#thee vessels one two three and four | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

miajolensdevotion · 1 year

Text

May 13, 2021

Verse: 1 kings 10 Write/ Copy Gods words :

10 And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions. 2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart. 3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not. 4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built, 5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her. 6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom. 7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard. 8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom. 9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon. 11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones. 12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day. 13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants. 14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold, 15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country. 16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target. 17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. 20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom. 21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon. 22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom. 24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. 25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. 26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance. 28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price. 29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

What is your Favorite verse(s):

16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target. 17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon. 18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold. 19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays. 20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.

Explain in your own words what you just read:

Sheba (also known as Sabea) was where modern-day Yemen is today (Southern Arabia). We know from geography this was a wealthy kingdom with much gold, spices, and precious woods. History also tells us that they were known to have queens as well as kings.

Commitment / what will i do : I will probably came as part of a trade delegation (1 Kings 10:2-5), but there is no doubt that she was highly motivated to see Solomon and his kingdom.

0 notes

gi-zxt · 2 years

Text

The Prosperity and Fall - 1/7

Sagau!

Oh boy, it's here. 3k+ words, one part out of seven.

Sorry for bad formatting! I wrote this on my iPad and posted it on my phone.

Warnings (please lmk if I missed any!):

Blood, minor swearing, death, gore, graphic descriptions of all of the above, use of Archon abilities for murderderder, ANGST NO COMFORT. Musou no Hitotachi is used to unalive you.

Please, take caution when reading. If you're not in a good headspace, go read about my fluffy, soft Scaramouche or Tsaritsa. If you are, have at thee!

Reblogs appreciated!

PART ONE

Many, many millennia ago, the seven nations of Teyvat had but one god to rule over them all. They called them the Divine One, the Overseer, the kind and benevolent Deity. The Divine One answered to no one but themselves, and yet were kind all the same, making sure everyone had clean water, fresh, nutritious food and were all happy. While they were not the creator of the land, they tended to it as if they were.

Then the Archon War happened.

Blood flooded the plains of Liyue, stained the mountains of Dragonspine, turned the Sacred Sakura of Inazuma pink from the roots absorbing it all.

Countless lives were lost, bones fertilizing the soil quickly enough for nature to grow over the bodies scattered across the lands; but, alas, it was too much for the Divine One to handle.

They wept and wept, body slowly fading as the fighting continued under their weakening influence over the land.

By the time the war was over, the seven Archons sought them out to tell them of their many victories over the gods they so triumphantly executed by their own hands, but they were nowhere to be found. In a panic, the new rulers sent out countless searches, looking for even one drop of the gold and silver and star-blessed blood that their god had.

But it was fruitless.

Teyvat no longer had their Divine One, so beautiful and kind.

This hardened the Archons, building walls around their hearts and nations, their souls and vessels, until many generations of humanity had passed, and their Overseer had all but slipped from memory, only faded, rough drawings of their hands and face, legends passed down by mouth, some so diluted that all they contained were a blurry description of Them and the story of Teyvat’s creation. This was all that was left to remember them by.

When the Divine One disappeared, they left a mark in the exact center of Teyvat, a mark they held on their body when they still existed in the plane of reality; it was a seven-sided shape, similar to the one that marked Celestia and its beings (sans three sides), given to them by their maker. Seven points for seven archons, seven nations and seven elements.

Seven unforgivable sinners.

It was a popular visitation spot, though a solemn one. Anyone who visited kept their voices low and eyes averted, bringing their offerings and then praying.

All of Teyvat awaited the return of their Divine One, but no one expected the chaos that would ensue when they finally did.

After all, They would never descend in mortal form.

—+—

“Dammit! Why a Pyro damage bonus?!”

You slump back in your chair, glaring at the words across your computer screen that signified yet another failed domain run; the Blizzard Strayer goblet would have been amazing for your Kaeya, but alas, the opposite element had to ruin it once more.

Ah well. On to Hu Tao it goes.

You click out of the domain, sighing in exasperation. Of course you were out of Resin, and had no Condensed Resin (damn crystalfly cores) or Fragile Resin either. Well, none of the latter you were willing to spend, anyway. Besides, you could always run the Vindagnyr domain again tomorrow.

A few more clicks gets you to the character screen, Kaeya displaying his current artifacts, which included a two-piece Blizzard Strayer and two-piece Gladiator’s Finale. The stats on both weren’t all that bad—they were enough to deal a good bit of crit damage with a little bit of help from Bennett, who was running four-piece Nobless Oblige—but you were really biding on that Cryo goblet.

“Ah, another day, I suppose.”

One last look at your long list of characters lends a smile to your lips—you, being a medium spender, were lucky enough to have every character in the game, even a C6 Kaeya—before you exit the game and shut your computer down for now.

A big stretch has you turning your head to look at the clock sitting by your bed, reading 2:15 P.M.

“Not a bad time to take a nap.”

As if answering your own statement, you yawn loudly then shake your head, getting up to crawl in bed. You had a day off of work because of a holiday, and a day off always constituted a midday nap.

But before you close your eyes, you make a few notes on your phone’s calendar, mostly reminders for a doctor’s appointment and old-fashioned weapon handling classes, as well as a reminder to PayPal the seller of a bow you had just bought the additional hundred dollars you still owed him. Genshin had gotten you really interested in weapons, and while you certainly weren’t proficient in handling them yet, you had picked up the polearm and bow quite quickly, the bow mainly because of going hunting with your parents and friends when you were younger.

Of course you never shot anything (the deer were always too cute), but you did become very accurate, very quickly learning to land bullseyes on moving targets. You kept the skills up, even to this day, and even reviewed a bit of your rusty self-defense skills by signing up for karate.

With a yawn, you set your phone down on your bedside desk, pulling your blankets up to cover your shoulders, and, with a smile, fall into a light sleep.

Or so you thought.

A dream of you falling through the clouds enters your mind’s eye, fear racing through your body like blood as you flail helplessly in the air.

Fortunately (unlike normal falling dreams), you land safely, nothing more than a bruise or two to show where you came from.

Huh, this dream seems really real—wait, am I lucid dreaming? Cool!

You look at your hands, flipping them over only to see strange symbols resembling the elements appear across your forearms, fading after a few moments, leaving only a faint, seven-sided shape where they once were.

“Weird…” you mutter, standing up and brushing grass off your legs, the green staining your pants. “This seems… really real. Ah well.”

With a quick stretch and a wave of your hands to clear the sparks appearing in your peripheral vision, you begin to walk towards where you think the Anemo Archon’s statue is. Hopefully, if you’re right, you’ll be able to get a grasp of where you are in Mondstadt.

So, if this is a lucid dream, then you can do anything you want, right? That means you can have abilities like Aether or Lumine!

You squeeze your eyes shut and envision their wings from the cutscene at the beginning of the game, but alas, no wings appear on your back, just a bruised ego and blurry vision.

Ah well. Sometimes lucid dreams are a bit disappointing, but hey, if it’s inside the world of the game you so loved—

“You there! Outlander!”

Your thoughts are interrupted by a very familiar voice. Whipping around to face the person, your suspicions are confirmed when you see that the person is the one and only Outrider Amber herself.

Her face turns from confusion to shock to anger.

But… why is she nocking her bow?

“Oh shit—“

You barely spring into action in time, dodging the flaming arrow, which makes a loud thunk in a log before extinguishing itself, but before long, Amber has another arrow ready and almost fully on fire.

