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writers-blogck · 1 year

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The Pouch Opened ( Dream of the Endless x Reader )

Warning(s): Regular John and Johanna warnings. Song: Mr.Sandman by (Cover) Blind Guardian

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Title: The Pouch Opened Description: An exorcism, a sister, a Dream, oh my! Pairing: Dream of the Endless [ Morpheus ] x Reader Fandom: The Sandman ( Comics and Netflix Series ) Word Count: 5,005 Previous Chapter: A Favor Called Next Chapter: Two Demons and a Dream Story Index

London, 2022

Another Lovely Rainy London Day. You were used to it at this point. You just had to remember that with the rain came rainbows! Plus, the rain gave you puddles to jump in. Sure, it might be a little childish but it made life a bit more livable. It felt natural for you to react that way. Sometimes you couldn't explain why you acted the way you did. It was simply engrained in you. At least John accepted you for who you are. That was a plus. Outsiders liked to give you weird looks when you were just enjoying your life. You didn't care most of the time.

"Do you think there will be fire?"

"Probably."

"How about cursing?"

"Most of 'em do."

"What about puke?"

"I hope not. Jesus, love, did you just watch the Exorcist?"

"... Maybe."

"Well, there better not be any split pea soup involved tonight." John shook his head, a warmth spreading across his chest as he heard you giggle. It was a nice sound.

It was strange for John Constantine. Most of his relationships with the ladies involved a night or two spent together doing some stuff not to be repeated. But, you were an exception. He never thought about you in that way. Sure, he could admit you were attractive but if you were to share a bed, he wouldn't even think about making a move! You were special. You were like Chas, a ride or die. Even if he couldn't remember how you met or how long you had been traveling together, it didn't matter. You were one of his closest mates.

John knew only a few facts about the time the two of you had spent together. He knew that you had traveled with him for two years now overall. He couldn't say why you started to travel with him exactly. He knew you were in danger, a target to the supernatural for some reason. He could sense some power in you; it was dim but there. It turned out to be enough of a spark to allow you to do magic, though you weren't nearly as good as he was. At this point, you just followed where he went and that was the end of it. You wouldn't stay back anymore, instead insisting on helping. That just added to his stress during jobs.

"Hello, Jo!" You waved, a big grin on your face as you shook John from his thoughts. The woman in the distance turned, hands in her deep blue trench coat's pockets. It was amusing how all of you were wearing your own version of a trench coat. Johanna had her navy blue which was snug against her body, you had your gold that was tighter at the top with a loose bottom, and John had his tan which made him look like a walking rectangle. To be fair, it was the best jacket for this type of weather. Plus, it has a bunch of pockets! Always has room for things you might find while you were out.

The woman the two of you approached was Johanna Constantine, the older twin sister of John. You knew she must dye her hair as blonde seemed to run in the family as the dominant trait, figuring that out after she showed you a picture of the woman whom she was named after. Instead of blonde, she had deep brunette hair. She was shorter than her brother by an inch or two but held the same reserve in her eyes. The biggest difference was their smile. John liked to keep his face in a neutral frown (when he wasn't while Johanna often times was smirking as if she knew something you didn't. She likely did.

"Yeah, hello, Jo." John copied, earning a harsh glare from his sister. That nickname was reserved for few and her brother wasn't on that list. But she let it roll off of her like water off a duck's back, her attention shifting back to you.

"I wasn't sure if you would be joining us tonight. Thought 'ol Johnny boy here might have left you at home." There was the revenge for the nickname. John couldn't help but wince at the words 'Johnny Boy' falling from his sister's lips. He had to keep reminding himself that he was here for a reason, he couldn't just leave because he was annoyed with his family. This wasn't just a friendly visit.

Deep down, he did love his sister but the two of them were too alike to get along easily. They both were hard-headed and had confidence to spare. One would find some flaw in the other's plan and lead to some type of argument between them. You had served as a mediator. It had been worse when you weren't traveling with John. It always would end with the two vowing to never see each other again. In reality, it was only a few weeks before they were back on speaking terms.

"He tried but I said that I would follow him if he did, so he just took me anyway."

"I've never seen someone more excited to go to an exorcism."

"What's not to like? You get to be in pretty churches sometimes, you are fighting off evil, and you are helping someone at the end of the day. It just feels natural to me."

"Don't forget the trying not to die part." John's eyes scanned the cathedral where they would be performing the exorcism. He hadn't been in this one, strange with how big it was. Johanna must have it covered most of the time. It truly was strange that she needed help. He would have been more comfortable if you had stayed at the flat.

"Eh, all good things come with a little bit of danger." You chuckled, bumping into John playfully, "Now who's ready to go kick some demon butt?"

"You're gonna be the death of me..." John tossed the cigarette he was smoking to the ground and snubbed it out with the toe of his boot. He had a feeling that this was going to be a long night.

"Come on little brother, at least it won't be boring."

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Exorcisms rarely go the way they are supposed to. John knew that intimately. You could only plan so much when dealing with these forces. It also took some good improvisation. Right off the cuff thinking, quick-witted and smart. He liked to think he was pretty skilled in all of those factors. His sister might like to argue against that. Eh, who cares.

He hadn't expected this exorcism to be any different, not really. It was just hard to plan for the unplannable. His sole focus was keeping the couple safe, that's what he told himself though deep down he knew that wasn't the whole truth. The number one rule in these situations was to keep you safe. It was nice when you stayed back at the flat or hotel, wherever the pair of you were staying. It was rare but nice; he didn't have to worry about you while also dealing with the demon. Today had not been one of those days. You really could be stubborn at times.

The demon was thrust out of the woman, causing the couple to run away in fright as soon as the opportunity presented itself. They had been lucky this time. The demon didn't burst out of the woman, instead coming out as black slime from her mouth, nose, and eyes. She may have felt like she couldn't breathe and was having the worst case of food poisoning, but she hadn't split in half. That was the good part, always look on the bright side of a situation, especially when demons were involved.

The evil creature was huge with the face of a bull and the body of a muscular man. Black blood trickled down from its empty eye sockets. Its tongue lulled out from a hole in its cheek. How disgusting. Anytime you saw a demon, you got the chills. Would you ever get used to their cold aura? There was just something about them that seemed to affect you more than John. Perhaps it was the experience he had that helped him.

"Damn mate, you have a rough day, huh?" John grumbled, hands glowing a bright yellow. His classic sigil hoovered just above his fingertips, blocking an organ piano as it was thrown his way. The demon howled at the failed attack, watching as the instrument exploded on impact, keys showering down around the mage. A cacophony of sound rang out on impact like someone just slammed their hands down on the piano.

"Don't set the bloody church on fire, Johnny-Boy."

"Johanna, I know! I'm not even using any fire yet!"

"Key word, yet. Just saying, you can get a little pyromaniac at times."

"Wot?!"

As he turned to face his twin, a large hooved hand walloped him right in the side, sending him smashing into the wall. The beautiful stained-glass window open shattered and the colored shards rained down on the crumpled-up form of the man. He would surely have some bruised ribs, if not some broken from that. He would be sore tomorrow. Great. John liked to whine whenever he got hurt in any way. That was if you survived this encounter, to begin with.

Switching its attention, the demon gave a huge stomp, causing the floor to break up in Johanna's direction and causing the woman to lose her footing. Pieces of the floor began to fall into the basement level of the church, creating piles of what used to be the wooden floor. Grunting, she pushed herself up on her elbows and rolled out of the way just in time to keep from following the debris down.

You couldn't remember what the plan had initially been, something about exorcising the demon while it stayed within the woman's body? That sounded right. It would help limit the damage it could do both to the people and its surroundings. But when it became clear it was causing harm to the woman, then there was no other option than to get it out first. Yet, this demon wasn't one to be messed with. That's for sure. The twins told you to stay in the back but they looked like they needed help! You were supposed to keep anyone from entering the church. That had been your job. Really, it was just because John wanted you at a distance. Still, your friends were in danger. Screw it! Hopefully, the noise would keep any curious onlookers outside.

"Excuse me!" You ran through the pews, shouting at the non-existent pew-seated onlookers. As you ran, you watched the demon turn to face you. Though he had no eyes, you knew he could see you. A terrifying grin formed on its face, skin ripping where the hole was. Bigger and bigger! It made your stomach turn but you couldn't stop now. No time for throwing up. Your friends needed you! This wasn't the first demon you dealt with. You could do this. You just had to keep reminding yourself that. You could do this. You could- Woah!

"What, a new little pest?" The voice was deep and rumbled across the ground. Goodness, gracious! It leaned down, allowing its face to be level with your entire body as you were running up. You were tiny compared to this thing! You swore you heard John mumble something out but it was indecipherable in the chaos of sounds that was occurring around you. Everything seemed so loud. You just needed to focus on what was in front of you.

A hooved hand hit the ground a few feet ahead of you, sending you flying up in the air as if you were jumping on a trampoline. The demon then caught you as you fell, landing on the hard hoof, it rising back up to its full height. Oh my! You weren't afraid of heights, per-say but you still knew being up this high wasn't your best option. You weren't scared but you also weren't dumb. It would be nice if he put you down. Gently. Slowly.

"You would make a good vessel." The snout came closer and as it exhaled, hot air covered you. Ew! If it sneezed, you were over and done with. Death by a sneeze! You wanted to squirm away but you had to be careful- squirm too much and you would fall right off! A fall from this height would leave you as nothing but a puddle of mush on the ground.

"You need some mouthwash, mate, or maybe a mint? If you give me just a tic, I can check my bag and see if I have anything for you."

"Shut up, wisecrack!"

"Really? John always liked to say I'm really chatty. Plus, I'm always ready for a good argument. How about it? You and me, one-on-one with just our words."

"A duel?"

"Yeah!"

"I shall crush you under my hoof!"

"Word duel! Word Duel!"

"How about I just smash you now?"

"No, thank you!" You gave a sheepish, nervous grin as you fumbled at your side for the one thing that might save you now. Where was it? You knew you put it on before leaving. You never left the flat without it. It had become something of a security blanket.

"What...? What is this?! You- you are protected by...That can't be!" For the first time in this entire encounter, a look of fear crossed the demon's face. That was more like it! Its voice waivered and its hoof shook. That didn't make it any easier to stay on. It was like an extreme version of riding a bull at a bar! You weren't even drunk and still were having quite a bit of trouble! You deserved an award after this.

