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spoookymuulders · 4 years

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perchance to dream

read it on ao3 here word count: 15,056 chapter word count: 4,433 summary: With two families dead, the BAU is called to Colorado to try and connect the murders. Something about the deaths seems familiar to Reid, but he can't quite put his finger on it. And when a familiar face shows up, it throws another cog into the machine, complicating things further. chapter warnings: mentions of torture/abuse

chapter three. the things we don’t say.

Nothing haunts us like the things we don't say. - Author Mitch Albom

Lakewood Police Department 3:30 PM

Spencer’s been talking non-stop about his team and how great they are for the past four hours. Parker’s kept track. He started at 11:30, barely stopped to eat lunch, and then continued. And while she’d never tell him to stop or that he’s talking too much, it’s a lot of information and she’s starting to feel a little overwhelmed. That feeling becomes more prevalent as they round a corner - she had asked to walk despite her still-healing feet, glad to finally be out of the hospital and allowed to move around on her own, and Spencer had agreed, saying the police station was only a few blocks away - and the station comes into view.

She stops short at the corner, wrapping her arms around herself tightly. Spencer keeps walking for a moment before he realizes that Parker is no longer beside him, and he turns around, eyes wide and briefly panicked. He relaxes when he sees Parker hovering at the corner and moves back to her side.

“Hey.” He says softly, brushing her arms. She looks up at him, tears in her eyes, and he pulls her to his chest. She follows his pull, closing her eyes for a moment and exhaling unsteadily. “It’s okay.”

“Spencer, I don’t know if I can do this.” She whispers.

“It’s okay.” He murmurs again, rubbing her back slowly. “They just wanna ask a few more questions. And I’ll be right there the whole time, I promise.” He dips his head to catch Parker’s eye, offering a small, reassuring smile. “Okay?” Parker sighs quietly, nodding after a moment. Spencer squeezes her shoulders and leads her to the station, nudging the door open and following her inside, his hand at the small of her back. He guides her to the conference room and stops in the doorway, knocking lightly. Five heads turn towards them, and Parker has never felt smaller than she does right now.

Spencer goes around making introductions. Morgan and Prentiss she knows already. He introduces a blonde, motherly woman as JJ, an older gentleman who reminds Parker of her maternal grandfather as Rossi, and at the head of the table is a man Spencer introduces as Hotch. Parker nods a greeting to each of them, staying close to Spencer as they move further into the room.

“We have a few more questions for you, if that’s alright.” Hotch says, and Parker nods, twisting her sweater sleeve absently. Before he can guide her to an interview room, a chime comes from the computer beside him and he turns it around as a bright voice crows a greeting.

“I have updates, my fine furry friends, and - oh! Is that her? Reid, is that her?! Hi!” The blonde woman on the computer gasps eagerly, her blue eyes widening almost comically. Spencer chuckles quietly and nods.

“This is our tech analyst, Penelope Garcia.” He tells Parker softly. Parker waves a little, wrapping her arms around herself again as Hotch clears his throat and Garcia gets back to the aforementioned updates. Parker looks around the room quietly, the case board in one corner catching her eye. As the rest of the team is absorbed in Garcia’s chatter, Parker approaches the board slowly, brows furrowed. The photos on it are hideous. Brutal crime scenes, things she’s never seen before except for on TV. And even then, they weren’t quite this bad.

One photo in particular catches her eye, and she leans forward, frowning a little. Two tiny holes, barely bigger than pinpricks just below a woman’s collarbone. She looks at the photo beside it, a man with a knife shoved into his heart, his hand wrapped loosely around the hilt, and a woman beside him, a small vial resting in her fingers. In the background of the photo are two more men almost laying on top of each other. Parker is vaguely aware of the continuing conversation behind her as the realization dawns.

“So!” Garcia is saying, tapping away vigorously at her computer. “You were right, two of the victims had heart attacks induced with potassium chloride, and the other woman, the one who wasn’t poisoned, was bitten by-”

“Asps.”

Parker’s quiet voice surprises everyone in the room, and seven pairs of eyes fall on her. Hotch frowns, watching the girl closely.

“She’s right.” Garcia says, her voice wondering. “I’m looking into where someone might’ve gotten asps now, they’re indiginous to Egypt and pretty hard to get in the US.”

“How did you know that?” Hotch asks Parker, crossing his arms. She peers at the board for another moment before looking at him.

“It’s Antony and Cleopatra .” She says softly, looking back to the board. She touches the sticky note where Prentiss has scribbled the quote they found at the last scene. “ The long day’s task is done, and I must sleep is from one of Antony’s monologues. And - and this one..” She points to a photo of the first crime scene, of the Miller family. The eldest son, dismembered, and the mother with burns all the way down her throat stare at her from the photo lifelessly. “This looks like Julius Caesar. ”

Spencer moves forward, frowning at the board, the look in his eyes somewhere between confusion and frustration. “I can’t believe I didn’t put that together.” He muses quietly, stopping to stand beside Parker, who is still staring at the photos. Her heart thunders in her chest.

“That’s Othello .” She says, pointing at a photo of the second crime scene. “Emilia and Roderigo are stabbed. Othello stabs himself, and Desdemona is smothered.” She stares over the board for a long moment, and she begins to wonder if the rest of the room can feel her heartbeat in their ears the way she can. She feels her knees begin to buckle a little and Spencer catches her easily, guiding her to a chair that Morgan pushes forward. She sits heavily, eyes on the blue-flecked carpet under her feet for a long moment before she looks up.

“I think it’s him.” She says quietly.

“Him who?” Hotch asks, moving to sit across from Parker. She twists her hands anxiously, looking up at him. When she tells him who exactly she thinks it is, he frowns thoughtfully. “What makes you think it’s him?”

“They’re Shakespeare’s tragedies.” Prentiss says for her. Hotch looks up at her and Parker nods.

“He loved Shakespeare, specifically the tragedies. He’d make me recite monologues from them sometimes.” She tells Hotch, rubbing her knees. “If I got them wrong..” She trails off, swallowing thickly.

“If you got them wrong..?” JJ prompts gently, glancing at Prentiss. She wonders briefly if they should take Parker to another room for this, because judging by the look on Reid’s face, she hasn’t told him any of what she’s about to say. He’s still crouched beside Parker’s chair, his hand on her knee gently, but she won’t look him in the eye and she’s twisting the end of her sleeve around her fingers.

“It depended on the day. Sometimes he’d just hit me, or kick me.” Parker says after a moment, keeping her eyes down. Nobody in the room likes the connotation of the word just before she mentions the abuse, but they keep their mouths shut. “He didn’t smoke often, but when he did, he’d burn me. If he was in a really bad mood and I messed up, he’d - he’d use a belt.”

Hotch glances at Morgan and Rossi, exhaling quietly. Morgan moves from his stance behind Parker’s chair and crouches so he’s in her field of vision, offering a small, gentle smile when she looks at him.

“Parker, we’re gonna find the man who hurt you, and those people.” He promises softly. Holding out a hand, he offers another small smile when she touches her fingers against his lightly, and he squeezes her hand gently. “We’re gonna make sure he can’t hurt anyone again. I promise.”

****

Exhausted in every way imaginable after her interview with Hotch, Parker curls up in a corner of a couch in the conference room and closes her eyes. She’s half-aware of the goings-on around her, can hear people chattering quietly about the case, but she tries to push them out of her mind. Hotch and Morgan are talking quietly on the other side of the room about the rest of the questions she’d answered, and she thinks she hears Hotch say something about her escape.

“If it is the same guy, her escaping could’ve been the trigger for the killings.” Morgan murmurs, glancing towards the blonde on the couch. “Especially if he was holding her for so long.” Hotch nods his agreement, following Morgan’s gaze and sighing.

“That depends on how long ago she got away.” Hotch says quietly. “The hospital said she just turned up last night and there were no real signs of exposure, so she can’t have been out on her own more than 24 hours. I’m having Garcia look for any history or Shakespeare buffs in the area, as well as professors and teachers who could be our unsub.” He pulls his eyes away from Parker and watches Prentiss head for the door. She means to go after Reid, who slipped out almost as soon as they were finished with their questions and Parker curled up on the couch. As Morgan mentions coffee, Hotch nods and follows him out of the room, the two of them promising to return with a cup for JJ as well when she asks.

“Agent Jareau?”

JJ jumps a little, looking up from her computer. Parker is still settled on the couch, but her eyes are open now, and teary.

“Call me JJ.” She says gently, offering a small smile. Closing her computer, she moves across the room and perches in a chair beside the couch.

“JJ.” Parker repeats softly. She fiddles with a thread from the couch for a moment before looking up at JJ. “Is what Agent Morgan said true? Did he kill those people because I got away?”

JJ’s heart breaks a little and she shakes her head, reaching out to take Parker’s hand and squeezing gently. “No.” She says, her voice gentle but firm. “We don’t know yet if it’s the same man. But if it is, he killed those people because he’s a psychopath. Not because you got away from him.” Parker doesn’t look entirely convinced, but she nods, sniffling quietly. JJ squeezes her hand again and offers a gentle smile. “It’s a good thing you got away from him, Parker.” She insists softly. Parker nods again, still not looking entirely like she believes the other blonde, but she returns the smile with a tiny one of her own, and JJ counts that as progress.

****

Prentiss finds Reid outside, tipping her head at the sight before her. He looks almost.. Small, seated on a bench outside the police station, his head in his hands as his shoulders shake almost imperceptibly. She clears her throat as she approaches and he sits up quickly. She pretends not to notice as he wipes roughly at his cheeks with the backs of his hands while she perches next to him on the bench, watching the cars roll by.

