Hey, all! As promised, before we get to the posts of the week, I will give the answers to last week’s two truths and a lie . :)   State...

Hey, all! As promised, before we get to the posts of the week, I will give the answers to last week’s two truths and a lie. :)  

Statement 1: Sorry, Keturah, lol, but this one’s the lie. I have never been into Owl City, although I do like his song with Britt Nicole, You’re Not Alone and his In Christ Alone cover. Apart from those, not really a fan.

Obviously, this means the last two are true: I am highly addicted Studio C (and they just released a Hamilton cover, which only made the addiction worse), and I do love jewelry but for some reason almost never wear it. I really don’t know why. I guess I just don’t think to most of the time.

ON TO THE POSTS!

Interview with Vanmoriel (Starbloods) by Victoria Howell. In which Victoria interviews her terrifying star villain, Vanmoriel. This lady is chilling... and I want to read her story.

Some Progress Is Always Better Than No Progress by Amy Henry. This isn’t a blog I frequent, but it was shared on what of the groups I’m in, so I decided to go ahead and read it. I loved this post. Especially since I am a big picture thinker, so sometimes it’s hard for me to see the small progresses--in anything. But those small pixels arewhat make up the big picture, and we’d be remiss to forget them.

Beauty by Vanessa. A friend of mine wrote this blog post about the meaning of beauty. Warning for language, but I think what she has to say is really important. :)

Writing Lessons From Movies: The Incredibles, also by Victoria Howell. I LOVE THE INCREDIBLES SO MUCH. And of course her tips are brilliant, as always. ;) Remember, guys, no capes. ;)  

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That’s it for this week! Have you ever interviewed your villain? How do you define beauty, do you know? Can’t wait to hear your thoughts, and I will see you in the comment section! :D

Hey all! So I'm popping in with a quick Golden Gang prompt before we get to the posts. This round, we have... Prompt 5: Two Truths A...

Hey all! So I'm popping in with a quick Golden Gang prompt before we get to the posts. This round, we have...

Prompt 5: Two Truths And A Lie

Hehe, this should be fun! I genuinely have no idea how good these are or how many of these I’ve talked about throughout the blogosphere, so they might be obvious and they might not be. I really don't know.

Statement 1: Owl City is one of my favorite bands.

Statement 2: I am highly addicted to Studio C.

Statement 3: I love jewelry but almost never wear it.

Comment away your guesses and I'll reveal the answers in POTW next week! But first, check out these awesome posts from the past few weeks around the blogosphere. :)

Shut Up and Listen: A Guide on How to be a Better Person by Ryder Eclipse. As you might guess from the title, there is some burning sass in this post, lol. But it’s also a really great reminder to actually listen to what other people have to say, particularly in today’s online world.

NaNoWriMo Prep # 3 // A Cautionary Tale by Liz. So you’re all in the thick of NaNoWriMo now. Read it anyway. It’s good for you, I promise.

Elect a Character by Jessi. This post was awesome and so much fun! I want to make it a tradition every election year.

What You Don’t See by Skye. A lovely post about the internet imperfections we don’t always get to see and so often forget exist.

Understanding Mental Illness: My Journey with Effie Trinket by Victoria Grace Howell. Everything about this post = so good, and particularly relatable for me, because I had a similar a couple of years ago. Sometimes it takes a while for us to open our eyes to the pain of others, and it’s never fun realizing what they’re truly going through, especially when you realize it this way, but it is a powerful thing when we lay aside those misinformed opinions and are able to make our corner of the world a little better.

Fate of Empires: History is About Changing, Not Inspiration by Keturah. This post was so interesting. Kinda made me nervous, since the Age of Decadence sounded frighteningly familiar... But seriously this is a great, mentally stimulating post about the state of nations and also love.

To Do NaNoWriMo or Not To Do NaNoWriMo by Diana. Again, I know you’re more than halfway through, but this is a great post. NaNo is AWESOME for those who can do it, but for those of us who had to drop out because we just didn’t have the time, it’s a nice reminder that we don’t have to match the 50,000 but can simply go at the pace that works best for us and our stories. :)

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And that is it for this week! How are you doing in NaNo or whatever manuscript you’re working on? Which character would you elect for president? Can’t wait to hear from you all, and I will see you in the comment section! :D

Hey, guys! So before we get into today’s post, I want to offer a quick apology for disappearing the past two weeks. :p Life basically sprun...

