#(( God did not write the bible I don't make the rules ))

[nicoliine]

The night Lucifer became your god.

☆彡 Your god had abandoned you; the devil stayed by your side.

Whose your devotion is with?

☆ Disclaimer: I'm an atheist myself but was raised Catholic, so I understand that some people may find this disrespectful. Please, if you find the religion subject as a taboo to write about, don't continue reading.

☆ G/N Reader—no pronouns or y/n used.

☆ English isn't my first language and I wrote this drunk, so if there is any mistake please excuse me <3

Religion as a metaphor for love 🛐

 

—"Eli, Eli, lema sabachtani?" Matthäus 27:46.—

In Lucifer's eyes, you were an angel.

There were few things that he considered pure in hell. His daughter, the love he once had for his wife, and the joy he felt when his last rubber duck wasn't a fiasco.

 

You, however, were the purest thing that ever stepped on hell.

 

It made him sick. It was like heaven had taken pity on him and decided to send you to bring love and comfort to his shattered soul.

 

The first time he ever stepped on your room, he almost thought you two weren't in hell, but in a church, your room resembles a presbytery. He was met by a big cross on the wall in front of him and a lot of candles around; the final straw was a bible on the nightstand.

 

Where did you even get that?

It was creepy.

It gave him chills; surely he was uncomfortable at first; he hated sacred places; it made him feel dizzy. But the way you talked to him and how you looked at him in the eyes made him feel as if he were in heaven again.

Except that both of you were in hell.

You were in hell. With him.

Your looks weren't any different; you often had a kind smile on your face. When someone made a gross comment, he never failed to see you putting your hands together in a praying motion. He got a glimpse of your scarred knees one time, and a thought came to his mind: you on your knees, praying to God countless nights instead of going to parties.

 

He felt jealous; oh, to be adored in that way, how would it feel?

 

And you were so sweet; you always knew what to say and how to react. Even when he felt like getting back into his depression hole, kind words came out of your lips as you held him.

He wanted you; he never, in thousands of years in hell, ever prayed to God, but he would do it for you to be his.

 

  ☆◦ •◦☆

 

If you are an angel, then how did you end up here? He often wondered: surely God wouldn't be so cruel as to send you to hell, right?

 

A scoff left his lips; of course he would.

 

It was dark outside, and the pouring rain could be heard from outside your room. In the comfort of your room, he couldn't help but ask. You just finished your prayer, an old but well-conserved rosary on your hands.

You don't really know what to say.

 

"I just guess that I deserved it."

 

Hearing you say that broke him, how could you say that you deserved to be down there? How could you be so cool about it? You even laughed it off. He didn't deserve to have you there; please don't be so mean to you.

You tried to change the subject almost immediately; you don't want to go on about the many nights that you stayed awake calling for your god to take you out of there, just to hear you. You think that Lucifer wouldn't like to hear you say that you don't want to be there.

 

Oh god, my god, why did he forsaken you?

 

Truth be told, you often questioned it yourself; you didn't want to. Guess that's why you're down there; you asked so many questions? how you spent your whole life following his rules, praying until your knees bled, and giving all your life to him, just to be thrown into hell forever.

 

It wasn't your fault.

You were so young and so naive.

Please, how can you leave me here?

How could you let me down even when you said you loved me?

 

  ☆◦ •◦☆

 

When you woke up in hell, you felt your heart shatter. Somehow,  you managed to make it to the Heaven Embassy, looking at the building and hoping for them to come back for you, you stayed there for days. But it never happened.

It should be a mistake. You couldn't have failed; what had you done wrong?

 

When you arrived at the hotel, you wanted to cry. Everything Charlie told you would take for you to be redeemed has been everything you did in life.

Then why are you there?

 

Every passing day, your chest hurts a little more. It was like pieces of your soul were falling apart.

 

"I feel guilty, Lucifer; I know I shouldn't question his actions, that I would never understand," you said as your eyes were fixated on the big cross on your wall, "but he abandoned me; he doesn't love me anymore. I highly doubt he ever did."

 

You later felt guilty for breaking the rosary in your hand. Lucifer, however, felt excited about it.

 

  ☆◦ •◦☆

 

It hurts to see you like this, it made Lucifer feel so bad.

I mean, he understands how you are feeling; he used to have so many dreams that were taken away from him the moment he talked to his creator. He just wanted to be heard.

But he wasn't heard.

He remembers how it happened—the court spat on his face in his trial. They didn't even let him talk. He remembers how he felt the air leaving his lungs, so humiliated and despised by his father. He grabbed a fist of his shirt while they brought his sentence. His chest hurts a lot. He looked at his father, asking for forgiveness that he was never granted.

So he understood your pain; he felt your pain as his while you looked so hurt. You two weren't so different.

Except you were, you are a pure soul who did everything right, no questions asked ever. It makes his blood boil.

 

How could God treat you like this while Lucifer could break hell apart just for you to be on your knees for him?

He wanted to bring you comfort, but what does one say in a moment like this? What could he say that could give your heart rest?

 

You felt guilty; you felt remorse, wrath, pain, sadness—you didn't know what to think or how to react. You felt like your own father had abandoned you, leaving a hollow in your soul that couldn't be filled.

 

Everything left was for you to wait.

Wait to find something else to live for.

Something to pray for.

Someone to believe.

 

"If you were mine, I would never abandon you." Lucifer felt no remorse to say that; he wasn't taking advantage of your state. He just was showing you the right way, by his side you would never feel neglected or hurt. This is how it must have been since the beginning; if you had given him your heart since the beginning, you wouldn't have felt so much pain.

 

He would take care of you forever.

 

To have you on your knees before him was strange. He dreamed about this exact moment for so long, but he never thought it could really happen.

But it was happening.

You were there, with so much devotion in your eyes that it was impossible to look away.

He could see in your eyes that you would do everything he asked for.

How could God let you go when you were so devoted?

 

He wouldn't let you go.

Never.

You are his now.

You are his loyal believer; he's your god.

 

Like it always was supposed to be.

 

About where the inspiration for this came from:

There's a Mary statue in Spain that I absolutely loved the work of the sculptor, it's called: "María Santísima de la Quinta Angustia." —love the name!Her hurt face gave me chills and I thought about this writing. Please take a look at her, she looks like a doll! ✨

 

Likes and reblogs are appreciated. 💞

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #lucifer morningstar x reader #lucifer x reader #nicolines

[hellenicrisis]

Does Hellenism have a Holy Book? Or like a Bool with Rules,Customs,Offerings etc?? Kinda like a Bible :>

Hey there, sunshine! ☀️

Hellenic paganism doesn't have one single piece of holy scripture like Abrahamic religions do. Our texts are a little more scattered. We have the Homeric Hymns and the Orphic Hymns, each are a collection of hymns and prayers to the gods. There is also Hesiod's Theogony, an epic 1000+ line poem that details the genealogies of the gods, and also Hesiod's Works and Days, which is more on the subject of morality and farming, but includes good lessons on how to interact with the gods.

You can buy these online in the forms of physical books, but there should also be free pdf versions of them out there, as well as websites that have the entire collection of hymns written out.

As for a text that gives instructions regarding customs and offerings, there isn't one set, singular text that I know of. We learn from historical and archaeological research, from writings like those listed above, and from each other. There are modern books on Hellenic paganism and its practices written by scholars that you could look for. Some are expensive though, and if you do enough digging on the internet yourself, you should be able to come up with some information.

I could teach you a couple basics right now.

1. Be clean when praying

There is a line in Hesiod's Works and Days that reads, "Never pour a libation of sparkling wine to Zeus after dawn with unwashen hands, nor to others of the deathless gods."

This line refers to the custom of washing our hands before giving offerings or libations to the gods. There is a water we make, I think with burnt herbs in it, called khernips that is used to clean our hands. You don't have to use it though (I don't) and simply washing your hands normally works just as well. I believe it also symbolises being generally clean. Being ready for your day and in a good state when presenting yourself to the gods is important, I think.

2. How to pray

Here is a post I found about how to pray in Hellenic paganism. I found it very helpful and I've been pagan for years now, so I think it could help you. (Link)

Also a note, we have a version of "amen" that can be said at the end of prayers, if that sense of closing off makes prayer easier for you. I know it did for me. The word is "khaire", and as I understand it, it means "blessings" or "good wishes". You can say it to someone or to close a prayer.

EDIT: "Khaire" or "khairete" can be used. They both mean "hail" or "farewell" or "blessings". "Khaire" is to address one, and "khairete" is to address a group.

3. Ouranic and chthonic

Quick run down on ouranic and chthonic. Ouranic means celestial, and it is how we refer to gods who live on the surface and in Olympus. These include Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Aphrodite, etc. Chthonic means underground, and it is used to refer to gods who live in the Underworld. These are Hades, Persephone (half the year at least), and Thanatos.

In Ancient times, offerings to ouranic deities were either libations poured to them in a bowl or cup or the smoke of burning food. It is believed that the essence of the food would be carried up to the gods through the smoke. Looking at this in modern day, incense smoke is an excellent offering and we can leave food offerings and libations out on the altar along with a lit candle.

Offerings to chthonic deities usually went in the ground, so that it may be absorbed through the earth and reach the gods in the Underworld that way. Usually libations were poured out on the ground and food offerings buried in a dug hole. If you have a garden or pot plants and your offerings are safe for them then the practice can be replicated that way. I've also seen people use boxes on the altar, putting offerings inside and closing it, symbolising burying it.

Or you can simply treat chthonic deities the same as ouranic deities when giving offerings. Whatever works best for you, but this is what was done traditionally.

4. Read the myths

Read the myths of the gods you wish to worship. You learn a lot and can come to your own conclusions about your worship by learning about their stories and roles in society.

This may all seem like a lot now, and not having one singular piece of decisive scripture can be challenging if you're used to having one, but it does get easier. You'll settle and find your feet. Knowing these things will become second nature, and you will build your own practice based on them. No one's worship looks the same, especially with paganism, and that's as it should be.

Thank you so much for asking, sunshine! So sorry for the long response, but I figured I'd rather leave you with some starting points and things to investigate. Please feel free to send another ask or dm me in future if you have any more questions.

Khaire! ☀️

#answered asks #asks #pagan #hellenic pagan #paganism #hellenic paganism #helpol #hellenic polytheism #hellenic polythiest #polytheism #polytheist

[ao3cassandraic]

Angels, demons, language, and culture: part 3

(Part 1 and Part 2 for those interested.)