“She didn’t tell you about any of that before, did she?” Prentiss asks after a while. Reid shakes his head, rubbing at his nose a little.

“I guess.. I guess I kind of knew that she would’ve been through something like that.” He mumbles, leaning back against the bench. Prentiss glances at him out of the corner of her eye, her heart aching for her young friend. “I mean, he held her for twelve years, it only makes sense that he would’ve tortured her.”

The words taste like vomit on his tongue, and he almost feels like he’s actually going to be sick.

“But it’s different actually hearing about it.” Prentiss says for him, and he nods. Leaning over, she wraps an arm around his shoulders and hugs him tightly for a moment, rubbing his back as she does. She feels the smallest bit of tension leave his body and she leans back, squeezing his shoulder lightly. “She’s gonna need you to help her through it, Reid.” She says softly. “If anyone can understand even a fraction of what she’s been through, it’s you.”

Reid grimaces a little, knowing that Prentiss is referring to Tobias, but he nods. He tips his head back, watching the clouds for a long moment before he looks back to Prentiss. “I don’t think I ever really apologized for the way I acted towards you then.” He says suddenly. Prentiss laughs softly.

“You were kind of a dick.” She says, smiling a little more when he does. Leaning over, she bumps his shoulder with hers lightly. “But it’s okay. You were struggling. I understand.” She reaches over, squeezing his hand lightly. “I’m glad you got the help you needed.”

“Thanks, Emily.” He says softly, returning the squeeze. They sit together like that for a few minutes, two friends hand-in-hand as people rush past them, busy with their own lives, completely unaware of everything around them.

****

When Spencer and Prentiss come back inside, she makes a beeline for the coffee maker while Spencer slips back into the conference room. JJ, seeing his approach, slips out and squeezes his shoulder gently. He hovers by the doorway for a moment, watching Parker as she stares at the case board and fiddles with her necklace absently. Padding further into the room, he perches next to her on the couch, following her gaze.

“It’s him, Spencer.” She whispers. He sighs softly, rubbing her back slowly. “I know it is. I can - it’s like I can feel it.” When she turns to look at him, her eyes are red and he can see the remnants of tears in the corners.

“Hotch and Garcia are looking into it.” He tells her gently. “No matter who he is, we’re gonna catch him, and he’s gonna go to prison for the rest of his life, I promise you that.” Or he’ll kill the bastard with his bare hands, but he keeps that thought to himself. Parker leans into him, resting her cheek to his shoulder and peering at the board for a few minutes. The only noise around them is the quiet chatter outside the conference room, and the occasional ring of a phone at a deputy’s desk.

“Morgan said I might’ve been the trigger for the murders.” She says quietly. Spencer purses his lips and shakes his head.

“You’re not.” He tells her firmly. She sighs quietly, and he continues. “Parker, you only just got away two days ago. This all started two weeks ago, there’s no way you’re responsible for the murders. And even if your escape had been the trigger, that wouldn’t mean it’s your fault.” Parker sighs again and rubs her cheeks roughly, closing her eyes for a moment. Spencer’s phone buzzes in his pocket and he pulls it out. “It’s your mom.” Parker nods and watches as he answers the call and chats with her mother for a moment before turning back to her.

“Your brothers are here.” He tells her. She exhales slowly, suddenly nervous and terrified and excited all at once.

The trek back to the hospital seems to take forever, though Parker knows they get there in the same amount of time it took them to get to the police station. She stops short at the corner again, her eyes landing on her mother and the three boys - the three men sitting with her.

Jeremy looks tired, but other than that he hasn’t changed much. He’s as tall as he ever was, towering over their mother and his two younger brothers. His dark hair shines in the sun and Parker thinks she sees a wedding ring glinting on his left hand. She wonders briefly if he’s married to the same girl he’d been dating when she’d been kidnapped, and if he’s got kids now. Is she an aunt?

AJ, the spitting image of Caroline, is perched beside their mother and bouncing his knees anxiously. He looks pretty much the same too. His hair is a little shorter, a little lighter, but his blue eyes have that same shine, his lips have the same constant upward quirk that she remembers from all those years ago.

And then there’s James. Perfect, wonderful, beautiful James. James, with the same golden curls and green eyes as Parker. James, with the freckles across his nose and the spring in his step and the fight in his eyes. James, who’s one of the reasons she kept going all these years.

It’s James who sees her first.

It’s like he senses her, and she’s sure he does because he’s always been able to. It’s a twin thing, they’d always said. He looks up and locks eyes with her through the thinning crowd, and they stare at each other for a moment. Half a second later, he’s on his feet and they’re sprinting towards each other, both glad that the people on the street have fully dispersed. AJ and Jeremy look up sharply as soon as James moves, both jumping to their feet, but they’re too far behind him to catch up.

Parker crashes into James’ arms, nearly sending both of them tumbling to the sidewalk. She clings to his t-shirt and tries not to cry for the millionth time in the past three days. Finding herself in Spencer’s arms again had been right. It had felt like coming home. She feels that again as James crushes her in the tightest hug humanly possible. She hears rushing footsteps as AJ and Jeremy join them, slower ones as their mother and Spencer approach as well.

When James steps back and cups Parker’s cheeks to look her over, to ensure that she’s really there, that all of her is standing in front of him, she smiles at him. It’s a tired, weary smile, but it’s a genuine smile nonetheless. James lets out a breathless, tearful, disbelieving laugh and hauls her into another tight hug.

“Fuck, Pickle. I missed you.” He whispers into her hair. She winds her arms around him again and presses her face to his shoulder, exhaling quietly and nodding.

“I missed you, too.” She whispers back. He steps back after a few long moments and she’s passed on to AJ, then Jeremy, pulled into two more bone-crushing hugs before they all step back and take each other in.

She wonders if she looks the same, or if she looks like a completely different person to them. Spencer had recognized her immediately, so she knows she looked the same to him, but to her family, to the people she spent almost every single day with for nearly seventeen years, she wonders if she looks the same.

She knows her hair is longer and a little duller than it once was. She knows her bright green eyes have dimmed some, and she knows she’s lost weight. Other than that, she thinks she looks the same as she did. She hasn’t looked in a mirror much since her return. Spencer appears beside her, his hands shoved into his pockets, nodding at her brothers in greeting. There’s a million questions racing through each of their minds, but Parker speaks first, directing her question at Jeremy.

“Do you have kids?” She asks, gesturing at his ring. He blinks and glances down, like he forgot the ring was there, then looks back up and nods.

“Two.” He tells her softly, and she feels tears prick her eyes.

“Are you still with Sophie?” He nods again, digging his wallet out of his pocket and passing her a picture from the bi-fold in it. She takes the photo delicately, looking over it slowly and taking it in. Jeremy and Sophie perched on the steps of a small townhouse, a little boy in Sophie’s lap and a little girl in Jeremy’s.

“That’s Luke.” He says, pointing to the little boy, then to the little girl. “And PJ. They can’t wait to meet you.” AJ is next, and he shakes his head before she speaks.

“No kids here.” He says, smiling a little. “Just a fiancee. His name is Alex, you’ll love him.” Parker nods, returning the small smile and shuffling her feet absently. “We have two dogs and a cat.” Parker laughs a little, wiping at her eyes. She cries in full when Jeremy tells her that PJ is short for Parker Jude.

****

The reunion between siblings completely wipes Parker out. As they part ways and the boys go back to the hotel with their mother, Parker sinks onto the bench they’d occupied not long ago. Spencer, having stayed back and let the family reunite without intrusion, comes forward now and sits beside her, winding an arm around her shoulders when she leans against him.

“Tired?” He asks softly. Parker can hear the smile in his voice and she nods, stifling a yawn behind her hand. “How’re you feeling?”

“That was a lot.” She mumbles sleepily, blinking up at him blearily. He nods, rubbing her back slowly. She falls quiet again for a few minutes, and Spencer is starting to think she’s fallen asleep right there on the bench when she speaks again. “I don’t really know what I’m feeling. I’m.. Happy I’m home - well, kind of home. Back with you. And with my mom and the boys. But I’m.. I’m scared, too, Spencer.”

He holds her closer, pressing a kiss to her hair and closing his eyes. “What are you scared of?” He asks her quietly. She shrugs, rubbing at her eyes carefully.

“I’m scared that he’ll come back. That he’ll take me away again.” She says, keeping her eyes fixed on the streetlight flickering on across the street as the rest of the world dims around them. “But more than that, I’m scared of - I’m scared that I won’t be able to.. Reintegrate or whatever. I’m terrified that I’ll be too scared to go out and.. I dunno. Get my GED and try to go to college and get a job or whatever.” Her voice gets quieter and quieter the more she speaks, and Spencer almost has to strain to hear her.

“Parker, hey. Hey.” He says gently, dipping his head so he can catch her eyes. His heart aches dully when he sees the tears she’s holding back, and he pulls her close for another tight hug. She doesn’t wrap her arms around him, instead tucking them between the two of them and letting herself melt into his embrace. “I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you. And I’ll help you with everything. You’re gonna be okay. I swear.”

“I don’t even know what I wanna do anymore.” Parker says miserably, more tears springing to her eyes suddenly. “Before he took me, I was so sure I wanted to go off and study theater and acting, but now I don’t - I don’t know. I can’t do Shakespeare anymore, he ruined that for me, and I hate him for it.” She stands now, beginning to pace in front of Spencer, and he watches her, his eyes widening slightly as she raves.

