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slightly-nerdy-rambles · 4 years

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Robstar Week Day 5: Righteous Fury (Prompt: Rescue)

This prompt gave me an excuse to do an action scene, and I love writing action, so it was definitely one of the most fun prompts for the week. The direction I chose to take it also gave me a chance to play around a bit with the interplay between Starfire’s emotions and her powers, and those of you who have read my fic Joy and Fury may recognize some of what’s going on in that regard.

Righteous Fury

The world was tinted viridian as Starfire scanned it from high above.

It was not really a world, per say. More of what Raven had called a ‘pocket dimension’ – the extradimensional space owned by that creature who had the gall to call himself the Master of Games.

The thief who had been travelling the galaxy and using a powerful artifact to steal away those who lost his games, so he could use their skills and weapons as his own. And like any thief, she was going to take him down and make him return what he stole.

“Starfire.” The sound of her name snapped her out of her idle thoughts, and she released some of her focus on joyful thought keeping her aloft. She’d been using him as the source, again – perhaps not the best choice of subject considering the circumstances, except that it made her all the more determined to find him.

Robin was her k’nonaki, after all – her great bond, the source from which she most easily drew her power-linked emotions. And if the “Master” thought he could take him away from her, she would only be too eager to prove him wrong.

“There are four main paths branching out of the coliseum,” she reported as she touched down by the others. “Besides the one that we know connects the competitor’s quarters, the others lead to a series of several large buildings.”

Cyborg nodded, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Must be the tournament arenas. At least that means he doesn’t have more of these mini-dimensions to go hiding in.” He turned toward Raven, who was sitting in her meditative position.

“Got anything?”

Raven took a few seconds to respond, standing up when she did. “He’s here. Robin’s aura is faint through the gem, but I can still sense him. But I can’t get a bead on the Master of Games without sending out my soul and alerting him that we’re here – he must be out in one of the other buildings. They’re in that direction,” she finished, pointing down one of the hallways.

Beast Boy rubbed one arm. “Guess we’re lucky he got Robin and not someone you don’t have a freaky mind bond thing with, right?”

Starfire shot a warning glare at him, eyes narrowed. “I do not see how this situation can be considered ‘lucky,’” she hissed.

Beast Boy shrank back from her, but Raven laid a hand on her arm.

“We’ll get him back, Starfire. Along with everyone else the Master captured,” she said calmly. “Getting riled up over it isn’t going to help.”

Starfire gave her a sideways look. “You forget, Raven. My emotions only strengthen me.”

With that, she turned and began to stalk toward the far path that Raven had pointed out. Herald, who had been called on to bring the team here when the Master had first vanished with their leader, leaned over toward Beast Boy.

“Do her eyes always glow like that on missions?” he asked in a low voice.

“Only when she’s about to eyebeam someone in the face or like, really pissed,” Beast Boy stage-whispered back. “I dunno if I’ve ever seen it last this long, it’s kinda freaking me out.”

Starfire ignored them and continued forward, but she swore she could feel their eyes on her back. The conversation died down after that, and everyone walked quietly for several minutes.

“…I should have warned everyone about that gem,” Cyborg finally said, his voice hollow. “When I got captured back in the Tournament of Heroes, I was trying to blast that thing. I knew it could be activated by prolonged contact, but it didn’t even cross my mind that nobody else saw it.”

Without a word, Starfire lifted off and poured on speed until the others disappeared behind her. She told herself it was so she could scout ahead, but… she knew Cyborg was just trying to be sensitive when he said “everyone.”

After all, Robin wasn’t the one who had tried a hard blast against that accursed gem. He’d merely jumped in the way to save her.

She would not let him suffer for her mistake. She could not.

The doors to the first arena were coming up fast. They were closed tight, locked probably, but Starfire barely even slowed down and simply smashed her way through.

There was very little to the floor and walls of the arena, which was instead dominated by a dozen massive cages hanging high above her. She drifted further in, scanning the area for any sign of her foe or the next exit that would bring her closer to him.

There. Up in the far wall, level with the rough midpoint of the hanging cages, a rounded balcony led out to another doorway. Probably so the Master could watch his “contestants” directly if he so chose.

As Starfire darted up to the balcony, the low blare of a horn heralded the opening of a portal on its level surface. The Herald and her remaining teammates stepped out, forcing her to halt before the doorway.

Cyborg held up a hand. “Star, you’re going too fast,” he said, gentle but firm. “If we spook this guy or give him too much warning, he’ll just teleport away and we’ll have to hunt him down all over again.

Starfire’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she dropped her gaze to the side. “There is nothing stopping him from leaving to find more victims if we wait,” she retorted, “and he cannot resist a challenge, can he? I intend to give him one he will not soon forget.”

“I think it’s safe to say we all do,” Cyborg replied, a little smile quirking the corner of his lip. “And we will. Together, because that’s how we beat someone like him.”

Starfire let out a low breath and nodded, though the blazing emerald never quite left her vision. He was right, of course – she could stay angry all she wanted, but letting her righteous fury blind her would only cause more problems. She had to remember that.

Cyborg nodded wordlessly to Raven, who raised her arms and enveloped them all in a darkness that pulled them through the next barrier without a sound.

By the time they were about halfway down the next corridor, Raven suddenly halted.

“They’re near,” she reported in a low voice. “The Master should be hiding in the next arena.”

The Titans all shared a look and a brief nod, but before they continued, Starfire thought of something. She flew over to her team’s current companion.

“The Herald? I believe it would be wise of you not to engage in this battle directly,” she said with a thoughtful frown. “If the Master of Games manages to take your horn, he will have an even easier time escaping us, and we may no longer be able to follow.”

Herald considered this for a moment. “Yeah, I can hang back for this one. Send me any victims you rescue from that necklace, and I’ll send ‘em home before your friend can capture them again.”

That matter resolved, the Titans soon found themselves at the next entrance. Through the thick doors, they could hear the clanging of metal-on-metal and occasional blasts from some energy attack the Master had stolen. Starfire caught Cyborg’s eye and raised her fists, and he nodded – for all that they couldn’t give their presence away too early, their opponent would be more likely to stick around if a bombastic entry promised an exciting “game.”

With a determined little smirk on her lips and the thought of her beloved’s rescue guiding her strength, Starfire smashed through the doorway like so much tissue paper and barreled into the arena. With a start, she realized that she recognized this one: it was the fighting ground she had been sent to during the brief run of the Tournament of Heroines. Thick steel beams criss-crossed an otherwise open space, spread far enough apart that flighted opponents could weave among them without too much trouble, but passing each other close enough that ground-bound competitors had places to jump from one to the next.

In the middle of it all, the Master of Games was flying on massive feathery wings and aiming another blast of red-hot energy at one of the beams. He paused mid-attack as she entered, turning toward her, and her hands lit up with starbolts almost of their own accord.

“We are not finished with you,” she spat.

“Yeah, Gameboy,” Cyborg chimed in behind her. “Last I recall, we were just getting started.”

The Master’s face twisted into a wicked smirk. “Another round? I don’t mind earning a few more trophies, even if I’ve already won the grand prize.” He punctuated that statement with a flick of his wrist, and Robin’s bo staff seemed to grow out of the palm and into his grip.

“Very well then! The Teen Titans versus The– Urgh!”

A powerful eyebeam – aimed at the stomach, she could not risk hitting his gem with that kind of attack – threw the villain back hard against the steel beam directly behind him. He peeled off after a moment and began to fall, his stolen wings twitching in a daze, but Starfire would not give him the chance to recover. Swooping in, she grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and forced him back against the beam.

But the Master had already recovered enough to bring the staff to bear. He bashed the butt of it into her torso, forcing her back with a grunt.

A rush of wings passed by her in that moment, and before the Master could follow up his attack, a large green woodpecker swooped in and gripped ahold of his necklace’s chain. With a force and precision designed to drill into trees, Beast Boy’s beak struck the gem.

A blazing light forced back shapeshifter and Tamaranean alike, and three figures came tumbling out. One was a Thanagarian – the source of the wings no doubt, considering they were suddenly gone from the Master’s back – but she did not recognize the other two, nor had she time to see if she could place their species.

