#Christian assurance

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

you are pitting Jesus and Santa Claus against each other. I am acknowledging Santa as both a mythic symbol of Christ and a cultural legend based upon a real man whose faithfulness to Christ was used by God to grant common grace not just to the people of Myra but throughout the entire world. we are not the same.

#- HK #I know anti-Santa people who are not smug but the anti-Santa influencers are getting smugger and smugger each year #my generation was not raised to cope with loss of childhood #pro-tip: it comes back when you have your own children #I know because I get a taste of it whenever I visit my friends’ kids #mobile #x #Christmas #Christianity #history #mythology #let kids believe in magic again #you know what believing in magic did for me? trained my heart to recognize the wondrous when I see it #trained me to accept that I don’t and can’t know everything #trained me to live by the faith of adherence when i cannot enjoy the faith of assurance (Matthew Henry) #I was the only person in any of my friend groups who ever believed in Santa #and you know why I didn’t feel betrayed to find out I’d misplaced my belief? because Santa is real. #someone moves even terrible parents to give good gifts to their children on the same holy day every year #someone moves the imagination to ensure that the darkest week of the year will produce the most ethereal lights #someone moves the ancient and forgotten back into our conscious present minds #and if you’re wondering whether I’m talking about Jesus or Santa that’s a GOOD thing! #that’s the whole point! #the Santa mythos *impacts* people all over the world. and that is an act of Providence whether you believe in God or not

[tradingjack]

These were the concept pages I drew for my original writer in the @vashwoodbigbang event! Unfortunately they have disappeared on me 😅 and also bc god hates me I guess, the day I was supposed to post these, yesterday, saw me dealing with first a wifi outage and then a whole electricity outage so. That was fun lmao

Details about the drawings below since. I don't know if my writer will ever post the story, unfortunately 😔

So this was originally coined as a stardust au! I believe it was primarily based on the movie that came out in the 2000s (?), though I believe my writer was familiar with both the movie and the book it was based on. Honestly, it doesn't pull much at all from the story itself, just the general concepts of stars.

In this version, Vash is a star, and he decides to try and find his long-lost siblings (Knives and Tessla). In his search, he comes across a planet he hasn't visited before, and while he's descending to it, he's shot down by something mysterious that causes him rather permanent injury (not new; I believe he'd already lost his arm previously and he has all his scarring from travels to previous planets, this specific technology is just new to him).

He manages to crawl some distance from the resulting crater and is rescued by the odd pair of anthropologist Milly and journalist Meryl, who are tracking fallen stars on their planet in order to research them. Vash is horrified to learn that stars on this planet are rather brutally searched for and used for their power, so he tries his best to keep his real identity as a star secret.

In the next town, he learns about Star Cultists, who are the leading experts on stars. Our dear Wolfwood is one of them, and though he's a priest under the head of Chapel, he seems pretty jaded about the whole thing. He also spends some time poking fun at their visitor Vash when he stumbles on the doorstep of the church.

Unbeknownst to all, Chapel is the one who shot Vash down, and he suspects Vash is his target. When Vash, Milly, and Meryl skip town, Wolfwood is ordered to tag along with them against his will, and he begrudgingly forces himself into the group with his usual grace lol.

Through some shenanigans, including an interesting fight with Livio/Razlo who is a martyr (a human who ate at least part of a star and became consumed by it), the group all grows closer to each other. Naturally, Wolfwood and Vash hit it off with their usual ideology clashing and homoerotic team fighting. The tension comes to a head when both of the boys are drunk and attempting to stumble somewhere after getting kicked out of the bar, and with the help of liquid courage, Wolfwood admits to Vash that he's what's known as a "Star Eater:" a human that has consumed part of a star, and by some genetic luck, isn't consumed by it and instead gains some superhuman abilities so long as the magical tattoo (i forget what it's called off the top of my head fuck) that forms around the presenting star isn't broken.

Vash is understandably horrified. Wolfwood is confused by Vash's rejection bc he isn't aware Vash is a star; he's under the impression Vash is just some very talented guy Chapel really wants to feed a star shard in the hopes he becomes part of their superhuman cult.