“How dare you steal our Divine One’s face?! They would never descend as a mortal!”

What?

This one crashes into a crate placed haphazardly against a tree, shattering the wood into a bunch of pieces and sending a bow and sword flying in opposite directions. You choose the former, noting the fact that it resembled the one star bow all the archers initially came with, but hopefully, it would be enough.

As you fumble around for an arrow, Amber begins to draw again, aiming right for your abdomen to incapacitate you.

On instinct, you pull the string back, watching a star-spotted gold and silver arrow begin to form, the same weight of any arrows back home.

This takes the archer momentarily off guard, long enough for you to loose the projectile into her calf. She cries out in pain, clutching her leg at the injury, distracting her long enough to allow you to scramble to your legs to begin a sprint for your life, still clutching the bow in one hand.

Shit shit shitshitSHIT—

You duck under a tree branch, panting hard, deciding to climb up that same tree to catch your breath. Damn, you really should have gone out on a run more than twice a week.

Once perched on the wood, you carefully peer through the leaves hiding your form from the world around it (the branches seem to close subtly around you) to see if Amber alerted anyone, perhaps a passing patrol or some Vision wielder walking by.

“I don’t think this is a dream,” you murmur, deciding to take a closer look at the bow you snatched from the crate. Your suspicions were indeed correct; it’s the one star bow everyone gets when they pull an archer character, whether they be a four or five star.

The only reason it did anything against Amber’s Polar Star you so painstakingly gave to her (yes, the original team was your team, what could you say, you liked nostalgia) and level 90’d was that you took her off guard. Had it been you that had the arrow driven through your leg, you’d probably be bleeding red all over the grass with a sizable hole in your thigh—

Wait.

A glint of something catches your eye; you look to see that you’re bleeding from a gash in your leg, but that’s not the important part.

It’s the silvery-gold starriness of it that’s important.

You stare at it for a moment, thinking you got some—some sort of glitter on your leg, but nope, it seems like blood alright. It even tastes like iron.

Okay, maybe not red then, but whatever this stuff leaking over your leg was.

Yep, that’s one hundred percent blood. When you wipe it away, letting it drip to the ground, more bleeds out of the wound in your leg. You grimace hard; seems like the scrape is deeper than you originally thought.

On top of the fact that you were dropped into a video game out of nowhere, you also bleed a color not human.

What the hell is going on?

In Liyue, a lone Yaksha feels the balance of the land shift. Normally this would be insignificant; the land shifts every day, swaying with the balance of the world and time.

However, this change feels different.

This change reinvigorates the land in ways the Adeptus hasn’t seen in millennia, since the Archon War and when the Divine One disappeared.

The Divine One…

What if it’s them?

What if they’ve come back?

Xiao shakes his head to snap himself out of the hopeful fantasy. Why would they have come back after he and so many other immortals committed grave, unforgivable sins?

And if they had returned, why would he be the first one to sense it? He, the Vigilant Yaksha, the Conquerer of Demons, the one harboring the karma that threatens to overtake him day by day. He, the least worthy to know of the second the Divine One returns to the land.

Why would he be chosen?

Nevertheless, he decides to check out the disturbance, one that feels so similar to the Traveler entering this world, yet so, so different, so hopeful, at the same time.

Maybe he can redeem himself just a bit.

Some uneasy feeling comes over him later, when everything that is to come is said and done. He knows that the glory Teyvat is experiencing is about to fall into despair.

——

You were lucky enough to find bandages to wrap your leg up with. The Treasure Hoarder camp you stumbled across was (blessedly) empty, but it seemed recently deserted, the fire still burning in the evening light.

The hiss that escapes your mouth isn’t a pretty one, though nor is the wound you accidentally received jumping down from the tree. Twisted ankles hurt like a bitch.

When you’re finally finished wrapping your ankle and the other scrape you have, you sit back against a crate and stare up at the night sky, not recognizing any of the patterns of stars dotting the darkness.

It was beautiful.

The occasional shooting star flies across the inky blackness, interrupting it for mere moments before disappearing into the dark once again.

Teyvat seems to be taking it easy on you for the most part, providing you slivers of luck amongst the misfortune you’ve found yourself with in the past day or so.

This world… it seems so familiar, beyond the fact that you’ve been playing the game since its release. It feels…

It feels like home.

The wetness on your cheeks surprises you. You’re only now just crying? After all that’s happened today so far, your eyes now decide to shed their tears?

It makes you laugh.

Somehow, your emotions stayed under wraps while you were scrambling to stay alive against Amber—which, by the way, you never did figure out why she attacked you so abruptly. You suppose that’s why. Adrenaline does some weird things to one who is under its influence.

Watching the flames of the fire in front of you dim into embers, you decide to get some sleep, or as much as you can, anyway.

When your eyelids flutter shut and slumber consumes you, you dream of nothing but golden comets.

—

So Inazuma is definitely out of the question.

Instead of heading straight to Liyue, as you normally would, you manage (on accident) to use a waypoint to teleport straight to Inazuma, merely by touching it.

The only reason you made it to one in the first place was because of Bennett shoving you into a bush, making an excuse up as to what the rustling noise was. Because of Razor, who guided you through Wolvendom. Kaeya, who led the Knights away from you, seeing your fear-addled expression and blood dripping down your temple. And even the girls, Klee and Diona, provide a distraction, Diona tossing her signature mix to the ground and Klee setting it alight, alcohol burning just long enough to provide cover for your escape.

For a few days, nobody notices you under the stolen cloak you procured from an unattended merchant’s stand.

They only begin to pay attention when you trip and fall to the ground, dropping the little Mora you had in your possession, banging your knee on the cobbled streets.

They definitely start to notice when your hood falls off, revealing the face you so tried to keep hidden.

“How dare you steal Their face?!”

So much for anonymity, I guess.

Scrambling to grab the dropped golden coins, narrowly avoiding a rock thrown in your direction, you manage to dodge any other makeshift projectiles sent your way, all the while enduring jeers and taunts.

Who the hell is this so-called revered Divine One? They were never mentioned in Genshin’s lore, and you should know. You spent hours reading up on each nation’s backstory, every detail of lore gobbled up by your knowledge-hungry brain.

Don’t even get started on the characters.

You loved this game with all of your heart, spending countless hours and hundreds of dollars on it.

Guess you’d have to rethink that now that you saw its true nature.

News travels quickly, thanks to the power of Electro, and within days the entire nation is on high alert, looking for the one who dared to have the same face as their god, their high deity.

Somehow luck is on your side once again, as you find yet another abandoned campsite with clothing that mysteriously fits you perfectly. No complaints here.

It seems as if Teyvat is, in a way, trying to shield you or help you out with your troubles with its people.

You send a silent thank-you up to the heavens, sighing at the exhaustion sinking deep into your bones. It’s been a long couple of days, and the stress has begun to take its toll on your body.

No sleep comes to you that night.

Or the next.

Any sleep you do get is filled with nightmares of angry mobs and terrifying Archons, Adepti and any mysterious figures glimpsed in the shadows. You run. You run from them, but even in your waking hours, you cannot escape them.

Liyue is a bit easier to traverse, what with the plains and all, but the mountains there and there make it a challenge to navigate properly. Despite your misfortune with (nearly) everyone seemingly out to kill you or kidnap you, Teyvat seems to have taken mercy on you; slimes are friendly, providing heat when needed and bringing fruits and the like about; Hilichurls are also quite amicable, giving you aid when necessary, and even the samachurls heal you if you need it.

