hanged jerseys mind games, Sikoa among the shirts, Melo has the NA title decal on his knee pad too
The two are very clean in their wrestling, a great double springboard cutter to cancel each other out popped the crowd
Also Stu Bennett has been great on commentary
Melo wasn't sneaky leaving his foot out for Trick to pull like half an inch XD
Good match, probably could've benefitted from story, Trick did bide Melo time but it was the paul smackage when Ricochet landed on his feet for the Shooting Star Press
Oh, so Roddy's dead
There are a lot of bodies for this four way
Ahhh Briggs and Jensen eliminated first by Gallus, so much for the NXT UK Tag Champions
That alliance between PD and Gallus didn't last
Creeds then eliminate Gallus, who don't leave quietly
Julius' hot tag was great
The eliminated teams are fighting in the ramp for some reason which leads to a le sigh ref bump
Kemp then of course uses this to turn on the Creeds
Urgh they had to go with the Zoolander Twins, where was Brutus throughout all of this?
The same promos from Clash are on NXT, does WWE think that we don't watch both?
Tony D'Angelo trying to validate the fact that he lost LDF doesn't work, but he looks to be trying to side with Cameron Grimes who blows him off
You make Meiko come out first!?
Bit too much smoke for Bea/Blair
Mandy arrives in a...car? Sporting USA attire
Someone is screaming far too much
Yeah that list doesn't do Mandy favours
Reminder that Meiko is 42 years old and still amazing
Bit dumb though to wait for Mandy to pose and not take advantage of it
Mandy's gear seems to be struggling to contain her girls
KAMIGOYE! Only 2
Of course the fickleness of American crowds that they will cheer anyone American against non-Americans
And Rose *URGH* wins, Meiko hits the Scorpion Rising on Blair and after having to set her up, Rose hits both with the running knee
I am absolutely fucking baffled that between Bea Preistley and MEIKO SATOMURA, WWE choose Mandy Fucking Rose to still be their champion
Why do I even bother? They made her beat Raquel, KLR and Io after all, I just expected the better wrestler to win
They moved Axiom vs Nathan Frazer to Wednesday :/
Just be Nikki Cross and Piper Niven already!
First to challenge all active women's championships but won nothing in NXT
Chance is literally so mini compared to Doudrop XD
Toxic Attraction make a distraction which occupied Nikki so that KC2 can beat Piper, even though Piper proved able to handle both women previously in the match
That's 3/4 interferences btw, plus Nikki could've made it, weak match really
Main Roster bias made the tag champs look weak as it is
The Dyad are just weird, why couldn't we have the Grizzled Young Vets?
Still not sure how I feel about Bate with the long Jesus hair
Of course my internet chooses the main event to start blipping out and killing the vid quality, I've seen the buffer bar longer than I saw Bate's entrance
Never been done? Titles have been unified from two different brands and even companies for like decades
Bronn's shoulder was well up from that Airplane Spin slam
Bronn kicks out of the Tyler Driver 97 but Bate gets to the ropes for the Gorilla Powerslam
Bate forgoes the second Tyler Driver attempt to try his rebound Shotei and runs into a spear to lose
Least Tyson Fury didn't come out to sing American Pie, but again it was just, fine? I guess I never quite bought that NXT would give it to Bate
There's something missing as well, I can't quite explain it but it's like that buzz in my chest that makes me into it, Bate and Bronn are great workers, but I feel like they could've done a lot more
Conclusion
Honestly, I would've rather slept. The opener was good but after that it was just a snowball of weak booking choices, I get you wanna make it feel evens but the fact that Pretty Deadly and Mandy became unified champions in succession then postponed a potential best of 3 banger between Ben Carter and A-Kid shows the mentality NXT 2.0 has at play, thew Vince-ism is still there, right down to the 'home team' bias.
I also hope that the NXT UK belts aren't gone, they are WWE's best looking belts, and if they are gone I will happily take the UK title for myself if they name a price.
Overall it was fine, somehow didn't top Clash at the Castle, ball's in All Out's court now. Now I have to have 5 hours sleep...