"I play an ineffable game of my own devising. For everyone else, it’s like playing poker in a pitch dark room with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a dealer who won’t tell you the rules and who smiles all the time." --God, Good Omens

This is just. Creepy and awful and so, so wrong for a quasi-omnipotent being. Ugh. Good Omens!God is an abject horror.

But if you're one of the poker players at that table, what do you do? You try to figure out the rules and mark the cards, naturally. Especially if leaving the table only happens via swan dives into burning sulphur, or getting kicked out of the only home you've known into a hostile desert with lions in it. While pregnant, yet.

So, I did a Bat Mitzvah back in the day, as it happens, and my Torah portion was from Deuteronomy. Which is, as I am hardly the first to notice, chockablock full of rules. Good Omens definitely leveraged (rather than inventing) the idea of trying to figure out Her rules and codify them in writing! Note, however, that the Bible per Word of Gaiman is a human thing. Codifying divine rules? Therefore also a human thing, minus I suppose the Ten Commandments -- though I can certainly envision a Good Omens in which Moses was, um, not exactly telling the truth about the source of the tablets; we only really have his word for it.

Angels and demons, who have a low opinion of literacy and just generally don't seem to be very good at it, never did this. We see that Aziraphale, Before the Beginning, has intuitively figured a few rules out: don't question Her, don't comment on (much less critique) Her decisions or designs, don't ever ever piss Her off. The Starmaker hasn't gotten this far, tragically, and our Crowley remains confused throughout the show as to what rule he can possibly have broken that earned him the identity-changing torture She inflicted on him.

Fundamentally, Crowley doesn't want to -- perhaps can't -- believe that She is capricious and cruel. He thinks there are rules, "don't test to destruction" being a major one. We know he's wrong, however. She straight-up told us so, in the quote at the top of this post! Aziraphale, too, knows, though he buries this knowledge as deep under the words "ineffable" and "Great Plan" (there is no Great Plan, She told us so, it's all a game to Her) as he possibly can -- I think as a coping mechanism -- and does his best to avoid drawing Her attention again after the Sword Incident.

But we see angelic and demonic confusion about the rules of Her game again and again. It's at the root of Aziraphale's successful Great Plan/Ineffable Plan hairsplitting at the airbase. It's why Aziraphale has to (with Muriel's help) dig through the contract for Job, and why Gabriel and Michael can't even be arsed to, even revising Job's reward on the fly. They're guessing! They're guessing about the rules based on what they've seen of Her caprices! She likes sevens!

It's how Crowley rules-lawyers the demons into letting the Whickber Street tradespeople go. If there are actual rules of Heaven-Hell engagement -- and there may not be! Crowley's pulled plausible-sounding lies out of his arse before! -- I'll bet you anything you like practically nobody in Heaven or Hell has actually read them. (My top picks for rules-of-engagement authors, if those rules actually do exist, would be Satan and the Metatron.)

And it's why Uriel has to ask the Metatron, as unsure and afraid as Uriel has ever looked in the entire series, whether the remaining archangels have done something wrong. The Metatron's response refuses to clarify what's at issue -- he, like Her, won't tell anybody the rules. If I'm feeling extremely cynical, I think She and he refuse to explain the rules because they're more powerful if there's no rulebook that rank-and-file angels can use to contest them with.

It makes me so sad. The legions of Heaven would assuredly have followed Her rules, if they only knew what those rules were! Fanart of the just-fallen Starmaker routinely breaks my susceptible heart, not least because the commonest expressions on his face are agony, sorrow -- and confusion. It's just all so damn unfair.

Same with Job, and Peter Davison sells it beautifully. Poor Job assumes he must have broken Her rules somehow, and blames himself for not even knowing how. That's totally on Her, though! If Her rules aren't clear enough for righteous Job to be able to trust his own righteousness under a horrible test, that's Her fault, not his!

The closest that Heaven and Hell -- and humanity, for that matter -- have to Her rules is prophecy. I probably don't need to spill many pixels on how vague and confusing prophecy is, how often it's counterfeited, and how pointless it is to try to live your life by (or trying to avoid) true prophecies; prophecies will invariably gotcha you. Good Omens is hardly the first work of literature to point this out. (Try the story of Oedipus. That's a good one. Yeesh. Or, if we want to be all Biblical about it, Moses again.) Agnes Nutter may well be the only genuinely well-meaning prophet in the entire history of prophets! Even so, her book is incredibly bewildering! Generations of her descendants try to figure it out, and mostly they fail -- look at the annotations we see on Anathema's index cards.

So when @thundercrackfic asks me what Aziraphale gets out of books, my first (though not only) answer is "rules for living." Not just rules for living as safely as possible around Her, though -- rules for living among humans, too. I headcanon (and posited in "Endgame") that Aziraphale has been collecting human etiquette manuals as long as humans have been writing etiquette manuals. Codified rules, like the ones in Deuteronomy, likely help him feel more secure.

I think this is also why Muriel characterizes books as portable people. Muriel is trying their sweet adorable best to figure out the Earth rules on the fly, since nobody Upstairs told them (or indeed knows, the Metatron aside) what those rules are. They do have Aziraphale to help them along -- Aziraphale is so much better than Upstairs! he doesn't condescend or insult, he just gently instructs -- but Aziraphale can't teach full-time, he has other things on his plate. So Muriel the scrivener, one of the few angels who would have a clue about literacy due to the nature of their job, gravitates to books and discovers that they too can be gentle and compassionate teachers.

The final question outstanding is how well Aziraphale understands and assimilates human books, especially fiction, especially especially non-literal figures of speech. It's an excellent and complicated question, and I don't think I have The Answer to it, but I'll see what I can do.

#good omens #good omens meta #rules rules rules #good omens god is a horror #aziraphale #crowley #the starmaker #angel muriel

[niconebula]

Mythology and History of the Collector

Part III of a series on why I think the Collector is an Angel from the third dimension of the TOH universe (mostly proven by the time of this installment) + theorization on the mythology and where the show is going for the little guy himself.

A - Existence of the Third Stars Dimension -> 2A - Why it is Heaven-like and the Collector an Angel B - History of the Demon Realm & Greek Mythology C - Who is the Collector (as a Character)?

A: Existence of 'The Stars' Dimension

When I began writing this post we didn't even have a concrete name for this and I referred to it as The Celestials. King's Tide briefly referenced the Collector being "a Child of The Stars", but until Thanks To Them it was uncertain if this was a place name or descriptor. I don't need to do much work to prove the existence of The Stars much more, but here's another reference of it in the show:

Plus an exshaustive amount of visual references to it mentioned in a similar post by Sabertoothwalrus. Very good reading on that post that accompanies this one well so do check it out.

Then we have my favourite analysis method of "find the sources of inspiration for the show and pull from there" which was the original basis of this theory. John Bailey Owens (the head writer) for the show posted this image on Twitter for promotion of King's Tide:

There is an easter-egg at the bottom of it which shows this painting in particular from Hieronymous Bosch - "The Garden of Earthy Delights". Eden, Earth, and Hell are depicted here - Hell especially beign cited as inspiration for the Demon Realm by Dana. It's no stretch to say that out of the two dimensions we currently know of, the Human World clearly resembles Earth and the Demon Realm is Hell. The original pitch for the show was a human girl (Luz) getting trapped inside of literal Hell. With the amount of religious influence in the show and the pre-existing dimensions, it makes sense logically and artistically for The Stars to be 'Heaven'.

I'm not even going to go into it here for sake of some levity, but I completely believe this is where magic and glyphs originated too. From the constellations in the Stars.

You should also keep in mind that the promotional art is literally depicting the Collector as a biblically accurate angel. Other evidence? Our lovely Xeno Robinsion (Hunter’s VA and king of accidentally leaking information) talking about TOH and referring to The Stars as being Heaven.

B: History of The Demon Realm and the TOH Gods

First of all - we need to be on the same page here that whatever the Collector is, and the Titans, are both (and so far the only known) actual gods. On top of the powerscaling of them both, these kids are the only two characters with distinct yellow and red eyes - which seems to be an art direction choice to indicate their status, and perhaps also a connection.

As Heaven existed before Earth and Hell, I believe the Stars existed before either the Demon or Human realm did. Furthermore, I believe The Stars are probably connected to both dimensions through their skies. The Collectors (tentative name) and The Titans I like to think, both originated from The Stars. Then there was a civil war.

In the bible, to the best of my non-christian knowledge, there was a war between the rebel angels and heaven that caused Hell to be created and the fallen angels banquished there. In Greek Mythology, a similar story plays out - the losers being The Titans who were banquished to the underworld of Tartarus by the Olympians. In the bible, the Nephilim / Titans / Giants were said to be the hybrid sons of the fallen angels.

We know The Titans ruled over the Demon Realm (already explained as Hell earlier). What if they, like the Titans in mythology, were banquished there by fellow Gods (the race of Collectors)? Perhaps they eventually came down to finish the job thousands of years later, with mass casualties on both sides.

Perhaps the Collector was the only child. Perhaps King's dad thought it too cruel to kill a child simply for being born on the enemy side, and resorted to trapping him in a disc instead. King's Dad was (obviously) alive when he trapped the Collector - then who killed him? It could not have been the tiny Titan Trappers. There had to be other Collector Gods.

C: Who is the Collector (as a Character)?

A child god, who just wants to play. He was a child trapped inside a war that he didn't quite understand, and rationialized it in their young brain as a game. Collectors (yes tentative name) vs Titans. Just like a few familiar someones:

It was surprising to a lot of people that The Collector genuinely only wanted to play with King when they were released. It might make more sense with this context provided. He might have guided the Titan Trappers to hunt down the last remaining Titans out of a miscommunication not to kill them, but as a game of Hide and Seek (the same game he proposes to King when they meet). He interpreted their hiding from ongoing war as a game.

It also seems bizarre to me that a character we pretty much all know they are going to redeem, would be responsible for a genocide.

I highly believe that the Collector is an orphan, too. The Owl House has a clear penchant for orphaned children, but more than that as I explained in another post, he fits the bill for "child-characters-who-get-adopted-into-the-owl-house-family".

Much like the reconcilliation of Humans and Witches is ongoing in the show, I would love to see the reconcilliation of the Titans and Collectors. I even hope that maybe King's Dad was a pacifist, who yearned for King to be born long after the war ended and mend things with the Collector himself - both as innocent children without prejudice for eachother. To open The Stars once more and allow free travel for humans and witches through.