Vash sobers up and manages to drag a very drunk and eepy Wolfwood to their hotel.

The next day is the turning point; the star cultists, including Chapel, catch up to them and confront Vash. Wolfwood has to learn very quickly that he'd been Wrong and Vash, in his panic, flies to where it feels most safe; the city's Star (storage area?? Idk). He ends up cornered there and, in his panic, accidentally goes nuclear trying to escape and blows up half the city in a column of flame. While he's barreling across the desert in an attempt to get away, he's trapped by a net the star cultists set up, made of the same shit used to shoot him down at the start, and he can't escape it on his own.

Luckily he's found by Wolfwood first, who's decided he owes it to Vash to try and fix his fuck up, and using his superhuman healing, he manages to free Vash. Both are exhausted and ultimately rescued by LR, who's been tailing them.

Tbh my memory's kinda foggy... my writer only managed to share up to that first LR fight, so I don't remember exactly what's supposed to happen between here and the fight at the orphanage?? I remember Vash somehow finds out what happened to his siblings (a hella long time ago, Tessla was consumed by the people of the planet and Knives, in his rage, fuckin just annihilated everything, turning it into a desert planet, and has been laying dormant for the most part since then) and also we learn that martyrs gain better control of themselves, and the crystal growth consuming them stops, when in proximity to enough additional star power. Vash, as a star himself, allows LR to easily think as they did before they ate a star shard when in close enough proximity.

Anyway, fight for the orphanage, Vash shows up in time to see Wolfwood getting his shit rocked and his magical tattoo (I'm so annoyed I can't remember what it's called. My mind is supplying sharingan and i know that aint it) shattered by Chapel, who accomplishes this by running Wolfwood through with his cane. Vash, believing Wolfwood's dead (bc like. Lmao it's pretty hard to live getting impaled, like, fully), loses his temper and basically obliterates Chapel. He moves on from Wolfwood's body to try and dismantle the entire Star church so Wolfwood's orphanage can stay safe. In this process, he confronts a Doctor Conrad, who was behind the whole thing, the remains of Tessla, and somehow Knives?? I think Knives, sensing Vash's anguish, just tried to fuckin nuke everyone, and Vash stops that. I feel like Knives dies in this process somehow... I think it was by saving Vash from something Conrad made??

By the end of it, Vash is wounded and exhausted, and ends up being saved by Milly and Meryl, I think.

When he recovers, it's to find he's lost his ability to leave the planet; while still functionally a star, his power has greatly diminished, his hair is black, and he can't even hide his wings anymore. Last I knew, my writer was actually merciful and let Wolfwood live! Albeit as a martyr (thus the wolf form with the uncontrolled star shard bursting out of the hole in his chest you can see on Wolfwood's page lol). Luckily he's got Vash around, so he gets to keep his mind, if not his human form.

With Knives dead and the star cultists mostly dispersed and no longer able to fuck with the planet, the story ends with our characters getting to experience rainfall on the planet for the first time in centuries.

.......

I like the story :P I imagine it'd be a lot better written out in actual novel form by the person who'd actually thought it up than my shitass, too-long summary lol.

Honestly my writer was communicating up until like, a month ago?? And then they just.... disappeared :/ which is weird bc I checked with my mod for this event (shout out to mod sana, @pushclouds, you're an amazing mod and I appreciate the heck out of you) and they submitted literally every check-in. Honestly I'm more worried for them than anything, if anyone knows what happened to @lohikaar I'd appreciate anything you can tell me. I hope they'll publish this story whenever they can, I'd still love to read it in its entirety.

Additional shout-out to @priellan for beta-ing the story they shared with us, and for overall being a super supportive team member :D

Also they did assign me a pinch hitter writer since we have no idea wtf happened to my original writer, so I'll be doing more drawings :D priellan agreed to beta for them too, which I'm super happy about! And thanks again to mod sana for your hard work and arranging that so quickly!

