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ninja-knox-ur-sox-off · 17 days

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Alright, I’ve been sitting on this for a while and I think i’ve managed to sort out my thoughts so it’s not just agonized internal screaming. Time to finally talk about Monkie Kid Season 5.

Quick Disclaimers before we get started: please keep in mind i’m probably gonna be a little negative here. I’m not going after the animators or the writers or anything of the sort, I just need to get this out and slapping it on my blog just makes sense so people have the option to ignore it. Yes, I’m still grateful we still have the show, yes I’m still happy we have the same VA’s, don’t come at me. I’m not gonna get too salty cause I’ve gotten most of that out methinks and too much salt is bad for ya health, but I still do wanna talk about it and I’m still gonna be at least a little salty. If you’re not interested in hearing anything negative about the future of season five please don’t feel obligated to read. And please DO NOT take this as an invitation to bash on the new studio or anyone else in the replies, I really don’t wanna see that, go make your own post if you want to do that. I’m going to keep it under the cut so it’s easy to scroll past.

Welp, if you’re here to read, buckle up and here we go!

To start off, let's get the big personal bias thing out of the way: I strongly dislike puppet animation.

I say ‘strongly dislike’ and not hate because, while I hate most puppet animation, there is Bluey which is the best puppet animation can offer. I didn’t even know it was puppet animation for a while because of how beautifully it’s animated, so, puppet animation does have potential, I’m not gonna deny that. However, I hate that it is always used to replace 2D animation. It’s the cheaper, faster option and I can’t even begin to count the amount of shows that have started off with the plans for being 2D before being ultimately scrapped in favor of either puppet animation or 3D. Monkie Kid was the outlier in all that for me. It was 2D and it felt right. It was gorgeous and good for my brain to look at, it made me excited for animation and for art. It really was so incredibly special to me in a way it just can’t be anymore without Flying Bark’s animation. I probably won’t stop watching but, because of my dislike of puppet animation, it might be a bit of a struggle to get my brain to focus on it the way it used to, (we’ll see.) Absolutely no shade to Wildbrain (the new animation studio) they have worked miracles in the short time that they’ve had, they’ve managed to very closely replicate the style of monkie kid, and they are excellent at what they do, but when things are rushed (LEGO, [derogatory]) it makes it very hard to maintain a high standard, especially when we have something like Flying Bark’s animation to compare it to. And listen, please don’t tell me it looks similar to Flying Bark’s animation, please don’t send me shots and tell me but look how close it is! This one’s gorgeous! Because, at least to me… it’s not.

I’m the kind of person who sits in a room and I see a picture is crooked while no one else in the room notices. It could be off by centimeters but I still notice. It hurts my brain to look at and I go a bit insane until I can get up and straighten it, which usually makes people laugh and honestly yeah it’s kinda funny, but I really can’t stand things looking off, and, despite Wildbrain’s valiant attempt and excellent replication of the style, everything in the trailer we got looks off to me. From the framing, to the animation, to the design of the new characters; from the perspective to the coloring, everything is off and my ‘PLEASE LET ME STRAIGHTEN THE PICTURE’ brain hurts looking at it. I’m not trying to rag on the animation, I know they’re doing their best. Off things just hurt my brain to look at.

That’s why I loved Flying Bark’s animation so much. From Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Monkie Kid to Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Flying Bark’s animation has scratched that itch in my brain that has desperately wanted things to look right. Everything is just so shaped!!! AAA!!!

Now, there are episodes of monkie kid that I’m not as big of a fan of. Impossible Delivery is one of them. I’m not a fan of how some scenes are drawn in it, so I tend to avoid it a lot. And that was done by Flying Bark so, this new animation for Monkie Kid is really doing a number on me.

…that being said: I still aint’ about that ‘flying bark started out awkward too’

Once again, ABSOLUTELY NO SHADE TO WILDBRAIN, (or anyone who’s said this at any point, I ain’t coming for your kneecaps,) they have done a SPECTACULAR job replicating Flying Bark’s style in the time that they have and I’m sure LEGO has been putting them through the wringer and rushing them through stuff (which I’ll complain about in a minute) but that’s the thing… They replicated Flying Bark’s Style. Style and animation are two completely separate things. This same drama was used by critics to bash the crap out of ROTTMNT when it first came out; they kept saying the animation was ugly, but it wasn’t, the animation was gorgeous, it was the style that they disliked because, most shows right now start off clunky and a little ugly and that’s just how it is. (Also the promotional material for Rise dragged it through the mud. I will always be salty about that.)