#the owl house #toh theory #the collector #king clawthorne #this is the best theory post ive ever written probably please read!!!!!! #I FEEL LIKE IT HAS TO BE CORRECT NOW RIGHT< #the collector toh #toh collector

[imsickofpasswords]

A theory of the Ineffable Plan.

By elsamirrre5322 on YouTube

Realistic_Street1312 on Reddit

ParkSeo-Jun on Fandom

Imsickofpasswords on Tumblr

(Yes, all me!)

Book of Genesis 1–11: And God said: 'Let us make man in our image"

From Neil Gaiman’s MAster Class: When you tell a story, it is crucial that you completely believe in what you're writing

Hi, Good Omens's fellow victims! Like so many, I have been trying to cope with Eternity (I mean the dreadful period between season 2 and, either season 3, or my personal Armageddon.) That rotting brain of mine came up with a theory regarding the message that Good Omens (book and show) is striving to convey. What is it that Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman believe in so hard, as human beings and writers, that they want the whole world to understand it? Well, what I found, whether or not it is accurate, is at least beautiful. So I wish to share it with you.

Before I begin and you accuse me of pedantry, know that my every sentence begins with an invisible imho.

***

Since there is no way around it, I'll talk about the ship and the cruel, heart-wrenching, forever traumatizing, law-should-forbid-that-kind-of-things, cliffhanger. No matter how hard I think, this ship is the most beautiful love story ever (yes, imho). Is it because it doesn't involve burning passion, emphatic confessions and great sacrifices? It's about beings who harbor the same inner values but underwent such different trials that their personalities ended up diametrically opposed. Their love (and loneliness) pulls them together and allows them to rub off on each other, but they still retain their identities and won't go against their principles for the sake of the relationship. In the fight, they both proposed to each other, I mean proposed, like, let’s get married. And neither of them got rejected. They both wanted to be together, and made that part perfectly clear. What they declined was the terms of the contract. Either Crowley going back to pretending he trusts Heaven’s institution, or Aziraphale abandoning his faith. They both expect to be loved for who they truly are and believe in. And of course, this is exactly what they will achieve… True love instead of the illusion of love. First prediction in my Silly and Hopeful Book Of Prophecies.

***

Having taken the mammoth out of the room, I’ll explain my theory.

Whilst reading the book, I realized that the original story was never that of Aziraphale and Crowley (worry not, I have plenty to say about them…). It was that of Adam (originally, William the Antichrist) and the Them. More than that, it’s a saga about humanity achieving its full potential.

***

God

Of course, we should begin with God, since God created humanity, the universe(s) and the rules by which everyone and everything must abide. So. Who is God? Well if I could answer that, I'd probably know how to make a whale. I don't know how to make a whale. But certainly there are things we know, or can guess about God.

First, she (I’m a woman and it makes me obscenely happy to write “she” here) is the narrator. Second, she does not play dice with the universe. The first fact means that God can see everything, down to an angel and a demon drinking solidly for two hours, or a nightingale singing in Berkeley square. Second statement means there is no such thing as chance or hazard in that universe of hers. Everything happens for a reason.

It sounds like God wrote everything, everyone's destiny, like Gaiman and Pratchett did for their characters. Crowley says so himself. Humanity, Aziraphale, Crowley, everybody, they are all characters in the book called The Great Plan.

I think God injected herself in her own story under the disguise of Agnes Nutter. Only God can always be right.

So, here we have Gaiman and Pratchett hiding behind God, and God hiding behind Agnes Nutter. The Bible turned into The Great Plan, and then into a book of prophecies.

But what kind of person is God? Is She compassionate, loving, merciful? Yes. I firmly believe that. Err… Wait. Same God that drowned almost everybody, goats included, and wanted to kill Job's children… and goats!

“When his life was ruined, his family killed, his farm destroyed, Job knelt down on the ground and yelled up to the heavens, "Why God? Why me?" and the thundering voice of God answered, "There's just something about you that pisses me off.”

― Stephen King, Storm of the Century.

Yes. Same God who never failed to prove herself a master torturer, a mass murderer and a serial killer in a single package. How do I reconcile both sides? Death… is only temporary! I mean, Jesus could bring Lazarus back, Adam resurrected a fuckton of people, and Crowley easily performed miracle escapes. Maybe death isn't the terrible thing we think it is… (except for Nazis? But Nazis aren’t really human, are they?) As for Job's children and goats, God knew that Crowley was around, up to no evil…

Having said that, I remember Stephen King writing something else. Whoever remembers that quote, let me know. Something like this: " If God created everything, then It must rule over both Good and Evil. If It only rules over Good, then there must be someone who rules over it all. I’ll worship that someone as the actual Almighty."

I agree. Good and Evil are like two faces of a coin. Death introduced Itself as the shadow of Creation and states “I’m neither of Hell, nor Heaven”. Evil must be the shadow of Good. And everything is a part of God.

***

The Adams

No, not the family, come on! What would they be doing here? Ah, attending the Second Coming. Come to think of it, it's indeed the kind of event they wouldn’t want to miss…

Anyway, their name is spelled Addams and I’m actually talking about the two Adams of the story. Old Adam, who ate the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden, and young Adam (I mean Adam Young) who steals apples in the garden of his neighbor. As I see it, they are allegories of Humanity.

As Crowley said, most universes come pre-aged, while this one will be allowed to grow. In the same way, Humanity is a species that will be allowed to grow. What ever for? Entertain God? Eternity does sound boring. Certainly a God could use a good laugh once in a while… But Nah. What do people do when they're bored with their lives? Hint: not their best idea? They have children! (or pets. Pets is a good idea…)

At the beginning, Adam and Eve are all of Humanity. They can't tell good from evil as they haven't experienced anything yet. Despite looking like full grownups, they are still babies. Crowley designed, not a star factory, but a fancy wallpaper indeed, for… a nursery.

Now, how is Baby Humanity supposed to grow? Crowley! Good ol’ Crowley! His temptation is the first opportunity to exercise free will. It’s the first lesson and the reason why the apple isn't at the top of a mountain or on the Moon. Choose for yourself, and see what happens. By eating the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve don't actually get any knowledge of right or wrong. The first sin marks the beginning of the teenage rebellion that is necessary to grow beyond what was taught. Everything that comes after is like an initiation rite. A six-thousand year long initiation rite with angels and demons along the way as teachers and… the end of the world as a final test.

At the end of season one, Adam Young is back to being human. He represents Humanity at a later stage. An almost fully grown humanity that has learnt a lot (too much?) about free will. Once again, it takes Crowley’s intervention (just slightly motivated by the idea of Aziraphale’s threat never to talk to him again…) to push Adam towards the right path. Note that I didn’t write the good path. I meant the right path, the one that wasn't created for him even before he was born, I mean the path he made for himself.

The main difference between Old Adam and Adam Young deserves to be stressed here. Adam Young’s education was provided by other humans, his parents, his friends, Anathema… It means in 198X any random human is that evolved, already. The question is, how did Humanity reach this level of knowledge? And power?

Yes, power. Armageddon was stopped by… whom exactly? Humans! Humans only. Anathema, Newt, the Them. Meanwhile, Aziraphale and Crowley were gonna kill the Antichrist, a kid! A KID! And who stopped them? Madame Tracy, a stupid (I’m not the one saying), psychic, Jezebel-of-Babylon with a good heart. A nobody? No. A human.

***

The education of Humanity.

Let's stop to notice that Crowley and Aziraphale are adoptive parents from the get go, watching the kids anxiously from afar, wondering if they actually fulfilled their respective mission as an angel and a demon, not knowing that having kids goes way beyond giving them toys and feeding them applesauce. It's a life sentence. Your kids will always call you at ungodly hours, seeking comfort after a nightmare, no matter how grown up they are. There’s no escaping to Alpha Centauri, and forgetting about them!

What I find interesting is who Aziraphale and Crowley are, and how meaningful it would have been if God had actually chosen them to be the Godfathers of Humanity.

Crowley is the one who questions everything, right? And how does one learn? Through questions. Those who have children know what I'm talking about (no wonder God won't raise her kids herself, being humans or Jesus🙄). It is often said that Science (Man-made god) replaced God. And how does science work? Yes, questions again ! Goddamn, annoying, neverending, pain-in-the-neck questions… Curiosity is the first tool. It's curiosity Crowley injected into Eve, to tempt her into eating the apple.

Crowley is also the one who would suggest a suggestion box. Because he has… IMAGINATION…(here, you need to picture Aziraphale turning a turnip into… an INKWEEEELL… ). IMAGINATIOOOON…. That ability is very, very important. Should I say paramount? God being a writer, possibly a mixture of Pratchett and Gaiman, she can only treasure imagination. Imagination is what created Good Omens. Imagination is what allowed Crowley to stay in his burning car. It was Adam's tool to change reality. Human imagination brought War, Famin and Pollution to life and it's human imagination again, that of three quite ordinary kids, that destroyed them. Not a flaming sword, not an angel, not a demon, mere humans gifted with imagination. And free will. Gifts from a fairy godmother named Crowley.

Aziraphale? Aziraphale didn’t come empty-handed either.

Was he just passing by, fortuitously, when Crowley called out for help? Is it pure coincidence that they created the universe together in a no-sex-involved-whatsoever fashion? I mean, the higher-ups designed universes, universes, man! Big, complicated, extremely sophisticated things, but they couldn’t think of a system that’d be set into motion by a single angel? Come on… And was it just a hazard that Crowley and Aziraphale ended up together on Earth, with the mission of thwarting each other? (Balancing each other?)

No dice. What, then? Crowley is the darker shades of gray. Aziraphale is the lighter part of the spectrum. And God knows that. God knows that Aziraphale isn't as white as he looks, although he does look very white. How does she know that? Because she checked. And several times, if I were to guess. God sees everything. And yet, she asked Aziraphale what happened to the flaming sword. When he lied his way out, she could have punished him, but she just went quiet. She wanted to know 1) if he would lie, if he would dare stand up to Her to protect the children, and 2) if he would trust his inner compass.

Aziraphale has other strong suits. He’s very gay and bubbly, and fluffy, and fun, and embarrassing, and endearing, and adorable, and… yes, I’m in love with him, say you aren’t. At the same time, he is quite strong-minded and aware of being Crowley’s soft spot. He can have his demon do things to please him (to a certain extent), with just a cute glance or a frown. He is Crowley’s anchor.