“But that’s all I ever knew!” She continues, waving her hands, tears beginning to roll down her cheeks. “I wanted to act since I was eight years old, so I did, and then - and then I didn’t for twelve years because I couldn’t ! I couldn’t do anything except recite fucking Shakespeare monologues and now - now every time I hear them I feel like I could puke! That was everything I wanted to do and everything I wanted to be and now I don’t-” She falls silent suddenly, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the bench, and Spencer watches her for a moment.

“I don’t even know who I am anymore!” She says, her hands coming up to cover her face as she gives in to the sobs that have been building like a tidal wave. They crash over her now, making her shake, and Spencer stands quickly, wrapping his arms around her tightly and pulling her against his chest.

If he’s being completely honest, part of him is relieved to see this sudden show of emotions. Up until now, she hasn’t shown much of anything. Aside from the reunions with her loved ones and the terror in her eyes at the precinct, she’s been quiet and almost numb. And he understands, he does. It’s much the same as how he felt after Tobias, when the only thing he felt he’d had to turn to had been the dilaudid. The thought digs at the back of his mind that Parker could turn to something like that too, and it makes him hold her tighter. He won’t let that happen.

“Look at me. Hey, look at me.” He says firmly. He removes his arms from her shoulders only to move her hands from her face gently. When she lets him lower them, he cups her cheeks and brushes the tears from them with his thumbs delicately. He looks her over for a moment, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear gently before he speaks again.

“You’re Parker O’Hare. You pushed a fifth-grader off a swing when you were seven years old, and I’m pretty sure that if he’d tried to fight back, you would’ve kicked his ass. You broke your arm when you were ten years old and you just stared at it and told your mom you needed to go to the doctor while I freaked out. You held me together after the Harper Hillman incident. You kept me sane for ten years. More than that, you’ve kept me sane since the day we met, even when we weren’t together.”

She’s crying still, but he keeps talking.

“That’s who you are.” His voice softens now, and he feels tears prick his own eyes. “You’re Parker O’Hare, and you’re one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. You’re my best friend, and I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

Sucking in a breath, she wraps her arms around him tightly. He winds his arms around her shoulders again and presses his cheek to the top of her head. He can feel the raging storm in her ebbing away slowly, feel the fight and the anxiety draining out of her bit by bit. Her fingers curl white-knuckle-tight in the back of his jacket as she clings to him like a life preserver in the choppy waves.

"You don't have to know what you wanna do right this second." He whispers into her hair. "You have time to figure it out. We have time."

And he's right. They have all the time in the world.

Now that I'm free to be myself, who am I? - Poet Mary Oliver

#criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fanfiction #mine*#my writing #fic: perchance to dream #spencer reid x oc #spencer reid fanfic #series: vienna

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nroot2000 · 4 years

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Julius Caesars impact on Ancient Rome

There is a reason why coming into this class and knowing absolutely nothing about Ancient Rome, I still knew who Julius Caesar was. But how and why has the name been brought up so many times throughout my years of education? His accomplishments were unclear to me, but as we approached who he was, I began to realize that there was a reason behind why Caesar was so well known.

To share a bit of background behind Caesar, he gained most of his success and followers on the battlefield. After winning the Gallic wars, Caesar gained an enormous fortune which he then used to influence politics. After then winning the civil wars between him and his colleague Pompey, Julius didn't have anyone in his way to stop him from ruling Rome. He seems like a very selfish and greedy man from this perspective but he also did great things for the people of Rome. He distributed land to the poor, relieved people of debt and other economic projects which helped gain the support of people in Rome.

But there is also another reason why Caesar is so famous. Before diving deep, the picture depicts the day when Caesars was stabbed to death, better known as the ides of March. After an uprising many years beforehand, Rome sought to never give 1 specific person too much power. But Caesar dug his grave while in political power. After abusing the wartime “dictator” power, Caesar thought he should be dictator for an unlimited amount of time. After the monarchy fell, the senate vowed never to have this specific style of government. Though once Caesar named himself dictator, senators felt that their power was drained.

Leading up to the assassination, there was a group of people called the liberators. These were the people who despised Caesar for turning Rome into a dictatorship society. After having a meeting in the senate one day, Caesar was assassinated by the liberators

The mark he left on society was prevalent because after the assassination, everyone was in a panic. The ironic part about the whole situation is that instead of bringing balance to the republic, emperors were now set in stone to rule Rome once again. This poses a question... if people want change, will the spark to starting that change lead to the right path or wrong path? Because in Ancient Rome’s case: it ends with the wrong path and the downfall of the Roman civilization.

#julius caesar #riseofrome #downfall

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inkanistark · 4 years

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Currently living one of the worst weeks of my life, it’s going very cute so far.

Sunday:

Woke up with alarming chest pains. Very alarming to the point that I told my parents because I thought I was going to die. (6-7 on the pain scale)

Went to the ER. It was very C U T E.

They said that I just had a bad reaction to my respiratory virus infection, possibly strengthened due to high stress, possibly a UTI.

Kobe died, found out at hospital.

I got home at 5 and had to still write an Oliver Thesis, write 9 chapters worth of AP Psych Notes, and had to study for the test the next day.

Monday:

Studied for AP Psych Test all day. Probably failed it. Had to endure classes that talked about abortion, Kobe’s death, transphobia, mental illnesses, etc.

Had to write an entire AP Psych project due to lack of time as I caught the flu the week before. This included about 70 logs as well as follow up questions that I’d rather not talk about. This was due as midnight as well as an editorial analysis for AP Lang, which mind you I had also not started. I ended up procrastinating and rushing to do both before midnight just in time.

Tuesday:

Good Day. Julius Caesar got stabbed.

Before the field trip, I had extreme chest and stomach pains again. The cause turned out to be the fact that I had taken my prescribed pills and cough medication, both of which are a deadly combination when on an empty stomach. I skipped dinner the night before and breakfast that morning. My stomach felt like Caesar.

Wednesday:

Had to read the entire Great Gatsby, as I had repressed the due date and had to cope with the flu for over two weeks, but whatevs. Following this up, I finished my reading at midnight, and still had 2 WebAssign tasks for math and gave up on them. I also had to study for a math quiz and anatomy quiz. I went to bed at 3 A.M. and felt like crying. I didn’t. It was cute.

Thursday:

Dealt with a terrible Anatomy Quiz that I managed to pass on virtue hat it was an open note quiz.

The Great Gatsby Socratic Seminar was that day. Everyone contributed except me, I wanted to contribute before Keller interrupted me and my anxiety already wanted to yeet me off a cliff. I wish I had done my math instead of actually listening to the discussion.

Math was next. Quiz on the last two lessons. On virtue of logic, I managed to answer the first two questions. I struggled a bit on the third but managed to come to some sort of conclusion, correct or wrong. The last question was a doozy that I stared at until the last ten minutes of class, where I simply gave up and turned it in. I kinda felt like crying, but I didn’t and just #smiled. Ms. Nahigian taught us about hyperbolas and I thought I was free, but she pulled a sike and assigned us all to a group project due next Friday, where we will all have to make a one minute video about hyperbolas. I’d rather die but do I have a choice? Nah. Next was Chapel. I sat down in my dreaded front row seat and the white boy behind me asked me why I was wearing a mask and where did I get it. I had to bite back the response that I had it specifically so I could spread the coronavirus, and said that I was sick and got it at CVS.

Then I took a makeup test for Anatomy, got two wrong. Tea. Went to Creative Writing Club even though I felt like crawling into a hole in the ground. Left and went to orchestra, but arrived late as it was across school. Had an incredibly average time there. Arrived back at Oliver and sat by myself, prompting Ketterling to ask if I was ‘exiled’ by everyone. I didn’t want to bluntly say that I wanted to be alone so I kept quiet. I fell asleep for the rest of class and woke up at the last 5 minutes to see everyone taking the reading quiz. I attempted to summarize 30 pages worth of religious analysis in 3 sentences and turned it in without batting an eye since failure is the norm now.

I got home. Procrastinated since I felt so tired from staying up so late the night before. Attempted to finish my Great Gatsby discussion questions, gave up and tried to turn it in. The submission kept having errors and eventually it was past the due date. Cute. I still have my huge math makeup test to study for, as well as anatomy and English quizzes. It’s already midnight, so kill me.

Friday-Sunday have not happened yet, but I expect them to be just as bad.

#love this #how’s your week from 1-5?#-5

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wessasaurus-rex · 4 years

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One Piece Theory of Everything - A Revision of the Inherited Will Theory

I believe I've figured out most of the manga's greatest mysteries. A lot of the major ideas that I used as a jumping point are from the "Inherited Will Theory" by King Fisher over at the Arlong Park Forums which I'm sure most One Piece theorists are already very familiar with. I know it has it's detractors but for the most part, a sizable number of people seemed to like it and I was one of them. However, I believe the Inherited Will theory was not broad enough in scale to truly explain everything.

However, one of the most solid ideas of the Inherited Will theory was the use of repeating patterns, themes and foreshadowing in One Piece to form a prediction of things to come and this is primarily what I've used to deduce the rest of the theories in this list. I'm not sure how to break these down but I'll just go right ahead. I'm sure I can maybe edit this for readability later.

"One Piece" was the Ancient Kingdom. The One Piece is both an ideology and a tangible thing, as I believe Professor Clover was about to explain before he got shot. The One Piece is the entire world united in a piece, as one nation, and in true harmony with all of it's inhabitants. Therefore...