An admittedly strange first big bang experience, but I don't think it was overall bad, and I'm excited to work on more stuff with my new writer :D if you read this far goddamn. Thanks lol. See you again for sure on January 1st! (I'll try to post other shit between then and now hopefully)

#vashwood big bang #my art #stardust au #man im. idk. it really feels like the universe was against me on this one but fuck the universe I'll do what i want #i deserve to make silly little drawings of queer silly little guys. i think ive earned that this year. good god #anywayyy will be making more #and fr like. if aster does see this im not angry! im not even really disappointed i know shit happens #really i'd just like assurance that you're alive and well at this point 😅 #feel like we've been through some real scary stuff this year #trigun #fanart #primarily based off trimax tbh #still plugged a lot of christianity into this one dont worry #vash the stampede #nicholas d wolfwood #werewolf??? ig????? it's not technically a werewolf but also shit dude i was looking up werewolves as references so #vash x wolfwood #ik there's really none in the drawings but that was a focal point of the story #which the concept pages are about

[weird-life-of-a-closet-fangirl]

obsessed with the memory kristen has of being at church and being so certain of everything so sure that she's safe because she's chosen, and how wrong it feels now when she thinks about it because she's chosen to fully lean into doubt now

#its a strange switch to me bc one of the most comforting things for me is the assurance we have in the faith #so kristen completely getting rid of that bc she doesnt have any answers makes sense! fully and completely #but it also feels strange #but then again i havent lost my faith #religious trauma or otherwise #and she's probably got a lot more stuff in her brain she hasnt processed yet #like growing up in an actual extremist cult #leaning into doubt and embracing that there's nothing in this world that's certain is also a good truth to know tbh #fantasy high #fantasy high sophomore year #also i feel like i should put a disclaimer on this: i dont know much about the helioic faith #but seeing how ally was quoting scripture last season i do relate it all to christianity #so like as someone who is christian its SO interesting to see especially since i do relate to her quite a bit #although to be fair i think my issues have to do less with faith and more with culture? its a 40/60 kinda thing i think

[annabelle--cane]

astrophysicists will literally join a cult dedicated to extinguishing all light from the universe in order to kill the sun with the power of a scared guy in a box before going to therapy

#manuela I am sorry your parents were bigoted christians but I assure you there are many other well explored ways to heal from that #tma #marina marvels at life

[barstoolblues]

you see the stupidest takes on green energy youve ever seen on this site and check their blog and its orthodox christianity themed. huh

#‘on the long road to orthodoxy’ i assure you its not that hard to become a christian 😭 #and i cant believe i have to say this- no solar panels will not cause the next dust bowl you are just stupid

[barnbridges]

the only meaningful conclusion i have made while reading the secret history for three months on repeat basically is that the more bimbo-y, ditsy and silly a character is, the closer they are to being a religious martyr, i do not make the rules i just read the text.

#the secret history #this is funny from the perspective of that... the greek class are all on a moral crisis and looking for god right #they are very self-assured in that there is a god (a christian god) but that they cannot find them #meanwhile judy poovey out the back is microdosing being a god and a martyr on a tuesday night drinking a coke #and doing some other coke in the bk parking lot #henry can pretend to be god because he plays god in the imagination of some weirdos #but real godliness is whatever the fuck priscilla has going on

[idiopathicsmile]

disproportionately touched that people i knew in middle school and high school are pre-ordering my book. like i was the worst possible version of myself back then, why in the world would you want to read anything i wrote based on that, fucking bless you

#one of these people knew me back in THIRD GRADE #i have no way to prove this to you beloved tumblr folks but pls rest assured #that nine-year-old deeply unmedicated pre-therapy jess was uh an Experience #not as much of an Experience as #thirteen-year-old 'help most of my friends converted to Evangelical Christianity and they fully believe i'm going to hell now' jess #but that one i blame at least partly on circumstances

[officialyourdailyinspiration]

