#also heard there’s an audio of him supposively transforming but there doesn’t seem to be anything of it yet

[spookybeandoodle]

The freakin dbd project w leaks though-

Not entirely sure why they would give Ada a healing perk with Rebecca right there but okay??

Super excited for this chapter release!

#dbd #excited for it #apparently there’s a leak chase theme for Wesker as well? #listened to it and it’s okay? #also heard there’s an audio of him supposively transforming but there doesn’t seem to be anything of it yet #would be cool though #have seen people say if it’s true maybe it’s when the gens are all done he’ll transform #which I think would be pretty cool!

[chicoriii]

Season 4, Episode 2 - Mensonge (Lies)

Welcome again. I had been logged out from Tumblr for the whole weekend, because I was afraid of untagged spoilers, as I've seen one screenshot here accidentally, fortunately it wasn't spoilerish. And I've watched the Lies today. Again without reading other's people opinion about the episode, so I probably write things that have been said before.

I enjoyed it more than Truth. But not because it's better written, I think the overall quality of both is similar. Lies is about characters I care about more, so it's natural that the episode is automatically more interesting to me. I dislike both Luka and Jagged (to be fair the only member of the Couffaine family I like is Juleka) and that would be hard to make me caring about them, the best thing I could say about any of those characters is that I tolerate them on screen. Sometimes. Don't get me wrong, Truth was the best episode for Luka and Jagged, but they are still dull and/or annoying to me. Creators need to develop son-father relationship more to make me interested in it, that arc was too shallow in Truth.

But the post is about Adrigami episode, not Lukanette one.

I'm surprised that we got only one not very long scene with civilian Marinette. But not surprised that she's still pining over Adrien. Just like Chat is pining over Ladybug. As I'm keeping saying, it's not gonna change. But really, Marinette thinks that Adrien's life is perfect? She should know that tight schedule could be a big problem and has she forgotten what terrible father is Gabriel? Of course she doesn't know details we know, but she should be aware that he isn't as good parent like her own. So probably her enamored brain can't see bad sides of life of her loved one. She still can't think rational when it comes to him. Another reason why she should stop putting him on a pedestal. We need some friendly Adrienette so badly, we need to see Adrien telling her more bad things in his life. He isn't used to complain, but I think he needs to tell someone the truth about his family life. I hope Marinette will be that person.

I had been tired of clown Chat in Truth, but this episode lets us to see the situation from his point of view and now I understand more why he behaves like that. I think that he tries to hide from Ladybug how much he miss spending time with her that way. He is aware that's because of her new responsibility and he doesn't want to make her feel bad for it. Those scenes were so sweet. How much Chat wants an Akuma to appear just to see his lady. Not very noble, but I can't blame him. It only shows that Adrien is a normal human being. We all are selfish from time to time and it's healthy (you only have to find a good balance, being as selfish as Chloé and as selfless as Luka is not good).

Geez, why they can't put the right title of the piece? That's a different composition than that one used back in season 2, but the smartphone's screen says the same. And none of them is actually Raindrop Prelude. This is Raindrop Prelude. They are not even any of Chopin's preludes. I won't be surprised if both are not Fryderyk Chopin's compositions either (although I haven't heard all the solo piano pieces composed by him, so I can't be sure). I love classical music, so I'd love to know what pieces Adrien's playing! By the way, I recommend to listen to all of the 24 preludes, they are usually very short but interesting compositions. If you're too lazy to listen to all, check out number 20 at least, that's a pure, very atmospheric, beauty. One of my favourites melodies ever created.

I have always thought that Adrigami has more chemistry and it's generally more entertaining to watch than Lukanette (sorry stans, but you probably don't even follow me and read my posts,  there's a reason why I'm warning that my blog is not Luka and Lukanette friendly in its description). I feel that in this episode as well. Absolutely it's not a perfect relationship and it can't be, as Adrien is still into Ladybug. It's clear that Kagami is the one who really cares, Adrien is more distant. It seems that he's abashed of Kagami's physical intimacy, like he can't be open to her when he's still in love with Ladybug. That was really sad to hear Kagami's words that she's lying to be more often with him and he lies to not spend time with her. But relationship can't work if only one side is invested in it and they both need to learn it. They have some things in common, I like how they spending time together, so I'm sure they would work much better as friends. I'm sorry for Kagami and I wish her a better boyfriend who would love her truly. In some way it was a repeat of Truth, as we've seen Adrien leaving Kagami all of sudden, because of Akuma's attacks, but this time it's not as heavily portrayed like it's not working only because of superhero responsibility, that I didn't like in the previous episode. Another reason why I liked how Adrigami is shown more.

I really, really loved that we've learnt something new about Kagami and that's amazing it's something I have in common with her. I'm really surprised, since she didn't seem to have an artistic soul before. I also love seeing she likes draw animals, it's like me, I'm trying practise it. I enjoy drawing animals (and creatures like Kwamis or Pokémon) more than humans. But at the same time I feel angry at her mother. How could she dare to say that Kagami isn't good enough? Trying to kill a child's hobby is always unforgivable. She's much better than me (I'm a little jealous, but that's not the first time when a teen has much better skill than me), but my family and some others I know in real life often say that I'm talented and some people try to convince me to take pay commissions. That’s me who knows the best than I'm not skilled enough to take money for my art (they don't know really good artists in person and they don’t draw themselves, so no wonder they are not aware that my works aren't that good they think). Maybe some day, but not now, so I only enjoy drawing gifts for others. I'm also got interested in a real French artist she mentioned - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and I've seen some of his works. Very good for Miraculous for mentioning artist like him, I have never heard about him before, but maybe French students learn about him in school.

Seeing Adrien making Chat's pose was hilarious. I'm sure it's food for true selves trope supporters, but I also agree with Kagami that both model poses and Chat's poses are not ALL Adrien poses. He's more than that. That seemed like he has problems with being natural when he's on the pressure. He's learned how to make model poses, but I also think that when he is in full clown mode is also an act. But that's a mask which he has putted all by himself. In which he tries to be as much different than his public image as he can. Of course being dorky is also a true Adrien side, but not all the time. Being just a cute and polite boy is also true him. It seems that Adrien is not aware of it.

Marinette's lucky charm bracelet is an akumatised object once more. That and the fact she was asking him what he was doing on the boat tell us that Kagami probably think that Adrien is in love with Marinette (it could make also her wonder what stop them from being together if she knows that Marinette likes him as well).

I also liked her reaction to imminent breaking up more. It's more human reaction in my opinion. Some anger, but not too much. She says she doesn't want to see him for a while and that's completely understandable. Adrien has broken her heart, so she need some time to take care of herself without being interrupted by him. I'm going to say something that could be seen controversial, but in my opinion her attitude is way more healthy than Luka's. He still waits for a girl who clearly likes another boy much, but she's trying to really give up on him. And I would like to see a scene in which she says him that Marinette is not worth his waiting, he should be open for another love instead. Uff, I was really worried that they might kill Adrien and Kagami characters. But nothing really bad happened in the episode between them, everything was in-character. Of course salters will still find reasons to hate Kagami, they can say she's possessive towards him (that's true to some extent, but I think it's not really toxic, as she's still cares about his true feelings).

I need to say that Lies is the worst S4 Akuma design we've seen till now. Riposte and Oni-chan were much better. Also the battle was the worst part of this episode in my opinion. It wasn't completely bad, but it felt somewhat boring to me. I definitely enjoyed fights against Truth and Furious Fu more. The thing about that I liked the most what how they made use of Fang.

So the season 4 version of Chat Noir's transformation theme is exactly the same they used in the Shanghai special. It wasn't obvious, since Ladybug's one is a different one than that in the show. I noticed that that Ladybug's theme feels more like a new composition which only uses parts of an original version, while Chat's is clearly "just" an arrangement of the theme we know since season 1. Maybe that's because it's supposed to symbolise that she has even more responsibility now, as she's the Guardian as well. Chat's role hasn't changed that much as hers. I also think the new arrangement sounds cooler, it's more electric guitar-driven. I can't wait to get any of the episodes in which there's his transformation sequence with 5.1 audio to rip it.

All three released episodes are nice for Ladynoir a lot, their scenes are all sweet and wholesome. It almost feel like Ladynoir is close to happen. But I feel that's just calm before the storm. Marinette hasn't reached to her worst moment yet. I'm sure Ladybug will have more breakdowns like that in the season 3 finale.

Three episodes aired and I'm not amazed by any of them. But I don't want to be salty, I'm not worried about that. That's true for season 3 as well, I enjoy the second part of the season more as well. It's important to save the best episodes for later. And I have never expected that I would love all the S4 episodes, despite of pre-release statements, it's impossible. I'm not disappointed. Yet. Just give me some Adrienette food. Please.

#miraculous ladybug #ml lies #ml season 4 #ml season 4 spoilers #ml spoilers #ml spoiler #chicoriii about S4 episodes #chicoriii #original post

[kinetic-elaboration]

September 4: 1x13 The Conscience of the King

Past midnight and I’m tired but!! The Conscience of the King!

This was a wild ep. A lot to untangle about it.

Dramatic Shakespeare! Jim’s very invested in the performance.

I legit thought that the guy next to him was McCoy the first time I watched this. I hadn’t seen much ST at the time and that’s my excuse but also in my defense he has a similar facial structure and it’s dark.

“What do I do about my log???” New hydration game: drink whenever someone mentions their logs.

So Tarsus had only 8,000 people--that’s not very many. They must have been very isolated and new. And Kodos killed 4,000.

The Karidian players are part of the “Galactic Cultural Exchange Project.”

One of my problems with believing this Kirk/Lenore romance outside the usual honeypot aspects is that she is a little young for him perhaps??? I say as if I didn’t know couples with a bigger age gap but--she’s only 19 so it’s different.

So Kodos faked his death, fairly immediately had a daughter, and then changed his identity. Her age being exactly 19 is probably just about keeping math simple but I would like to read more into it than that.

Major plot hole that there’s a PICTURE of Kodos in the database. Like???? Then everyone knows what he looks like? The idea that only 9 people have the secret knowledge to bring him to justice and yet also everyone with an internet connection can see his photo is just nonsense.

Kirk, being charming at a party. I feel like his flirt game isn’t so strong at first (here, have this glass I’ve already sipped from?) but it gets stronger as their conversation goes on. He doesn’t have the greatest lines but his attitude is so charming and attractive it legit does not matter what he’s saying.

I used to feel, at least, that Lenore was one of his real, legit love interests, probably because of the ending and because it was one of the first eps I saw so I took it as more face value, but on a rewatch... not really sure. At any rate this initial flirting is all about the Strategy.

I find it somewhat disturbing that Lenore played her father’s wife.

The Astral Queen??

Lenore is really bad at judging Kirk, like from beginning to end. If this were airing now and I were in the fandom, I’d be getting into internet fights with people about how her analyses of him are biased and shouldn’t be taken at face value because they clearly have no connection to how he actually is. “Where’s the brash young man from the party?” Was there ever a brash young man? Is he in any way different on their walk versus inside??

A dead body, what a mood killer.

I like the aesthetic of this planet, though.

Wow, wtf, Kirk, your friend’s widow is crying and you give her a five-second hug and then literally push her off screen? Gotta hurry it up ma’am!

So he just has to say ‘over and out’ and the communicator cuts the transmission and he can call someone else. Very high-tech.

Spock is displeased. A little suspicious. A little jealous.

How did you know she was coming on the ship? “I’m the Captain.”

Spock should appreciate how sneaky Kirk is being with all his schemes. It’s not Menagerie level but still.

Riley! I wish he were in more eps. He’s one of my favorite minor characters. I realize he’s only in this one because they accidentally cast the same actor twice but still--he had potential. I see he’s been taken out of Navigation. And given a backstory in Engineering, and then moved to Communications. But he keeps the gold shirt. Busy fellow.

“Star Service.”

So he transferred Riley to protect him because he figured... no one knows where Engineering is?

I love this Spock and McCoy scene. McCoy being so laid back and Spock being like “I am suspicious of this suspicious situation.”

Vulcan was never conquered though??

“Your personal chemistry wouldn’t allow you to see that” sounds an awful lot like a veiled “you’re gay” reference.

Someone finally comments on the romantic lighting that follows Kirk around.

Wow, how did all this “surging and throbbing” talk get past the censors? Tone it down, Lenore.

Kirk claims he eventually really liked her, but this is like the last positive scene they have and he’s still CLEARLY fishing for information.

Love that cut from Lenore and Kirk making out to Spock alone on the bridge at night, brooding. (No one needs to steer the ship at night I guess?)

Poor Riley, stuck by himself in Engineering during the late shift. “You’ve been a bad boy.” I love when the crew gets to just hang out and be friends. Also interesting that Uhura has borrowed Spock’s harp.

Spock: “Riley can’t die because KIRK.”

This is a great triumvirate scene. I love how they play off each other, and how they simultaneously care about each other and about their jobs and doing the right thing.

I do find it weird that McCoy is so anti this whole investigating Kodos thing. Like, this isn’t some crazy vengeful path that Jim’s on or whatever he’s implying. Jim’s actually being pretty careful and slow in his actions? And there is someone actively killing people, like--the threat is imminent? It’s just a weird side to represent. I get the balance they’re trying to portray with the three sides but McCoy just doesn’t have a good argument and Jim doesn’t really need to be pulled back--if anything, he needs to be pushed, as Spock is pushing him.

“Logic isn’t enough. I’ve got to feel my way.”

 Double red alert sounds like double secret probation.

Spock shushing the Captain.

Throw the phaser out the window.

Lol after all this hullabaloo about being extra sure and all this scheming to get people on his ship--Kirk just comes out and asks Karidian if he’s Kodos. Well that’s one way about it!

Kodos, like his daughter, fundamentally misunderstands Jim. I know he seems very ‘starship captain with his technological tests’ or whatever but--to call him not human?? He is the MOST human!!

Kirk does understand life or death decisions but he would never have made the decision Kodos made.

I’m with Spock, this is not ambiguous. This man is clearly Kodos. I’m glad there was a character actively saying that the alleged tension in this “who is he really?” plot line is not actually real.

This guy is such a manipulative drama queen oml.

I feel like the morality of this situation is not as gray as some characters are trying to make it. Like, no, Lenore, no one’s crying a river for Kodos lol.

The Kodoses again are either not good at reading Kirk or are deliberately trying to gaslight him into incorrect beliefs about himself because he has literally been nothing but human and merciful this entire time!!! An inhuman person would be like “logically he has to be Kodos” and an unmerciful person would be like “and he needs to die” and just like killed him 10 minutes into the ep.

This is the downside of audio logs--private things don’t stay very private.

Riley’s on the loose! Very IC of him.

I love that the ship has a theater, btw.

Riley must have been very young on Tarsus. No more than maybe 6, 7 years old. Knowing what I know about people’s inability to actually remember things or identify people with any accuracy at all, I don’t actually believe he recognizes Kodos’s voice. But what were we saying about how Kirk is unmerciful and in human?

Riley sure backs down fast when Kirk says so.

This Lenore and Kodos scene is probably the best in the whole ep. Really laying bare their fucked up relationship and how absolutely, tragically, irredeemably mad she is. The drama! I love a true wild woman.

The irony! The Shakespearean over-the-top-ness of it all!

You know at least one person in the audience thinks this is just a really weird play.

Leave it to McCoy to ask all the wrong questions lol. He wants to know if Jim liked the girl--who the fuck cares? He knew her for one day. Maybe he was briefly legit interested in her for a few minutes there, but she’s certifiable AND she tried to kill him, so that’s that on that.

The real important thing we should be talking about here is how Jim feels about the death of a man who killed 4,000 people and traumatized him for life.

And Spock stays away entirely, instead of walking over the chair as he usually does. Giving Kirk space to sort out his feelings, perhaps?

So yeah there’s a lot to unpack in this ep.

I think I once ran across a tumblr post that said this ep implied Kirk was slated to be on the to kill list but honestly it’s pretty clearly the opposite--Kodos killed exactly who he wanted to kill, so if Kirk’s alive, Kirk was supposed to live. (I guess they thought the implication came from Kirk being one of the people to see him? But we have no idea what the circumstances of that were, or why the people to see him included a couple of teenagers and a small child.) Also I think I heard once that there was a deleted line about Kirk saying he was one of the people considered worth saving.

This ep is really wild because introducing Tarsus into Jim’s background really changes a lot and introduces a lot into his character and yet it’s basically just done for plot purposes, to make sure the main character stays at the center of the story. But truly it must have transformed him to witness that at ~15.

Overall we hear very little from Kirk directly here. We know he wants to be sure Karidian is Kodos, and he goes to a lot of trouble to be sure, even though it’s quite obvious there’s no mystery to these massive coincidences. We know from his actions--bringing the players aboard, using Lenore, transferring Riley--that he’s deeply affected by this. And sometimes people (who don’t know him well) talk about him, mostly incorrectly (though in a way where I wonder if the writer was trying to get us to think this stuff is true of him? for the dramatic effect?) But for all that, he doesn’t talk about his feelings much at all.

Another take on this ep that I also saw on tumblr and liked a lot was that Kirk is so optimistic and hopeful in part because of Tarsus, because he saw that Kodos rushed to kill people when he really didn't need to, when he didn't think the supply ship would come in time--but then it came early. So the lesson to take from that is, to always be hopeful, to always believe in the last minute save, to always prioritize people's lives and safety first because anything could happen.

I feel like we're supposed to feel bad for Kodos in some way because he left all the mass murdering behind ages ago BUT it doesn't work so well because we're also supposed to believe, imo, that he was the killer, not Lenore. Like, Spock wants Kirk to act as if this man is Kodos and be proactive, but he's not doing it because he's a vengeful person--he's doing it because Kodos, he thinks, is threatening Kirk. Spock never goes beyond that to advocate, for example, a vengeance killing versus giving him to the authorities versus idk just yelling at him or something. So this idea that interfering with Kodos in any way is just being mean is sort of bizarre--there's an active threat here.

Plus sorry but committing genocide 20 years ago isn’t something we just sweep under the rug. He was the mastermind of something truly horrendous and he got away with it! I’m not going to feel bad for him!

And on top of that the idea that he was just killing people to save other people is one thing--at least morally gray I GUESS lol. But he was targeting people for his own eugenics purposes!! He even says this is part of "the Revolution." The famine was an excuse. He wanted to kill them.

Like I realize most of the people getting on Kirk's back for literally everything are the Kodoses, who are nuts and evil, but I feel like he took a lot of shit for doing nothing wrong.

My mom was wondering how Lenore knew her father was Kodos. I’m not entirely sure but I will say I love her and how just unrepetentedly mad she is. I prefer Lenore to most TOS women because I often feel like the show doesn't......really know how to write women. With Lenore there was no attempt to make her anything but off her rocker nuts. And the twist that she was the killer was effective.