The Pirate King is the ruler of "One Piece". I formulated this theory even before the reveal of Rocks D. Xebec and that served as a confirmation on my part that I was indeed in the right direction with this theory. The title of "King of the World" and "Pirate King" are basically the same thing. This fits in perfectly with all of the descriptions of the Pirate King as the one who "owns everything in the world" or "owns the greatest treasure in the world". The greatest treasure in the world is quite simply the world itself. How was this done? Not by force, but by 20 rulers around the world swearing loyalty to one man. But this was not to last.

Ims was the first mate of the first Pirate King, the first "Dark King" The Pirate King was Julius Caesar and Ims was his Brutus. This explains why Rayleigh's title as the right hand man of the Pirate King is the "Dark King". He is meant to serve in the shadow of the Pirate King and guard him from the darkness. But this also places him in the perfect position to stab the Pirate King in the back. This is, what I believe, happened to the first Pirate King and Ims. And yes, that would mean that Ims is an immortal being - a possibility that was already foreshadowed in Law's fruit. In order to successfully do this, this must have taken more than one conspirator - which is who I think the first Gorosei were. If we were to take the Shakespearean comparison further, the Gorosei would be the senators that took part in the stabbing. They must have been part of the 20 Kings who swore loyalty to the Pirate King, perhaps swayed or tricked by Ims. However, this betrayal did not go unnoticed...

The War between the Ancient Kingdom and the World Government was a Civil War. Imagine a war that spanned the globe that erupted after the great betrayal. This was a war between those that were loyal to the Pirate King and those that usurped the throne. Unfortunately, whether it be by numbers or the use of devil fruits perhaps, the usurpers won a crushing victory against the loyalists who were then forced to run and hide and to inscribe their messages and warnings of this great threat unto indestructible stone while the usurpers erased history in order to both establish themselves as the supreme rulers of the world and also to hide their crime in the murder of the Pirate King.

The World Government is currently the "One Piece". Or to clarify, a corrupted version of the One Piece. Instead of uniting the world in true harmony, fairness and equality, the World Government subjugates the world and controls it for the personal gain of it's leaders. Further evidence of this is the entire ideology of the "Empty Throne". The throne is empty because that throne belongs to the Pirate King. However, only a true Pirate King would actually refuse to sit on the throne and lord over the world, instead choosing a life of freedom and adventure. The very essence of this was exactly recreated in the formation of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. And we know that current "Empty Throne" is nothing but a farce as there is someone who sits on it in the shadows.

Alabasta, Ryuugu, Shandora, Ohara, Zou and Wano were loyal to the Pirate King These powers and perhaps more were all loyal to the Pirate King and fought against the usurpers, with many other kingdoms possibly completely destroyed and erased during the war. This is why they were all keepers of the poneglyphs. Ryuugu Kingdom was promised liberation from the sea and for it's inhabitants to be able to dwell on the surface by the Pirate King. To light the fires of Shandora is to keep the truth alive in protecting the Poneglyph. Wano isolated itself and kept it's borders closed because they knew that the world was their enemy - and to open it's borders is to signal the return of the Pirate King. Alabasta joined the world government but it's royal family refused to become World Nobles. I'm guessing that the King of Alabasta was actually tricked into betraying the Pirate King and then realized it later and regretted it (foreshadowed by Squard) but decided to stay in the World Government as a means to either survive or keep a mole on the inside.

The Ancient Weapons were the power base of the Pirate King If you're gonna be a King, you're gonna need actual power on top of symbolic power and I believe that's what the "Ancient Weapons" were supposed to be. Specifically, I believe Pluton was the main ship of the Pirate King, perhaps even his first ship when he first united the grandline. I also believe that Franky already built the Pluton in the form of the Thousand Sunny, perhaps as a transformation. Franky burned those blueprints because he already memorized them. Next, the power of Poseidon enabled the Pirate King to control all the sea kings - effectively granting him control of the entire oceans. And Uranus, though it has not been revealed, I am confident enough to assume is indeed Momonosuke and I believe it enables him to control ALL OF THE TITAN SIZED CREATURES of the world - one of them being Zunisha. These Titans were probably immortal and indestructible and were therefore banished instead of killed. Zunisha is one of them...but the rest are hidden away in the Florian Triangle.

The Void Century was but the start of an era of darkness. After they crushed their enemies and formed the World Government, Ims and his Gorosei continued to erase history. It's more accurate to call it the Void Era rather than just a century. The process that rid the world of it's history in the Void Century never ceased. Ohara is a prime example of that. Every time someone got close to the truth, they would snuff out the light and keep the world in darkness. This is how they are able to maintain power - through blind faith in their system of justice and ignorance of the past. And the reason why they must continue this process, even to the very present day of the series, is because a Pirate King always rises. Whether through the hopes and wishes of the people, or through murmurs of a forgotten past, a will to overthrow this darkness and for the Pirate King to rise again was inherited. The Pirate King is not a title passed down through by blood. It is a title gained through merit. But this is something that the Kings of the World Government do not understand and still see the Pirate King as a traditional King and this is why...

Ace was executed because he was the rightful heir to the Empty Throne, The Pirate Prince This explains why the World Government went to so much trouble just to execute one man. Why they would go to war just to make sure Ace died in a public fashion - it was an effort to snuff out the flames once more. To keep the world in darkness. But what they didn't understand was that the Pirate King was not born...he was made. This enables a man truly worthy of the title to rise. And a mechanism of this already exists...

The Grand line is a Tournament for the Pirate King One Piece was a giant tournament arc all along. The Grandline is similar to a grand prix. It is an obstacle course where you also face others in a tournament for the throne. It forges any man, even a simple man, to rise above and become worthy of the title. The Supernovas are rookies that made it through the first elimination. The Yonkou are simply the finalists.

Garp knew. Garp, through his own experiences and probably Roger himself telling him the backstory, knows the truth about the One Piece. It explains his distaste for the Celestial Dragons (on top of the obvious reasons) and it explains why he wanted Ace and Luffy to be marines - he wanted to reform the World Government from the inside by training the next generation to be better. I don't think he knows about Ims though nor did Roger.

The Revolutionaries know. Seeing Roger executed at Logue Town gave Dragon his final resolve but he first knew the truth from his father, Garp. However, they had a difference in opinion. While Garp still believes in the institution of the World Government, Dragon would rather be rid of it altogether. However, he has no desire to be King and thats why he didn't take the route of being a pirate that is gunning for the throne. He just wants to destroy the main obstacle.

The Donquixote Family knew. Through privileged access to information or some other means, Doflamingo's parents probably knew the truth - or at least a part of it. That is what spurned their change of heart and decision to live as commoners. Doflamingo himself definitely knew but probably didn't understand it fully as a child and instead focused and internalized more the abuse that they recieved after becoming commoners. This is the secret that he speaks of often. More on the national relic specifically later...

Kaido vs. The World Government This is the "age of smiles" that Doflamingo talked about - the new age. He knew of Kaido's plan to invade the World Government and establish himself as the knew King of the World/Pirate King. Doflamingo's entire angle is just him being in a high position in the new world akin to a World Noble. This is why he was always just gonna be a lackey - he lacked ambition. This also means Kaido already knew of the secret and instead of going after Laugh Tale, he just plans to go straight for the main obstacle, same with Dragon albeit for more selfish desires that liberation.

Tom-san was secretly royal. Just as Poseidon was from the Ryuugu Kingdom, the original Pluton was probably built by Fishmen (submarine mode?), the same Fishmen who built the Noah. This doesn't necessarily mean he had to be royalty but so far, all the secret keepers of Joy Boy had been royalty. It might also be why he was living in the surface - to hide him away in case the Ryuugu Kingdom fell. It would have been terrible if 2 weapons were in one basket so to speak.

The Will of D The Will of D is the inherited will to unite the two halves of the world in a piece - in relation to the plan of destroying a portion of the Red Line in order to truly create the One Piece. The D is not an initial, it is a symbol. (Half a circle, D) A symbol that one carries in your name to denote that your clan believes in the dream of One Piece. The original carriers of the symbol were all loyal to Joy Boy, the first Pirate King...specifically, I think they were his original crew members. Monkey, Jaguar, Trafalgar, Portgas, Gol, Marshall, Rocks...and one more yet to be revealed (Ims?) And I believe each of them came from one of the allied Kingdoms...Alabasta, Shandia, Ryuugu, Zou, Wano, Ohara...and two more yet to be revealed. (My hunch is the kingdom where Big Mom found her Road Poneglyph and Elbaf). These people and nations represent the 8 outer circles in the symbol of the Kozuki Clan. This I believe was the flag of the Ancieny Kingdom, One Piece. The big circle represents Joy Boy and the One Piece. A total of 9 circles... such as the 9 Red Scabbards...or the 9 Straw Hats. (What about Jinbei? He could be the 10th circle, signifying change and progress, could also be why his proper membership has been delayed) Theres a lot in this one but certain parts could be true independent of the rest. I just put them together for the sake of formatting.

#one piece

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coldwestallenweek · 5 years

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Pick the Date and Theme for ColdWestAllen Week 2k19!

Themed weeks are a-go once again for this year’s ColdWestAllen Week! The official poll to pick the theme is live here and closes Friday, April 12th at midnight! The poll for the dates is also live here.

As the official poll doesn’t leave room to explain each theme in detail, I’ve left more information below. You only get one vote, so be sure to read up on your choices first!

Decades

30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s.

With both The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow dabbling in time travel, why not explore time yourself? Maybe a jaunt on the Waverider brings our trio to see the first performance of Julius Caesar in 1599, or maybe an unintentional burst of speed sends Barry to face his future in 2035. Not interested in time travel? Consider an AU of your favourite cheesy 80s movie, a historical AU, or even a themed sock-hop dance in a high school AU.