Match Results (and Predictions)
Carmelo Hayes (c) [w/ Trick Williams] def. Ricochet (Pinfall via Small Package)
Pretty Deadly [w/Lash Legend] def. The Creed Brothers (c) [w/Damon Kemp], Briggs & Jensen (c) [w/Fallon Henley] & Gallus (Mark Coffey & Wolfgang) [w/Joe Coffey] (Final Pinfall by Prince on Julius after chair shot) - NEW UNIFIED TAG CHAMPIONS
Mandy Rose (c) def. Meiko Satomura (c) & Blair Davenport (Pinfall by Rose on Blair via running knee) - NEW UNIFIED WOMEN'S CHAMPION
Chance & Carter (c) def. Doudrop & Nikki A.S.H. (Pinfall by Chance on Doudrop via 450 Knee Drop)
Bron Breakker (c) def. Tyler Bate (c) (Pinfall via Spear) - NEW UNIFIED CHAMPION
#nxt#nxt uk#nxt worlds collide#carmelo hayes#ricochet#nxt 2.0#trick williams#briggs and jensen#pretty deadly#gallus#creed brothers#diamond mine#mandy rose#meiko satomura#blair davenport#kayden carter#katana chance#nikki ash#doudrop#tyler bate#bron breakker
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Princesses, Queens, and Their Butler 👑 - Room '4' U Series
A/N: Let's not talk about how the first chapter was posted almost seven months ago... 😶😬 Anyways, this was supposed to be a thing where I had a chapter for each of the Paladins on their birthday, but then I got slapped upside the head by this thing called 'life', and as you can guess, it didn't happen! So, everyone's gonna have to share this birthday present and I'll go back to the drawing board to do something better for next year, I promise. 💞
Happy very late Birthday to some of my favorite people on the Earth: @neon-city-dreams @kingmaker-a @foolish-sparrow @sanccharine I hope you enjoy this present even though it's very, very, very late! I love and appreciate each one of you more than you'll ever know! 💖💜💙💛 You all are absolute kings, queens, and royalty who deserve to have the world at their finger tips.
Room 4 U Masterlist
TW: Probably OOC Paladins, it's supposed to be like a crack fic so don't take it too seriously, this was based on a conversation that the Paladins had like six months ago, Katie being a tyrant as per usual
Neon happily admires his reflection as he makes the final adjustments for his costume.
“I look fantastic in this pink dress.”
King snorts while trying to hold back laughter.
“You look ridiculous.”
Neon gasps before placing his hand over his heart in a dramatic fashion.
“What do you mean I look ridiculous? We’re wearing the same outfit!”
King smirks before shaking his head.
“Yeah, but I pull it off way better than you ever will.”
“Oh, come on!” Neon softly whines.
“We don’t have time to argue. We have a royal entrance to make.”
~
“Pabo, would you like some tea?” Katie asks before softly giggling.
“Of course I would, my Queen!” Pabo smiles at the younger girl who excitedly claps her hands.
“Butler! Get me and my dear friend some tea!”
Mala sighs before walking into the kitchen.
“Why do I have to be the butler?” Mala grumbles while grabbing five tea cups from the cupboard. “...At least I get to wear this cool suit. That’s a plus.”
Katie crosses her legs as she elegantly sits on the child-sized chair. She barely fits on the chair, and her legs don’t even fit under the small table that she’s arranged, but she makes it work.
Pabo turns to face Katie.
“You’ve arranged such a fine party for us, Queen Katie. When are the other guests arriving?”
“Soon, I suspect.” Katie narrows her eyes before raising her voice. “Unless our guests want to face my wrath!!”
“We’re coming, hold on!” Neon yells from another room.
“Neon’s having technical difficulties, like usual.” King slyly says.
“King, can you be nice for once?” Neon loudly asks.
“Hey, stop arguing!” Katie yells before crossing her arms. “Don’t make me punish you!”
“Uh oh, boys, it looks like you’ve made her mad!” Pabo teases. “I wonder what the punishment for treason is. It could be jail time, or perhaps something more sinis-”
“Execution.” Katie pouts after answering.
“Sweet Jesus, Katie.” Pabo softly mutters. “There’s no mercy from you, is there?”
Katie smirks slightly before uncrossing her arms.
“Strike first, strike fast, no mercy.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going! No need for anyone to lose their head!” Neon states before making his royal entrance into the living room.
Upon entering the room, Katie and Pabo burst out laughing at Neon.
“Why are you laughing? Pink compliments my eyes.”
Neon strikes a dramatic pose which causes Katie and Pabo to laugh harder.
