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writing-blog-iguess · 3 years

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Do you have any headcanons about the insecurities fic you wrote about? I can't help but headcanon a lot, like:

both Harley & Ivy enjoys watching reader finishing her food, they also call her their mom since reader has been making them food since their first meet (Harley loves her egg sandwich, while Ivy was the baked potatoes bread)

Alfred always bakes matcha swiss roll with red bean paste or pastries that's easy too shallow with reader (so that she could shallow without feeling like choking and needs to drink a lot of water) whenever she stops by and keeps giving him hugs which he gladly return it everytime, the Alferd&Y/N's hug, is what everyone comments it

Dicks showing pictures he took of seven years old (a journey of Y/N's growing he calls) and then reader to all his teammates and the league as soon as he learnt the engagement's finally announce 'Look at this! Can't you imagine?! She's my little sister! This is when she seven years old! It's very heartwarming right blah blah blah... " and that's how the other superheros and older Teen Titans and Barbara knows how much Dick adore his future little sister-in-law who's s cinnamon roll

Sassy and baddass way to talk for so people won't dare mess up with her confidence (Jason help her built up, after he met her and quick into adoption of her, siblings!) Not that he would ever admit, Jason will sent glares to whoever who diss Y/N's like to children picture books (for example, The Guardians of Childhood aka inspiration of Rise of the Guardians movie) come on, his little sister had great taste in books!

Tim forbid her drinking coffee when they first met and even after (since he nearly caused a seven-years-old gone missing in the manor after the reader can't fall asleep decided to have a exploration situation) but will make it for her sometimes later after she used to it, made account for art websites she wants to register that so she can admire arts but underage back when childhoods, so he used it under his own only name (defiantly annoymus, and no, it's not illegal website) and every then and how

Makeover and dress-up with Barbara, Stephanie and Cassandra after they learnt of her (which they give Damian few lessons of 'how to treat the girl you like' with Dick who's extremely enjoy it, Jason and Tim who's enjoy the show all day), in the end, all heads to movie since it's sister bond time and apparently, the ideas of XL caramel popcorns and coke are the best choice!

Bruce pat or ruffle her hair softly everytime they met, a habit since the day he had ten years ago when she's seven, a touch of 'my daughter is growing up' feel will seldom appears in his heart

Damian from straightly ingored to slowly falls in love with reader after everytime he saw her sincere smile whenever she enjoyed Alfred's food heartily (like this, but a more faintly heartwarming one haha, at the very last pic, not sure if you could see it, so here's another link you could try out☺☺ )

Innocent, 'naive girl playing tough' charm whenever she and Damian together alone (first kiss, cuddling, hair massaging, teasing, which he finds not annoying because it's how really she is, and he enjoys keep on trailing and turn on her wildness)

How reader slowly felt left out though it didn't really occur me, just the thought of Batfam night activity and how we're isolating from each other slowly and inoccasionally when growing up just made me feel that way, you know, the feelings of it's not the same like it used to anymore😞😞

And once again, thank you so much for accepting my request at the beginning, I've been having this thought in my mind but I just couldn't write it, I'm so glad you accepted it and it's totally the way I want☺☺ (And about part 2 Talia which you accepted it too, I hope my words didn't scare you out lol... I'm too exciting that day...) Hope you have a very good day ahead, author!

Tumblr really needs to let me know when I have something in my inbox, I swear.

Of course! I loved writing it, and I’m glad you enjoyed it. No, your words didn’t scare me lol, I’m just outlining part 2 and I hope you love it just as much. With that said, and you don’t mind the wait, send in your ideas! I love reading them.

Okay, onto the headcanons! I love these! I put mine under the readmore, there's a bit;

Y/N didn’t have the best home life. Like I’m not saying abusive, just her parents neglected her a little. And it didn’t help that her whole life was planned for. So when she met Harley and Ivy, they basically went, you’re mine now no take backsies. And y/n just rolls with it, because through them, she finds out what it feels to be loved by someone who cares about you. This of course, she keeps from her parents and the day she turned eighteen, she moved out and it was a lot easier to hang out with those two.

Ever since knowing Harley and Ivy, y/n’s been slowly getting out of her shell. When she starts to hang out with Jason, she becomes more confident. She has Jason wrapped around her finger without even knowing

The girls love her, everyone loves her and Damian’s just, why

She loves cooking, and she even swaps recipes with Alfred. (even from the beginning of the whole arrangement) she became fast friends with Alfred first before everyone else.

y/n has known Damian since his first day of school. But I’m not going to lie, y/n was kind of scared Damian.

She got so offended when Tim took away her coffee when she wanted to try it. And when she became a regular coffee drinker, they would talk about different coffees they had tried and compare notes.

When the arranged marriage was first brought up in conversation, there was a lot of protests. Especially from Dick and Damian, but Bruce just shrugged saying that it was a good match. And if they don’t get married in the end, than that’s fine. Everyone was very confused but stopped bringing it up

They have theories though about the whole thing, the most popular one in the manor is that Bruce is looking for the next Robin when Damian hangs up the Robin cape to be someone else

When Bruce announced that, everyone did their own research about y/n. Everyone but Damian agreed but she must be protected, though it kind of blows up when they kind of cast her aside when she started hanging out with them at the manor, (but that’s not until later)

She and Damian have lunch together everyday at school, much to Damian’s displeasure. And he’s mean to her at the beginning, ignoring her and whatnot. She doesn’t do anything cuz she hates this setup just as much

But slowly, she starts to catch feels but keeps it to herself.

As you said, Damian takes longer to fall in love with her. And its one of those moments when she looks at peace within his family and it just hits him like ‘oh. Oh no I’m in love and I can’t tell anyone this’ and he doesn’t. So up until they confess to each other, their just pinning after each other and people who aren’t family sees that their in love but no know says anything

However, they do get more cuddly when they’re alone. Like, they don’t kiss or anything. But when they have movie nights, y/n’s curled up on the end of the couch with Damian’s head on her lap. And she’s always plays with his hair, of runs her fingers through it and Damian has discovered that it feels nice and helps him to de-stress

She knows when he’s stressed about something, so her just pats her lap and he grumbles about it but is secretly happy (they have been caught on multiple occasions by his brothers and they chooses to ignore them

She’s been so use to feeling alone, that being with people who care feels foreign to her

When she starts to feel like she’s alone again, she doesn’t see it until it’s too late

It starts off slowly, the fam is to busy with missions and saving the world that they kind of forget they she doesn’t know, and when she comes over, their not there or just brushes her off when she is. And she’s tried to talk to them, cuz she’s spend years being a part of their family but then one day it stopped.

But they just brush her off and she’s reminded about her parents so she stops pushing and then altogether stops going to the manor.

No one really realizes at first, only Alfred, and when they do, y/n had already broken off the engagement.

#damian wayne x reader #damian wayne x fem!reader #batman #arranged marriage au #headcanons #robin #damian wanye #i answered a thing #anonymous

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jwillowwolf · 3 years

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Magic and Miracles - Chapter 3

Sanders Sides Big Bang fic, Chapter 3! < Previous Chapter | Next Chapter > | Masterlist Summary: “Remy? Remy? Remington? Oi, Remy, wake up!” Virgil said, shaking the snoring man.

“Huh? Where’s the dragon?”

“Here,” Janus answered.

“Eh? Oh, hey Snake-Eye, Wolfie, Lo, Violent.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “You weren’t responding to the gentle shaking.”

“That’s no reason to make a man think there’s an earthquake.” Warning/s: food mention. Characters: Logan, Remy, OC, Virgil, Roman, Remus, Patton, Janus. Tag List:@theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-please-come-back

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3 | Lessons Begin

Waking up, walking to the dining hall, and eating breakfast had been uneventful. Logan felt like the atmosphere was relatively peaceful despite the tension from last night. Then again, everyone was still rather groggy from sleep, so he wasn’t going to make any assumptions yet.

Once the seven students had reached the classroom though, they seemed much more awake, aware, and eager to learn about the mysteries behind magic. They all sat at the desks they had claimed the day before and waited silently as Remy came into the room. Remy looked at them with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you all in trouble already? I’ve never known kids to be quiet without adults shouting for them to be so… never mind, let’s get this lesson started. The first spell that all young magic users should know is Stat Check. Do you know what that is?”

The class shook their heads no.

“Good! Because it’s meant to be a closely guarded secret. Never written down or spoken of among anyone but wizards and their first-year apprentices. Before I can even teach it to you, you need to solemnly swear to me that you shall guard this secret as fiercely as all mages before you.”

“That seems rather dramatic,” Janus commented.

“This is magic we’re talking about! Of course, it’s dramatic,” Remy said with a grin. “Now, swear that you’ll keep this secret locked inside your soul.”

The class did as Remy asked, with a bit of speculation but agreement all the same. Unfortunately, I can not repeat the spell, but I can tell you that it is activated by holding a finger to your wrist and saying the ‘activation’ word which I shall from here on censor as ‘stats’.

Remy demonstrated the spell and once he said stats a sheet of light projected from his wrist. Written on the sheet of light was:

Remington Animosni

Titles: Lord Animosni, Friend of the Crown, Expert Wizard, +...

MP: 52 - Full

HP: 100 - Full

Skills: Magic, Potion Making, Charisma, +...

“So this is your main status board,” Remy explained. “It shows your name, titles, MP aka magic points, HP aka health points, and skills. You can interact with it by tapping on whatever to expand the information on it.”

Remy demonstrated this by tapping on the title Expert Wizard, which caused the screen to change to this:

Expert Wizard.

Title earned by increasing MP above 45. Perks: increased HP. Drawbacks: none.

“This is how you can better understand your own magical capacity and skill set. If you want to view your stats privately, then just say S stats. If you want to see someone else’s stats then say X stats while pointing your wrist at the person you want to check. You will only be able to see their name, HP, and MP, but that’s still good to know if you’re perhaps fighting them.”

“Why would magic-users fight one another?” Patton asked.

Remy sighed. “The world is a complicated place, Pat. But never mind that. Try checking your stats, everyone.”

The students nodded then tried out the spells for themselves. All opting to view their stats privately. Logan opened his and read it critically.

Logan Picani

Titles: Loyal Friend, Loving Son, Apprentice Wizard.

MP: 10 - full

HP: 40 - full

Skills: Magic, Baking, Student, +...

He raised an eyebrow curiously and tapped on the skill Student.

Student.

Level: 23/100

Rare Skill. Perks: faster reading and comprehension, easily picks up new skills. Drawbacks: none.

That seems like a good skill to have. Logan wondered if it was the reason for his ability to teach himself so well. He tapped the word again and the screen changed back to the main status board. Then he tapped onto the title Apprentice Wizard.

Apprentice Wizard.

Title Earned by unlocking the skill Magic. Perks: MP access. Drawbacks: HP conversion.

“Um, Mr Ainmosni?”

“It’s Remy, kid. What’s up?”

“What does the drawback HP conversion mean?”

“Ah, well, if you run out of MP during casting a spell, then your HP will automatically be turned into MP. This is a drawback because it can mean draining your HP to below five, which causes you to fall unconscious and die if it reaches zero.” Remy explained.

“Isn’t there a way to stop that from happening?” Willow asked.

Remy shook his head. “It’s an automatic drawback that comes with becoming an apprentice wizard. There’s no way to stop it apart from being conscious of what spells you’re using and how much MP they take. Calculating this will hopefully help you to keep from draining yourselves, so keep that in mind when you’re trying out new spells, kay?”

Everyone nodded.

“Okay, now that you’re more familiar with your stats, let’s do a quick assessment of your magical knowledge, shall we? What are the basic magical categories… Virgil?”