“Get to the exit!” Starfire barked in Thanagarian, pointing the way in case the others didn’t recognize the language. “We will deal with him, but our friend can get you home.”

As they ran, the Master of Games recovered his senses with a growl. He was in the air again, doubtless with the aid of another victim’s power, but a hit from Cyborg’s cannon forced him back before he could attack. Beast Boy followed this up by swooping back in and grabbing the necklace again, but the Master swatted him away before he could peck at the gem.

As woodpecker shifted into panther and caught ahold of one of the beams, Starfire flew in again and began to harry her opponent with starbolts. He retaliated by spitting globs of slime at her, making her aim difficult, but it mattered little – her goal now was to keep his attention on her, for she could already see the dull glow of Raven’s magic enveloping the necklace to yank it off.

But even then the gem sparked to life, and Starfire swore she could see it pulling at her friend’s energy. Fear added to her blazing fury and warrior’s confidence and focused determined joy then. She could not let this happen again. She would not.

This ended now.

With a guttural yell, Starfire tackled the loathsome being who threatened her loved ones. The force of it drove them both down past the steel beams and onto the arena’s floor, knocking the wind out of her opponent. His gem, its hold on Raven’s power broken, swung wildly with the impact and clattered against the ground.

And with both hands lit and clasped together, she slammed her fists into it – a force that would have shattered a lesser artifact into a million shards.

Light filled the building again, and when it cleared, nearly a dozen newcomers were sprawled across the floor. One in particular grabbed Starfire’s attention, and the light in her eyes dimmed in an instant.

“Robin!” she cried, rushing over and dropping to her knees beside him.

Robin smiled and clasped the hand she offered him, pulling himself upright. “I’m okay,” he reassured her. “I could see what was going on, you know. You were… very impressive.”

Starfire let out a tired sigh and pressed her forehead against his, eyes closed. “I had an unusually personal stake in the matter.”

She could hear her other teammates’ hurried footsteps coming in behind her, but before they could catch up, another sound grabbed her attention. She turned to see the one who called himself the Master of Games standing up with a groan and looking at her and Robin with pure hatred in his eyes.

Beast Boy winced and spoke up while Raven silently directed the other rescued victims toward Herald. “Please tell me he doesn’t have even more people stuffed in that thing.”

Robin shot Starfire a confident smirk, which she responded to with a single sharp nod.

“If he does, we’ll just have to take care of that too,” he said aloud. “All of us, together.”

#Teen Titans #Robin #Starfire #robstar #robstarweek #Beast Boy #Raven #Cyborg #Herald #writing #prompt #fanfiction #Master of Games #I really wish we had another thing to call him #Why yes I am in fact planning on a Tournament of Heroines fic sometime further down the line

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florrickandassociates · 5 years

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TGF Thoughts: 3x05-- The One Where a Nazi Gets Punched

One recap down, two to go. Think I’ll be able to write them before the next ep airs? I doubt it.

The episode opens by confirming Maia’s gone from RBL: Her name’s no longer on what used to be her office, her documents are being shredded, and all her personal belongings are in a box.

Marissa decides to pick a fight with an associate over Maia. “If you didn’t like Maia, you could have just come out and said that,” Marissa says. Uh. I don’t think Maia got fired because one associate didn’t like her but okay Marissa. The associate insists she’s not happy because she didn’t like Maia, she’s pleased that the zero-tolerance policy is being enforced consistently.

I do wish people would stop saying “Maia’s been arrested twice” because one of those arrests was in no way her fault. Every time anyone tries to use that as an argument, it makes me want to defend Maia even though I totally believe the partners had reason to fire her.

“Maia didn’t use drugs,” Marissa, who faked a drug test on Maia’s behalf, insists. Alright Marissa.

The whole 22nd floor starts to bicker, and Julius goes to inform the other partners that Marissa is stirring the pot. “She’s only stirring the pot because she feels that Maia was made a sacrificial lamb to the fact that the partners don’t want to pay for true financial parity here,” Diane says in defense of Maia/Marissa. Does that mean Diane wants to take whatever pay cuts and struggles come with paying true parity? Or does that just mean Diane wants her goddaughter to be able to get ahead?

To pay everyone the same amount at each level (which I’m not convinced actually gets at the root of the problem if they don’t put measures in place to make sure performance evaluations and opportunities are also awarded equally) would cost the firm $800,000 a year. That’s less than I thought, if only because whenever the partners are personally liable for something it’s always at least a million a person and when they bring in a big client it’s always like 35 million dollars/year in billing. And didn’t they pay off lots of the women Reddick assaulted with at least 800k?

Adrian is very right: this strategy would also raise the lowest performers to the level of the highest performers (within their job title), and then the highest are going to want more, and then the problem resets. How do you determine who the highest are, and which of the highest threaten to leave and which stay no matter what, and so on.

“Maybe we should consider it a human resources issue,” Julius says. Maybe? MAYBE? You’ve got associates fighting while on the job and internal documents circulating and you’re only NOW thinking to involve HR?

Julius wants to hire an expensive sensitivity trainer to talk to the associates instead of paying them more. Sounds like something the partners need more than the associates. Also would that go over well? I’m imagining the associates being like, wait, they have money for this but not money to pay me fairly? And now they’re telling me I need sensitivity training to cover their own asses, as though I just decided to pay myself less? If they do this sort of training in conjunction with an actual fix, sure, whatever, they may need it just to deal with the infighting. But alone? Noooope.

This conversation gets interrupted by an assistant telling Adrian that Judge Dunaway is wondering why he’s not in court. “An associate” is there and Dunaway wants to know why no one else has showed up. None of the partners knew anything about a motion in this case, so they suspect Maia of trying to steal their client.

I think Maia could try to steal a client, but I don’t think she’d ever think to do it.

They put Maia on their biggest case? Just Maia and Lucca and the partners? This sounds wrong.

Maia’s not returning Diane’s calls. I think it’s pretty clear that Diane wants the best for Maia, but I can totally see why it might not feel that way to Maia. She’s not handling this in the most mature way, but I’ll cut her some slack. She was just fired, after all!

Lucca and Jay are in the middle of nowhere, poll watching. Lucca worries this assignment is punishment for stirring up the salary drama (though idk how anyone other than Jay would know to tie it to Lucca!) and I don’t think she’s wrong. She’s a fucking department head and they have her out poll watching?

Maia isn’t the surprise co-counsel: Blum is. That makes way more sense, but also, UGH. I’m over Blum.

This case is interesting but I’m still going to write it up as “Case stuff happens” for the most part. Its premise is more interesting than its execution. I kinda just want to Google what kinds of suits are pending against real life genetic testing companies.

Blum got on this case because of documents he stole from Diane’s office. It is very possible RBL has worse security than Alicia’s apartment building.

Maia’s got a new job at something called Consult-a-Lawyer, a phone helpline that charges clients by the minute (and makes sure each call takes many minutes). This seems terrible.

Lucca and Jay talk with their Republican counterparts; they disagree but can at least talk about their disagreements. Also, none of them are really there to be poll monitors; they are there to try to sway the election results by fighting to selectively enforce rules. I’m sure they’d take issue with that phrasing but that’s what they’re doing.

Marissa’s noticeably grumpy at work and tells Diane it’s because her “best friend” was fired. Marissa says and does so much stuff that no one else could get away with; this is not a proper way to conduct yourself at work-- especially towards the people who are on your side.

Diane is reaching out to other firms on Maia’s behalf. That’s privilege at work right there.

Diane tasks Marissa with watching Blum. She also confuses Marissa and Maia, which is weird since only one of them is her goddaughter.

I am SO OVER Blum. Why is he so loud?! When I watch these episodes first thing on Thursday mornings, the last thing I need is his maniacal screaming.

Marissa is unimpressed with Blum.

OH MY GOD MAKE HIS LOUDNESS STOP. I just don’t care. Just gonna let this next bit with the song play while I change my sheets, because I have nothing to say about it.