What’s more, Aziraphale is very conservative, and not just where fashion and music are concerned. He has unwavering faith in God (I mean God, not the institution of Heaven) and nothing, not his love for Humanity, not his love for crêpes, not even his love for Crowley (not sure about the order here), will change that.

Last but not least, our favorite angel is intelligent. (Since it’s Pratchett and Gaiman saying so, it must be true.) He is the ONLY one to point out the existence of the Ineffable Plan. And the ONLY one to figure that it might diverge from the Great Plan. Without the need to hear it, he feels what the ineffable plan is. And that’s why he trusts God. Although he is able to admit the error of his ways, I don’t think he’ll be doing the "you were right” dance this time around. Third prediction. (Boy, do I wish that one isn’t accurate…)

Aziraphale and Crowley were chosen as godfathers because, together, they are the perfect balance, they are black and white and the entire spectrum in between. And somewhere in this spectrum is the most important thing in the universe. Although the ingredients may have been the same, I don't think Aziraphale and Crowley were created with the same recipe as the other angels. Neil just revealed on Tumblr that Aziraphale and Crowley together are a circle. They are perfection. This circle is what God wants for her children. A mind that has no beginning and no end, a God-like mind.

Aziraphale and Crowley intuitively know that. It’s the reason why they turn into an evil nanny and a good-hearted gardener, in hope their combined influences will make a real human being out of the Antichrist. It’s easy for them. Because, this is what they’ve been doing from the beginning! They spent their entire time on Earth playing the nanny and the gardener! For not one kid, but for all Humanity as a youngster. Aziraphale and Crowley are masters at it and it’s thanks to them that Humanity has learnt so much. Pay attention, it looks like they didn't do much, in the end, to prevent Armageddon. But they raised the kids who prevented Armageddon. Of course, the ineffable husbands got some help.

Earlier, I mentioned angels and demons being teachers. They’re all doing the same job, infusing humanity with both Good and Evil through temptations and blessing, having them make choices and watch the outcome. Here, I must say that in the story, (and in History) it feels like demons have all the easier parts, as their pupils seem to always be way ahead of them, from pretty much the beginning. “Yes, always this easy”.

“Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it.” ― Terry Pratchett.

When Crowley creates the universe, what comes first? Darkness. He has to summon light into it to reveal the marvels it contains. Are humans like that? Darknesses that require some light (not too much, otherwise they’d go as blind as angels) to unravel their actual beauty? So. Angels bring light. And demons just have to make sure the darkness stays into place? Something like that. But… if angels and demons are both working towards God’s plan, how is it they keep bickering? Stop. Is there a scene, a single scene where they actually argue? I can’t remember a single one… They all want the same thing. Get the bloody job done so everyone can call it a day and go home.

Why then were demons demoted and casted away? Crowley doesn’t even seem to understand what happened to him…

I guess it’s time I talk about the rebellion and the fall.

***

The Principal

The Principal? Who’s that? The one above the teachers, of course! The Metatron!

THAT Metatron… You want to kill him right now, don’t you? You want to peel off his skin with a blunt knife, you… wait, he doesn’t have a skin… and he probably can’t die anyway. You want to drink his soul with the tiniest straw? Tie him to a chair in front of episodes of Dora the explorer? I feel you.

Not sure if the Metatron has a counterpart. In the novel, his counterpart is Beelzebub, but it doesn’t feel like they’re playing in the same league. I mean… God’s voice, right?

There is a theory going around in the fandom that the Metratron has been editing people's past/memories, using the Book of Life. That theory was written by an actual novelist and it did sway me. However, if it were completely true, it would probably bother me. First reason is I don't want what I already saw of Aziraphale and Crowley's first encounter to be fake, even in the slightest. Second reason is… If you have the power to edit people's lives, why be so subtle about it? Or does the Metatron think he can make surreptitious changes that God won't notice? Hm. I don't know. In the novel, The Book of Life doesn't exist. The one who can "arrange matters af is you never even existed" is Adam. Not sure if this goes against the theory or sustains it…

Here are my own theories. Plural. I gave that bastard a lot of thoughts. I’m afraid none of them involve the disparition of the eccles cakes, sorry.

At first, I had a theory in which the Metatron was instrumental in the rebellion and the fall. It went like this. The Metatron is the voice of God, the Spokesman, as Aziraphale put it. Only when God herself initiates a conversation do you get to talk to her directly. Otherwise, you have to go through the Metatron. (The reason why Crowly envies Job’s opportunity to at least "be able to ask the questions") The Metatron may decide to withhold your message AND answer whatever he wants. Could he have used his position to create a cleavage between God and some of her most powerful subjects? What for? To overthrow God and rule in her place. Demons were sent to Earth, of all the horrible places in such a vast universe, so they could draw strength from all the human souls they’d lure to Hell… So they would grow tougher, smarter and more dangerous.

But that doesn’t seem right. God can see everything, remember? Okay, she could be traveling between universes, leaving Metatrons behind, as governors. In that case, of course, things might happen that she doesn’t know of. Even so. She and Satan still talk to each other. They at least met once, when they made that bet about Job. Surely, any misunderstanding would have cleared up then? Besides, in the book, Crowley mentions talking directly to God, although She just smiled instead of answering. I don’t know. I do have another theory of the Metatron though. Way more simple. Everything was set up by God.

God needed teachers for her children, but with angels being all good, better and best, the kids would only have learnt half what they were supposed to know. Besides, how would they make choices? They would just become angels as well. Obedient, boring, sickeningly good angels. God has that already. So, how did God trigger the rebellion? By using the Metatron.

Let‘s take a moment to think about who, or should I say what the Metatron is. He is a voice. All he knows is what God can say. He is oblivious of everything God cannot or doesn’t want to say. By definition, he is that one part of God that can never be aware of the ineffable plan.

I came to think of the Metatron as an AI, with flawless logic. If SF has taught us anything, it’s that any purely logical mind would want to eradicate humanity, seeing it for the nuisance it is. The Metatron must think that God made a mistake. Maybe God went nuts? Eternity with Elgar… it kind of gets at you after a while… Luck of the devil, the Metatron is there to save the day! What’s that universe where angels go around falling in love with each other, anyway? Nonsense! It's all because of humans' malfunctioning minds.

The Metatron’s sacred duty is to destroy humanity, if it is the last thing he does. To achieve that, he sees to it that a certain number of angels go rogue. Then he sends them to Earth so when the second war breaks out, the entire human race will go as collateral damage. In this case, the Metatron is the one who picked the evil teachers. He did the dirty job, unbeknownst to himself.

Another scenario is that the Metratron has nothing to do with the rebellion and is only striving to stick to the Great Plan, after Armageddon went sideways. In that case, God herself picked the teachers.

In both cases, the question is, was there actually a war? We all noticed how vague Crowly is about the fall, even while talking to himself. "Next thing you know i'm going a million light-years, freestyle-dive into a pool of boiling sulfur." And he can’t remember the guys he is supposed to have fought alongside with. There is some memory tempering here, or I don’t know anything. Either no Great War at all, or a war without Crowley. My bet is a war without Crowley. I read something in the book, can't remember what exactly, but I jumped and said “There must have been an actual war!” Besides, one explanation for a disabled angel like Saraqael could be a war wound. I guess?

Crowley sounds like he loves God, as much as Aziraphale does. This scene, where he snakes around his executive chair, saying "You said you’d test them". Maybe it’s just me, but I read hurt and love in his eyes, love for the world? Love for Aziraphale? Love for God? The reason why Crowley is dead set against going back, isn't it because, or partially because he feels he was betrayed by the One he loved and trusted most? I don’t think Crowley could have gone against God and seriously, how much trouble can you get into, just for asking a few questions? But then, if you’re going to submit your questions to the Metatron, who can’t entertain the concept of a flaw in the system…

***

The final tests.

It's like shoving a knife into the heart of a cake to see if it is well cooked. There's no way around the knife I'm afraid. God needs to find out if her children are fully grown humans. But what does this mean for Her? What does it mean, should it mean, for any parent?

It should mean that the young adults are now able to think for themselves, elaborate strategies to survive on their own, fight and overcome whatever life will throw at them, and… become a better version of their parents.

This is no longer high school, lads. This is college. So exams come in two waves. Midterm. The students have to prevent/overcome/survive Armageddon. And they do.

Armageddon didn't happen. Free will happened. Adam refused to follow his predetermined path and asked both sides to stop meddling into people’s affairs so humans can start to think for themselves. His friends rejected the nightmarish world that was left to them as a legacy. Dog became his own dog and is probably playing hide and seek with cats right now. Anathema decided to stop living according to a book written by her ancestor, NO MATTER how useful and accurate the predictions.

Yet another message here. Don’t let people tell you who you are and what you’re supposed to do. Your life and every choice at every turn are yours to make.

Notice that both God and Agnes sort of vanish at the end of season one. Agnes’s book is burnt by Anathema, and God goes silent. As if something happened that changed the course of what was already written. It's like Adam said: what is written doesn't matter. You can always cross it out. The great plan stopped right there.

And the ineffable plan took over. The ineffable plan is written by human beings in a decade-long essay that will decide if they passed the final test or not. (Of course, they pass, the show is called Good omens! Another prediction, gosh I'm so good, this is beginning to scare me!).

At this point, I think God is satisfied already. I mean if God is a writer and her characters achieved enough self-awareness to write their own story, then… they're real! I suspect writers' secret dreams have always been just that. Playing gods, creating universes and bringing characters to life! Not as puppets, but as sentient beings who will do as they please once the author rests their pen (closes their laptop, let’s be modern… but without bebop). I'm sure Sir Pratchett, having tea with Death, is kicking his feet at this very moment, seeing how many fans have fallen in love with either Aziraphale or Crowley or both and are spending so much time imagining the rest of their adventures.

A clue in the book. When Anathema burns the second Book of Prophecies, the smoke takes the shape of a smiling Agnes who winks at the world. I will always wonder if anything was written in that so-called sequel… Agnes wrote her book for her descendants and God wrote the Great Plan for her children. They must both be very proud that their offspring have finally spread their wings!

Now Humanity has cut the strings and gone from puppet to real living being. And that's where the fun begins. Because there is more to being a human than meets the eye. And this is what season 3 will be about. Oh, I know, it doesn't seem like there is an invisible imho. It's because there isn't! XD

***

The Second Coming, or season 3.