“Rock, animals, water, plants, fire, air, healing, and mind.”

“Correct. Logan, why do these categories exist?”

“They are the eight-core magics. All spells fall under at least one category, and depending on which there will be a different Initiation Word.”

“Correct. Willow, what are the eight Initiation Words?”

“Mowntayn for rock, Pawyng for animal, Ignyght for fire, Groh for plants, um... Rayne for water, Stahwynd for air, Embraes for healing, and... Wysdome for mind.”

“Right. Janus, how is a spell cast?”

“You say the initiation word, draw whatever runes are necessary, then end off with the sealing word.”

“Good. Patton, why do we use runes?”

“The runes represent what specific spell you want to cast.”

“Yep. Remus, how many runes are there?”

“A million?”

“Close enough. Roman, what is the sealing word?”

“Solhart.”

“Correct! Now,” Remy grinned. “Let’s get to the tough stuff.”

The following days were pretty much the same as this one. The class either revised what basics they knew or Remy explained what they didn’t know. They practised pronunciation, studied runes, and learnt about different potion ingredients. Within the first month, the kids had pretty much memorised the basics of magic.

Logan had visited home every weekend and told his dad and Everleigh about it all, but his eagerness from that first week seemed to be slowly wearing out as the class did nothing new. He had thought that today was going to be the same, but instead of leading the students to the classroom this morning, Remy led them to the gardens.

“Uh, Remy? Where are we going?” Roman asked.

“Today, you kids will be going on your first quest,” Remy announced.

The group perked up. “Quest?”

“Yep. I’m confident in your understanding of basic magic, so I am going to let you go off on your own to find some potion ingredients for our first potion making class.”

Remy pulled out seven different pieces of paper. “I’ve made each of you a checklist for what we will need, and while you all have different items, I hope you’ll work together to find what you need. Oh, and before I send you off, I need to teach you a new spell. Inventory.”

Remy stopped and the kids circled around him to watch as he demonstrated the new spell. He picked up a stone and held it in front of him. “Stawynd.” with the indigo light that flowed from his fingertip, he drew a rune that looked like a locked box onto the stone. “Solhart.”

The rune turned white and then vanished with the stone, causing the students to gasp.

“Where did it go?”

“Right here.”

Remy opened his status board and showed the kids a small icon in the corner of the screen that looked like the rune he had drawn. He tapped on this icon and the screen changed to show a bunch of different slots, mostly empty apart from two. One with a picture of Remy’s flask and the other a picture of the stone from before.

“This is an inventory,” Remy explained. “You can put different items into each slot, and depending on your proficiency you will have more or fewer slots. To add items to your inventory, you do as I did to the stone. And to take them back out, you just double-tap,” Remy tapped the stone and it reappeared in his hand. “Tada! Okay, you try with your lists.”

Everyone tried out the new spell and practised it a few times before Remy let them all go on their quest. They went out a gate by the fence that seemed almost hidden and set off into the deep dark woods. Of course, it wasn’t very dark since the sun was shining brightly in the sky, and filtered through the trees to light their way.

“Should we check what each of our individual lists says?” Logan asked.

Patton nodded agreeingly. “Yeah, then we can keep an eye out for the different things.”

“Actually, I think we should just look for our own stuff. More things to look out for means we might miss our own.” Roman said.

Willow frowned. “But this is meant to be a group project.”

“Technically, Remy said he hoped we’d work together.” Remus pointed out.

“I have an idea,” Janus suggested. “Let’s work in teams.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “I just said that would be hard.”

“I mean smaller teams. One team works individually and the other works together, then we’ll see which way is better.”

“How are we going to split up though? There are seven of us.” Virgil pointed out.

“We can have a team of four for the working-together group. That’s four people working together but also the team of three will have fewer things to find, so It works out fairly.”

“Well, how are we choosing teams then?” Patton asked.

“Well, obviously I would be one of the team leaders. I’m a natural-born leader.” Roman declared.

“Yes, the leader of the losing team, because I’ll be leading the winning team.” Janus states.

“Remus and Patton are with me, and we’ll be the individuals.”

“Sounds good. We’ll see you three later then.” Janus said before walking away from the group.

Virgil, Logan, and Willow followed after them till the four were out of earshot. “So, lists?”

“I have blackroot, ginfleck, and wild ginger,” Willow reported.

Virgil frowned. “What’s ginfleck?”

“A medicinal herb used commonly in potions for stomach aches,” Logan replied. “It looks like a sunflower but pink.”

“Why not call it a pink sunflower then?”

“Because… I honestly don’t know.”

“Logan, you live nearby here right?” Janus asked.

“In town, but yes.”

“Any idea where we could find some of this?”

“Well, I think I remember seeing a ginfleck patch somewhere along the road.”

“Let’s go there first then. We can keep an eye out for everything else along the way.” Virgil said, turning in the direction of the road.

And so they went and collected the pink sunflowers and everything else on their lists. It was only late afternoon by the time they returned to the house, but they found Remy lying on a hammock in the garden, napping in the sun.

“Remy? Remy? Remington? Oi, Remy, wake up!” Virgil said, shaking the snoring man.

“Huh? Where’s the dragon?”

“Here,” Janus answered.

“Eh? Oh, hey Snake-Eye, Wolfie, Lo, Violent.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “You weren’t responding to the gentle shaking.”

“That’s no reason to make a man think there’s an earthquake.”

“Whatever. Have the others come back yet?”

Remy shrugged. “I think the twins are in the house.”

“Patton wasn’t with them?” Willow asked.

“No. Did you all split up?”

“Yes, but we didn’t think they would split up. We divided ourselves into two teams.” Janus stated.

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about and Pat will be back soon. Why don’t you guys head inside and get some lunch.” Remy suggested.

The kids exchanged anxious glances but nodded and headed off to the dining room. While they were not exactly a close group of friends, the one person who’d befriended each of them was Patton. He was a kind little ball of sunshine and no one wanted any harm to come to him. Once they were inside the house, the four found Remus worriedly pacing by the door and Roman gloomily watching her from the corner.

Remus paused. “Did you guys see Patton?”

“No. Did the three of you split up?”

“I thought we could cover more ground that way,” Roman answered. “This is all my fault.”

“Let’s not go jumping to conclusions just yet,” Logan said. “Maybe he couldn’t find one of his items?”

“No. I saw Pat’s list before we split up. They were three common types of wild berries that he could have found easily.” Remus declared.

“You’re sure?” Willow asked.

“I saw them all over while I was getting my stuff.”

“He must be lost. It’s rather easy with how thick these woods are,” Virgil said.

“We need to find him,” Janus declared. “We’ve got to go back and look for him.”

“Where and how though? He could be anywhere,” Roman said with clear fear in his tone.

“Willow can track him. They’ve been trained in finding lost people.”

“Yeah, but I’d need a scent to go off of.”

“Like from clothes?” Remus asked.

“Clothes, or a personal item he keeps close.”

Remus ran away then returned in record time with a teal blanket. “Would this work?”

Willow took the item and smelt it. “Yes, this is perfect.”

“We might have to sneak past Remy, in case he tries to stop us.” Janus said.

“There’s another gate that’s closer to the house that we can get through.” Virgil declared.

“Who’s we though? We’re going to need to choose who is a part of this rescue.” Roman pointed out.

“I don’t think any of us are willing to stay behind, not if we could help. Patton may be in danger, and his getting lost is evidence enough that no one should venture off on their own. We need to work as a team here. A real team.” Logan stated.

Janus looked at the twins. “I’m willing to call a truce in the name of teamwork if you are.”

Roman nodded in agreement and Remus grinned. “Let’s go save Pat!”

The group followed Virgil outside and through the second hidden gate. From there, Willow took the lead as she sniffed out Patton’s scent. The group grew anxious the further Willow led them. Patton had gone quite far, from the looks of it, but it felt like something was wrong.

“Why would he have gone so far?” Logan wondered.

“I hate to suggest it, but something may have chased him,” Janus said and Willow nodded agreeingly.

“Wouldn’t that leave a scent of its own?”

“Yes, but I can’t discern anything. There are a lot of smells out here.”

“Can you smell anything?” Roman asked Janus.

“No. I can’t smell at all.”

“What?”

“I’m a dragon. We don’t have a sense of smell like humans do. We use a special organ on the roof of our mouths.”

“Aren’t you half-human?”

“That just makes it easier to shift between my humanoid and dragon form. There aren’t many other differences.”

“Wait, do you hear that?”

The team paused and listened. The only sounds Logan could make out were the normal ambience of the forest. But then he heard it.

“Hello? Is anyone up there?”

“Patton?!” Remus bolted towards the voice, the others followed him close behind.

He came to stop at the edge of a hole and looked down. “Patton? How did you get down there?”

“Remus! Hi! I jumped.”

“You jumped? From this height?” Janus asked, eyeing the drop disapprovingly.

The hole looked like the beginnings of a well, around three stories deep and some stones piled like a wall around the one side. Either the well-maker had abandoned their project halfway, or half of the well had mysteriously been taken away. That wasn’t important though, because right now the team had to figure out how to get Patton back up.

“I’m fine! The water was here to break my fall!”

“Why did you jump in the first place?” Roman demanded.

“I was being chased by some bees.” Patton sheepishly admitted. “My mom always told me, if that happens then you should get below water, quickly. Bees don’t like water.”

“How did you antagonise these bees?” Logan inquired.

“I was trying to get some honey for Remus.”

“Aw, Pat, that’s really sweet. But I’ve been worried sick about where you went!”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. You’re safe now. Um, how do we get him back up though?” Remus asked the group.

“I can grow a long strong vine to use as rope for us to hoist him up,” Roman suggested.

Janus nodded. “Well then, get to growing. We don’t have all day.”

Roman quickly did as he was told and once the vine-rope looked long enough the team tossed one end down to Patton. Each of them lined up and held onto the other end then pulled to get him out of the hole. With all six of them working together, it was a quick and easy task. Once Patton was clear of the well, Remus attacked him with a hug, and he thanked everyone for coming to rescue him.

The entire group was relieved to have him back. So relieved that they didn’t feel any worry, until they returned to the manor and came face to face with Remy.

“Do you have any idea how worried I was? You didn’t even suggest you were going out! And what do I find? Not only one of my students is missing- all of them are! Gone without a trace! Like, poof, never there! What were you thinking? Actually, scratch that were you even thinking?!”

He went on like that until dinner time and the kids decided that among all the lessons they’d learned today, ‘Don’t Freak Remy Out’, is now at the top. Also, maybe it would be better to stick together than separate. They made a good team when their prejudices weren’t getting in the way. But above all, they should never freak Remy out.

---

A/N: thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this. I'll be posting two chapters a day until the full fic is up, so if you want to be tagged, you can just ask.

I'd love to hear what you thought about the chapter if you wouldn't mind commenting. Thanks again for reading! Here's hoping you have a magical day 💜

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pidayforpi · 3 years

Text

“Flickering Flames”

Two waterfowls stood in front of a castle. A duck and a goose, to be exact.

Though it was already spring, the highlands of Scotland beckoned cold wind from all directions.

The green duck stood unfazed, but his yellow goose companion was shaking from the chilly wind, despite the goose wearing twice the amount of clothing of the duck.

Seeing his friend trembling in the cold, the duck reached out for the goose’s tiny palm. Although, their hands were equally cold.

He might not be able to warm his body, but he could at least warm his heart.

——————————————————————

Duckula put down the heavy bag of golf equipments, and knocked on the castle gate. He tapped his feet impatiently, hoping to quickly get this chore done. He believed Heinrich would like the same, as he was visibly very, very cold.