And then I did laundry, went on two trips, and visited a bunch of bookstores and now I’m back, three recaps behind.

I didn’t even get to the credits before I stopped writing!? Me of three weeks ago, what were you doing?! (The credits are 17 minutes in, to be fair.)

He’s so loud! So! Loud!

Some sort of white (male) supremacist group shows up at the precinct Lucca and Jay are monitoring.

Diane and Liz meet with the sensitivity consultant, who has them do an exercise as a test. It’s one of those games where you take a step forward/backward if a sentence describes you. Neither Diane nor Liz wants to participate, but the game ends up working on them: turns out they both like singing, Prince, Roma, and Hannah Gadsby. LOLLOL I believe every one of those things.

I don’t know what Lucca thinks Diane will be able to do to help with the white supremacists, but she probably doesn’t suspect Diane’s going to have her unwittingly help #Resistance.

Case stuff happens. It involves Blum singing. Go away.

Jay calls Naomi with the story about the Red Jackets, while Diane’s #Resistance buddy (what is her name? I’m going to have to pay more attention because she is “The Young One Who Does Computer Things” to me, but she’s been in enough episodes I should probably learn her name) gets the Red Jackets fired.

Case stuff happens. Blum puts another actor on a stand as a witness.

Marissa comes to visit Maia at work. At this job, Maia actually has to do work and gets negative feedback when she doesn’t do work well, so as happy as she is to see Marissa (and the Sunglasses of Badassery), she can’t chat long.

Maia is not as happy to help with work related things. In fact, given that I’ve seen the next two episodes (and the end of this one), Marissa reaching out to Maia about something work related may even make Maia feel like her work friends never really cared about her.

Marissa also brings Maia a list of three firms where Diane’s put in a good word. “Diane doesn’t care about me,” Maia, who got the only two jobs she’s ever held because of Diane, insists. Sure, Maia. But I won’t criticize her too much-- she WAS just fired.

Marissa loudly informs the entire Phone-A-Lawyer office that it’s “not fine” to work there. I love Marissa but she lacks self-awareness, like, all the time when she’s not undercover.

Maia’s supervisor isn’t pleased Marissa’s shown up during work hours. She asks her to leave, but does help out with the case.

“If you don’t call them, I will,” the woman in the cubicle next to Maia interjects, offering Maia some much-needed perspective. Maia’s been through a lot, but it’s still clear she’s not someone who has ever had to worry about money.

Lucca calls the police on two of the Red Jackets (they’re sex offenders) just as Naomi’s news van shows up.

Naomi and Jay are a couple which surprised me but, you know, I don’t hate it. Actually, I think I like it.

The judge Adrian is sleeping with does him a favor in court. This relationship? I don’t think I like it.

Diane and Liz regroup about the sensitivity consultant. Liz doesn’t think she’s worth the money, since no sensitivity game will ever solve racism (she’s right-- I don’t know that I think they’re completely useless but they are never going to get at the root of the problem). Diane suggests midyear bonuses instead; Liz points out they’ll know they’re being bought off.

Then something magical happens: Diane and Liz start SINGING! It’s so fun. It’s also a great character moment. We’ve never seen Diane have a female peer at work she could just be herself around, and this strengthens the Diane/Liz friendship that’s driving a lot of the season.

A sex scene quite rudely interrupts the wonderful duet.

If anyone’s written anything on Judge Hazelwood, I’d love to read it. I’m intrigued by her use of power but I think I need to read someone else’s take to fully understand what the writers are (attempting to) do with her.

“Your head is like a sculpture. I want to cut it off and put it on my desk,” is a VERY DISTURBING LINE.

Maia’s using her mom’s maiden name again-- smart. And she took Diane up on the interview offers-- also smart. (Yes, I’ll call her privileged for even having those offers, but I don’t take issue with her using connections. I don’t care if she’s privileged; I care when she lacks self-awareness about it.)

The job won’t start until November, which makes Maia angry. She sees this as Diane trying to fuck her over, when really she’s been offered a job 30 seconds after introducing herself because Diane’s recommendation means so much. Maia TURNS IT DOWN, even though it’s a promise of good work in six months and the best lead she has. Unless there’s going to be something in the contract about how she cannot accept another job if one comes up in those six months before she officially starts, WHY? WHY TURN DOWN GOOD WORK AT A TOP FIRM JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU COULD DO BETTER? YOU’RE WORKING AT PHONE-A-LAWYER.

And this dude gives her so many chances-- he even says to let her know if she winds up being available.

Her only question is whether Diane knew about the late start date. The interviewer thinks so, and Maia takes it as a personal insult. Oof. You know what most low-ranking people who are fired for drug use get? Here’s a hint: it’s not interviews at three top firms with the highest recommendation from a well-respected name partner.

NOTHING about this reaction from Maia is out of character for her. I just have no patience for it.

Adrian and Blum collaborate in one of the more interesting scenes they’ve done with Blum. He’s loud and devious, but he’s not stupid. And watching Adrian understand and go along with Blum’’s strategizing-- setting the stage for him to normalize all of Blum’s other, more illegal antics as appropriate workplace behavior-- is fascinating.

Naomi is polite when interviewing one of the Red Jackets, but she refuses to shake his hand. I like that moment.

Jay punches one of the Red Jackets after the Red Jacket antagonizes him. The Republican poll monitor sees the whole thing, but decides to say nothing. (The point, basically, is that we can find common ground with people we disagree with, and that only CERTAIN people we disagree with are actually the enemy.)

A riot breaks out and we see only a little bit of it before Jay starts monologuing about his belief that Nazis should be punched. Dunno to what extent I agree (slippery slope, etc) but I do know I’m not going to waste any time being outraged over one of them being punched.

More case stuff happens.

Lucca, Jay, and Naomi share beers after the riot. They’ve all emerged from the riot safely. This is a nice scene; I love watching these characters just hang out. Apparently Jay had a crush on Lucca for a little while, which I find kinda cute as long as it doesn’t go anywhere beyond that (SO OVER WORKPLACE ROMANCES ON THIS SHOW).

Maia calls Lucca, but Lucca can’t get any reception so she decides to be 2x14 Alicia and find a high spot on top of a car. Her phone still gobbles the call, though. Maia takes this, too, as a personal insult.

Diane calls Maia and Maia refuses to answer. Oh, Maia. If I got the sense she wanted to do this without help-- kind of like s7 Alicia not wanting to answer to anyone-- that would be one thing. This just sounds petty.

Oh goodie! We get MORE BLUM in the future: he’s now working with RBL on the Second Helix case for the near future. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

Maia’s packing up her apartment now that she can’t afford the rent, and another firm Diane set her up with tells her the soonest they can interview her is in a month. Well, at least she’s still trying. She throws her phone on the floor in frustration, and I do feel bad for her. Just, like, not that bad.

Lucca shows up at Maia’s door, since Maia’s now not answering her phone. Lucca explains her day and why she wasn’t near her phone-- and her reasons are, of course, valid-- and Maia just doesn’t care. You’ll remember that Lucca doesn’t have friends and that when Lucca shows up for someone, she’s all in. Maia, who is actually friends with Lucca, has not picked up on this (or is not willing to acknowledge it). Lucca offers to get dinner (and to pay), and to spend time away from her baby after a stressful day. She says she feels awkward about how things went down at work.

Maia doesn’t just decline the invitation or say it’s not a good time. She says she and Lucca were “work friends” and shuts the door. Well, that’s harsh. I don’t really fault Maia for feeling detached from her old workplace or awkward around her old work friends, or for needing time to herself. But wow, this is a phenomenally awful way to treat a friend. (And not that I need to pile on more, but Lucca and Marissa have both been FAR more supportive of Maia than Maia’s ever been of them.)