The pilot of monkie kid’s style wasn't all the way there, I’m not gonna deny that. The crew at flying bark were still figuring things out how to draw lego, BUT. The perspective, the framing, and the animation were all on point and just as gorgeous as the rest of the series. When I hear the argument that Flying Bark wasn’t great at first either it makes me want to tear my hair out because it WAS great. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY GREAT, FROM THE BEGINNING, THEIR ANIMATION HAS BEEN GORGEOUS IN MONKIE KID SINCE DAY ONE. The style is what was off. With this new animation we have the opposite experience. Instead of an awkward style with a god tier animation, we have a pretty excellent replication of a good style with an animation form I personally am not a very big fan of. It’s jarring. And even though I’m sure wildbrain will indeed get into their own groove, it will likely never be as earth shattering as Flying Bark because Flying Bark is Flying Bark and what they did was possible because of 2D.

Onto yelling at lego here we go: 'Be grateful it wasn’t canceled'

I’ma be real, this one bugs me the most.

The animation industry right now sucks. There’s no denying it. We have incredible artists left and right being messed over by studios and companies, entirely completed series being deleted, artists being ripped off, overworked and underpaid, outsourcing in every way they can, the disrespect of A/I, and 2D animation especially being dragged through the mud, even with groundbreaking 2D+3D movies like Spider-Verse and award winning movies like The Boy and the Heron, proving 2D is far from dead. Shows are being canceled before their second or third seasons, ideas are being recycled, so many people have watched their favorite things end too soon, and I’m one of them. Bro I was into DRAGON BOOSTER as a kid. Do you know that show? Probably not. It was canceled after one season YEARS ago and ended on a cliffhanger that makes me hurt to this day and I was a kid back then. (Incredible show btw you should give it a watch.) This cancellation thing isn’t new. I got on board with Rise only to see it sniped because Nickelodeon is stupid. Legend of Korra got messed over by Nickelodeon too. I have experienced cancellation/rushed endings before and it sucks. And it fills me with rage to see the bar is so low, that we should all just be okay with what happened because ‘at least it wasn’t canceled.’ I’m not mad at the people saying this, I’m just upset that this is what the reality of animation is. Heck I'm allowed to be upset about it.

And, let’s be real for a second here… Monkie Kid is LEGO’s product for China. It’s making them money. Canceling monkie kid would be shooti ng themselves in the foot more than anything else. LEGO is not hurting for money. Ninjago ran for FIFTEEN seasons and is still running today in this soft-reboot with even better animation than before. LEGO has the means. They don’t need to rush animators to finish things or underpay people. Flying Bark is in big demand right now because more and more people are noticing how good their stuff is. I’m willing to bet their schedule is packed, (they’re working on the ATLA movie which I have mixed emotions about but at least the animation’s gonna be BANGER and last I heard a stranger things animated series??) and when you’re in that high of demand you have to raise your prices, that’s just how that works. But even with that, given enough patience, time, and proper pay, I have no doubt they could have done Monkie Kid as well. We know Lego was pushing them way too hard to animate Monkie Kid and that animation is INSANE and not cheap. LEGO can afford that. But they decided it wasn’t worth that.

Okay don’t quote me on that last bit. I really didn’t want to start going off about conspiracy theories but I admit I get really frustrated when I hear the ‘at least it wasn’t canceled’ thing because I know there’s more going on behind the scenes, people just aren’t transparent about it. Studios and companies right now don’t really care about the quality of things, it’s the artists and the writers and the creators that care about the quality. There are other 2D studios out there but LEGO chose to go with puppet animation because it's faster and cheaper. I am always going to be upset about that. Am I grateful Monkie Kid wasn’t canceled? Sure. But at the same time I don’t want to feel grateful for the bare minimum. I’m angry at the state of the animation industry that no one in the higher-ups of these industries seem to respect 2D animators or 2D animation in general, that no one seems to understand how much skill it takes to animate and how worth investing in it is. And seeing people tell others upset by this that they should be grateful they have anything at all just rubs me the wrong way.

And the audacity to change the animation is ridiculous to me because a huge part of the audience for LMK is here because of the animation. It’s not like Ninjago, which started off with low budget 3D and slowly got better and better over time with a few dips here and there. We started off with one of the best 2D animated shows of all time, (in my monkey obsessed opinion,) animated the way it was to draw in an audience, and suddenly for no reason at all and no prior warning we’ve dropped down to what every pilot of every puppet animation children show looks like these days. It feels like a crummy thing to do. Yes, I’m aware we’re lucky we still have a show, yes I’m grateful we still have the same VA’s and the same writers. But this is a big and abrupt change and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t suck.

Okay, onto my biggest concern: how the writing of the show will pair with this new animation.