"You need to calm down, sir!" Hand reaching down and finally finding what you had been searching for, you grabbed a small handful of sand before tossing it right into the empty eye sockets of the demon. "Pocket sand!"

"It's from a pouch...Not your pocket" Johanna sighed to herself as she pushed herself up from the cracked ground.

"ARGH!"

And then you were falling. Sure, sending a demon into an unconscious state when it was holding you meters above the ground might not have been the best idea, you realized that now. You had been thinking in the moment! As it collapsed into a heap of red and brown flesh, you were dropped from its sharp, black hoof. Man, you needed to think these things through a bit more before you acted on your ideas. Soon you would be a human-flavored flapjack on the ground! Aw...If you died, you'd never be able to eat flapjacks again. That was sad.

"Of!" You grunted as you slammed into something hard but still surprisingly did not feel the breaking of bones or the sound of you splattering out on the wood floor. Peeking one eye open, you were greeted by yellow light and came to realize you were on a disk, a floating disk to be exact! Huh! Had you done that? You really were getting better at this magic stuff-

"Warn me next time you are about to go free falling to your death, alright love? I don't have Feather Fall for ya all the time."

Oh. Nope, you hadn't done it, John had. That shouldn't be too surprising. He was standing with one of his arms outstretched, the other wrapped around his lower torso. He was hurt and would surely bruise. Yet the important thing was that he would survive. Slowly he moved his hand down and with it, the disk followed. It would have almost been fun like an amusement park ride in a different situation.

"Hey, I saved you two! Don't get that upset." You hopped off the disk once you were just a few feet from the ground, landing gracefully with a bow. If only you had someone to applaud you. Oh well. You could just pretend.

"By almost dying yourself?"

"You do that all the time!"

"Kids, kids," Johanna spoke up from where she stood next to the sleeping demon, "We can talk about this later. For now, let us banish this thing back to where it belongs before it wakes up. We don't need another fight on our hands, I think we've already done enough damage for the night., yeah?"

"Okay, mum!" You stuck your tongue out playfully.

"Do not call me that."

"Wait, we aren't going to have to pay for the damages, right?"

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"Wasn't that sweet?" You hummed, skipping to be a step or two in front of the twins. The night lights of London reflected off of the puddles, wavering only when you jumped in them. When you lived a life filled with such dark forces like demons, you knew the importance of enjoying the little things in life. Nothing embarrassed you anymore. There wasn't enough time in your life to let yourself feel that way.

"Sweet? That demon was gonna eat that couple after it forced them to wed. I don't think that would be sweet."

"Ah, that part wasn't so good, I'll admit. But the bride's dress was so pretty and the church was lit up with so many candles. Plus, they love each other without the demon. So, now that the demon is gone, they can have a proper wedding! With proper candles! And a cake!"

"I'm surprised the church didn't catch fire with all of those candles," Johanna muttered to herself.

"You are impossible." John reached into his pocket to grab a cigarette before realizing he was out. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, shaking his head. He could conjure up some but they never were as good. He didn't know why he sucked at making them, he smoked them enough to have the taste memorized. He just could never get them right. Perhaps it was his magic's way of saying that he needed to quit.

"That is going to be quite a repair job." Johanna was more of a drinker herself but her own flask was empty. Each twin had their sins and they only intensified the longer the two were around each other. They would say how it was only natural with the stress they were under on a daily basis.

"I know I said this earlier, but no one answered me. Do we have to pay to fix the church?"

"Nah, we saved them from a nasty bugger of a demon. I just say let the ladies in black deal with it." John shrugged, a lazy grin on his face.

"They're called nuns, John. I know you are smart enough to remember that. I'm sure you've tried to temp some of them."

"Yes, thank you, my sister. Very colorful, it's like I can imagine being right there."

"You know, that woman was a princess. I'm sure she can pay for the damages. She was the one who got possessed after all."

"Johanna, are we victim-blaming right now?" John playfully narrowed his eyes at his sister who just scoffed.

"John Constantine. I come in search of..."

The three of you were walking out of the church and down the pavement when an unnaturally deep voice rang out. John moved to put himself between you and whatever this thing was while Johanna kept her cool demeanor. It was obvious that John cared for you. He didn't need to panic like that though, you could handle yourself. Had you ever even seen Johanna panic before? With your curiosity at a high, you moved to peek over John's shoulder with wide eyes. Big and filled with wonder, it worried John. With a flip of her hair, Johanna turned with a tiny huff.

"Dream of the Endless. I've heard about you."

"An Endless?!" John looked at his twin, to Dream, and then back to his twin once again, "How do you know about him?"

An Endless? What in the world was an Endless? You knew the world, sure, but you had a feeling this was something else. It felt like the definition was on the tip of your tongue, like an itch in the back of your brain. Yet, you had never studied about whatever it meant to be Endless. Why did it feel like you already knew about them?

"He was in Johanna Constantine's journal. You know, our grandmother of some years back? Great, great...Ah, I can't remember. Anyway, she worked with him. She even did a small sketch. I'd have to say she did a really good job. Looks nearly identical. Didn't think Grandmama had any artistic skill."

"Johanna Constantine..." Dream spoke slowly but his deep eyes never left your form, "Yes, I have worked with a few of the Constantine family members. I heard that the two members that led the family tree now were twins. The two last members, still alive and alone."

"Yeah, our family isn't the best when it comes to living a good long life." Johanna's eyes looked cold, though her demeanor fit that of a woman meeting an old friend. How was she so good at hiding her emotions?

"Frightful ends meet all of those with Constantine blood."

"Alas, does your appearance mean that you require us for work then, Sir Dream? That was the only reason you would ever visit our family in the past."

"I suppose, though it may be easier than I imagined." His eyes looked down at your form, causing John to hide you even further behind him. It was funny that the mortal thought he could hide you from him, if he so choose to take you. Yet, he was not looking at your figure (mainly) but instead at the pouch you had strapped to your belt. His pouch. Open. Nearly as strange a sight as you were. Was he still trapped in that damned glass orb and had finally taken to hallucinating?

Nothing was making sense since he escaped his imprisonment. His kingdom had fallen, (nearly) all his servants had left, you were here on Earth (wingless), all his tools were gone, and he felt as if he had lost a piece of himself. He didn't like all of this unknowing and uncertainty. Nothing was as it should be. He needed to help restore some semblance of order before this entropy became too much.

"Can we get past all of this creepy and cryptic back and forth?" John moved his hand to grab your upper arm, keeping you in place as you went to take a step forward. Curiosity killed the cat after all. He really needed a child's leash for you, the kind with a monkey backpack. He had a feeling you wouldn't mind.

"I require my pouch, one of my three tools. I was made aware by the Ladies Who Are Three As One that a certain John Constantine had it in his possession. It was purchased when it was not to be for sale. Not now, not ever."

"Jonathan...!" Johanna turned, eyes sharp and narrowed in her brother's direction. She knew about your pouch but had no clue it belonged to an Endless.

"What?! Was I not supposed to buy a pouch that radiated magical energy at a garage sale? It was only five quid!" Letting go of your arm, John tossed his hands up in exasperation. You remember that day. You bought a bunny kettle. It had actually been rather creepy, one made for the novel Watership Down, but you thought it had a certain charm. You used it to this day. John didn't like it.

"Perhaps you could have done some more research on it! Figure out its previous owners!"

"How was I supposed to do that?! I couldn't open the bloody thing up and whenever I try to reach in, it went to snap close on me. Like, it tried to bite me! I swear!"

"But she can open it? How long have you been studying? I thought she wasn't skilled in magic."

"Johanna, I swear-"

"Do you mean this pouch?" As the twins fought, you walked around them quietly to stand in front of the dark stranger. Unlatching the pouch from your belt, you offered it up to him with no hesitation. If the pouch was lost and belonged to this man, then you would rightfully return it. Yes, curiosity killed the cat but then satisfaction brought him back. You liked that version of the phrase better.

Long fingers brushed against your own as he took the black velvet bag from your hands. There was a spark, dim but there. It was you, Dream knew it. He didn't know what to say. You clearly didn't recognize him. You didn't remember the pouch you had seen for eons. He ached to reach out and cradle your face in his hands, just to look over you and take in the details of your features. It had been so long since he had seen you. Were you safe? What happened? He didn't like this version of you. The version that didn't remember him.

"Yes...Thank you."

"I apologize, but I did use some of it. I swear only in emergency situations where a demon was a problem! Never just to go to sleep or anything like that!"

"That's alright..." With every contemplative sentence, he trailed off into silence. He kept staring with those eyes that seemed to hold stars in them. Extraordinary. You wanted a closer look. "The sand does not run out. But how did you use it?"

The twins had stopped arguing now, shifting their attention to the two of you. John wanted to step in but his sister was keeping him back. She knew more about the Endless standing in front of them than her brother. She knew they needed to tread lightly. John could care less. If the goth creep tried anything-!

"I just opened it. I don't know why John had such a hard time. He couldn't open it, you know? I accidentally sent him to sleep the first time. I sneezed when I had some sand in my hand. He woke up three hours later. I was panicking the entire time. He was alright in the end, though."

"I had a real nice dream about a redhead-" John started but Johanna slapped him upside the head to get him to shut up.

"Ow!"

"You gave him a good dream...?"

Nodding, your own eyes shifted over the man's form. He was wearing a dark cloak that fluttered in the wind. The fabric inside was shiny and sparkled when the light hit it just right as if it held the universe within its folds. You were tempted to reach out to touch the cloak to see if it was cool like you thought. Eyes moving back up to his body, you saw his thin, pale face framed by a wild mane of black hair. Had you seen this man before? The twins called him Dream, perhaps you had seen him in your dreams? He felt familiar.

"It is a part of my being. It could sense you and knew you could be trusted."

"So, are we done here?" John straightened up, hand fiddling with his silver lighter. "You got your pouch back. We just finished a job. How about we go our separate ways? Yeah?"

Dream had been told you were dead, at least that's what Lucienne believed to have occurred. She explained how you went to go find him, to free him from wherever he was trapped but the librarian hadn't seen you since. She told the King how something bad may have happened to you during that time. He wanted to go searching but knew he would be of no help without his instruments. First, he would get those back. Then, he would make his next plan. Destiny had other ideas.