#this may be my worst recap ever #i don't mean that in a 'omg please validate me' way i mean that in a #'wow i didn't say much of anything about this bc i didn't put much thought into it since i just wanted to get it done' way #also the next 2 eps are maia free so maybe for once i'll do something other than complain about her #but if i'm not complaining about maia and i'm barely recapping anything blum does what will i even write #tgfthoughts

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fredyates1992 · 4 years

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hysterialevi · 7 years

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In the Smoke pt. 30 (Cobblebats)

From Bruce’s POV

Standing in front of the door to my dad’s office, Oz and I exchanged looks for a moment as we prepared ourselves, ready to face Lady Arkham head-on. We didn’t hear any noises coming from inside -- not even talking -- and things actually seemed peaceful. Almost suspiciously peaceful. A part of me couldn’t help but think this was a trap.

“Once we open that door,” Oz warned, “there’s no going back. I know we’re only distractin’ her so Batman can jump in, but you know Vicki. She don’t play nice. You sure you’re ready for this?”

I tightened my grip on my battle-axe and aimed it at the door’s lock, taking a breath.

“I have to be. Gotham isn’t gonna survive much longer with the Children of Arkham still hanging around, and they’re certainly not gonna get rid of themselves. We have to end this now.”

Oz sighed. “...you’re right. You’re right. Just...try to be careful, all right?”

“I will if you do.”

He grinned at me. “Where’s the fun in that? Now open that door already so we can kick her arse.”

Raising the medieval weapon above my head, I took a second to brace myself and strengthened my hold before slamming the blade into the door’s surface, causing the wood to splinter. It wasn’t open yet, but with one more swing, it would be demolished.

Aiming directly at the lock, I swung the axe once again, but with much more force, and within the blink of an eye, the door had been busted open. What we found inside however, was nothing like what we expected.

Inside my dad’s office was a massacre. Large puddles of fresh blood stained the floor, broken furniture was scattered all over the area, burn marks had been singed into the walls, and yet, none of the hostages seemed to be hurt. What the hell happened here?

Observing the unusual scene, Oz set the hostages free whilst I alerted Alfred of the strange turn of events, darting my eyes around for any sudden movements.

“Alfred,” I whispered, in case someone was hiding around, “we’re inside Dad’s office, but...”

The butler urged me on. “...but what?”

“It looks like another fight already took place here. The place is a complete mess, and Lady Arkham is nowhere to be seen.”

There was a pause. “That is...indeed odd. What of the hostages? Are they safe?”

“Yeah,” I confirmed. “Oz is releasing them as we speak. We’re gonna search around some more, see if we can’t figure out what went down.”

“Tread with caution, Bruce. Who knows who could’ve caused all that carnage. If someone’s reached Lady Arkham before you, well then, I suppose that’s a...good thing? Though, it’d best to keep in mind that just because they’re enemies with her, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re friends with you.”

“Don’t worry, Al. We won’t let our guard down.”

“A wise decision. Very well. I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll also inform your father of what you’ve just told me. Stay safe, Master Bruce.”

Ending the call, I walked over to Oz who was currently investigating something hidden behind the desk, only to see him kneeling next to a body. But not just anyone’s body -- Lady Arkham’s. She was sitting on the floor with her back leaning against the desk, her mask had been torn off, and it was clear that she had been through some rough battle. At first glance, she looked like a corpse.

“Holy shit,” I blurted out in surprise, “is she...dead?”

Oz glanced up at me with a solemn look. “No, but she’s about to be.”

Grabbing her shoulders, Oz tried to shake her into consciousness, hoping that she would be able to tell us something. For a while though, Lady Arkham only remained like a limp rag doll in his grip, and there were some points where Oz almost looked...disappointed. It was easy to forget sometimes, but the two of them did use to be friends.

“C’mon,” he shook her harder, “wake up, you prick...!”

After a series of light slaps to the cheeks, Lady Arkham’s eyes finally fluttered open and landed on Oz, causing anger to instantly spread across her face. Though, despite her obvious urge to attack us on sight, she stayed frozen in place, not moving a single muscle. Either she was just that weak, or she had already given up.

“...Oz...” Lady Arkham croaked out, letting out a low chuckle, “...you’ve got some nerve to show your face to me.”

Oz gestured to the rest of the office. “What the hell happened, Vicki? Who did this?”

She grimaced, flinching slightly as a surge of pain shot through her. “...Gideon. That traitor’s stronger than he looks. ...Much, much stronger. My weapon did nothing to him.”

Oz furrowed his brow. “Nothing? How?”

Lady Arkham shrugged. “Don’t know, but he raised hell before you got here. Nearly killed me. Now he’s hiding somewhere in the catacombs beneath the city. You have to find him.”

I crossed my arms. “The catacombs? Why there?”

“No idea, but that’s where he is. You gotta catch him before he escapes.”

I gave her a firm nod. “We will. He’s not leaving those catacombs alive.” I began heading for the exit. “C’mon, Oz. Let’s go before he decides to run.”

But Oz didn’t move. Instead, he simply tilted his head towards the office’s door, patting a hand on Vicki’s shoulder. “You go on ahead, Bruce. I’ll keep an eye on Vicki, and make sure Batman gets her. I’ll catch up with you later.”

I didn’t know how I felt about leaving Oz alone with Vicki. After all, there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t try attacking him for revenge.

“Are you sure?” I questioned. He got his gun out and leaned against a wall, glaring directly at Vicki.

“Completely. Don’t worry. She won’t get away.”

Letting the subject go, I decided not to push any further and took Oz’s word for it, contacting Alfred once again before navigating my way to the catacombs.

“Al, tell Dad that we’ve got Lady Arkham. She’s not dead, but she’s been severely injured. Oz is watching over her right now.”

There was a short outburst of static. Alfred sighed in relief. “Oh, thank goodness. Very well done, sir. To the both of you. Your father is actually already on his way to the office. I’ll let him know of the long-awaited victory. I suppose...I suppose that’s the end of it, then.”

“Not quite,” I replied. “One of Lady Arkham’s men went rogue before we arrived -- apparently almost murdered her. Now he’s hiding in Gotham’s catacombs. I’m going to look for him.”

“Is that really necessary, Bruce? The head of the Children of Arkham is down. Their leader is in our hands. Are you certain we need to go after some wayward individual?”

I stepped out of the office. “This one’s different, Alfred. He’s extremely dangerous, and resistant to many different types of damage. Not even Lady Arkham’s staff could hurt him. His name is Gideon Black.”

The butler paused in thought. “...G-Gideon Black? Why, that’s the man your father interrogated not too long ago. He was...quite the unique character, I’ll say. But I did some more research on him, you see, and I learned that his daughter is actually still alive. A nine-year-old girl named Eva Black. She was once a prisoner of Hill’s men, but it’s reported that she escaped recently. If you tell Gideon this information, I’m sure he’ll listen to reason.”

I exhaled, biting my lip in nervousness. There weren’t many men out there who could scare me so easily, and normally, I would’ve had more confidence in my success, but Gideon was a whole new level of lethal. Instead of striking out in the open, he always stuck to the shadows, ripping his victims to shreds when they least expected it. Just by knowing that he was still alive made me paranoid, and I found myself checking over my shoulders more and more often. One wrong move with him, and I’d be dead.

Taking a deep, calming breath, I stepped out of the office and pressed my earpiece, uttering what could’ve possibly been my final words.

“Only one way to find out.”

#cobblebats #batman telltale #bruce wayne #oswald cobblepot #harvey dent #fanfic #story

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talabib · 6 years

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Leadership Journey : Nelson Mandela

If asked to name the greatest icon of recent times, who would we pick? It’s a fair bet that many would choose Nelson Mandela. A man who suffered at the hands of an extremely unjust society, he refused to break, and instead kept fighting, kept pushing for justice and, after decades of punishment, won.

But what led Mandela to develop such strength and conviction? His autobiography, A long Walk To Freedom take you on a journey through Mandela’s life, showing the events that made the man.

Nelson Mandela’s interest in social justice began during his childhood in rural South Africa

Nelson Mandela hardly needs an introduction. His life story is a classic tale of one man's struggle against oppression, and we'll certainly be telling it for years to come.

Mandela was born in 1918, in Mvezo, a small village in the South African countryside. He belonged to the Xhosa tribe, a proud ethnic group that highly valued law, courtesy and education. At birth, he was named Rolihlahla, which means “trouble maker” in the Xhosa language.