With all due respect and love to the writers, Monkie Kid is awful when it comes to biased narration in their storytelling. It has relied so so heavily on visual storytelling to fill in the gaps and tell us what’s actually going on while the dialogue is lying to our face. If you’re not looking, it can lead you to woefully misunderstand the characters and what is happening. It’s a style of writing that I’m not a super big fan of, BUT I, for the most part (aside from fandom craziness,) enjoyed it! Because the animation helped it hold up. What made the storytelling work was the nuance and incredible detail in Flying Bark’s animation. You could analyze every expression, every style difference in flashbacks, and it would tell you so much; I am a SUCKER for that kind of stuff--drawing expressions and emotions is something I love so much--and Flying Bark served it to me on a silver platter with a golden spoon and crystal clear mountain water. The scope of what Flying Bark was able to do… I just don’t know if it can be replicated in puppet animation and that scares me a bit storytelling wise. Because I don’t want to be stressed out by Monkie Kid and unreliable narrators have a habit of stressing me out. It’s not to bad as long as it’s resolved later, but Monkie Kid has a habit of blowing over things, especially in regards to the lies told about Wukong and the only thing that tells us something different happened are the visuals, which stresses me out cause it results in INTENSE fandom bashing my favorite monkey and it’s really hard to avoid. (This is why I stepped back so far from interacting with the fandom.) I don’t want something that brought me comfort in my darkest times to be twisted into something I no longer want to see.

Is this the worst possible thing to have happened? No, of course not. It’s definitely not all that awesome either. For me it’s like eating at a gourmet restaurant having their insane mac n cheese every day for years and then suddenly you’re served KD from the dollar store and told you should be grateful because it could be worse, all the while the restaurant keeps its gourmet title. There’s nothing wrong with KD but bro I want my mac n cheese--

The fact that there was no prior warning is what really makes all this feel so sucky. I know this isn’t the end of monkie kid, but the animation is one of the biggest things that made the show unique, it’s what drew so many incredible artists in, it’s what inspired me to create and make friends and keep living. The animation provided nuance to the characters when the writing sometimes fell flat. It gave insights and information that worked well with the face-paced storytelling and brought the incredible voice acting to life. It’s not really going to be the same without it.

There is ofc more than just the animation that made monkie kid great. The voice actors, the SOUNDTRACK, the sound effects are all off the charts insanely high quality but man. It’s not complete without it. There’s a big ol’ gaping hole in the show and in my heart and as much as I love the show, that’s really rough. Because it’s not as though this makes things better. The quality didn’t drop because people wanted it to be easier for animators to animate, Wildbrain I’m sure is having a time meeting LEGO’s crazy deadlines right now, just like Flying Bark did. There was so much reused animation in season 4 because of how hard LEGO was riding animators' tails and pushing them to get things out faster and faster and I was more than alright with the reused animation so the animators could catch a break. But instead of backing off and being respectful of the time it takes to animate, LEGO dropped Flying Bark like a hot potato and immediately went to the cheaper, faster puppet animation. (JUST A THEORY/VENT DON’T QUOTE ME.) It’s not like there aren’t other 2D animation studios out there but they picked the puppet. And that SUCKS. I would have been okay waiting another year for monkie kid easy because Flying Bark is WORTH IT. I understand how long things take and that if I want a high quality product its going to take skill and time. It hurts me to watch animators having it rough because no one else seems to get that.

Alright in conclusion: We’ve only seen a few seconds of the trailer.

It’s hard to judge what the entire show will look like based off of that little. It could be incomplete, Wildbrain could get better, they could find their groove, I ain’t gonna rag on the animation because it’s giving you exactly the quality--maybe even higher--expected of what it is. It’s puppet animation. I dunno what to tell you man. But it’s not about that for me. For me it’s about 2D. It’s about some of the greatest animation I’ve ever seen being replaced when it didn’t need to be and that sucks. Flying Bark gave us the world and we didn’t lose that for any reason other than money and greed and impatience. That is so discouraging and upsetting. It is something else to go from every frame leaving me breathless and staring and in awe over the quality of the animation to Puppet Animation. The change hurts. Honestly, I never thought I would be as devastated as I am. I’ve processed a bit but I think it’s always going to suck because of how important monkie kid has become to me. I miss flying bark so much already. I’m still going to try and watch the show, but we’ll see how my brain does with the puppet animation. Don’t go ragging on the animators, guys, they’re doing their best and I gotta respect em.

I do wish we’d gotten more time to mourn flying bark’s absence. I wish people had gotten a heads up when season 4 had ended so they could have time to adjust and then get ready for the new style, because watching everyone hype themselves up for flying barks’ animation only to be told they're gone by a trailer kiiiinda sucks. But I digress.

I do find it funny it took changing animation studios for us to finally get a trailer and poster on time before the eps drop. So in a way, I appreciate that much of a warning at least. Better than nothing! And we’ve always wanted a trailer out first lol HGLKJSDF

I ain’t even gonna pretend I ain’t spoiled as HECK by flying bark’s animation. Honestly without it, I don’t know if I’d be as attached to the characters as I am. Real talk, I don’t know if I ever would have even watched Monkie Kid without it. I’m gonna miss flying bark with all I have in me and it's going to make rewatching and enjoying the show hard because of all this. I’m going to miss the time when every part of this show was a comfort to my brain and soul. Flying Bark's energy is unmatched, they bring a life to things that I haven’t seen anywhere else and I’m always gonna be grateful for the time I had with them animating Monkie Kid.

