June, 22 (Morning) Devotion

“He shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory.”

Zechariah 6:13

Christ himself is the builder of his spiritual temple, and he has built it on the mountains of his unchangeable affection, his omnipotent grace, and his infallible truthfulness. But as it was in Solomon’s temple, so in this; the materials need making ready. There are the “Cedars of Lebanon,” but they are not framed for the building; they are not cut down, and shaped, and made into those planks of cedar, whose odoriferous beauty shall make glad the courts of the Lord’s house in Paradise. There are also the rough stones still in the quarry, they must be hewn thence, and squared. All this is Christ’s own work. Each individual believer is being prepared, and polished, and made ready for his place in the temple; but Christ’s own hand performs the preparation-work. Afflictions cannot sanctify, excepting as they are used by him to this end. Our prayers and efforts cannot make us ready for heaven, apart from the hand of Jesus, who fashioneth our hearts aright.

As in the building of Solomon’s temple, “there was neither hammer, nor axe, nor any tool of iron, heard in the house,” because all was brought perfectly ready for the exact spot it was to occupy—so is it with the temple which Jesus builds; the making ready is all done on earth. When we reach heaven, there will be no sanctifying us there, no squaring us with affliction, no planing us with suffering. No, we must be made meet here—all that Christ will do beforehand; and when he has done it, we shall be ferried by a loving hand across the stream of death, and brought to the heavenly Jerusalem, to abide as eternal pillars in the temple of our Lord.

“Beneath his eye and care,

The edifice shall rise,

Majestic, strong, and fair,

And shine above the skies.”

Daily Bible and Devotional for Women - http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=daily.bible.for.woman

Me, writing: Hm... I think I can save this problem for the Editing Stage. Me, editing: Hey what the fuck

if you dont “believe” in aftercare you deserve to get run over by a bus btw

Fanfics that always have Azula stand trial for "war crimes" always baffle me. That could very easily blow up in Zuko's face. Really, what did Azula do during the war that Zuko didn't do before he changed sides? We see Zuko attack civilians all throughout book 1 in his pursuit of Aang. We never see Azula do this. And Zuko faced little to no consequences for what he did. It would make much more sense for Zuko to place the blame for his actions on Ozai, the literal adult who was fine with committing genocide. Not Azula, his little sister. Zuko would be giving his political allies ammo to use against him if he were to put Azula on trial, which is the last thing he would want to do. Because for anyone who doesn't want Zuko on the throne post war? He just gave them the perfect excuse to use against him.

come on guys dont blame the trans men for being disgustingly transmisogynistic and forcing trans women out of their spaces :( theyre probably just like reeeally super depressed or something and theyre actually hurting themselves MORE than theyre hurting trans women. this is a normal thing to say. wont SOMEONE please think of the poor transandrophobia truthers in their hour of need

even after all this time...he's so careful and gentle with him i- please that's love right there you can't convince me otherwise

one of the wild things about people’s stubborn insistence on misunderstanding The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas is that the narrator anticipates an audience that won’t engage with the text, just in the opposite direction. Throughout the story are little asides asking what the reader is willing to believe in. Can you believe in a utopia? What if I told you this? What about this? Can you believe in the festivals? The towers by the sea? Can we believe that they have no king? Can we believe that they are joyful? Does your utopia have technology, luxury, sex, temples, drugs? The story is consulting you as it’s being told, framed as a dialogue. It literally asks you directly: do you only believe joy is possible with suffering? And, implicitly, why?

the question isn’t just “what would you personally do about the kid.” It isn’t just an intricate trolley problem. It’s an interrogation of the limits of imagination. How do we make suffering compulsory? Why? What futures (or pasts) are we capable of imagining? How do we rationalize suffering as necessary? And so on. In all of the conversations I’ve seen or had about this story, no one has mentioned the fact that it’s actively breaking the fourth wall. The narrator is building a world in front of your eyes and challenging you to participate. “I would free the kid” and then what? What does the Omelas you’ve constructed look like, and why? And what does that say about the worlds you’re building in real life?

Nightmares (1/2)

took me awhile to put this comic together but now that the holidays are over (at least for this Yid) i have time on my hands!

i like to think that the jacobs’ apartment is a safe place for the manhattan newsies, and a few of them come over for dinner or a warm place to sleep when they can. (most specifically Jack, who took a while to warm up to the idea of Davey’s parents offering him shelter and food, but once he did he spent half his time sleeping over)

Why I still swear by romancing Minthara in act 1 even though there's a way to recruit her otherwise.

Both have their strong narrative beats, to be sure: taking pity on an enemy Vs two broken people putting each other back together.

I just really like the emotional climax the latter reaches, especially if you continue her romance.

some sort of implicit blessing

Now that the weekend is over I wanted to share these here aaand take this opportunity to thank @sihtricfedaraaahvicius for gifting my bunch of Sihtrics (part 2, lol) to Arnas my beloved and @whitedarkmoonflower for gifting my Finan drawing to Mark BUT also because she was extra nice and gifted a copy of the s4 Sihtric and Sygtryggr drawings I did for her to Arnas and Eysteinn!!! (That last bit was unexpected as I only asked her to give Mark my drawing so naturally I'm over the moon and want to give her a big virtual hug (regardless if she gifted my art in my behalf or hers, I'm still crying) 😭😭🥰) Anyway long story short, you're the nicest guys thank you so much!!!! <3

Additionally, you can find unedited HQ pics of these drawings >here< on my portfolio (recommended to open in Chrome, for whatever reason it doesn't show up from the tumblr app) 💕

Shortly after Madoka Magica released (to great success), everyone started trying to make the next big "magical girl misery" anime. I think the reason those ones didn't really take off is because they missed the point of Madoka: the love of others and self-sacrifice is center stage, and we only really feel bad for the characters of Madoka Magica because we see them happy.

Madoka Magica isn't just a misery fest; Mami's death matters because we understand Mami's dreams and struggles, Sayaka becoming Oktavia is impactful because we see her downfall that isn't her fault (or anyone's for that matter). Madoka (and to a secondary extent, Homura) never give up hope or trying.

Madoka isn't constantly victimised and abused (unlike some over-the-top edgy magical girl animes I know) she's in tragic circumstances and still tries her best; still WANTS the best for the world around her.

Making something sad isn't about how much we see a character suffer and struggle; it's about making the struggles and suffering they go through impactful through their story. Wants, relationships, traits, and flaws... That's what makes a character's pain painful for an audience.

ok real talk. should i ask for my old job back.

pros:

they would very likely hire me back

i would one again have a steady income, cheaper benefits, etc

cons:

this place literally caused me to develop a panic disorder

I Dont Have Much Pride As A Person Except In This Case And I'd Hate Asking

Some doodles of my little tragic goat sons

Deacon loves two things: Ymber and digging himself a grave.

Fulj hates one thing: Deacon.