"What are you doing down here?" Dream asked, attention solely on you. He was ignoring John as well as Johanna. It was intense to have his gaze on you like this, but not unwelcomed. You weren't one to turn down any attention.

"Huh? What am I doing down here? What do you mean? Like, right here? Well, I just finished exorcising a demon. I think we were about to go get something to eat. We didn't have anything before coming here."

But here you were, standing before him in a trenchcoat that seemed too large for your frame and some human clothes. Nothing like what you used to wear. Your skin didn't radiate the small golden hue as it had in the past and your feet were touching the ground like a...a regular human. This couldn't be right. Perhaps you were just trying to blend in while searching for him? That had to be it. You were Hope after all. The alternatives were too dark to face. No...He knew you well enough to know that this wasn't you acting. You never were good at lying.

"They've been searching for you, Lucienne, and a few other residents. Cain and Abel miss you. Gregory...It's been over a century since you've been gone. I apologize if it is due to my own actions that you have left but I have returned. You can come back now."

Looking back and forth between the twins, it was clear the man's attention was on you. He spoke like the two of you were comrades. Sheepishly, you spoke:

"Uh, not to be rude, but have we met before?"

#dream of the endless #dream x reader #dream x you #Dream of the Endless x Y/n #dream of the endless x reader #morpheus #lord morpheus #Lord Morpheus x you #lord morpheus x reader #x reader #x reader insert #xreader #The Sandman #sandman x reader #the sandman x reader #sandman x y/n #thethingwithfeathers #John Constantine #Johanna Constantine

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space-blue · 5 months

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wait hold on… can u elaborate about the australian slavery situation??? what did it inspire u to write??

Hah, sure! You'll find a lot of it answered in this previous ask!

Basically in Australia if you want a second year on your working holiday visa, you have to do work in some countryside postcodes. The laws have changed around it, but back then (2014?) it was basically a hellscape of modern slavery. There's a horror film about that sort of job actually! Very funny--may not watch lol

I went to a lady who lived in Grafton and who was certified batshit. It was very very bad. I worked without equipment, sometimes ankle deep in mud, in the rain, feeding horses in my bikini because that way I could hose myself down.

I had to carry and lift bags of feed, 25 or 50kg... And make feed at night, boiling it. The room we kept the feed in was a container, and from the moment the sun set, the walls would come alive. tapestry of dancing roaches.

That's me ^ and the feed 'shed'.

The horses, of course, were great and always good company...

(that's not me but a fellow slave).

The worst though was not the insects crawling in, the black widows by the dozen, the flying roaches in my face or me having to sic the dogs on nesting mice... It was the barking.

One of the bitches had pups and was underfed. The neighbour threatened to kill her if she didn't stop killing his chickens. So instead of feeding her better, they turned the cage like space I'm in on that first pic, into an improvised kennel for SEVEN dogs. The puppies? Kept alone across the yard.

That bitch barked all night, non stop. It drove me to madness. It drove me to dark, dark places. I considered killing her myself. It was so bad, I eventually wrote a short story where Obi-Wan Kenobi breaks on Kadavo due to sleep deprivation! Then it turned into my first finished long-ish fic fix it, I'm very proud of it lol

He's lifting rocks, pushing carts, choking on his daily portion of mouldy bread, staring into the middle distance. He keeps his thoughts far from the things and people he loves, afraid that handling such precious memories might sully them, taint them with the same revolting grime that mats his hair and cakes under his nails. He feels his soul unravelling. The once thick and vibrant weave of his personality a moth-eaten rag, fraying under his touch. The person he was... The calm, collected man, sometimes to a fault... Sometimes a little too cold and obedient... Where has he gone? Like a shade into darkness, swallowed by something greater than himself.

Anyway, in the middle of that madness I started writing a 'novel' that was very much a vampire romance in which it's not *quite* vampires akchually... But then it evolved into an idea I really cherish, and wish I had the writing chops to work on soon.

So yeah anyway, I was mega broke as in '100$ and nothing else', was not paid, forced to work daily, even wash the family's stuff every day and roll the towels like in a 5 star hotel. I had no car and no money to get a way out.

The crazy horse lady kicked me out with no warning though, and I was rescued by lovely (and deeply racist) people. Before making my way to another horse person, a guy this time, who gave me a camping stove and a mattress in the room at the end of his stables.

I mucked shit every day while listening to Benedict Cumberbatch's reading of Kafka's Metamorphosis. There's a joke somewhere in there.

Here I am, over my pile of shit :

This is an era of my life where I had no money and no internet banking, and had to ask the cashier to 'please try again' after taking a can out of the shoping, and another can, and another...

I also, tragically, read The Collector, by John Fowles. That book left me so physically distressed, I was sick to my fucking stomach. I picked up the Exorcist to try and wash my palate! But finally I searched for fellow writers online, feeling my sanity was slowly unraveling...

And I found a forum of fantasy and scifi writers who ran a small monthly short story competition! I wrote my first in one day, while mucking stables... Sat at my diner of frozen potatoes and slammed my first 1.5k words short story ever. It featured an immortal gunslinger in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Strong beginings.

You can read most of those short stories here.

I participated almost religiously to this, for years. By the time I entered fanfic-world, I had almost 7 years of this under my belt.

I'm definitely sure it rescued my sanity.

#writing #irl stuff #modern slavery #australia #snip talks #anon ask

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lesbianmarrow · 3 months

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legends cast has to do the crucible. (which they COULD it would be within the bounds of the show) who’s killing them?

aaaaaaahh you say this to ME. ok. my first thought is that ray palmer has to kill john constantine bc thats SICK and i love it. and then ray cant do it so sara kind of rolls her eyes and steps in to do it herself.

(for any legends fans reading this: the crucible is a thing in xmen comics where if youre a mutant and your powers got taken away but you want to get your powers back, you fight someone to the death in an arena [someone you trust to give you a good death] and you die and then are resurrected with your powers)

maybe there could be a storyline where sara has to get her prophecy powers back but first she has to be killed in order to be reborn with her powers.....in that case i think its all the legends against sara and its a little bit like the episode where shes possessed by mallus exorcist-style and fighting everybody only this time theyre all in their right minds and theyre fighting out of love. ava deals the killing strike of course and its very dani holding xuân's lifeless body in her arms and weeping.

if its like season 3 era and we change it so its like ok everyone has to wield the totems but first everyone has to be killed and then brought back by the totem or whatever. i think mick has amaya slay him bc thats kind of their dynamic. like he wouldnt trust anyone else to do it. amaya would probably want nate to kill her and i think he would go through with it but he would be sad. i want zari to have to kill wally bc that will be the most angsty for her bc it will remind her of her brother's death. i dont think ray has the heart to kill anybody but i feel like it would be easiest for zari and sara to kill the others, zari bc she saw them die a thousand times in her time loop and sara bc it used to be her job. and then sara is the last one standing and has damian darhk kill her i guess. and a small selfish part of her hopes she wont come back and she will just get to be with her sister again.

maybe theres a thing where astra has to be killed (do you know astra? shes cool) and the episode is building up the expectation that constantine has to be the one who kills her and hes very tormented and mopey about it but in a surprise twist it turns out that it doesnt have to be him and so astra requests spooner to do it. and it ends with spooner holding astra in her arms and saying "i got you" and there are tears in her eyes but shes smiling proudly. and when astra comes back the first thing she does is wrap spooner in a big hug.

if ava had to be killed i actually dont think sara could bring herself to do it. HYPOCRITE that she is i think shes like pshh guys cmon a little light dying never hurt anyone! and like teases the others for being squeamish about it. but when it's ava's turn to be dispatched and shes looking at sara with so much love and understanding i think sara is like FUCK and runs away and hides for a minute to collect herself. and gary is very eager to step in and take over and theyre like fuck off gary. so i think zari 2 fights & kills ava instead but sara is like cheering ava on and then holds her hand as she dies.

i feel like i should say smth about sara and constantine bc its you asking but honestly i feel like if they crucible'd each other it just wouldnt be that interesting bc theyre just gonna do it and be like mostly fine with it. like thats just something that they can and will do for each other. its more interesting when its characters who are more apprehensive about it for whatever reason.

this is such a good game. we need to make this the hot new fanfic trope tbh

#the little neurons in my brain dancing with joy thinking about all these scenarios #legends of tomorrow #sara lance #legends constantine #ava sharpe #avalance #amaya jiwe #zari tomaz #astra logue #spooner cruz #magic cutlery #zari tarazi

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sharpth1ng · 1 year

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Ok but is Sidney climbing through Billy’s window in a scream reverse Au? Lmao

YES SHE DOES IM CRYING.

Sid trying to get Billy to fuck so she can get rid of his virgin plot armor, but she brings up like, John Hughs movies instead of the exorcist. Billy saying he's worried about his dad hearing them but actually Stu is half naked and hiding in his closet so he's just trying to get Sid to leave.

Gold.

#This is so fucking funny #i want this #scream role reversal au #ask

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cutxratexradio · 3 months

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The Highs and Lows of a broken radio. lol

Totally see John playing back up support instead of front line in the Exorcist fight. And I keep the idea that he'd actually get struck mute when his staff gets broken.

For him, it's a genuine power item and he'd be genuinely fucked without it. Not just unable to broadcast.

#hazbin motel #my art #art of my oc

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cruger2984 · 10 months

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The Pretty Cures and its Saints: Delicious Party♡Pretty Cure

It’s been a long time in three years and here we are, I have to make in just a long time, so here are our delicious heroes and their corresponding feast days sharing with their birthdays!

August 31 - Yui Nagomi (Cure Precious)

Sts. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus: Both of these men are appeared in the Holy Bible's New Testament. Joseph (not to be confused with the foster father of Jesus) is from Arimathea, and a respected but wealthy civic leader and a member of the Sanhedrin. More important is the courage Joseph showed in asking Pilate for Jesus’ body. Jesus was a condemned criminal who had been publicly executed. Nicodemus is also a member of the Sanhedrin and a important one like Joseph, and was a Pharisee. He appeared in the Gospel of John when he secretly visits Jesus at night to discuss his teachings, and was impressed by the miracles of Jesus but was not fully convinced that he was the Messiah. Both Joseph and Nicodemus are honored by the Roman Catholic Church on this date, as Joseph is the patron of undertakers and funeral directors while Nicodemus is the patron of curiosity.