This is it. No more more Flying Bark monkie kid. The end. And that’s going to sting for a while. And probably keep stinging throughout the new season because… well… I love monkie kid. So seeing it become something else is going to hurt, especially if you hold it so close to your heart.

These new animators are doing their best and we can’t fault em for that. It ain’t their fault the animation industry is what it is. It’s great we still have the show going when so many other things have gotten canceled but the fact the bar is so low can hurt like heck too.

We’re gonna miss flying bark for a long time. It’s so goofy that something as simple as animation could have burrowed so deep into our hearts but it has and that’s truly wondrous and the magic of storytelling. I love shows. I love movies. I love what monkie kid was, and I hope I can learn to be okay with what it will be now. (Even with my ‘STRAIGHTEN THE PICTURE’ brain screaming at me lol.) Wishing you all the best, don’t make fun of the animation needlessly or go after the animators, be kind to them and to each other. If you wanna be salty don't send it to me just make ur own post thanks ima drop this and then go try some positivity lol. Until next time! I’ll see you in Monkie Kid season 5

Knox out

#aint no way im putting this in the main tag #knox rambles #comeback kid #monkie kid salt #salt #not sure how to tag this ITS A LONG ONE BOYS #i had 3k worth of thoghts built up #you can see where i get more RAAA emotions lol #its out we good #i think that'll be it for me for salt about the animation change #unless the season comes out and its wild #salt about writing may show up now that flying barks outta here we'll see i like to keep things light but eh #HOPE Y'ALL HAVING AS A GOOD A DAY AS U CAN #boi did i ramble HDJFJJGG #i do watch puppet animation shows from time to time but i have always wondered what they would look like in 2D gods #the three caballeros show is one of em i desperately wanted 2d of |;A;/#okay im outta here gotta get ready to go getting out of rhe house this evening PEACE #it is a bit of a vent so #vent #hdjfjjgg ALRIGHT SKIDADDLIN

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scintillyyy · 4 months

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robin iii: cry of the huntress #4, robin #74, robin #92

#me @ jack i feel like i've been too chummy with you lately.#jack: my son is acting up and misbehaving and being cagey what should i do try and get to the root of the problem?#jack: no i'll instead send him away for his own good that'll fix him #*insert long meta about how tim still loves his dad despite this but it's probably one of those forgive but never forget things*#like tim in his head esp after they died probably lionized his parents so much and decided to make peace with the failings of his parents #because he's not a grudge holder #but he's also going to remember stuff like this forever

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sleepinglionhearts · 2 years

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new stickers? it’s more likely than you think!

#doodles #stickers #fe3h #fire emblem three houses #byleth eisner #edelgard von hresvelg #claude von riegan #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe art tag #ok so i uploaded these guys + the line the cross and the curve artwork today #so they will be under review for a little while but should be accessible soon enough #i don't think i've had to wait more than a day for my other stickers when they started doing this #anyway aaaaAAAAA these took a long tiiiime #or ok the byleths did not take so long #edelgard and dimitri were also finished sorta close to when the byleths were done #but claude.... claude was the challenging one #i wanted his pose to look good but also could not for the life of me figure out a good pose for him #obviously i kinda set myself up for something when i drew edelgard and dimitri in the poses they're in #also maybe i should not have thought 'oh yeah let's put the weapons in there too that'll be cool'#which yeah it looks good but MAN IT WAS DIFFICULT #ok ok enough from me about these please enjoy #i have other things to work on now #a commission or two and then. more stickers #please enjoy the art #and please have patience while redbubble decides what to do with these things

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tothefiniteyou · 3 months

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looking at the time: oh yeah, it's dissection analysis o'clock.

i've talked about how i think leo's view on what it means to be a leader is very misconstrued, but i didn't really go into specifics like i wanted. so here i am, doing just that.

firstly, i'm going to make this generalized enough so that it's not about any particular iteration, though i might put in details that aren't a universal part to leo's character.

i once said that "leo believes the leader is always the one to make the right choices" and by that i mean, the leader has to. he tries to think over his words carefully (there was a post for 2003 pointing out that leo stumbles on his words quite a bit and i love this detail) because he's trying to mimic his idea of a hero. not only is he the one meant to make the decisive calls, but in an imprudent, childish way, i think his ego has also convinced him that the title of leader makes his opinion more valuable djsaklg. he's kind of a funny, bossy older sibling like that.

he's full to the brim with anxiety and worst-case scenarios because he knows real life is dangerous and he is the one in-charge. rise fics have done a lovely job of showcasing the fact that leo struggles to really seem them as a team unless it's convenient for him, but i'd argue all leos (save for a few) are like this. people need to listen to him, because of course the leader knows best! leaders and heroes are synonymous, always saving the day... (...it's why rise leo doesn't think he should be leader-)

i have a little headcanon about his perfectionism that isn't completely relevant to this conversation, but i want to include it regardless. i think some of his perfectionism comes from a place of guilt and just general worries. he doesn't mind training extra or things like that, but i'm not too sure he likes it either. overdoing it can make him feel more reassured, and training better means he can make sure missions go smoother. leaders are the captains, and a captain always goes down with his ship.

anyways, if leadership to him is like being in-charge and having to be a shield, who would he be his ideal image of that to mirror? barring his cartoon heroes, it would be his father. leo has always tried to be like the person he admires most. i don't fully know why, but that makes me Sad. most kids think of their fathers as their heroes, and for all of the turtles, well. he really is one.

being the older child (in most iterations), leo unconsciously places himself on a similar pedestal as his father, copying what he does because he wants to be just like him.