Mandela's father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a chief in the tribe, a distinction that traditionally would have endowed him with high social status in the community. The British influence, however, had weakened the authority of tribal chiefs, so the position carried little political clout at the time.

Additionally, the British could oust anyone who threatened their authority, because each chief had to be ratified by the government. Mandela's father was very headstrong and often challenged them, and it wasn't long before the British revoked his status as chief.

When Mandela's father died, another regent of the tribe, Jongintaba, offered to become Mandela's guardian. This would end up having a huge impact on his life.

As a child, Mandela often attended tribal meetings at the regent's court, where he learned about the plight of his people. One of the most prominent figures there was Chief Joyi, an elderly chief with royal lineage who railed against white supremacy.

Chief Joyi taught that the surrounding tribes had lived peacefully until white Europeans arrived and sowed the seeds of conflict. The white man, he said, was greedy and stole land that should've been shared, shattering the tribes' unity.

Later in his life, Mandela would learn that Chief Joyi's history lessons hadn't always been correct. Nonetheless, they influenced his life dramatically: they opened his eyes to social injustice.

Mandela first began challenging authority as a student at Fort Hare.

The young Mandela was fond of physical activities like stick fighting, but he was an introvert as well. He was also the first person in his family to go to school, where his lifelong commitment to learning and education began.

The village school Mandela attended was entirely British. The students learned exclusively about British history, culture and institutions; African culture was simply never mentioned in the classroom. Mandela therefore learned the history of his own people from the elders in the regent's court.

At the time, it was standard for Africans to have an anglicized name in addition to their regular one. Miss Mdigane, Mandela's teacher, chose Mandela's for him: Nelson. Mandela never learned the reason for her choice, but suspected it could've been connected to the great British sea captain Lord Nelson.

Mandela studied very diligently. So much so that he ended up completing his junior certificate at Healdtown College in two years rather than three. Then, in 1937, he moved to Fort Hare College, where he studied English, anthropology, politics, native administration and law.

It was also at Fort Hare that he began challenging authority. One night, Mandela and some of his fellow students started discussing the lack of freshmen representation in the House Committee, and they decided to elect their own House Committee that better addressed their interests.

Mandela and his friends caucused among the freshmen and garnered massive support. They then told the warden that if he overruled them, they’d resign, which would cause their freshmen supporters great displeasure.

In the end, they succeeded: the warden allowed the Committee to stand. The following year, however, things didn't go so well.

In his second year, Mandela strongly supported a student boycott and ended up getting expelled for it. Finished with his time at Fort Hare, he decided to move to Johannesburg and get a job.

Mandela's political work began in Johannesburg.

Johannesburg was a bustling city when Mandela arrived in 1941. He didn't know it at the time, but in Johannesburg he'd make lifelong friends who'd fight against oppression with him.

Mandela first took a job as a night watchman in a gold mine. To him, the gold mine was a powerful symbol of white oppression – thousands of Africans slaving away every day, in a massive capitalist enterprise that only benefited the white owners.

His true goal was to become a lawyer, however. One day, one of Mandela's cousins offered to take him to someone who could help, Walter Sisulu.

Sisulu ran a real estate agency that specialized in providing housing for Africans. He and Mandela would go on to become very close and the pair would face many hardships together.

Sisulu managed to get Mandela a position as a clerk in one of Johannesburg's largest law firms, where he worked while studying for a BA in law at the University of South Africa.

One of Mandela's colleagues, Gaur Radebe, the only other black employee at the firm, was a prominent member of the African National Congress, or ANC.

The ANC was founded in 1912, making it the oldest African national organization in the country. It aimed to secure full citizenship for all Africans in South Africa.

Gaur believed the ANC was the best hope for change in the country, and, soon enough, Mandela began attending ANC meetings with him.

Mandela got his first taste of real political activism in 1943, during a bus boycott that protested the rising bus fares. Mandela became an active participant in the boycott – not just an observer. Marching alongside his people was exhilarating and empowering.

In his nascent political life, Mandela also befriended a number of other activists, like Tony O'Dowd, Harold Wolpe and various members of the Communist Party. These connections would prove vital in his later struggle against apartheid.

The National Party's rise to power saw the beginning of apartheid.

Walter Sisulu's home in Johannesburg became a hotspot for ANC members and African intellectuals. One of the people who frequented the house was Anton Lembebe, a prominent lawyer who'd have a big impact on Mandela.

Lembebe argued that Africa rightfully belonged to black people. He called on African men from all tribes to unite and assert their right to the land.

Reclaiming the land would do away with the Western standards and ideals that had caused many Africans to internalize deep feelings of shame about their culture – essentially curing a culture-wide inferiority complex.

Mandela, Sisulu, Lembede and a few others eventually went to see Dr. Xuma, the head of the ANC at the time. They suggested the ANC build a Youth League to gather support, as the organization was still somewhat small. Dr. Xuma was initially hesitant because he thought the African masses couldn't be organized, but, in 1944, he agreed to form the Youth League.

And then, in 1948, something shocking happened: Dr. Daniel Malan's National Party won the general election.

The National Party had run on a political campaign called apartheid, which means “apartness” in Afrikaans. They'd won the election using extremely racist slogans like Die kaffer op sy plek – “The nigger in his place.” As soon as Malan came to power, he began implementing a series of acts that put apartheid into practice.

One of the first was the Group Areas Act, which stipulated that different racial groups had to stay in strictly separated areas. The Youth League fought back, organizing a National Day of Protest, where they urged all African workers to stay home.

The National Day of Protest took place on June 26th, 1950. It was a success, strengthening both the movement and Mandela's commitment to the struggle.

Thanks to the protest and the Defiance Campaign, a similar political move, the number of ANC members swelled to 100,000 in just one year.

As the National Party's tactics became harsher, Mandela saw the necessity of violence.

The National Day of Protest strengthened the ANC, but it also illustrated the power of the National Party, which only intensified its efforts to squash resistance.

After the protest, the National Party passed the Suppression of Communism Act. They then used it to go after Mandela.

On June 30th, 1950, Mandela was arrested for violating the act. Because of the role he’d played in planning and executing the previous year's protests, the government had been after him for a while.

Massive demonstrations took place on the streets of Johannesburg when Mandela and the others accused along with him first appeared in court. On December 2nd of the same year, they were all found guilty of “statutory communism” and sentenced to nine months in prison. The sentence was suspended for two years, however, allowing Mandela to continue his work.

In August of 1952, Mandela started his own law firm. It focused on helping Africans, many of whom were now in desperate need of legal help. It had become illegal for Africans to ride on Whites Only buses, drink from Whites Only fountains or even walk through Whites Only doors.

When he appeared in court, Mandela made a point of being defiant. In one trial, for example, he managed to free a client by embarrassing her white employer.

The employer had accused her black maid of stealing her “madam's” clothes. So Mandela picked up a piece of the evidence – a pair of her panties. He held them up to the court then asked if they were hers. Embarrassed, she said no, and the case was later dismissed.

As the situation worsened, Mandela and Sisulu came to believe that the National Party’s increasingly harsher laws could only be met with violence. Sisulu tried to secretly travel to China to ask the government if they'd provide them with weapons, but the ANC leadership soon found out, which led to a heated debate on the use of violence in the ANC.

The government went after Mandela and the other ANC leaders as the situation grew worse.

Mandela was arrested at his house on December 5th, 1956. The warrant for his arrest accused him of hoogverraad, the Afrikaans term for High Treason. He'd long expected the government to make a bigger move against the ANC, and now it had finally arrived.

The government claimed they had evidence that Mandela had planned violent acts in the Defiance Campaign. They also arrested nearly all of the Campaign's other leaders.

It was clear from the start that the prosecution's case was weak. The star witness was Solomon Ngubase, a man who was serving a sentence for fraud. He claimed he'd attended an ANC meeting where the leaders had decided to send Walter Sisulu to the Soviet Union to acquire weapons for an armed struggle.