March 13 - Kokone Fuwa (Cure Spicy)

St. Roderick: 9th century priest who is formerly a Muslim, and is venerated as one of the Martyrs of Córdoba. Tradition states that he was a Christian priest of Cabra who had two brothers: one was a Muslim, the other irreligious. Once, after his brothers began to fight one another, Roderick attempted to break up the fight. However, they turned on him instead and beat him. When Roderick maintained his loyalty to the Catholic religion, he was accused of apostasy from Islam under Sharia law, and he was imprisoned and then beheaded along with Salomon (Solomon) at Córdoba.

July 11 - Ran Hanamichi (Cure Yum-Yum)

St. Benedict: 5th century abbot, mystic, exorcist, religious and founder of the Order of Saint Benedict (the Benedictine order). He founded twelve communities for monks at Subiaco, Lazio, before moving to Monte Cassino in the mountains of southern Italy. The Order of Saint Benedict is of later origin and, moreover, not an 'order’ as commonly understood but merely a confederation of autonomous congregations. His main achievement, his ’Rule of Saint Benedict’, contains a set of rules for his monks to follow. Heavily influenced by the writings of John Cassian, it shows strong affinity with the Rule of the Master, but it also has a unique spirit of balance, moderation and reasonableness, which persuaded most Christian religious communities founded throughout the Middle Ages to adopt it. As a result, his Rule became one of the most influential religious rules in Western Christendom. He is believed to have died of a fever at Monte Cassino not long after his twin sister, Scholastica, and was buried in the same place as his sister. He was named patron protector of Europe by Pope Paul VI in 1964, and in 1980, Pope St. John Paul II declared him co-patron of Europe, together with Cyril and Methodius.

November 24 - Amane Kasaki (fka Gentlu) (Cure Finale)

St. Albert of Louvain: 12th century French cardinal and martyr. He is the second of two sons to Duke Godfrey III, Count of Leuven, and his first wife Margareta van Limburg, and was the brother of Henry I, Duke of Brabant. In 1188, he became the Archdeacon of Liège and later received the subdiaconate in 1191. That same year he was elected Bishop of Liège and despite the fact that he had not reached the canonical age of 30, his appointment was widely approved. Gilbert of Mons, chancellor of Count Baldwin V of Hainaut, who attended the election, along with other princes and nobles, described the proceedings as a power struggle between Albert's brother Henry and Baldwin. Albert took the matter to Rome and appealed to Pope Celestine III. In May 1192, Pope Celestine III made Albert a cardinal, and ordained him in Rome as a deacon on 30 May 1192. He was then ordained to the priesthood on 19 September 1192 by Cardinal Guillaume de Champagne. Albert met three German knights in 1192 who persuaded him to ride on horseback with them outside of Reims. Outside of the city they attacked Albert with their swords and struck him on the head which crushed his skull and caused him to fall, where they made sure they killed him prior to making an escape.

#random stuff #catholic #catholic saints #precure #pretty cure #delicious party precure #yui nagomi #cure precious #kokone fuwa #cure spicy #amane kasai #cure finale

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twofrontteethstillcrooked · 2 years

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Suptober 4 Oct.: Wicked

"Cas?" Dean asked. His profound confusion dissipated like a fog severed by sunlight as he realized he knew his rescuer. "Hiya, Cas."

deancas, full au, no hooky-spooks, friends to lovers

Here's what Dean remembered: the carp weren't biting. Standing up in the rowboat to grab a stick of something Sam had called Sweet-n-Tangy Organic Grass Fed Small Batch Jerky (pretentious as hell, Sam) out of his duffle bag. Losing his balance, flailing foot hitting the side of the boat as he went into the water.

Thinking, Shit and I know how to swim. In that order.

The shit part was definitely correct. His ability to swim? Suspect, as evidenced by waking up – when had he gone to sleep? Underwater? Bad place to nap – on the sandy, pebbly shore, the heels of someone's hands making dents in his breastbone. Another two compressions and a gallon of lake expelled itself from his lungs via hacking, Exorcist-style projectiles. Embarrassing, but it's not like he or the guy whose magnificent arms he'd sat up in could get any wetter.

"Wicked," he heard some impressed youngster witness whisper from several feet away.

Dean was a very hip adult, so he knew all about the youth and their lingo.

He took his first deep breath in an undisclosed period of time and felt his whole body shaking like one of the pretty yellow oak leaves he'd apparently swallowed and horked up on a total stranger, who was (good news?) probably not a teenager. Not with this physique. Circumstances worse than Dean's last blind date. At least at the moment, he didn't want to die, unlike when he'd been seated across from a guy named Fergus who'd been, if memory served, so shittin' smarmy Dean had actually faked falling off the tall bar stool just to cut the evening short.

"Dean?" a deep, urgent voice was saying. "Dean, are you in there?"

He made himself focus. Opening his eyes all the way helped. Knocking his skull directly into another skull, not so much. He pulled back to the sight of shockingly blue, shockingly worried eyes boring into his own – but in an intense way instead of a painful, bone on bone, one of us is going to suffer a concussion sort of way.

"Cas?" Dean asked. His profound confusion dissipated like a fog severed by sunlight as he realized he knew his rescuer. "Hiya, Cas."

"Oh, thank god," Cas said, his relief so radiant Dean almost covered his eyes again.

God, he's beautiful, Dean thought. It wasn't the first time he'd entertained this notion about his tenant – his best friend, if he were being honest, and the only reason he'd decided to stay in town when it would've been so much easier to just sell his dad's old duplex and be done with it, take the money and go crash with Sammy until he figured out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, now that he didn't have to wait for John to…well. Do anything, anymore.

Cas'd answered Dean's little ad tacked up on the ratty bulletin board at Ellen's roadhouse. New in town. Quiet. Prompt with payment. Not exactly shy, nor hesitant, but something a little lonesome. Like he hadn't ever made many friends. Turned out, he had a godawful number of siblings, a big ol' family, but Dean knew from personal experience having kin didn't necessarily give a person a home.

The first time Cas knocked on the door on Dean's side of the duplex, he'd asked if Dean would like to split a meat lovers pizza; Dean asked if Cas wanted to watch a Monsters and Mayhem movie marathon with him. An hour later Dean found out Cas had never eaten meat lovers pizza before nor seen any of the iconic, legendary, unbeatable Zombie Slug franchise films, and Dean realized he had been put on earth to share these experiences with Cas, who may otherwise have not experienced them with anyone at all. Which, fucking tragic, if more because Cas was wonderful than because Dean was worth yanking out of briny depths.

"Everything okay here?" someone asked Cas, who looked at Dean in renewed concern.

"Yeah, hey, we're fine, I'm fine," Dean said, with only a little difficulty. Had to cough a few times. Sounded dank in there. He'd accidentally turned his lungs into water balloons and they were, y'know, kinda pissed about it.

"We should get you to the ER." Cas was rubbing Dean's arms in brisk strokes and generally giving off warmth like a brick oven; the man had the most gorgeous hands and Dean was extremely into having them on him. Having to shelp to the freaking hospital would interrupt massage time.

"Nah, I'm good," Dean said, clamping his back teeth together so they wouldn't clack together like one of those wind-up toy dentures that chattered and hopped around. "I'd say yes to a ride back to the house, though."

Was he gonna take advantage of Cas's inherent kindness to smear lake residue all over his junky ol Lincoln Continental instead of the pristine seats of the restored Impala that had been Dean's only consistent home for over three decades? Dean never claimed to be a saint. He'd have Charlie or someone come fetch his best girl. Down at the dock he saw Victor and one of his employees doing a magnificent job of tugging in the rowboat with what looked like a hilariously oversized fishing rod. Guess Dean wasn't the first customer to ditch a rental in the middle of a session.

"You're something else, Winchester," Victor called over, when he saw Dean wasn't dead.

"Thank you," Dean rasped out, waving.

Victor shook his head. "It wasn't a compliment."

Dean grinned at him, and then grinned at Cas, who didn't return the favor. "I'm fine, Cas."

Keep touching me, he thought.

"Let's go home," Cas said. "Ready to try standing up?" His eyes, god, his eyes were like windows to the sky, or something, like a clear blue lake Dean wanted to dive into.

Oh, wait.

Standing up, for the record, sucked for a few seconds. Squishy boots, squishy boxer briefs, jesus christ. Jacket: missing. No, it was puddled behind Cas. Light application of sandy and teeny tiny pebbles on Dean from back of head to back of calves, like he'd been dredged for a deep-fried crust. He could go for some fried chicken; maybe they'd swing through a drive-thru…

Cas's hands were around his elbows, and his face was full of– Dean bit down a laugh, 'cause Cas was drenched too, and his hair was drying every which way.

"One time," Dean said, "Sammy and me, we rode this little train at some zoo, I don't know, somewhere in Missouri maybe, way back, he was probably six? So I was ten. Took us through a haunted house. You know me, I loved it, stuff dangling from the ceiling and cackling, buncha animatronic nonsense, ghosts, vampires, Frankenstein, skeletons. The train exits and I look over, and Sam's hair was literally standing on end. Like he'd been electrocuted." Dean bit his lip and smiled, completely incapable of looking away from Cas.

Cas didn't smile per se; his eyes did a little. "I presume there's a point to the story."

Dean lifted a trembling hand – trembling because he was cold, not for any other reason – and rubbed it over Cas's damp hair, a few passes until the soft strands were mostly all going in one direction. He didn't break eye contact.

"Ah," Cas said, sheepishly.

Best friend, Dean thought, oh, I'm in love with my best friend. …I should probably stop charging him rent.

At the house, Cas scurried around turning on Dean's shower, set to lobster boil, and finding Dean dry pjs. Dean peeled himself out of his disgusting clothes; taking off his socks, he had an unsettling sensation of sloughing off a skin as though he'd been dunked in acid, or like he was a beached creature shifting into a new body, chunks of viscera left behind on the bedroom floor.

Cas cleared his throat and scuttled out of the room, steam wafting out of the bathroom in his wake. Dean looked down and realized he was, as they say, full frontal. Well. What was a little casual nudity amongst acquaintances.

The shower tile surround made a satisfying clonk as he tapped his forehead against it and let the leafless, unmuddied, free from frogs and fish tap water scour him clean. The water pressure wavered near the end, no doubt from Cas on his side of the house.

When he was dried and in pajamas, he padded out to the living room. Cas was there, clean and mostly dry from his own bath, looking anxious. Dean plopped down on the couch. He missed Cas's lap by a few inches, sound of mind enough to have steered himself to the cushion beside him.