How Duckula wished he could understand his feeling right now. Vampires were permanently cold. No matter it was in the scalding summer, or the snowy winter, Duckula could only feel...nothing at all.

Perhaps there really was a difference. Duckula had been trying to be empathetic, but there were still a lot to learn.

Through the air current, he could hear grunting, wheezing, mumbles and footsteps. The resident was awake. Or, woken up. At least he knew he didn’t have to knock again. The least he wanted was to annoy the already grumpy old duck inside.

The huffing and puffing got closer and closer to the entrance, while the footsteps got louder and louder. Eventually, the wooden gate creaked open, and the master of the castle inquired after a cough.

“Where are ye frae? Where are ye fr- Oh, it’s ye lads...” Rory spoke from behind the door of his home, with only his crimson eyes visible to both guests outside.

Heinrich slightly tightened his grasp on Duckula’s hand in the presence of another vampire, while the older duck greeted his relative playfully.

“Good mornin’ Unca Rory! We are here to return these golf-“

“Get in!” Rory shouted from inside the building, interrupting his nephew.

“Huh?” Duckula was a bit confused, but continued nonetheless. “We will be dropping these golf equipments you-“

“Get in and we’ll talk!”

“R-really! We are just going to return these thingies you lent us for preparing the Highland Games. Won’t take you a min-“

“GET IN THE BLOODY CASTLE! YE TRYIN’ TO KILL ME, LAD?!”

Rory screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping up and down the stone floor grumpily. The shouting caused him to cough afterwards, and the two younger birds to stand still in shock.

Duckula felt wronged. He was just trying to give his uncle back his golf tools, and now he was overreacting hysterically, as if Duckula had placed a bomb in the bag. He believed none of the people present would want to prolong this meeting: Duckula was bored, Heinrich was freezing, and Uncle Rory was...well, stingy, even with time. He just wanted to say hi, drop the bag, and go home. How was this killing his uncle?

Just when Duckula was still processing and feeling bad for himself, Heinrich tugged his sleeves to gain his attention. The shorter gosling pointed up, signalling the green duck to look up. He did so, shielding his eyes from the morning sunlight-

Oh. Sunlight.

Duckula suddenly remembered not all vampires were immune to sunlight.

In fact, he’s the only one.

Duckula sheepishly grinned, sticking the tip of his tongue out. “S-sorry, Unca Rory...” Heinrich, despite innocent, also bowed his head in apology.

Rory grumbled lowly, controlling his temper with a deep breath. “It’s alright, nephew. And don’t call me that.”

——————————————————————

The two youngsters followed Rory into the castle. He lit the candles on the dining table, the torches on the wall, and the fireplace opposite of the gate.

“Take a seat.” Rory signalled his two guests to sit down at the long dinning table situated in the living room, even pulling out two chairs himself. The two felt a bit uneasy, but sat down with a nod of gratitude nevertheless.

After they had settled, Rory proceeded to what they assumed to be the kitchen or the pantry. Duckula and Heinrich looked at each other in confusion as sounds of running water, clanking utensils and liquid boiling echoed from wherever the host was. Their questions were soon answered, however, when Rory returned to the living room with a tea pot and three cups on a tray. The smell of camomile tea filled the area, giving the spacious room a homely feeling.

Both the mallard duck and the gosling were surprised. They were just here to return some stuff, and now they were treated like old friends from afar.

“W-woah! Unca...I mean, Uncle Rory, that’s...very kind of you...!” Duckula exclaimed. Even his butler wouldn’t serve him (pure) tea without him asking in the first place. Not to mention Rory was his senior.

“I have to live up me name as the ‘Scourge of the Glens’!” Rory proudly said as he put down the tray. He poured some tea into two of the three cups, and put them on top of two circular plates, before serving them to the two guests.

“S-s-so...y-you are g-going to p-p-poison us...?” Heinrich whispered, looking at the yellowish-green liquid suspiciously.

Seeing his good intentions were not well-received, Rory again hopped up and down, throwing his hands, along with his wooden cane, in the air.

“Then don’t drink it, I dare ye!”

And the two guests really did not touch the two cups for half a minute.

Not wanting his freshly brewed tea to go to waste, Rory eventually gave in.

“It’s not poisoned, I promise.”

Seeing that both cups were filled from the same tea pot, Duckula took the initiative and drank his cup first. Hopefully whatever poison (if present) worked for both vampires and mortals, so that he could be a viable test for toxin.

Of course it wasn’t toxic.

After witnessing his friend drinking his cup without appearing sick afterwards, Heinrich slowly picked up his and took a sip. Still hot. Perfect for his freezing body.

“S-sorry for doubting y-you, Mister McDuckula...” Heinrich looked at Rory shyly, regretful for mistaking his hospitality for hostility.

Rory’s expression softened when he heard the gosling’s apology. “It...it’s fine, laddie.”

“Heh. You should have seen Heinrich’s reaction when I handed him a Bockwurst sandwich!” Duckula beamed, recalling his first encounter with his little goose friend.

Heinrich blushed with embarrassment. “D-D-D-Duckula! I h-haff s-said I vas s-s-sorry!”

“Oh? What was it about, nephew?” Rory leant onto the table with a curious grin.

“Same as what happened just now, only it took him waaaaaaaay longer to get used to.”

Rory chuckled, crooking his already crooked back. Duckula scooted closer to his friend. “Sorry, Heinrich. It just reminded me of that day.”

Heinrich was still pouting a bit, but his cheek had returned from pink to yellow.

“Don’t blame yerself, kiddo. Ye’re a vampire hunter, after all. It is a foolish act to accept food or drink from a vampire. Ye never know if that meal will be yer last, before ye become one yerself!” Rory reassured Heinrich with a pat on his head, who smiled nervously in response.

“So, err, what are ye two here for today?” Rory finally questioned his two uninvited guests about their intentions, while pouring himself a cup of home-brewed tea.

Duckula remembered why they were here, and quickly put down his cup. “Oh! We are here to return these.”

Duckula picked up the heavy bag from the floor, jogging to the other side of the table, while Heinrich followed.

“Thank you for lending us your precious golf equipments! We won’t disappoint you in the coming Highland Games!” Duckula handed the bag with a smile.

“Lemme see...Three flags, five golf clubs, seven golf balls...Yes. Exact amount. Learnt yer lesson from the last time, hm?” Rory glared at Duckula, who let out an anxious chuckle.

He then turned his focus onto Heinrich, before smirking mischievously.

“Say, nephew. Ye do know how to please an elderly. So nice of ye to bring me...breakfast.” Rory stared at the gosling straight in his eyes, causing the latter to cling closer to his friend.

Duckula understood his uncle’s “joke”, and sighed. “He’s not your breakfast, lunch, dinner or midnight snack.”

“Then why are ye bringing him to me lair? Ye do realise...I am...a vampire!” Rory hid his face behind his cloak mysteriously, before revealing himself, showing his sharp, white fangs with an evil smile. Heinrich gasped, rushing to hide behind Duckula.

On the other hand, Duckula was visibly unamused. “So am I, uncle. He’s just accompanying me. And his name is Heinrich. You know that.”

Rory laughed to himself, before questioning his nephew again. “I think he is with the doctor?”

Duckula rubbed his forehead. “That’s a long story. Goosewing got to attend an inventors’ conference today, and Vanna also got lessons at the university. So I am taking care of Heinrich for the day.”

“And before you ask, no. I won’t leave him behind at the castle. I can’t guarantee I can return his assistant alive to Goosewing. He would definitely be killed, intentionally by Igor, unintentionally by Nanny.”

“Then why didn’t ye send yer dear butler Igor to do the chore? Ye’re a count, for heaven’s sake!”

“This is a small task. I can handle it myself.”

Rory raised an eyebrow at Duckula’s response, obviously not buying his explanation. Duckula saw the suspicion in his uncle’s red eyes, and let out a big sigh.

“Okay, you got me. Igor is on strike.” Duckula confessed.

“For?”

“For...him.” The count moved to the side, gesturing the young vampire hunter behind him.

“Even for a year, he still can’t accept Heinrich and his family. That stubborn old vulture...How can I possibly entrust Heinrich to him? I can’t even let Heinrich out of my sight at the castle! Might as well take him with me...”

“...Even someone else’s castle is safer than mine...”

Duckula sulked, looking down at his webbed feet. Heinrich also lowered his head with a frown, feeling sorry for Duckula, and even more guilty for worsening the relationship between the count and the butler.

After ten seconds of hanging his head down, Duckula snapped out of his thought. He realised the awkward situation he had made. He just vented out his family conflict all of a sudden, making Heinrich extremely guilty and Rory rather uncomfortable.

“I...I am sorry...” Duckula’s eyes darted between his friend and uncle, desperately trying to reverse the situation. But he didn’t know what to say other than apologies. “I am sorry...I am sorry...”

Rory took a deep breath, and sighed quietly. He also didn’t expect the just-warmed-up room to freeze again in a mere minute. But if the atmosphere had turned serious, he might as well go along.

“C’mere, kids.”

He placed all the tea utensils onto the large rectangular tray, and picked it up. He turned around, inviting the two to join him.

The elderly walked towards the fireplace, while the two youngsters followed in silence. He placed the tray onto the coffee table next to the fire pit, and sat down on one of the two sofa chairs facing the fire. He gestured his hand to the other chair, asking the duo to sit.

“Y’know, ye aren’t the first Duckula-Von Goosewing friend duo I know.” Rory looked at the cracking flames, seeing memories of the past emerging from the burning firewood.

“I may be a hermit, but news comes and goes. And this bag o’ feathers has been around for who knows how long.”

“I have even met one pair in person - more than one pair, actually. Usually, the drake count would be introducing his new gander friend to this relative of his, perhaps a symbol of genuine friendship.”

“Sometimes the goose would be angry. Sometimes he would be scared. Sometimes he would be rather easy-going. Whatever their first impression, we would always have fun while we could. I always served them camomile tea on their first visit. They say camomile tea can calm ones’ nerves, whether it is fear or agitation.”

“They might visit once, thrice, five times, ten times...”

The old vampire stared at the flickering flames: Sometimes roaring, sometimes dying. His pleasant smile changed to a melancholy frown, his pupils dilating from sorrowful reminiscence.

“But they all stopped coming, eventually.”

“Perhaps they were tired of me, or they never intended to visit me regularly. But no. They stopped visiting anyone. Not together. Not anymore.”

“And before long, I would hear from the newspapers, that a member of the Von Goosewing family managed to vanquish another reincarnation of the foul Count Duckula, granting peace to the people of Transylvania for a century.”

“Or maybe, during family reunions, I would hear from the current Count Duckula himself, that he managed to trick a Von Goosewing into having his neck bitten, making a meal out of him and a humiliation out of his family.”

Rory turned his face away from the two and towards the fireplace. He sniffed gently as he looked into the flames of destiny. Life really was as fickle as fire, wasn’t it?

“And then a pair of duck and goose would visit me again. And another, and another, and another...”

“I would always welcome them with a smile and a pot of camomile tea. But I knew: There could only be two endings, both of which were tragedies.”

“I should had warned them. I should had told them the cautionary tales of their ancestors. But I was such a coward. But I was such a selfish person. Who am I to intervene with the relationships between Counts of Duckula and the Von Goosewing?”

“I didn’t want trouble. I didn’t want responsibility. I kept me beak shut. I witnessed tragedies after tragedies. I faced this punishment again and again.”

Rory took off his red tam o’ shanter, holding it in front of his chest. He closed his eyes, praying quietly.

Duckula and Heinrich looked at the elderly in awe. Surprised that they weren’t the first, sad that they weren’t the first as well. They could only imagine what tales of woe had happened in the past, and the feelings of regret the old vampire had been experiencing.