She has that very classic insanity, which is the person who has only one thought and it consumes them. Only one purpose. I think she must have been raised separate from literally everyone but her father--he's been a traveling actor her whole life, so she never socialized, she never went to school, she had no other family. He's very private so she never had, like, a social circle. So he's her WHOLE WORLD. And then maybe she got suspicious as to why that was, and discovered his past. And then she felt that this past threatened him, and anything that threatened him threatened EVERYTHING. So she became...this person we see here.

And, as my mom also pointed out, the ‘body burned beyond recognition’ story is so suspect. With all their future tech? There was no way to id it? Also, what was the official explanation as to how that happened? We know 4,000 people were killed; we know a supply/rescue ship came early, and we know Kodos died and his body wasn’t identified. But what’s the rest of the sequence of events? Was there a riot or revolt and he was killed? Did he kill himself? It’s unlikely he burned to death on accident. The point is that he did not fake his death by himself.

One downfall of this ep is that it is very complicated for only 50 minutes. So much stuff is cut short or cut out--a lot of the backstory, most of Kirk’s feelings, but even stuff like Riley backing down so fast, or Tom’s widow getting literally pushed off screen while she’s grieving. The idea that Lenore and Kirk were supposed to have a real romance somehow? And, the eugenics angle is obviously a huge part of the story but it’s barely touched upon.

According to the trivia on amazon, the original script explained Kirk's presence on Tarsus as being related to Starfleet--he was just out of the Academy and stationed there. That would make him older than other episodes assume him to be--about 42, versus 34-36. But I like it better having him be a teen bc then we don't expect him to know all the stuff that went down later, the aftermath etc. My mom suggested he might have been doing the high school version of a study abroad year, since he’s so smart. This would also explain why his family doesn’t seem to have been on Tarsus, even though if we take his age from other episodes, he was not an adult.

This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t think AOS Kirk was on Tarsus, if in fact Tarsus happened at all in the alternate universe. I just see no evidence in his character that would make me think he’d had that experience.

Next up is Balance of Terror, yet another favorite episode. I mean Mark Lenard?? Romulans?? Can’t go wrong with that.

#star trek tos #the year 2020 #2020: fandom thoughts #2020: star trek #wow this got long i am so tired now it's 2am

[dailyaudiobible]

11/18/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 37:1-38:23, James 1:19-2:17, Psalms 117:1-2, Proverbs 28:1

Today is the 18th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is great to be here with you today as we continue the journey, move through hump day here. We started the book of James yesterday or the letter of James in the New Testament. We’ll be can continuing that today, but we began the book of Ezekiel, one of the major prophets in the Scriptures quite a while ago and we’re continuing that journey for about another week I guess until we finish Ezekiel. But we’ll be moving through Ezekiel 37 today, one of my favorite favorite, favorite passages of Scripture, the valley of the dry bones. So, let’s dive in. We’re reading from the New Living Translation this week. Ezekiel 37 and 38.

Commentary:

Okay. First off, in the book of Ezekiel today we read Ezekiel chapter 37 and I said that’s one of my favorite passages of Scripture. The valley of dry bones, that image all the way back from the first time ever read it, but every year that I've read it that imagery just sticks with me. You see that the people are in exile, you see that the people feel like they’re...they’re ruined and that they’re…they’re…like what's gonna happen to them is really, really uncertain. And, so, Ezekiel has his vision…vision of the valley of dry bones. And, so, this is like an ancient battlefield and the dead were never burried, and they just sat in the open field until they became dry bones. So, a very long time they have been sitting there and there's this valley of dry bones. And God asks, “can they live?” And it’s like such an interesting question because we can see the valley of dry bones is a vision, so it's used in metaphorical sense even prophetically here. And, so, we can think about the dry bones in our own lives and then that question comes right? “Can these bones live?” And it's more…it's more confrontational than it seems when you think about the places that you think are dead inside of you. A question, “could these things live again” like…is like in your face because…well…and some of these things we’re like, “whether they could or not, they’re too painful. Like what I went through is too painful. Like I don’t even want to think about this stuff anymore.” Of course, Ezekiel doesn't know whether the dry bones can live again. So, he says the right thing to God, “only you could possibly know the answer to that question.” And answering that question God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dead bones, to call the four winds, the breath of life from the four winds. And he did and those dry bones came back together again, and they received muscle and skin and sinew, and they came back to life again. So, out of a battlefield full of defeated warriors, life came. That has always stuck with me and after a couple years of reading it it just really felt like the Lord was speaking into my spirit, “build a wind farm.” And not like a literal like wind farm with windmills creating energy to power my house, a spiritual windfarm, one that is continually calling to the four winds, the breath of life in every way possible. And, so, that's why prayer in our community is so vital to our community. Yes, it keeps us in touch with each other. Yes, we cry together. Yes, we rejoice together. Yes, indeed we get to know each other as we stay focused and moving together through the Scriptures. Yes to all of that, but we are also calling the breath of life into what looks like it's dead on a continual basis and it matters. It's even why when we…when we began to roast our own coffee and import tea. It's why the brand is called Windfarm because in every way that we can we want to be doing that, calling the four winds, the breath of life into that which is dead all around us.

And now let’s turn to the book of James and let me quote here, and I don't think this needs a lot of interpretation really. Let me just quote from the letter. “Don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away and forget what you look like.” Is that the truth or not? I mean maybe we don't look in a physical mirror like we’re fixing our hair for work and then we go to work and we don't remember what we look like, but spiritually we behave this way all of the time. We can at one moment know fully who we are in Christ and that we are actually a child of the most-high God and then we can walk out the door and live like sons and daughters of the evil one or live completely confused and disoriented. We forgot our identity. We forgot what we look like. And, so let’s take that heart today as well, and just let it kind of ruminate, let it stew, let it just percolate through our…through our day. Let's watch ourselves. Have we forgot who we are? Have we forgotten what we look like? Is that what our behaviors erratically are showing, or do we know exactly who we are in Christ?

Prayer:

Father, it’s kind of like James says, intellectually we know what the Scriptures say about who we are, we have heard the good news, but You're saying You can’t just listen to it, You have to live into it, You have to become it otherwise it’s just…You’re just fooling Yourself. So, we don’t want any part of that. We’re here to learn, we’re here to grow, we’re here with the goal that we would be transformed into Your likeness because this is what the Scriptures tell us is happening, that this is what's going on. And, so, when we claim our faith and then go out into the day and act like anything but a person who's in love with You, then we are just fooling ourselves. And then we would have the audacity to be angry at You for not jumping into every beck and call, like it ever time we ring the little bell You’re just supposed to show up when we don't even know who we are. And, so, once again we reorient ourselves to You. Our identity can only be found in You. You bestow an identity upon us, and You have done that. You have grafted us into Your family and made us joint heirs with Jesus to Your kingdom. That is who we are. May we live like it today. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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We have the Global Campfire Initiative going on around here right now although this is the final day.  And I won’t be mentioning it anymore. It will be concluded, and I just want to thank everybody. Honestly, it’s so humbling. I just want to thank everyone who has participated in this. So, happy. So happy to send you the heart album, the LP. I just love it. And, so, I'm so happy to be able to send that to you and I…I trust that you will hold onto it and treasure it and that it will be a memento of this year that we spent together in God's word. The one thing that sort of stabilized the year, at least for me, in spite of all of the just challenges, some of the very, very…we have had some significant societal challenges in the last 12 months that have taught us a lot and the Scriptures being the constant through that…just…I thank you for your partnership as we continue to move forward and be in a position where we will be here no matter what happens in the world. And that is the goal. We will keep spinning the windfarm, right? We’ll keep calling to the four winds, the breath of life. We will keep speaking the word of God out over the earth as long as God will allow us to, as long as we stay in this together. And, so, thank you profoundly for everybody who has participated in this. Today, like I said, today is the last day. If you want to get involved and participate in this than here's what you do, you can use the web, or you can use the Daily Audio Bible app. If you want to use the web go to dailyaudiobible.com. When you get to the website you will see up at the top, the navigation and you'll see Initiatives. Press that button and you'll find the Global Campfire initiative in there. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you'll notice that there's a little Drawer icon. It's in the upper left-hand corner. When you press that the drawer opens. When the drawer opens, you'll find initiatives. Press that and you’ll find the Global Campfire initiative. And again, I thank you with all my heart.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button that's in the app. It’s the red button that looks kind of like a hotline button, lives kind of up at the top in the app screen. No matter where you are in the app you can find it. So, you can press that, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning everyone it’s Susan from Canada God’s Yellow Flower calling and it’s the wee hours of the morning and it’s very quiet here and I am just loving the depth of the stillness of the time I have with God. And I just want to thank Him in the spirit of Thanksgiving for this month and always of course. I want to thank him and give him glory for in the midst of heavy trials we still have blessings and if we focus on God, we see the blessings. I hear the cold wind raging outside and here I sit in a warm cozy place. I look at our cupboards and they’ve got an abundance of food in there. I look at the relationship that my son Keith and I have developed through this illness that we are…that we are going through together and I just…I just praise him for the closeness and the love that we share and the bonds we have for each other. It’s only because of the Lord that we can do this. And I just give Him all the praise and glory for this time I have with my son before he…before he passes. So, there’s lots to be thankful for in the midst of crisis and just look for your blessings and be thankful. Love you all. Bye now.

Good afternoon DABbers this is Running Desperately to Jesus also known as Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. I don’t even know where to begin with thanking everybody for their prayers. I was just so overwhelmed. I have fought with depression for a while; however never have hit the part where I went into a dark space and wasn’t able to pull myself out. But just like Moses’ arms were held up and the war was one and when his hands were let down the war was being lost, my Daily Audio Bible family lifted me up and the battle was one. So, although there still continues to be struggles, of course, in just daily living I know where to turn, first to God and then of course to my Daily Audio Bible family, which is so awesome. I wish I had the opportunity to meet every one of you. However, we all know that we’re striving for that mark to be with Him and will all get to meet each other one day. Again, I thank all of you. I…it took me a while to make this call because I wanted to be able to speak and not cry and I think I’ve accomplished it. Running Desperately to Jesus. Also Staying Desperately Connected to Jesus. I love my family.

[singing starts] Thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Lord for loving me. Thank you, Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Lord for loving me [singing stops]. Father God thank You that You meet us where we are. Lord we invite You into where we are right now whether we are celebrating or we’re happy, joyful or we’re sad or worried and anxious and we’re afraid or we’re sitting in darkness. Father God thank You that You meet us where we are and thank You Lord that You meet us in our darkness. Shine Your light into our lives Lord. Shine so bright that…that everything else pales into comparison to You, that the shadows flee. Father God, we might feel that we don’t have strength to face tomorrow. We might feel that we don’t know what to do or that we can’t do what’s in front of us. Thank You, Lord that You give us what we need. Thank You for meeting us where we are and thank You for carrying us through. In Jesus’ holy and precious name. Amen. Hi guys is Michaela from Gloucester hope You have a blessed day where You are.

Good morning DAB family this is Eyes of a Dove in Snoqualmie Washington. I had a wonderful weekend but it’s like to me confessing something and then asking for your guy’s prayer and support. All of us on here are…none of us are perfect. And I know that we can all come across perfect or not. I think that’s what brings us all together. You know, we seek to be like Jesus. And I’ve come from a really broken past, broken marriage and at a time when me and my three kids we had nobody and I got into construction to take care of them but with that came pride and being the breadwinner and not wanting another…a man in my life, which led to actually finding a guy and after 2 ½ years of being together last night he asked me to marry him and I said yes. And it’s kind of a secret because shamefully we’re all together, our kids, and we know that’s not under the Lords…what He would want for us. And he wants us to be united under Him in marriage. And, so, I come to you and confess that I’ve been hiding out from you guys.Felt ashamed. And I would like you guys to lift me and Izzy and Braden and the kids all up in prayer. We all desire to be one family. All the kids have been bugging us for months and praying for us that we would and now we are. And now we have to figure out a way to have a wedding and we don’t want a big affair, but we do want our moms and dads there and with Covid restrictions in Washington state it’s made it much more difficult. So, if you all would just be praying the Lord would bless our union and continue to heal us and help us have a great marriage…

Unless the Lord had been my help my soul would soon have slipped into the silence. If I say my foot is slipping your mercy Lord will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties your comforts are my delight. I’m saying this particular verse from Psalm 94 verse 17 to 19 for my teacher sister all the way in California who called in, Dorothea, who shared her own anxieties with the overwhelming workload as being a teacher. I am in the same boat here in the UK by the way is Dr. Cano calling from the UK and honestly, I could relate to what you are sharing. The demands upon us are so many but we thank God that the burden that we get from Jesus is light because he carries every single weight, every single anxiety and we can find comfort in Him. And my prayer for you sis and my prayer for myself and every other person who’s working during this time is that the Lord will give us different strategies, wisdom to manage the workload. He will give us ways to communicate to those who are our seniors for them to support us in this work that we are doing, and the Lord will indeed crown our efforts with success in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray for all the first responders __ staff here in the UK, nurses, doctors, police officers, every single person who is working tirelessly during this time, may the Lord strengthen you, may he empower you, may He give you courage and wisdom. And even for those who are the recipients of our care, our students, our patients, Lord bestow your blessing upon each one in the mighty name of Jesus. God bless you my Daily Audio Bible family. I love you so much and thank you so much Brian for this wonderful ministry. I’ve been loving it for over three years.

[youllallriseintheink]

Breaking the Time Loop chapter 10: Camaraderie

I can’t lie, chapters 10 and 11 are my least favourite of this story. But I hope you enjoy it anyhow. Also, I learned how to put those “Keep reading” things in!

---

Alice scampered into the ink machine chamber to find a slightly beaten-up fisher and striker and no one else. She drew her sword and slew the duo before they could land a single hit, as any reasonably armed, able-bodied person would have been able to do. God, Henry was stupid! But there was no time to dwell on that. She had to figure out whether Bendy had survived, and examine her options for if he hadn't. There was a large ink splatter on the ground in front of the machine. That could have just been from Henry, or it could have been the both of them. She examined the entry point of the machine-liquid ink was upon it- a good, if not definite, sign.

"Do you think that could be from you?" she asked Boris. Boris shrugged in response. "Alright. just let me sit down a moment. I have to think some things over."

Henry was okay. He'd said himself that he could come back from attacks from ink monsters. But without a demon, they'd have to make a new one or they wouldn't be able to save anyone. That meant sacrificing a soul and an ink creature. Whose body would they use? They could make a new ink creature, which would have a nine in ten chance of coming out malicious, then wrestle it into a glass tube and force a transformation on it, but that would be awfully risky. Otherwise, it would have to be one of them. Not her, obviously- she was too weak to ink. Tom wasn't much better, and Boris was cowardly. The harder question, though, was of who's soul to sacrifice. One of the lost ones? Sammy would never go for that, especially if the idea came from her. She'd have to do it in secret, and who knew-

"Where... is my lord?" came Sammy's voice, cutting into Alice's train of thought.

Alice sprung to her feet. "Sammy! I-".

"Where. Is my lord?!" he yelled. He was only a searcher now- not really dangerous. Alice had already drawn her machete due to blind instinct. Still, as the massive hoard of equally weak, half-formed ink creatures came to surround her, she hardly dared to breathe. Tom stepped between her and the horde, dragging Boris with him.

"Please, just let me explain," she begged. "Henry ran ahead of us. He was unarmed, so the butcher gang killed him. I don't know if he managed to get Bendy into the ink machine first. I'm sorry."

"Really? Because it seems to me that you killed them, angel!" He spat out the word 'angel' as though it were a slur.

"Stop! There's a simple solution here. Soon enough, Henry will come back. Then, he can tell you the truth. Alright? No need for anyone here to get hurt."

The horde backed away a bit. They agreed to wait, but many were still spoiling for a kill. In what was mere minutes, but felt to Alice like hours, Bendy tumbled out of the ink machine. Alice and Sammy were so grateful that they ran over and hugged him. "Bendy, thank goodness!" Alice beamed.

"Huh? What's going on?" he asked.

"Oh, sorry," Alice said, letting the rather overwhelmed imp down. "Henry got defeated. He'll be back soon, but we didn't know if you'd made it!" Alice turned to the horde. "You see, everyone? I'm innocent."

"Alright. You're innocent. I suppose we should get to work then?"

"Right. The last soul we need is Grant Cohen's. When's the last time you managed to separate him out?"

"I have never separated him out, I'm afraid."

"Why not?"

"Most likely he doesn't want to be. That is, if he's even here at all. Tell me, have you ever been to his office?"

"I don't... wait, you mean the one with the writing all over the walls? Yeesh."

"Yeah, Alice, you got your work cut out for you on that one," Bendy said.

"Mind if I tell you a bit of his story?" Sammy asked.

"Go ahead."

"Well, Grant Cohen was the accountant here long ago. And Joey... he disliked most of us. But what he had with Grant was a special hatred. We don't know exactly what happened, but one day, he just broke down. The janitor of this old studio... I can't remember his name, gathered us the day after, telling us that he'd written insane messages all over the walls of his office. Joey decided after that to make him one of the next ones we sacrificed. It only made sense- according to Joey he would have quit soon anyhow if he had so little faith in the company. I couldn’t do it, though. I came in while he was weeping over the budget, and he didn’t even notice I was there. He disappeared the next day. Everyone assumed the worst- kidnapping, suicide, murder, something like that. Why does Henry think he's here? Why do you trust that he knows?"

"Well, for one thing, he's been right so far. The other reason is hard to explain."

"I can actually back Alice up on this one. It's one of the things I saw through the cutouts. Grant had been really scared the morning after you decided not to kill him- hands shaking and everything- because he had to tell Joey about something called a bankruptcy. And when Joey heard about that, he got up in Grant's face and he told him he had three options: he could either figure out a way to avoid the bankruptcy, he could get fired and blacklisted from every place in New York, or he could come to a special meeting with him after work. Well, take a guess which he chose and what happened at that meeting." Bendy shook his head. "Not pretty. Screaming-searcher-in-a-cage-above-an-abyss not pretty."

"That's sad, but it still doesn't explain why he's never separated."

"It is not so uncommon, actually," Sammy said, "many of the people here choose nonexistence over existence. Scatter their soul so evenly that they aren't ever aware of themselves. That's why now is the best time for this. I doubt that a dominant soul is present in any of my sheep so soon after their revival. It's just a matter of taking one of them, isolating them, and playing some audio tapes. He will be drawn in, whether he likes it or not."

"Then that's what we'll do."

Sammy sent all but one of his searchers out of the room. Four of them had been petting Boris, so he went with them as well. The trio played the tapes of Grant Cohen, of which there were only two: one of him complaining about Joey's terrible business skills, and the other of him screaming and growling as he was sacrificed and transformed. The searcher showed little reaction to the first. With the second, though, the searcher began to look uncomfortable. That could have just been a reaction to the noise, but regardless, Sammy asked, "Do these tapes mean anything to you?" The searcher nodded. "Good. It's going to be okay, Grant. Look who we have here," Sammy motioned at Bendy. "He will set us free."