"Your color's much better." Cas glanced at him and away. "We really should've gone to the ER."

Dean tapped Cas's knee. "Look." He tapped again, and Cas turned his head toward him with such a sour expression it forced a laugh out of Dean. He pulled down the v of his t-shirt. "Check it. You left a mark on my sternum."

Cas's face fell to horrified at the sight of the pale bruise Dean knew was there, having admired it in the steamy bathroom mirror. "I'm so sorry–"

Dean grabbed his hand and squeezed him quiet. "You saved my life, Cas." He didn't mean for his voice to be so rough, so full of tears that were instantly there at the back of his throat. "Thank you." He looked up at the ceiling – which he badly needed to divest of spiderwebs, except it was October and in what other month would spider bunting be appropriate – until he was sure his burning eyes wouldn't spill over. "How did you even–"

"I was taking a walk along the lakeshore and saw you fall in." Cas gripped Dean's hand. "I'd been about to yell hello when you stood up and didn't even have a chance to. You didn't surface." There were tears brimming in his eyes too.

Dean cupped Cas's jaw with one hand. A warm tear slipped into his palm as Cas closed his eyes. Dean placed a soft kiss on his cheekbone, near his eye, and tasted salt. He leaned closer.

Cas blinked, shook his head miserably. "You don't– Just because I–" He swallowed.

"Can I kiss you just because I want to?" Dean whispered, as close as he dared. "Because I've wanted to for much longer than right now." He didn't mean to sound sad about it; he'd barely even meant to be honest. Almost dying really walloped a guy's ability to self regulate.

Cas searched his face. In a moment, he nodded. But he didn't wait. He kissed first, softly, softly, a brushing of lips against Dean's that Dean chased, be careful, don't push, and that worked for a few seconds, a few back and forths. And then: Cas made a small, desirous sound, pressed forward, all heat and breath, and Dean, desperate to hear him twice, infinitely, reeled him in.

Another successful day of fishing.

#suptober22 #deancas #destiel #spn #suptober #fic #snippetfic

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cladnplaid · 4 months

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My Year In Review:

Books Read: 32 (Goodreads)

Personal Fav: The Exorcist by Peter Blatty

Most Recommended: Beyond the Wand by Tom Felton

Movies Watched: 112

Top 5

1. Suzume

2. Godzilla Minus One

3. Oppenheimer

4. John Wick 4

5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

Honorable mentions:

Across the Spider-Verse Pt 1 & Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Pt 1

Video Games Played (Ranked I literally only played 5 games)

1. Guardians of the Galaxy

2. Resident Evil 4 Remake

3. Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Remaster

4. Jedi: Fallen Order

5. Hogwarts Legacy

Games I watched (Ranked)

God bless my brother, my worstie @the-gotheltic-rowan, Markiplier, Jacksepticeye & Maximilian Dood 🫶 for helping me consume a game when I didn't have the brainpower to play

1. Faith: The Unholy Trinity

2. God of War: Ragnarok

3. Mortal Kombat I

4. Spider-Man 2

5. Final Fantasy 15

6. Final Fantasy 16

Series Watched (Ranked Top 9 because I didn't watch more than that)

1. The Last of Us

2. The Bear

3. One Piece Live Action

4. Midnight Mass

5. Spy x Family (s1)

6. Rewatching Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood

7. Rewatching Breaking Bad

8. Rewatching Better Call Saul

9. X-Files

Favorite Personal Growths:

Got really good at cooking and meal prep

Paid off dept and built up a modest savings

Got my life more organized

Sewed some of my most challenging projects yet

Reorganized my living space to make my home my sanctuary

Learned to live in the moment and not be a workaholic. Take days off. Take a drive. Got out of town for a day or two.

2024 Goals

(in no particular order)

Daily reading plan with Bible

Stop watching YouTube shorts. Seriously, short form, rapid-fire content is so bad for my attention span

Crocheting a tempeture blanket

Finishing all personal open sewing projects

Re-design my bedroom to have more space

Experiment 1st month with Carnivore diet and see what happens

Get active

Drink Less

Keep a regular sleep schedule

Charge phone away from bedstand

Use alarmclock to wake up so I have to GET UP

Play & beat the following video games from prev years:

Alan Wake 2

Jedi Survivor

Resident Evil Village

GoW Ragnarok

Spider-Man 2

The Quarry

Until Dawn

Resident Evil 0 & 1 Remaster

Listen to an audiobook on daily commute to work

Read the following via Audiobook:

Finish Hannibal Series

Finish Eragon

Dracula

Frankenstein

more Star Wars Classic EU books

Brave New World

11/22/63

Finish more TV series instead of brainlessly watching YouTube in that time

Mandalorian S3

Andor

Ahsoka

Reacher

The Haunting Anthology

Read a physical book before bed and not mindlessly read fanfic

1. Finish Resident Evil Books

2. Finish all owned manga & graphic novels

3. Read thrifted Stephen King books

4. Death Stranding

5. Alan Wake

I wanted to give myself some realistic goals like last year. I found that keeping a monthly log of these types of things really felt good to do. So I'm going to log more stuff here in hopes to for to keep me more accountable and to enjoy consuming fulfilling content again and not fall down a youtube rabbit hole for hours unless it is long-form video content that is edifying.

This is tumblr. This is my personal little space where I can gush about my interests. I can't do that on social media like FB, Insta, or Twitter without it feeling like a popularity contest or a great debate. So yall freaks get unsolicited updates from my funky little life filled with whatever all this is.

Goodreads | Letterbox | Gaming Sideblog

#cant sleep so 🤷‍♀️#personal goals #rambles #2023 wrapped #book recommendations #films #video games #books #tv

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revrads · 1 year

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After collecting the pathetic priests like trading cards, some crossover ideas start bouncing in my head like a DVD screen saver so I’m getting them out there for no reason

John Ward gets reinstated as a priest and his first mission is on Crockett Island where instead of meeting with his old mentor Monsignor John Pruitt, he meets Father Paul Hill

A case of possession on Crockett Island leaves Paul Hill at a loss. Mainland Church sends two of their most experienced exorcists; John Ward and Damien Karras

After the successful exorcism of Regan Macneil, Damien Karras heads to Snake Meadow Hill after hearing a priest was sent to the psychiatric ward after a failed exorcism

Before coming back to Crockett Island after being turned, Paul Hill goes to Georgetown to give his gift to Damien Karras’ dying mother

Alu (in John’s body) and Captain Howdy (in Damien’s body) beat the shit out of each other for no fucking reason, then they call a truce just to terrorize Paul instead cause it’s funnier

Group Therapy where Damien, a licensed psychologist, gives the Johns Free Therapy

Sad Priests Swap AU where John Ward is the enigmatic vampire priest of Crockett Island, Paul Hill is the psychologist priest of Georgetown University tasked with the exorcism of a young girl by the name of Leeza Scarborough, and Damien Karras goes back to the MacNeil’s family house to finish the failed exorcism of Regan Macneil

#faith game #faith the unholy trinity #midnight mass #the exorcist #the exorcist (1973)#john ward #paul hill #john pruitt #damien karras #alternate universe #crossover #au #seabury's free thoughts #((I'd write a fic but then I remember I am Very Bad at writing))#((I'd probs attempt a one shot but don't ever expect it to be good tho 😔))#((pls assume every one of these AU contain possessed!John and Damien and vampire!Paul))#((my brain is actually rotted rn pls enjoy this pile of slop))

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evolution-ofa-geek · 7 months

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Day 9 - favorite supernatural horror movie

-Final Destination - 2000

Starring

Ali Larter

Devon Sawa

Kerr Smith

Tony Todd

Chad Donella

Amanda Detmer

Sean William Scott

Synopsis: Alex is boarding a plane to France on a school trip, when he suddenly gets a premonition that the plane will explode. Shortly after Alex, a group of students, and his teacher are thrown off the plane, and to their horror, the plane does explode. Alex must now work out Death's plan, as each of the survivors falls victim. Whilst trying to prevent the next death, Alex must also dodge the FBI, who believe that he caused the explosion

There are so many to choose from and this is probably the unpopular opinion but Im not a fan of Poltergeist or The Exorcist. I know they’re legendary movies and I’ve seen about enough of those two to know the references here and there, but those movies didn’t strike me as “I want to fall in love with them so much.” Nope. Instead, my favorite supernatural horrors are from this franchise.

But these movies is like it hits you in the most expected and unexpected of places. Part 1) A Plane. 2) The Highway. 3) A Roller Coaster Ride 4) A Nascar Race 5) Waiting in traffic on a bridge. I freely admit that I love the franchise and have sometimes wondered if premonitions are real or if its happened to me thus the reason we make the choices we make.

But I love the first one even more. Devon Sawa (Idle Hands) Ali Larter (Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Kerr Smith (My Bloody Valentine). It starts off with Devon Sawa (Alex Browning) a High School student on a school trip with his classmates to Paris, throughout the entire ten minutes he begins to see these signs of impending doom, including listening to John Denver while in the restroom. They all get in their seats on the plane and the plane takes off only to be destroyed in the air… Alex wakes up, freaked out, and decides to test out his seat, and freak everyone out on the plane as well. The bully of the bunch see’s this and wants to punch him thus ejecting both of them, the bully’s girlfriend, Stifler who just showed up and trying to sit down, Alex’s best friend who was told by his brother to check on him, and the english/french teacher. Ali Larter gets up on her own and leaves as well and as she said it “if someone says the plane is going to explode, you’re just going to get up and go.” They all go back to the entrance and wait there. The bully decides to fight Alex and at the same time the plane explodes. Everyone looks at Alex like he’s some big crazy guy and then shit just ends up happening from there.

Its a great movie. I’ve watched this many times and I even joked about watching it the night before I have to go on a plane trip. Which I do end up watching it just to calm my nerves I guess. But lots of things end up happening here that they save more destruction for the second movie. The entire franchise is connected with different people, cities, and ways to die. A barbwire exploding into your body. A rock hitting a lawnmower and then hitting a girl’s face in the head. Or even doing gymnastics… Im sure you’ve seen that gif going around. It all adds up to final thing and that is You Cant Escape Death!