"Assurance grows by repeated conflict, by our repeated experimental proof of the Lord's power and goodness to save; when we have been brought very low and helped, sorely wounded and healed, cast down and raised again, have given up all hope, and been suddenly snatched from danger, and placed in safety; and when these things have been repeated to us and in us a thousand times over, we begin to learn to trust simply to the word and power of God, beyond and against appearances: and this trust, when habitual and strong, bears the name of assurance; for even assurance has degrees." - John Newton

#trust #assurance #Lord #power of God #Word of God #John Newton #Christian Quotes

[wintersoldier2005]

anyway the fact that when i was a kid into superheroes the only people that looked like me and spoke my language in the media i consumed were the terrorists the heroes would fight. and now it's TEN WHOLE YEARS later and batman's fucking son is middle eastern! he's mena and yet instead of getting to be cutesy and fun like batman's other kids he has to always be fucking CORRUPT and EVIL and FIGHTING HIS DAD TO THE DEATH. when i was a kid i knew the fact that my people were always terrorists was propaganda because it was so cartoonish. but a kid reading comics today would not know that what they're reading is just as much propaganda and it makes me so goddamned sad

#robin vs batman thoughts. 😕 especially being a mena kid with anger problems growing up... just very sad pero estoy divagando #dc comics #batfam #damian wayne #i wrote an essay (NOBODY CARES ALERT!) for a class on race in the middle ages about how in medieval stories moorish armies were displayed #as embarrassingly weak and pathetic yet muslim characters as individuals were always overwhelmingly strong in order to inspire fear of #individual muslims in the christian population but to assure them that as a whole they would never be under harm and then i tied it to #modern examples.... dc comics count your fucking days i will be coming for your ass the next time i write about this #mena in comics

[icamefromthepinterestscreenshots]

I overheard a Christian the other day saying how people who get into heaven will forget everyone who never made it to heaven even existed.

I thought it was so sad. What is so perfect about heaven when the people I care about aren't there with me? Wouldn't you just feel a massive hole? An overwhelming ache for someone you don't even remember?

I can't imagine anything without you ever being worth it.

#the way i wrote this sounds like i think ill get into heaven #and everyone i love wont lmao #but i fully assure you i dont think ill make it there #christianity #religion #christian #heaven #hell #heaven and hell #love #i love you #family #why is this so sappy #i deeply apologize #im very tired #lgbt #good omens #supernatural #shower thoughts

[area51-escapee]

I’m starting to think that you can’t lump everything together under “American education system bad” because the US is quite large and the education systems differ from each other. Your experiences are not national. Neither are mine. For example I was taught geography and about colonization and that racism is bad. I’ve been to school in three different states. Apparently other people were not taught these things. I don’t know what to tell you.

#like hey man don’t say the entire country is taught slavery was a good thing #take that up with YOUR state education system because I sure as hell didn’t hear that #I assume people who say these things went to school in deeply bigoted areas #or to those private evangelical Christian fundamentalist schools #or they were taught this they just weren’t paying attention #no shade I also didn’t pay attention half the time #but I can assure you it was not a country wide thing that schools just did not acknowledge other places

[nojoom]

calling all christians who travel to jordan via one of those “travel ‘israel’ & jordan” trips - please do not do that because i will personally be at mount. Nebo to push you off

#im there almost every friday rest assured #the amounts of christians who go via israel makes my blood boil

[smallandangry24]

Been seeing some stuff on my dash so HEED MY WARNING: if you bring antisemitism to my blog, I will Inigo Montoya your ass.

#prepare to die #no prejudice #no antisemitism #all faiths and lack thereof are respected here #Christians against hate #also even Joker hates n@z1s #the bar is on the ground #do NOT bring a pickaxe #because I’ll bring a battle axe #and rest assured #my username is accurate #Roman Italian catholic #but more Matt Murdock #i dont want a fight #but Im a lady so I’ll finish them

[gothwizardmagic]

forgot to even mention @ the victorian festival yesterday we got to take a tour of a masonic lodge & a freemason walked us through all the actual shit they do in meetings

#it was very funny seeing this man talk about their intensely ritualistic ceremonies and the Special Bible they read from #and then assure us they arent a cult or a christian group