.... for 2003 and 2012, yes. mirage? idw? less so. i just wrote a whole fic on the city at war arc (love me, love my dog) for the original comics that helped inspire this post. constantly leo mentions "growing up" in that arc, following it up by thinking they shouldn't stick within everything their father has taught him. he's leaving his father's shadow - that's what it means to grow up to him.

his brothers will always come before his father, no matter how much he admires him. in 2012, i truly do think leo would try too hard to become a father to his brothers. not only for their sakes, but because he's always been there, copying his father. he's trying to make his father stay by becoming more like him. he won't have to search for him in the walls of their home if he feels like he's right beside him.

^ i love this train of thought for mirage as well because in city at war he's gradually realizing that he doesn't know what he would do without splinter to back up his choices. he's having to think for himself and it's making him think that maybe he isn't as much like his father as he had always tried to be.

no matter the iteration, leo growing up is always becoming his own version of a leader (staring so badly at idw leo). it's a bittersweet thing, but it was a thought that occurred to me after leo returned from training with the ancient one in 2003. splinter already taught him everything, so why wasn't it enough? when will he teach him how to properly protect everyone like he wants to.

splinter is a VERY flawed character in every single iteration, and i think one of the most innocently child-like characteristics of leo is the way he idolizes him.

THATS HIS PAPA (bawling)

there's definitely more i could add to this, but i like leaving some parts unexplored so that people are free to put in their own thoughts :)

#good lord how do i tag for spoilers when theres slight ones for like. every iteration #turtle spoilers #that'll do #tmnt #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 2003 #tmnt idw #tmnt 1984 #smiling evily #2u thoughts #text post #long post #tmnt analysis #tmnt leo #what a skrimblo #little goober #buying a microscope and studying his brain under it #noticing typos instantly i hope i explode

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skunkes · 1 day

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if life is categorized by Before Loss and After Loss then I exist in the before but with a countdown to the after. and the countdown is always always present and debilitating. the loss will be debilitating too but i cant help myself. i will always suffer twice.

#i cant let go of it. i cant even enjoy good moments without thinking about how they'll just be memories one day #how they're already memories since moments pass so fast #everything is I'll Miss This and i already miss it and i cant believe once you're gone you're gone forever #and ill never ever see you again. and your shell is in the ground but where did the rest of you go?#should i look at your body one last time? on one hand itll be the last time i see you.#on the other hand it will be the last time i see you.#and the memory of you will die with me too. as if neither ever existed #it impacts me so much too bc i dont feel close to anybody really...and i dont make friends easily #so whats going to happen when the people who have always been there arent there anymore?#im going to be alone for so much of my life.#i will record your voice so im ready for when i cant hear it from the source while also knowing it wont be enough and one day #ill be wishing it lasted longer. it could be 12 hours long and ill want more.#how do you surpass this? it hasn't even happened. when it happens i don't know what ill do. considering my whole life has been #the timer. the countdown. hours and hours of anticipatory grief #and then ill be next. me. some of all thats left of you. it cant be true.#sorry. this gets worse every single year and its been going insane lately #id surprisingly been managing it well for months somehow ! it wouldnt cross my mind...and now its there again #like it accumulated and its all coming out right now. ive been crying for hrs tonight and last night #one day his things will just be things. things ive made and given him will be in my hands again.#talkys #i want to go hug my dad but then ill just cry over how one day i wont be able to....! how do i store it? how do i save it?#how do i preserve it forever....even as i take my own last breath....#i cant believe im the only one of me. and my dad is the only one of him.#i wouldnt want to be reborn as anyone else. i cant believe one day i wont get to draw or eat or be comfy in bed anymore.#i cant take it !! im so scared. ill be scared until the end. and you wont be there to hold my hand. im going to be alone.#and none of those years of grief and joy and memories will matter.#i wonder if it would help to tell him about this. i need something to hold onto for when it happens. anything. but i also know it'll make i #hurt more; obviously. just another piece of him that'll be gone one day

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purpleisnotacolor · 9 months

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"There's no place for me in the church if I can't marry"

Matthew 19:12

"For there are eunuchs who were born that way, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others—and there are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (eunuchs obv can't have sex, so are celibate. Here, Jesus is saying celibate and married people alike have a place. Neither is better than the other, they're different callings, that's what he means by if you can accept it)

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"God does not love me, he considers me too repulsive because I'm sinful to him"

There's the famous John 3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." where God loves you enough to die for you, and also Matthew 9:12 "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." where Jesus explicitly states that he came for supposedly repulsive sinners, not perfect righteous people.

