#thank you for your response! and for giving me an excuse to reshare this

[stinkysdiner]

@meowchela oh i know! i was just curious what other people had to say on the topic hehe

i wrote a thing on it back in……i wanna say early 2018-ish? some potential outcomes for the hell folks re: the reality swap. tbh i do like to think that the reality swap meant that they were briefly revived because i just think it’s fun! plus i feel like it just adds another layer of like. déjà vu? one minute they’re alive in their home and then the next they’re right back at their desk in hell with a pounding headache and no way to account for lost time……it’s interesting and almost tragic, and i like to think about it LMAO

also there’s no wrong answers to this question imo as there’s an infinite number of realities! honestly if nothing else this just lets me have a potential brady/jurgen scenario

all that said. here’s the old piece i wrote on the topic under the cut!

What if the reality swap in 303 affected Hell (+ others) too?

Hugh: I wonder if Hugh would’ve desired the Toys of Power? Anyway, for Hugh to get any sort of access to anything that would be shown to the masses, he would have to go through Sammun-mak. Given Sammun-mak’s abilities, he probably would be able to see Hugh’s true colors and would know immediately he was trying to hypnotize him. It’s funny; I can just see Hugh being invited to perform for Sammun-mak, the kid seeing right through his persona, executing him, and declaring magicians to be the worst thing ever. The great magician purge. All that being said, Hugh would...probably be dead in the end.

Chuckles: Here’s where it starts to become a little confusing. Chuckles was employed by Hugh Bliss as an agent to help hypnotize the general public into becoming Prismatologists (through the Toy Mafia and the U.S. government). I would say Chuckles himself would still exist, however depending on just how far Hugh got in this reality, he potentially would’ve never been employed by Hugh and therefore would’ve lived. If he was in cahoots with Hugh, though, he would be executed as an accomplice, I would think. This is implying Hugh hired Chuckles before the events of the game and before Brady stole the Eye-bo goggles.

Brady: Going in a more chronological direction, if Hugh got executed by Sammun-mak before any of his plans got set into motion, Brady would’ve never been able to steal the Eye-bo goggles and control the Poppers. His plans would never see the light of day, and he would probably still be living, just extra bitter.

Jurgen: In 303, a moleman says that Sammun-mak rewrote reality so he “always possessed the Devil’s Toybox.” That implies (to me) two possible options: 1) Jurgen never tried to steal the Toybox in the first place. He was just some German archaeologist in the early 1800s and died in the 1800s. 2) Jurgen DID try and steal it at some point and was ultimately executed in the process.

Shambling Corporate Presence: SCP’s whole deal was literally just a shipping mix-up and it decided to have a little fun with that (as in, possess Santa/elves and fuck shit up). Kinda begs the question: Is Santa still relevant in this timeline?

Soda Poppers: It’s not exactly explained WHAT the Soda Poppers actually are (I’m assuming they’re literal demons) so I wonder how they would stack against Sammun-mak’s abilities. The Poppers became more powerful with each atrocity they acted upon in the world until they were high enough in the ranks to become rulers of Hell. I don’t think Sammun-mak would LET them get as far as they did, so they’re still just average demons at the end of the day. Maybe they’re trying to work their way up through Hell directly. Who knows. So, still alive, technically, but not as powerful as they are at the end of season two.

Satan: I wonder if Hell still runs the same way? Is the “prerequisite” still encountering Sam and Max and being killed by them? Or, if Sammun-mak is the absolute, are you sent to Hell for defying him? Does Satan worship Sammun-mak? These are really big questions that affect who is and isn’t in Hell. Potentially just Hugh and Chuckles, or those two plus Jurgen.

BONUS:

Sybil: In 303, the Boscoes get mentioned as follows: “Bosco never existed, little buddy. Neither did Momma Bosco.” which leads me to believe that Sybil may have met the same fate? She plays a similar role to those two as side characters, not major protagonists or villains. It all gets me wondering, though, what if NONE of these people existed in the altered timeline??

Abe: It is implied that Abe had to exist in this reality, as Max is still president. Abe’s whole villain plot was as a weapon to mobilize Prismatology. Abe’s role all circles back to what Hugh does. If Hugh never got that far into his plans, Abe would never have been used and sat as the legitimate Lincoln Memorial (until Sammun-mak knocked it down, I presume). It begs the question, though, just how did Max become president? It’s stated in 303 there is no power with the title, so obviously Max becoming president could not have been that big of a deal.

#replies #thank you for your response! and for giving me an excuse to reshare this #hope it’s cool to add it onto this haha

[solatgif]

THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY: WEEKEND ROUNDUP FOR AUGUST 23, 2019

Last week we introduced two new SOLA editorial board members. Tim St. John and Moses Y. Lee will be contributing articles and curating content for our website. Read more about them and view some of their work in our announcement.