Continental ColdWestAllen

North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, Antarctica.

Long distance relationships, work trips, destination weddings. Or maybe it’s going on a date to the zoo to see the penguins, or a meet-cute where they share a table at their favourite Thai restaurant to beat the backlog of people waiting to be seated. Whether they’re living abroad, travelling, or experiencing a piece of the world right at home in Central City, this is a chance to see what happens when ColdWestAllen goes global.

Spring

Showers, Flowers, Bugs, Birds, Sunshine, Cleaning, Break.

It’s that time of year again, a time of growth and rebirth and fresh starts – at least in the Northern hemisphere, anyway. While the prompts are spring-related, the fills certainly don’t have to be. Write about what happens when ants interrupt a picnic, or three people try to have shower sex, or the White Canary comes to visit. The possibilities are endless!

Wedded Bliss

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue, Rings, Bells, Vows.

While the theme says wedding on the tin, the fills don’t need to be wedding specific. What happens when Iris borrows Len’s parka in the case of a secret relationship and suddenly has some explaining to do? Or when Barry vows to stop at nothing to finally put Len behind bars, until the flirtatious banter between them makes that a vow he might not be able to keep? Of course, a good old fashioned ColdWestAllen wedding fic would be more than welcome, too!

Getting Sensual

Sight, Sound, Touch, Taste, Smell, Temperature, Pain.

A perfect vehicle for the exploration of some great sensory delights. Whether it’s scorching hot smut involving the Cold Gun, date night out at a fancy restaurant, or a touring musicians AU, the choices are endless! Take a stab at creating beautiful works in various mediums and make the most of what this sense-pleasing week has to offer.

Be sure to get your vote in, and share this post to get the word out!

#coldwestallen #coldflash #westallen #coldwest #coldnews #barry allen #leonard snart #iris west #ship week #fandom event #coldwestallenweek

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unproduciblesmackdown · 5 years

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anytime i eat a Mini Muffin i’m specifically taken back to this time in fourth grade when my english/literature/reading/whatever class did this thing with some other school’s english/whatever classes where we all went to this One School and put on our plays in succession (which were like, idk, maybe 5-10 minutes each excerpts from some Public Domain shit like idk ours was some scenes from julius caeser, shakespeare or whatever)

it’s one of those times i look back and i’m like oh in retrospect maybe it’s a bit obvious i’ve been a theatre gay all along. like with other evidence such as having a decent time learning the tenor parts in a choir, having Opinions on the fact that sopranos are always useless and basses are always useless in a different way, also our tenor section of like, 3-6 people being told we need to sing quieter and me being like aw fuck that Every Time, my vastly enjoying being on stage and the entire process of putting together a performance in the realm of ballet which i did for 11 yrs and which on occasion involved productions which had A Plot and Characters and i got to be some of those characters and super enjoyed the most musical-adjacent stuff, me abandoning stage fright on several memorable occasions, this one time i was in a Drama Class in middle school and threw together a useless skit with some friends but actually super enjoyed Playing The Part and putting it on even if it made no sense b/c that was never the point we were just Goofin, generally having somewhat sporadic exposure to but genuine enjoyment of theatre/musicals, like all my friends in college being involved in the theatre dept which might be in part because like 80% of my friends were through my theatre-y roommate who was that person in nyc i just mentioned, All This And More

anyways the signs and tells i could’ve perceived from this specific occasion were Many....back in fourth grade i was still pretty In A Shell which i’ve always been but to varying degrees and in varying ways, but i was like oh man yeah please let’s go on stage, i love that. we even sort of did ~auditions~ in that i think we all memorized like, a paragraph, and then all of us in the class like, rated each other or whatever and then that was tallied and the teacher had final say...i was Into that...and then i got one of the main-er parts which was cassius and i was like fuck yeah!! being caesar is overrated here b/c he dies like halfway through!! and then the teacher taught us the most important lesson which was Talk Louder which was great because when we went to the Meetup of all the classes from various schools doing their bits, it was a bit underwhelming because we couldn’t fuckin hear anybody

also i think we did it barefoot? or in sandals? i loved that. i’m like a hobbit in that i always want to be barefoot. reminds me of the time i really risked it all b/c i danced en pointe for a school thing once but it was just a regular ass stage, no rosin, none of that rubbery floor padding, so like, better not accidentally slip. i didn’t though. and back to caesar, i remember i was Vexed because when we did the stabbing part, it was only like, us all stabbing him, no particular sounds to provide dramatic cue or anything. maybe it worked anyways, idk. still haunts me to this day

also we got to put it on twice b/c some parents were late, and i was pumped about that. the point is that during a Break, one of the accompanying parents had brought along a box of those little snack bags of mini muffins, and i had some, and so every time i have mini muffins i think of this Theatric Experience

and then, as an epilogue, sometimes i’m like “oh ugh i have no interests or things i ever particularly wanted to do” but then i’m like well okay but again in retrospect, there’s some things i had “i’d be interested in doing that” feelings about but one of the reasons i don’t recognize that as an Area Of Interest is because i then brush it off as like “oh, but everyone’s interested in that” even though things like, for example, acting onstage, is Not actually something that interests everyone. and when there’s other similar sorts of concepts i’m Not interested in, i conveniently don’t think “well, nobody’s interested in that” b/c i know that’s not true

and then also in retrospect i’m like “well maybe you should’ve tried theatre in school, dumbass” i remember that i’m not even sure my middle school Had a like, after school drama program, i wanna say mayyyybe there was one but to be fair at that point i was like, entirely ignoring Everything in the after school realm. i just wanna go home and read honestly, terrible student forever. and then i didn’t go to high school, and in college obviously the theatre program was people who’d already been doing that shit, and i had no clue. didn’t stop me from hanging out around there sometimes and “helping” sometimes aka hanging with my friend who would actually be doing something; one time i painted a set, another time i painted a set for my old middle school. that’s all i know. also i went to see lots of the plays cuz my roommate would be in them and graciously give me a comp ticket and i’d be like sick let’s do this. friday night baby

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wallpapernifty · 4 years

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17 Top Risks Of Attending White Pine Cone And Tassel | White Pine Cone And Tassel

As I access the burghal in a cab, my senses jump at the all-embracing assortment of domes, cones and arches spanning a ambit of centuries and amidst by contemporary cartage whizzing by. My B&B is in an old architecture able with an age-old elevator antic an adorned wrought adamant door. The ample windows in my allowance on the fourth attic accommodate a panorama of the charcoal of Largo di Torre Argentina—where Julius Caesar had been stabbed and killed. On the added side, trams and buses bassinet by, matter-of-fact, alive. Sitting amidst the charcoal are bodies of assorted descriptions, adequate the sun and the absorption of accouchement and adults examination the Largo from the active streets around. The asleep and the active co-exist here.

My neighbours at the B&B are a brace from addition allotment of Europe. The admirer criticises the Italians with vigour—in his view, there are abundant evidences of a abridgement of refinement. He isn’t actual afflicted by the ruins—to him, a bargain affectation of ability and plunder.

In a new city, admired time is spent averseness with keys and keyholes, elevators and advanced aperture passwords, adaptable sims, bus stops, and best importantly, in absorptive a faculty of area the auberge is positioned in the city. With the GPS assuredly in action, one ventures out in a calculating fashion, acquainted of the bodies on the street, of accessible pickpockets and sellers of ambiguous souvenirs. One duke holds the buzz and addition a baby camera; a bung bag hangs aslant from a shoulder.

Narrow streets and baby piazzas with bizarre fountains that no best assignment crop the angled abaft of an elephantine structure. This

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taswhapstuff · 5 years

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Episode III: The word and the sword

Power, the one word that can describe a persons status, often a word that be used to show someones success, however it usually also reveals a certain dark side too. From the past lives of many great kings, emperors, queens and more, they’ve all had just about one thing in common, they let their power rule them...

Our story begins with a a tyrant that called himself the first emperor, a man with a heart of pure darkness and had a hunger for power that could never be satisfied. His name was Ying Zheng, he was a man that craved power relentlessly and over time achieved great feats such as uniting all foreign states of China, and ruling over the 42 million people in it. The man had many monuments erected to celebrate his achievements, in fact he was the one that had the great wall of China built according to the video. However, with all these facts though his greatest and most memorable buildings was the world beneath everyone, a giant mausoleum the size of the modern day island of Manhattan. This underground world had built buildings and a whole army made of terra-cotta. The intentions were that once Ying Zheng died, he would be able to rule in the after life, that is if he did die for his quest for ultimate power did not stop at just an empire, for he wanted something even greater, immortality. Though his craving for a God like power was far fetched enough, he’d come no where near it and eventually passed on to the next life, like everyone else that walks this earth.

About 2000 miles away in India, a new tyrant was making a name for himself and he was just as brutal as any emperor you’d expect. Coming of age when his father passed away, it was said that he had murdered his own brothers in cold blood to be the only heir to the thrown. He took his place as emperor and alongside his army marched forward and slaughtered 100,000 people including women and children. There was no doubt in his conquest, however unlike most brutes, this one felt remorse and regret towards his actions. Over time he had decided that he would renounce all violence and embrace the way of the Buddha. His only way of conquering now was by using a generous amount of persuasion, he even went as far as abolishing slavery, establishing schools and hospitals just to show how serious he really was. Ashoka was the first emperor in history to export peace, he sent buddhist missionaries to all parts of the world eventually reaching Vietnam, Sri Lanka and the Mediterranean. Renouncing power and understanding the limits of his earthly power was a key factor in changing himself for greater good of not just his people, but for himself too.