After a minute of silence, Rory put his cap back on, turning to face the two friends.

“Pray, I beg of ye. Pray don’t let this relationship end with a stake through the heart. Don’t let this friendship end with a bitten neck. Let it end with a genuine smile. No...”

Rory leant closer to the two, his crimson eyes filled with sorrow, his hands held tightly together.

“Pray, never let this friendship end...”

He freed his right hand, extending its pinkie.

“Promise me...Promise me...”

Rory looked at Duckula and Heinrich with utmost sincerity. It must be a request like no other, when the “Scourge of the Glens” practically begged and resorted to such childish promise-keeping ritual. Neither the mallard duck nor the young goose would understand how Rory felt, but they knew it must had been truly devastating for him.

This time, Heinrich took the lead, and stretched out his pinkie to hold onto the old duck’s. Duckula was a bit surprised at his normally cowardly friend’s initiative, but he understood once he saw the empathy in the gosling’s yellow eyes.

Duckula looked at his uncle with determination, and extended his pinkie.

A pinkie promise, but a promise stronger than any other.

“Thank you, lads...”

Rory hugged the duck and the gosling, tears flowing out of his crimson eyes.

For once, the flames in the fireplace did not die out.

——————————————————————

“Sorry, boys. Must had been embarrassing seeing this old duck weep.”

Rory settled back in his seat, wiping away traces of tears with his sleeves.

“It’s o-okay, Mister McDuckula. I c-cry all ze time.” Heinrich beamed, his smile spreading onto Rory’s face.

“Ye really are a kind child, Heinrich. The doctor is blessed to have ye as his assistant.”

“T-t-thank you so much, Mister McDuckula!”

“And ye too, nephew.” Rory smiled at Duckula. “A thoughtful and responsible young man. I am honoured to have ye as me guest at ‘Glen Sparrows Hotel’.”

Duckula blushed at his uncle’s compliment. “Aw, shucks...”

With another deep breath, Rory got up from his seat.

“Thank you for hearing this geezer’s mumbling. Shall I see ye out?”

Duckula exchanged gazes with Heinrich, who affirmed with a nod.

“Actually, if you don’t mind...” Duckula stood up, holding the tray in his hands and a smile on his face. “We would like another cup of camomile tea.”

Rory blinked a few times, feeling his heart getting sour again. He held back his tears, forcing a grin.

“Then ye better have some interesting stories up yer sleeves! This tea ain’t free! And I have told ye so much, ye better have something equivalent!” Rory took the tray to the kitchen, teasing his nephew and his friend.

“You bet I do, Uncle Rory!”

And so, a blood-sucking vampire, a vegetarian vampire and a vampire hunter’s assistant spent a day at the castle on the highlands of Scotland.

Windy the mountains might be, the stone wall kept the castle a homely abode. Quiet the wilderness might be, the laughter of its occupants kept the castle a joyful place.

The flames in the fireplace were still burning, forever sincere and pure.

(28-12-2020 ~ 31-12-2020)

———————————————————————

- The “Bockwurst Sandwich” incident is a part of Duckula’s first encounter with Heinrich (and vice versa). This will be included in my coming long story detailing the start of their friendship. Bockwurst sandwich is the favourite food of (my) Heinrich, by the way.

- I had thought for some time about where to end this story. I usually end my stories with a conversation, so I was thinking with the “We would like another cup of camomile tea” or “You bet I do” sentences. Eventually, I decided to end this with the fireplace, with “fire” symbolising “friendship”, and also use it as the story title.

#count duckula #duckula #rory mcduckula #heinrich #story #storyteller #short story

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idhrenniel · 5 years

Text

Poison / Thomas Shelby

part two

➴ Summary: Tommy knows she’ll be the end of him, but the heart wants what it wants.

➴ Pairing: Tommy Shelby / fem!reader (3rd POV).

➴ Warnings: +18. This is pure smut, read at your own risk. It also contains mentions of cheating.

➴ Wordcount: 1802.

➴ Tagged: @angelaiswriting

➴ Author Note: I’m thinking about writing a part 2 of this, let me know if you’d be interested in it!

Thomas was still a kid when he realized he wanted to get married to her, and that desire had not subsided as he grew into a man. His heart might have belonged to others in that time, he might had slept with countless of women, but his mind and soul were hers. And she knew. It was something she took advantage of more often that not, and although Thomas knew that no part of her loved him back - he even doubted she was able to love sometimes, there was no changing it. She had bewitched him and he danced around her fingers in whatever tune pleased her. It was a life he was content with, no matter how much it hurt.

Pol had tried to reason with him enough times for him to lose count, even Arthur had tried to put some sense into him. Nothing worked because he wasn’t blind; he had seen the marks other men leave on her when she’s in his bed, had heard the people whispering about them. He had seen her leaving with men as she gave him a kiss and a smile to pass the night.

She was a poison he had become addicted to, so when she left Small Heath he almost died. It was his desperation for touching her that made him irascible, Thomas woke up missing her kisses and her laugh, even the pain she inflicted on him with her adulterous life. He went from one to another, as if he could replace her. As if she wasn’t the one in his mind when he emptied himself in someone else.

And then one morning, she wasn’t in his mind. It was a few weeks after he and Greta started to take their relationship serious. His siblings and Pol loved Greta, and although it was a bit soon for him to know, he did believe he could love her as well. But he was soon met with the truth. Love her? Could be. Worship her? Never.

Thomas learnt his lesson that night in the canal, when he was waiting for Greta but it was a different voice that made it to his ears. Just the sound of her voice and he was trembling.

“Isn’t it cold to be outside tonight, Tom?” Tom, he wanted to laugh. No one ever called him that, just her. It was special, somehow. In her twisted mind, it sure was.

He didn’t turn around until she was right next to him, in that moment he couldn’t stop himself. It had been seven months since the last time he saw her - she looked the same, a goddess. She had her hair down, making Tommy fight the urge to run his fingers through it. Her face was a bit red because of the cold, but stunning nonetheless. As she turned around to look at him, Thomas let out a shaky breath that caused her to smile. It was witchcraft, his mother had once told him: how she was able to be a different person through her eyes. Innocent if she was talking to Pol, daring if it was Arthur, dark and promising if it was Tommy.

“No,” Thomas said at last, after gaining enough courage. It made her chuckle.

She got closer to him, their lips were almost touching and her naked hand had found home in his hair. “I am.” It was a low whisper, but to him she was shouting. He bit his lip, thinking.

Greta didn’t cross his mind for a second. Not as he connected their lips, or as he wrapped his arm around her waist to bring her as close to him as it was possible. Not when he felt her smile against his lips and he growled out of frustration because he was hers but she wasn’t his. Perhaps he’d think of her in the morning. But not in that moment.

Thomas pressed her against the rail, lifted up her skirt and then pressed himself against her. She could feel his growing erection through the fabric of his trousers and didn’t bother to hide her amusement as her hand grabbed it. Tommy hissed as his lips moved down to her neck and sucked, bit and kissed the exposed skin. He wanted to mark her as men had done before in an useless attempt to claim her as theirs. At least she’d remember him, he thought.

“Oh, Thomas-” she moaned against his ear. “I’ve missed you.” And there was no trace of lies in her voice as she said it, which made Tommy look up at her and kiss her. Those weren’t the words he wanted to hear, the ones he had been begging for since he was a kid - but it was far more than he had ever received and he held onto them as a drunk does to a bottle.

Thomas grabbed her hair and forced her to look at him. “Don’t leave me again.” He sounded controlled, so sure of himself, but she saw right through it and into the mess that his heart and mind were. Without words, she gave him an answer. As her hands found his belt and she grabbed it, pushing him towards her. She undid his trousers, then used her legs to lower them down to his knees. He felt her hand once again against him, this time as she took his cock and scratched it with her nails. A shameless moan left Tommy’s throat. She had spoken enough, he could have her or he could let her go.

He entered her in a swift, hard motion.

Fucking in a public area, against a rail was, well - wasn’t the most comfortable thing ever. He had to grab her so she wouldn’t fall back into the river- and in return she dig her nails on his neck and scalp, looking at him with a knowing smile dancing around her lips. She bounced up and down his cock in such a natural, effortless way one might think that’s where she belonged. She felt like heaven against him, her fluids going down his thigh, wetting his pubic hair everytime he thrusted inside her. Even the sound it made got him harder. She pressed him against her chest, that Tommy had previously uncovered to mark. He breathed against her skin, warming it up. She sure as hell wasn’t cold now, was she? Tommy thought with a chuckle as he thrusted into her once again, his free hand colliding against her ass cheek at the same time. She let out a high-pitched scream that soon turned into laughter, throwing her head back she contracted her walls against his cock and moaned his name out loud.

At this point, Thomas was a panting mess, but she wasn’t better. She was in his ear, asking - begging him to cum inside her. Be good for me, she had whispered, biting his earlobe after. She loved to be in control, even if he was the one with the cock he’d kneel and eat her out in church if she fucking asked for it. All she ever had to do was ask for it. Thomas’s thrusts were getting sloppier, and to make up for it he brought his hand against her clit and moved his fingers fast and hard, like he knew she liked it. The more painful it was for her to walk after, the better. He bit down on her chest, his eyes looking up at her through his lashes. She caressed his face and combed her fingers through his hair and nodded, then his name left her lips like a prayer and that’s all it took for Tommy to cum. His hot seed milked her walls. He kept on thrusting until she told him to stop. Both of them hissed as he took his cock out.

Some of their cum had gone down her thighs, he was going to offer a napkin when she took it in her fingers and licked it off of them. The sight got him hard again.

She looked down and saw, chuckling. “Let me take care of that, Tom.” He nodded.

Kneeling before him, she opened her mouth, taking him all in one swift motion. She moaned around his cock and he had to support himself on the rail. He hissed and moaned and asked for more - he was still sensitive from his previous release but he wasn’t going to miss the chance of feeling her mouth. She sucked on it while her hand fondled his balls, scratching as she did so. Even on his cock, she let her teeth roam his length before taking him in again. When his cock was against her lips, she pressed her tongue against the tip, but he loved it best when he was deep inside her and she closed her throat to add pressure. She moaned in that moment as well, sending vibrations all over him. Thomas couldn’t stop himself when he grabbed her hair, his hips moving forward on his own. He had expected to get mad, after all she was the one leading, but all she did was grab his hips with her free hand and bob her head in sync with him, repeating her movements until he spilled his seed on her throat. She looked up at him through watered eyes; her lips in a playful smile as his semen ran down her chin and neck, falling into her chest. She opened her mouth to show him he was still in her mouth, then swallowed all of it. What was left on her face she licked. Then, she got up.

Her head was tilted. “Help clean this up, will you? Can’t go around looking like this.”

Tommy didn’t need to be told twice: in a instant he was licking and sucking his own seed from her neck and chest until all that glistened was his saliva.

In the aftermath, Tommy realised his actions. Still wasn’t enough to make him regret them. He leaned against the rail, lighting up a cigarette. His clothes were disheveled, but at least his cock was back in his trousers. She had just finished fixing her skirt when she spoke.

“That was fun. Goodnight, Tom.” He felt a kiss against his cheek and saw her leaving.

She was gone again the next morning, it made him wonder if he had just dream it. But the marks she had left on his skin reminded him it had been real, the encounter, at least. He had to avoid Pol and Greta for a few weeks. Everything returned to normal after that.

Tommy still slept with Greta and planned a future with her, while thinking of (Y/N) and hoping that one day she’d win against her demons and came back to him, this time to stay forever.

#tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby x reader #peaky blinders imagine #peaky blinders #tommy shelby smut #smut #reader insert #cillian murphy #tommy shelby imagine #john shelby #arthur shelby #ada shelby #polly gray #michael gray #idhrenniel: my writing

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dalyunministry · 3 years

Text

Pastor Johnraj Lamech

🍁

Greetings in the matchless Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Topic: Obedience Made Easy!

Rhema Word (1): Matthew 11:30 (NIV) “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Rhema Word (2): 1 John 5:3-4 (NIV) “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith”.

Let’s pray. Our Gracious Loving Father, thank you for giving us an opportunity to meditate your Word today. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for helping us to understand your Words which are living and active. Please help us to live a life as per your Word Lord. Father, we give all the Glory and Honour to you. We pray in the mighty Name of your beloved Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

We may not be regular in talking to God. But the devil never misses a day to talk to us. Invariably his subject of conversation with us is lies about God and His Word. The foremost of his lies is that, “God is a hard taskmaster…His expectations are too demanding to be lived up to…His commandments are too difficult to be obeyed!” Victory in Christian life depends on which one we choose to believe: Devil’s lie OR GOD’S TRUTH”.

Christian life begins with obedience to the Gospel. From beginning to end Christian life is a life of obedience. That’s why unbelievers are called the “children of disobedience” (Eph 5:6). No doubt obedience to God is difficult, but it is not a drudgery. This was made clear in one of the very early discourses of Jesus: ”My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” To this the dear most disciple of Jesus, even John said Amen when he testified at the end of his six decade of Christian life, ”God’s commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3 b).

Remember, the first audience of Jesus was mostly of Jews. Religion was a burden for them. The laws of Moses were a heavy yoke. The leaders who taught those laws to the people would not even touch them with their fingers (Matthew 23:4). It was against this background Jesus invited folks to Him with the promise in Matthew 11:28-30 ”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This does not mean that Jesus lowered the standard of holiness set by the Father God in the law of Moses. In fact Jesus has raised it. He said that even a lustful look was adultery, and hatred was murder (Matthew 5:21,22,27,28). The difference is that God under the New Covenant has abundantly given to us His grace through Christ that we may be enabled to obey His Commandments as would be acceptable to Him (John 1:16,17). In other words, obedience is now made easy!.

Let us try to understand how obedience is made practical and easy from the Book of Hebrews. Interestingly this 13 chapter book begins with the words, ”God spoke!”. I could pick up from this Epistle atleast following seven factors which make obedience easy. Understanding of each of these factors will surely catapult you to soaring heights to walk in the heavenlies.

1] Faith:

2] Fear:

3] Facts:

4] Fellowship:

5] Forerunners:

6] Failures:

7] Future:

1] Faith:

If we trust someone, it becomes easy for us to do what that person bids us to do. The Book of Hebrews presents Abraham as a classic example of this truth. Hebrews 11:8 says ”By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” He trusted God as a “friend”. James records this fact in James 2:23 (b) “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.”. Jesus came to show us not only the fatherhood of God but also His friendliness. Obedience is such a pleasant and natural thing in homes where parents and children relate to each other as friends!

Jesus during His life on earth was a friend both of sinners and saints. He was nick-named, “friends of sinners”, and He called His disciples His friends. Fellowship is basic to trust and confidence.

God’s commandments come to us through His Word. We cannot obey them unless we believe them. Adam disobeyed God because he disbelieved what God has told him about the tree of knowledge. Unbelief was the root cause of the disobedience of the people of Israel (Hebrews 3:18,19). The Author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:2 ”For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.”

God is not against common sense or logical reasoning. They are very necessary to make right decisions and sound judgement. But everything should be submitted to the Word of God. Peter was quite frustrated when after a whole night of toiling and moiling in the sea he caught nothing. Jesus was not a fisherman but a carpenter. When He asked Peter to throw the net into deep waters, the latter would not have found it easy to do so. But when he placed his fishing experience under the words of Jesus, obedience became easy for him. He said, ”Nevertheless at Your Word…”(Luke 5:5).

This kind of faith comes by hearing the Word of God again and again. Not just by reading, but by “hearing” – which means that we must realise that it is actually God “speaking” to us whenever we read His Word. Hearing leads to believing, and believing helps obedience (Romans 10:16-17).

Obedience becomes difficult once the heart is hardened by unbelief. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews warns us in Hebrews 3:12 ” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” When we realise that the one who calls us to obey is a “living God”, we feel like a child relaxing with confidence into the bosom of its mother. No anxiety. No worry.

2] Fear :

Fear is the next powerful force that motivates us to obey. Noah feared God and obeyed Him to build an ark. We read in Hebrews 11:7 ”By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.” If he had not obeyed, he would have got destroyed with others in the flood.

Fear has two components, one negative and the other positive. Fear of punishment is negative. Fear for the person is positive. The negative thing is the worry of consequence. The other one is reverence for the person. For God-pleasing obedience both the dimensions are important.

a] Negative Fear:

The first lessons of obedience are usually learnt in the school of negative fear. When God gave Adam His commandment about the tree of knowledge, He warned him, ”In the day when you eat of it you shall surely die!” (Genesis 2:17). Parents show the cane or threaten their children. Teachers warn students that they would fail if they don’t work hard. While counselling youngsters, King Solomon wrote, ”Fear the Lord and depart from evil” (Proverbs 3:7(b)). As a preacher he concluded his sermons with the words in Ecclesiastes 12:13 ”Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.”

Let us just check why does a nation become corrupt? Why do communities collapse in morals? Why does the world embrace evil? Why is sin tolerated in the Churches? Loss of Fear of God is the underlying reason.

When Abraham went to Gerar, he requested his wife Sarah to tell people that she was his sister. The King of that place was attracted by her beauty and took her to himself. But before he touched her God intervened and warned him that she was someone’s wife. The King was alarmed and asked Abraham why he told this lie. The answer of Abraham was ”Because I thought, surely the FEAR of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife!” (Genesis 20:10-11).

Fear of God comes from the knowledge that nothing can be hidden from Him. The Bible says in Hebrews 4:13 ”And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” It was this knowledge that made Joseph flee from temptation. When his boss’ wife enticed him, her argument perhaps was no one would know because “none of the men of the house was inside” (Gen 39:11-12). She looked “around”, but he looked “above”! He knew that God knew. Joseph has the knowledge that every transgression and disobedience would receive a just penalty (Hebrews 2:2).

b) Positive Fear:

Understanding “who” commands us makes obedience easy. Reverential fear for God stops arguments and rebellion in our mind. See the introduction to the Ten Commandments: ”I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2). Then follow the commandments, ”Therefore, You shall….You shall not … and so on!”

Not only for the Ten Commandments, but also whenever God gave His people important laws and regulations, He prefaced them with the statement, ”I am the Lord!”

In a very practical situation Peter demonstrated how the knowledge of who commands makes obedience easy. When Jesus was walking on the sea towards His disciples whose boat had been seized by raging waves and contrary wind, they were afraid that it was a ghost! But Jesus cheered them up saying it was He. Immediately Peter responded, ”Lord, it is You, command me to come to You on the water!” (Matthew 14:24-29). Peter knew how risky it was to attempt to walk on water. But he ventured because he knew who called him.

3] Facts:

Often we are told by preachers and people that we must obey God blindly, but God would have us understand WHY we must obey Him. No doubt our obedience must be implicit and immediate, but God is only pleased when it is intelligent too.

In Hebrews 3:7 we read, ”Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” The author of the Epistle in the two previous verses states twin reasons for calling for obedience. One was that Moses was faithful in God’s house as a servant, and next, Christ is faithful over His house as a Son. In other words, Moses understood that he was a servant of God and that demanded faithful obedience; and Christ obeyed His Father as a son.

Applying the same principle to us, when we know that God is our Creator, we will obey Him as His creatures. When Christ is our King, we obey Him as His citizens. He is the Captain, so obey Him as His soldiers. He is the Lord and Master, so we obey Him as His disciples. That’s why He once rebuked His disciples, ”Why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46). If Christ is the Head, we ought to obey Him as the organs of His body. This is intelligent obedience.

David was a man after God’s own heart, but that does not mean he never disobeyed God. He did have difficulties in obeying God in everything. That’s why he frequently prayed, “O Lord, give me understanding and I shall keep Your law…Give me understanding that I may learn Your commandments…that I may know Your testimonies” (Psalm 119:34,73b, 125). Yes, God does not demand from us blind obedience, but He desires brilliant obedience. Intelligent obedience gives no room for half-heartedness.

Please note, why do horses and donkeys and other animals find it difficult to obey their masters? Because, they have no understanding. That’s why God admonishes us, ”I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go … Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have NO UNDERSTANDING, which must be harnessed with bit and bridle, or else they will not come near you!” (Psalm 32:8-9).

Where do we get facts from ? How do we get understanding? It’s all from the Word of God. It imparts understanding of eternal facts in our inner man. This function of God’s Word is graphically explained in Hebrews 4:11-12 ”Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of DISOBEDIENCE. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The message here is that God’s Word gives us clear-cut understanding of divine truth. Plain truth. Just facts. No compromise. Systematic meditation of the Scriptures keeps our spirits soft and submitted to the Rule of God in our lives. Not mere accumulating of knowledge in head but assimilation of divine truth in heart.

4] Fellowship:

Help and support from fellow believers, friends and family folks make obedience to God easy. We are exhorted in Hebrews 3:13-15 ”But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”

Please note when we enter eternity, there will be no “today” because there will be no yesterday or tomorrow! A walk of obedience with God is ultimately the individual’s choice and responsibility, but he cannot do it all by himself. Not isolation but integration is the safest road to walk in consistent obedience.

We must not fail to note when exactly God gave Eve to Adam. It was immediately after He commanded Adam about the tree of knowledge (Genesis 2:15-18). God said, ”It’s not good for man to be alone! Not that he would fall into adultery if he were alone. In fact, there was no woman at all at that time! The companionship of Eve was mainly to help Adam to obey God and resist Satan. What an awesome responsibility God has placed on spouses to mutually encourage and exhort one another in their walk of obedience to God! When together they seek to obey God in all matters, relationship between them also becomes smoother. This was the secret of oneness between the old couple Elizabeth and Zacharias (Luke 1:6,59-63).

Children need the help of parents to obey God. King Solomon stresses it in the very beginning of this book of Proverbs. ”My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother” (Proverbs 1:8; 4:1-4). The influence of mummy and granny is well known (2 Timothy 1:5).

”Leave me alone”, is the demand of youth both at home and outside. This puts the devil in an advantageous position to play havoc in their lives. Let them listen to the words of the wisest king ever lived: ”Two are better than one…Because, if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up… Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.. Better is a poor and wise youth than an old foolish king who will be admonished no more” (Ecc 4:9,10,13). Was it not because of the strong support of fellowship the three young men namely Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael enjoyed that they could choose to obey God rather than the King of Babylon in the matter of faith? (Daniel 3:28).

5) Forerunners:

Obedience is taught as well as caught. Because the children of disobedience outnumber the children of obedience and we are invariably surrounded by the former, we get easily imbibed with a spirit of disobedience (Eph 2:2). The most effective means to unlearn the ways of disobedience is to learn from those who walked in obedience (Colossians 3:6-8, 1 Timothy 6:11).

Of the clouds of forerunners whom we can emulate to walk in obedience, Jesus is the supreme example (Hebrews 12:1). We are called to closely study Him and watch Him (Hebrews 3:1-2). Apostle Paul points this out in Romans 5:19 in stark contrast to the disobedience of Adam and his race: ”As through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.”