The story was originally going to be the concept for an episode of The X-Files (1993), which was inspired by Sole Survivor (1984). In this movie, a woman who was the sole survivor of a plane crash starts to be haunted by dead people that Death uses temporarily as vessels trying to kill her to correct its plan, and killing everyone who suspect about it.

Kill count: 292

Head Shot: Billy Hitchcock (Sean William Scott) getting decapitated by some metal shrapnel due to being underneath the train tracks while the train is running and landing on his face.

What is your favorite Supernatural Horror?

#31 Days of Horror #Supernatural Horror #Horror #podcaster #from under the apron #streamer

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sellyoursoulforagoodfic · 2 years

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What Do You See, Mirror? Chapter 7

John Constantine x reader

Word Count: 1836

Summary: Ritchie’s in danger.

You were lounging in the living room, enjoying a drink with John when an unexpected chill raced down your spine. This chill was similar but oh-so-unwelcomely different than most others you’d felt in your life. Overall, it was the same . . . except for the sparks of electricity that danced painfully along your ribs as it passed.

“You alright, luv?”

There was likely no small amount of hostility in your gaze when you searched around the room for the source of your pain. “You making friends with angels behind my back?”

“Bloody hell . . .” It felt like every muscle in John’s body stiffened upon hearing that question, but his voice was still that Constantine-branded casual when he said, “Friend would be a mighty strong choice of word for it.”

“John, I’m disappointed,” a new masculine voice sounded as a dark-skinned angel appeared in the room with you.

“About us not being friends?” John scoffed. “You really shouldn’t be surprised.”

The angel rolled his eyes. “And here I’d heard that you’d come to your senses when you cut ties with this . . . filth.” The way he spat the word reminded you of the way one might discuss the finding of a rat in one’s dinner. “Yet you’re decided to start--what’s the phrase--slumming it . . . again.”

You could see John’s jaw flexing with his anger. “That’s none of your business,” you snapped before he could say anything that might get him killed.

“It is when the reason he got involved in stopping the Rising Darkness was to save his soul!”

The icy chill was back, but this one was born purely out of fear. “What?”

“If you wanted her out of it, maybe you shouldn’t have let literally everything point to the fact that we needed her,” came John’s sharp reply.

Now, it was the angel’s turn to be unpleasantly surprised. “What are you talking about?”

The laugh that left John’s mouth was a harsh, cruel-sounding thing. “Of course you don’t know. Zed, your precious seer--you remember her, right?--was having visions about the two of us. Apparently, we need her to fight your precious Rising Darkness.”

Angel boy’s jaw clenched. “Have you checked the scry map?” Apparently, he didn’t feel like discussing his shortcomings on the Seer Knowledge front.

“No. In case you haven’t noticed, I was having a drink with this lovely lady.”

“Even God had a day off,” you pointed out, voice sickly-sweet as you trailed a finger down the arm John had looped around your shoulders.

“God rested because he’d finished creating the world. John’s job is just heating up.”

Immediately, the exorcist’s brow furrowed, but he let the angel keep talking.

“There’s an old friend you can still help, and it’s even in your own backyard.”

You felt your face twist in confusion. “Aren’t you lot usually more cryptic than that?”

He didn’t deign to so much as look at you; those golden eyes of his stayed locked on John.

“I’ve only got one friend in town . . . if you can call him that, but my lady’s right. You getting used to breaking Daddy’s rules?”

Saying nothing, the angel just vanished.

“. . . Well that went better than I expected,” John muttered.

You pulled away from him slightly. “So when were you planning on warning me about the feathery threat to my existence?”

“Oh, don’t be like that, luv. I try not to think about the bastard as much as I can, to be honest. Besides,” he pulled you back to him, directing you to move onto his lap so that you were straddling it instead of the casual, reclined position from before, “you know I’d never let him hurt you. Right?”

You scoffed, trying to add levity to his suddenly self-conscious tone. “Since when do I need your help to defend myself?”

At that, he barked a laugh. “To, right you are.” The pair of you shared a brief, fiery kiss before he guided you to your feet. “Now, come on. Ritchie needs our help!”

“It’s Ritchie that needs us?” you found yourself asking while being dragged down the hall. “Oh, he’s gonna love this . . .” Not.

The taped lecture was painfully boring even from outside the lecture hall. Yawns forced their way out of your mouth every few seconds, it felt like. When the tape finally messed up and Ritchie ended the class, you (and probably every student inside) inwardly rejoiced.

Waiting outside hadn’t been your idea in the slightest. No, you’d wanted to sit with John so you could at least mock whatever lecture Ritchie would put on and have something to keep yourself occupied that wasn’t just listening and twiddling your thumbs. But then John had to go and make the far-too-valid argument that you and Ritchie had never gotten along, so he would probably bolt the second he caught sight of you.

Hence, outside.

While listening to John’s pointless question to dramatically announce his present was amusing, when the time came, you filed out with the students. Crowds were truly brilliant for going unnoticed, after all, and John already had Ritchie’s attention firmly locked on him.

The plan was theoretically simple. He’d probe his old friend for as much information as he could manage on the way to Ritchie’s office. Where you’d already be inside waiting so you could catch him off guard. Then, fingers crossed, the three of you could figure out exactly what this mysterious danger was.

You were already done snooping around the office (finding nothing, naturally) and were lounging on the couch when you heard Ritchie’s once-familiar voice saying, “We had a . . . a deal. I help you and--” He abruptly cut himself off when he saw you. “Oh, no. No, no, no.” His eyes started frantically darting between the pair of you.

John flopped down next to you, arm automatically falling behind your head.

“You swore. You promised. No supernatural stuff, no demons--”

“Hey!” you protested at the same time John announced, “Gary’s dead, Ritchie.”

Ritchie’s whole body froze, full dear-in-the-headlights. “D. . . dead?”

“I’m sorry to spring it on you like that, mate, but, uh, now I have it on good authority that something ill-natured is circling you like a pack of wolves, and I’m not just gonna sit there and wait for it to attack.”

As John spoke, Ritchie moved to sit behind his desk, face full of confusion and shock. “Why me?” he muttered. “Why her? Why did you bring her here if something bad was already after me?”

“Because dealing with me is a right side better than ending up in a shallow grave because of something worse.” Your eyes narrowed. “Or are you forgetting all the times I’ve saved your ass?”

John’s hand squeezed your shoulder.

“But that’s no answer to why me. I don’t do anything but work and go hom, all of which is sprinkled with a whole lotta sedatives!”

What about the data-mining?”

“I got sick of frying hard drives! I don’t do it anymore! I shut the program down.”

“All this doesn’t change the fact that something bad is coming, Ritchie,” you pointed out calmly.

“Looks to me like something bad is already here,” came his mocking reply. “Careful how you speak to my wife.”

“You divorced years ago, John! And for good reason. She’s a demon! It ain’t natural, and you know it!”

“She’s part demon, Ritchie, and you’d do well to remember that.” John’s tone was sharp, almost like he was moments from calling hellfire to those talented fingertips of his. When you squeezed his thigh to ground him, he relaxed some. “Besides, my reasons for parting with her died that day in Newcastle.”

“I’m here to help, Ritchie,” you vowed seriously. The hostility needed to tone itself down and quickly.

“Just--” His phone ringing cut him off. Convenient.

Based on his face, the news on the other end was anything but good. Of course.

Telling that young girl about her friend dying was easily one of the most emotionally traumatizing things you’d born witness to. Fortunately, after that it was quite easy to convince her to come to the millhouse.

“Don’t worry,” John was saying. “All reflective surfaces here have protections on them.”

“Get some rest while we work this out, alright?” you suggested.

“I’m sorry about all this.”

You waved her off. “Bah! You’re much better to deal with than Ritchie even with the whole evil ghost thing.” You winked at her. “He kinda hates me, if you haven’t noticed.”

“Why . . .” she trailed off as she seemed to realize that the answer wasn’t any of her business.

“You just get some rest. I’ll wrangle the magicians.”

You knew it was going too well. The other shoe was bound to drop, yet when it did you were still surprised and horrified in equal measure when she was sucked into that hellish dimension through her phone of all things.

Immediately, John started pulling out the supplies he’d need to do the spell. It was a little hard to hear anything over the blood racing in your ears, but you knew him and Ritchie were arguing about going in. But then you got dragged into it.

“She’s got mind powers, right?” You jerked your head around to see that Ritchie was pointing at you. “Why can’t she do it?”

John’s jaw clenched as his eyes met yours. “Her mind is too volatile. It’s overwhelming even to trained people; if she goes in we might lose Lily.”

“He’s right. I’d probably burn her out along with Shaw if he tried to get hold of me. Finesse is what’s needed, and that’s something I can’t do.” You looked at Ritchie. “If things go wrong, I’ll come in and be the battering ram. You two could handle it since you’ve got practice and warning, but it has to be a last resort sort of thing.”

He looked like he wanted to complain more, but Ritchie just sighed. “Fine.”

It was torture, watching the pair of them just . . . sit there in the trance.

It was pure Hell when John’s hands started bleeding. Still you didn’t try to enter. Lily was still alive. You had to hold out hope.

Then Lily came out. You patted her shoulder comfortingly but said nothing.

And finally, John came out of it and you immediately dropped into his lap to kiss him silly in relief despite the blood that lingered on his hands without wounds. “Good to see you too, luv, but I need you ready to drag him out incase the stupid git decides to try and stay there.”

You glanced over at Ritchie’s body. “You got it.”

But in the end, it all turned out . . . fine. Except for the dead kids. You’d all have to live with that on your conscience, but the three of them were alive. You were just happy to have them safe.

And if you and John got deliciously, irresponsibly, and hopelessly drunk after toasting Gary’s memory in the mirror . . . Well that was your own business.

And the business of that one little walk-in chapel in Vegas.

#john constantine x reader #constantine x reader #john constantine imagine #constantine imagine #hellblazer imagine #hellblazer x reader #reader insert #10k #DC imagines

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computerpeople · 1 year

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i meant to watch the exorcist tonight but instead i ended up watching spongebob but i mean spongebob and john are essentially the same character and thats he whole reason why i wanted to watch the exorcist in the first place

#txt

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brainbuffering · 1 year

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12 Days of Manga 2022

Day 7: Favourite Trope

I have so many favourite tropes (especially when it comes to Shojo) that range from “The Grumpy One is Soft for the Sunshine One” to “Pretty Sure This Makes Me a Furry”. But instead here I’m going to give a tribute to all the Women With Weapons! May we one day get to see you all animated properly. (Seriously, Prince Freya might not be my favourite, but it would make for a great action anime when’s that gonna happen?)