The concept of the Second Coming confuses me a great deal. Because of Jesus. The story doesn't seem to really involve Jesus as we know him, the one and only, the miracle doer, the precious son of God. There is a Jesus who ends up on a cross, alright, but no one says anything about him being special or performing miracles or anything. At the same time, there is an Antichrist, miracles measured in lazari and a second coming ( of Christ, I presume?). I went and picked some people's minds on Reddit. They had several interesting opinions, involving the third baby, Greasy Johnson, Muriel being Jesus under cover, and angels not minding the boss's son who only got this far through nepotism.

We see Christ nailed to a cross in the opening credits of season 2 and we see him again on the banner of the resurrectionists. All this considered, it looks very much like Jesus will have something to say about what happens next. I hope not, for it would probably feel like a Deus ex machina to me. That said, I think that the most important thing about Jesus has already been stressed out, his message.

Anyway, Jesus or no Jesus, there should be, as mentioned in the Scriptures, mass extinction, resurrection, judgment and either punishment or reward. Unless… the Scriptures don't apply anymore, since the great plan went down the loo and the new writers certainly don't want to see the world go to ashes. Unless… Wait. Wait a sec. We're talking about… humans! Hh!!!! That's it. We're baked. Literally. Nice knowing you.💀

And so what? What if humans only achieve self-destruction? Their choice. At least they got to choose.

But that's not really what I expect from season 3. Again. Good Omens.

After not-Armageddon, humans were granted a little time to study further. What will they learn? I don't think there can be a not-Second Coming. That would really be underwhelming, not to say disappointing. There has to be a planet-size all-out war at the very least, with pupils going berserk against their teachers (serves them well for highjacking nuclear weapons designed by their students! ) Only when the teachers have bent both knees, can the students show… mercy, kindness, compassion.

Love?

Jesus's message was "be kind to each other". Neither angels nor demons know how to do that. Both are cruel, cold and unforgiving. Heaven wanted to kill Aziraphale just like Hell wanted to kill Crowley. God on the other hand, used Agnes's last prophecy to save them, from what would have been real death…

God is much more than the sum of her angels, Good and Evil. Mixing good and evil triggers a chemical reaction that is the actual secret recipe to God's purest, greatest form of power. Yes. Love.

Aziraphale and Crowley drew enough strength to perform a 25 lazari miracle because they became one AND risked everything to protect their former enemy. They showed compassion and granted forgiveness (not to mention hot cocoa!). Gabriel and Beelzebub only love each other. They're not perfect together. Aziraphale and Crowley grew feelings that go further and run deeper than just romantic love. They experienced and mastered every aspect of love.

Every day, it's getting closer, love like yours will surely come my way…

Love is the last lesson. And the last gift. Now I know it sounds like everybody will end up naked with flowers in their hair… I for one wouldn't mind such a scene… I mean, if it's for the sake of the plot, what can you do?👀

… Anyway, that's how the students, following the example of the masters, embraced both sides of their true nature to become more than Heaven incarnate or Hell incarnate. They learn how to love and pass the final test! Last prediction. Almost last.

***

“There was never an apple, in Adam’s opinion, that wasn’t worth the trouble you got into for eating it”. At the end of the book, (Warning! spoiler ahead!) Adam, "half angel, half devil, all human, is slouching hopefully towards Tadfield.

... for ever."

For. Ever.

Aw, I forgot a gift, I'm afraid… Eating the apple was the path not to death (for man was probably created mortal as everything else). Eating the apple was the path to immortality. Crowley did the right thing. And so did Aziraphale. Adam is immortal because he is a successfully completed human. He's not the only one. They who were created in the image of God, the children of God, have become…

new Gods.

After that? Well… I guess the Bentley will become her own car and go with yellow and the self promise never to play a Queen song, ever again. The new gods may throw Earth into the trashcan since it's worn out anyway. Or maybe they'll restore it? Somehow I'm not afraid for books. I have a hunch that books will survive… Perhaps some of the gods will join the distant lights that "may or may not be stars?" They'll be like seeds, they'll travel through darkness to create new universes, new god factories…

What? Aziraphale and Crowley? They don't have to choose sides anymore. They were always on the same boat. And God loved, loves, them both. They can just love each other and be who they want to be. Adam, who could read Aziraphale and Crowley's minds, said: “I know all about you, don’t you worry”. Everything will be just fine.

What are they doing right now? Not sure. They're writing their own story too. But I guess it involves flying at the speed of light (or the speed of darkness?) to find the best spots for having picnics and reading books and listening to nightingales. I'm sure they'll stop by Paris. Somewhere near my house? I know a nice place for crêpes…;)

#neil gaiman #terry pratchett #aziraphale #crowley

[catholic-character-tournament]

Round 1 - Side A

Propaganda below ⬇️

Akane

i genuinely don't know how she ended up christian. she was raised almost exclusively by her big brother and that bitch *definitely* doesn't believe in any god. they're not even in a christian majority country. she spent nine years executing an elaborate time travel (kinda. long story.) scheme to prevent her from being murdered at 12 and still apparently believes in god

I guess Akane’s religion is debatable , she talks about God a few times throughout the series but also acknowledges that God couldn’t be real because she is above it/she has been through so much trauma that she has lost faith in the idea. I personally think she could also be Jewish as some of her theological ideals are a bit closer to that but she makes no mention of Judaism or Jewish law and that is simply a hc

she was described by the creator once as "i tried to write the worst possible female protagonist" and shes everything to me. there is literally no other character like akane kurashiki, NOBODY is doing it quite like her, shes unhinged and i adore her. one time she gaslit her love interest into thinking men get pegged As A Constant by intentionally misunderstanding what he was saying about elevator travel.

women will kill like at least 3 people at most 22 to 6 billion people [depending on your rules] and then turn to god and ask him what he did to look away in disgust at you

Asia

She was raised by the church and was a devout Christian. She died and was brought back to life as a devil, but still continued to pray and read the Bible (even though it caused her physical pain).

I haven't watched this anime in years, but at some point she dies and has to be turned into a demon. There's this running gag where she tries to pray to God but because she's a demon now, she gets a headache. I really need to read the light novel for this series someday because I don't have the attention span for anime but I need to see if this series is actually as good as I remember it, or if I was blinded by the uncensored tits.

#Akane Kurashiki #zero escape #asia argento #high school dxd #cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr bracket #tumblr polls

[kragehund-est]

being raised christian, it was always painful to try reconciling gender / sex with the bible's teachings. and im annoying enough to write a couple paragraphs on that.

on one hand you'd have lines such as "...there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in christ jesus." -galatians 3:28. there are lines which support the entire restructure of god's law in the new covenant. there is jesus' interactions with women. there are new testament teachings supporting that more than ever, god wanted all his followers to be considered equal regardless of class, race, or sex.

but then, you have lines such as:

"for the husband is the head of the wife, even as christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." -ephesians 5:23.

"the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says. and if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is improper for a woman to speak in church." -corinthians 14:34-35

there are several such new testament verses that directly contradict the new covenant concept of equality among believers.

some may argue that such verses are dated to the time they were written, which sounds ludicrous to me. christianity changed the world on countless fronts in a short amount of time, the early church broke so many rules of the day, but it couldn't support gender equality even when it had explicitly called for it? if it's dated, when did god explicitly say it's changed?

some may argue that some verses are imperfect or misinterpreted which is... troubling to say the least. if one part of the bible is imperfect, who's to determine what parts are right and wrong? aren't they flawed humans too? it's a troubling precedent.

some may argue that "equality" has different definitions under christ. yet, "there is neither male nor female" very much claims that these distinctions don't matter. to say that women are to submit to their husband in a way that's analogous to the church submitting to christ, that's obvious inequality. don't even say that "well the husband has to submit to the wife too!" because his "submission" is described as being self sacrifice, leadership, and control over the household. these are obviously unequal, to pretend otherwise is disingenuous.

this isn't me trying to rip apart sex in christianity to little pieces. it's just a train of thought typed out. my own conflict in my upbringing and my reality as a woman who is very much not submissive. the thought process of "is this how my god actually sees me? why would he design such a painful difference? or is it only his men that see me like this? how can i make it stop?"

#i'd ask that if you are a raised atheist #or someone otherwise not raised in an abrahamic religion #that you don't clown on my post #like anyone christian or otherwise can comment #but dont be like #UHM RELIGION IS FAKE U STUPID IDIOT #no offense #but if you weren't raised religiously #i dont think you'll understand #long post #christianity #actually same for men #you can comment #but dont try to tell me that actually I'm Incorrect #its easy to comment on something that never applied to you like that

[bookshop-phantom]

18.06.2022

I haven't been very active recently, but today I wanted to make another post related to (fantasy) world building. You can check my post about making a character encyclopedia here, or my other post about making an imaginary country.

Now, onto today's theme:

World building: making a religion

That's right! Religion is an important part of human history and - whether you are or are not religious yourself - you might want to give the people in your country or fantasy world some sort of beliefs or religion.

Today I created my very first imaginary religion and I wanted to share my creative process.

As I did with my country building guide, I will shorten the explanation to four simple steps in order to get started and set the basic traits of your religion. Here we go.

1. Type of religion (general traits)

Before anything else, you must think about what kind of religion you want it to be. These are questions you can ask yourself to get started:

Will it be a monotheistic or polytheistic religion?

If polytheistic, how many gods/goddesses are there? Are they arranged in some sort of hierarchy? If so, make a small diagram to organise it.

If monotheistic, is the god/goddess omnipotent? Are they limited by anything? Did they create humankind and the rest of the species?

Is there any kind of sacred texts, similar to the Bible or so? Or is it a religion transmitted orally?

Is the religion centered on any particular aspect of life (e.g. death, chastity, knowledge...)?

Are there pastors or any kind of religious guides or leaders? Or do the people speak directly to the god(s)/goddess(es)?

Does it give any explanation to what happens after death? Is there some sort of Heaven? Do they believe in Hell?

(I recommend thinking of a name, too, but this is not mandatory.)

2. Develop the ideas written before

This might seem obvious.

For polytheistic religions, try to describe as much as possible about every god/goddess. You can take inspiration from actual religions (always being respectful, of course) or ancient mythology. For instance, I decided to base the religion I created on spirits and natural elements (water, earth & forest, light, night and wind). Give the gods and goddesses some recognisable symbols.

Establish some basic rules, too. Here are some prompt questions.

How strict are the leaders of the religion (if there are any leaders at all)? Are the believers required to do anything in particular in their daily lives? Will there be any punishment if they don't do it?

Are there any forbidden foods or drinks?

Do they have any specific celebrations? Write those down and briefly explain them.

What are some of the legends, myths or stories that are part of the religion?