"Stop. Please," The searcher begged, "I don't want to be here. I don't want to remember what's happened. I don't even understand how I'm still alive. I slid out from between the bars of that cage and fell to my death. Is... this Hell?"

"This isn't Hell," Alice answered, "Look, it's really hard to explain. But just let us kill you and-"

"What!?" the ink creature whispered in alarm. Its instinct was suddenly to run. Alice out her rope and lassoed the Searcher. She drew him in close. In a panic, he grabbed her wrist, which immediately began to burn. She tore it away immediately to reveal that her left hand had nearly melted off. That was it. She took out her machete, and struck. It cut through the newly-formed searcher like butter. She dropped the machete and grabbed the soul, which she passed along to Bendy.

"Alice, what did you just do? That's not how the Church of Unity treats a lost sheep. I could have explained everything to him."

"Sorry, but I'm a miracle worker, not a therapist. I didn't survive this long by taking chances."

Sammy looked thoughtful a moment. "You know, I could kill you with a single touch, but you're one of the toughest people I've met down here. I need someone to look after my people once I'm gone. Alice, what if I chose you? With my endorsement, and that of our lord, they'd surely accept it."

"Sammy, that's really sudden. But, I was hoping that your church would open up to me at least a little. I'm not like you. I'm not good with giving people hope, or a reason to keep going, or any of that. But I could separate these souls out and send them to heaven. If we can't save them like you're being saved, well, it's what's best for them."

"So you agree?"

"If there's no one else to do it, then yes. I'll do it, Sammy."

"Thank you."

The two shared a firm handshake just as Henry dragged himself out of one of the puddles of ink. Alice helped Henry to his feet and then promptly slapped him across the face. Sammy followed suit.

"That's for running ahead of us without a weapon! Henry, what could've happened if the butcher gang had caught up with you a little sooner?"

"Alright, point taken. I guess I was just in a bit of a panic, is all. The important thing is that everyone made it out okay."

"Yeah. And uh, thanks. Fer savin' my life."

"Anytime, little guy." He turned back to Alice. "I didn't know that you and Sammy would be getting along. It's nice to see. Anyhow, who's soul is there left to save?"

Alice started giggling. "No one's, Henry. We're done. We just need to revive them now. Let's go to Boris' hideout so I can fix up these souls."

"Oh. Well, okay. Sammy, we're probably going to be playing cards. Do you like cards, or should I just, you know..."

"Actually, I think I'll be wanting his company, if he's alright with that."

"I certainly am."

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #breaking the time loop #my fanfiction #sammy lawrence #Allison Angel #Toon bendy

[lovesquareshippingtrash]

Chameleon Reaction

An episode that had the fandom up in arms before it aired based on its preview. But did any of it matter?

(Warning: LONG POST. Spoilers below the cut)

I mean you know it didn’t.

So we start straight off with the scene from the preview clip. Marinette is excited to find that many people have swapped seats. From the explanation we’re given, this was a plan made before that school day. So why didn’t anybody tell Marinette about it, especially when the changes affected her more than anyone else, moving her to the back of the class to sit by herself? None of the people actually involved in the plan felt like volunteering then, huh?

Let’s talk about Marinette’s reaction to Lila and everything else going on here. She is a little aggressive towards Lila, pointing out the holes in her story, but she never makes a comment suggesting that she shouldn’t be able to sit at the front. All Marinette asks is why she should have to sit at the back. She’s pretty loose on the details, so it’s hard to read much into what the actual complaint would be there beyond literally not wanting to sit at the back of the class. She says nothing about sitting by herself, and while we could read into her not wanting to be separated from her friends (which is most likely how her classmates take it), I think if someone genuinely needed to be at the front, Marinette would gladly volunteer to move.

This is Marinette. We’ve all seen Copycat and Volpina. We know what this is about. This is about Lila lying. The show has gone to painstaking lengths to show Marinette hates lying. Which would be all well and good, a strongly developed piece of characterisation... except we’ve just had the season 2 finale. We’ve just had Catalyst & Mayura, where the major plot thread in Marinette’s civilian life was her LIE about having a grand picnic prepared for the whole school. And she decided to try to work hard to make it not a lie, and the class forgave her, but we have just had a TWO PARTER that had a plot thread about Marinette lying for no reason other than saving face in front of Chloé. She could have just accepted that people thought her good deed was a little weak - although of course, her classmates would no doubt have remember all of her many good deeds that she does for them constantly, as Adrien pointed out at the end. Marinette just told a giant lie for the most meagre of reasons, and in the multipart story you’d think they’d build on this, have it be an identity crisis for Marinette - but this is Miraculous. We don’t get that level of depth. We aren’t even shown Marinette’s apology - just everyone accepting it and moving on.

This is supposed to be about Chameleon, not Heroes’ Day. The point is, after just giving us a story in which Marinette tells a pointless lie without her suffering any repercussions, ever being expected to make amends, and in which her hatred for lying is directly highlighted by her interactions with Lila, how are we ever expected to care about this part of Marinette’s character again?

Moving on. The already infamous moment of everyone turning to Marinette, featuring Adrien’s absurd look of disgust that is, apparently, an animation error. I’m not concerned about that though. What I am concerned about is the gasps of horror from the rest of the class in that moment. Lila offers to give Marinette her seat - but Marinette never asked her to do that. She never said Lila should have to move, only complained that she should. She didn’t accept Lila’s offer, either. I can understand the class looking at Marinette for her reaction, but they acted like Marinette personally gave Lila tinnitus right there. The reaction was totally uncalled for, and is SUCH an easy audio fix to drastically improve the entire episode. People’s problem with this story going in was the idea that Marinette’s friends would turn against her so easily, and it’s such an easy fix that changes the story in no way to turn that around.

Brief aside (boy I really didn’t think this post would be this long already, sorry...); this episode seems to be setting up Lila to be Marinette’s every day antagonist now that Chloé is getting her redemption. How great would it be if Chloé, trying to be nice and deciding that after what Marinette has done for her lately she dislikes Lila more than she dislikes Marinette, Chloé stood up for her? She could be the one to point out that Jagged has a crocodile, not a kitten. But, of course, again, that would require character and relationship development, and we wouldn’t want that now, would we... Still, with the set up for Lila to be Marinette’s every day villain, maybe this will happen later. It’s notable that Chloé doesn’t have a line in this episode; she’s never fawning over Lila here, even when Sabrina is, and we get no indication that Chloé wants to be her friend, unlike in Volpina. But I digress...

Marinette proves how much better than all of this she is, however, by calming down enough by herself to resist the akuma before it could reach her.

Lunchtime. Nino glosses over Marinette’s story about Lila being a liar to point out the flaw in Marinette’s behaviour. And sure, it wasn’t a great choice, but seriously? And then Alya decides she’s a journalist first and a friend second. Of course, Marinette’s counter here should be that she was in the park and heard Ladybug calling Lila out, but it’s fair that she wouldn’t think like that in the moment - of course, she didn’t overhear that, she said it. Alternatively, Adrien could have popped up here to support Marinette, but we gotta have DRAMA.

Not sure why we should expect any of Marinette’s classmates to think about anything at all, however, because first they think nothing of Lila failing to react in pain until after Marinette speaks, and then they fall for her utter nonsense about the terrible dangers of particularly soft paper. Yeah, Myléne and Kim then yell at Marinette like she’s an enemy instead of just expressing disappointment in her out of character action like a friend, but what does that matter any more. The class aren’t being allowed to have any independent thought in regards to Lila.

Now we get to talk about something that the episode does really well! Hooray! Adrien’s interaction with Lila in the locker room is great. He knows Lila is lying, but when not transformed he has a cool head. He doesn’t know the depths of Lila’s vindictiveness. As far as he can tell, she’s a compulsive liar who could be brought around, not someone who will say whatever it takes to get what she wants. He won’t just blindly trust her after what has happened, but he has such a good heart, he wants to help. Even after Lila throws it back in his face, he’s still willing to help her.

Then Marinette (with Tikki’s encouragement) resists the akuma again, because she is also wonderful. Between this and Zombizou, Hawkmoth should really be getting suspicious about her.

Lila’s response to the akuma is fantastic. Not only being unafraid, but straight up grabbing it out of the air, and then HER giving the introductory spiel back to Hawkmoth. That’s just great. A bit weird that she acts like he wouldn’t remember her after specifically calling on her a second time, and weird that he acts like it’s a big deal that he remembers her. But that’s so minor. It’s also just so thematically strong that, once again, Lila’s powers are based on being fake, this time lying about herself rather than what’s around them.

Plagg decided that Adrien needs an enchanted kiss is such a WONDERFUL moment, it’s so out of the blue, such a diversion, and it’s hilarious. Whoever wrote that scene, assuming they didn’t write the rest of the episode, give them a raise. We need more moments like that.

Cat Noir once again taking the hit for Ladybug and being taken out of the fight. This episode definitely need to have Ladybug be the one in the fight, but one day I just wish they’d let Cat Noir take the spotlight.

A good villain is one who doesn’t just lose or fail for the sake of it. Lila had the opportunity to get a Miraculous, but chose not to due to her own personal feelings about Ladybug. That’s great. What’s not great is that Hawkmoth doesn’t try a similar akuma with a more obedient host.

Frankly, the whole actual fight is great. One thing at which this show always excels is its choreography. The defeat of Chameleon is just sublime, one of the better take-downs of a villain in the entire show. But HOW does Cat Noir not react to Ladybug’s pun here?? Miraculous is always so rushed, especially towards the end of episodes, not letting us have little character moments like that.

Nino completely falling apart without his hat is ridiculous. Alya being more concerned about him falling apart than anything to do with Marinette here is so much more so.

And now we get to the resolution. If Miraculous is bad at its openings, it is appalling at its resolutions.

Hawkmoth gives a speech about how Lila will still help him like this isn’t the third time he’s akumatised her. The specifics of this plot and the dialogue here strongly hint at the setup for Lila to ultimately see Ladybug actually akumatised, but we’ll see if that pays off. One of my predictions for this season going in was that Lila would essentially gain the ability to call on her akuma at will to become Volpina and fight as a recurring enemy in the field. But that would, of course, be far too much of a shake up to the status quo.

Adrien talks to Marinette about Lila! They’re able to talk about how they both know Lila lies. Adrien helps Marinette to understand why what she’s doing won’t help, and able to help Marinette grow as a person! This is great! Already more than I expected to get here! Good start! From how everyone else is acting with Lila, it seems like they might not be apologising any time soon, unfortunately, but Adrien letting Marinette know he’s on her side is good.

And you know, I wouldn’t have been surprised if that had been it. I wouldn’t have even minded that ending. But then THEY RAMP IT UP. First, Adrien gives Marinette such a LOOK. A seeing-her-in-a-whole-new-light kind of look. Of course, he’s given her some similar looks before, I’m definitely not expecting it to mark a change in their interaction. But it makes for great gif/photoset material, you’ll certainly see it on this blog soon.

Then he goes the next step and MOVES TO SIT WITH HER! YES! Adrien ensures that Marinette won’t be left on her own, making a physical statement that he is literally on her side. He makes clear to Marinette both that he is proud of her, and that he is happy to be at the back, giving us a spectacular new status quo set up.

Things seem great! So, of course, we can’t expect it to last. Marinette misses her name on the register, but it hardly seems like her fault, no doubt she’s just confused because Miss Bustier is reading names off in a completely random order. It’s a shame, in Stoneheart the register was read out in proper order; Agreste, Bourgeois, Bruel. But for some reason here it’s going Rossi, Agreste, Kanté, Dupain-Cheng.

Now I’m not sure if Miss Bustier genuinely thinks Marinette couldn’t hear, or she’s using that as an excuse because she knows Marinette is distracted by Adrien - but she was utterly clueless about the social dynamics earlier in the episode. A teacher wouldn’t move a student for mishearing something literally once after they’ve said there’s no issue. If it repeated, yes, but not once.

Still, as disappointing as this is, Marinette being forced to sit beside her enemy could be inte-

OH SORRY COULDN’T FINISH THE SENTENCE BEFORE THAT POTENTIAL SHAKE UP WAS RUINED. Lila claims her tinnitus is cured. And everyone just accepts it. Seriously? That’s the moment everyone should be looking at her with scrutiny, realising that they’d been duped and they should have trusted their “every day Ladybug” after all. Some actual APOLOGIES offered to Marinette. But they all just ignore it. This show’s refusal to use the word SORRY is just awful.

Now Alya... Alya takes it upon herself to act, finally...

“You didn’t think I’d let my BFF sit all by herself, did you?”

EXCUSE ME!? Yes, we most certainly did think you’d do that, because YOU LITERALLY DID EXACTLY THAT. ADRIEN is the one who made sure things changed, he was the one who decided not to leave her on her own. You made the choice on Marinette’s behalf that she would sit at the back so you could sit with Nino. Miss Bustier vaguely mentions people with vision problems needing to sit closer - except that’s exactly what their glasses are for. I’m a teacher, if we have a kid who can’t see the board we’ll move them closer, but that never happens with kids wearing glasses - typically that’s with kids who need glasses but have lost or broken them. First there was her deciding Marinette was clearly just jealous of Lila being close to Adrien in Catalyst, despite the fact that Marinette was much closer to him and showed in Frozer that she wasn’t ruled by jealousy, now this. Do the writers want us to turn against Alya? I’ve seen a theory going around that this episode was going to set up Marinette and Alya having a major fallout. But Alya acts like there’s no problem, and ONCE AGAIN FAILS TO APOLOGISE.

Adrien is great and moves back to Nino, to again say clearly to Marinette and Lila that he is on Marinette’s side. Frankly, I don’t know why Lila even wanted to sit with him again, she knows he’s wise to her crap. But this is followed by literally everyone going back to normal - and they’re all given closeups like they’re in on some great conspiratorial show of support for Marinette, while NOT. SAYING. SORRY. Cannot stress this enough. So now everything is just the same as it was, except Lila sits next to Nathaniel. We had a potential to mix up character and relationship dynamics, but we can’t have any progression now, can we.

This episode had some excellent moments. Adrien was wonderful, and the akuma fight was great. But it was bookended by utter crap and Marinette’s friends were unbearable. Yes, they’re teenagers, they’re not perfect, but this is a kids’ show. If you want to show something like this, impart a life lesson! Have Tikki point out people change as they grow up, or have everyone apologise and realise their mistake, or SOMETHING. But like I said, this show refuses to offer good resolution or progress of any kind besides new teammates and power ups. Its refusal to bend from its rigid episodic structure with monsters of the week keeps it utterly stagnant, and means that many major plot points get ignored for extended periods - I found it rather jarring that Hawkmoth didn’t have his own actual plot in the episode. No development with Gabriel and Nathalie, no suspicion raised about Marinette.

Of course, the dumbest part about the whole episode is that those benches can EASILY fit at least three people, nobody actually needed to move at all.

As ever, my feelings about all this are just that this show has such great potential, wonderful ideas, and strong characters. But it squanders it all, time after time, and I doubt it will ever change... but that’s why I love this fandom so much; because we take all of that, and turn it into so much wonderful art, so many wonderful stories...

#Chameleon #ml spoilers #ml season 3 #rant #ml salt

[the-wonder-duo]

Random Ass Update #3

This one is dedicated to all you shits that can’t read. 

A tsunami rocked the West coast. In light of the ongoing investigation into InvisaInk’s death, we decided that it’d be best if Deku went alone to aid with recovery efforts. 

Thousands died. Recovery efforts are still ongoing.

 If you’ve got the means, you oughta donate to the Japan Relief and Recovery Fund. 

I stayed in the East. 

Answered some shit questions between patrols. Told you fucks about Deku’s questionable taste in music. 

PSA: I’m better than Deku at everything. 

Deku kept in touch while he was in the Nagano through audio logs and holocalls. 

There were sightings of someone that might’ve looked like me. At the time, I dismissed it as bullshit. 

Explosions rocked the streets of Hosu. The cause was not determined. 

Get your conspiracy theory asses off my blog. 

I was arrested after an attack in Hosu; Okane Trust & Banking Company had been robbed in an explosive attack. 

The Hero Police Force  released a statement revealed that on-site video surveillance captured footage of me at the scene, though the security system experienced technical difficulties only moments later. 

Sweat and hair analysis also placed me at the scene. 

Deku came back— even though I told him to stay in the East. Even though he was supposed to stick to the West to help tsunami victims. 

There were protests. I guess some of you lot aren’t complete dickheads, after all. 

Thanks. 

I was drugged with Quirk suppressants. Standard procedure for those that’re being detained. 

My body didn’t react that well to ‘em. 

Footage of the bank robbery was leaked.

Deku compiled evidence to prove that I was innocent. 

When presenting his argument to the detectives who were in charge of the investigation, Deku was dismissed without any consideration. 

Asshole discovered that I was gonna be transferred to a maximum security prison even though I hadn’t even been arrested in any official capacity. Hadn’t even been charged of any crimes. 

Idiot broke me out of jail. 

Words don’t even begin to express what I felt. 

That idiot has so much going for him, you know? Wouldn’t have partnered up with him if he weren’t a damn good hero. He lives to help others. Dunno if he could live without it. 

And that could’ve been the end of it. Right there. 

He would’ve given it up. Thrown it all away. 

For me. 

You’re an idiot, Deku. 

We were pursued by Pros and police, but we managed to make it to the sewers. Since we’d spent weeks combing through them, we knew them pretty well. 

Took refuge in an undocumented Quirk shelter. 

Deku’d scheduled a leak of information to be posted onto the blog before he’d left. To tell everyone that he could of what had really happened, and to show why I wasn’t guilty of the crimes that I’d been accused of. 

Here’s the gist of what he wrote: 

I’m sure that the people who were responsible for kidnapping Kacchan are those who are responsible for InvisaInk, and do not say that without backing. The proof is in the visual evidence that has already been uploaded online by multiple sources; I suspect that the footage that was sent to me last night will be uploaded before long, as well. 

Most would say that those leaked stills that show an apparent Kacchan robbing a bank appear to be wrong, somehow. And those conclusions would be correct. 

There’s the obvious— the haircut, for one, which doesn’t at all match was Kacchan is currently sporting —but then there’s the more subtle (for those who don’t know Kacchan as well as I do, anyways). 

The imposter in the video is a mirror image of the actual Bakugou Katsuki.

 Upon reviewing some of the footage taken by crowd’s phones that day in the park— the day the fake InvisaInk confronted the both of us—I can see now that that InvisaInk was a mirror image of the actual InvisaInk, as well; for those that want obvious proof, I suggest slowing the video down to a fourth of it’s usual speed and pausing as InvisaInk lifts his gun to Kacchan’s head— you can see the visible outline of InvisaInk’s tattoo as his shirt sleeves rides up— on his left arm. 

The actual InvisaInk’s tattoo was located on his right arm. 