During Ngubase's cross-examination, the defense established that he was neither a member of the ANC nor a university graduate, as he'd claimed. This was a serious blow to the prosecution.

As the court case dragged on, the struggle raged outside. The severity of the situation really hit home on March 26th, 1960, when a tragedy occurred in the town of Sharpeville.

There, thousands of Africans had gathered around a local police station, demonstrating against the “pass laws,” which required all Africans to carry pass books when they left their designated neighborhood. The police panicked and opened fire on the crowd without warning. At least 69 people were killed, most of whom were shot in the back as they tried to flee.

Over 50,000 people gathered in Cape Town to protest the shootings. Riots broke out and the government declared a State of Emergency, suspending habeas corpus.

The court case took a better turn, however. Although the state had provided thousands of pages of material, the judge ruled that the evidence of a violent plot was insufficient and all the accused were acquitted.

After the trial, the ANC's struggle moved underground and Mandela created the MK.

While Mandela and his friends were in prison awaiting trial, they decided it was time to move things underground.

Mandela knew there was no time for celebration after his release; the ANC had to fight back quickly and they needed to change their tactics.

The violence debate within the ANC had already been going on for a few years. In a secret executive meeting, in 1961, Mandela argued that the state had left the ANC no other option.

But the ANC leadership decided the party would maintain an official policy of non-violence; Mandela, however, could create a militant organization within it. The new, militant wing of the ANC was dubbed Umkhonto we Siswe, meaning “The Spear of the Nation.” It was called the MK for short.

The MK started by using sabotage. Mandela had never fired a gun at someone in his life, but began studying all he could about guerrilla warfare, sabotage and revolution.

He also moved to the Liliesleaf Farmin Rivonia, a small suburb of Johannesburg that had been purchased by the movement. Liliesleaf Farm served as a safe house and training ground for the MK, and it was there that Mandela practiced his shooting and learned to use explosives.

He and the other MK members agreed to use sabotage first, as it had the lowest chance of injury and required less manpower. So in December of 1960, they detonated homemade bombs at a number of government buildings and power stations in Johannesburg. They also began circulating a manifesto declaring the MK's arrival.

The explosions came as a surprise to the government, which, plotting reprisal, redoubled its efforts as well.

The government persecuted Mandela as the struggle grew more intense.

By this point the government was willing to do anything to catch Mandela, who'd become an iconic figure in the movement.

They finally captured him on August 5th, 1962, when he was on his way back to Liliesleaf Farm after a secret MK meeting. He was then taken to prison, where he was joined by Sisulu, who'd also been arrested.

On Mandela's first day in court, he, his wife and many of the spectators wore leopard-skin karosses, traditional Xhosa garb. In his first address, he stated that he intended to put the government on trial and he didn't feel morally bound by the laws, as they were passed by a parliament he couldn't vote for.

He then recounted several instances where the government had rejected the ANC's attempts to settle their issues through official means. The ANC saw no other option but violence.

The prosecution's main piece of evidence was a six-page action plan taken from Liliesleaf Farm that implicated Mandela and the others for their planning of the MK. The document made it clear they'd be found guilty.

The trial garnered a great deal of international attention and excerpts from the speech Mandela gave on the day of the verdict were published in many newspapers. Vigils were held in cities all over the world.

On June 12th, 1964, Mandela was found guilty of all charges, but international pressure on South Africa helped save his life. A group of UN experts, for example, advised that amnesty be granted to everyone who opposed apartheid. The charges against Mandela would've usually carried the death penalty, but, instead, his final sentence was life in prison.

Mandela and his fellow prisoners kept up their resistance in prison.

After the trial, Mandela was taken to Robben Island, where he'd spend the next 20 years of his life.

Everyday life was very grim on Robben Island. Volleyball-sized stones were dumped into the prison courtyard each day and the prisoners had to crush them into gravel with small hammers. The weather was scorching hot.

Mandela belonged to the class of prisoners that were kept under the strictest control. He was only allowed one visitor and one letter every six months. His correspondence was heavily censored, too; he could barely read the letters he received from Winnie, his wife.

The worst part of prison was solitary confinement, which prisoners could be given for the smallest infractions. Just failing to stand up in your cell when a guard entered was enough.

The prison was designed to break them emotionally, so they kept up the spirit of resistance to make it through their days. When all prisoners except Indians were given shorts to wear, Mandela demanded to see the warden of the prison, as he felt it was indecent for an African man to wear shorts.

After two weeks of protest, the guards gave in. The victory was small but important nonetheless.

The prisoners faced many other challenges as well. It was difficult for them to get books and magazines, and anything related to politics or news was strictly forbidden.

Fortunately, the guards weren't especially bright. One prisoner managed to get a copy of The Economist because the guards assumed it was about economics.

Then, in 1966, the prisoners decided to go on a hunger strike to protest the prison's living conditions. Eventually, the guards joined them. The prison authorities realized the strike was too much for the prison, so they agreed to the prisoners' demands. Rebellion had proved contagious.

Mandela and his fellow African freedom fighters had wide support from the international community, which pressured the South African government.

The guards at Robben Island gradually became less strict with the prisoners as time went on, but the situation outside only worsened. There were also signs of hope, however. The 1970s saw an increase in mass protests around Africa and a new, more militant generation of freedom fighters began to emerge.

Mandela and the other prisoners had limited access to the news, but they managed to get word of an uprising in 1976.

In June of that year, fifteen thousand schoolchildren in Soweto, an urban area of Johannesburg, had gathered to protest legislation requiring schools to teach half of their courses in Afrikaans, a language most African children didn't want to learn.

Once again, the police opened fire on the crowd without warning, killing Hector Pieterson, a 13-year-old, along with many others. Two white men were also stoned to death. The events triggered riots and protests throughout the country.

Many in the new generation of South African freedom fighters were more aggressive and militant. Those who were convicted and sent to Robben Island viewed Mandela and the other Rivonia prisoners as moderates.

Many of the young freedom fighters were part of the Black Consciousness Movement. They believed the black man had to free himself from his sense of inferiority to whites in order to free himself from oppression. Mandela admired their militancy but thought their exclusive focus on blackness was immature.

The South African uprisings in the late 1970s were covered extensively by the international media, and people worldwide grew more enraged about apartheid. “Free Mandela” campaigns and events were popping up all over the world.

In 1980, the Johannesburg Saturday Post ran a story with the headline FREE MANDELA, including a petition the readers could sign. The article sparked a national debate on Mandela's release.

The South African government and freedom fighters finally began to negotiate when they both accepted that the violence was too much.

By the early 1980s, the struggle was only getting bloodier. Where would it end? The violence seemed to be spiraling out of control, pulling society down with it. Something had to be done.

In 1981, the South African Defense Force raided the ANC's offices in Maputo, Mozambique, killing thirteen people. The MK, who'd become more violent by that point, retaliated. In May, 1983, they detonated a car bomb outside a military facility in Pretoria as revenge, killing nineteen people.

Mandela realized that, without negotiations, the situation would only get more chaotic. The ANC had maintained that they wouldn't negotiate with the racist government, but Mandela started to realize it was necessary.

After the government again declared a State of Emergency, in 1986, Mandela requested a meeting with Kobie Coetsee, the Minister of Defense. Surprisingly, the request was granted and he was taken to the minister's private home in Cape Town.

Coetsee asked Mandela what it would take to keep the ANC from using violent tactics. This was the first step in negotiations.

Then, in May of 1988, Mandela and a committee of state officials began holding a series of secret meetings. In December of the following year, Mandela met with the new president, F. W. de Klerk. de Klerk was committed to fostering peace and listened carefully to what Mandela had to say.

In February, 1990, de Klerk announced that he would lift the ban on the ANC, which was still technically an illegal organization (that had widespread support through the country). He also agreed to release all political prisoners that had been put in jail for nonviolent activities. The same day, de Klerk met with Mandela and told him he'd be released.

Mandela was released in 1990, received the Nobel Peace Prize and continued his political work.

Nelson Mandela was released on February 11th, 1990. For South African people, however, freedom was still a long way off.