Yes, the obedience of Jesus was not intermittent but consistent. He was obedient “until death”. His life from beginning to end was characterised by obedience. He obeyed His Father on the banks of River Jordon, in the wilderness of temptation, in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the Mount of Golgotha and everywhere. No spot on earth was desecrated by Him by steps of disobedience. Let this mind of Christ, the willing mind of obedience, be in us also! (Phil 2:5,8). Let us “obey always!” (v 12). It is easy to dismiss the example of Jesus saying that He was God and so He could live like that. But let us not forget that He did so by ”coming in the likeness of men” (v 7c).

The 11th Chapter of Hebrews, which is called God’s Hall of Fame, is filled with portraits of those who excelled in obedience to God in their generations:

Noah obeyed God amidst mockers (Hebrews 1:17)

Abraham obeyed God leaving comforts (v 8)

Joseph obeyed God against allurements (v 22)

Moses obeyed God against affluence (v 24)

Daniel obeyed God against threats. The disciples obeyed God amidst persecutions. Let us be always inspired by these forerunners. Most of them lived in times when the benefits of Calvary or the blessings of Pentecost were unknown. If they could walk in God-pleasing obedience then, we certainly can – even more!

Forerunners of obedience run not only all over the Bible but also throughout Church history:

Amy Carmichael (1867-1951) obeyed God’s call and came to India.

William Carey (1761-1834) obeyed God’s call and came to India.

David Livingstone’s (1813-1873) obedience to God’s call took him to Africa.

Adoniram Judson’s (1788-1850) obedience landed him in Burma.

Hudson Taylor (1832-1905) sailed to China in obedience to God’s call.

6] Failures:

There is no one without failures in this world. For those who love God no failure is final. Failures, crises, suffering, losses, disappointments and such things belong to the same category. In the providence of God, all these can be redemptively used to learn obedience.

Why does God take us through difficult and depressing situations? Hebrews 12:9 seems to give the most satisfying answer: ”We have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in SUBJECTION to the Father of spirits and live?” Jesus was not exempted from this experience except that in His case there was and could be no failure but only suffering. The Son of God as the Son of Man graduated with honours in the school of suffering, with obedience as the major. The author of Hebrews writes in Chapter 5:8-9 ”Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who OBEY Him.”

Except in very rare circumstances, failures in life are due to disobedience to the Word of God and His revealed will. Failures are God’s attention-getters. Failures bring us to knees. Repeated failures make us prostrate before God. If we don’t learn from failures, we are only learning to fail. Henry Ford forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car. No one repeated that mistake. Hear the testimony of the Psalmist in Psalm 119:67,71 ”Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word…It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes”.

Disadvantages in life also usually keep us humble and obedient. Some failures are beyond us, but we are responsible for most of the failures in our lives. An objective and honest analysis of these failures would teach us how we can avoid them by watchfulness and diligence. Failures break our arrogance and stubbornness, and make obedience easy.

7] Future:

Finally, obedience becomes easy when we think of the future rewards God has promised to those who obey Him. The author of Hebrews says in Hebrews 4:9,11 ”There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. .. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” Obedience may be a struggle now, but this struggle will be over in eternity. Hebrews 4:10 says ”For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His!” One day of rest in God’s literal presence will be worth all the efforts we took for thousands of days on earth to walk in obedience before Him!

Jesus spoke about two buildings in His Sermon on the Mount. One was built by a wise man and the other by someone foolish. The wise man was one who lived and worked in obedience to God’s will revealed in His Word. His building withstood all storms and floods. But the building of the disobedient man was washed away (Matthew 7:24-25). This illustration was the conclusion of Christ’s longest recorded sermon. It was a warning against disobedience, more so a motivation for obedience! If I believe in life after death I must choose to obey God in life before death.

Let me close this with a promise from the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 28:13 says, ”The Lord will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them.”

Let us introspect ourselves..

Shall we trust our Lord wholeheartedly so that we will be able to obey Him like Abraham?

Shall we fear our Lord so that we will be able to obey Him like Noah?

Shall we have a reverential fear for God which stops arguments and rebellion in our minds?

Shall we obey our Lord by knowing that we are His children as He bought us on the cross of Calvary?

Shall we have the fellowship with our close friends in prayers and spiritual life so that it would lead to obey our God like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego?

Shall we try to unlearn our ways of disobedience from those who walked in obedience so that we can also walk in obedience to God?

Shall we use failures, crises, sufferings, losses, disappointments happening in our life to learn obedience like our Lord Jesus, though He was a Son of God, yet He learned OBEDIENCE by the things He suffered?

Let us Pray: Our Heavenly Gracious Father, we thank you for helping us to understand about “How Obedience is made easy” as Your yoke is easy and Your burden is light. Yes Father, Your commands are not burdensome. Father, please help us to trust You wholeheartedly, to fear You, to have a reverential fear for You which removes arguments and rebellions in our minds, help us to obey You as Your children, have fellowship with our friends and relatives besides help us to unlearn our ways of disobedience by seeing those who walked in obedience in the past Lord. Father, please help us to use our failures, crises, sufferings, losses, disappointments to learn obedience like Your beloved Son Lord Jesus. Please help us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us by doing Your commandments so that we may have the right to the tree of life and enter through the gates into the city Father. We give all praise, glory and honour to Your Holy Name. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

God bless you all..

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artificialqueens · 7 years

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: Sinning Never Felt So Good (Pearlet) : Chapter 3 : katyasbingowings

A/N: hope you enjoy!!

The canteen being empty merely exaggerated its truly colossal size, with it’s only inhabitants being two dinners ladies chatting away, and Matt, who had awoke for breakfast at the earliest possible hour to avoid any unnecessary interactions with his succubus of a roommate. Matt had hardly achieved a wink of sleep after last night’s events, so his generous cup of coffee was defiantly deserved, the warm beverage acting as his sole life force. His seven pancakes, however, were not justified.

“I am going to be fat like the Americans soon enough,” Matt shot his head up, immediately recognising the bizarre Russian, whose exaggerated red lips most likely broke some rule, though Matt wasn’t going to rain on the cheerful woman’s parade.

“Morning, I didn’t expect anybody to be up this early,” Matt admitted - voice tired and gruff - wondering how Katya managed to maintain such energetic facade at this unholy hour, while Matt was prepared to peel over any moment.

“In Russia we wake when the suns does too,” Katya explained, accent thick and mouth full of toast, “I did try to wake Adoor, she called me a rotted cunt and punched me in the vagina, so I let her sleep for some more moments.” The interaction didn’t phase Matt, already expecting such oddity, despite knowing the pair for a mere 24 hours. He simply shook his head and began his fifth pancake, not remotely ashamed of his appetite. “Do you want some concealer for your eyes, Matthew, it will make them look less dead”

“No thank you Katya, I’ll be fine,” Matt smiled, not bothering to correct her on his name, knowing it wouldn’t stick in the long run. He monetarily considered the kind-hearted offer, knowing perfectly well that the sizeable bags under his eyes were not attractive in the slightest, before denying politely. Matt once covered his face in his mother’s makeup and he’d never seen his father so enraged, that memory put him off decorating himself with the products completely.

After brief small talk between the two, the canteen soon filled with exhausted students all craving nourishment, one even fell asleep in a bowl of cereal, which Matt seemed to relate to on a personal level. Adore eventually joined them, much more miserable than the previous twosome combined, face clean of her usual exotic makeup and hair unruly. “I actually want to commit. No joke. I’m gonna stab myself with a fork.” Good morning to you too.

“If you do Adoor we cannot have fun with the alcohol on Friday,” Katya quipped, brushing her fingers though the other’s mane in attempt to calm the relentless tangles.

“I’m pretending I didn’t hear that,” Matt stated, not particularly agreeing with the blatant rule breaking, though not wanting to lose his only companions by ruining their form of enjoyment either.

“Matthew you should join us! We made friends with a curly haired boy who had vodka bigger than my head, we are meeting to have fun times when the week comes to an end,” Katya babbled madly, acting out the scenario with exaggerated hand gestures. Adore - face down and lifeless on the table - sounded a grunt of agreement.

“I don’t know,” the boy began, though not a virgin to alcohol (even the most uptight Christians had fun sometimes, okay), was unsure of the whole situation, “I wouldn’t want to be intruding, or to get caught…”

“It’ll be who you know, plus curly and friend, I’ll personally get you a juice box if it’ll make you more comfortable, and take any blame for your delinquency,” Adore piped up, looking up for the first time since joining the table, gently grinning in attempt to sway the sheepish individual.

Matt was prepared to argue his case to the bitter end, before he saw Jason tiredly shuffling towards the table, “yeah, sure, whatever,” Matt rushed without a second thought, not even thinking over what he had agreed too. He stood up and planned his grand escape, “I’m gonna go pee,” he excused himself weakly, speed walking like his life depended on it as Jason took a seat.

“Matt is joining us Friday, isn’t that spectacular!” Katya squealed, squeezing Jason’s hand in a friendly nature, offering the boy a slice of buttered bread.

“That’ll be interesting,” Jason smirked, taking a sizeable bite and watching Matt leave in a rush. How very interesting indeed.

***

“Do these arms look like they do push-ups?” Jason quipped, greatly irritated by the mere concept of PE, especially offended by the physical trials he was being forced into. At his old school Jason’s teachers had learnt that even attempting to convince him to partake was useless, though the message didn’t seem to be getting across as easily as in the past. He sighed overly dramatically, falling to the floor in the most ungraceful way, completed a single push up, before returning to his previous position: sitting in the corner of the room doing absolutely nothing. This was not his gig.

The rest of his classmates were filing in, Jason recognising a few he had briefly passed in the corridors, all while waiting for the one and only Matt, who he knew he shared the lesson with after their discussion yesterday. And Jason was not disappointed when Matt arrived, not at all. Unaware of the fact he was being watched, the brunette sauntered into the gymnasium, shorts clinging complimentary to his plump arse, and vest demonstrating his toned, tan skin. Jason absentmindedly licked his lips, unapologetically checking the fellow boy out from head to toe.

Now Matt was completely oblivious - not realising him stretching caused V-lines to show, having no idea that squats just exaggerated the perfect way his rear end was formed, or that being painted in beads of sweat was borderline erotic. Jason remained shell shocked, never realising Catholic school would be the most homoerotic experience of his entire existence, throughly pleased with the spectacular occurring before his very own eyes. The oblivious Matt continued to take a sizeable gulp of water, a few droplets missing his mouth and dripping artistically down his chilled jaw, leaving Jason’s mouth agape. This is pornographic.

Snapping out of his lustful trance, Jason wolf-whistled loudly at his roommate, causing Matt’s attention to shift to the boy lingering at the sidelines. Matt was thankful for his current hot and sweaty state, as it disguised the prominent blush creeping up his neck and coating his cheeks. “Looking good there Lent!” Matt didn’t know how Jason knew his surname, and he wasn’t going to ask, so he shot the boy a lopsided smile and continued his workout, stationing himself as far away from the other boy as possible.

Jason caught wind of what Matt was hoping to accomplish by relocating further away: to be rid of him, and Jason refused to be brushed off that easily. “Couldn’t even spare me a hello? This after running off this morning? Unacceptable. I thought you were some God sent Christian or something,” Jason mocked, taking a seat in front of Matt. When Matt came up for his first sit-up, he caught Jason’s eyes briefly, pupil’s dilated, before returning to the floor. Breathe, Matt, breathe.

“I told my friend I’d meet him,” Matt spurted out, regretting his words the moment they left his mouth; he had never been a good liar.

“No you didn’t,” Jason called Matt’s bluff, staring at him blankly, “you don’t have any friends.”

“Y-yes I do,” he stuttered, shocked at the blunt tone he was spoken to in, and the fact that his fabrication was shattered immediately.

“What’s his name?”

“I can’t remember.”

“You don’t remember?”