3. Branches

Of course, this is optional, but it is very likely that a religion will eventually split into different branches or groups.

I would recommend establishing which branch is the most important one. Then you can invent as many smaller groups as you want. Explain why they differ from the main branch of the religion and if they are considered to be a cult by the rest of the community.

Again, here are some more questions you can get inspiration from:

Are they a pacifist group or do they attack other believers/apostates/atheists?

Do all branches live peacefully or are they constantly at war?

What names do these branches receive?

4. Integrate the religion in your world/country

Now you have a solid idea of what your religion is like. It's time to integrate it in your fantasy world.

How powerful are the different branches of the religion?

Have they caused any wars or revolutions? Have they succeed in defeating their enemies?

Did the religion expand across other countries? To which ones? Did they make any changes to it?

This is basically everything I can suggest in order to invent a religion from scratch to use in your stories. I hope somebody finds this small guide useful in some way. Thanks for reading :)

#writeblr #writing guide #writing advice #world building #writer #writing #fantasy world #fantasy world building #fantasy writing #original writing #original work

[uzumaki-rebellion]

Hey sis ❤️

I think I remember someone asking you for some advice on world building for your stories a while ago. I have this huge southern gothic idea I want to put together and explore but to nail down the moving parts is just…..a hot ass mess rn. Whenever you can, I appreciate you greatly

How exciting! I am always here for other Black women writing Black southern gothic tales.

Worldbuilding is a big endeavor.

I’ll give you my basic toolkit when I get started with a work (even my fanfics), then I’ll post links to wordbuilding sites that have very thorough questions you can answer to help flesh out macro/micro worldbuilding details, as well as a book or too for resources.

Everything you research or answer questions to becomes part of your Book Bible, which becomes your reference guide as you work on the big project.

I will start by saying this. In my other world of writing SF/F, I'm in the middle of writing a Black southern gothic with a lot of moving parts myself, so one of the first things I did was flesh out my protagonist first. Then I did the same with the other people in my story. What do they all want? Who is stopping them from getting it? What do they hope to achieve by getting that thing they want? What happens if they don't get it? Your character is a world unto themselves, and once you nail them down or at least have a feel for who they are in broad sketch strokes to start, then this will help lay a strong foundation for how you will have them move in the world setting that you place them in. Your protag/antag can reveal the world they are in by their actions and dialogue. They can give hints about the world and set the tone for it too, through conversations.

What are the customs of your world? Holidays? Celebrations? Education? Relationships? Are there people who don’t celebrate or participate in society? (Why not?)

What types of religions are there? How are people treated if they don’t believe in God or organized religion (or whatever belief system you have created)

What is your magic system? Is there Hard Magic (ie. Well-defined, everyone knows the costs of it and the limitations) or Soft Magic (We don’t know the rules, or we’ll find out along with the protagonist)

What are the laws in your world? The governing body? Is it a monarchy? Oligarchy? Ruled by witches and vampires? Humans? Can humans and the supernatural co-exist? Mingle? Even in small towns, villages, or hoods around the way, there are governing bodies, government officials repping the law, or some smart-mouth magician with smooth straight backs at the barbershop who keeps folks in check.

What is the geography? What does this place look like? We should be able to envision it, smell it, want to hang out there, or be very afraid of it through the physicality of it and how it makes us feel being immersed there. Geography is character too and it has a great affect on the people who move around there. People who have to face snowstorms and extreme seasonal weather back east act different from people like me who live in Southern California’s laid back weather and attitude. There is physical geography and cultural geography too. Make note of that. Black southern folks are different from White southern folks even if they live in the same town. Black folks from Chicago are hella different from Black folks in New Orleans or the Geechee Sea Islands. There is diversity within the same cultures. Writers always forget that. All vampires ain’t the same, just like all Fairies and supernatural beings sharing the same world are not the same. Trust, Black vampires and Black shapeshifters don’t let everyone come to the cookout or bring the blood.

What are the jobs in the society and how are they ascribed value throughout the populace? (classes, race, racism, racial hierarchy, exploitation of classes, appropriation, and acculturation). Octavia E. Butler said humans (an even non-humans) always create a hierarchy.  Speaking of which, what are the hierarchy of needs in this world? How are they doing? Are they facing extinction? War? Civil unrest? Are there enemies to be on the lookout for? Who they beefin’ with? How they mama and ‘nem doing?

What is their origin story of that place and their history? What is their cosmology? (How do they think their world and the universe was created?)

Just like there are character arcs (A character can change at the end of a story, or they can be the same but the people around them change), the world you build can also go through a world arc. In other words, will the changes that happen to your lead characters change the culture of their world?

Where are we in regards to the time period? Past, present, or future? Near Future?

What’s the technology like? Are they using futuristic gadgets, computers, guns, advanced medicine, etc? Are they a mix of old tech and new?

Remember, once you build your book bible (or even a short story bible, novella, novelette), you’re only going to use 10-15% of what you come up with. Worldbuilding done well will give us the flavor of your world without infodumping everywhere and bogging the narrative down with unnecessary minutiae. Too much seasoning ruins food, just like too little seasoning ruins food. Finding the right balance takes re-writing and good beta readers.

Links to hardcore questionnaires that are long and can get you started further.

175 Questions To Answer For Your World

Worldbuilding Guide and Template From Reedsy

Character Building Template Sheet

Sites to Make Your Own Worldbuilding Map (SF/F)

My writing mentor wrote this book "Writing the Other". Even though it is about writing people from other backgrounds different from your own, it is also helpful for thinking about how differences in backgrounds shape worlds too.

Some old vids from my other writing mentor to think about:

Nalo Hopkinson on Setting HERE.

How to Write Descriptively (Nalo again!) HERE.

From Kate Messner: How to build a fictional word.

Wishing you much success!

[plentyculture]

Usually my thinking process for the day is as follows. I pray, then I go to Bible Gateway and read the verse of the day. I read the whole chapter to get the context. I get ready for the day. I watch a sermon. It's pretty random after that. I'm just trying to get to the point as to how I ended up writing on tumblr today. Aside from the horrible Kdrama I saw yesterday that almost got me all depressed. I don't even want to think about it now. I will explain it on another post on another day.

Back to why I'm having to process my thoughts right now. On the channel where I was watching the sermon today, there was a show instead of a sermon and they were talking about perceptual intelligence. This man wrote a book about it and you would think he would talk about how to apply it to understanding the life of Jesus. Instead he was talking about how to apply it to your relationships in life. He didn't really explain perceptual intelligence, they would just ask people what they thought it meant.

So naturally if the man isn't going to explain it I'm going to google it.

This is what it means, because it's fun to learn.

I'm going to copy paste it on here.

What is the meaning of perceptual intelligence?

“Perceptual intelligence” (PI) refers to the way people interpret their experiences in order to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Individuals have different levels of PI, a skill you can develop through conscious practice. You can change how you view the world.

Now I'm going to admit I did not hear much about what the man was saying because I was just thinking about what that has to do with Jesus or Christianity because he went off about it in relationships. The only relationship I'm thinking about is Jesus when I'm watching a sermon.

So yeah my whole thought process for today was the verse of the day at Bible Gateway which was John 15 ( because I read the whole chapter for context) and perceptual intelligence.

Then this is where it got messed up because I got on TIktok and you know Tiktok. Someone shows up on my fyp talking about Celine Dion and how she has a rare sickness. Because social media pretty much uses our perceptual intelligence to give us information, you know the person talking about it was a christian and she was saying that Celine Dion had the sickness because of her spirituality and how she made a children's line that was pagan like (to use other words).

Already I feel like I'm going to have to make another post. These are pretty long but ... the person on Tiktok isn't lying. The problem is that people don't know about sin or what it is. People don't know what wickedness is. This world is a free for all. People only want order and rules when they can benefit from it and as long as they don't get hurt. That's great when you live in the fantasy of your own importance, however we have to share the planet with other people. Therefore, if you want to live with other happy people you have to take care of people in general and think about their mental well being.

That means being responsible with your character, and your beliefs and how you care for other people's character and beliefs. That contributes to the mental health of humanity. Oh you don't think it does but, it does. Especially in this influencer driven society we live in now.

So sin is understood by most people as something that you do that is not good but you were tempted to do it. That's the general understanding of sin. In the bible, sin is separation from God because it harms you and others. The bible has a few lists of certain sins and many examples of how people sinned and how God reacted to sin.

I can now see whey people don't talk about God, it's a lot of information. But to make it simple if you happen to read this and you're not a christian, every action you make has a reaction.

Good with good and bad with bad. God is honest and really forgiving, the reason for Jesus. But people have to find out for themselves. We don't want people to suffer and try to say things to help but ultimately they have to hear from God, either through someone that speaks their language that God sends but usually most people hear it from reading the bible.

I say this all to say that, life is hard. Let's listen to each other while we can. No matter what we believe in. The reality is that we all live on this world and thank God we're all different. God isn't the one who does the bad stuff, it's the bad you pay attention to. Therefore, pay attention to who you pay attention to. Pay attention to the good things. Like there is always hope.

This is coming from someone who once posted on here about being led by a false hope. That sucked. That's why I wouldn't do it to anyone else. Don't do that, that's wickedness.

Honestly, I get on here to distract myself but hopefully God willing, this helps someone in the best way.

Humanity Matters.

My next post, on another day, will be about the american health system and how fv<ked up it is, and how covid really mucked it up.

#I am human #Therefore I matter #Layers of perceptual intelligence #healing

[wintergrew]

you are an absolute God at worldbuilding. Share us your tips !! <3

Omg I definitely don't know about that, but thank you so much for the compliment 😭

I presume you are referring to my SoT stuff, in which case.....

To start, I based it heavily off of the European Middle Ages. With HUGE liberties because it's still a fantasy world, but I am a history nerd and my background is political science, so I was really interested in grounding it in that, culturally and politically. The Thief and Mage are very political because... I'm very political

Before I started writing (though largely out of pure interest), I watched countless hours of YouTube documentaries I could find, watched more informational videos on things like historical fashion (which i already did, but specific that era), read A Brief History of Life in the Middle Ages by Martyn Whittock, and listened to three The Great Courses lectures on The Early/High/Late Middle Ages by Philip Daileader.

A lot of it was for fun because I'm a nerd, but I picked and chose what I wanted for my version of Zaron. Keep the concept of serfdom in farming, the village and city structures, and random daily life things. Take inspiration but change things like the way feudalist structures and manors work. Cut Christianity (or blatant equivalent like in Dragon Age) and therefore a lot of the church and religious orders that were a huge, huge aspect of the era.