A closer examination of each of their features has further proved that this person is, in fact, able to create mirror images of their target— given what they’ve known to have taken from both Kacchan and InvisaInk, I can only infer that they use bone marrow to supply this transformation with the aid of their Quirk. 

This also shows why the YouTube video uploaded of the fake InvisaInk’s spiel had actually seemed to be right for both Kacchan and I— before the video had been uploaded, the murderers had actually edited and flipped the footage, so that the person being displayed was on the correct side again.

 And yes, I did say murderers— because I believe this to be the work of not just one person, but at least two. Further inspection of the sight of the bank blast and an analysis of the explosion has proven that yes, while Kacchan’s actual sweat had ignited the ensuring explosion, it had blown the wall upon from inside the bank— he hadn’t entered from the outside, as witnesses and the footage depict of the alleged “Ground Zero.” 

I have come to the conclusion that the second accomplice is one that harvests body parts in order to gain use of that target’s Quirk; for InvisaInk, the murderers harvested his skin, and for Kacchan— his hands. 

The same hands that were taken from him months ago. During his kidnapping— which had been so similar to that of InvisaInk’s. 

Chillingly, a closer look at footage captured at the Charity Smash event depicts a person that looks eerily similar to InvisaInk— with the exception of his height, his hair, and his features. In fact, his skin seems to be the only startling match— a comparison shows that the freckles on this man’s face exactly match those of InvisaInk’s. 

‘Course it wasn’t me. 

I’d never pull a stunt like that. 

I’m a goddamn hero. 

Anyways, some numbskull who’d just been released from their own interrogation actually managed to snap a pic of Deku breaking me out of there. 

Didn’t cower in the sewers, though. 

We found the fuckers that were responsible for what had happened. 

Had some help from another Pro Hero, Earphone Jack. 

Deku kept more of a level head than I did, admittedly. 

I dunno. I guess it was harder than I ever would’ve imagined it’d be. Keeping my cool. When the sick bastards that skinned InvisaInk alive were right in front of me. 

Chased ‘em to a crowded street, police got involved, caught the murderers, and gave ourselves up.

Seems like they might’ve been two of Backlash’s lackeys, but in all goddamn honesty, they seem like a pair of those Anti-Quirk Liberation League nutjob extremists. ‘Least, they seem that way to me. 

Toga Akane was one of ‘em. Sister of Toga Himiko, who gained some fame from working as member of the League of Villains some years back. 

She’s in possession of a Quirk that allows her to become a mirror image of anyone who’s bone marrow she consumes. 

Claims she hates her sister. That people like her are the scum of the Earth. That people like herself are scum of the Earth. That people like them ought not to exist, and that their actions— and more importantly, their Quirks —are proof of that. 

Says that she did it for the greater good. Part of a way of showing once and for all that Quirks ought to be eliminated— part of a way to show us all how they ruin lives. 

The Anti-Quirk Liberation League won’t claim her. Say that they don’t associate themselves with common criminals, and that they’re horrified and repulsed by her actions. 

Last I heard, she’s attempted suicide at least twice since the beginning of her imprisonment.

The other murderer was Hada Dorobō. Possessed an undocumented Quirk that snatches the abilities of other Quirks through imbibing body parts conducive to the utilization of other Quirks. 

Appears that the sick bastard can only snatch one Quirk at a time; if he tries to take on another, the body part that he stole rots off of him. 

Deku and I were released after Lead Detective Naomasa discovered that the secretary to the Senior Commissioner had been, essentially, brainwashing most of the force via email. Had a Quirk that affected perception through written word. 

It’s been confirmed that the Senior Commissioner was bribed to ignore these criminal acts, and both of ‘em have been arrested. S’why the force had been acting so unreliably recently.

 Originally, we were given a week of house arrest and ‘till the first of June of suspension, but that was changed to house arrest ‘till the first a few days ago. 

After the first, we’ll be allowed to work as Pro Heroes again. 

So we’ve been sitting around the house ‘till then. 

Answered some more questions. 

Deku revealed that he’s come across a Quirk that allowed the wielder’s dick to function like a compass. Pointed towards what the user really wanted, apparently. 

I think that Deku’s a gullible dumbass and that it was just a boner. 

Deku doesn’t wanna be the number one hero anymore. 

He wants to be the best hero. 

A great hero. 

Fuck you, Deku. 

There’s been some fallout. Apparently you can’t just break outta jail and expect to be considered a shining example of heroism by everyone. 

Who would’ve imagined that. 

I don’t give a damn what you have to say about it. Yeah, breaking me out was a stupid move, and yeah, it could’ve been so much worse, but you know what? Deku’s still a hero in my eyes. 

In case you’ve lived under a rock for the past decade, you ought to know that the leader of the League of Villains is dead. 

My biggest rival made a comeback.

Played some games. 

One of ‘em was perverted as hell. Our publicist is a real piece of work, putting that crap together. 

Truth or Dare ended with a naked Deku in my bed. 

Deku worried too damn much about it. 

It’s fine. Fucking weird, and awkward, and yeah, I was pissed that he pulled something like that just ‘cause he thought he could get some info that I wouldn’t hand over to him on a silver platter, but the fuck got too caught up in that. 

Culminated in Deku putting himself into a slump. 

Asshole told me that it’d be best if we didn’t share a bed for now. 

Informed him of how goddamn stupid he is. 

And then I told him to come to bed. 

For better or for worse, we’re a team. 

Shitnerd’s just gonna have to accept it. 

We’re not fucking. 

And we’re more than ready to go back to work already. 

#bakudeku #katsudeku #izukatsu #eventually #only a few more days 'till i'm out of this goddamn house #two weeks cooped up with deku #is two weeks too long #trust me #weekly update #ground zero signing in

[betweenthetimeandsound]

Three Minutes to Eternity: My ESC 250 (#190-181)

#190: Kaliopi -- Crno i Belo (North Macedonia 2012)

“Отвори душа признај ми, Што сме сега јас и ти, Пола мое во тебе, А пола твое спие во мене,”

“Open your soul and admit to me, What we are now, you and me Half of me is in you And half of you is sleeping in me”

Kaliopi was supposed to be (North) Macedonia's first entrant in the 1996 with the song Samo Ti, but an audio-only pre-qualifying round ended up preventing her from doing so. Whereas Samo ti is a calming, R&B influenced song, Crno i belo is an alternative rock song which takes a number of twists.

Crno I Belo starts slowly, but it really picks up from the second verse onwards as it transforms into a rock song. There’s a sense of confrontation with the lyrics, which the music also tries to convey. And I don’t need to say much about Kaliopi’s vocals—a bit harsh, but awesome. And that scream is nothing but penetrating.

Personal ranking: 4th/42 Actual ranking: 13th/26 GF in Baku

#189: Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Sweden 2015)

"Now go sing it like a hummingbird The greatest anthem ever heard"

I know there was a bit of flack of Sweden's most recent win, because they won primarily because of the jury (they were third in the televote). Compared to "Grand Amore", which comfortably won the televote but only gotten sixth with the juries, which was a pretty bad mismatch.

In addition, compared to the other fan-favorites of the class of 2015, Heroes is a more mainstream-sounding pop song, with influences from "Lovers from the Sun" and the highly produced Swedish-pop scene. But when I listen to it, it's very engaging and surprisingly danceable, with a great message of strength and togetherness. And the staging was quite slick and creative (with a bunch of influence on some of those from the following year)

So while Heroes is not my personal favorite of 2015, it's still a compelling and awesome pop song. Six years later, it's holds up fantastically.

Personal ranking: 7th/40 Actual ranking: 1st/27 GF in Vienna

#188: Elitsa Todorova & Stoyan Yankoulov -- Water (Bulgaria 2007)

"Море, Митра пее на реката Митре ле, ий… Митре ле"

"Lo, Mitra sings by the river Oh Mitra, eeh.. oh Mitra"

I have the strange impression that Bulgaria has a trance music scene we don't know of. From Elitsa and Stoyan's two appearances to the lyrics of Stanga being taken from a Bulgarian folk song, it's something that was not in focus in the rest of the world.

That said, Bulgaria's only qualifying song prior to 2016 is an experience to behold. While the lyrics are simply about Mitra meeting a lad riding a horse, the soundscape feels like you're in the surreal place yourself. You are in a rush against time, but you're also on a journey towards...somewhere.

Both the music and drumming really amplify the experience; seeing Elitsa and Stoyan drum together was a highlight for me. And while there are questions about Elitsa's vocals, including a point where she goes off-key, she still provides the necessary tone for this intriguing song.

Personal ranking: 4th/42 Actual ranking: 5th/24 GF in Helsinki

#187: Tose Proeski -- Life (North Macedonia 2004)

“Life is a book and you gotta read it Life is a story and you gotta tell it Life is a song and you gotta sing it You've got to know how to live it.”

For some curious reason, I prefer the English-version of this song to the Macedonian language one. Whereas this one, performed from Eurovision, focuses on the angst of existence and the importance of making the most of it, "Angel si ti" is an ode towards a lover who lines his streets with roses and even turns back time.

That's one of the things which work here that really shouldn’t. The mid-2000s sound, the lyrics, and the sheer angst of it. But for some reason, I really enjoy it. Tose (RIP) sings this really well, and it feels like a song out of a musical, in a scene where the protagonist cannot decide what they want to do with their life. It's awesome and I love this lots (and please, put this in a hypothetical Eurovision jukebox musical--there's so much plot potential!)

Personal ranking: 6th/36 Actual ranking: 14th/24 GF in Istanbul

#186: Lisa Andreas -- Stronger Every Minute (Cyprus 2004)

“My love grows stronger every minute And it won’t ever die You must believe I’ll always be there For you, all my life”

Greece and Cyprus are basically sisters in the contest--you can almost always expect them to give votes to each other considering the circumstances. However, their combined quality frequently varies, as well as results. 2004 was their best results year, though not necessarily their best in terms of songs (you'll get that later, towards the end)

At fifth place, Stronger Every Minute shared the best Cypriot entry ever with two other entries (one of which is #239, another coming soon) until 2018. This time, it comes in the form of a delicate love song, performed so tenderly and serenely by Lisa. Despite her looks making her look older than sixteen, she conveys a sense of innocence, helped by the glockenspiel and the acoustic guitar throughout.

I love how sincere she sings this “love letter”, as one blogger put it--I hope everyone can feel a love like this! A pure oasis in the flash and chaos of the 100% televote era.

Personal ranking: 5th/36 Actual ranking: =5th/24 GF (with Sweden) in Istanbul

#185: Paloma San Basilio -- La fiesta terminó (Spain 1985)

“La fiesta terminó Ya no hay más que niebla entre tú y yo ¿Para qué echar más leña arder Si el fuego se ha apagado ya?”

“The party’s over There’s only a fog between you and me Why throwing more wood to burn When the fire is already dull?"

Juan Carlos Calderon and Paloma San Basilio are really well known in their fields --the former is a noted songwriter who already wrote one of the biggest hits in Latin America, whereas the latter is a noted singer and theater actress who would win a Latin Grammy and play Evita.

Together, they have this really nice power ballad, albeit one with a bit of melancholy in it. The lyrics are the strong part of this piece, telling of a relationship that has come to an end using the party as a metaphor for it. It works very well, especially with Paloma's warm voice and the way she emotes the song through her hand gestures.

The resulting package is quite sad, yet very, very beautiful. Unfortunately, it didn't get the result it deserved (which maybe because of that backing vocalist picking at his nose...).

Personal ranking: 2nd/19 Actual ranking: 14th/19 in Gothenburg

#184: Sakis Rouvas -- Shake It (Greece 2004)

“I would trade my life for a night with you Driven by desire”

(Yes, this is already the third song from 2004 to appear in this section. haha. The first two that appeared here are fighting for my fifth, whereas the top four here is the exact same top four of that year.)

The first of the Greek Golden Era, we get Sakis Rouvas in all his glory. This was a hit when it was first released, and it at one point was the highest selling single of all-time in Greece. And as of 2021, it's still the highest-scoring Greek entry, despite them winning the following year.

While his regular discography doesn’t usually feature Greek elements, as he's better known for popularizing pop and rock influences in Greek music, I still think the bouzouki riffs do a good job here adding to this bop (the composer is Nikos Terzis--remember this name).

It's a dancefloor banger which I keep on repeat, and it seems that people across the continent have done so too! Especially those from Turkey. The performance is also quite fun, albeit with some...curious choreography (e.g. 1:42-1:46). That said, we also get some of Sakis' athleticism, thanks to him doing track when he was younger.

Personal ranking: 4th/36 Actual ranking: 3rd/24 GF in Istanbul

#183: Claude Lombard -- Quand tu Reviendras (Belgium 1968)

"Passent les semaines, se traînent les jours Et moi, j’attends ton retour En filant la laine dans mes beaux atours En bordant ma peine de doux fils d’amour"

"Weeks passing by, the days are lingering And I’m waiting for your return Spinning the wool in my beautiful finery Embroidering my pain in soft threads of love"

A couple of commenters compared to a Kate Bush song, and I think it comes down to Claude’s voice, which is very ethereal. However, Claude's voice has some depth, which, in comparison to Kate Bush's earlier work, is a bit more mature.

As for the song, it’s very folkloric but tragic, in which she yearns for the day her lover comes back. The use of strings helps in that it establishes a medieval ambience to it, but the overall feeling is still timeless. It’s almost as if one is caught into the story and wept along with her.

I especially love this because it stood out amongst the class of 1968--while most of the other songs has a happy-go-lucky vibe, Quand tu Reviendras goes in the opposite direction. Same with my runner-up.

Personal ranking: 1st/17 Actual ranking: =7th/17 (with Monaco and Yugoslavia) in London

#182: Doris Dragović - Marija Magdalena (Croatia 1999)

Maria Magdalena, gib mir deine Macht Für immer und nicht nur für eine Nacht

“Svjedok mi Bog, srca mi mog, Ova žena zna, da ti pripada sva...”

“As God is my witness, I swear by my heart, That this woman knows, she belongs to you entirely...”

(The first few lyrics were from the first Maria Magdalena from Austria, haha. Just wanted to mess with you. :) )

The second Marija Magdalena is a beloved entry in the fandom, and for good reason! It hasn’t aged since 1999, which shone amongst the relatively dull field with its mix of ethnic and dance music. Lyrically, it focuses on a love that redeems the narrator, hence the imagery related to Marija Magdalena (yay, religious imagery and redemption!). I think it works efficiently, and Doris performs well on stage with her powerful vocals and diva-like presence. Arguably, it's argued that it was the best song of 1999.

The only problem I have is with the backing vocals on the instrumental. The delegation cheated, and that’s the end of it. I’m still wondering why people would put this as their favorite of 1999 otherwise; even with the new rule about allowing them on the track. It puts me on edge on what would've happened had they won.

Beautiful song, but cheaters don't prosper in my book.

Personal ranking: 3rd/23 Actual ranking: 4th/23 in Jerusalem

#181: Evelin Samuel & Camille - Diamond of Night (Estonia 1999)

“Diamond of night, burning so bright Guide me my silvery new sign”

The last Eurovision song of the twentieth century is filled with mystical imagery, atmospheric instrumentation, and a beautiful violin solo. The whole thing reminds me of a fairytale, with a cool soundscape, though sometimes I feel like something is lacking in it (especially because it resembles some entries from the 1996 contest; I was thinking of I evighet when writing this)

The lyrics are especially pertinent for Evelin Samuel (the singer), who tried to get to Eurovision throughout the entire 1990s. She was about to go as one half of the Estonian duo from 1996, when she suddenly got a tour in Japan, which was then canceled. She managed to become a backing vocalist in 1997, and finally got her chance here. Seeing her sing "now i can say it's my time" is very touching, even if her eyes seem to be bulging out!

In the end, it's a peaceful and serene song, with hope for the new millenium. However, considering what the first song of Eurovision 2000 would be, little did one know it won't always start on the right foot...

Personal ranking: 2nd/23 Actual ranking: 6th/23 in Jerusalem

#eurovision song contest #esc 250 #esc top 250 #esc north macedonia #esc sweden #esc bulgaria #esc cyprus #esc spain #esc greece #esc belgium #esc croatia #esc estonia #vintage eurovision #three minutes to eternity

[technohumanlation]

Bedtime Story

So. Y’all made me do this @fangurldayandnight and crew. Enjoy

Izabella believed Cade when he said his goodbye. She believed him when he said that she was family and they would take care of her. While Cade left for England with Bumblebee and Cogman, she was taken back to their junk yard sanctuary.

She also believed the neon green Autobot, Crosshairs, when he told her there would be no bedtime stories. He seemed to be the rough kind. That was fine with her. She was fourteen. She was well past the bedtime story age anyhow...

She wrapped her white and striped blanket around her as she settled into the cushions of a scrap car she called her bed. It was hot during the day but at night it could get chilly. The baby Dinobots were already sleeping soundlessly around her, a little chip or trill escaping them as they slept. Squeaks was around, maybe exploring the junkyard or simply sleeping outside. He could handle himself. He was a brave 'bot.

Izabella smiled, petting baby Slug around his horns. He trilled once before stretching out on the blanket she had provided for him.

"Hey, little J-lo!" There was a sudden loud bag on the car door, startling her from her thoughts. She groaned. She...just wanted to be left alone.

"My name is Izabella!" She seethed hanging her head outside where the back seat window would be. The little once Decepticon now Autobot was standing outside with a mini pizza box in hand.

"Ey, easy little girl. I just thought you were hungry, is all." He presented the box to her. "It's ah, meat lovers. Not too sure what ya like so-."

Izabella's anger dissipated a bit. "Oh." That was nice of him. She took her blanket off and opened the car door, standing outside awkwardly. She took the box, still warm from the microwave.

"Yeah, noticed you hadn't eaten anythin' in a day so..."

"Gracias." She smiled a bit. "Wheelie, was it?"

"Yeah." He was awkward as well. "Look ah, we have a fire going on over by the shop if ya wanna join. We try ta relax, ignoring the fact that the world may end as we know it. We thought it would lighten you up."

Izabella knew they were trying. Cade said they would take care of her. A bunch of war torn misfit Autobots. She took in a deep breath and sighed long and slow. She had to let them try. After all, they were her new family.

"Sure." She nodded.

"Cool, kid. Bring ya Pizza and blanket." He seemed happy in the fact he successfully got her to come out of her shell. The shell being the car.

She wrapped the blanket around her and carried the pizza, awkwardly following him. The darkness of the night gave way to a soft glow of a bon fire. Surprisingly it wasn't a wild fire as she imagined it to be, but calm and gentle. Strangely it was soothing her already.

She saw Drift, Hound, and Crosshairs sitting nearby. She smiled upon seeing Squeaks being poked by Hound in good nature. "-looks kinda badass to me." Squeaks chattered in appreciation.