Birds don’t fly away, instead flocking to you. Boars bring you sticks for your fires. Squirrels fall asleep on your lap. Pinecones drop on your pursuers, slowing them down enough to allow you to make a narrow getaway.

Water always seems to be plentiful and clear. Night falls just a bit earlier, concealing your figure in the shadows when the Millelith pass by. Your wounds heal much faster than they normally would.

But, alas, you can only hold out for so long.

Liyueans are ruthless in their actions, cuffing your hands behind your back and immediately bringing you to face the Geo Archon himself. You don’t dare look up at him; any energy you may have had was drained in the chase that led to your capture. But some part of you, some small voice, screams at you to make one last retaliation.

A glob of spit lands on his shoe, eliciting a noise of disgust from his mouth. Venti and Baal look appalled as well, and they show no mercy in their execution.

You knew you shouldn’t have C6’d them.

The suffocation comes first.

Then the shattering of your bones. You can’t even scream.

Lightning shreds your vocal cords as the Electro Archon steps up to you.

“Perish, mimic.”

One of the last things you see is the Musou no Hitotachi ending your life, purple lightning stabbing through your heart and ripping it out through your rib cage.

In those few seconds you’re still alive, you giggle at their shocked expressions when they see the gold and silver star-spotted blood.

“Oh well. Better luck next time. Or never.”

—

An Imagine Dragons ringtone plays in your ear, startling you fully awake, tears soaking your pillow. You glance over to the clock, seeing it reads 3:18 P.M. When you push your hair back stuck to your sweat-covered forehead, you find that your hand comes back with blood, the same colored blood that was in your dream.

Dream?

Was it a dream?

Or was it reality?

Either way, you need to clean yourself up.

You wince at the soreness that wracks your limbs, spotting bruises littering your legs, cuts across your arms and chest, and feeling an ache in your torso; when you look down, you see a faint scar right where your heart would be located, patterned with lightning-shaped marks around it.

What?

You stumble into your bathroom, breath heaving from your lungs, and take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Eyes meet a battered reflection, blood sticky across your head and neck, shadows under your eyes, a scar on your lip—a busted one at that—, tear tracks on your cheeks… so much damage.

And that’s just your face.

The rest of your body hurts more, but you can see it healing—something you thought was impossible. Either way, you bandage the still-open wounds, disinfect the worse ones, and brace your ankle properly, wincing at the dirtied bandages barely holding on.

Somehow, you think, that nightmare was no fantasy horror. No; it actually happened, despite it being seemingly impossible. Video games weren’t reality, so why were you so battered?

Whatever the reason didn’t matter now.

What did was confronting the issue.

You hobble out of the bathroom to your desktop, powering it on and booting your (former) favorite gacha game up. You stare at the loading screen, reluctant to click into the world of Teyvat.

No. Taking a deep breath, you left-click the mouse, watching the familiar elements darken in color as the computer slowly loads into the game.

When your character finally comes into view, your normal team appearing on the side, you make a decision, no matter how petty.

Opening the character screen, you begin to take artifacts off of characters.

First is Jean. The Acting Grandmaster was C3, but now artifact-less. You also give her Dull Blade.

Eula comes next. Pale Flame sits in your inventory, no character using them. Snow-Tombed-Starsilver is replaced by a two-star claymore.

Then comes Albedo. You hesitate, remembering his expression when he spotted you in Dragonspine. It was neutral, and he pointed you in the direction to exit the snowy area. Sucrose clarified for him, even giving you a potion to assist in resisting the cold climate.

Instead of him, you switch to Amber, stripping her of her weapon and artifacts.

Then Lisa. Then Venti. Mona gets left alone, along with Kaeya. (You actually upgrade his weapon.) Diluc? Bye-bye. Rosaria aided you, so she’s ignored. Noelle too. Barbara… you leave her be. Same with Fischl.

On to Liyue characters.

Keqing. Ignore Xiangling. Ignore Chongyun—you toss him Eula’s sword. Zhongli’s artifacts get used to upgrade Razor’s, which feels great. Xingqiu? Bye-bye. Xiao… never made an appearance, so you keep his stuff on him. Same with Qiqi and Hu Tao. Ganyu, Yanfei, Shenhe, anyone else that wronged you is stripped of their pride.

Inazuma now.

Kokomi, Ayaka, Gorou, Kujou Sara, Thoma, Ayato, fucking Ei, anyone and everyone save for Yoimiya, Kazuha, Itto, and little Sayu. You take the hard-earned artifacts off with glee, putting them on characters you favored, reworking your main team, which now consists of Kaeya, Bennett, Razor and Klee. Diona couldn’t fit, poor thing.

Everyone else?

Benched.

The final straw is clicking the uninstall button for Genshin Impact, seeing the guilt-tripping screen come up before the confirmation is selected.

It’s closure.

—

In Teyvat, all of the Archons suddenly feel a burst of weakness that comes with the Divine One swapping their enhancements around, but to their surprise and dismay…

It stays.

Others experience the same, while a rare few feel an increase in their power, shockingly, considering the Archons of all people lost some. Chongyun especially is shocked when he finds his exorcisms working more effectively, while his aunt, still stunned by the killing of Them, can’t even seem to fight off a hilichurl without his help.

Hu Tao jumps around with glee when she’s given a new polearm, so similar to Zhongli’s, while he’s stuck with an Iron Point he can’t seem to convince the funeral director to trade for his old polearm.

In Mondstadt, Jean looks at her sword, stunned, while Kaeya whistles and taunts Diluc with his more powerful blade. The redhead, gritting his teeth, tries to parry his strike, but his brother overpowers him easily. Klee runs around with Diona, fish-blasting with no one but Kaeya to stop them, and why would he?

Venti sits on top of his statue in the town square of the City of Freedom, tears tracking down his cheeks as he tries desperately to command the wind, but it’s like Teyvat just ignores him, only allowing him to control a small breeze, maybe a gust here and there if he’s lucky.

Bennett’s bad luck seems to recede, allowing him and Razor to travel around a bit easier. His Pyro attacks seem to inflict more damage, especially when combined with Razor’s Electro slashes. The wolf-boy also sees an increase in the sheer force in his hits.

Ei just… stares. Stares at her weapon. Makoto would be so disappointed.

The Resistance is panicking, having noticed that the General and High Priestess have lost a great deal of their ability to heal and support. It’s balanced by the Tengu, Kujou Sara, missing her shots that would normally land true.

Kazuha, meanwhile, enjoys the quieter breeze and his newfound, more precise control over Anemo. When the rumors of the Electro Archon losing control of her own element, he merely smiles and laughs a bit. She deserves it, some little, malicious voice in his head says, for killing him.

Ayaka and Ayato feel fatigued, both excusing themselves to bed-rest for a few days, but even that doesn’t help what seems to be a persistent illness.

The individuals you took the artifacts off of or exchanged weapons on aren’t the only ones affected.

All of Teyvat slowly crumbles. Crops fail, wildfires spread, the storm around Inazuma gets worse, monsters invade cities, the Abyss becomes more prevalent, anything you can think goes wrong goes wrong.

The few blessed narrowly avoid the destruction, finding out that the famine doesn’t affect them, or that the fires avoid them, or that the lightning strikes more than a few yards away from them, or that terrifying Abyss Herald seems to ignore them, or the Hilichurls pay no mind to them or their actions.

Prosperity falls into ruin.

And it’s all their fault.