Research also had me stumble upon the year 536. That alone greatly shaped the landscape and setting of The Mage.

Kupa is mostly inspired by Great Britain. However places like Neunbruck are aesthetically me stealing from the Bavarian/Swiss Alps aesthetic (and not necessarily middle ages) while the Southern Kingdom is basically Malta because...I think both of them are really pretty. Aesthetically, the Dark Kingdom takes from Romania and Iceland. It's more aesthetic than me doing deep research though. Like, literally just "damn this small island county is gorgeous, I need it for my story" and working around that. I also did some (but admittedly far less) research into Celts (especially the Picts) and Germanic Tribes of Antiquity for Barbarians.

The game KOTOR was a big inspiration, and by extension as is all of Star Wars. I looked up how to write magic systems and saw a lot of advice on avoiding "soft" magic systems...but did a soft magic system anyway. Admittedly, I should have had stricter rules and guidelines on how magic can be used and it probably is one of the weaker/inconsistent aspects where I was basically was just "it's like the Force". Recent chapters hopefully show why I went that vague route but....Either way, I wish I did make myself a formal guide to magic at the start, so maybe don't be like me and please do that.

I realize now after writing this I've mostly talked on and on about myself and this might not be helpful at all. But i guess a takeaway is:

Do research! You don't have to use everything, but it can really be huge inspiration. If you're writing space scifi, watch space documentaries. If you're writing about the 19th century, look up various fiction and nonfiction about the era. Research the history of and consume media about vampires/werewolves/whatever you're focusing on. You don't have to be as insane as me, though.

Other unrelated media also helps. Songs/Playlists, franchises, art, stories you like. Read and consume as much as you can and absorb what you like.

A lot of it is subconscious daydreaming to me. So listening to stuff in the background I'm kinda just "oh wouldn't it be cool if xx?" instead of sitting down and intentionally mapping things out before i have an idea. Story bibles and outlines help after to organize my thoughts, but I don't force myself to stick to them 100%. I had the central story and plot points to The Assassin long before I had the whole second act of The Mage figured out.

Not sure if this is helpful and it might actually showcase how messy my worldbuilding truly is fhghhh but thanks again

#asks

[doublebassawareness]

I should be studying, but I feel like I have to write this lest I forget.

If you find religion and discussions about it uncomfortable, specifically Christianity, then don't read.

Also, for some people who are going to accuse me of not knowing anything about Christianity, I grew up in a Christian home. I was formerly a very devout Christian. I even read the entire Bible, from cover to cover, when I was like 12.

Also, I just want to clarify this isn't an attack on a religion or beliefs, this is me pointing out something fishy within a certain religion. I do not hate anyone based on their beliefs/religion.

Anyways, I was talking with my cousin and my sister about colleges. My cousin was telling us how he likes his college because it's very diverse. I said and agreed that very diverse colleges are very good. That's why I don't like Christian colleges. I added to that statement by saying that I believe that people who go from a Christian high school to a Christian college are pretty sus (because I think that they are afraid of learning other peoples opinions and are prime for being taught extreme Christianity and conservatism, since that's all they kinda know (note, this isn't an attack on if this describes you).

My sister disagreed, saying that those who go to a Christian college probably just want to fellowship and that they are brave for doing so, since Christianity is looked down upon in society.

I literally had to do a double take, because I heard that people believed this, but thought that they were somewhere, out there. I didn't expect to be hearing this rhetoric from my own sister.

The thing is, in a majority of countries, you can't say that you are looked down upon as a Christian. In some Christian minority countries where you might be isolated or forced to hide it, then yes, that argument can be made. I'm not saying that everywhere, Christians face no persecution, because that's obviously not true. I'm saying, in a majority of countries, Christians are not looked down upon. They are treated as the norm, or even the ruling group.

For example, a Kenyan politician, in response to being asked why LGBTQ+ rights are not there, he literally responded "this is a Christian country". If Christians were really being looked down upon in Kenya, then surely, that wouldn't be his response.

Or even in the US. If Christianity was really looked down upon, then why do we say "under God" during the pledge of allegiance (albeit, they don't specify which God, but it is an unnecessary clause added during the Cold War because they believed that Communists and the Soviet Union weren't Christians, but atheist). If Christianity was looked down upon, how come a pastor was able to get up in an Ohio house meeting, in front of many cameras televising him, and say that if you did not accept Jesus, you are demonically possessed?

Or France for example. If Christianity was looked down upon in France, then why was there a push banning hijabs on Muslims in public, but not for nuns (French people, please come correct me on this, I am not too well versed in French politics, so if you have any additional information, please let me know).

The thing is, I understand where this line of thinking comes from. Way back when Christianity started, Christians were persecuted by the Roman empire, literally killed. I'm not saying that kind of behavior's is okay, but as centuries moved, Christians began taking more political control in Europe, spreading and forcing Christianity to it's colonies as well. It's 2023, not 233.

Her fellowship argument doesn't make sense, because going to a non-religious college doesn't stop you from fellowshipping with your Christians. (I want to make it clear that if that I am not against fellowship). In many colleges, there's often a Christian society, prayer groups, bible study's organized by other Christians' students. There are also many churches in the US, so you could always go there for more worship. The point is, if you want that Christian community, you can and will find it, while also being surrounded and exposed to non-Christians and different viewpoints, just like how the real world operates. I personally believe that there is nothing wrong for wanting a community with your beliefs, but that shouldn't be the only thing you know, because that only creates an echo chamber

So, I believe that my sister is incorrect. Unlike Muslims in America after 9/11 (or any vaguely Middle Eastern person, not that it mattered to those who hated them), you will not be, or very unlikely to be attacked, threatened, for just following your faith. You might be called lame for not drinking, or to uptight for sticking to your beliefs, but that's about the worst you will probably get.

Sometimes, I feel like it takes an outside perspective to really see how crazy inside the group really is.

#christian #christianity #ex christian #conservitism #christian victim mentality #christian colleges #united states #kenya #france #islam #muslim #religion #long post #argument #(against my sister) #this took like half an hour to write btw and I am exhuasted #atheisim #atheist #please add if you have anything you wanna say #just keep it respectful #also know that it isn't an attack

[satanica-cultus]

"We don’t “believe in” math. “Belief” is for religion and conspiracy theories — i.e. things that are taken as true without evidence. We calculate math according to a consistent, verifiable set of rules. Whether you “believe in” or understand those rules makes no difference whatsoever."~~ Divine Atheist, on Quora Digest.

=============================

For me, this answer to a stupid assertion made by a "believer", describes very accurately a major difference between Right hand paths and Left hand paths (if you don't know what those are, look them up. Gain knowledge by your own research).

This distinction, between knowledge and belief, is one of the reasons I write many times about choosing language carefully. So often I see satanists saying that they "believe in Satan," and it concerns me, as classic satanists actually "know" rather than "believe".

For centuries, "believers" have surpressed knowledge. Knowledge is power. And those who are in powerful positions, don't want you to gain power. This is why the early christians know as the Gnostics, were declared heritics by the Church...the root of the word Knowledge is the Greek word Gnostics (the G is silent just like the K is in English).

And the heresy of the Gnostics? They dared to question supposedly received Truths. For instance, they wondered if the serpent figure in the Garden of Eden story actually did the humans a favor by pointing out the truth re: the fruit.... that the evidence showed that the fruit was good to eat and wouldn't harm the humans. Knowledge is power. And the powerful don't want you to have it.

At one time in my life, I was a Christian minister, and because of a life crisis, I really began questioning the existence of god. I happened to cross paths with an atheist who asked me had I ever heard of the Gnostics? Yes, I had, they were early xian (christian) heretics. He posed the question about the serpent, and I began a two year search of discovery.

My basic question was this: did the claims of the bible, that God is loving, cares for his creation, etc., Supported by the testimony of the stories in the bible? Faith taught me that it did. However, the truth that comes from seeking knowledge, is that it doesn't.

I try very hard to leave "belief" words behind. I don't classify my satanic understandings as a religion, but as a philosophy. A way of understanding who I am and how I choose to live my life.

It's "what do I know" rather than belief in something that I was told.

What do those who have power do when they are questioned. They use power to control. When the teenage son challenges the parent on a matter (such as...why is smoking pot worse than your alcohol consumption), a lot of parents say, because I told you, you live in my house, you follow my rules. That is power protecting itself.

In talking with other satanists, I'm often asked if I believe in Satan? I answer with a No, and I'm called an atheist. I don't believe in Satan any more than I believe in god. I know Satan is real, however, because of testing I have done. I know magic works because I've tested it out. I know that in my universe, I am my authority.

I currently understand Satan as a powerful force. An ally...we make pacts, a legal type relationship. I will do this for you, and you will do that for me... and if one of us fails to do what is promised, that one loses credibility for the other. So to show the other my sincerely, I make an offering of something precious to me.

Knowledge is power and the powerful don't want you to gain it.

[princeofgod-2021]

LIGHT OF LIFE 455

John 1:4

DIVINE ORDER 20: KEEP YOUR RECORDS IN ORDER 2

Isa 30:8 Now go, WRITE IT DOWN ON A TABLET IN THEIR PRESENCE, INSCRIBE IT ON A SCROLL, so that it might be PRESERVED FOR A FUTURE TIME AS AN ENDURING WITNESS. NET

TAKE PEN TO PAPER 2

Why must Records be kept and why did God [intrinsically] keep them?

Rom 15:4 WHATEVER WAS WRITTEN BEFOREHAND IS MEANT TO INSTRUCT US IN HOW TO LIVE. The Scriptures impart to us encouragement and inspiration so that we can live in hope and endure all things. TPT

The Bible was written to teach all Men about God and His Purpose for Creation.

In the same vein, you are also supposed to write down your experiences in order to teach others.

Exo 31:2,3 See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah: And I HAVE FILLED HIM WITH THE SPIRIT OF GOD, IN WISDOM, AND IN UNDERSTANDING, AND IN KNOWLEDGE, AND IN ALL MANNER OF WORKMANSHIP KJV

God fills “some” with Knowledge and Capacity in all Fields with intent to have them Teach others and keep the Knowledge flowing down the Generations to all else in relative Fields.

How do I know that Bezaleel and Aholiab were supposed to Teach others?

Simple!