And if you think you're so much worse than everyone else, and that you specifically are too repulsive, there's the entirety of Paul's gospel to look to, but specifically 1 Timothy 1:15-16 " Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." where Paul is redeemed from the worst of the worst, to show that God can forgive and redeem anybody.

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And for body issues, you've probably heard Genesis 1:27 get thrown around already, but let me highlight an important bit "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

You're made in the image of God, no matter how gross wrong or detestable you or your body feel, you have God's likeness, even if it's distorted, it's still there.

And as for health issues, there's John 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him." and while the meaning of that is a bit ambiguous to me, it is clear that disability is not a punishment or shame, and God has purpose for it.

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As for the issue of Christians being too condemning to you, they are handling sin entirely wrong! John 8:11 "Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin."

So while Jesus does still say when a sin is a sin, he is merciful. God says, "leave your life of sin" not "ew go away, you repulsive sinner."

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I encourage you to look up all of these in-context. As far as I can tell, I have not twisted or cherry-picked anything. And even though there are more non-comforting verses to be found in the Bible, if they are true, these are true, and there is nothing wrong with falling back on these when in doubt.

Now go be at peace!

#comfort verses #christianity #long post #a doubt of God's love being conditional is also a big one to address #but that'll have to be it's own post

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aston-angel · 10 months

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Niki Lauda convincing everyone he was anything but as insane as the rest of them was the biggest con he ever pulled. I'm enamoured with the workings of his mind.

Something in me broke when I got near the end, and he was like "No, I WILL take time out of my book to complain about people stealing my clothes, the house never having yoghurt, and this one guy trying to sell me a meadow above market price, but I ain't having it."

Also,

>barges into rival's room >today i vin ze championship >refuses the elaborate >leaves

#niki lauda #classic f1 #formula 1 #f1 #there's like so many snippets just around of this sort of vibe from him but grabbing the ones I remembered from epubs were the easiest #never forget niki was a cringefail kid while james' was being looked at as a future doctor #i also appreciate how he was consistent in “i'm taking all medical advice :)” (advice: don't drive) “i'm taking some medical advice :)”#'get back on the horse' brainworms mentality got him in the end as well as the actual horses which he also seemingly could not escape from #there's also the saga with his housekeeper that's too long to include but feels like it came out a comedy sketch #I guess take this as a preview of research for a big graphic design project i've been doing on him that'll be finished up soon

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analogwriting · 25 days

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The Other Side of Paradise

Chapter 2: Hot Sugar

Killer x gn!reader word count: 2.7k first|next a/n: date time date time date time. also m'eudail is scotts gaelic for my dear/darling.

The next three days were pure torture. Your brain was running with different ideas of what the news could possibly be and why he wouldn’t just tell you. Part of you kind of wish he had never mentioned the news, just made the date. Then the anticipation wouldn’t be suffocating you like it was now. At least the news seemed to be good considering how he delivered it. You felt like if it had been bad news, he would’ve told you already.

You tried getting answers from him to no avail. Hell, you had even tried to ask your cousin and your friends. They all seemed to have no idea what the news was. Which, typically Kid was incredibly terrible at lying and keeping secrets, so he had to be in the dark about it too. He must’ve had no idea.

Not even begging helped. When he had his mind set on something like this, there was nothing you could do to make him give in. Sure, you could make Killer cave just about any other time. You were his weak spot and he could never say no to you. Sometimes, you used it to your advantage.

“Baaaaaaaabe, tell meeeee,” you whined on that Wednesday night, laying on his chest in your shared bed.

He snorted, rolling his eyes with a grin. “What did I tell you last night?” You frowned, huffing slightly, moving his hair as you did so. “To wait patiently.”

“Exactly. I promise it'll be worth it.” He kissed you on the forehead, a mischievous glint in his eye - he was enjoying this. It wasn’t often he had the upper hand, so he was reveling in it.. “And if you're good, I'll be sure to give you a nice reward, alright?” His fingers traced up your spine and you shivered. If you currently weren’t so exhausted, you’d jump his bones right now.

You sighed again, burying your face in his chest, officially giving up. “Fiiiiine,” you groaned, muffled by his muscles.

And you left it after that, not asking again. Sure, you made a jab here and there, seeing if he'd crack in the slightest, but it just wasn't the case. He was determined not to tell you ahead of time. You knew you weren’t going to get an answer, so you decided you’d wait everso impatiently.

Friday finally came and you couldn't have been more excited - you were almost vibrating. Mostly because you were going to finally know what he’d been keeping from you this entire time. He took you to class that morning. You were going to just call out from classes, but after he said that he wouldn’t have told you any sooner just because you did so, or adjust plans accordingly, you decided to bite the bullet and go.