#zxt-p #sagau #genshin sagau #genshin impact sagau #sagau x reader #haha i enjoy dropping bombshells hehehehehe #angsty angst angst #for the record i finished this at #like #midnight last night #but i was editing it until 1am #and all of today #The Prosperity And Fall #<- series tag

2K notes · View notes

freetobeafcknriot · 3 years

Note

"better creatures" for the made-up fic title thing

okay this took me SO LONG, like i had a general idea right away but sadly i wasn't in the best place of mind to write it down, so i apologize for the delay. anyway, here it is! <3 i hope you like it darling, and thank you for the great title!

made-up fic title:　better creatures

alright, this one screams archangels to me so i raise you: a long-ass fic that goes from the very beginning of, well, everything, to the end of it all. the very end, that is.

at first, it's about four incredible beings; four brothers whose father, at some point, creates humanity.

we know about the fall already, but i think it would be very interesting to explore how the archangels' relationship with one another and god changed when humans came along, and what their perspectives and opinions on them were. we know about lucifer's, of course, but i feel like it would be so much fun to focus on who actually spent time among them or watching over them. because weren't the archangels (and the entirety of the heavenly host for that matter) told to love humanity? weren't they told that those weak creatures were to be better than them?

so, i would probably alternate four different povs (pre-lucifer's fall) and then three (raphael, michael, gabriel), and then mainly only one: gabriel's. the closest to us all, the one who ran away from his family's endless, eternal fighting and spent thousands of years hiding among humans.

it would be very interesting to basically go over his adventures on earth: how he came across the norse god loki, got to know him and obtain a vessel just like his, and then pretended to be a pagan god for a while. what kind of relationship he had with other deities, when and where and how he met kali, and where he went afterward, and how often he moved from one area to another. the many identities he might have adopted; a succession of different eras and continents and costumes and reigns and populations and dynasties falling apart and rebuilding themselves from ashes before his eyes. the best and the worst of all times.

just think about it: all the insignificant, fragile, silly little men and women and children that he met along the way. year after year that then turned into decades and centuries and thousands of years, while the world around him changed and wars and revolutions and discoverings kept happening one after the other.

how did his view of us evolve and change? how many names and faces from lifetimes ago did gabriel come to tuck in a corner of his grace and take with him forever, in his own way? how many times did oblivious humans befriend him or run into him on the street or spoke to him without knowing that they were going to be part of the reason we have this dialogue in season 5:

gabriel: because dad was right. they are better than us. lucifer: they are broken, flawed! abortions! gabriel: damn right they're flawed. but a lot of them try. to do better, to forgive. and you should see the spearmint rhino! i've been riding the pine a long time. but I'm in the game now, and i'm not on your side, or michael's. i'm on theirs.

i just think it would be very interesting to explore such a complex character and see him evolve and go from the archangel who didn't want anything to do with useless fighting and conflict to the only one out of four who stood up for humanity. because yeah, sure, gabriel is no saint; he has his own ways, he's a preternatural being, he's frighteningly enormous and wicked and mischievous. but he did ask himself: who is better, really? us, or them?

now, in canon, gabriel fakes his death after that particular scene with lucifer. then he will die later on. we know that. i would probably change it a little bit because i'm petty like that when it comes to the latest seasons' writing another neat little thing is that gabriel isn't the only archangel who grew fond or accepting of humans (or well, some humans? one human?). and for how much people usually focus on michael and lucifer as opposites, and for how much the archangels in general no longer have a sibling-like relationship, i would actually like to compare gabriel and michael.

they're more similar than people make them out to be, so at the very end — maybe mirroring the very beginning, from a scenery point of view; earth's very first moments vs earth's very last moments, millions of years from now — there could be these two immortals.

the trickster who lived amongst men and stood up and died for them because he cared, and the soldier harbinger of the apocalypse who spent a millennium in hell and changed while falling in love with a human.

they would probably have a complicated dynamic since so much time will have passed and so many things will have happened and as a midam shipper the aforementioned human would be there since he's thee vessel obviously but nonetheless—long story short: at last, the two remaining archangels. the ones who ended up going beyond the story's original plot and who, by caring for the silly little creatures their father created and against his better judgment, became better creatures themselves.

insp: I hear babies crying, I watch them grow They'll learn much more than I'll ever know I think to myself, what a wonderful world Yes, I think to myself, oh, what a wonderful world

send me a made-up fic title and i’ll tell you what i would write to go with it

#gabriel #gabriel spn #with a dash of #archangels #and #michael #and a strong hint of midam at the end because i can BUT MAINLY! this <3 #i had so much fun with this prompt and i recommend the song linked at the end because it's. wow. just wow #i rally like the vibe so i hope it turned out okay even though i kind of went all philosophical with this one #couldn't help it #spn #better creatures #shut up fran.#asks #made up fic title