Our journey continues down south as another person with a mindset similar to those of the emperors we’ve already met, however she takes this role of power a little differently. The Lady known as Cleopatra saw herself as an actual deity, specifically the reincarnation of the goddess Isis. Her illustrious desire for power was obvious, she wanted to rule of Egypt and force her retched brother out of her life, for he was in charge at the time. Determined to rule, her plans would unfold in the city of Alexandria which was playing host to one of the most powerful men at the time, Julius Caesar. Caesar was a powerful leader and turned politician, Cleopatra had found a way to meeting Julius. Charmed by her beauty and intelligence, he found himself wrapped up in a web of love with Cleopatra, who now was determined to put her trust into her new lovers hands. Under the love bound couple they were now expecting a child who had the potential to unite the power of Rome and Egypt, together as one. Though tragically, as Caesar returned to Rome he became a self proclaimed dictator which lead to many people questioning him. Literally stabbed in the back by his close friends and the final blow delivered by his best friend Brutus, Caesar was now dead. As many civil wars broke out, Cleopatra was on the verge of being captured or killed herself, she took her own life with a snake and was proudly did so rather than become some sort of prisoner of war. Both Egypt and Rome never became one empire, and what could’ve fallen upon this world with the brilliant tyrant Julius Caesar and the Queen of Egypt both by their Son’s side, they could’ve had the entire world under their thumbs.

And so much of our story has come to an end once again, a truly diverse look at how some empires had functioned through tyranny. A tyrant that sought immortality with a bloodlust of power, a tyrant turned Buddhist who worshipped the idea of peace and prosperity, the tyrant who was convinced she was a goddess herself and finally a tyrant who ruled with a dominant force of will and intelligence. All great tyrants of their time, each accomplishing different forms of success and ruling over their own empires. Though our historical figures had taken different paths of tyranny, it was greatly understood that in no doubt all of them sought out more power, even when it seemed like there was enough, it never really was. Sad to say, this idea is still floating around our world today, the endless goal to make money, though less bloody, however just as brutal.

- Marko Mladenovik

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yetanotherbuffyblog · 7 years

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It’s Thanksgiving!

It’s time for a Thanksgiving episode! Buffy wants to have a normal Thanksgiving on her own without her mother, but things are going a bit haywire because they were opening up a new cultural center aaaaaaand it turns out that at the groundbreaking ceremony, they uncover it was being built over the old Spanish mission. And also there’s an angry Native American spirit, Hus, that’s been released.

Yeah.

Things are tense because it starts killing people (and gives Xander plenty of diseases, notably syphilis). Because as Willow points out, maybe he’s absolutely justified in his rage; after all, his people were slaughtered and their land stolen from them. So why should they treat him like the evil spirit-of-the-week? On top of all of this Spike is back, and as he can’t feed he begs to go stay with the Scoobies for protection in return for information on the sketchy lab people.

And Angel’s back, though he’s trying not to be noticed by Buffy.

Notes!

-Oh God this is the episode about Native American conflict with European settlers. This is...okay, this is going to take some talking about.

-Willow points out that there is a lot of lost stuff that could be beneath our feet, and Buffy replies with that it’s mostly sewers filled with vampires. Yes. There’s nothing good under Sunnydale.

-“It’s a sham with yams. A yam sham.”

-Does Anya not realize she’s a girlfriend? She’s spent a ton of time around Xander having sex with him. What else would she be?

-In the discussion about why the professor’s body was missing an ear, Buffy mentioned that the body was brutally stabbed; but when we saw the murder the throat was slit. Kind of a difference.

-The Chumash people are a real nation of Native Americans from the California area. They’re also not wiped out, they’re one of the peoples who have survived the colonization period and are still with us today.

-Angel has gone back into ‘watching from afar’ mode and that’s not a retread at all.

-“I’ll let you two--oh look, they’re selling coffee. In the coffee shop.” Smooth, Willow…

-Oh Cordelia’s working for Angel. I guess that means she’s on that show instead. I was wondering where she went…

-Buffy just wants to have her perfect Thanksgiving. Although are we actually given any reason that she’s not doing this with her mom? I might have missed it. But most people in the first year of college just go back to their parents for Thanksgiving.

-Riley is from Iowa? Then why is he in a local college like Sunnydale? Other than to work for the sketchy lab people.

-You can go to a church not at night, you know. Chances are higher the priest won’t be murderized.

-“It’s common for Indian spirits to change to animal form.” Well yes, but also very common for spirits all over the world.

-Right I get that Willow is all ‘hippy let’s address Native American wrongs in history’ but helping the rampaging murdering spirit? Yeah, that’s a terrible idea.

-“You saw [Angel]? That’s not terribly stealthy of him.” “Yeah, I think he’s lost his edge.”

-“Can we come rocketing back to me and my new syphilis?”

-Buffy saying “You can have casinos now” like that helps anything is pretty great.

-Why would the vengeful Native American spirits speak English? Other than that the actors don’t know Chumash.

-Buffy getting over an arrow to the arm. That’s not how that works, okay?

-Also fighting a bear isn’t as easy as just stabbing them. Bear hide and muscle is thick. Just...don’t fight bears, okay?

-And time to talk about the whole thing with this episode: white guilt over the Native American genocide. I keep hearing people in college assert that they were taught history as ‘America is awesome and could do no wrong,’ but I specifically remember by sixth grade history teacher telling us “Our country has much to be ashamed of when it comes to its treatment of Native Americans.” I think it’s interesting that it chose this angle for a Thanksgiving episode.

But this is offset by the point that Giles makes: whether or not the vengeful spirit, Hus, was justified in being pissed, this doesn’t change that he’s going around killing innocent people who aren’t actively hurting anyone. He has to be stopped, and if that means eliminating him for good, then that’s what Buffy’s got to do. No, they’re not going ‘full on Custer’ as Willow put it, because that’s a different situation altogether.

I don’t know if I agree with Spike’s assessment that the situation is exactly like every other conquest in history. I think part of the reason why it stands out is the fact that disease had a lot to do with it (I mean, and that disease was weaponized; let’s not forget that). That, and it was the Age of Empires, when colonization was becoming a thing, and racism was becoming institutionalized. I’m not saying racism didn’t exist before then, but that’s when we got slavery based on the notion of race instead of conquered nations/defeated enemies on a large scale like the world hadn’t seen before. And that it’s a system that is continually perpetuated, with pacts the US government made with Native Americans being broken over and over again through our history, makes it much worse than a simple conquest.

Still his Julius Caesar impression is amusing.

-Also Xander? What a doof, bringing up that Angel’s back.

#4x08 #Thanksgiving #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #Buffy Summers #Willow Rosenberg #Spike #Rupert Giles

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hermanwatts · 5 years

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Sensor Sweep: Richard L. Tierney, Diana Gabaldon, Jirel of Joiry, Stan Lee

Conventions (Pulp Flakes): If you have been following my pulp convention reports for over the last 10 years, then you know they all have appeared on Steve Lewis’ excellent MYSTERY FILE website. He has published and encouraged me to report the activities for Pulpfest, Windy City, and PulpAdventurecon.

Authors (DMR Books): I saw that old movie The Silver Chalice when it first came out, and enjoyed Jack Palance’s portrayal of the sorcerer, Simon Magus. In about 1960 I wrote my first Simon of Gitta tale, “The Ring of Set”, picturing Simon as Jack. I never intended it as the start of a series. It lay around in manuscript for about 16 years, till my friend, Kirby McCauley, submitted it to Andy Offutt for his first Swords Against Darkness anthology, which appeared in 1977.

Authors (Goodman Games): Gary Gygax named H. P. Lovecraft as one of the immediate influences in the Dungeon Masters Guide’s Appendix N. Lovecraft is best known for the creation of the alien god, Cthulhu, from the short story “The Call of Cthulhu” published in Weird Tales in 1928 (and be sure to check out our collection of reprints featuring Lovecraft’s works). Cthulhu is but one of many alien creatures that are perceived as gods by men; some writers that followed in Lovecraft’s footsteps have even tried to organize the gods into a pantheon.

Authors (Frontier Partisans): There’s this thing called The Outlander Effect. It refers to the massive impact the Outlander series of books by Diana Gabaldon and the STARZ series based on the novels on the economy and culture of Scotland. Over the past quarter century, the books and show — largely set in the Highlands at the time of the Jacobite Rising of 1745, then moving to the North Carolina backcountry in the run-up to the American Revolution — have created a measurable increase in tourism in the Scottish Highlands.

Fiction (DMR Books): The seventh and final installment in the serialized version of Tros of Samothrace is titled “Messenger of Destiny” and consists of what would become chapters 82 – 96 of the novel published in 1934. Set in the summer of the year 54 B.C., this story tells of the aftermath of Julius Caesar’s invasions of Britain and was first published in three parts in the February 10th, 20th and 28th 1926 issues of Adventure magazine.

Book Lists (Hi Lo Brow): Seventy years ago, the following 10 adventures — selected from my Best Forties (1944–1953) Adventure list — were first serialized or published in book form. They’re my favorite adventures published that year.

Writing (Monsters and Manuals): A lot of the violence in Tolkien’s work happens “off camera”, so to speak, or is described in very broad brush strokes. Even when we get a “live” account, as in the scene above, it tends to be a sketch or a few edited highlights – the only blow-by-blow fight we really get in The Lord of the Rings, at least as far as I can recall off the top of my head, is the scene just after this one when Frodo gets stabbed by the orc captain’s spear.