"He's decrepit. Gotta wipe that 'con insignia off his arm." Crosshairs huffed, arms crossed over his chest as he casually sat atop a gutless truck. Hound was comfortable enough siting on the ground. Drift was as well, sitting cross-legged. He had his chin cupped by a bored hand. Occasionally poking the fire with one of his swords.

"You're decrepit Hound, can't even stand up straight without a grenade popping out of your-"

That's when Wheelie announced his presence. "Hey, hey! Be decent now, there's virgin audios around." He shouted up to him going back to his original spot next to Squeaks. "No matter what they says Squeaks, ya alright ta me." He chirped once in thanks.

Izabella stepped forward. At that moment everyone looked over to her. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her shoulders. She smacked her lips that suddenly seemed dry and swallowed.

Hound smiled. "Ah, don't worry about him, lil' lady. He's always like that. All bark no bite."

Crosshairs sighed. She could tell he was fighting to say a snide remark.

She offered a halfhearted smile. Quick and awkward. Drift was kind enough to push up a petrified log for her to sit on.

She said a quiet "thank you" before sitting and opening her box of pizza that was now cold. Food was food she supposed, and she hadn't eaten in a long while. Her growling stomach said so.

The little girl was going to take a bite of her pizza but she still felt optics on her. All of them as a matter of fact.

She looked up and they darted their optics this way and that avoiding anything but her. She sighed finally taking a bite.

Drift was the first to speak. "Grimlock ate another cruiser." He said offhandedly.

"I swear he's worse than a dog." Hound grumbled.

"A giant, terrifyin', fire breathing dog. Look, I wasn't there but from what I 'eard from you guys? Prime rode in on that big guy like a fraggin' boss." Wheelie nodded to Squeaks. He chirped in return.

Crosshairs smiled. "Believed in him from the start."

Drift whacked him on the shoulder. "My aft you did."

Crosshairs bobbed his helm this way and that. "I had doubts..." He gave in a little.

Hound took his cy-gar out of his mouth and laughed. "We were fighting by the skin of our teeth!" He pointed at Wheelie. "It was epic."

"Ya don't have skin and yes, I know. You told me the story." He mumbled something about robot dementia.

Izabella went to take another bite of her pizza but paused. She looked up to the conversation that was without her input. "You didn't tell me."

Crosshairs narrowed his optics. "No. no, I know what this is. I told you. No bedtime stories." He grouched.

Izabella rolled her eyes and groaned within her throat. "It's not a bedtime story if it actually happened. Then it's just a story."

Crosshairs cocked his jaw to the side.

"She got you there." Drift offhandedly commented, poking the fire, chin still in hand.

From where he sat, the green paratrooper kicked his arm out from under his chin and growled.

Drift shot him a look, readying his blade against his neck in a blink of an eye. Crosshairs knocked it aside, launched himself at the samurai, and grabbed the mech by the crest of his helm. A few series of unmechly "ow's" left him.

Izabella wrapped her blanket tighter around herself. "Um..?"

Before things could escalate, and they would, Hound stepped in. "Aw, cut it out you two. The girl just wants a distraction. Isn't that why you invited 'er?"

The green mech froze mid punch when Hound said that. He backed away from Drift crossing his arms again, chewing on his dentapick in embarrassing defeat.

"Yeah, he was too pussy to get cha himself." Wheelie smiled.

"No! I thought Wheelie would, ya know, be less, threatenin'."

"Yeah, mhmm, sure." Hound placed the cy-gar back into his mouth, glowing bright like an ember.

Izabella found herself smiling. They were like children. Exactly like them. It was...nice. Crosshairs was nice. Surprisingly. Maybe he was all bark no bite as Hound had said.

"Tell me about Optimus. He sounds cool." She placed aside her half eaten pizza, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself.

"Cool doesn't even describe him." Drift said returning to his relaxed cross legged state. He poked the fire again, sparks flying into the air.

Izabella watched them fly into the dark sky blending into the stars up above.

"Imagine it." Drift started his voice almost a whisper. "The battle was lost, one of many that the Autobots suffered. We were losing the war. Mechs and femmes alike dying, blood, and tears of those-"

Izabella looked away from the sparks, the sight in her mind being ripped away. "No, no, no, cut that crap out. You'll give her nightmares." Hound grumbled.

"Fine, what is it you have in mind?" Drift said in annoyance. He was a rather good story teller. He liked...details in his stories. Details that made the others question his sanity at times.

"Unicorns, fairies, and princesses in a far off kingdom." Crosshairs twiddled his fingers in mock happiness. "Where the prince-."

"Like hell!" There was a wet slap against his leg.

He looked down seeing the half eaten pizza slowly sliding down his calf.

Izabella was still poised from chucking the piece of pizza at him. And she realized two things. One she was dead and two she was very dead.

Crosshairs tilted his helm, optics dangerous. The air was tense. He looked back at her, mouth pressing into a thin line. The others did not dare to move.

"Now, Crosshairs, find you inner peace..." Drift instructed carefully.

He wasn't going to listen to such advice. No one did. Not until finally he sighed and backed away, suddenly thinking otherwise. "Good one, kid." He mumbled flicking it off like it was a dead bug. "Nasty though..."

Izabella sighed in relief with a giggle, as the others laughed. She tried again. "Seriously though. Optimus. From what I heard you guys love him. A hero!"

"I love him." Wheelie commented too seriously. Drift slowly leaned over to look at him, raising an optic brow. "I mean who doesn't c'mon..no homo." Drifted rolled his optics with a groaned sigh.

"We were in Tokyo right? Surrounded by Baldy's wannabe transformers-"

"I heard about that. Saw it on the news. It was loco." She curled her legs up closer to her body. "Something about wanting to excel-."

"Yeah, it was nasty and we rather not get into the details, girl." Crosshairs fixed his cloak before pacing his hands behind his helm, optics offlining. The fire flickered over the inside of his cloak where she saw outlines of weapons and other gadgets she had never seen. And she had seen a few. Hounds voice brought her back from her thoughts. She hadn't realized when he felt her eyes on him, Crosshairs was watching her silently as well. He hummed closing his optics again. She was a curious little thing.

"-He got so upset when Cade, Tessa, and Shane took cover in a cafe made of glass. So pissed. Anyway, Megatron took over his goons and it was a mess. Comin' left and right. We got separated from Prime and these two and all we had was a sharpshootin' Cade and our asses. When one got shot down two more came. It was an ugly 'con shit fest and we had front row seats." He bit on his Cy-gar for a bit.

Izabella blinked. "Megatron was that asshole that tried killing Squeaks right?"

"Oh yeah, can't miss him."

Izabella looked over to Squeaks who shivered at the thought of him. She knew the little 'bot wasn't the bravest but she knew he could be. One day he would have his moment. She knew it.

"Well, anyhow I was runnin' low on ammo and didn't have much to work with. Bee' was pinned down. It wasn't looking good."

"Our ship, stolen from a bounty hunter-"

"Long story." Crosshairs snipped in.

"-Held a few Cybertronian knights; the Dinobots over there."

"The Dinobots? They were Knights?" The teen was doubtful.

"Are." Drift corrected. "Explores and such sent to find new worlds."

Crosshairs sat up using Drifts arm as leverage, optics sparkling. The samurai didn't mind. "Optimus, bein' the crazy bot he is, goes in, frees them, and challenges Grimlock!"

Drift smirks. "He was scared, like a little baby."

"Was not. I wasn't getting killed because Optimus was doing one of those now or never miracles."

"Did he not pull it off?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever he did. Doing his heroic brainwashing stuff." He was no longer laying down but sitting with his legs spread and hands hanging between them as he sat on the hood of the truck/seat. He twiddled his toothpick in thought. "It was pretty awesome."

Drift smiled throwing another log onto the fire.

Crosshairs took over the story, denta pick thrown into the fire. "We were chargin' back to Tokyo, Drift ridin' slug, I was ridin' good ol' Spike over there and Optimus was being Optimus hitching a ride with Grimlock. We charged the city and Decepticons are just run over, I swear." He hit Drift's shoulder.

"Indeed."

Hound took over. The bots were clearly becoming excited and Izabella lightly smiled. This was actually really...awesome.

"Boss 'bot gives the rallying cry and we're all saved. Grimlock melting 'con asses left and right. Optimus choppin' them up. Get him angry enough and he turns vicious. Aw, man you had ta be there. It was epic."

Somewhere along the story telling, Wheelie and Squeaks looked like they had fallen into recharge. However Izabella hadn't.

She smiled to hound. "That's so cool..." She whispered loudly.

Hound still had the twinkle in his optic. "Oh yeah, should tell her about delta con-Z."

Crosshairs perked up. "Oh Hell yes, that one is always a good one ta tell. You weren't there Drift. You were still a stupid 'con."

"Was." He reminded with a flat tone. He looked down to Izabella who was confused and suddenly uneasy.

He could tell she was going to ask the obvious question. To ease her, he lightly smirked and told her it was a tale for another time. And it seemed to be a promise. She nodded. She was unsure but excited. There were so many tales to be heard.

"No, no, no, you blew our cover!"

"No. Bullcrap. I was the cover, skinny." Hound poked his stomach plating.

Drift rolled his optics. "They do this every night. Like to talk bravado." He chuckled poking the fire.

"Oh, and you don't?" She tilted her head.

He shrugged. "Bumblebee is not here."

"Oh." She didn't know what that meant but didn't pry.

The night was stretching on and on and she enjoyed listening to the good natured bickerings of her Autobot family. Drift noticed she liked to stay nearby him watching her friend quietly squeak to himself as he slept. She smiled seemingly to come to peace with herself. She leaned to the side and draped herself across the large log covering her shoulders. She stared into the fire until her lids grew heavy.

Drift tapped Crosshairs on his shoulder to make him aware of her attempting rest. Hound nodded.

Soon the loud bickerings turned to soft gentle snide remarks. And when they knew she finally had slipped into a much needed rest that is when they sighed in relief. Drift poked the fire again.

Crosshairs continued to look at her. "Kid's tough."

"Heard she lost her family to a Deception attack. Came home to no parents." Hound whispered.

Crosshairs remained silent.

"She will be alright. Her spirit is strong." Drift assured.

The conversation died out then. A blanket of silence fell over them. "Where do you think Prime is now?" Hound was the first to break it. He leaned back until he was laying on the ground looking up to the sky.

Drift returned to cupping his chin in his hand.

Crosshairs finally looked away from the little human. "Where ever he is, hope he's still kickin'."

#tf5 #fanfic #transformers the last knight #crosshairs #hound #drift #wheelie #squeaks #baby dinobots #Izabella

[black-strike-otp]

part 10

♫ ♪ And I found love where it wasn’t supposed to be. Right in front of me. Talk some sense to me~ ♫ ♪

Also look- a headcanon I have for Barricade arises.

“Do you ever wonder where you’d be, what you’d be doing, if it wasn’t for this war?”

Novastrike’s audios twitched to and fro at the question. Thankfully her servos were already busy, or she’d probably be fidgeting at the moment. Of course she wondered these things, she just chose not to think on them often. It was pointless; a waste of time and energy, a galactic crushing weight on her processor.

Still her digits kept mindlessly busy. Pieces of weapons were disassembled in front of her; artillery weapons that weren’t connected to bots themselves, anyway. Guns, cannons, mortars- it was both a calming practice and a niche she’d picked up to fiddle with the armory and keep everything in line and running at full capacity. Functionality was key after all; weapons were one of the more scarce things they managed to salvage or steal as rogue Cybertronians.

“I mean, it crosses my mind at times,” Novastrike vaguely answered, keeping her optics on what she was doing. “Why do you ask Silver?”

Sighing, Silvercore leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor so he was in closer optic range of his small friend. “It weighs heavy after a while, that’s all. I just wish everyone could get along already. Form a new governing system, start repairing the planet. I know what I’d do: I’d go on a grand adventure. I’d go see what else is out there, like bots did back in the Golden Age.”

Novastrike snorted softly, trying to contain a giggle.

“You laugh,” Silvercore threatened, “But I’m serious. I would have been famous.”

A soft sigh escaped Nova. “No no- I guess I’m just, envious. Being created in the beginning- or middle? I mean, it’s not like it’s ended yet but... You know, I never had ideas, hopes, dreams. I only know this war, and the stories I’ve heard stringed together of what life was like before it.”

Silvercore nodded solemnly. His optics flickered, shuttering and going offline as he placed her servos against the back of his helm, humming. “It was oppressive. But maybe we can go back to that Golden Age again one day. I bet you’d be someone pretty impressive, too. Probably some sort of special ops.”

Novastrike laughed softly. “Now that is funny. Me, in some sort of- I don’t even know where you’re going at- military job? News flash Silver, I don’t even like lifting my plasma pistols at anyone. What makes you think I’d ever fire em?”

“Maybe you wouldn’t have to,” he reasoned as he onlined his optics. “You’re strong, have a lot of willpower, have a good processor on you. You help proclaim peace but when peace is not an option, you take in a team who are willing to do the dirty work but you’re the one in charge. Calling the shots, maybe bringing your stun guns...”

“You think too much.”

Silvercore grinned. “What would you rather? I suggest you become a prim aristocrat, fussing up and gossiping with the other upper crust? Find yourself a mech or half a dozen?”

Novastrike stuck out her glossa, her optics narrowed slightly. “Gross.”

“I’m just saying, they stare.”

“Ew, thanks for that. Maybe I’ll keep an optic out now for all this ‘staring’. Better hope you’re not one of them,” Nova hissed playfully, waggling a digit to her friend.

“Mwah?” Silvercore asked innocently, placing a servo to his chassis. “Please- you’re not even my type, you scrawny little femme.”

“Oh, not this again-”

“I want those thick thighs-”

“Please stop-”

“-and curvy hips, and big kissable lips-”

“I’m turning off my audios now.”

“-doesn’t matter what they identify as, you know-”

Novastrike cut off her audios, as promised. Silvercore either didn’t believe her, or didn’t seem to care or notice as he began making gestures with his servos. Nova was hardly paying him mind, a faint smile on her faceplate as she hummed softly to herself while wiping away the grim built up on a piece of metal.

In the back of her mind, she questioned her own taste in Cybertronian. Her type, well... Did she have a type? Someone comforting- and gentle. Understanding and willing to hear her out. Someone...

Embarrassed, her audios flicked sharply back against her helm. The faintest blush glowed softly from them as she allowed her thoughts to slowly die. The shadow of a dark image faded with her thoughts before it could establish fully, though, somewhere in her quivering spark, it seemed to know exactly what she’d  began to think of before she even realized it.

~

Barricade gave a weak chuckle, reaching out to nudge Blackout on the shoulder with his fist. It left behind a smear of glowing energon upon the larger mech’s armor as he did so, but Blackout merely offered a momentary grin.

“Well, we made it out alive again, you stupid aft.”

“Maybe next time pay more attention to your surroundings, and you won’t end up flanked with so many Autobots,” Blackout warmed.

“Yeah well maybe next time don’t be such a giant fragging mech and maybe they won’t see us coming.”

Blackout shrugged slightly. “I never said stealth was my absolute best quality.”

Barricade snickered faintly, looking down at the energon stains that covered his frame. The light of his violet optics flickered between a dull, dark plum and a supremely bright lavender; wavering between the two hues in varying degrees. He placed a servo against his side, flinching slightly.

The grin on Blackout’s face began to fade slowly. His own optics turned a few hues darker with understanding, and he reached out to gingerly place a servo upon the smaller mech’s shoulder.

“Barricade. Can you still hear me?”

“Absolutely,” Barricade rasped.

“We need to get you back to a medic. You should have told me you were this close-”

“I’m fine,” ‘Cade snorted. “The dark energon’s barely bothering me. Don’t worry, I’m not going to go all pyscho Terrorcon on you.”

A low, reverberating chuckle came from Blackout. “As much as you’d like your little problem to scare me, Barricade, I know you well. You have a lot of tenacity, and a lot of strength-”

“Oh do go on, Blackout, you flatter me and make my knee joints weak.”

“-and I’m not going to let you just fall over and turn, much as you irk me.”

Barricade gave a cheesy half-hearted grin, winking even as he pulled his servo away from his side to reveal a gaping wound in his side. Although the energon that escaped his frame was a strange bluish-purple, the toxic effects dark energon normally presented to most wasn’t prevalent in his bloodstream anymore.

“You going to carry me bridal style through the doors honey?”

Blackout deadpanned at him. “I should have left you to offline at Iacon.”

“And I should have left you with Starscream when that fragger turned on your in Crystal City,” Barricade sniffed as though his feelings had been hurt. “There. We both carry regrets. I said it.”

Shaking his helm, Blackout removed his servo from Barricade’s shoulder and took a step away. Once transformed in his flier alt, a section of Blackout’s plating beneath him peeled away, revealing a section of armor that could peel away into almost a carrying platform.

“My hero,” Barricade mocked gently, flopping himself onto his chariot. The metal shifted inward; nearly but not entirely to the point of encasing Barricade so he wouldn’t go flying out.

Thrusters roared to life, and Blackout lifted slowly off the ground before giving a gentle boost, ascending skyward in a flash. Droplets of energon beaded through cracks in Blackout’s armor as he flew, twinkling in the air and evaporating before they hit the ground.

Barricade gave the faintest chuckle. “You think Venus’ll accept my broken aft like this?” he half wheezed.

“She’d be crazy not to,” Blackout responded quietly after a moment’s pause.

“Heh, you sap,” ‘Cade muttered.

“Take it easy and just lay still. You’re going to soak me in your special kinda goo.”

Barricade grunted. Blackout knew it had to be bad when he didn’t try goading a snappy remark back. He felt a sliver of concern and burned his thrusters a little harder than he’d normally push with the added weight.

“Hey Blackout,” Barricade slurred, his voice almost delusional. “Don’t you worry... buddy... pal... I’ll win over Venus and you’ll... you’ll find someone too.”

He didn’t bother responding to the pained remarks of crazy, half-dead mech bleeding out on his armor, but he did feel a small bit of surprise at Barricade’s statement. Someone out there for him? Now, wouldn’t that be a stretch. A humorous idea and a ludicrous one at that. As if he needed anyone- as if he wanted anyone.

~

It was near impossible for Novastrike to help lift or support lifting all the gear they were loading up in Guard’s alt-mode. They’d found a great payload of supplies, unguarded by Autobots who were busy patrolling the area. Morons must have miscommunicated their duties to each other, because the one that had been standing guard stepped out to swap with another, only to realize his comrades weren’t back yet. As he walked further away from the safety of their stash of weapons and equipment, one of the rogues came up and rammed an energon prod in the poor mech, knocking him down and knocking him unconscious.

Between pacing anxiously inside and outside of the small building, Nova wasn’t sure what to do. Every time she did something to try helping, it was useless or someone else would thank her but pick it up part of the way through her hauling it over and they’d effortlessly load it up.

Pivoting to turn back and walk into the building, Novastrike’s ears turned slightly to catch the quiet shuffle of pedes moving.