7 notes · View notes

ihknkm · 3 years

Text

As is typical with scoring, high score wins

The dismissal exposed India's lower order to nike air max thea atomic pink a ball that was only three overs old. The Pentagon considers hypersonic flight the new stealth. bottines cloutees femme But the good moment did not last long. Her activism started young. He is charged with assault with a weapon that weapon being a car. As is typical with scoring, high score wins. You don screw with history. Neighbors get a little closer to the earth. Abraham, Jr., they will find sale, at the highest cash prices, for one hundred and fifty to two hundred slaves. Pope Adrian I. But he has fallen into debt, and he sells to relieve himself from debt, and also from an excess of mouths. In all matches same practice is followed that the Captain / Team always decides the best they think for themselves. 1510: BBC1 coverage comes to an end. There was even the appearance of some prosperity, at the same time an extreme slovenliness. Attendees snapped up bags bulging with enough promotional material to line every bird cage on the eastern seaboard. Stannis oneil mellény would not have me lie.. Meyer lemons are a peculiarly American thing; despite their name, they are more like the lovechild of a lemon and a mandarin, with a round, sweet acidity. The flakes of his flesh are joined together.. “‘As to your friendship, Mr. A Northern man not prominently interested in the political and social weal of the South may live for years in it, and pass from town to town in his every-day pursuits, and yet see but the polished side of slavery. They fit well with your feet since they come with an adjustable velcro strap across their front side. When, therefore, cases have arisen where the choice lay between sacrificing what they considered the interests of a good object, or giving up their right of protest, they have generally preferred the latter. Bruce Iverson will officiate. From its sheeted flame and wreaths of sulphurous smoke glares out upon thee the eye of that ENEMY who was a murderer from the beginning. The book comprises the usually quoted facts associated with the history of slavery as recorded in the Scriptures, accompanied by the opinions and arguments of another man in relation thereto. You have to be able to understand how to operate that machinery, read the instructions (or) read someone work order of what needs to be done. The relatively high amount of sodium, considering the small serving size, might come as a surprise given how sweet Diet Coke tastes. The Blue Graces say that only his size and freakish strength have saved him, but it was a near thing. Yes, ideally a ESD mat and your ground strap would go to earth ground. The second tasted better. A name fit for a lord, a name for songs, a mighty name, and fearsome. Stanley was a member of a group called Austin Citizens for Economic Energy, which petitioned against the proposed nuke. Ser Barristan was waiting by the steps with the Dornish prince. You can guess how the bad days looked.. Lady Alannys sat beside a window, staring out across the sea. A thousand eyes, a hundred skins, wisdom deep as the roots of ancient trees. A Twenty20 World Cup another ICC property in the making will be held in South Africa later this year. Two of the complaints, a police statement said, came through Interpol, contending that Charlton was involved in a scheme to defraud elderly Australians zattini promoção de botas through a Singapore based phone scam operation.. His next proceeding was to tell Marie that the Procurator Revel wished to speak to her, and to propose bokacsizma bakancs that she should accompany him to the presence of that gentleman forthwith. Week long residential camp for youth with Pulmonary Disorders. Due to door designs and stairwells of the vessel, flat shoes are suggested. Everybody in here has biciclete rusesti vechi some money in their pocket.". The Wise Masters know. Warren Buffet, who adidas mariposas wife sat with the First Lady and who has been the talk of the town with the new capital gains tax proposals (named after Mr. He had been sitting quietly in the armchair in his study in his dressing-gown, drinking his coffee, when she ran in and threw herself on his neck before he had time to realize it. Theon did not know whether he ought to find that ominous or reassuring. Now smile.”. Streaks of rust remained to show where it had been. Mary’s, and had, when he ran away, a wife there, or near there, belonging to a Mr. Departure, Maliki ordered the arrest of the Sunni vice president. Une image de bande dessine interdite est celle qui concerne un mineur dans des situations qui sont caractre pornographique et 'injurieux, dgotant ou non d'un caractre obscne.' Censure et charge le prix rgulier pour le contenu manquant = OKNike Air Max Pas Cher Lancement d'un jeu que l'entreprise a peur de = OK versions de produits inutiles. Caggo was the one who finally cut him down, fighting through the king’s protectors on evro kalkulator his monstrous warhorse and opening Cleon the Great from shoulder to hip with one blow of his curved Valyrian arakh. Rhett designed rooms to feature existing beams, with the dining room having a high vaulted ceiling that takes in the full spaciousness of the barn's peaked roof.. If you're going to buy heels, avoid the ones with pointy tips and opt for a pair with a wide toe box, she says. adidas mariposas You need to see which subjects interest you and what you are good at. The Yunkai’i don’t want them near their Yellow City. We've built up social media and basically revamped all of our digital touch points, whether it's the marathon website or our own site or the Facebook page. And as I was imagining zattini promoção de botas that, the thought suddenly came to me: why, I shall pray to God for one minute of you, and meanwhile you have been with me six months, and during those six months how many times we’ve quarrelled, how many days we wouldn’t speak to one another. He came into my clinic but we couldn't save him. Though she didn't appear in the Season 4 trailer, there's still hope. At the age of eight she began to realize that god had given her a talent to sing and perform. They called and they are influenced, heavily, by the jazz organ groups of the 50s and 60s. On days like this the Wall shimmered bright as a septon’s crystal, every crack and crevasse limned by sunlight, as frozen rainbows danced and died behind translucent ripples. There Burch left them. Ef my husband 153was to slip away from me, Missis, dat ar way, it ud wake me right up. Outside the museum, Rosicrucian Park continues to work its magic through exotic stage sets and symbolically coded environments kind of mythic theming that extends even to the flora, which includes papyrus, lilies of the Nile, and scores of roses. Daenerys Targaryen was no stranger to the Dothraki sea, the great ocean of grass that stretched from the forest of Qohor to the Mother of Mountains and the Womb of the World. It was amazing how little things had changed. Instead Tyrion said, “Yezzan’s special slaves did not escape the pale mare. It's an honor to be enshrined regardless of how long it took or how many votes were cast, and to focus on the three or four outliers is to ignore the forest for a clod of dirt stuck to one particular tree..

1 note · View note

he-who-walks-among-the-trees · 4 years

Text

A BIT OF HIGHLAND MAGIC

Today's offering comes from "Highland Monthly Magazine" who alongside other wonderful articles published a series on Gaelic Incantations from 1891-92 and collected them together in the book "Highland Monthly Volume III" published in 1892.

Anyway, here's a little taste of what was shared;

"GAELIC INCANTATIONS

JACOB GRIMM has, in his Teutonic Mythology remarked that, healing charms must be handed down by men to women, or by women to men; and this also is a Highland view. " A peculiarity about them [the charms]," says Mr W. Mackenzie in Vol. VI II. of the Gaelic Society's Transactions, "was that persons of the same sex should not learn them from one another; and in order to be efficacious a man must learn the eolas from a woman, and a woman from a man." The charms which follow have not, we fear, been all collected "duly" on this point, and their efficacy in actual working may therefore be doubtful. Any way, many hold that the blazoning of them abroad spoils their efficacy, and to print them is sacrilege. It was believed that though one heard and learned the charm in spite of the charmer, still the latter could curse the charm in such a way that it would be of no use to the other. Nor can everybody cure with these rhymes and charms. There is therefore a wide margin of doubt as to the cause of the failure of a charm, for they do fail at times; that is recognised.

I. SPELLS AND PREVENTIVE CHARMS.

We shall begin first with the spells or bespelling charms, known in Gaelic as geasa or siana (signum, blessing). Thereafter we shall consider the healing charms for man and beast. The geas or spell is generally wicked; it is the work of an adverse power, and, as a consequence, we cannot get any specimens of this form of incantation with ease. For instance, a spell could be laid on a man going out to shoot, unknown to him, and he would be unsuccessful that day. Such a spell is a rosad, and, though the "rosad" still exists among us, we have failed in persuading anybody to reveal it. Of course, the folktales contain bespelling formulae, for in them the hero or heroine do many wonders by means of spoken words. The favourite form for the folktale spell is this

"Tha mise 'cur ort mar gheasaibh 's mar chroisibh, 's mar naoidh buaraichean mnatha sithe, siubhla, seacharain, laochan beag as meataiche 's a's mi-threòiriche na thu fein a thoirt a chinn, 's nan cluas, 's nan comada beatha diot, mur faigh thu mach" &c.

"I lay on you as spells and crosses, and as nine fetters of a fairy, travelling, wandering woman, that a little fellow more timid and more feeble than yourself deprive you of your head, your ears, and your powers of life, unless you discover'' or "do," &c.

The Fath Fithe spell, which, as already stated, poachers once made use of, and smugglers lately, and now even, find means of escape by, is as follows:-

"Fà fithe cuiream ort

Bho chù, bho chat

Bho bhò, bho each,

Bho dhuine, bho bhean,

Bho ghille, bho nighean,

'S bho leanabh beag,

Gus an tig mise rithisd,

An ainm an Athar, a' Mhic, 's an Spioraid Naoimh."

"A magic cloud I put on thee from dog, cat, cow, horse, man, woman, lad, lass, and little child, till I come again in the name of the"Trinity."

The first two words are the old Faeth Fiada, as now pronounced. This spell rendered the person invisible.

The preventive charm or sian is represented by a very famous formula intended to preserve a man from wounding or harm from the time when he left the presence of the charmer till he came back, and it was usually put on those going to battle. Men so protected, for instance, at Culloden, had only to take their plaids off their shoulders and shake out of them the bullets that hit them ! It was the Sian, par excellence, and is as follows:- The charmer and his protege go to a retired spot. Here the recipient of the charm goes on his knees; the charmer lays his hand on his head, and, with eyes shut, he utters the following rhyme, going round him sunwise twice. And he goes round him once anti-sunwise, saying a different rhyme. Both these rhymes, which after much trouble we have been fortunate enough to get, run thus Going sunwise, he says-

"Sian a chuir Moire air Mac ort,

Sian ro' marbhadh, sian ro' lot ort,

Sian eadar a' chioch 's a ghlun,

Sian eadar a' glhun 's a' bhroit ort,

Sian nan Tri ann an aon ort,

O mhullach do chinn gu bonn do chois ort :

Sian seachd paidir a h-aon ort,

Sian seachd paidir a dha ort,

Sian seachd paidir a tri ort,

Sian seachd paidir a ceithir ort,

Sian seachd paidir a coig ort,

Sian seachd paidir a sia ort,

Sian seachd paidir nan seachd paidir dol deiseil ri deagh uarach ort, ga do ghleidheadh bho bheud 's

bho mhi-thapadh."