Mandela had been held in a low-security prison outside Cape Town since 1988. He had his own living space there, which served as a kind of halfway house between freedom and prison.

On the day of his release, Mandela was supposed to be taken from the house to the front gate by car, but a television presenter asked him to walk the last part of it. As he made his way toward the gate with his wife by his side, he raised his fist and the crowd shouted.

Later that day, he gave a speech from a City Hall balcony, before a massive crowd. He shouted out “Amandla,” which is Xhosa for “power,” and the crowd shouted back “Ngawethu,” meaning “to us.”

The following afternoon, Mandela told reporters that he'd do anything the ANC saw fit. He saw no conflict of interest between supporting ANC's militant struggle and moving forward with negotiations. The ANC would respond to peace with peace.

The relationship between the government and ANC was still tense, however. In December of 1992, the ANC executives decided to engage in a series of secret bilateral talks with the government. In the first, it was decided that all parties that earned over five percent in the general election should have proportional representation in the cabinet. That meant the ANC would have to work alongside the National Party, which provoked controversy within the ANC.

On April 27th, 1994, the first non-racialized election took place in South Africa. The ANC earned 62.6 percent of the votes. Shortly before that, Mandela was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the ideals he believed in. Though he and his people faced great challenges, persecution and violence, Mandela remained committed, even when he was held in prison. His work and dedication led to his becoming the torchbearer of the anti-apartheid movement, and the man who paved the way for a free and democratic South Africa.

#A Long Walk to Freedom #Nelson Mandela #Leadership Journeys

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pilgrimbenham · 6 years

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Be A Man

Who comes to mind when you think of a “true man”? Maybe Chuck Norris, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, or Clint Eastwood come to mind.

Some people think a man is someone who can woo a woman while replacing an engine while disciplining his children while programming a computer, all before he smokes some ribs and deadlifts 800 pounds!

We all tend to see guys who like poetry or music or who are more of an ‘indoor guy’ as somehow less of a man.

Today we live in a day when our culture is blurring the gender lines and trying to erase manhood and womanhood. Gender equality has become gender neutrality. Young men are encouraged to be ‘genderless’: neutered men who don't know what it truly means to be a man. Some have responded to this by visiting the other extreme and think we have to have grease on our face to be a guy. But what does the Bible say?

Let's start in the book of Job.

Prepare Yourself, Like a Man

We all know what happens to Job, but as he was suffering, Job didn't know what was happening! We had the advantage of reading Job chapter 1, where we see that God was allowing Satan to test Job. Job never got to read Job chapter 1 during the trial! So in the thick of it, Job has lost his home, his children, his health, basically his wife, and his friends have offered awful counsel. And in Job 40, he's about to be taken behind the woodshed by the Lord:

Job 40:6-7 6 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: 7 “Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me:

Did you catch what God said to Job? Prepare yourself like a man. What does that mean? The King James version renders this as: "Gird up thy loins."

What does that mean: ‘gird up thy loins’? We don't typically use that phrase with each other. "Hey Brian, I heard you have a new supervisor. You better gird up your loins, bro!" "Oh my wife is really being naggy. Pray that I can gird up my loins..."

That phrase in Job, found in the Septuagint Greek is the same word found in 1 Peter 1:13:

13Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

This was exactly the way in which the Israelites ate the Passover meal with their loose outer robe girded up about the waist with a girdle, being ready for a journey. Workmen, travelers, runners, wrestlers, and warriors all wore their robes tucked in so that they would be able to move more freely and without the risk of falling.

When Peter says "gird up the loins of your mind", we might use the phrase today "roll up your sleeves!"

Peter is saying you and I need to pull up the loose-hanging areas of our minds that may cause us to get tripped up. For some of us, that means thinking clearly, not with fear or doubt. For others, it is not allowing lust or inappropriate thoughts to drape around unchecked. For others still, it may be jealousy or rage or selfishness that drive their minds. Whatever thoughts you entertain, the loins of our minds need to be girded up.

When God tells Job to gird up thy loins, He's saying you need to be ready. You're going to have some work that only a man can do. In other words, God has an expectation for men.

Men and Women are Different

Men and women are incredibly different—as much as the court of popular opinion wants to blur gender. And we should celebrate the beauty of diversity in gender.

In a Harvard study of several hundred preschoolers, researchers discovered an interesting phenomenon. As they taped the children's playground conversation, they realized that all the sounds coming from little girls' mouths were recognizable words. However, only 60 percent of the sounds coming from little boys were recognizable. The other 40 percent were yells and sound effects like "Vrrrooooom!" "Aaaaagh!" "Toot toot!" This difference persists into adulthood.

Communication experts say that the average woman speaks over 25,000 words a day while the average man speaks only a little over 10,000. What does this mean in marital terms? . . . On average a wife will say she needs to spend 45 minutes to an hour each day in meaningful conversation with her husband. What does her husband sitting next to her say is enough time for meaningful conversation? Fifteen to twenty minutes--once or twice a week!

Men and women are different! We need to, like Job, understand that God has created men uniquely so that we would step up and lead!

4 Ways to Act Like Men

The church in Corinth was a very carnal church. There were arguments, factions, sexual immorality that they were proud of, people getting drunk during communion (on the wine itself) and a lot of confusion around spiritual gifts. Corinth as a city would be worse than Vegas today. To "corinthianize" meant to be someone who was a sexual deviant. Sadly, the corruption of the city meant the abuse of women: women who had lived in Corinth would probably all have #metoo on their social media statuses today. You could say “What happens in Corinth stays in Corinth!” And yet knowing this, the apostle Paul doesn't try to be soft on these men. He closes the book of 1 Corinthians challenging them with 5 exhortations:

13 Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Did you catch that phrase: act like men? Let's use that as an overall blanket idea and then look at these other four challenges under that umbrella:

1. BE WATCHFUL.

Jesus admonished His disciples in the Garden, as well as all of His followers in several of His teachings, to watch. It means to be awake as opposed to being asleep. It is the Greek word gregereo, used twenty-two times in the New Testament. If your name is Gregory, this is what your name means: “watchful”. The Corinthians were always in a stupor, if they were anything, it was not watchful nor awake.

Biblically, we are to watch for the Lord's return. We are to watch and pray so that we do not fall into temptation. We are to watch out for apathy. We are to watch out for false teachers. We are to be watchful in prayer.

Many men are not sober-minded so like a drunk and passed-out watchman on the wall of the city, they have no clue that the enemy is invading. We need to be watchful over our families, if God has stewarded a family to us. We must be watchful dads who know who our children are friends with, and what they are listening to and watching. We must be watchful over what we are listening to and watching! Guard our hearts and guard our eyes. Be watchful. But secondly, Paul says:

2. STAND FIRM IN THE FAITH

More literally that should be translated "stand FAST". Paul warned Christians to stand fast:

In their liberty in Jesus (Galatians 5:1)

In Christian unity (Philippians 1:27)

In the Lord Himself (Philippians 4:1)

In the teaching of the apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:15)

Are you someone who is known as a "solid" guy? You are standing firm in these areas. You are standing firm in your freedom in Christ, not legalism. Standing firm in your relationship with other believers, in your walk with Jesus, and in the Word. You are solid because you are standing fast. You aren't blown around by every wind of doctrine, or legalistic notions, or being offended by your brothers, or shallow in your walk. Oh how the Corinthian church needed to simply stand firm! Notice what they are to stand firm in? THE FAITH. Not in 'faith', but THE faith. The bedrock of the Gospel. When we stand on the Gospel we won't fall for anything.

3. BE STRONG

We are admonished 33x in Scripture to 'be strong'. A more accurate translation here would read "be strengthened." We may feel strong physically, or mentally, but the reality is we are all weak. We need to be strengthened. We are told in Ephesians 6:10 to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. In 2 Timothy 2:1 Paul exhorted the young man Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Clarke points out: “The terms in this verse are all military: Watch ye, watch, and be continually on your guard, lest you be surprised by your enemies . . . Stand fast in the faith – Keep in your ranks; do not be disorderly; be determined to keep your ranks unbroken; keep close together . . . Quit yourselves like men – When you are attacked, do not flinch; maintain your ground; resist; press forward; strike home; keep compact; conquer . . . Be strong – If one company or division be opposed by too great a force of the enemy, strengthen that division, and maintain your position . . . summon up all your courage, sustain each other; fear not, for fear will enervate you.”