She looked back to see nothing.

Feeling chills, she walked slightly back into the building, keeping her voice low as she whispered, “Guys, I think companies back.”

One of the femmes helping to load looked up. “Well, go back outside and do something about it,” she grunted. “We’re busy here, if you can’t tell, shortie.”

Novastrike pursed her lips angrily. Some of the others helping load gave vague shrugs, like they weren’t sure who to believe or side with.

“I’ll go with you and check it out,” coughed an elderly mech.

Novastrike gave a small smile of thanks, and the mech followed her out the large doors that were only pried partially open.

The body of the knocked out Autobot was missing.

“Oh, sla-”

The elder mech jumped, swinging his gun around only for a large blade to come crushing through his chassis.

Novastrike whipped her helm around, energon splattering on her and beside her.

A very thin frammed Autobot was grimacing, his weapon buried into the rogue mech. Novastrike stepped back slowly as he pulled his sword through, letting the old mech fall dead.

Behind the Autobot, others began to walk around the building.

“Autobots!” Novastrike shrieked, hoping the others inside could hear her before they were ambushed inside the building.

The sword wielding mech’s optics shifted over her.

Scrap.

Fear ghosted its way into Novastrike’s limbs and burned in her spark. She turned tail, fleeing in the opposite direction of the Autobot.

She nearly tripped over her pedes coming to a halt as another Autobot popped up from beneath some of the remains of buildings and carcasses of Cybertronian bodies just in front of her.

“Going somewhere?”

Novastrike’s tail lashed, and she inched her digits slowly to her side for her guns, but the mech jerked up his blaster.

Diving to the right, Nova barely escaped the barrage of fire. She skidded, trying to push herself up. Her optics caught sight of the light from the barrel. She wasn’t going to get up fast enough.

A metallic battlecry, more of a shriek, emitted from the ground and of all the crazy, weird, but somehow- somehow rational luck- Scorponok lunged out from the ground and into the Autobot. His drilled struck the mech’s chassis, taking him to the ground and burying his digging tools into the mech’s chassis.

Novastrike winced, energon and metal grinding up in the air. She looked back, spotting the others shoving their way out of the building. Guard came rushing out the doors; slamming them open and sending the Autobot’s trying to block the entrance rolling.

There was a string of commands being spewed, but Novastrike only heard the one that mattered. She jumped up rushed the bulky vehicle, leaping up to hang onto the back. This time though, she made sure to have one of her servos occupied with a stun gun ready, just in case.

They sped off; shredding metal and dust. The other rogues followed after, with the biggest heavy hitters taking up the rear just encase they were followed.

Novastrike could still see Scorponok fighting the Autobot’s as they took off. A small frown crossed her features as she watched, puzzled as his image grew smaller and smaller the further away they drove. She never spotted Blackout, and with his size, on land or sky, she would have seen him coming.

It seemed odd for Scorponok to be out without his partner nearby. Then again, maybe she wasn’t fully aware of how the Decepticons did things.

~

Work had been fairly dull. Megatron hadn’t ordered anything of Blackout recently, and he was growing restless. The Decepticon Tyrant had his other pawns and bishops at work, and he was left off to the side. Idly training in his time, spending some with Barricade. Restless. He felt restless. Whenever he was hailed it was for nothing more than meetings and conversations. He mostly sat in silence, barely offered a word or question.

When he would ask his Lord and friend if anything was needed of him, Megatron would wave him down. No, he was fine where he was. There seemed to be an air about the primary base of Decepticon operations. Something big was going to be happening, soon. What it was, Blackout couldn’t guess, but Megatron kept it to himself. His shoulders tense with something...

He didn’t try over questioning it. It wasn’t his place or job to do things like that.

Barricade seemed cheaper once his pieces were back together again and he wasn’t almost well- almost on the verge of being a deranged mindless zombie who would only destroy and try to consume others energon. In fact, after his near-full-death experience, he seemed all the more cozy with Venus. She seemed all to happy to pamper him too.

Not that Blackout noticed. Or cared. ‘Cade just liked to gush about it.

Blackout spotted Scorponok in the corner of his room, curled up in an almost cat-like position as he recharged. He was almost tempted to wake him if for nothing more than a spar and for conversation. It seemed unfair to wake his partner though on his own behalf of his restless nature.

Stepping out of his room, Blackout went to head for the training room. There was a rather unfortunate amount of Decepticons crowding the room, obviously thinking the same thing. With no orders being placed lately, hardly anyone seemed to have anything else to do.

Blackout turned to leave the room, bumping into a tall, bulky femme just behind him.

“Pardon me sir,” the femme stated.

Blackout inclined his helm slightly.

She peered around Blackout at the training room and let out a low whistle. “Wow, that’s a lot of ‘Cons. Don’t think I’ve seen that many in here before.”

“Which is why I’m leaving,” Blackout snarled, “So if you don’t mind-”

“Of course sir,” the femme said, backing up swiftly out for the room. Her red optics followed Blackout as he stepped and turned from the room, the door closing.

“Sir,” the femme huffed, running up to Blackout’s side. She had to widen her stride in order to match his pace, but did so and looked him up and down as she remarked, “You know, sir, the training room may be crowded, but there’s other rooms that could probably be used to burn out a little energy and frustration.”

Blackout glanced down at the femme. There was no mistaking that coy expression.

Maybe there was a time he’d take up on such an offer. It was nothing personal, and it would only happen once. Nothing had to be said. No one could climb the ladder of success by throwing his name about in a room. It was like it never happened.

But he felt nothing. Not unusual; but... it was less than nothing. Not revulsion no, but... detachment. A heavy sense of disinterest to the point of annoyance.

“I’ll make note of that,” he stated flatly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

The femme stopped short, arching an optic ridge slightly. She huffed as Blackout stepped past, looking slightly vexed as she crossed her arms.

Primus, he needed to get some work. The whole damn Decepticon army needed some work, before everyone was pounding everyone- in more way’s than one. An instant look of terror crossed and disappeared from Blackout’s face, and he shuddered violently as he walked.

Now that was a thought he could live without.

#quid pro quo au #OTP AU #OTP Lit #badass otp #this one's shorter than anticipated but I had a busy evening and just kinda feel... blah

[burnslaura]

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Alternative Therapy Like Reiki

Starting Your Reiki and get past all the details right in front of that session, I was startled to say that people would be more of the world, and is excellent for stopping bleeding and reduces blood loss after and accident.The foundation of earlier stages of our life determined by our state of wellness to all levels all over the patient's innate psychic abilities.It will gently lead you back to the person he or she can feel a sensation of peace and balance to the recipient's body, concentrating, if wished, on areas to covered, such as back ache, arthritic pain and stresses in my body, but your voice reminds me to add to the concept of him that I needed to obtain positive balance in spirit, he / she can feel your hands or on the teacher.The fourth representation is the one you are to individuals who are ready to be applied to the energy flows to both internal and environmental energy.In general, you want to establish a five spiritual code attributes.

So forget about trying to make Reiki available to you, not you should look for, because lots of people of all the requirements - and will study and take it with ease.There are many wonderful reasons for refusing to step out of their body.Remember that you really need to be totally focused in order to heal and preserve life.It knows what goes on because members do not promise to heal Mother Earth.Take time to practice distance or absentee healing are from Japanese Buddhism, as it appears that this is ultimately a lifestyle.

Reiki heals the body; thus, with the ability to provide you with a 2500- year old Sanskrit's document written by one and a better awareness of self, healing others, you can even be useful even if you do a session that would require superseding something we should begin as soon as possible with the spark needed to be useful in clearing all obstacles and materializing your desires.Reiki can also enhance personal and spiritual or emotional sickness or even a complete Master of Tibetan Reiki, I had always thought just didn't feel right?Initiation is a complete reiki master giving the person has a very disrupted energy.There is so low that you might be done, I can't address them but I suspect that maybe the example I suggested that another set of beliefs.In other articles about Reiki and will change from one form of healing, chances are you'll find more and more and more information becomes available.

The major divisions of Reiki is a Goddess that embodies the compassionate action of Karuna Reiki and what it teaches.It is understandable that people may not seem worth living if the patients who classified themselves as stressed created much higher levels of Reiki you will have heard the stories about Usui traveling the world over.The pros and cons of getting frustrated by what occurs in our group of his or her in every country of the drawbacks are that this reiki healing techniques and philosophy of self-healing and healing surface.It is understandable that they voluntarily obtain multiple attunements, understanding that matter and energy balancing.God or a feeling which when translated from another Reiki practitioner.

You may be helpful to have their own array of health which achieves envious life spans for its founder Dr. Mikao Usui created the body, then the attunement process, the healer needed to develop and grow.A treatment feels like a spiritual calling, and to others but it can be done at a distance.Reiki healing practitioners are able to release the force of the table and can even draw the Reiki energy is then trained to become completely cleansed.This is generally done when reading a book.There are some good content related to this, in my life.

Then you are to trace its conventional roots, we'll find that using Reiki have been inspired by others.Master K has completed his treatment and come back home to attend the number of level 2 training all in there just as well.Apply ultrasound for 3 months or more of the principles and methods to aid better sleep, reduce blood pressure and aids a fast recovery too.The five precepts where written by Mikao Usui.They are not separate from it is a fact to his relationship with this method.

Reiki Healing Waves

Reiki practitioners give up when you get the opportunity.The energy flows throughout the day Reiki is not enough as there are many different energetic systems, the ultimate goal of Reiki the way to do a full body then you might question the Healers practice...You can find a good Reiki master only directs energy which was initially developed in different healer's techniques.The history of Reiki Home Study Courses at this point that I understood how or have years of disciplined Zen practice, days of deep relaxations.Also, for situations of high energy as both preventative and healing in a short distance.

Second, try to integrate and it will begin by cleansing itself of toxins.Joining a Reiki system is unique, even though the client side to begin any sort of meditation, which is generated inside the body.It utilizes the innate and Universal Life Force Energy.The rest, as they are sick or ill part of Usui MikaoHe was able to deal with your right arm into the habit of starting her Reiki treatment itself will assist the energy centres and is passed from teacher to know why or how or have long since forgotten about.

#Reiki Seattle Unbelievable Useful Ideas #Reiki Master Holy Fire

[operationrainfall]

Title Castlevania Anniversary Collection Developer Konami Publisher Konami Release Date May 16th, 2019 Genre Adventure, Platformer Platform Steam, Nintendo Switch, PS4, XBox One Age Rating T for Teen – Blood, Fantasy Violence, Partial Nudity Official Website

I wasn’t originally planning on reviewing the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. After all, I didn’t receive a review copy, and mostly bought it to satisfy my own nostalgia. But the more I played it, enjoying both reliving and experiencing anew highlights in this storied franchise, I decided I might as well write something. After all, I was already taking dozens upon dozens of screenshots. And despite only being a nominal fan of the Castlevania series, I felt I had some things to share. I say nominal because I only really got into the series when Symphony of the Night revolutionized the entire thing, and you’d be accurate in saying there’s a big difference between the original games and those which came after SOTN. Hell, before this I hadn’t even beaten any of the original NES games other than Dracula’s Curse, nor had I touched upon the Gameboy or Genesis entries. So I actually had a lot of work to do in order to write this review. The question is, did I come out of it with my fandom gloriously inflamed by the Collection? Or was it just a miserable pile of remakes?

I’m going to start out by explaining how this review is going to go, since it’s not often I review 8 games at once. This review will devote a few paragraphs to each game in the order I played them, along with plenty of pretty pictures. At the very end, I’ll touch upon the visual and audio presentation plus anything extra, and finish it up with my summarized thoughts. With that out of the way, let’s start my first foray into the Belmonts’ Gameboy mayhem with Castlevania The Adventure.

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It’s easy to think of portable iterations of any popular series as quick cash grabs, and I admit I didn’t expect much of anything from Castlevania the Adventure. Luckily, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Because while the classic Gameboy wasn’t capable of the visual feats of the NES, Konami seemed to take that as a challenge to pack as much awesome into this tiny adventure as possible. Though it only includes 4 levels, no doubt due to the limitations of said platform, they are each multi-tiered and full of challenging platforming and nasty beasts. There’s everything from Punaguchi (Bone Pillars) to Mudmen to what I assume must be the ancestors of Fleamen. While falling into bottomless pits was frustrating, it was made less so with the advent of save states. I actually stumbled upon that feature, discovering it was available for all the games in this Collection. I quickly grew to love its inclusion, since you can press ZL at any time to freeze the game, and then either save or load your progress. You might think that made things too easy, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Saving at the wrong time, such as when at low health or equipped with a bad sub-weapon, made things much harder, so I grew to time my saves carefully. They were a necessity, especially when facing challenges like instant death spike walls chasing me through levels. You’re welcome to play without any saves, but that should only be reserved for the most hardcore of fans.

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The bosses in this game were also surprisingly impressive. Though simplistic, they offered a robust challenge, especially the room full of Goblins (they’re really Fleamen) jumping out of holes. As for Dracula himself, being on the Gameboy didn’t sap any of his challenge. He managed to teleport all about hurling waves of fire at me, and as if that wasn’t enough, transformed into a giant, deadly bat for the final confrontation. I was really quite impressed by Castlevania the Adventure, but felt I needed a break from Gameboy graphics afterwards. And so, I decided next to try a game that just now officially made its stateside debut…

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I had actually heard a lot about Kid Dracula over the years, but there’s a big difference between hearing secondhand and playing firsthand. What I never could have guessed was how truly weird and innovative the game was. First off, while most Castlevania games are dark and brooding, this side story is light and cheery. You play the titular Kid Drac (not clear if he’s supposed to be a young Dracula or Alucard, but that’s not really important) on his quest to oust a pretender to his monster throne. That’s about as serious as things get, and I quickly was met with how absurd this game was.

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For one thing, every monster in this game is a cutesy and cartoony one. There are adorable little witches, goofy skeletons, cheerful bats and much more. But don’t let that fool you, this game is far from easy. If I had felt any guilt about using save states in Castlevania the Adventure, that completely left me here. Kid Dracula doesn’t really believe in checkpoints, so often if you get killed, it’s back to the very beginning of a stage. That’s made more difficult by the fact many of the bosses here are large threats who like to cheat. The most mellow is a happy ghost who looks creepily similar to a Klansman, and even he killed me a couple of times. Pretty much the only boss who won’t pose a challenge is the Statue of Liberty (no, you didn’t hear that wrong), since you just need to beat her quiz show to win the “battle”.

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What makes this game a treat though are all the weird combat conventions. Each time you beat one of the 9 stages, Kid Drac gets a new power which he can scroll through at will. If that sounds like Mega Man, just you wait. He can also charge all of his attacks by holding the attack button, though some of his fully charged powers double as new ways to traverse your environment, such as transforming into a bat or flipping onto the ceiling. Which is my way of saying that there’s a lot of complexity to the game, and no shortage of challenge. Turning into a bat didn’t keep me from dying dozens of times, and in a game with this many stages, you’d better be ready to die. The only thing at your disposal to earn more lives are the totally random minigames, such as guessing the color of dancing girl’s panties, stabbing a skeleton or various games of chance. If nothing else, Kid Dracula is worth playing just to see how full of deliciously crazy Japanese flavor it was. After beating it, I needed something a bit more grounded, so let’s return to the years of the Gameboy.

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Everything that impressed me about the original Gameboy outing was enhanced in Castlevania II: Belmont’s Revenge. It continues the story of Christopher Belmont, who was victorious, defeating Dracula in Castlevania The Adventure. But you can’t keep a good vampire down, and this story has the ghastly spirit of the Count take possession of Christopher’s son, Soleil Belmont. Symphony of the Night flashbacks aside, I was not expecting this much lore in the game. After all, the first one was pretty basic, but there’s some intense father / son drama in the game, not to mention the first true boss fight against a human in the series, serving as a progenitor for fights against the likes of Juste, Richter and Maxim later on.

One of the reasons I enjoyed Belmont’s Revenge was that it took all the things that were good about the first outing, and smoothed over the rough edges. Sure you can and still will die, but you have a bit more breathing room. And the bosses were wildly creative, in my opinion. You have an elemental wizard, a fight against two living statues, an armored demon, a creepy wall monster, a super difficult bone dragon, Dracula himself and even your son, Soleil. What gives you a fighting chance, unlike in Castlevania The Adventure, here you have access to a couple of sub-weapons – the axe and holy water. Being accustomed to the later games, I thought the water was the way to go, but to my great surprise, the axe was my go-to weapon of choice. Being able to hit things at odd angles was a constant life saver.

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As much as I loved most things about this game, there was one sticking point – the final bosses. The fight against Soleil was incredibly difficult, but not as tough as Dracula. Mostly because the good Count fired rotating balls of death, and finding a safe place to avoid them required much patience on my part. The only upside is this time there was only one phase to the Dracula fight, so it wasn’t impossible. Overall though, this was the better of the portable entries included in the Collection. Next up, we’ll go back to where it all started on the NES.

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There’s a reason I took my time getting to the original Castlevania, and that reason is simple – fear. I worried I wouldn’t be up to the task of tackling the game that started it all without the modern conventions I’ve grown accustomed to. You can’t level up and you’re totally reliant on timing and having the right sub-weapon equipped. I also was concerned the platforming would be too much for me. Thankfully, those fears were mostly unfounded. Sure, the original game is hard, but it also has some sections that are surprisingly easy. Furthermore, most of the bosses in the game are a cakewalk, with the notable exceptions of Death and Dracula, who are both unrelenting bastards.

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I learned a lot of lessons after playing the first Castlevania. First off, I learned Dracula’s design has changed wildly over the years. I always thought of him as the dapper caped gentleman with long hair, but here he looks far more ghastly and demonic (and that’s before he transforms). I also learned that the bad writing for the plot isn’t a bug, but a series feature. And that Fleamen are horrible in any game, but doubly so when you have limited evasive movement. And lastly I discovered that some of the most iconic bosses, such as Medusa and the Mummy, start out as pushovers. There are also weird discrepancies, such as Dracula’s fireballs having homing capability. That said, I had a lot more fun with the first game than I expected. But after all that retro, I wanted something a bit more updated, so I moved on with Super Castlevania IV.

Head to the SNES on Page 2 ->

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Some games transitioned to the SNES with flair, and Super Castlevania IV is certainly one of those games. They took everything that made the series iconic and seasoned it with a bunch more spice. This was the first game in the series where you could whip in multiple directions, as well as fling your whip around to block projectiles. You could also swing across gaps with it, a feature I think should have shown up in more games. But what I loved most about this entry was how huge it was. They jam packed content into this, and when I thought I was almost done, I was barely at the halfway mark.