Going anti-sunwise, he says —

"Clogaid na slainte mu d' cheann,

Cearcall a' chumhnaint mu d' amhaich,

Uchd-eididh an t-sagairt mu d' bhroilleach.

Ma's ruaig bho 'n taobh-chuil,

Brogan na h-Oigh ga d' ghiulan gu luath.

Sian nan Tri ann an aon ort

Bho mhullach do chinn gu bonn do shail,

Agus sian paidir nan seachd paidir

Dol tuaitheal is deiseil, deiseil is tuaitheal,

Gu d' ghleidheadh bho d'chul

Bho luaidh 's bho chlaidheamh,

Bho lot 's bho mharbhadh,

Gu uair is am do bhais."

The person on whom the charm is placed then rises and departs, but the charmist remains standing with eyes shut, and he does not open them till the other is out of sight.

The charmed one is safe from death or wounds till the charmist sees him again. The translation is as follows:-

"The charm that Mary placed on her son be on you,

Charm from slaying, charm from wounding,

Charm between pap and knee,

Charm between knee and breast on you,

Charm of the three in one on you,

From top of head to sole of foot.

Charm of seven paters once on you,

Charm of seven paters twice on you,

Charm of seven paters thrice on you,

Charm of seven paters four times on you,

Charm of seven paters five times on you,

Charm of seven paters six times on you,

Charm of the seven paters of the seven paters going sunwise in lucky hour on you, a-keeping you from harm and accident."

Anti-sun wise-

"The helmet of safety (salvation?) about your head,

The ring of the Covenant about your neck,

The priests' breast-plate about your breast ;

If it be retreat on the rear,

The shoes of the Virgin to take you swiftly away.

Charm of the Three in One on you

From crown of head to sole of foot,

And the charm of the pater of the seven paters

A-going anti-sunwise and sunwise, sunwise and anti-sunwise,

To protect you from behind

From lead and from sword,

From wound and from slaying,

Till the hour and time of your death."

The following is a charm to help in the correct interpretation of dreams. One goes to the charmer and tells his dream. The charmer repeats the following, and then the dream is unravelled:-

"Chunnaic mi aisling an raoir

'S mi 'nam shuidh air sliabh rath;

Dh' innis Peadar e do Phol

'S thuirt Pol gu'm bu mhath;

Ach breithneachdainn Chriosd ro' Phol

Gu thusa chumail ceart."

Translated -

"I saw a vision last night

And me sitting on a mount of grace;

Peter told it to Paul

And Paul said it was well ;

But the judgment of Christ before Paul's

To keep you right."

The following is a charm given by "Nether-Lochaber" as good against the demon of the dust-cloud. "As it swirls along," he says, "as it approaches, you are instantly to close your eyes and mouth as tightly as possible, at the same time turning your back upon it until it has swept by, mentally repeating - for you are not to open your mouth, nor as much as breathe, as long as you can help it - this rhyme;-

"Gach cuman is mias is meadar,

Gu Pòl, gu Peadair 's gu Brìde;

Dion, is seun, is gleidh mi o olc 's o chunnart,

Air a bheallach, 's air a mhullach,

'S air an tullaich ud thall;

Pòl is Peadair is Brìde caomh!"

which he translates —

"Be the care of milk pail, and bowl, and cog

Given to Peter and Paul and Saint Bride;

Wherever I wander protect me, ye Saints!

Let not evil nor harm me betide;

Hear me, Peter and Paul, and gentle Saint Bride!"

We now come to the spell for prevention of the results arising from the "Evil Eye' The following is a preventive charm to keep the evil eye off one's cows. It is called "Eolas an Torranain," and was got by Mr Carmichael, when he was in Uist. The torranan, he explains, was described to him as a flowering plant, growing in rocky hill-places, the bloom of which is large and pap-like. The tide is said to affect it, for while the tide flows, it is filled with the "dew of bliss" and dries up again with the ebb. It has to be culled during the flow of the tide, placed under one of the milk pails, and in placing it this charm is repeated three times, making at each time a circle sunwise, with the plant over the vessel:-

"Buaineams' thu, thorranain,

Le 'd uile bhaeannachd 's le 'd uile bhuaidh;

Thainig na naoi sonais

Leis na naoi earranan

Le buaidh an torranain,

Lamh Bhride leam!

Tha mi nis 'gad bhuain.

Buaineams' thu, thorranain,

Le 'd thoradh mara 's tir,

Ri lionadh gun traoghadh

Le'd lamhsa, Bhride mhin,

Colum naomh 'gam sheoladh,

Odhran caomh 'gam dhion,

Is Micheil nan steud uaibhreach

'Cur buaidh anns an ni.

Tha mo lus lurach a nis air a bhuain."

which he translates —

"Let me pluck, thee, Torannan!

With all thy blessedness and all thy virtue,

The nine blessings came with the nine parts.

By the virtue of the Torranan;

The hand of St Bride with me,

I am now to pluck thee. .

Let me pluck thee, Torranan!

With thine increase as to sea and land;

With the flowing tide that shall know no ebbing,

By the assistance of chaste St Bride,

The holy St Columba directing me,

And St Michael of high-crested steeds,

Imparung virtue to the matter the while,

Darling plant of all virtue,

I am now plucking thee!"

II. FOR THE EVIL EVE.

When the "evil eye" has "lain" on any one, there are various means of cure. The most usual is the cure by water off silver; and this cure was effected with or without a rhyme charm. The modus operandi with the incantation was as follows:- Coins of gold, silver, and copper are put in a basin full of water. The charmer repeats the eolas or incantation, and in doing so blows on the water with his breath. The water is then sprinkled on the sufferer. The charm is as follows:-

" 'S e 'n t-suil a chi,

'S e 'n cridhe a smuainicheas,

'S e 'n teanga labhras.

'S mise 'n triuir gu tilleadh so orsta, A.B.,

An ainm an Athar; a' Mhic, 's an Spioraid Naoimh."

Translated-

" 'Tis the eye that sees,

the heart that thinks,

and the tongue that speaks.

I am the three to turn this off you, A.B.,

in the name of the Father, etc"

The charm, apart from the "silver" water, is known as "Eolas a' Chronachaidh," or "Charm for the Reproof," or it may be called " Casg Beum-suil,"Stopping Injury by Eye." John Mackenzie, in his Beauties of Gaelic Poetry p. 268, gives the following Gaelic charm for it, saying that during its repetition "the singular operation of filling a bottle with water was carried on, and the incantation was so sung as to chime with the gurgling of the liquid as it was poured into the vessel."

"Deanamsa dhutsa eolas air suil,

A uchd 'Ille Phadruig naoimh,

Air at amhaich is stad earrbuill

Air naoi conair 's air naoi connachair,

'S air naoi bean seang sith,

Air siul seana-ghille, 's air sealladh seana-mhna;

Mas a suil fir i, i lasadh mar bhigh,

Mas a suil mhnath' i, i bhi dh' easbhuidh a cich,

Falcadair fuar agus fuarachd da 'fuil,

Air a ni, 's air a daoine,

Air a crodh 's air a caoraich fein."