Lucky bastard didn’t have Friday classes, so he was going to have all day to just sit and have a good time knowing you were suffering in class. Though, he’d been enjoying your suffering the last few days as well, so you shouldn’t have been surprised. The sadist.

Time felt like it was moving at snail speed on purpose. The world knew you were mere hours away from what you’ve been waiting for for so long. You kept looking at the clock, only to realize hardly any time passed, torturing you even more. You couldn’t focus on any of your classes, your head only filled with what Killer had planned. So many what ifs in your head.

You ran into Hop at one point, hanging out with her until your next class. It seemed like the universe had some mercy on you as it had allowed both yours and her class to be let out early. You were able to now verbally complain about the pain and suffering you were going through - as if you hadn’t already texted her about it a million times already.

She listened, like the wonderful best friend she is. Then she laughed in amusement at your predicament. You might have been a little dramatic with your theatrics. “Maybe he's finally proposing,” she mused. You just looked at her, eyebrows furrowing. “He's already done that though?”

“When you were thirteen. That doesn't count. He needs to do it again, properly.” She folded her arms, leaning against the tree. You hadn’t even thought of that possibility.

“Well, he knows I've never been one to care about grand theatrics like that. The little proposal in the park when we were thirteen was enough for me.” You frowned, fiddling with the small band around your finger that he’d given you that day. The two of you hadn’t even really talked about an official one.

“Maybe so, but maybe he wants to do it.”

You looked at her for a moment. “Wait. Did he tell you something? Do you know what it is? Is it that?” You narrowed her eyes at her. “What do you know? Hop, it is your duty as my best friend to tell me everything you know!” You had been so content with the way things were with your boyfriend that you hadn’t even thought of a proposal or if he even wanted to do an official one.

The only plan you had made so far regarding those things was the fact you were going to get married after you finished school.

Hop laughed, shaking her head, holding her hands up in surrender. “No, no. I don't know anything that you don’t know.. I'm just shooting the shit and guessing.” She shrugged, moving to readjust her ponytail.

“Shooting very specific shit in my opinion,” you grumbled, folding your arms and pouting slightly. You groaned loudly, flopping on the ground. “It's been killing me.”

“Guess he's living up to his name then, huh?”

You stared at her for a moment before both of you fell into a fit of laughter. “What's so funny?” A voice chimed. You looked up, seeing Bubblegum joining the two of you.

It was the perfect opportunity for you to, once again, complain about having to wait. Hop watched with amusement as you went into your whole thing again. Bubblegum looked just as entertained as you ranted about it.

“What if he’s proposing?” He finally said.

“That’s what I said!” Hop burst into laughter and you just stared at him.

“C’mon, one of you have to know something. How come you both came up with the exact same theory when I - his own partner - didn’t even think about it?”

Bubblegum snorted, shaking his head. “Probably because we are from the outside looking it. We’ve only known the two of you for a couple of years now. You two have known each other for over a decade and been together almost just as long. So, of course you’re not going to think it.”

Hop nodded, folding her arms and leaning against the tree. “It’s true. You guys are basically married already. I’m surprised you don’t call him your husband, honestly.” She snorted.

You huffed, your face turning bright red. “Well!” You opened and closed your mouth a couple more times before giving up. You didn’t even know what to say, making Hop and Bubblegum fall into more laughter.

You spent the rest of the time before your next class just tossing around some of the craziest ideas of what this news could possibly be. It was nice. Mostly because it helped time fly by quickly.

When the bell rang to signal that your last class was over, you bolted for the door. You headed to the nearest bathroom, changing your clothes and cleaning yourself up for your date. You didn’t want to sit in your nice clothes during class, after all. You haven't gone out in a while, so you were excited to be able to dress nice for the occasion.

Once dressed, you hurried your way to the parking lot where you knew Killer would be picking you up. You saw his pick up, your heart racing with excitement as you headed over. All of your suffering would end soon enough!

He must've been keeping an eye out for you because as you grew closer to his truck, he hopped out, rounding around to meet you.

You grinned widely, running up to him and jumping into his arms. He picked you up and you wrapped your legs around him as you kissed him. You were just so excited! You smiled against him and felt as he did the same. You heard a couple people whistle at the two of you and someone shouting to get a room.

Oh, you’d be doing something of that vein tonight, that much was sure.

“You look great, y/n,” he said with a smile. You returned the grin, love and affection evident on your face. “You look good too.” He wasn't dressed to the nines, neither were you. It wasn't your speed. But both of you were dressed in nicer clothes and looked a little more put together than you usually did - the usual look being graphic tees and ripped jeans for the both of you. You often wore Killers clothes anyway, so baggy was also your usual look.

“Shall we get going?” You nodded at his question, jumping down as he opened the door for you. He helped you in before rounding to the drivers side.

Killer’s truck was one that could be either a manual or an automatic. He preferred driving manual because he liked having the extra control over his truck, but when you rode with him, he would drive automatic. Solely for the reason being that he could rest his hand against your thigh as he drove. When it was in manual, he had to keep it on the stick shift so he could switch gears and such. When it was in automatic, he didn’t have to do all the extra shifting, so his hand was free to rest where it belonged - on you in some way.