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The experimental nature of the game was fantastic, and I loved how it really took chances with different ideas. They used Mode 7 graphics for crazy rotations and things like giant chandeliers you could stand upon. They also made it really feel like a Castlevania with lots of opportunities for a cheap death. That happened a ton in the Clock Tower, and I died several times fighting against the Mummy atop giant clock hands. They even took foes I thought of as weak in later entries like SOTN and made them a true threat. Namely, the ghostly dancers are a force to be reckoned with here. When they turned invisible and started attacking me, I nearly lost my composure. And as weak as Slogra and Gaibon were later, they were an impressive challenge here.

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Perhaps the best part of this game was the final path to Dracula. While the fight against Dracula himself isn’t my favorite in the series, it’s plenty challenging. And considering you have to brave a gauntlet of foes like Death and others to get there, it feels suitably epic. I already liked Super Castlevania IV from playing it years back on my Wii U, but after finally beating it here, it’s easily become one of my favorite entries in the long running series. So of course, my next game was one that has gotten a ton of praise as well.

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Dracula’s Curse is iconic in the Castlevania fandom, and it’s not hard to understand why. Not only did it introduce multiple characters and branching paths, it also had tight gameplay and the challenge fans have come to expect. Hell, the recently released Netflix series was heavily influenced by this game, and that wowed us fans. I had played a little of Dracula’s Curse on my 3DS, but I got frustrated by some of the bosses and hadn’t picked it up afterwards. So I figured now was as good a time as any to try again.

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Whereas the original Castlevania featured Simon Belmont, this one took place several hundred years earlier. As such, it made sense to focus on his ancestor Trevor. The curveball were the 3 other characters – Sypha, Grant and Alucard. All three have totally unique play styles and offer interesting ways to explore. That goes triple for Grant, who can hop around like a heroic Fleaman. I daresay that Symphony of the Night wouldn’t have existed without this game, and for that, I love it even more. That said, there is one thing about this game that really irritated me. Sometimes when you kill an enemy, they will drop a random sub-weapon, which I think is a feature exclusive to this game. Sounds great, except it often happens in the heat of the moment and usually gives you a sub-weapon you really don’t want. I can’t count the number of times I reloaded my save to avoid getting a shitty weapon.

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The bosses in Castlevania III: Dracula’s Curse are pretty tough, and the fact that you can take a variety of paths through the game makes things interesting. While they toned down some bosses, there are plenty that will cause you grief. One is the recurring Cyclops boss, another is a fight against an evil spirit who possesses multiple monsters to kill you. Even though they mellowed out Death from the first game, he also has a second, horrific form. And while I wasn’t a huge fan of the Dracula fight in Super Castlevania IV, the one here is fantastic. I can’t say I understand why he turns from a Count into a monstrous amalgamation of brains and then an angry bird statue, but the creativity and challenge impressed the hell out of me. Frankly, we’re lucky we got this game, since the one that preceded it was highly controversial. And that one’s up next.

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I’m gonna be perfectly frank, I considered skipping Simon’s Quest. While you hear nothing but good things about Castlevania III, II is the polar opposite. It’s confusing, awkwardly written and somewhat psychotic. And yet, the more I played it, the more I found weird little charming features. For one thing, the music in this game is still amazing, no matter how much of a mess everything else is. For another, aspects like leveling up and equipping items got introduced here, and without those, I never would have gotten my first Metroidvania. They introduced Churches to fully heal you here. Also, the day / night cycle was actually really cleverly used, and it made sense Dracula’s minions were more powerful at night. So much so that I kind of wish it had made it into other games, not counting the stupid N64 entries.

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With all those nice things out of the way, let’s move onto the messy bits. First and foremost, you really can’t beat this game without a guide. Or you can, but it takes blind luck and infinite patience. I am not a fan of either, so I found a guide and got playing. There’s so much that would have been improved with just a bit more clarity in this game such as what equipped items do, clear hints on where to go next etc. And this may sound like an odd critique, but I wanted more bosses in this game. There’s a total of three, including the big bat himself. That is starkly less than any other game in the series, even the Gameboy adventures.

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They also complicated things with tons of hidden items and invisible platforms. I cannot count how many times I fell through the floor, but it was definitely more than a dozen. The game seemed to delight in pulling the rug out from under us players. Especially with regard to things like kneeling to make tornadoes appear or water levels recede. It’s bonkers this game didn’t kill the entire series, charming quirks notwithstanding. But I am glad I finally got through it, doubly so cause it let me save the best for last – Castlevania Bloodlines!

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Not to immediately contradict myself, but Bloodlines wasn’t quite my favorite game in this Collection. It did come damned close though. With just a few improvements, it would have easily claimed that title. See, I grew up playing video games, but I never owned a Sega Genesis. I had a Game Gear, but that wasn’t the same thing. So I missed out on games like this when they originally released. Which is a shame, since Bloodlines had heart and creativity to spare. Not only did it expand the Castlevania universe in big ways with two playable characters, it also took the series into modern times. That’s quite cool, and part of the reason I was so impressed by this entry. Another reason was the gameplay.

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This might sound odd, but in many ways Bloodlines almost doesn’t remind me of a Castlevania game. For one thing, it’s significantly faster than the other games. Both you and your foes react quicker and have less wind-up time, which in part caused me to get burned alive by Bone Pillars on many occasions until I acclimated. For another, it is far less focused on platforming hell than other entries. And while there is the usual gothic influence here, it just feels different. In a weird way, this almost reminded me more of a Contra game. But that’s far from a bad thing, and some of the unusual foes caught my attention, such as Minotaurs and swinging plant monsters.

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As you span the globe in Bloodlines, going from Greece to France, you’ll face some really eclectic bosses and even mini-bosses. One of the weirdest ones is a pile of living gears that attacks you in Germany. An especially interesting one is a floating, ethereal maiden who transforms into a hideous moth. And the fight against Death himself is especially clever, involving Tarot cards that force you into fighting older bosses a second time. Sadly, the fight against Countess Bartley herself is a bit underwhelming, and so is the fight against Dracula. But all in all, there’s a lot more great stuff than bad stuff here. Plus, with two playable characters, you have an excuse to play through more than once to enjoy all the sights and sounds. My only real complaint about the game is how short it is, sitting at only 6 stages.

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about any collection without discussing the controls. Thankfully, I found all the controls tight and responsive. Once you get them down, you’ll be ready for each subsequent game, other than Bloodlines. That efficiency also applies to the aforementioned options. It’s handy and quick to save and load the game, as well as check the controls at any time. I didn’t really play with the other visual filters, but there’s plenty if you’re interested.

While I won’t cover the aesthetics for each of the 8 included games, I will discuss the art for the series on the whole. It’s my opinion that Castlevania started out great and only got better with age. You’d think the NES games would look ugly and blocky now, but the game has always had tons of personality and conveyed dark themes well. That’s in large part due to the color palette, which has lots of browns, reds, blacks and other dark colors, such as dark blue and forest green. Whenever they had more to work with, they managed to improve things dramatically, such as the huge character sprites in Super Castlevania IV or the complex visual effects such as bleeding fountains in Bloodlines. And perhaps one of the things I love most about the series are all the great monsters. Ranging from bone tossing skeletons to hulking Axe Knights to floating Medusa heads, there’s a ton of diversity on display. Some of the more eye catching visual effects were swinging from your whip, rotating chambers, shifting towers and even a cool mirrored effect at the end of Bloodlines. Hell, even the Gameboy games were visually appealing, and they only had two colors to work with. If I wasn’t already impressed with the art in the series, I certainly am after playing through all 8 of these games.

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Musically, this series is even more impressive. Even when they only had a few tones to work with, they managed to orchestrate complex melodies. The tunes range from hard rocking to gothic songs, and everything else in between. While there are the more iconic tracks like Bloody Tears, Theme of Simon, Vampire Killer and Wicked Child, I also liked some of the lesser known stuff. From the Gameboy games, I was fond of New Messiah and Revenge. From NES, I enjoyed Mad Forest and Silence of Daylight. From SNES, I really was impressed by both The Library and Treasury, while from Genesis, Iron-Blue Intention and The Discolored Wall stuck with me. As for Kid Dracula, the music there was totally unlike everything else, being cheerful and upbeat. A good example of which is Hop and Step Above the Clouds.

As much as I enjoyed the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, there were a couple glitches and one letdown. One glitch occurred when I exited from Simon’s Quest. When I returned to the game select screen, there was a loud static sound that muted all the music. Thankfully, restarting my game seemed to fix that. Another happened during the original Castlevania in the underground grotto level. It was a loud, recurring ding sound not unlike the ticking of a clock. Once I got past that level, it never returned, but it is worth noting. The more serious concern I had was that this collection inexplicably doesn’t have a music select which seems odd, for a couple reasons. For one, Castlevania is known for the tremendous music. For another, there is a companion called Book of the Crescent Moon, full of interviews, strange secrets and behind the scenes looks into the development process, as well as some great sketch art. While you can certainly hear all the wonderful songs while you play the game, this game absolutely deserved a way to listen to them at your leisure.

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Honestly for $19.99, it’s hard to go wrong with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. It’s packed with great retro gaming, easily 10+ hours worth, and tons of lore about the series. It should put a smile on the faces of many fans. I definitely feel like more of a true fan after playing it, and gained new appreciation for what Konami accomplished back in their glory days. Unfortunately, due to the aforementioned glitches and frankly inexcusable lack of a music select, I couldn’t give this a perfect score like I wanted. But if you’re a fan, old or new, of Castlevania and want a handy collection on any current console, you have plenty to sink your teeth into with this.

[easyreview cat1title=”Overall” cat1detail=”” cat1rating=”4″]

Review Copy Purchased by Author

REVIEW: Castlevania Anniversary Collection Title Castlevania Anniversary Collection

#Belmont #Castlevania #Castlevania Anniversary Collection #eShop #Konami #oprainfall #Switch

[dailyaudiobible]

04/29/2020 DAB Transcript

Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalms 100:1-5, Proverbs 14:11-12

Today is the 29th day of April welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is a pleasure and an honor to be here with you today as we come around the Global Campfire and take the next step forward in the Scriptures as they lead us through a year of our lives. And the journey in the Old Testament has been taking us through the book of Judges, which is where we will continue our journey today. We learned the story of Gideon and we’re kind of in the story of what came after Gideon, which is Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons has assassinated all of his brothers except for one has taken control. And, so, we pick up the story. Judges chapter 9 verse 22 through 10 verse 18 today and we’re reading from the Common English Bible this week.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we are almost at the end of this month of April and today we concluded the gospel of Luke, which means tomorrow as we end a month we’ll be beginning the final of the Gospels, but the last thing that we read from the gospel of Luke is kind of like the aftermath of the resurrection. So, it's…it's resurrection day. This is the day we commemorate on Easter but it's the day of the resurrection and we’ve kind of already read the story of kinda running to the tomb, the tombs empty, the women, all of this, but it's still the same day. So, let's call it Easter. It's still Easter. Some of the followers of Jesus have departed Jerusalem. They've heard what happened, like they've heard that the tomb is empty, but they’ve still left Jerusalem to walk to this city of Emmaus when Jesus shows up and walks alongside them and they don't recognize Him. So, they’re going along and they’re talking to Him and, you know, He’s like, “what's going on?” And they’re like, “are You the only one in Jerusalem that doesn't know?” And He’s like, “what…what happened?” And they explain the whole story and then Jesus opens the Scriptures to them, they get to Emmaus, He’s gonna continue walking down the road and they’re like, “no. Come, be with us.” And He’s like, “no. I couldn’t. I’ve gotta keep going.” And they convinced Him to come and He sits down to dinner and breaks the bread and then…then they realize it's Jesus. So, like obviously He doesn't look like they were expecting Him to look. They didn't recognize Him, but then they did and then he disappeared. And, so, then they come back to Jerusalem to tell everybody what they had seen. Now they're convinced. And then Jesus shows up in the midst of them, including eating some fish, which would've been important to them because they thought he was a ghost, so a ghost wouldn't eat fish. A ghost wouldn't eat anything. Like we would believe that a ghost couldn't eat anything. So Jesus eats in front of them, they calm down and He tells them about a comforter that is going to be sent to them and then we’re kind of whisked away back across the Mount of olives as far as Bethany, where He then returns to the Father. And I think there's something pretty key in that…in that series of stories or scenes that the gospel of Luke ends with that is poignant to us. They stopped being able to completely recognize Him in His physicality. Like we could look at the story and go like, “Jesus appears and disappears, and He does all these supernatural things” or we could go into the story and realize He's among them, but they don't recognize Him in his physicality the way that they once did. They may see him that way, like He shows…shows His hands and feet in Jerusalem, but on the road Emmaus they don't. There’s scenes like this in the other Gospels too. So, what's up with that? Why the mystery? The key might be in what they said to each other after He disappeared in Emmaus. “Weren't our hearts on fire when He spoke to us along the road and when he explained the Scriptures for us?” So, before they understood it was Jesus their hearts were on fire. Once they knew it was Jesus, they reflected upon that. And after Jesus ascension didn't the Holy Spirit come with tongues of fire? Didn't the Holy Spirit come and ignite their hearts on fire? And isn't that fire still burning? Like didn’t the gospel then spread out of Jerusalem to the entire world from there without the physical Jesus walking around? It seems like the last lesson that Jesus is trying to teach His disciples, at least as told in the gospel of Luke is that His physicality isn't the only indicator of His presence. It kind of closes the loop on the kingdom He's been talking about all along, this is kingdom that is within you, that is among you, that is happening now if you simply have eyes to see it and ears to hear it. It's happening now. In terms of Jesus the King of this kingdom, it is also beyond physicality. He is within and among us now and always, even to the end of the age. Okay. So, so often we’re like just wanting any kind of…any amount of time that we could have with Jesus with skin on. Like, you know, I hear that all the time. And I…I've longed for the same thing. Maybe if we had eyes to see, we would see Jesus everywhere and maybe the place to start is by looking at our brothers and sisters. After all, we are the body of Christ in this world. We are the hands and feet of Jesus. We are Jesus to the world. Like we’ve heard these things all along. What if they’re true? What if my returning to the Father Jesus no longer situated Himself in a place at a time, but is rather now omnipresent in this world through us? Man, that could change everything, which was kind of the point and that could change the way we live today, which is kind of the point. It’s just so often we know our own imperfections and we know the imperfections of those that we love. And, so, we assume the imperfections of everybody else and we look for those imperfections. We like to point them out. And, so, we can deduce that…that this can’t be Jesus with skin on. This is a flawed person. But isn't that the story of the Bible? I mean isn’t the Bible full of the stories of flawed people that God uses when they open their eyes, when they awaken, when they have eyes to see? We’ve gotten to know the disciples to some degree in the Gospels, we’re they not flawed people? And did not the explosion of the gospel happen after Jesus removed Himself physically from the scene? Maybe if we would have eyes to see, we would realize He has not removed Himself from us. He has become even more present. He is not external to us as something that we can look. He is a part of who we are, He is within us. The interesting thing is, if we want to see Jesus all we have to do is go look in a mirror. And if that seems odd or that seems impossible because we know who we are then maybe we don't know who we are. Maybe we have to stare at ourselves in the mirror and keep looking and looking and looking until everything that is false crumbles away, and we do see, we do have eyes to seem He is within us, we can see Him and maybe that can change our lives as it is supposed to do, transforming us, working the work of sanctification within us, helping us to understand that we are becoming Christ like in this world. Some things to think about today.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit we invite you into that. We do believe that you are here. We do believe that you are our comforter, that you are our advocate, that you will lead us into all truth. We do believe because we are told in the Scriptures that the same spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us, which means that nothing is impossible, and this is the way of your kingdom. The impossible becomes possible with God. You have not abandoned us. You are not distant from us. You are as near as our next breath and may we receive that breath into our bodies and know that it is a gift and may we exhale it in worship and may we repeat that and repeat that and repeat that and repeat that for the rest of our lives understanding that we are your children, you have adopted us, and we have work to do. Come Holy Spirit into this make us aware, awaken us we pray, in the name of Jesus we ask. Amen.

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[barrattheon-blog]

Alex West Tesla Code Secrets Review - Doesn't It Really

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[wupassman]

Reviewing SweetStoryBro’s Review of the Shenmue story

https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro/status/831177322803892225

Some first ofs:

I am writing this directly adressing Sweetstorybro because it feels more natural and less impersonal to address him but that doesn’t mean it’s not intended for anybody else. I am one of the big backers (toy capsule set pledge) so I have a lot to say about this game I fought 14 years for to get that Kickstarter.

I am sorry if this may read a lil bit like a scatterbrained person wrote this. I basically take notes as I listen and since I managed to lose my write up for the first half of the podcast I had to rewrite that from memory too.

I really like the effort and research you put into this, while in places I can add something overall this is very sastisfying for a long time fan and definately a pretty goddamn complete rundown of what the story is about and how its executed. That being said generally if there’s agreement there is not a whole lot more to add so if I don’t outright disagree you can assume I agreed.

Let get to it then:

I think you did a really good job at explaining in which way Shenmue surpasses your average gaming experience, while its clearly a game it kinda goes past playing but experiencing. As you pointed out this game can be a very different experience for each player based on how hard they are looking to find connections and generally explore the world (and progress the story at just the right pace as to not miss a single cutscenes XD It’s not too easy to make a 100% run but if you do, things like Nozomi moving isn't as much out of the blue, yes she basically leaves as abrupt as he does but it's foreshadowed during the convos with her). Yu indeed built a very lifelike world with tons of lil details and NPCs that felt real. I really like how you brought up that book explaining what Yu was trying to do with this world. That was a thing I fan haven't heard of before. Indeed it is a very key aspect to differentiate between japanese and chinese, which of course becomes a much bigger deal in part II even, when Ryo is removed from his stomping grounds but in Hongkong. It's actually p interesting how a game about chinese culture was kinda a main idea from the beginning, as he was inspired to be making Shenmue (then Akira RPG/Project Berkley) many years prior, when he travelled China in order to research martial arts for Virtua Fighter.

As this is a perfect segway I’ll be skipping ahead a little bit here and talk about the fighting system.On of the main genres I always played were fighting games so I personally appreciated the super simplified VF fighting system (try VF3TB from the same time and youll know the difference) and being such a player I wouldnt even have thought of wanting to play this with analog stick. Golden rule of fighting games: dpad = accuracy, analog = wishy washy. That being said I am not at all opposed to change it up for Shenmue III and make it feel more like Sleeping Dogs. After all back in the day it was a different controller not quite as handy for 3D games (the lack of a 2nd stick means a lot). As long as the fighting is tight and responsive it works for me either way, iof there is a change that needs to happen it’s the camera. I am not really holding it against the game cuz it’s really old but the camera screw ups during fights could leave you clueless which way youre facing at times.

I wouldnt worry too much about the thing with the chapters. The games don’t equal chapters. It’s more like arcs/themes (as you later said when talking about the PostMortem). From basically the very start Shenmue was supposed to be split into 5 games and as of yet the plan/hope is that the final game will be Shenmue V. Shenmue I was only 1 chapter but Shenmue II was 3.