"Let me perform for you a charm for the evil-eye

From the breast of holy Gil-Patrick

Against swelling of neck and stoppage of bowels,

Against nine "Conair" and nine "Connachair,"

And nine slender fairies,

Against an old bachelor's eye, and an old wife's eye.

If a man's eye may it flame like gum (resin),

If a woman s eye may she want her breast,

A cold plunge and coldness to her blood,

And to her gear, to her men,

To her cattle and sheep."

Here is another rhyme given as an Eolas a' Chronachaidh;-

"Paidir a h' aon,

Paidir a dha,

Patdir a tri,

Paidir a ceithir,

Paidir a coig,

Paidir a sea,

Paidir a seachd,

'S neart nan seachd paidirean a' sgaoileadh do ghalair air na clachan glas ud thall."

Which means-

"Paters I, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,

And may the strength of the seven paters

Cast out your disease amidst the gray-stones over by."

In the Maclagan MSS. the following charms are given for the "evil eye":-

"Eolus Bheim shul,

le Nic Aoidh

Paidir Mhuire h-aon, &c. Aon suil a thug an aire dhuit, A.B. (person named who is unwell), mar thionntadhas a ghaoth air a chnoc, gu tionntadh an olc orra fein. Mar thionntadhas, &c., ri radh tri uaire h-airis."

"[Charm for evil eyes,

by Miss (?) Mackay.

Pater of Mary one, &c, Whatever eye took notice of you, A.B., as the wind turns on the hillock, may the evil turn on themselves. As the wind, &c., (to be repeated three times).]

"Eolus a Bheim shuil,

le Ann Chaimbeill

Saltruighidh mis air an t-suil mar shaltruigheas Eala ar Tigh nocht. Ta neart gaoithe agam air, ta neart grelne agam air, ta neart mhic Ri neamh agus talmhainn agam air. Trian air na clacha glasa- 's trian air a mhuir mhoir as i fein acfuim as fhearr ga ghiulan. Ann ainm, &c,"

#witchblr #witch #witches #witchcraft #solitary witch #witchy #green witch #modern witchcraft #witches of tumblr #credit to the artist #scottishwitchcraft

71 notes · View notes

araitsume · 3 years

Text

The Acts of the Apostles, pp. 131-142: Chapter (14) A Seeker for Truth

This chapter is based on Acts 9:32-43; Acts 10; Acts 11:1-18.

In the course of his ministry the apostle Peter visited the believers at Lydda. Here he healed Aeneas, who for eight years had been confined to his bed with palsy. “Aeneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole,” the apostle said; “arise, and make thy bed.” “He arose immediately. And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord.”

At Joppa, which was near Lydda, there lived a woman named Dorcas, whose good deeds had made her greatly beloved. She was a worthy disciple of Jesus, and her life was filled with acts of kindness. She knew who needed comfortable clothing and who needed sympathy, and she freely ministered to the poor and the sorrowful. Her skillful fingers were more active than her tongue.

“And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died.” The church in Joppa realized their loss, and hearing that Peter was at Lydda, the believers sent messengers to him, “desiring him that he would not delay to come to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and showing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.” In view of the life of service that Dorcas had lived, it is little wonder that they mourned, that warm teardrops fell upon the inanimate clay.

The apostle's heart was touched with sympathy as he beheld their sorrow. Then, directing that the weeping friends be sent from the room, he kneeled down and prayed fervently to God to restore Dorcas to life and health. Turning to the body, he said, “Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up.” Dorcas had been of great service to the church, and God saw fit to bring her back from the land of the enemy, that her skill and energy might still be a blessing to others, and also that by this manifestation of His power the cause of Christ might be strengthened.

It was while Peter was still at Joppa that he was called by God to take the gospel to Cornelius, in Caesarea.

Cornelius was a Roman centurion. He was a man of wealth and noble birth, and his position was one of trust and honor. A heathen by birth, training, and education, through contact with the Jews he had gained a knowledge of God, and he worshiped Him with a true heart, showing the sincerity of his faith by compassion to the poor. He was known far and near for his beneficence, and his righteous life made him of good repute among both Jews and Gentiles. His influence was a blessing to all with whom he came in contact. The inspired record describes him as “a devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.”

Believing in God as the Creator of heaven and earth, Cornelius revered Him, acknowledged His authority, and sought His counsel in all the affairs of life. He was faithful to Jehovah in his home life and in his official duties. He had erected the altar of God in his home, for he dared not attempt to carry out his plans or to bear his responsibilities without the help of God.

Though Cornelius believed the prophecies and was looking for the Messiah to come, he had not a knowledge of the gospel as revealed in the life and death of Christ. He was not a member of the Jewish church and would have been looked upon by the rabbis as a heathen and unclean. But the same Holy Watcher who said of Abraham, “I know him,” knew Cornelius also, and sent a message direct from heaven to him.

The angel appeared to Cornelius while he was at prayer. As the centurion heard himself addressed by name, he was afraid, yet he knew that the messenger had come from God, and he said, “What is it, Lord?” The angel answered, “Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God. And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter: he lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the seaside.”

The explicitness of these directions, in which was named even the occupation of the man with whom Peter was staying, shows that Heaven is acquainted with the history and business of men in every station of life. God is familiar with the experience and work of the humble laborer, as well as with that of the king upon his throne.

“Send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon.” Thus God gave evidence of His regard for the gospel ministry and for His organized church. The angel was not commissioned to tell Cornelius the story of the cross. A man subject, even as the centurion himself, to human frailties and temptations, was to be the one to tell him of the crucified and risen Saviour.

As His representatives among men, God does not choose angels who have never fallen, but human beings, men of like passions with those they seek to save. Christ took humanity that He might reach humanity. A divine-human Saviour was needed to bring salvation to the world. And to men and women has been committed the sacred trust of making known “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Ephesians 3:8.

In His wisdom the Lord brings those who are seeking for truth into touch with fellow beings who know the truth. It is the plan of Heaven that those who have received light shall impart it to those in darkness. Humanity, drawing its efficiency from the great Source of wisdom, is made the instrumentality, the working agency, through which the gospel exercises its transforming power on mind and heart.

Cornelius was gladly obedient to the vision. When the angel had gone, the centurion “called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually; and when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.”

The angel, after his interview with Cornelius, went to Peter, in Joppa. At the time, Peter was praying upon the housetop of his lodging, and we read that he “became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.” It was not for physical food alone that Peter hungered. As from the housetop he viewed the city of Joppa and the surrounding country he hungered for the salvation of his countrymen. He had an intense desire to point out to them from the Scriptures the prophecies relating to the sufferings and death of Christ.

In the vision Peter “saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth: wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common. This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.”

This vision conveyed to Peter both reproof and instruction. It revealed to him the purpose of God—that by the death of Christ the Gentiles should be made fellow heirs with the Jews to the blessings of salvation. As yet none of the disciples had preached the gospel to the Gentiles. In their minds the middle wall of partition, broken down by the death of Christ, still existed, and their labors had been confined to the Jews, for they had looked upon the Gentiles as excluded from the blessings of the gospel. Now the Lord was seeking to teach Peter the world-wide extent of the divine plan.

Many of the Gentiles had been interested listeners to the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, and many of the Greek Jews had become believers in Christ, but the conversion of Cornelius was to be the first of importance among the Gentiles.