So in alphabetical order, and only from those volumes/chapters I have read this year:

Edda from Prince Freya with a wood axe (M: Keiko Ishihara T: John Werry L: Sabrina Heep E: Pancha Diaz)

[ID: A woman in a long cloak holds a wood axe in two hands with an almost sensual expression. The handle on the axe is in line with her lips and the blade just above her head. She is in a castle, surrounded by skeletons in rotting clothes, many of them with swords sticking out of them. Black Speech bubbles read “All ye who wander the empty night... your names are... brother of sleep...”]

Freya from Prince Freya with a sword (M: Keiko Ishihara T: John Werry L: Sabrina Heep E: Pancha Diaz)

[ID: An adrogynous looking person (Freya) in a medievil-inspired soldier’s uniform and half-plate, smacks a sword into the side of a man in a full set of plate armour. The impact looks immense. Freya’s eyes are bright white, her teeth clenchd in determination.]

Kiki and her sword from Snow White With The Red Hair (M: Sorata Akiduki T: Caleb Cook L: Brandon Bovia E: Karla Clark)

[ID: Kiki points her sword directly at the head of a young soldier collapsed on his knees in the pouring rain. Her expression is that of showing no mercy as the boy yells at her. “This grand scheme may come to naught... ... but if he is permitted to live, my brother...”]

Lucy Yang from Blue Exorcist with her black daggers (M: Kazue Kato T: John Werry L: John Hunt)

[ID: A short, elderly chinese woman with her hair in a bun wears a traditonal robe. She stands ontop of a circular platform made of rock. She has a pipe in her mouth, and three daggers stick out of the long sleeves of her robes. Sound effects on either side of her read “Kting” and “Klang”. Someone off panel shouts: “The smaller demons disappeared!”]

Margret of Anjou from Requiem of the Rose King with a dagger, proving that I support women’s wrongs as well as women’s rights. (M: Aya Kanno T: Jocelyne Allen L: Sabrina Heep E: Joel Enos)

[ID: A faceless woman in Mid-1400s British Clothing stabs the leg of a blooded and batterd man tied to a pole causing him to cry out in pain. “Show me the same of your disgrace... ... or else my anger shall never be quenched!!”]

Mitsuri from Demon Slayer: Stories of Water and Flame with her Katana (M: Ryoji Hirano & Koyoharu Gotogue T: John Werry L: John Hunt E: Jennifer Sherman)

[ID: Mitsuri protects a terrified woman and child from an unknown enemy. She brandashes her katana in one hand and holds a bomb made of stuck together dynamite. Her braided hair flies about dramatically, she has a fearsome expression.]

Rangetsu and her trusty polearm from The King’s Beast (M: Rei Toma T: JN Productions L: Monaliza De Asis E: Pancha Diaz)

[ID: An androgynous looking person with fox ears and a tail wearing an ancient chinese-inspired soldier’s uniform sits ontop of a pile of rocks. She is surrounded by dead bodies that at first glance appear to just be part of the rock formation. She has a mournful expression as she rests her bloodied polearm against her body. ‘No matter how much blood got on my hands. Even when... it coated me so heavily that the weight of it never went away.]

Silvia Sherwood from Spy X Family using a belt as an improvised weapon. (M: Tatsuya Endo T: Casey Loe L: Rina Mapa)

[ID: A middle aged woman with a ponytail and wearing a black skirt suit uses a belt to elegantly smash in the face of a security officer, sending him flying backwards. Sound effect in japanese is translated as ‘fwak’.]

Yae from Demon Slayer: Stories of Water and Flame and her hunter’s rifle (M: Ryoji Hirano & Koyoharu Gotogue T: John Werry L: John Hunt E: Jennifer Sherman)

[ID: A girl in traditional japanese winter mountain clothing, wearing a bandana/scarf over her black hair. She has a sad yet determined expression, as if holding back tears with everything she has. In her hands she holds a 1910s style hunting rifle with two spare bullets in her fingers. In boxed text: Aim for your target’s vital spot... And then squeeze.. the trigger.]

Yoshino from Yakuza Fiance with a knife (M: Asuka Konishi T: M. Fulcrum A: Sopha Tyrant L: Arbash Mughal E: Abb Lehrke)

[ID: Colour Page of a high school girl straddling the lap of a high school boy. She is pulling him aggressively by the collar, the wooden shieve of a knife in her mouth, and said knife at the boy's throat having already begun to slit it. She looks at the viewer with a ferocious glare. The boy is looking way too into all this. Text reads "Chapter 1: No place for a sore loser (Part 1)’]

Zacro from Tokyo Mew Mew and her whip (M: Reiko Yoshida & Mia Ikumi T: Elina Curran L: AndWorld Design)

[ID: An Older Teen Girl with long black hair, large wolf ears and a tail wears shorts and a heart shaped crop rop. She has a fur lined collar. She aggresively holds on to the end of a lasso/whip that is wrapped around a large moth like beast creature that is looking threateningly at her. A younger girl in a tunic and shorts raises her hands in the air in celebration. She has a monkey tail.]

#Shojo #Shonen #12 Days of Manga 2022 #12 Days of Manga #Manga #Prince Freya #Snow white with the red hair #blue exorcist #tokyo mew mew #demon slayer #spy x family #requiem of the rose king #the king's beast #yakuza fiance #seinen

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dfroza · 2 months

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“Can you see that I’m asking you to choose whose side you’re on—working with Me or fighting against Me?”

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 11th chapter of the book of Luke:

Another time Jesus was praying, and when He finished, one of His disciples approached Him.

Disciple: Teacher, would You teach us Your way of prayer? John taught his disciples his way of prayer, and we’re hoping You’ll do the same.

Jesus: Here’s how to pray:

Father [in heaven], may Your name be revered.

May Your kingdom come.

[May Your will be accomplished on earth

as it is in heaven.]

Give us the food we need for tomorrow,

And forgive us for our wrongs,

for we forgive those who wrong us.

And lead us away from temptation.

[And save us from the evil one.]

Imagine that one of your friends comes over at midnight. He bangs on the door and shouts, “Friend, will you lend me three loaves of bread? A friend of mine just showed up unexpectedly from a journey, and I don’t have anything to feed him.” Would you shout out from your bed, “I’m already in bed, and so are the kids. I already locked the door. I can’t be bothered”? You know this as well as I do: even if you didn’t care that this fellow was your friend, if he keeps knocking long enough, you’ll get up and give him whatever he needs simply because of his brash persistence!

So listen: Keep on asking, and you will receive. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened for you. All who keep asking will receive, all who keep seeking will find, and doors will open to those who keep knocking.

Some of you are fathers, so ask yourselves this: if your son comes up to you and asks for a fish for dinner, will you give him a snake instead? If your boy wants an egg to eat, will you give him a scorpion? Look, all of you are flawed in so many ways, yet in spite of all your faults, you know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to all who ask!

Picture this:

Jesus is exorcising a demon that has long kept a man from speaking. When the demon is expelled, the man starts talking and the people are amazed. But then controversy erupts.

Some People: Do you know why He can cast out demons? It’s because He’s in league with the demon prince, Beelzebul.

Other people want to see more, so they challenge Jesus to give them another miraculous sign. Jesus knows what they’re thinking.

Jesus: People, be logical. If a kingdom is divided against itself, it will collapse. If a ruling family is divided against itself, it will fall apart.

So if Satan’s kingdom is divided against itself, won’t his whole enterprise collapse? Does it make any sense to say I’m casting out demons by Beelzebul? Besides, if you’re saying it takes satanic power to cast out Satan, by whose power do your own exorcists work? If you condemn Me for an exorcism, you’ll have to condemn them. But if I by the power of God cast out demonic spirits, then face this fact: the kingdom of God is here, just as I’ve been saying.

When a man of power with his full array of weapons guards his own palace, everything inside is secure. But when a new man who is stronger and better armed attacks the palace, the old ruler will be overcome, his weapons and trusted defenses will be removed, and his treasures will be plundered. Can you see that I’m asking you to choose whose side you’re on—working with Me or fighting against Me?

When a demonic spirit is expelled from someone, he wanders through waterless wastelands seeking rest. But there is no rest for him anywhere, so he says, “I’m going back to my old house.” He returns and finds the old house has been swept clean and fixed up again. So he goes and finds seven other spirits even worse than he is, and they make themselves at home in the man’s life so that he’s worse off now than he was before.

As He is speaking, a woman shouts out from the crowd and interrupts Him.

Woman: How blessed is Your mother’s womb for bearing You! How blessed are her breasts for nursing You!

Jesus: No, how blessed are those who hear God’s voice and make God’s message their way of life.

Jesus was becoming more and more popular, and the crowds swelled wherever He went. He wasn’t impressed.

Jesus: This generation is evil. These people are seeking signs and spectacles, but I’m not going to play their game. The only sign they will be given is the sign of Jonah. Just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

The queen of Ethiopia will stand to condemn the people of this generation on the day of judgment. She, an outsider, came from so far away to hear the wisdom given to Solomon, but now, something greater than Solomon is here: how are the people of this generation responding?

Similarly, the people of Nineveh will stand to condemn the people of this generation on the day of judgment. They, outsiders, responded and changed because of the preaching of Jonah, but now, something greater than Jonah is here: how are the people of this generation responding?

You need a light to see. Only an idiot would light a lamp and then put it beneath the floor or under a bucket. No, any intelligent person would put the lamp on a table so everyone who comes in the house can see. Listen, your eye, your outlook, the way you see is your lamp. If your way of seeing is functioning well, then your whole life will be enlightened. But if your way of seeing is darkened, then your life will be a dark, dark place. So be careful, people, because your light may be malfunctioning. If your outlook is good, then your whole life will be bright, with no shadowy corners, as when a radiant lamp brightens your home.

A Pharisee interrupted His speech with an invitation to dinner. Jesus accepted the invitation and took His place at his table. The Pharisee was offended that Jesus didn’t perform the ceremonial handwashing before eating—something Pharisees were fastidious about doing.

Jesus: You Pharisees are a walking contradiction. You are so concerned about external things—like someone who washes the outside of a cup and bowl but never cleans the inside, which is what counts! Beneath your fastidious exterior is a mess of extortion and filth.