“Your Majesty, your teas are ready! Where would you like me to-”
Mala pauses at the sight of Neon.
“Okay, maybe being the butler wasn’t that bad.”
Neon sighs before taking a seat at the table.
“How does it feel to be a princess?” Pabo asks between bouts of laughter.
Neon pretends to flip his hair. “Absolutely fantastic.”
King slips into the room but his presence isn’t unnoticed by the Queen.
“You’re late.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, Your Highness. I had to keep this old man in line.” King messes with Neon’s hair before sitting down.
“Apology…” Katie trails off while looking at the ceiling before looking back at King. “...accepted!”
“Thank God.” King mumbles while Mala places the cups of tea near everyone.
“Yeah, I thought you were a goner.” Pabo adds before laughing.
“You’re the favorite; you can say whatever you want.” Neon argues.
“That’s not true!”
“Yeah, it is!”
Mala gently taps Katie on the shoulder.
“Do you need anything from me?”
“Can you join us? I’d love to have the company of my loyal butler.” Katie winks before gesturing towards the final empty seat.
“You know I’d love to.” Mala smiles before taking that very seat.
Katie loudly clears her throat before raising her teacup into the air.
“Dear friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate not only my ascent to the throne, but also to celebrate our friendship. May we live together in peace in harmony as we learn to live together under one kingdom! Cheers!”
“To our Queen Katie!” Neon yells before thrusting his teacup in the air.
“To our Queen Katie!” The other three say before everyone takes a sip of their warm tea.
Katie giggles before pulling herself back into her Queen role.
Perhaps being the Queen of the land wouldn’t be such a bad future career choice..
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What Will You Do with Jesus?
Today’s Saying
Believe who Jesus says He is. Trust Him and allow Him to change our hearts. Continually seek to discover more about Him through studying the Bible, talking to Him in prayer and connecting with other believers. Proclaim Him to everyone. Never back down when following Him becomes difficult and costly.
Today’s Scripture
“Pilate asked them, ‘What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?’” Matthew 27:22a (CSB)
Today’s Sermonette
Pilate, the governor of Judea, addresses a gathering crowd. He poses an important question that explores not only what the crowd thinks about Jesus but what they want done with Him:
“Pilate asked them, ‘What should I do then with Jesus, who is called Christ?’” (Matthew 27:22a).
The crowd cried out for Jesus to be crucified.To them, He was an offender of the Law who must be done away with immediately.
Others were also present as Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified and then resurrected three days later. What did they, in essence, “do” with Jesus?
The leading religious leaders had Him captured and killed. (Matthew 26:3-4) Judas Iscariot betrayed Him. (Matthew 26:14-16) The soldiers in attendance mocked Him. (Matthew 27:27-31)
Bystanders misunderstood Him when He tried to speak from the cross. (Matthew 27:47)
However, not all reacted to Him adversely. Some women brought spices and perfume to the grave and were the first to announce the news that Christ had risen from the dead! (Luke 23:55-56; Luke 24:1-12)
And the centurion who witnessed the death of Jesus — which included the curtain of the sanctuary tearing in two from top to bottom, the earth quaking, rocks splitting and the tombs of many saints opening, bringing them back to life — had perhaps the most accurate view of Jesus. This centurion cried out, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:50-54, CS
Isn’t it amazing that people can come to such different conclusions in their thinking about one single soul?
But as interesting as it is to ponder their varied responses, the most important question this Easter season is: “What will we do with Jesus?”
Will we be content to keep Him nonchalantly grouped with other “good teachers” who urge love, good deeds and peace on earth?
Might we possibly misunderstand Christ, never having taken the time to study who He really is? Or do we ignore Him altogether, leaving Him tucked away inside the pages of the Bible but sadly absent from our day-to-day lives?
Here is what we can do with Jesus: Believe who He says He is. Trust Him and allow Him to change our hearts. Continually seek to discover more about Him through studying the Bible, talking to Him in prayer and connecting with other believers.
Proclaim Him to everyone. Never back down when following Him becomes difficult and costly.
Just what will you do with Jesus this Easter and beyond? Your answer is perhaps the most important one you will ever give.
Today’s Supplication
Father, please help me to act in a way that accurately depicts who You are. You are not merely a moral, historical person. You most certainly are not a fictional character. May my words and actions say to others, “Truly this man is the Son of God!” In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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