Ian Fleming (M Porcius): In Casino Royale and here in Live and Let Die, Fleming does not limit himself to presenting only Bond’s point of view or to only writing scenes in which Bond himself appears. In Casino Royale there were a few scenes with M and S (head of the division of the British Secret Service devoted to the USSR) and Moneypenny in which Bond was absent, and a scene inside Le Chiffre’s automobile while Bond was pursuing him in his Bentley.

Gaming (Sacnoth’s Scriptorium): So, I’ve been wanting to brush up my 1st edition AD&D knowledge, which I find has gotten overlaid with bits and pieces from other iterations of the game during all those years I spent working on 2nd edition (over forty modules, books, and boxed sets) and editing 3rd edition (about another twenty works, including co-editing two of its three core rulebooks).

Fiction (Hillbilly Highway): Devil’s Call is one hell of a story, a bloody weird western propelled by protagonist Li Lian’s remarkable voice.

Li Lian is the mixed race daughter from a family where witchery runs on the female line. She follows her husband, a former army doctor, to the Nebraska frontier. It is there that something goes terribly wrong.

Fiction (Tip the Wink): The Liaden universe is the setting for an ongoing series of science fiction novels and stories written by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. The series covers a considerable time period, some thousands of years in all, although since it also covers more than one universe the exact chronology is…difficult. However the main timeline extends across only a few generations.

Writing (Pulp Archivist): In 1947, Stan Lee, then editor of Timely Comics, which would later be rebranded into Atlas, then Marvel, wrote in Writer’s Digest that “There’s Money in Comics!”, explaining how a writer could adapt to the comics medium. As a result, Lee also explains many concepts of selling writing that are universal to all media before applying them specifically to the visual medium of comics. Many a pulp writer made the transition.

Fiction (Jon Mollison): Back in the bad old days when I only rarely dipped my toes into NYC publishing waters in search of a rare good read, a brother recommended the First Law books by Joe Abercrombie, and so with the trepidation of a man burned once too often, I grabbed a copy of Red Country from the library and proceeded to get burned once again. As a novel it failed to clear every bar set before it. It failed to deliver adventure. It failed to deliver heroism. Worst of all, it failed to deliver fun.

Doc Savage (Black Gate): Doc Savage was not created so much as he was assembled in much the way Victor Frankenstein stitched together his infamous monster from unconnected charnel parts.

The year was 1932. At the Street & Smith publishing company, they had a surprise runaway success in a magazine called The Shadow. Inspired by a creepy radio voice used to promote their Detective Story Magazine, the mockingly laughing Shadow captured America’s imagination in that dark Depression year. The magazine kept selling out. S&S pushed author Walter B. Gibson into producing two novels a month so they could release the pulp periodical every other week. The Shadow Magazine kept selling.

Art (Adventures Fantastic): Artist Darrell K. Sweet was born on this date, August 15, in 1934. He passed away in 2011. When I was in junior high and high school, if book had cover he’d done, I always picked it up and gave it a look. I didn’t always buy the book, but based on positive experiences with some of the first books I read that he’d done the cover art for, I always gave it a look. I had the privilege of meeting him a couple of times, and I had the opportunity to tell him that at the 2006 WFC.

Firearms (Tom McNulty): As most Clint Eastwood fans know, the famed actor first used the famous snake grip Colt Single Action Army (SAA) revolver in the first season and second episode of Rawhide. The air date was January 16, 1959. The episode was titled “Incident at Alabaster Plain.” Eastwood would use that same gun again in A Fistful of Dollars (1964) and For a Few Dollars More (1966), both directed by Sergio Leone.

Fiction (Pulp Rev): Mention the words ‘Strong Female Character’ and immediately a visage of a tigress fills your head. She is powerful and fearless, unbeatable in combat, sexually alluring, takes no nonsense from anyone, and can best any man in any masculine pursuit. It’s a trope solidified over decades of repetition on the silver screen and the printed page. And then there is Jirel of Joiry.

Sensor Sweep: Richard L. Tierney, Diana Gabaldon, Jirel of Joiry, Stan Lee published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

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happyhalfmoon · 5 years

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More Fodder for the Deceit Name Theory

After doing some renewed digging after the advent of DWIT, I have some relevant info to share with everyone!

Dante can work really well as a name because of its connection to Roman literary mythology, as is also the case with Virgil and Remus. Virgil is the author of the Aeneid (the national epic and creation myth of the Roman Empire) and the guide featured in the Inferno/Purgatory. Remus is the brother of Romulus (the founder of Rome and the literary equivalent of Roman in this sense). Remus was also murdered by Romulus, who eventually superseded him and took power. This naming convention seems to be a pattern with the dark sides thus far.

Dante’s major work is La Divinia Commedia, or the Divine Comedy. Of particular importance is the 8th circle for this theory (the 9th circle is Treachery, also encompassing forms of Fraud, but it’s less symbolically relevant except for Satan’s whole deal). The eighth circle of Hell is subdivided into ten smaller sections, each one containing sinners who’s crime was Fraud. Fraud can mean many things, but in essence, it can be equated with words, actions, or thoughts that are duplicitous, blasphemous, or in any way untrue to God, your fellow man, or yourself. This definition comprises pimps and their seducers, people selling fake idols, people who lied to gain status in their church, hypocrites who dressed in golden garbs when their servants starved, etc.

This circle of Hell also has a few Cantos that feature snakes, serpent-like creature, or monsters that have snake appendages. I’ll post specific quotes from this scholarly text explaining the symbolic and inter-textual meanings.

https://digitaldante.columbia.edu/dante/divine-comedy/inferno/inferno-25/

“The beginning sequence of Inferno 25 functions as a conclusion to Inferno 24, which ended with Vanni Fucci’s lacerating political prophecy. Now the thief engages in obscene and rebellious defiance of God, in the action of his raised fists and in his speech—“Togli, Dio, ch’a te le squadro!” (Take that, God! It’s aimed at you!] [Inf. 24.3])—until he is silenced by the serpents. As a result of the silencing of Vanni Fucci the serpents become “Dante’s friends”: “Da indi in qua mi fuor le serpi amiche” (From that time on, those serpents were my friends [Inf. 24.4]). Given that the serpents will be revealed to be sinners—in this bolgia sinners alternate between their original human shape and the shapes of many and diverse kinds of serpents—the thought of them as “friends” is quite unsettling. But, then again, so is the idea that we are in a place where pity lives only when it is truly dead: “Qui vive la pietà quand’è ben morta” (Here pity only lives when it is truly dead [Inf. 20.28]). “

“ Moreover, the idea of the serpents as friends sets the stage for the socially macabre aspect of this bolgia, part of the dramatic unfolding of Inferno 25: since the serpents are sinners in serpent form, the sinners are attacked by their own erstwhile comrades. “

“Social ties are evoked in order to be monstrously violated. Thus, it happens that one sinner names another, an event that Dante introduces with the ambiguous pronouns typical of this canto: “l’un nomar un altro convenette” (one of them called out the other’s name [Inf. 25.42]). The sinner who speaks is asking his comrades where another sinner, Cianfa, has gotten to: “Cianfa dove fia rimaso?” (Where was Cianfa left behind?[Inf. 25.43]). This is such a simple question, the sort that occurs in social units all the time, many times a day. But here the question hides a sinister reality: in this bolgia it behooves one to keep tabs on one’s comrades, for a “friend” who disappears from sight may well resurface as a serpent. And, in fact, the simple “Where has Cianfa gotten to?” heralds a sinister outcome, for the six-footed snake of verse 50 will turn out to be none other than Cianfa. “

The entire analysis is very long and not entirely fit for our purposes, so I’ll leave it up to the reader to consider sloughing through the whole piece. But I think a lot of this is pretty damning evidence. Humans metamorphosing into snakes due to recognition of their sins, becoming Dante’s “friends”, the snakes attacking their own “comrades”, social ties being evoked to be violated, keeping tabs on one’s friends to keep watch for any “serpents”, etc.

Also, I’ll put it out there that Dante Alighieri, the author of the Divine Comedy, is not the same as character Dante. At times, Dante is an unreliable narrator- he lets his biases slip through based on who he favors and who he despises. For example, he had a bone to pick with the Greeks, which is why Alexander the Great, Ulysses, Achilles, and others are there (remember, Dante’s Italian, therefore a descendant of the Romans). He also puts Brutus and Cassius in the lowest level of Hell (9th circle) with SATAN. All because they stabbed homeboy Julius Caesar. And to be honest, with Deceit’s selective ‘I’ll use this and leave the rest alone’ bit in SvS with my main man Stirner, he’s not exactly a reliable narrator himself, huh?

Anyway, hope you dudes enjoyed reading this! I’m procrastinating a lot right now, so I thought I’d be all tin foil hat and make another post about Snek Boi. Catch ya later!

#deceit sanders #sanders sides #thomas sanders #dark sides #theory

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daghewardmillsquotes-blog · 5 years

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Fight with All Your Weapons

Put on THE WHOLE ARMOUR of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Ephesians 6:11

To fight a war you must be well equipped. An ordinary civilian need not be armed and clothed in heavy metallic armour. He is not going to be attacked by anyone. But a soldier fighting in a war needs all these equipment. Are you in a war or not? Are you fighting or are you playing games?

The Lord has honoured us by placing us in the last battle. God knows the dangers we are in. That is why we are told to use all the necessary equipment and armour. The spiritual war we are in requires wide-ranging defensive armour. The Bible describes the armour of God but most ministers take it lightly. Most ministers of the gospel take no notice of this list of powerful life-saving equipment. Indeed, the armour of God seems vague in its ability to protect a minister from attacks of the devil.