You guys don’t get it. Did the potter make the outside but not the inside too? If you were full of goodness within, you could overflow with generosity from within, and if you did that, everything would be clean for you.

Woe to you, Pharisees! Judgment will come on you! You are fastidious about tithing—keeping account of every little leaf of mint and herb—but you neglect what really matters: justice and the love of God! If you’d get straight on what really matters, then your fastidiousness about little things would be worth something.

Woe to you, Pharisees! Judgment will come on you! What you really love is having people fawn over you when you take the seat of honor in the synagogue or when you are greeted in the public market.

Wake up! See what you’ve become! Woe to you; you’re like a field full of unmarked graves. People walk on the field and have no idea of the corruption that’s a few inches beneath their feet.

Scholar (sitting at Jesus’ table): Rabbi, if You insult the Pharisees, then You insult us too.

Jesus: Well, now that you mention it, watch out, all you religious scholars! Judgment will come on you too! You load other people down with unbearable burdens of rules and regulations, but you don’t lift a finger to help others. Woe to you; you don’t fool anybody! You seem very religious—honoring the prophets by building them elaborate memorial tombs. Come to think of it, that’s very fitting, since you’re so much like the people who killed the prophets! They killed the prophets; you build their tombs—you’re all in the same family business!

This is why the Wisdom of God said, “I will send these people My prophets and emissaries, and these people will kill and persecute many of them.” As a result, this generation will be held accountable for the blood of all the prophets shed from the very beginning of time, from Abel’s blood to Zechariah’s blood, who was killed in the temple itself between the altar and the holy place. I’m serious: this generation will be held accountable.

So, religious scholars, judgment will come on you! You’re supposed to be teachers, unlocking the door of knowledge and guiding people through it. But the fact is, you’ve never even passed through the doorway yourselves. You’ve taken the key, left the door locked tight, and stood in the way of everyone who sought entry.

After that dinner, things were never the same. The religious scholars and Pharisees put constant pressure on Jesus, trying to trap Him and trick Him into saying things they could use to bring Him down.

The Book of Luke, Chapter 11 (The Voice)

Today’s paired reading from the First Testament is the 3rd chapter of the book of Malachi:

These are the words of the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies:

Eternal One: Pay attention! I am sending My messenger,

and he will clear the road ahead for Me.

The Lord you seek will suddenly arrive at His temple.

And the Messenger of God’s covenant, your soul’s delight,

Watch, because He, too, is coming.

Can anyone live through the day when He arrives?

Will anyone be left standing when He appears?

He is a purifying fire;

He is like lye soap.

Like a refiner of silver,

He will purify the descendants of Levi—

Until they are pure, unalloyed gold and silver.

Then they will draw near to the Eternal One,

Presenting offerings with righteous, clean hands.

Then the Eternal One will unequivocally accept the sweet offering of Judah and Jerusalem as He did in the days of old, as in the former years when the covenant was new.

Eternal One: Then I will approach you for judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the constant sorcerers; the chronic adulterers; the habitual liars; those who continue cheating wages from their hired laborer, a widow, or an orphan; and those who always reject the immigrant, not fearing Me, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies. Because I am the Eternal One, I never change; as a result, you children of Jacob have not been destroyed though your blessing may have been delayed.

From the days when your ancestors served Me, you have turned from and ignored My statutes. Return to Me and I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will return to you. But you shameless people ask, “How will we return? Will someone steal from God?” Yet you are always stealing from Me! But you self-centered people still ask, “How have we stolen from You?” In the tithes and the offerings you have not given Me as the law requires! You are cursed with a curse, for as an entire nation you are stealing from Me. To rectify this situation, you must bring the entire tithe into the storage house in the temple so that there may be food for Me and for the Levites in My house. Feel free to test Me now in this. See whether or not I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, will open the windows of heaven to you and pour a blessing down upon you until all needs are satisfied. I will rebuke the swarm of locusts devouring your crops, and the devourer will not cause the produce you have grown in the earth to decay or the vines in the field to drop their grapes. And all the nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight. I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, promise you this.

Your words of rebellion against Me have been strong. Yet you ask, “What have we said against You?” You have said, “Serving God is a waste of time,” and, “What benefits have we received by following Him as we mourned on our journey before the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies? Now we believe the bluster of the arrogant and agree they are blessed; we encourage the wicked who also test God and escape.”

Then those who fear the Eternal One consulted each other about God’s charges, each one to his neighbor, and the Eternal One paid attention and heard. A book of remembrance was written before Him for those who honored the Eternal One and valued His name and the good reputation.

Eternal One: And they will be Mine on that day when I, the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, make My unique treasure—which is the kingdom of Israel. I will have pity on them as a man has pity on his son who serves him.

And you will return and notice the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those serving God and those not serving Him.

The Book of Malachi, Chapter 3 (The Voice)

A note from The Voice translation:

God declares His Anointed One will come, and the way will be prepared. Notice has been given: be ready.

A link to my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, march 1 of 2024 with a paired chapter from each Testament (the First & the New) of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons about “within us” and “between us”:

“Let them make Me a mikdash (“holy place”) that I may dwell in their midst.”

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The sages say that the meaning of a holy place, or "mishkan," is not only something "within us" but is also something we share *between us. As Yeshua said: "Where two or three are gathered in my Name, there I am in their midst" (Matt. 18:20).

The offering of the “half-shekel” (i.e., chatzi ha'shekel: חֲצִי הַשֶׁקֶל) that is mentioned in this week's Torah portion (i.e., Ki Tisa) symbolizes how each of us individually contributes to make a shared holy place of the Lord. Recall that each person, no matter how rich or how poor, was required to offer a half-shekel, that is, a small silver coin equal to a few dollars in today's currency, for the sake of the upbuilding of the sanctuary (Exod. 30:-12-16). Originally these half-shekels were collected (in a census) and then melted down to make the silver sockets for the mishkan, that is, sockets used to anchor the frame of the Holy Place (אַדְנֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ) as well as to make hooks for the beams (ווִים לָעַמּוּדִים) to hold the inner veil (Exod. 38:27-28). The sages comment that these sockets and hooks secured the foundation and held the sanctuary in place -- a beautiful picture of how a part of each person upholds the sacred place.

Interestingly the half-shekel contribution was said to be an offering to "atone for your souls" (לְכַפֵּר עַל־נַפְשֹׁתֵיכֶם), which some sages said represents the giving of the soul to God, but it also suggests the need for atonement within the innermost chamber of the Holy of Holies (i.e., the heart). The Torah's language, however, makes it clear that the giving of the half-shekel is quite a serious matter, since its contribution created a sense of community that is vital to our spiritual well-being. We all need each other, and the half-shekel only has its place among other half-shekels, which is to say that a given individual contribution may seem insignificant, but it is equally important to the whole. The whole may be greater than the sum of its parts, but the parts are essential to make the whole...

Every “jot and tittel,” chaverim; the pattern of the Mishkan reveals much. Individual believers are “the temple of the living God” and “temples of the Holy Spirit” where God’s presence dwells (1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16). Collectively we are “joined together to become a dwelling place of God in the Spirit (Eph. 2:21-22). We are brought together as “living stones” to form a "spiritual house" and to serve as priests who offer sacrifices of praise to God (1 Pet. 2:5).

The "Torah of the Half-Shekel" teaches that each of us has something essential to contribute to the sanctuary of God, and no one can be left out. The Holy Place belongs to us all. Amen.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

========

Psalm 22:3 reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm22-3-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm22-3-lesson.pdf

And another post about our Father’s care:

“But if God knows all that we need, and better far than we do ourselves, why should it be necessary to ask Him for anything?" I answer, "What if He knows prayer to be the thing we need first and most? What if the main object in God's idea of prayer be the supplying of our great, our endless need - the need of Himself?" - George MacDonald

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We don't pray to attempt to change God's mind, but rather to change our own: "Your Father knows what you need before you ask him" (Matt. 6:8). Prayer is not a means of getting your Father's attention, but rather of getting your attention fixed on reality. It is a confession of your great need for Him to tell you who you really are. And while it is indeed true that "God knows everything," He does not know anything apart from his love. God does not "know" you in some “abstract” sense, like a computer that stores data and information, but rather as a parent who loves and cares for you (Psalm 103:13).

Your heavenly Father knows the number of hairs on your head; he knows the word on your tongue before you utter it, and he perfectly sees your beginning and end. He has intimate understanding of who you are and what you really need... Turn to Him in trust today.

[ Hebrew for Christians ]

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Psalm 103:13 reading:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm103-13-jjp.mp3

Hebrew page:

https://hebrew4christians.com/Blessings/Blessing_Cards/psalm103-13-lesson.pdf

2.29.24 • Facebook

from yesterday’s email by Israel365:

Dry bones = impossible to revive

This is the meaning of the prophecy of Ezekiel.

It is worth noting that the “dry bones” prophecy in this chapter of Ezekiel begins with God bringing Ezekiel to a valley that was filled with bones. Notice that God did not tell Ezekiel to dig up bones from a grave. They were lying out in the open in the valley.

In other words, the “death” of the hopes of the nation of Israel was not some hidden matter. It was plain for all to see. Anyone alive for most of the past 2000 years would have asserted, just as Martin Luther did, that the revival of the nation of Israel was simply impossible and never going to happen.

With this in mind, the fact that the Jews never lost faith, but stubbornly clung to the promises of God, believing all the time that eventually He would lead them back to their homeland, is astounding. If we take a moment to think about it, the faith of the Jews that they would one day be revived as a nation is perhaps the greatest miracle of all.

The “impossibility” of the rebirth of the nation of Israel after so many centuries of exile and dispersion causes us to marvel at the faith of the Jews. Their confidence in the promises of God is a message to us all. Are there still promises of God in the Bible that we think are impossible and will never be fulfilled?

Today’s message (Days of Praise) from the Institute for Creation Research

March 1, 2024

The Good Pleasure of God

“Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power.” (2 Thessalonians 1:11)

God’s good pleasure withholds judgment! “It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). “The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:8-9).

God’s good pleasure is to do good to His people! “The LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11). “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalm 37:3-4).

God’s good pleasure forgives us! “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:18-19).

God’s good pleasure is to bring about His will! “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts....So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:9-11). “The Lord...is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). When we live in God’s good pleasure, we are able to “delight” in Him. HMM III

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