“Nope, I also don’t remember how many sit ups I’ve done, you see! I’m not good at remembering things!”

“23,” Jason revealed, “anyway, me, Kat and Adore are going for a smoke at lunch, and I know you don’t like that kind of stuff, so you’ll be cool to hang out with your friend?”

If Matt disagreed, his bluff would be busted, and he was too far down the rabbit hole to admit defeat. “Yeah, yeah, absolutely fine, I’ll sit with him, have fun,” Matt rushed, now not only a liar, but a lonely liar.

“I just wouldn’t want you to be alone, that’s all.” Jason smiled, sincerely, before wandering away. Matt’s heart was beating erratically, a sensation he had not experienced before, and one which he could not logically explain.

***

“I never thought I’d love Monday mornings, but his butt might have changed that,” Jason admitted, casually perched on the floor and exhaling a cloud of smoke. The group had discovered a reserved location behind the greenhouse to hide while performing any of many generic teenage activity, the area completely hidden away from the main building: a perfect location for escape.

“Well I have this real cute maths teacher, he’s called Roy and has the most adorable dimples,” Adore gushed, “and - of freaking course - I came in late, looking like shit, so my plan on seducing myself to an A is not off to a good start.”

“Men think through their dick, I can assure you that it won’t be difficult,” Jason spoke, passing the cigarette to the celestial being he called a friend, allowing her to take a drag and relax. Katya had decided not to join them, instead tagging along with one of her classmates - it was either Tracy or Trissy, Jason couldn’t quite remember - to ‘save her from the nasty disease of the lungs’.

Adore was happily chatting away, though failing to distract the fair-skinned boy, as Jason’s mind wandered to Matt. He was undyingly curious to what sort of friend Matt had made, probably another God worshiping goody-two-shoes, someone Matt would get on with far better than himself. Jason let out an irritated huff, not understanding why he was growing so sensitive over such a simple event, he himself had even insisted that the other spend time with his new companion over lunch, and now he was wishing he hadn’t.

“I don’t know why I get so worked up over him, he’s just another bloody boy,” Jason eventually burst out, knowing Adore of people wouldn’t judge him, and he really wouldn’t mind some words of wisdom round about now.

“It’s cause you like him, duh,” she’s breathed out, as if it was the most obvious statement in the world, lighting a fresh cigarette with her kitten lighter. Unbelievably thankful for the smoke in his lungs calming his demeanour, Jason took another puff, continuing to ramble his thoughts.

“Im just used to sucking someone’s dick and moving on, I don’t do feelings,” it was true. Jason didn’t date, Jason didn’t fall in love; Jason had sex with no strings attached. The best way to do so, in his opinion anyway; emotions were unnecessary, an utter pain in the arse, and he didn’t have time for such stupidity.

Adore probably didn’t mean for her next piece of advice to be taken literally, to her it being a mockery of an idea, though Jason’s mindset was deluded and had little to zero common sense. “Just suck his dick and get it over with then.”

#pearl liaison #violet chachki #adore delano #bianca del rio #trixie mattel #katya zamolodchikova #pearlet #biadore #trixya #au #sinning never felt so good #katyasbingowings #rpdr fanfiction #submission #m/m au

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readingbank-blog · 5 years

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Sons Who Inherited Problems

Astudy of the lives of different sons and their fathers reveals an uncanny pattern of repetition. You would wonder why the sons are falling into the exact same problems of their fathers. History teaches us that people do not learn from history! Unfortunately, many sons are cut off from the lessons their fathers learnt. Many sons dismiss the problems their fathers had as being peculiar to them. Advice is given but it is not heeded. Many sons simply do not pay attention to the lessons being transmitted by their fathers. The result of this flippant attitude is a repetition of the calamities and catastrophes of the fathers by the sons. The Bible shows us how Abraham disowned his wife. He told King Abimelech of Gerar that she was his sister and thereby disowned her. Many years later, his son Isaac did exactly the same thing.

King David had big problems in his life and ministry because he slept with somebody’s wife. His sons ruined their lives by doing exactly the same things. Amnon may have been angry with his father David for having an affair with Bathsheba. But he ended up raping his own sister Tamar. Absalom may have been angry with his father David for sleeping with Bathsheba. He may have been angry with his father David for not punishing Amnon for the rape of Tamar. David’s failure in these areas may have sparked off the rebellion in Absalom. But in the end Absalom himself ended up sleeping with all his father’s wives.

Solomon also had his life destroyed by his interaction with women. You would have thought that Solomon would learn from the mistakes of his father. Perhaps he did. Perhaps he decided that he would marry any woman he felt attracted to. In the end he married over a thousand women. Solomon’s problems with women became even more complicated because they led him away from Jehovah. It is sad to say that Solomon ended up as an idol worshipper. May God deliver the sons from the blindness that makes them walk headlong into the difficulties their fathers had.

1. ABRAHAM AND HIS SON ISAAC

How Abraham Disowned His Wife

And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country, and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, SHE IS MY SISTER: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah. “But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, Behold, thou art but a dead man, for the woman which thou hast taken; for she is a man’s wife.

But Abimelech had not come near her: and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me, SHE IS MY SISTER? and she, even she herself said, He is my brother: in the integrity of my heart and innocency of my hands have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheldthee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her.Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine.

Genesis 20:1-7

How Isaac Disowned His Wife

And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar. And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;

Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. And Isaac dwelt in Gerar: And the men of the place asked him of his wife; and he said, She is my sister: for he feared to say, She is my wife; lest, said he, the men of the place should kill me for Rebekah; because she was fair to look upon. And it came to pass, when he had been there a long time, that Abimelech king of the Philistines looked out at a window, and saw, and, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. And Abimelech called Isaac, and said, Behold, of a surety she is thy wife: and how saidst thou, She is my sister? And Isaac said unto him, Because I said, Lest I die for her.

And Abimelech said, What is this thou hast done unto us? one of the people might lightly have lien with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us. And Abimelech charged all his people, saying, He that toucheth this man or his wife shall surely be put to death. Genesis 26:1-11

2. DAVID AND HIS SONS AMNON, ABSALOM AND SOLOMON

How David had Problems with Women

And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house. 2 Samuel 11:2,4

How Amnon had Problems with Women

And it came to pass after this, that Absalom the son of David had a fair sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. And Amnon was so vexed, that he fell sick for his sister Tamar; for she was a virgin; and Amnon thought it hard for him to do any thing to her. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah David’s brother: and Jonadab was a very subtil man. And he said unto him, Why art thou, being the king’s son, lean from day to day? wilt thou not tell me? And Amnon said unto him, I love Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister. And Jonadab said unto him, Lay thee down on thy bed, and make thyself sick: and when thy father cometh to see thee, say unto him, I pray thee, let my sister Tamar come, and give me meat, and dress the meat in my sight, that I may see it, and eat it at her hand.

So Amnon lay down, and made himself sick: and when the king was come to see him, Amnon said unto the king, I pray thee, let Tamar my sister come, and make me a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat at her hand. Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, Go now to thy brother Amnon’s house, and dress him meat. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon’s house; and he was laid down. And she took flour, and kneaded it, and made cakes in his sight, and did bake the cakes. And she took a pan, and poured them out before him; but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, Have out all men from me. And they went out every man from him. And Amnon said unto Tamar, Bring the meat into the chamber, that I may eat of thine hand. And Tamar took the cakes which she had made, and brought them into the chamber to Amnon her brother. And when she had brought them unto him to eat, he took hold of her, and said unto her, Come lie with me, my sister. And she answered him, Nay, my brother, do not force me; for no such thing ought to be done in Israel: do not thou this folly. And I, whither shall I cause my shame to go? and as for thee, thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. Now therefore, I pray thee, speak unto the king; for he will not withhold me from thee. Howbeit he would not hearken unto her voice: but, being stronger than she, forced her, and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly; so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her, Arise, be gone. 2 Samuel 13:1-15

How Absalom had Problems with Women

Then Absalom turned to Ahithophel and asked him, “What should I do next?” Ahithophel told him, “Go and sleep with your father’s concubines, for he has left them here to keep the house. Then all Israel will know that you have insulted him beyond hope of reconciliation, and they will give you their support.” So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went into the tent to sleep with his father’s concubines. Absalom followed Ahithophel’s advice, just as David had done. For every word Ahithophel spoke seemed as wise as though it had come directly from the mouth of God. 2 Samuel 16:20-23 (NLT)

How Solomon had Problems with Women

But king SOLOMON LOVED MANY STRANGE WOMEN, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: AND HIS WIVES TURNED AWAY HIS HEART.

1 Kings 11:1-3

3. ABRAHAM, HIS SON ISAAC AND GRANDSON JACOB

How Abraham Set Aside His First-Born Son And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on

her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. Genesis 21:14

How Isaac Set Aside His First-Born Son

And it came to pass, as soon as ISAAC HAD MADE AN END OF BLESSING JACOB, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savoury meat, and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times: he took away my birthright; and, behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now unto thee, my son? Genesis 27:30-37

How Jacob Set Aside His First-Born Son

Then Jacob called together all his sons and said, “Gather around me, and I will tell you what is going to happen to you in the days to come. “Come and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father. “Reuben, you are my oldest son, the child of my vigorous youth. You are first on the list in rank and honor. But you are as unruly as the waves of the sea, and you will be first no longer. For you slept with one of my wives; you dishonored me in my own bed.” Genesis 49:1-4 (NLT)

by Dag Heward-Mills

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mediacalling · 7 years

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Our Very Worst Social Media Fails: The Expert Roundup

With so many so-called social media gurus out there, it’s hard for mere mortals not to have “imposter syndrome.”

Should we be trusted with others’ social media accounts? Should call ourselves an expert on our Website if we’re not perfect?

The truth is, even the most experienced social media managers have made at least one gigantic mistake in their career. Here are seven professionals with their tales to back me up.

Dorien Morin-van Dam, More in Media

A few years back I met a prospective client whose budget for managing Facebook only allowed for management, not for advertising. At the intake meeting I addressed this concern, as well as the fact that there was barely any content on their website so there was very little content for me to use.

Despite this, they offered me my going management rate, and I accepted the six month project. To date, this has been my biggest fail.

I got no traction; no engagement and no new likes on the Facebook page. I didn’t have a budget to create video content or run ad campaigns or even run a contest.

Then I did something I am not proud of. As a last-ditch effort in the last two months, I took a portion of my fee to run a few ads to see if throwing a bit of money would in the end make a difference. It didn’t.

To off-set and justify me taking money out of my own pocket, all posts in those last two months were recycled posts from the previous months. The Facebook page was a fail and so was working with this client. This experience served as a lesson to me to go with my gut to not take on clients who ‘want it all’ but aren’t willing to spend the money to get there.

Charli Day, Charli Says

Back in 2010, I was fairly new to social media management and was in charge of a financial services page with a high international fan count but low engagement.

I decided that I would run a social media contest to increase likes, shares, and overall engagement. Back then, I wasn’t really aware of the need to use page apps to run contests. Contest apps are an absolute must, not only for legally collecting data, but also for regulating entries and ensuring that users adhere to the terms and conditions of your contest. I had no idea.

So my contest was as follows. “Take a great photo of you holding the company logo and the one with the most likes will win” (another Facebook page violation). The idea was to show fans around the world and the prize was a top of the range Canon camera. Of course, the fans started submitting photos to the page and at the beginning it was great. Beautiful photos of India, Italy, Australia, all with our company logo.

I was pretty pleased with myself.

But then, I noticed that some of the photos were getting an insane amount of likes. If the average on each photo was 50, these were getting 10,000. I realized that they were using bots to bump up their likes to win the prize. With no way to control the number of votes or entries, or any way to prove that the rules had been broken (because I hadn’t written any), I sat helplessly watching as some of the least inspiring photos gained thousands of likes.