But the armour of God only looks weak and ineffective to you because you are not experienced in long-term spiritual warfare with the kingdom of darkness. All ministers who are lacking in this armour are doomed to destruction. Destruction is what happened to secular generals who did not take their weapons seriously. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).

All good generals ensured that their soldiers were well-equipped with specific and intentionally designed armour. The success of their campaigns depended on the equipping of each soldier with a set of war-winning equipment. You must ensure that all soldiers are well equipped for the fight that lies ahead. Notice how each of the well-known generals had specially designed equipment for their armies.

Shaka Zulu and the Iklwa

Shaka, the famous Zulu general, felt that the longer throwing spears were not helpful in winning wars. He decided to introduce a new variant of the commonly used Zulu spear. He invented a shorter spear used more for stabbing which had a larger and broader blade. This weapon was known as iklwa after the sound that was heard as it was withdrawn from its victim. Amazingly, this new weapon gave them a terrifying advantage over their opponents who were used to throwing spears but avoided hand to hand conflict. Shaka Zulu also introduced a larger heavier shield made of cowhide and taught his soldiers how to use the left side of the shield to hook and draw their enemy’s shield to the right, exposing their ribs for a fatal spear stab. This equipment greatly transformed Shaka Zulu’s soldiers into an unbeatable force in the South African realm. Indeed, if you want to win a war, you must equip your soldiers with effective and powerful weapons.

Hannibal and the Elephants

Hannibal also supplied his army with elephants and took them along with him through the icy Italian Alps. Hannibal considered his elephants so vital that he refused to leave them behind in Africa. Every good general knows what equipping an army will do for him. Hannibal terrified his enemies by charging on them with the elephants. The elephants trampled down and crushed their terrified enemies before they knew what happened.

Hitler and the Winter Clothing

The invasion of Russia by Germany during the Second World War ended up in disaster for the Germans. The German armed forces marched up to the gates of Moscow but were neither able to enter Moscow nor were they able to defeat the Soviet army. This was the first time that Adolf Hitler’s lightning wars had not worked according to plan. The Germans had started this invasion in June and expected to subdue Russia within a few weeks. Due to several miscalculations the invasion ended in disaster. One of the miscalculations by Germany was that the war would be over in six weeks.

This over-estimation of the speed with which they would conquer Russia caused the German army to be poorly equipped to fight this war. It was basically the lack of supplies, lack of food and lack of equipment that caused the defeat of the Germans.

The Germans lacked tanks that could drive through snow and mud. The Germans lacked food supplies to keep them going, The Germans lacked the chemicals that would keep their fuel from freezing. They had to light fires under the fuel tanks to melt the frozen fuel. The Germans lacked winter clothing to keep them warm and alive in the terrible Russian winter. Most of their soldiers froze to death on the field. They were not expecting to be out in the open at that time of the year.

In a dramatic way, the undefeated and seemingly invincible German army was crushed in Russia because of a lack of equipment.

The Romans and the Ballista, the Polybolos and the Scorpio

The Romans equipped their armies with catapult type weapons that were able to throw missiles at the enemy. Three common ones were the ballista, the scorpio and the polybolos which were capable of launching large missiles at the enemy. The ballista was an ancient missile-throwing weapon. It could throw large objects at a distant target. Julius Caesar was known to have used this weapon in the siege of Alesia. These projectiles could break the walls of cities and punch giant holes in the defences of the enemy.

The scorpio was a smaller catapult type weapon which could be operated by one man. This catapult used a system of torsion springs and was basically a giant crossbow capable of cutting down any enemy within a distance of a hundred metres. The polybolos was a special ballista or catapult which could fire again and again without needing to re-load (a kind of ancient machine gun). With this terrifying array of killer catapults, the Romans were a terrifying army to encounter.

Today, the absence of military equipment is showing in the church. It seems as though all is well because there are many mega churches and many pastors on television. But if you look closely at the statistics, you will find that the church is not really growing. Other religions are having a field day and expanding into territories that were once Christian strongholds. The basic reason for this is the lack of military spiritual equipment. An army where many of the soldiers do not have guns is going to be mowed down and annihilated.

Would you like to be sent out on the battlefield without a gun? Are you going to use your bare hands to fight the machine guns of your enemy?

The Effect of the Absence of Weapons

1.The absence of the helmet of salvation (Ephesians 6:17): The helmet of salvation is the consciousness of salvation in your ministry.

Today, many ministers are not conscious of salvation. Sermons are preached without salvation altar calls. Many pastors cannot preach extensively about salvation. Salvation is a little known subject in charismatic circles today. It is considered a basic topic. Someone described me as a pastor without revelation because I preach about salvation. He said, “He preaches the basics and lacks revelation.”The absence of the helmet of salvation has opened up the church to seek out other fields of endeavour. Many ministers are therefore proudly engaged in business, politics and secular education. Instead of becoming anointed pastors and evangelists, ministers of the gospel are proudly becoming chief executive officers of multi-national companies. Evil spirits have happily invaded the church because of the lack of consciousness of salvation.

2.The absence of the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14): The breastplate of righteousness is the second piece of equipment.

Righteousness is a broad defence against powerful accusations. In the ministry, you will be accused of almost every imaginable sin. The longer you stay in ministry, the more varied and extensive your accusations will be. What will you do to defend yourself against the stories and ideas that are peddled about you? Your biggest defence against wicked accusations is the fact that you have not done any of the things that you are being accused of. This is why righteousness is called the breastplate of righteousness. Righteousness is a broad defence against your wicked and hateful enemy. Without the breastplate of righteousness you are done for. All the things your enemy says about you are true and you will pay the price for your sins. Mercies upon mercies!

3.The absence of the belt of truth (Ephesians 6:14): The third and critical piece of the armour is the belt of truth.

The belt of truth holds everything in place. When truth and sincerity are set aside, things fall apart. It takes the belt of truth to engage in self-analysis, self-criticism and self-judgment. The church is failing because the foundation of truth telling is not there. I once encountered a demon which had entered a Christian, causing him to fall away into various sins. The evil spirit said plainly that he had been able to enter this individual because the belt of truth was loose. What a shock! Demons can see when truth, honesty and sincerity are missing or lacking in your life. You better tighten your belt of truth.

One minister of the gospel was invited to preach in a church. He was unwell and unable to make the commitment. He called the pastor who had invited him and asked him to lie to the congregation that he had had to travel urgently to Europe. This was an unnecessary lie because the pastor had not done anything wrong by not going for that programme. He was genuinely unwell and unable to preach. A minister of the gospel can become used to telling lies but this is a dangerous practice. Lies open up the door to Satan. Satan is the father of lies. Anytime you notice a lie or a liar, there will be evil spirits somewhere in the vicinity.

4.The absence of the soldier’s shoes (Ephesians 6:15): The fourth piece of equipment that can be dangerously absent are the shoes of the preparation of the gospel.

The preaching of the gospel involves movement, travelling and preaching about salvation.

When the church retires from travelling to preach the gospel, it opens itself up to a host of evils. Today, the church of God is weak and blind because great men of God no longer travel to conduct evangelistic crusades in the nations of the world. It is assumed that Christianity has spread everywhere. But that is not the case! Christianity has not spread everywhere.

A church on the move that preaches the gospel is different from a stagnating church which is just celebrating anniversaries, renovating its old buildings, re-carpeting and re-air conditioning its facilities whilst multitudes go to Hell! When your feet are shod with the gospel, a new life and new favour will come into the church. Expect danger in your life as you sit at home. You can expect to be struck with sudden fear as you neglect to move around and preach the Word of God.

5.The absence of the shield (Ephesians 6:16): The shield of faith is another important piece of defensive equipment.

The absence of faith is catastrophic. Without faith the church no longer pleases God. Without faith you no longer love God and you no longer obey Him.

6.The absence of the sword (Ephesians 6:17): The absence of the sixth piece of equipment - the sword of the Spirit, is suicidal, to say the least.

The sword of the spirit is the only offensive weapon we have. Most people see the Word of God as a weak and ineffectual weapon, but it is actually very powerful. It takes one out of forty million sperms to achieve a pregnancy, but it takes only one out of four doses of the Word of God to produce a result. The Word of God is a very effective seed. It is a sword that cuts away nonsense and gets to the bottom of the issues in our lives.

The Bible contains the word of God that you need. It is essential for the war. Certain books contain the word of God for your life. These books are essential equipment for you. Certain conferences will have the word of God that you need in your life and ministry. The videos of these conferences are essential equipment for your war. Certain preaching messages contain vital truths and nuggets of wisdom. The audio CDs of these messages are essential equipment for your life.

Certain TV broadcasts contain the word of God that you need. Having access to that TV station is essential equipment for your ministry. Certain radio broadcasts contain the word of God that you need. Having access to that radio station is essential equipment for you. Certain websites contain keys of wisdom, knowledge, understanding and counsel for your life and ministry.

Certain podcasts will lead you on the road to humility, love, holiness and faith. To leave any of these out of your life is like Hannibal leaving his elephants behind. To forget to take your books, your tapes and your Bibles is like a Roman soldier who leaves his ballista, scorpio and polybolos behind.

7. The absence of prayer (Ephesians 6:18): The absence of prayer is the absence of the mighty two-way weapon.

Prayer is both defensive and offensive. Prayer is a mighty defence against the onslaught of the enemy. Prayer is also the key that makes God involved in a practical way in your life. Whatever you ask God will be answered. Whatever you request will be given to you. Why not spend time in prayer! Prayer is your best two-way weapon. You can attack with it and you can defend yourself with it.

by Dag Heward-Mills

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