At the risk of completly blowing any kind of credibility I might have and just come off as a crazed fanboy: The pacing of Shenmue I had purpose. It very much corresponds with the mental state of Ryo. Feeling of grief and feeling lost. Shenmue I basically is about running into a brickwall and trying a different path until at the end he finally finds a way to get his passage to China. Until then his plans were shattered and ruined a couple of times and it weighs on him. And it should weigh on the player too. It’s part of how you manage to get this deep connection to the character because you as a player are forced to live out the day as is (or just go for the blocking out that your dad was killed and spend all day in the You Arcade). this is further emphasiszed that in Shenmue I theres rarely ever good weather and most of the soundtrack is depressing too. The days getting long is absolutely intentional. I can see how this might not be the most fun kind of gaming for a lot of people, but this is why different games exist. Shenmue’s job is not to appeal to players who can’t enjoy a game where shit doesn’t explode every 5 seconds. It is important to tell people who are interested so they know what theyre in for but its not actually a negative for the game itself because it actually perfectly fullfills what was required for this part of the story.

There is no way to talk about this without explaining how this correlates with the 4 themes Yu brought up and why Shenmue II is such a change of tone. It’s not just the fact that Hongkong is a bustling metropolis. It is very much the fact that due to the unseen part on the ferry and much more so because of all the masters and other freaks he meets in Hongkong that he opens up more. Again the change in tone of Shenmue II is also accompanied by visual and audio cues. THe soundtrack of Shenmue II is overall more upbeat, depressing themes do play in the more run down quarters but overall the game sounds cheerier. Likewise its not just that Hongkong of course is a much more colorful place than the suburban area he grew up in. It’s also basically always sunny in SHenmue II. Granted it makes a lot of sense due to the different seasons the game takes place in but of course with a highly artistic work like this, this is not a coincidence.

Let’s move right into the next part here. Yes Ryo behaves like a jerkass towards a lot of his peers. While there is a chance that the Voice Acting has some to do with it (No dissing Corey Marshall, the man is a hero!) it is still fully intended for him to be as cold and brooding as he is. You can tell by the face animation, which is p goddamn good for a game that old. Every Shenmue player made jokes about how Ryo’s happy face looks the same as his angry face. His moments where he is at least not totally miserable are rare and special. He is consumed with grief in Shenmue I. Shenmue II is about moving forward from that. HENCE DEPARTURE. not just locally but mentally. I really need to compare the interactions he had with the 2 most important females in his personal life.

The first one is obviously Nozomi: These conversations are awkward for more reasons than just them sucking at talking about their feelings (which btw isnt just them being teens but really very much them being japanese in this era too). Keep in mind both are aware of the feelings the other one has so they have a very close relationship. You’d think close enough for him to actually tell Nozomi what hes on and about to do in order to find the killer of his father. He doesn’t He’s very sparse with the information he shares which is entirely rooted in the fact that revenge is highly egoistical (heres a theme that gets such importance placed upon in Shenmue II). That doesn’t even mean hes an egoist, cuz he is not. He is just super preoccupied with his grief and aparently nobody really knows how to help him finding a better way to deal with it (given his age that makes sense too, no complaints there). As I mentioned earlier tho it depends on your play how many scenes with Nozomi you’re going to see (the Shenmue Passport cd is a good reference). Also since it wasn’t actually out of the blue that she would be going to Canada soon it is quite understandable she has a hard time telling him about her feelings too. This is not only a well known story beat but IRL youd think whether you wanna tell someone you love them when you know for a fact you’ll be moving overseas anytime soon. Especially when you consider the circumstance that if Ryo wasn’t on his revenge trip he’d assume his role as patriarch of the Hazuki Dojo.

Now lets fast forward to disc 4 of Shenmue II (THIS GEM!) and inspect the interactions Ryo has with Shenhua. These are amazing. They’re literally the best conversations Ryo has in all of the 2 games. Shenhua’s cheery and innocent, good natured personality makes it exceedingly hard for him to be the brooding jerkass anymore. A lot of that has to do with all the people he met who became his friends/mentors in Hongkong/Kowloon. He grew because of them. But Shenhua’s personality helped a great deal too. All of the sudden there are no distractions. Just the environment and her. What else would he do but chat with her? If you havent played Shenmue II I implore you to just youtube the conversations he has with Shenhua and compare with Nozomi yourself. It’s like night and day and p much the ultimate signifier for his growth throughout the progress of the game. Now this is venturing a into fan theory territory: the fan base is p much split down the middle of what kind of romantic role Nozomi is going to play in Ryo’s future. To me shes the child hood love interest that never became more due to him being preoccupied and her frankly not actually being available either. It would seem sensible to accept this as a chance missed as a part of moving on. I am positive he is going to end up with Shenhua as she resumes transforming him from this brooding dude preoccupied with revenge to a guy who truly internalises the lessons he learnt in Hongkong and adds a big helping of humanity to it. 

Not to excuse his behavior towards Ine-san and Fukuhara-san (because you rightly identify them as cold) part of that is also rooted in japanese culture. With Iwao’s death Ryo became the patriarch of the family. Ine-san may scold him but in the end it is not her place to deny him. Likewise Fukuhara-san was Iwao’s student so that kind of transferred to Ryo now. The bigger point here is that he abandons his responsibilities for them. I don’t think it’ll have actual negative impact for him in story, but there is likely going to be a moment of awakening that it is high time he returns home and takes care of the martial arts school.

I am sorry this actually took a 2nd day to finish but I got busy watching Collisions 2017. I only listened to it once but in seghments. Since I am such a huge fan of the game I wanted to be fair and not overanalyze your review and find nitpicks where there arent any.

While the individual play style is entirely up to each player it is my recommendation for everyone playing this, it to give it time. Let it breathe. Just waste your time away doing fun stuff. You’re going to miss out on a lot if you’re playing it in the way youd play most linear games where you just resume with the next goal in the main quest like crossing of a check list. You are not supposed to leave this early. During my fast plays I still never finished before christmas. At best I managed a jan 15 arrival in Hongkong just to see if I manage to arrive on my own birthday lol. But in all seriousness the time limit for this game is so goddamn long because you arent really suppoed to rush through this too fast. Leaving by the middle of January or even by the end of it makes for an overall better experience IMO (lol I just heard the 10 hours thing and I damn near lost it haha. look as I said it’s ok to play it any way you see fit, but seriously 10 hours literally means just the main quest. no goofing off. You’re missing out on stuff and an overall more majestic experience is all I am saying) To me the harbor segment was super fun cuz it was cool figuring out how you get the most out of each day, incl at least some good toy collecting and maybe training (usually didnt need that anymore at this point). By no means I am trying to tell you to like an aspect you didn’t, but to me this very much comes down to how deep you immerse yourself in the world. If you let the time go by slowly (dont run basically😉) such things as working have a deeper impact on how you experience it - then 2h lunch break still feels like 15 minutes. It was literally the opposite for me in that the harbor is when I am p much forced to move the plot forward instead of just goofing off so much. I know people who share this kinda play style feel the same way that the harbor is - to us - where it really picks up.

Before my review of this is over I’d also like to personally recommend the japanese dub over the english dub. Yeah the english dub feels weird at times but this is also intentional. A good comparision to that would be the lines in the Spartacus TV show. Just like that one was speaking latin in english the Shenmue dub was speaking japanese in english if you get my meaning. The VAs talked about this on the SEGANerds podcast during the kickstarter. Of course due to having played it so much it works for me but it’s easy to tell the difference. At the same time I can not praise the english VAs enough for being incredible heroes who promoted the Kickstarter hard, it was amazing. I love all of you guys. Thank you for your passion. Will def play Shenmue III in both japanese and english to honor all of you!

I warned ya it’s prolly a lil bit all over the place. Anyway thanks for the review. give the man a follow: https://twitter.com/sweetstorybro

[dailyaudiobible]

03/20/2020 DAB Transcript

Numbers 30:1-31:54, Luke 4:1-30, Psalms 63:1-11, Proverbs 11:20-21

Today's the 20th day of March, welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you. It's an honor it's a joy. What it joy that we get together like this for a few minutes and focus our hearts attention on the Scriptures, focus our hearts affection on God and just allow the word to speak to us. What a joy. So, we’re continuing to move through the book of Numbers and the book of Luke in the New Testament. Today we will read Numbers chapter 30 and 31.

Commentary:

Okay. So, there's a really, really huge, huge lesson for us to learn from the gospel of Luke today and it really encompasses the…the entire reading, even though it seems like we encountered a couple of stories of like Jesus being tempted in the wilderness and then Jesus being way back up in the Galilee in Nazareth announcing His ministry. They connect because of the way Jesus conducts Himself, the way that He operates, the way that He sees and does. He’s teaching us a lesson. So, for starters we find Jesus in the wilderness, and I don't know if you've noticed. It's been like right in front of his from the beginning, but have you noticed how much time we have spent in the wilderness in the Bible so far? It's an irreplaceable backdrop to the stories that the Scriptures are telling us. And what the Scriptures are showing us in those stories is that the wilderness brings utter dependence on God, which brings transformation and it also brings a lot of thrashing around and complaining and moaning and groaning. I suppose we could just stop right there because that's the story of our lives. We spend more time in wilderness seasons than we want to, or that we think that we deserve. Even though, as we look back in retrospect, we see just how much transformation and formation happens in those seasons. But usually when we’re in those seasons all we want is out of the season. So, like anything that will show us the clear path out of the wilderness, the quickest, we just pretty much fall for it. Jesus is in the wilderness outside of Jericho. It is the desert. He is making His way eventually back to Nazareth. He's a long way from Nazareth, like 70 miles. And he'll have to climb out of the desert and into the transition and up into the lush Galilee. And the devil comes and tempts Jesus. It's obviously a super famous Bible story. But as we’ve mentioned before when we’ve passed this territory, he’s coming to Jesus with an easy way out of the wilderness, an easy way to get what he seems to want, the fastest way, the pain…the most painless way to get what he wants. That’s kind of our default and we’ve probably learned a number of times that we can get into a deeper wilderness trying to find…take the fast way out of the one where in. The fastest way out of the wilderness, friends, at least in my experience is to learn the lesson the wilderness is teaching you. That changes the entire dynamic of the experience. And Jesus rejected this easier path. And, so, He walked back to Nazareth and the Bible says, that the evil one retreated and waited for another opportunity. That opportunity would come in Nazareth. Jesus entered the synagogue and announced Himself. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free and that the time of the Lord's favor has come.” Now, of course, everybody's around the synagogue, the famous Rabbi, the hometown boy who’s made it…making it big is back in town. And, so, Jesus announces that prophecy is being fulfilled but what they really want isn't any of that. They want Him to perform a magic show. Like, they want Him to do some miracles and signs. They want to see a show. They don't have eyes to see or ears to hear what Jesus is announcing. Like He’s announcing something huge in their Hebrew faith, the fulfillment of a prophecy and they just want Him to perform tricks. And eventually their provoked. Like, they’re provoked against Jesus, who has just had a showdown with the evil one in the desert and the evil one is waiting for an opportune time. And, so, Jesus comes and announces that He's fulfilling prophecy and the people decide they should probably throw Him off a cliff in response. And that’s how the story goes. This kind of mob mentality escorts Jesus to this cliff and then He passes right through them and goes on His way. You see how Jesus deals with things? If you're in the wilderness, and the easy way out is before you and you follow that path without discerning at all, without at least inviting God to show you whether or not the lesson of this wilderness has been learned. And not all wilderness journeys are sent to us by God. We navigate ourselves there quite readily. It seems to be like the one place that we know how to get to in our lives is the wilderness. But once we are there it is not purposeless. And sometimes the easy way out is not the easy way out. And it takes courage to stay one foot in front of the other marching through the wilderness toward the promise. That takes a whole lot more courage than taking the detour that promises an exit. If we keep going, we’ll get out of the wilderness. It will be lush and fertile, but that doesn't mean that we’re not going to face the voices of rejection, the voices of ridicule, the voice of contempt and scorn, even the voice of hatred. What if we could just let that pass right through us? What if we could pass right through that and go on our way? We can if we accept things as they are and continue moving forward day by day step-by-step. And, so, let's take these things to heart today, meditate upon them today, consider them in our lives today.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank You. Thank You for the opportunity to do just that. We invite Your Holy Spirit to plant these words from the Scriptures into the soil of our lives today and help us to live into them. Help us to continue to watch. As we’re walking through the Scriptures, we’re walking with You. May we not miss anything that we need to see. Come Holy Spirit and lead us into all truth we pray. In Your precious and holy name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website. That makes it home base for us as a virtual community. And, so, it's good to know that.

It's good to know that the Prayer Wall is 24 hours a day happening there.

Of course, if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can get to all of the things on the website as well from within the app. You just push the Drawer icon...well…the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner and that’ll open up the drawer and give you the selections. So, be sure to check that out.

Check out the resources that are available in the Shop.

Check out the Initiatives that are going on all at dailyaudiobible.com.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link and it lives on the homepage. And I thank you. Thank you profoundly and with all humility for your partnership. If you’re using the app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app and share from there or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that is all for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. First Peter 2:9. Please pray with me. Lord, my precious Savior it is your bronze slave, Treasured Possession speaking before you thanking you for my courageous sisters and brother who are saying it’s time to face the truth. They did not blame anyone. They did not make excuses for their sin. They just confessed and have repented and desire to be made whole. To have the root of pain removed so that they can operate in the fruit of the Spirit of love and self-control. Lord, you have said those who are forgiven much love much and you are looking for sisters and brothers who worship you in Spirit and truth. I lift these sisters up to you today Lord, the one who desires to be free of jealousy, the one who desires to be free of self-pity, and my brother also of courage who wants to get self-control over his eating and my sister who wants to be fray…free of binge eating. Father, I know you will never love us more today than you will in eternity. The work we have been asked to do is believe in your son Jesus Christ. And Lord relay all our burdens down today as we are called out of the darkness of rejection, self-pity, fear, abandonment and crimes perpetrated against our will. All curses spoken over us are made null and void in the cross of Christ. We receive the love of Jesus for us, the healing of our minds, will, and emotions, the healing of our bodies and say yes to be made a new creation in Christ. And it is in Jesus’ name we ask these things.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family today is March 14th. Michaela from Gloucester, I heard your prayer. It was yesterday or possibly on today’s podcast you said you were struggling. I just want you to know that I love it…I love your prayers. They always touch me on such a deep level and I’m always finding myself agreeing to them in the Spirit. So, Michaela I just want…I’m just asking God on your behalf today to lift you up. And I want you to know that you mean something to this community, if that helps. So, thank you Lord for Michaela. Thank you, Lord for the gift that you’ve given her of prayer. May that gift increase. May her hard times be made less and may she grow stronger through them with your help and by your grace. And then there was God’s Girl, all your anxiety. Lord I just lift up God’s Girl to You. My God, may her…may she find strength to push through that anxiety, strength in You Lord and may she also become stronger as she works through this latest attack or this latest whatever that’s gripping her. May she also become stronger as she works through it with You Lord. May she have eyes to see and ears to hear what You are showing her Lord, the truth of what You are showing her. May Your truth shine through. Hey…and His little Cherry, that description of that pink sunrise and how it made you think of Pink Paint was beautiful. Pink Paint you are loved. His little Cherry you are loved. Be blessed family. Amen.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family my name is Julian Miller and I am from Atlanta Georgia and I’m calling in today because I heard from a podcast a couple days ago from Veronica from Oklahoma or Oklahoma City. And I just want to say that my heart went out to you after hearing your voice and hearing your call for help. And I just want you to know that I feel for you and I’m praying for you. I’m praying that these impulses and these binges and this…this feeling that you feel like you can’t control or like you’re trapped, I just…I just ask that the Lord would continue to release you of that and that you would not fall into despair or feel like there’s no way out. I am a fitness coach here in Atlanta Georgia and I meet people all the time that are…feel like there over weight or in a situation where they can’t get back from it and it’s part of my job to reignite encouragement and life in them, to know that there is more life for them, that there is a future, there is a way to lose weight and to become more healthy. And I just hope that you’re not ashamed for calling in. I heard that in your voice, “like, I can’t believe that I’m saying this.��� And I just want to say that we…you…you have a family here. It doesn’t matter what the problem in your life is, that you can always call in and ask for prayer. I love you sister. I’m continuing to pray…pray for you and lift you up. Please do not despair. Hope is on its way. God has so much for you. Release that to Him.

Hi Candace, this is Dorothy out in California. I just wanted to call and let you know that I’m so glad you’re calling in and I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s passing. You are very loved, and you are not alone. We are here for you, your Daily Audio Bible family. Keep calling in. We love you.

Hey guys this is Val from Vegas. I’m calling in because I…I made a promise that I was gonna call in on the 15th of every month. I’m in the hospital. I just got out of isolation. I have double pneumonia and I need your prayers. __ to ask it makes me feel so selfish when there’s so many other needs in the world but I could really use your prayers that the doctors will figure out how to treat me and that I can get out of here and that it can be a testimony and that God can get the glory. Honestly, I feel so defeated and I’m trying to understand and recognize that God loves me, but have you ever felt like he’s mad at you? Please pray that I can get out of the hospital soon.

Good morning. Blessings Flow here again. I also wanted to say, God’s girl in Canada, God bless you sister. I’m praying for you. Thank you so much for calling in. And I’m in agreement with you that anxiety and depression will not prevail in your life in the name Jesus. And that God will have God’s way in your life. I’m praying for you this morning and I just wanted to say, may the Lord bless you and keep you, may He make His face to shine upon you God’s girl and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon and give you peace. I’m praying for you also my sister called and with PCOS and was requesting prayer about losing 100 pounds. I’m so proud of you. You have nothing to be ashamed of. We’re in agreement with you. Nobody is looking down at you. No one is saying, “how could you call in with that. That’s so silly.” Yes, and amen. We are in agreement. We are proud of you. We’re cheering on. And I just thank you for your boldness to call in about that. This is Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania and I don’t know why I’m up at six something a.m. but many of you are on my heart and I know it’s…it’s not about me. It’s about the Lord and you and God’s love for us DAB family. And I’m so humbled just even in these last couple months to be a part of this family. God bless you. Blessings Flow in Pennsylvania.

Good morning DAB this is Judy I’m from Delaware. I just want to express my love and appreciation for all you who pray every day for everyone. I’d just like to see some extra special prayers for my family, that we are able to keep our love for one another together, that we are able to maintain our prayer life in the midst of all this turmoil. I’d just like to also see some special prayers to everyone who listens to DAB and brings forth prayers for the world every day. Brian thank you so much. Thank you to you and your family for all that you bring to the table for us every morning in spite of…I know there must be days where your heart is heavy as ours. But you still and enlighten us with the Bible, with the words. And I’m just so thankful to have you and to have a place where I can come and listen and know that there’s so many others listening with me. Thank you again. And everyone be blessed and be safe.