4. LET ALL YOU DO BE DONE IN LOVE

Imagine if the Corinthian church truly followed this command. They wouldn't be taking communion in a selfish way. They wouldn't allow sin to hang out in the church. They wouldn't be preferring themselves and being divisive, but would prefer others.

One pastor points out how love balances the other commands Paul just gave:

(1) Without Love you won’t be Watching with alertness, you’ll be Examining with suspicion (2) Without Love you won’t be Standing Fast, you’ll be Running Fast. (3) Without Love you won’t be Strong, you’ll be Weak. (4) Without Love you won’t be a Man, you’ll be a coward.

John Macarthur says this about love: “Love is something that admonishes and rebukes when sin is visible. In fact I just would call your attention to the fact that if you take the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians and you take the 13 chapters of 2 Corinthians that totals 29 chapters written to straighten out one church. Now in terms of chapters that makes it the longest book in the New Testament. There’s no other book that has 29 chapters. The closest is Matthew and Acts but this one had 29 chapters because there was so much to say, because there was such a mess in Corinth. I don’t know about you but I’d rather not have 29 chapters written about me to try to straighten me out but that’s what happened in Corinth. The book is loaded with rebuke but it’s also loaded with love because, you see, it’s love that calls to righteousness, isn’t it?”

We need to act like men, to gird up our loins as men. Stop making excuses for your lack of involvement in the church. Stop playing video games and start expanding the kingdom. Stop looking at pornography and start reaching lost people for Christ.

Be watchful, stand firm, be strong, and be loving.

Is there an area of your life in this post where you are lacking? If we will do this--act like men--we will see our families transformed. We will be the husbands our wives delight in. We will be the fathers our children respect and want to submit to. We will be the employees that glorify and please God, and who earn a reputation of honest and godly. And a church of godly men will ultimately be a church that makes a difference in a corrupt and perverse generation.

Are you ready to gird up your loins like a man?

#men #man #manhood #gender #Jesus #church

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honestmomming-blog · 7 years

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These past few weeks have been as close to personal hell as I possibly could get. First, we stopped taking A1 to the OT, rather opting to do “therapy” at home, and to send her to a nursery school once a week for much needed socialisation and stimulation. Soon after, A2 got sick, for the first time since birth. At first she wasn’t really bad, she had an irritating cough but no fever, and also didn’t sleep or eat badly. So we kind of ignored it for 2 weeks, just giving over the counter meds, using essential oils and breastfeeding as much as possible. Inevitably, husband got sick. I stayed next to the humidifier, spiked with peppermint and tea tree oil, trying in vain to not get sick as well. Mom (and business partner) went in for a major back operation, leaving me alone at the venue in one of our busiest weeks ever. Then, A1 started looking and sounding bad, and A2’s cough got worse with a slight fever. My Mother-in-law took both kids to the doctor and came back with a bag full of meds. Felt like the whole pharmacy! A1 had pink eye, a throat infection and starting symptoms of flu. A2 had an ear infection and started with bronchitis. So both ended up on antibiotics, which we try to avoid at all costs. I ended up running around from one function to the next, doing hospital visits and doctors’ visits, in short just running hectically around, with 2 sick kids in tow. As with all other people, high stress usually leads to little or not enough sleep, which makes you hungry and cranky, which makes you crave the wrong food (or you are in such a rush that you don’t have time to get decent food), wrong food basically destroys your immune system and makes you tired. Now you are tired, under stress, eating wrong, getting more tired, getting sick because your immune system is just above 0, then getting more stressed because now you are sick and tired and over-worked. Vicious circle, and I was caught up in it. First thing that went out the window was my usual 6 to 7 hours sleep. Sick kids don’t sleep, and admin doesn’t take care of itself. Between the 2 I clocked about 2 to 4 hours a night. Next to go was my resolve not to use coffee as fuel – back to 7 or 8 cups a day. Tired and hyped up on caffeine, the healthy lifestyle was the next victim. On the road, between meetings and deliveries etc. food had to be on the run. Luckily for me (and my body) I don’t do take-aways, so food on the run is popping into Woolworths for a sandwich or salad or ready-made meal. And of course a coffee.

A less-than-ideal diet not high in fresh veggies, lean protein, good fat and no sugar, lots of caffeine, high stress and little sleep can only lead to one thing – I got sick! That means my whole family was sick, the two girls on antibiotics, myself on cortisone and husband on whatever he could get his hands on. Luckily Mom’s operation was a huge success, and she takes nothing lying down. She got out of the hospital and almost instantly back into work, but could not do any driving, heavy (or any) lifting, and standing for long periods of time was also a problem. So I was still responsible for the bulk of the work, and now I was sick. We struggled through the next week or two, just trying to keep the edges together. Survival mode kicked in, leaving little space for the small details. Dinners comprised of single dishes, lunch was bought on the road, and breakfast skipped altogether. Oh boy how far had we fallen! Off course we all struggled to get healthy again. Luckily, things quieted down at work, and I could pay more attention to my family, meaning going back to our normal diet. And true as bob, within a few days we all felt more like our usual selves! This personal experience once again confirmed our very firm belief that the food that you put into your body is the most important preventative health measure that you can implement. We believe that what you eat has the ability to not only nourish but to protect, heal, and strengthen. If our diet had been better during this trying time, we most probably would have been able to jump back from the sniffles without having to go the antibiotic route. For this reason, we have systematically cut out all sugar, most starch (except for complex carbs and resistant starches such as beans and legumes and some starchy veg), all processed food, most seed oils, and to some extent alcohol (especially for the kids lol) and fruit. This has been very difficult to implement with the kids, in fact we are still struggling. Especially since we have to battle family, friends, and other care-takers’ old-school ideas of what is considered to be healthy and good. A case in point, honey. We don’t allow honey – it is almost 70% fructose (fruit sugar, in our household also known as “bad sugar”), and your body cannot use fructose for anything other than making fat cells. It does not provide energy, or fuel, and the small amount of nutrients that you can absorb from it does not outweigh the negatives. We allow fruit, especially for the kids. They can have as much fruit as they would like, as long as it is fresh. No dried fruit or fruit juice (pure sugar with no added benefit of fibre!), limited treats and sweets, and definitely no sodas. Our kids drink rooibos tea (unsweetened, mostly black), water, and full cream milk. We drink coffee (oops), lots of water, and some wine… sometimes more wine than just “some”…

I will write a more detailed post soon about our food struggles, triumphs, and challenges. For now, suffice to say that merely going back to our usual diet not only helped us all get our health back, but also allowed me to go on at full speed for the past 3 weeks. Husband is busy working full time and doing his MBA, with a wife who is rarely at home over weekends and 2 kids under the age of 3. And he is coping. I don’t think it is farfetched to chalk that up to his eating habits. Yes, we do exercise. Actually a lot, we love being active and busy and encourage the kids to also be. But as you all should now, you cannot outrun a bad diet – if you don’t eat healthily you won’t be healthy. The past few weeks have been difficult, but it would have been a lot easier if we had taken care of our bodies, if we had kept feeding our systems the nutrients it needed we would have been better equipped to handle the onslaughts. Will we learn from this? I hope so! Luckily every time that we slide, we get back on track faster than the time before, so hopefully sooner rather than later we will be so invested in this lifestyle that there will be no alternative, and no bad habits to fall back to. But I will keep you posted!

How our diet could have saved us from antibiotics These past few weeks have been as close to personal hell as I possibly could get. First, we stopped taking A1 to the OT, rather opting to do “therapy” at home, and to send her to a nursery school once a week for much needed socialisation and stimulation.

#Advice #Antibiotics #Babies #diet #family #Kids #Sick #Stress #Tricks

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