[thekavseklabs]

need to go to college to get out of the house and move in with my sister like ive been wanting to

looking for colleges and its so overwhelming and tense

finally find one with a program i like that ISNT secretly waiting to fuck me over like the last one i nearly went for

the problem? DRIPPING in christianity. Its everywhere. "I thank the lord for leading me to this program" "the lord is vital to our lives" the lord is the deciding factor of my fist hitting your teeth

#i have no idea what to tag this #but rest assured i have no intention of actually punching someone for their religion #im just bitter and tense because of a lot of religious trauma #i just know that if someone said too many christian words to my face id just yell HAIL SATAN and start hissing to make them fuck off #ooc #negative #to my christian mutuals. i love you i rly do. you know why? because you respect me as a human being #your religion is not and never has been inherently evil #its just that too many evil people have used it to hurt me

[unproduciblesmackdown]

already thinking "and by 'religious' really i mean 'christian'" re: how the term "religion" is not really useful when it's largely like, from a christian perspective, what is considered "equivalent" of christianity, see: perhaps a "rival"/obstacle to some person or group being considered christian....and even if not thinking about converting anyone, resulting in some at best misinterpretation / misrepresentation based on framing it through/as [element of christianity] and limiting of any more accurate language

like how tumblr recommends me a post about someone thinking about "religion" in general and concluding that it's Weird and perhaps Wrong for anyone who is a "true believer" in their religion(tm) to Not be proselytizing / trying to Convert everyone. like yeah why isn't everyone being an evangelical christian, they ought to be, benevolently informing all those around them that they're going to hell, otherwise. don't see any problem with this conclusion, or that someone's getting antisemitic in the notes already in agreement, or that That's Not How This Works and you don't just know how All "Religion" works based on considering it to be an alternate version of christianity (which in itself doesn't All work like that either)

#and even when it comes to having a Critical View of any belief system / way of living / spirituality it's like...people are on that already #without having to see it from a christian perspective or understand the only possible framework for it as [critiques of christianity].... #a dogmatic approach / doctrine of Salvation....not how it all works out there re: ways anyone can be anything besides christian #So Bizarre why everybody's not all trying to ''convert'' everyone else in the world....is it. #what; like; ''you'd think everyone would be launching an inquisition'' like would you. #even if you know fuckall abt non christian beliefs / perspectives / traditions/practices / identities / ways of life etc.... #we could maybe go ahead and question this conclusion. or perhaps go ''but also i know fuckall about all that so why am i theorizing'' like. #and again there are non ''western'' christian traditions....and of course individuals and philosophies within christianity who would also #not think you can only Truly be christian by going ''and i'd better be trying to convert everyone. or i'm being a jerk'' too #not actually the case that everyone thinks everyone else who doesn't share some ''religious'' factor is Damned To Hell or an equivalent.... #anyways telling tumblr actually this particular post? isn't for me. and i don't thank you #another tiresome factor of [mass at the benedictine monastery] like the homilies/sermons were especially exhausting #they always were but like ''what are you even talking about'' as one priest goes on about how it's silly for people to say they're #Spiritual but not Religious b/c the only way to be spiritual is to be christian lite & if you're Genuinely even christian lite then you #ought to realize you should go full throttle christian. like a) No b) why are we preaching to the choir here. we're all at Sunday Mass??? #not like any sermons ever feel that thoughtful when like too much analysis is like uh oh? a bit heretical are we??? which is not universal. #gee thanks for this [are we just supposed to all sit here feeling validated in our superiority; or...?] experience #wisdom you couldn't totally get from someone going on some self-assured monologue abt heathens these days over dinner or sm shit #really makes you think. and then someone will be really thinking & going ''shouldn't everyone w/a Religion be an Evangelist'' hmm: No. #and they aren't ''wrong'' about their own beliefs approaches perspectives identities traditions etc for it either. Done #anyways changed ''religious parent'' to ''christian parent'' for its own enhanced accuracy & precision alike....