Hey, guys! So before we get into today’s post, I want to offer a quick apology for disappearing the past two weeks. :p Life basically sprung up out of nowhere after my Tony Stark analysis and I just didn’t have the time to get posts up here.

But I'm back now! So to the point of this post, I realized recently that I have not shared music in months and that is something that needs to be immediately rectified. So I’m going to share about 10 video today to make up for the absence of song on Summer Snowflakes.

While I’ve got quite a range of music down there, the first few are of the Christian, encouragement variety, because I’ve found those to be a necessary soul-lift these past few weeks, with all of the fear and dissension shooting around social media. You all know what I’m talking about and I’d appreciate it if no one commented anything about the election; but if you’re one of those people who didn’t feel relief when the results were announced, then the first few songs are for you. Just some reminders that as Christians the focus shouldn’t be on ourselves or our fears, but on Jesus, the One who is strong enough to conquer every fear (from fear of the loss of our religious freedoms to the fear of what will happen next in our nation), holds us throughout every storm, no matter how loud and genuinely terrifying it may be, and who remains on the throne for always no matter who has temporary occupation of the White House. :)

More Than You Think I Am by Danny Gokey

I heard this one on the radio a bunch of times, but never realized how much I loved it until I needed it. When you take the time to meditate on these words and what they actually mean about our God, the whole thing just fills you up from the inside.

After You by Britt Nicole

This is a an incredible worship song that again just brings the focus back to God. We’re not after the world, we’re after Him, and there is nothing sweeter than His love. If you're feeling stressed, just breathe, think about what it means that the God of the Universe--the one who painted every star and hung the sun in the midday sky--that God is personally interested in your life. Then just rest in that love for a moment. :)

K-Love Fan Awards: 2015 Mashup by Anthem Lights

I... just... LOVE everything about this mashup. Each of these songs is great on their own, but they’re absolutely magnificent combined with each other and these boys’ voices. It’s a gorgeous anthem, and I want that ending to become my life’s motto.

Empty My Hands by Tenth Avenue North

This of course isn’t to say that we should give up, not do anything when we can do something, and just throw it all at the throne with a “Welp, I guess God’ll take care of it!” Instead I see this as a reminder when I am overwhelmed and my mind does feel like a building burning down that He is the refuge to run to, keeping me safe from the outside world and often myself.

Honest by TFK

Something in me just relates really hard to this song and I’m not even sure why, but it does. There is just so much story in it, plus the melody is beautiful.

Black Tattoo by Fm Static

Ah, Black Tattoo. It makes me feel powerful honestly, like even if you have fallen down or been hurt or broken before, you can still get back up, and be you, and make something amazing of all you have left.

Also, I think it would be a great song for a character, just saying.

Can You Hold Me by NF feat. Britt Nicole

So the real reason I’m addicted to this song right now is this Anakin/Padme video. Watch it. I’ll wait.

*watches a hundred times. Finally stops inwardly keening* Anyways, the song itself is pretty awesome (I actually did like it before I watched the video; I just became addicted after the video), plus both of these artists are super talented.

Adrenaline by TFK

Because sometimes you just need someone to rap/scream loudly in your ears to get that inspiration flowing.

The Resistance by Skillet

Basically the same thing here, only not rapping just screaming/singing. It’s perfect when I want to RISE UP and headbang over something, and it makes me feel really epic.

Start Over by Flame feat. NF

Because I love me some Christian rap (well, some of it). This is one of my all-time favorites because of its amazing and essential message.

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So there’s a small sampling of what I’ve been listening to lately! What’s been on your playlist? How’re you doing in NaNo? (I'm actually not doing it for the first time in five years, but good luck to everyone who is!) Have a song that matches your story? Can’t wait to hear from you all, and I will see you in the comment section!

So, yes. It has been a while since Civil War came out, lol. But I wanted to watch it a second time before I officially posted my thoughts ...