When the time came to announce the winner, the photo was an obviously photoshopped background of the leaning Tower of Pisa with a little guy from Indonesia holding our logo. It was a poor quality and obviously tampered with image. I announced him as the winner and then spent the net week receiving furious messages from the other genuine participants who accused him of faking the photo likes and our brand of not properly controlling the contest.

To make matters worse (again no terms and conditions) the winner then went on to demand a camera with a much higher value than the company wanted to give. Our company lawyers eventually concluded that as we had simply specified a “top of the range” camera, and not written a maximum value, we had to give it to him. Therefore the prize cost 3,000 Euros more than it should have done.

It was a huge lesson for me. ALWAYS use page apps for contests. Plan every single detail and make sure your terms and conditions are signed off by legal!

Daniel Pinne, Organik Social

I managed the social accounts for a large professional sports team with hundreds of thousands of followers across all social media channels. Sports an emotional industry and sometimes you can get lost in the support of the team’s fans and the action on field. There was a lot of feedback about the quality of commentary and I sent the following tweet with a comment about one of the commentators in particular.

Thanks to the 16,828 fans that turned up tonight and didn’t have to listen to Tim Gilbert commentate. Worth the ticket price #purplepride

— Melbourne Storm (@storm) July 5, 2013

Understandably, there were mixed reactions. The fans of the team (and the primary audience) understood the humor of it and supported the tweet. Others in the media were very critical, labeling it unprofessional and came to the commentator’s support.

In hindsight, I certainly got caught up in the emotion of it all a bit much. It was a spur of the moment decision that I should have asked others in my team if they thought it was appropriate, they would have advised otherwise.

I spoke to the commentator in person, apologized and followed up afterwards. We all moved on and learned from it, but it wasn’t one of my finest memories managing social media.

Amanda Webb, Spiderworking

I made a lot of mistakes when I started blogging. I used to write terrible headlines, I wasn’t thinking about the importance of getting people to read, I just assumed they would come.

My first blog covered environmental issues and one classic headline was “Water Labeling.” I spent ages writing the post but I’m pretty sure few people read it. I’m always working at writing better headlines, each time I do I see the payback in traffic.

Hiral Rana, E2M Solutions

In one of my previous firms, I was juggling several responsibilities in social media marketing and SEO. As a part of an in-house project back then, we forgot to set the end-date of our Facebook ad campaign. Thankfully, this got us more attention, leads, and everything in between.

I quickly learned how to use automated rules in the Facebook Ads Manager. All I have to do is enter my maximum spending amount. This gives me more control of the ad budget even if I forget to set the end date again!

Anastasia Melet, Wave by Animatron

Perhaps our biggest social media fail happened during a Facebook Live broadcast. Our Live featured a well-staged video, a part of which had been recorded in advance, to be operated with a special broadcasting software.

Everyone was excited and also a bit nervous preparing for the Live. During the Live, a social media team member pressed the wrong button and… cut the video almost a minute too early.

There was no option to resume the video.

The first thing we did was to quickly address the questions we started receiving in the comments from the viewers. I think it was the prompt reaction of our social media team that helped de-escalate the possible disappointment of our followers. Later on, we sent an email explaining the situation and offering an incentive as a “We Care” token.

Our followers are a very loyal and understanding audience and we had almost no negative effect caused by the incident. We learnt this lesson and were fully prepared for the next Live. So to fail-proof your social media initiatives, I would advise to be especially careful with new technologies, keep anxiety under control, and always have a backup plan.

Rivka Hodgkinson, Meet Rivka

One of my clients is a real estate agent, so I try to make the content interesting by posting local goings-on, news, and events.

To simplify that process, I have a Google Alert set up for the city and state that she is located in. One day while going through my email, I was excited to see an Alert post about a famous celebrity who broke down and was taken out to lunch and helped by some local guys with a pickup truck.

This is perfect, I thought! A recognizable name, and a fun story that happened right in her area! It didn’t mention the name of the restaurant, but it did mention a street name, so I thought I could get some great engagement by asking people to guess which local treasure they stopped to eat.

Then it all fell apart.

I was so excited about the article, I told my husband about it. “I am pretty sure that is a scam dear,” was his response. He had heard the same story with a different celebrity for his hometown. Sure enough, I did a Google search of the longer text, and it was an oft-repeated urban legend. Despite being from a reputable looking website, I had been bamboozled.

Don’t get me wrong. I got engagement — just not the kind I anticipated. With several people within minutes telling me it was a scam, providing links to Snopes, and one share by someone as excited about the story as I was. And so the cycle of misinformation continues.

Needless to say, not a finer moment. I hid it from the timeline and thanked the helpful citizens who pointed out my mistake.

Lesson learned? ALWAYS check sources on factual stuff. I should have known better when it wasn’t one of the handful of local news media outlets that I recognize the names of. Now, I am sure to only post news stories from a brand I know and trust, or do a little more digging into the who and what of the origin.

What social media fail are you most embarrassed about? Share your sad tale in the comments!

The post Our Very Worst Social Media Fails: The Expert Roundup appeared first on Agorapulse.

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footyplusau · 7 years

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Obituary: Lou Richards, media larrikin and Collingwood football legend

Lou Richards 1923-2017

“THEY don’t talk much about people when they’re dead, do they?” said the George Burns look-alike with dismay as he reflected on the fate of his favourite author, John Steinbeck, almost 40 years ago.

Lou Richards. Photo:

But Lou Richards, a born extrovert who loved the limelight – which masked the fact that he was an eternal hypochondriac mortified by death – didn’t need to fret about his own legacy. At least not with the Australian football world, and even beyond.

The former champion Collingwood rover and captain, who cashed in a 250-game career to become a newspaper columnist and radio and television personality like no other, has died aged 94.

Richards, who was renowned for his witty observations and quick retorts, in turn had to cop plenty of good-natured ribbing from his media colleagues, who were aware that his confident, even brash “on air” persona belied a vulnerable streak of self-doubt.

Richards was born in tough surrounds and circumstances in Collingwood.

It shaped his “alley cat upbringing”. He and his brother Ron learnt some basic lessons early: to stick up for themselves; thriftiness; and to exploit the moment.

Years later, Richards’ long-time sparring partner and another football legend, the late “Captain Blood” Jack Dyer, said of him: “He’s been like a rat in a famine, and he still has those characteristics of native cunning. He’d survive where a lot of people would turn it up. He’s resourceful. If he went to the moon, he’d find five cents there for sure.”

Photo gallery

Vale Collingwood legend Lou Richards

Richards’ father, Bill, an electrician, went broke in the Depression and the family relied on the “two quid a week” earned by his mother, Irene, a boot machinist at a shoe factory. Bill drowned in Gippsland on his son’s 21st birthday.

Richards played for Collingwood for 15 years, was captain between 1952 and 1955, and led the Magpies to the 1953 premiership.

He lit up his 250-game club career with 423 goals and was its leading goal scorer in 1944, 1948 and 1950. He also wore the Big V in 1947 and 1948.

He always wanted to be a performer and had the gift of the gab from an early age, which often got him the strap in school.

As a boy he had Broadway on his mind, as a tap dancer or comic, but he was destined to chase pig leather.

Richards was part of a footballing dynasty: his maternal grandfather, Charlie Pannam – of Greek heritage and originally named Pannamopoulos – played for Collingwood for 14 years before switching to Richmond. Pannam’s two sons (Richards’ uncles), Charlie jnr and Alby, also played for the Magpies; Charlie later coached South Melbourne and Alby coached Richmond. And Richards’ brother, Ron, also was a Magpie and starred in the 1953 premiership side.

After truncated schooling, Richards worked first as a fitter and turner before joining the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works, where he went around tapping pipes to find faults. The MMBW gave him time off to study for his intermediate certificate and he became a technical drawer designing public toilets.

Unsurprisingly, he called it his “shithouse” job, but his friend and Brownlow medallist Neil Roberts, took another tack: “It was at the Board of Works that he learned to mix the Yan Yean shandies he served in his pub.”

And speaking of Richards’ publican persona, his long-time sparring partner Jack Dyer, would say: “The scotch in the Phoenix doesn’t even stain the ice.”

Richards, in fact, operated two pubs after hanging up his boots. The first was in Erroll Street, North Melbourne, and later, the Phoenix, in Flinders Street.

Immediately after he retired from football, he broke into the media in 1955 with a job as an expert comments scribe with the now defunct Argus newspaper, and radio commentator with radio 3XY.

Later, he moved to the Sun and radio 3DB, and much later to the Sunday Age; he was part of the Channel Seven team that launched World of Sport in 1958, and League Teams, which became Melbourne sporting institutions for more than two decades.

Richards then moved to Channel Nine and Wide World of Sports and Sports Sunday. His last regular television spot was handling the somewhat chaotic handball segment on the Sunday Footy Show, from which he retired at the end of 2008.

On each show, his mischievous humour was pivotal to the informed coverage/hilarity/nonsense that perennially rated highly.

On the newspaper side, Richards and his cohorts dreamt up all manner of publicity stunts to keep “Loui the Lip” in the news. Frequently he became the news.

Not for nothing did he agree to be dubbed Kiss of Death for his match-day tips.

In 1978, one ill-fated prognostication ended up with him, all 170 centimetres centimetres and 73 kilograms, carrying North Melbourne ruckman Mick “Galloping Gasometer” Nolan, about 113 kilograms, piggy back along Erroll Street.

Earlier self-inflicted (publicity attracting) penalties included sweeping Collins Street with a feather duster, cutting the lawn of “Mr Football” Ted Whitten with a pair of scissors, and rowing then Geelong coach Billy Goggin across the Barwon river in a bathtub in 1980.

Yet another stunt saw him jump off St Kilda Pier into freezing water on a frosty winter morning. The latter experience, he quipped, put him in hot water with his wife Edna for three weeks because he forgot to zip up the fly on his wetsuit.

In 1973, the boy from the wrong side of the tracks moved across the Yarra into a smart apartment in Toorak, marking yet another indicator of his upwards trajectory. Friends ribbed him about being a class-turncoat.

As ever, it was like water off a duck’s back. He also had 22 hectares on the Mornington Peninsula, where a manager maintained a heard of Black Angus, and part-owned the country radio station 3CV.

Richards had entered the business world early in his media career when he bought the Town Hall pub in North Melbourne; later he took the lease on another watering hole, the Phoenix, which he ran with his wife, Edna, who called the shots with a mixture of charm and gentle but firm persuasion.

He never won Collingwood’s best and fairest (Copeland Trophy) award, but several community awards awaited him.

In 1975 he was named Football Personality of the Year; in 1981 he was crowned King of Moomba; and in 1982 the National Trust classified him a living treasure to be protected against demolition. With typical humour, Richards said that when he received the call, he feared he was going to be “certified”.

He was awarded life membership of the VFL but at the end, elevation to a legend of football’s Hall of Fame eluded him, causing controversy. Perhaps now that honour will be posthumous.

Edna, Richards’ beloved, devoted and understanding wife of 60 years, who was happy to be the butt of some of his jokes, died in March 2008. He is survived by his daughters Nicole and Kim, and five grandchildren.

Collingwood Technical School

Abbotsford

Collingwood reserves premiership 1940

Collingwood seniors 1941-55

Club captain 1952-55

Premiership captain 1953

Runner-up in Copeland trophy in 1947 and 1950

Club’s leading goal kicker 1944 (28 goals); 1948 (44); and 1950 (35)

Total goals for Collingwood 423

Represented Victoria three times

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