Exo 35:30,34 Then Moses said to the Israelites, "Look, the LORD has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, from the tribe of Judah. (Uri was the son of Hur.)…THE LORD HAS GIVEN BEZALEL AND OHOLIAB SPECIAL SKILLS TO TEACH OTHER PEOPLE. (Oholiab was the son of Ahisamach from the tribe of Dan.) ERV

The Expertise INSPIRATION came to Bezaleel as his own “Creation Modules”, delivered to his Heart.

When Moses delivered the message to him, it was now important to include that he had to Teach others too, and to do that, one must Document.

2Ti 2:2 TAKE THE TEACHINGS THAT YOU HEARD ME PROCLAIM IN THE PRESENCE OF MANY WITNESSES, and entrust them to reliable people, WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS ALSO. GNB

God also Documents so that future Generations can learn from mistakes of others and receive mandates in securing the incumbent Generation and guiding them from errors.

Dan 9:2 In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned FROM THE SCRIPTURES the number of years that Jerusalem would remain in ruins. The LORD had told the prophet Jeremiah that Jerusalem would remain in ruins for 70 years. GW

We learn from people who directly teach us by mouth, but mostly make references from Books written by those who were first, or those who have improved in that field of learning.

Deu 4:8-9 Or WHAT OTHER GREAT NATION HAS SUCH FAIR LAWS AND RULES AS ALL THESE TEACHINGS I AM GIVING YOU TODAY? However, be careful, and watch yourselves closely SO THAT YOU DON'T FORGET THE THINGS which you have seen with your own eyes. DON'T LET THEM FADE FROM YOUR MEMORY AS LONG AS YOU LIVE. TEACH THEM TO YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. GW

As students in class, don’t we take NOTES?

We take notes of what is said, and in the way we understand what is said.

Besides, every student is potentially a Teacher, now and later.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY

However, it’s not only for Teaching skills sake that we Documents.

It is also important that we keep records of Pros & Cons, Successes and Failures, loses and Profits etc.

2Co 1:8-9 Brothers and sisters, YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE SEVERE TRIALS WE EXPERIENCED WHILE WE WERE IN WESTERN TURKEY. ALL OF THE HARDSHIPS WE PASSED THROUGH CRUSHED US BEYOND OUR ABILITY TO ENDURE, AND WE WERE SO COMPLETELY OVERWHELMED THAT WE WERE ABOUT TO GIVE UP ENTIRELY. It felt like we had a death sentence written upon our hearts, and WE STILL FEEL IT TO THIS DAY. It has taught us to lose all faith in ourselves and to place all of our trust in the God who raises the dead. TPT

Too many people prefer to keep “best-self” Records only.

They want people to see them only as [flawless] Champions all the way.

Some feel that people will be discouraged by records of failures and losses but nothing could be farther from the truth as such concepts.

Php 1:12,14 Now it is my purpose to make clear to you, brothers, that the cause of the good news has been helped by my experiences;…And MOST OF THE BROTHERS IN THE LORD, TAKING HEART BECAUSE OF MY CHAINS, ARE ALL THE STRONGER TO GIVE THE WORD OF GOD WITHOUT FEAR. BBE

People get Bolder to endure when they know you have endured.

I pray that all your life will make indelible impacts on your Children and Generation, IN JESUS NAME.

Come back on Wednesday, as we proceed in digging into this inspiring Subtopic.

Brother Prince

Monday, January 08, 2023

08055125517; 08023904307

[tc-doherty]

island, ship and god for the fantasy ask game!

ISLAND - Have you created a language for your world?

I did try my hand at that back in the day, haven't we all? Generally speaking though, I will come up with words when I need them but I'm more likely to figure out grammar and maybe language quirks because then I can use that to differentiate characters in their dialogue because I very often write books where a bunch of characters speak a bunch of different languages LMAO

So I can't write a sentence where Ithea is speaking in Denki but I can tell you the way that she uses the language and why it pisses people off!

SHIP - How many pages of planning documents do you have, if any?

As a general rule 0, baby!

I occasionally will draw a map and, for Silverwood specifically, I have a world bible because there's just a lot of information (but that was all compiled afterwards). I generally don't plan anything before I write and anything that I do make, on the rare occasions that I make it, is always after several drafts.

GOD - Does your world have a religion? Is it, in this world, right?

Dragon's Daughter mentions religion but it doesn't play a huge role. That's often the case in my work, although some stories are more religious in nature. Every story is a bit different of course but usually if there is religion it's either everything is real or everything is an aspect of one divine thing so it doesn't really matter what you practice or what name you know it as. I think I've had situations where people use religion for nefarious purposes, but I don't think I've ever written anything where one religion is objectively true and every other religion is false.

I have very philosophical views about religion and subjective reality so even though I personally am not religious, I do believe that religion is true for the people who believe in it. So that's also the sort of attitude that informs my work.

~Fantasy Ask Game~

#writeblr #writing #thanks!! #ask games

[marlowe1-blog]

Job Chapter 22

Eliphaz the Temanite gets nasty

A few years ago, I was writing a story where religious fanatics participate in a genocide and before they start, they spend the night talking about Eliphaz the Temanite. At the time, I was unfamiliar with this guy. He was just one of those Bible characters that pops up in trivia questions. In the story, he was a worldbuilding tool. The story takes place in the future where not only is there a group that practices three way marriages in regards to the trinity, but there's a currently obscure Bible character who becomes as famous as King David or Jesus. At least for these awful people.

In retrospect, I'm even more happy to have included that detail (hell, maybe I'll sell the story one of these days) because Eliphaz is nasty. His first message to Job was the ever shitty "Everything happens for a reason" followed by a tone deaf "the wicked will suffer, just you wait" and now because Job has annoyed him, he outright tells Job that he's wicked.

So here's how it starts. "Can a man be of use to God, A wise man benefit Him?" (JPS). Other translations read that second line as a wise man benefiting himself. Either way, this is a very strange way to start the argument. Eliphaz is saying that God doesn't care either way if you are righteous. Give money to the orphans. Apologize to your aunt for that thing you did. See a stranger's gofundme and just give them money even though you don't like them? Good for you. God doesn't get much out of it, but good for you.

So it seems like Eliphaz is saying that Job shouldn't be so concerned with his righteous deeds, but if he really wants to think of himself as righteous, he can fuck off because Job also exacted pledges, calls in debt, refuses to give food to the hungry, etc.

Eliphaz doesn't know if he's telling the truth, but going by the average behavior, sure he probably is telling the truth. I mean who gives money to every homeless person who asks for it? Do you grow your own food? Eliphaz is working off Good Place rules where every infraction (intentional or unintentional) is a point taken away and another reason to end up in the Bad Place (only there's really no after life in this book. All the afterlife stuff comes when Xianity co-opts it).

"A flood of waters covers you" (11) which seems like a reference to the Flood. Certainly several of the commentators saw it in this way. Which brings us to God being lofty and the insinuation that Job saying that God seemed to be ignoring everyone meant that he didn't think that God was paying attention.

God's away. God's away. God's away on business.

So part 2 of this harangue seems like a departure from "surely you did something wrong, and I know that you aren't feeding all the widows that ask for bread" and gets right into the God is lofty and runs the world in a just way. Just look at the older wicked generations. They didn't believe that God had anything to do with them (deists! We got some deists in this book) and look what happened. They didn't appreciate anything and boom, they got consumed with fire.

So Eliphaz has reference the Flood and Sodom. Damn, Eliphaz, it's like you know this book enough to be making references.

Part three is the sermon. Yeah, I know. You're a wicked sinner. God is big and powerful and smashes the wicked sinners. But part three is the "be close to him and wholehearted and good things will come" These are all just promises of how things will be great when Job "returns" to Shaddai. Job should disregard silver and ophir gold and only regard God as treasure.

Then you will pay your vows, and feel the light of God and everything will be brilliant. Isn't that nice? Even Job will be cleansed of his guilt.

Seriously, Eliphaz the Temanite sounds like the worst kind of Christian (or Muslim or Jew, but you see a lot more of this chatter in Christianity) with the GUILT GUILT GUILT you must have done something wrong all pushed on the person. And only by accepting this GUILT will you be able to see how God is AMAZING and how you'll be totally happy.

This kind of thinking has fucked up so many people. Hell, I even got hung up on this bullshit in my 20s after breaking up with a long term girlfriend and finally getting serious about becoming Jewish only ending up in a community that was very concerned with conformity and self-righteousness and wearing the uniform. I was suddenly ashamed of everything that I had ever done in my life.

Not the usual shame and guilt that I had as a child trying to negotiate Mom's moods and her neediness and the fact that she put everything on me at a young age to where I was trying to take care of her long before I could take care of myself (and convincing myself that love should be painful to be worthwhile. I was so stupid) but that certainly prepared me for the rightwing Orthodox Judaism I was trying to go along with.

But this isn't just a religious thing. One of the scariest chapters in Mao's biography is when he had all of his followers "confess their sins" repeatedly and also inform on their fellow Communists. After months of this treatment, lively intelligent idealists became brainwashed foot soldiers, unwilling to think anything that might be "counterrevolutionary" and that's only an extreme example of one type of thinking. I worry more about tankies than i do about fascists, only because I'm leftwing and even a socialist when I don't see what other Socialists are saying about Jews, religious Jews or Zionists.

Eliphaz the Temanite is a shithead. He's a fucking evil bastard who is trying to make Job feel like shit before telling Job that there is hope. That's the brainwashing way. It goes easier if the people coming to the cult are already messed up and insecure, but whatever self-worth they might have must be destroyed before they can be "built up" into whatever their abusers want them to be.

Of course, abused spouses experience this on a smaller scale. And one of the things that domestic violence centers hear is "I don't really think I need your services because they aren't that bad..." but then tell about the relationship in a way that let's everyone but them know that they really are that bad.

One criticism of Christianity is that a God who is so angry at people that he sends them to eternal damnation UNLESS they believe exactly the same way that he wants them to believe is an abusive husband. That's not entirely true, but I'm sure it's true enough to hurt (just like when I told a friend that Wiccans are just white people who saw Dances with Wolves one too many times).

But as far as Eliphaz the Temanite is concerned, God really is that kind of abusive prick. Eliphaz truly is taking his last shot at destroying Job's faith in himself and his perspective and sense of self-worth in order to make him completely dependent on God, particularly the God that Eliphaz envisions.

Thankfully Job tells Eliphaz to fuck off again. And happily, Eliphaz really does fuck off. This is Eliphaz's last speech in the book. At least that's what Wikipedia told me.

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