So, yes. It has been a while since Civil War came out, lol. But I wanted to watch it a second time before I officially posted my thoughts and I didn't get a chance to do that until this past weekend. Interestingly enough, my opinions actually didn't change from my original analysis (long story short: I'm mostly Team Cap, but I probably would've acted more like Black Widow, because a compromise was needed); in fact, rewatching it only reinforced my opinions on the Accords... as well as opening my eyes to another facet of the movie that I'd never taken very long to consider.

That facet is what we're going to talk about today: the infamous, controversial, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, Tony Stark.

source

Frankly, I've never liked him. I always thought he was arrogant, annoying, and only half as funny as he thought he was. He's been my least favorite Avenger since the Avengers became a thing, but, while that hasn't necessarily changed, I did feel for him more in this movie than any other. Not because I agree with him more—in fact, I think almost every choice he made in this movie was 110% wrong—but because I could understand why he made those choices.

In previous movies, all I could see of Iron Man was his arrogance. I mean, yeah, he had a smidgen of character and a little bit of backstory, but he still mostly felt like this pompous rich kid in a big suit of armor who thought he could do it better than everybody else. He didn't have powers or skill or true virtue, he just made this suit (which I guess was exceptional) and decided to become a superhero (as well as tell the entire world that he was). By my estimation, he had a few genuinely heroic moments per movie, but apart from them, he was irritating, cavalier, and painfully conceited. I understood that all that haughtiness probably hid some deep insecurity, but frankly, I did not care because he made me mad. Also, he created Ultron. And Ultron caused major problems for my Sass Master. I could see a hint of something deeper, especially after his encounter with Scarlet Witch in the second Avengers, but overall, let's just say, I was pretty happy when he decided to leave at the end of Age of Ultron.

But then he came back in Civil War, and I could see how much he was hurting.

I never saw that before. How deeply riddled he was with guilt and fear and pain. Before Civil War, to me, his actions only reflected a heart full of arrogance; in this movie, they clearly reflected a heart full of suffering. I honestly believe that he—along with almost every other person in this movie—was doing the thing that he honestly believed to be right. I think he was wrong in a lot of ways, but only because he had made the oh-so-easy mistake of confusing regret with conviction. Because of the events of the previous movies, the way his mind had been fractured by his repeatedly broken heart, his reasoning had been distorted so that he believed he was doing the right thing, the only thing, to keep the Avengers—what remained of his family—together. He confused his self-condemnation over all that had gone wrong with the confidence that he was for once in the moral right, instead of making the wrong decisions time and time again, decisions he felt had led to all the bad he saw around him. He thought he'd finally got it right this time, so yes, he stuck to his guns against the opposition of a close friend, fighting for what he thought he believed in up until the very end (literally, up until the end, considering what went down in those final scenes and how he basically lost sight of everything).

When I think of it that way, a part of me admires him for standing his ground. I think it was the wrong ground to stand on, because nothing about the Accords would actually fix the real problem: the fact that the worlds are riddled with evil, and sometimes bad things happen to good people, and that's the fault of the bad people not the good. But he had come to a point where he truly believed that the Accords would begin to fix those things, that innocent people would finally stop dying on his watch, that he was finally making a choice that would actually come out right in the end.

I think he was tired of seeing people die, watching his world be ripped apart, and standing useless in the ruins.

So he tried to fix it. And while I normally don't give an A for effort, the way this movie portrayed his brokenness... well, I still won't give the A and I still don't love him (I really don't), but my heart goes out to him. Instead of getting this swelling feeling of animosity every time his name is mentioned, I want him to find some way to find peace in spite of all that he's done and all that has been done to him. I want him to find a way to move past his pain and actually be the hero that, for some reason, I think Cap still believes he can be. The hero that Tony himself thought he was, but never quite became.

I want him to make a comeback, to change, to grow, to heal. I want him to realize his mistakes and bring the Avengers back together, as a powerful, principled, good team fighting against the evils both in and out of this world.

United. As they should be.

So what did you think of Captain America: Civil War? Which character did you find the most interesting? (I actually don't know if Iron Man is the most interesting to me, because I also think Wanda, Bucky, and Black Panther would be really cool to examine). Whose team would you have chosen? Can't wait to hear from you all, and I will see you in the comment section!