Three of our articles have appeared across the Internet over the week. The Gospel Coalition reshared and featured in their newsletter The Temptations of Using Your "Calling" as an Excuseby Kevin Yi. Youth-worker resource Rooted linked to two of our articles which are now in their top 10. They are The Divide Between the Kid and Adult Tables  by Daniel Greenhouse Kim and Gen Z: Searching For Treasure in a Scattered World by Jiwon J. Lee.

Our monthly newsletter is a great way to stay connected with SOLA. If you missed this month’s edition, subscribe today so you get our next installment scheduled for the last Friday in September. And if you have any links or recommendations to share, please tweet me @musicgoon or email me at [email protected].

LINK ROUNDUP

1. Doug Bock Clark: The American Missionary and the Uncontacted Tribe

This article appeared at GQ.com. “When a 26-year-old American missionary set out for a lush island in the Indian Ocean last year, it was with one objective in mind: to convert the uncontacted Sentinelese tribe, who had lived for centuries in isolation, free from modern technology, disease, and religion. John Chau's mission had ambitions for a great awakening, but what awaited instead was tragedy.”

2. Tim Challies: The Power Over Christian Publishing We’ve Given To Amazon

From one of the pioneers of Christian blogging comes a warning for those of us who love to read and write.

3. Kimberly Yan: A Love Letter To My American Father’s Chinese Accent

Writer Kimberly Yan tweets, “Asian America has had such a complex relationship with the accents of our loved ones because the world makes us feel as though every hint of the past chips away at our patriotism. That isn't so. These are just some spoken words I didn't have.”

4. Chase Replogle: The Pastor as Writer

SOLA serves as a digital platform for evangelical leaders, writers, speakers, and bloggers who share the same values of faith to provide Gospel-centered resources. In this article, Chase Replogle shares “six reasons to sharpen your writing skills.”

5. Philippe Thao: Before "Crazy Rich Asians," YouTubers Paved the Way for Better Asian Representation

“YouTube was filled with Asian-American creators telling their stories long before Hollywood became invested.”

WEEKEND RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Matt Boswell and Matt Papa: His Mercy Is More

13 hymns for the church including my favorites His Mercy Is More, Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery, Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor, and Lord From Sorrows Deep I Call.

2. 9Marks Journal: The Heart of the Gospel - Penal Substitutionary Atonement

The August issue of the 9Marks Journal featuring articles by J. I. Packer, Mark Dever, Kevin DeYoung, Harry Fujiwara, Conrad Mbewe, and more.

3. 2019 Normal Pastor Conference: Sermon Audio

“This isn’t about big churches or small churches or big platforms or small platforms. Whatever your ministry context or scale, The Normal Pastor is for any minister who is a little more convinced each day that he needs a lot more gospel and a lot less of himself.”

FROM SOLA

1. James H. Lee: Maybe It’s Not Just About Community: Trinitarian Reasons for Worshiping Faithfully on Sundays

“Community can be found anywhere; it doesn’t have to be at a church. Secular communities can seem more attractive because people mistakenly translate loose morality into loving inclusivity. If we base our Sunday worshiping on the community we worship with, then a relational issue with another person will drive us away from worshiping relationship with our God. As worship is what we give to God to show His worth and not ours, it seems insensible to show up to worship if the community is good for me, or vice versa. If community should not be the primary reason for worshipping faithfully on Sundays, then what should be?”

2. Harold Lee and David Nam: The Minefield of Ministry - A Conversation with Harold Kim in Response to Joshua Harris

David interviewed Pastor Harold to explore some of the broader issues raised by Harris’ life and actions. The aim of this interview was not to dissect Harris’s announcement or to respond directly to Harris’s personal situation. Instead, they talked about how Christians should view influential leaders and how being a pastor can be a difficult, lonely journey.

3. John Jae Lee: Holding Onto What is True

“My college pastor reached out to me and told me to hold onto what is true. At first, I was incredulous. The advice was too simple. At the time, I had already been struggling with the possible existence of absolute truth. So then how could truth exist in this world if it seems detached from all the violence and horrendous things happening around me?”

4. Moses Y. Lee: 7 Lies Christians in College Tell Themselves

“I don’t know when or how it happened, but I picked up many lies about the Christian faith as a college student, lies that took years to recognize and repent of. Though it’s been almost a decade since I graduated, I’ve noticed many Christians in college today tend to believe these same lies.”

5. SOLA Editorial Board: Introducing Two New SOLA Editorial Board Members

We are pleased to announce two new members to our SOLA Editorial Board. Tim St. John and Moses Y. Lee will be contributing articles and curating content for our website.

Board members write, edit, and procure content for the website to empower Christians, and especially Asian American Christians. All of our board members believe that God has called them to work together in shaping the gospel voice for and of the emerging Asian American generation.

6. Thank God It’s Friday: Weekend Roundup

In case you missed it, here are some headlines from last week: How the Korean Pentecost Can Guide Revival Today, Why Church Interns Are More Valuable Than You Think, Bonhoeffer Convinced Me to Abandon My Dream, and Faithfulness in Writing.