You were basically bouncing in your chair. Sure, you've been on plenty of dates before. Of course you have, being together as long as you have, but you always enjoyed it as if it were a new experience every time. You just enjoyed spending time with him. He was your favorite person, after all.

You didn’t catch it because you were too distracted, but he watched you with amusement and love from the corner of his eye.

It didn't take long to arrive at the smoothie place. The town you had resided in was small. The college is the only reason there was ever traffic in this tiny place. During the summers, it was dead. Not that you really cared, you had your friend group, even if they did grow sparse over the summers. You still had the same four people to hang out with that you always did.

Killer parked, leaning over to kiss your cheek before hopping out to open the door for you. He helped you climb out. He knew you could do it on your own, but he just liked helping. It was also just another excuse to be close to you - to touch you. He was just as infatuated with you as you were with him.

You headed into the building, a skip in your step as you walked. Killer’s arm wrapped around your waist as you headed inside. You looked around, admiring the new little joint - it was cute. It was busier than you thought it would be considering it was still new, but maybe that's also why it was popping.

There were so many choices that you didn't know what to decide on. “These are some fancy smoothies,” your boyfriend said. You nodded, looking at the advertisement photos and other peoples tables. They seemed to be garnished with actual fruits or vegetables. “It's kind of really cool.”

The two of you ordered, waiting at the end of the counter for your drinks.

“What movie are you gonna wanna see?”

You thought for a moment. “Either some B rated horror movie or a romcom.” You just wanted to see something light hearted. Besides, the two of you were sometimes terrible at actually watching the movie. It was as if the moment the lights went down - the two of you were immediately on each other. It’s also why you both always picked seats in the back and away from people. You knew your terrible habits.

It wasn’t long before your smoothies were done, heading to a table towards the back and sitting down. “This is the coolest smoothie I've ever seen.” Naturally, you pulled out your phone, taking an aerial photo to send to your friends before taking the standard ‘date night!’ photo of the two of you before putting your phone away.

Typically, you refrained from being on your phone while on dates. You would take one of two photos, but the rest of the time your attention was solely on the love of your life. It wasn’t a challenge either, you preferred it that way. You just took pictures for the memories and to look back on. Killer wasn’t really that much of a social media or phone person, so his was hardly out.

Most of the time, you were surprised if he even had it on him. You asked him once why that was and he just responded with ‘my whole world is right here, why do I need a phone?’ and it almost made you immediately cry.

You looked at Killer, staring at him expectantly. He blinked. “What?” You narrowed your eyes. “You know what.”

It dawned on him and he chuckled, shaking his head. “Not yet.”

You inwardly groaned. Just how long was he gonna make you wait? He already made you wait three days, hasn’t it been torture enough?

“I want us to enjoy ourselves first.”

You paused from sipping your treat. “That…makes it sound like it’s not good news.”

Killer snorted, shaking his head. “It's definitely good news, but it's also big news.”

You narrowed your eyes. Maybe Hop was right. Maybe it was a proposal. He certainly wouldn't do it in the middle of a place like this with all these people. He knew you hated having eyes on you, so it would make sense if he wanted to wait to tell you. Though, you feel like if he was going to propose, he wouldn’t have called it “news.” “Surprise” would’ve made more sense.

Gah! What was it!?

“You're killing me here,” you grumbled, folding your arms and sitting back in your chair, going full pout mode. Your boyfriend watched you with an amused look on his face.

“C’mon, don't be like that,” he mused, taking your chair and pulling you closer to him. You gasped at the sudden movement but tried to keep up your little pouting act by slightly turning from him. His lips found their way to your cheek, his arm around your shoulder as he pulled you in. “Baaaabe,” he crooned in his deep voice, kissing your cheek again.

“I promise it'll be worth it.” Just as you were his weakness and couldn’t say no to you (most of the time), he was also your weakness. You struggled staying mad at him even if you were just being dramatic. He poked at your side and you tried to ignore him, but failed miserably as he kept doing it. You fell into a fit of giggles, turning towards him to catch his hands. “Okay! Okay. I'll be patient. I've waited this long. What's a couple more hours?”

“That's m'eudail,” he mused, kissing you. You smiled, leaning into him. You pulled away, honestly glad the two of you had picked a corner to sit in. That didn't stop stares from coming your way anyway, but you couldn't care less.

“I love you,” he said once you pulled away, making you grin even more. “I love you too.” You kissed him once more before turning back to your smoothie.

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#sorry this took me so fucking long #between me falling down the pit that is my time at sandrock #and the kdot and drake beef my attention has been everywhere except the fic #so pls forgive me #but im giving you two chapters and some smut so hopefully that'll make up for it #one piece #one piece x reader #one piece x you #killer one piece #killer x reader #killer x you #massacre soldier killer #tosp #am fics

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