The time had come for an entirely new phase of work to be entered upon by the church of Christ. The door that many of the Jewish converts had closed against the Gentiles was now to be thrown open. And the Gentiles who accepted the gospel were to be regarded as on an equality with the Jewish disciples, without the necessity of observing the rite of circumcision.

How carefully the Lord worked to overcome the prejudice against the Gentiles that had been so firmly fixed in Peter's mind by his Jewish training! By the vision of the sheet and its contents He sought to divest the apostle's mind of this prejudice and to teach the important truth that in heaven there is no respect of persons; that Jew and Gentile are alike precious in God's sight; that through Christ the heathen may be made partakers of the blessings and privileges of the gospel.

While Peter was meditating on the meaning of the vision, the men sent from Cornelius arrived in Joppa and stood before the gate of his lodginghouse. Then the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek thee. Arise therefore, and get thee down, and go with them, doubting nothing: for I have sent them.”

To Peter this was a trying command, and it was with reluctance at every step that he undertook the duty laid upon him; but he dared not disobey. He “went down to the men which were sent unto him from Cornelius; and said, Behold, I am he whom ye seek: what is the cause wherefore ye are come?” They told him of their singular errand, saying, “Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews, was warned from God by a holy angel to send for thee into his house, and to hear words of thee.”

In obedience to the directions just received from God, the apostle promised to go with them. On the following morning he set out for Caesarea, accompanied by six of his brethren. These were to be witnesses of all that he should say or do while visiting the Gentiles, for Peter knew that he would be called to account for so direct a violation of the Jewish teachings.

As Peter entered the house of the Gentile, Cornelius did not salute him as an ordinary visitor, but as one honored of Heaven and sent to him by God. It is an Eastern custom to bow before a prince or other high dignitary and for children to bow before their parents; but Cornelius, overwhelmed with reverence for the one sent by God to teach him, fell at the apostle's feet and worshiped him. Peter was horror-stricken, and he lifted the centurion up, saying, “Stand up; I myself also am a man.”

While the messengers of Cornelius had been gone upon their errand, the centurion “had called together his kinsmen and near friends,” that they as well as he might hear the preaching of the gospel. When Peter arrived, he found a large company eagerly waiting to listen to his words.

To those assembled, Peter spoke first of the custom of the Jews, saying that it was looked upon as unlawful for Jews to mingle socially with the Gentiles, that to do this involved ceremonial defilement. “Ye know,” he said, “how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean. Therefore came I unto you without gainsaying, as soon as I was sent for: I ask therefore for what intent ye have sent for me?”

Cornelius then related his experience and the words of the angel, saying in conclusion, “Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.”

Peter said, “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him.”

Then to that company of attentive hearers the apostle preached Christ—His life, His miracles, His betrayal and crucifixion, His resurrection and ascension, and His work in heaven as man's representative and advocate. As Peter pointed those present to Jesus as the sinner's only hope, he himself understood more fully the meaning of the vision he had seen, and his heart glowed with the spirit of the truth that he was presenting.

Suddenly the discourse was interrupted by the descent of the Holy Spirit. “While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God.

“Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.”

Thus was the gospel brought to those who had been strangers and foreigners, making them fellow citizens with the saints, and members of the household of God. The conversion of Cornelius and his household was but the first fruits of a harvest to be gathered in. From this household a wide-spread work of grace was carried on in that heathen city.

Today God is seeking for souls among the high as well as the lowly. There are many like Cornelius, men whom the Lord desires to connect with His work in the world. Their sympathies are with the Lord's people, but the ties that bind them to the world hold them firmly. It requires moral courage for them to take their position for Christ. Special efforts should be made for these souls, who are in so great danger, because of their responsibilities and associations.

God calls for earnest, humble workers, who will carry the gospel to the higher class. There are miracles to be wrought in genuine conversions,—miracles that are not now discerned. The greatest men of this earth are not beyond the power of a wonder-working God. If those who are workers together with Him will be men of opportunity, doing their duty bravely and faithfully, God will convert men who occupy responsible positions, men of intellect and influence. Through the power of the Holy Spirit many will accept the divine principles. Converted to the truth, they will become agencies in the hand of God to communicate the light. They will have a special burden for other souls of this neglected class. Time and money will be consecrated to the work of the Lord, and new efficiency and power will be added to the church.

Because Cornelius was living in obedience to all the instruction he had received, God so ordered events that he was given more truth. A messenger from the courts of heaven was sent to the Roman officer and to Peter in order that Cornelius might be brought into touch with one who could lead him into greater light.

There are in our world many who are nearer the kingdom of God than we suppose. In this dark world of sin the Lord has many precious jewels, to whom He will guide His messengers. Everywhere there are those who will take their stand for Christ. Many will prize the wisdom of God above any earthly advantage, and will become faithful light bearers. Constrained by the love of Christ, they will constrain others to come to Him.

When the brethren in Judea heard that Peter had gone to the house of a Gentile and preached to those assembled, they were surprised and offended. They feared that such a course, which looked to them presumptuous, would have the effect of counteracting his own teaching. When they next saw Peter they met him with severe censure, saying, “Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.”

Peter laid the whole matter before them. He related his experience in regard to the vision and pleaded that it admonished him to observe no longer the ceremonial distinction of circumcision and uncircumcision, nor to look upon the Gentiles as unclean. He told them of the command given him to go to the Gentiles, of the coming of the messengers, of his journey to Caesarea, and of the meeting with Cornelius. He recounted the substance of his interview with the centurion, in which the latter had told him of the vision by which he had been directed to send for Peter.

“As I began to speak,” he said, in relating his experience, “the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning. Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that He said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as He did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?”

On hearing this account, the brethren were silenced. Convinced that Peter's course was in direct fulfillment of the plan of God, and that their prejudices and exclusiveness were utterly contrary to the spirit of the gospel, they glorified God, saying, “Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.”

Thus, without controversy, prejudice was broken down, the exclusiveness established by the custom of ages was abandoned, and the way was opened for the gospel to be proclaimed to the Gentiles.

1 note · View note

dislocatedskeleton · 3 years

Text

My Top 100 Albums Of 2020

100. Tennis - Swimmer 99. Amtrac - Oddyssey 98. Caroline Rose - Superstar 97. Fake Laugh - Dining Alone 96. Mild Orange - Mild Orange 95. Victoria Reed - Aquamadre 94. dvsn - A Muse In Her Feelings 93. Flo Milli - Ho, why is you here? 92. Annie - Dark Hearts 91. Gareth Emery - THE LASERS 90. Justine Skye - BARE WITH ME 89. Burna Boy - Twice As Tall 88. Shamir - Shamir 87. Widowspeak - Plum 86. Nick Hakim - WILL THIS MAKE ME GOOD 85. The Chicks - Gaslighter 84. Miley Cyrus - Plastic Hearts 83. RAYE - Euphoric Sad Songs 82. Gunna - WUNNA 81. Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine 80. Lauv - how i’m feeling 79. Lane 8 - Brightest Lights 78. Megan Thee Stallion - Good News 77. Shallou - Magical Thinking 76. Soccer Mommy - color theory 75. Dominic Fike - What Could Possibly Go Wrong 74. Samia - The Baby 73. Sylvan Esso - Free Love 72. Childish Gambino - 3.15.20 71. Kllo - Maybe We Could 70. Ryan Beatty - Dreaming of David 69. Kaash Paige - Teenage Fever 68. Zaia - VERY ALONE 67. Kiana Ledé - KIKI 66. Aminé - Limbo 65. JoJo - good to know 64. Deante’ Hitchcock - BETTER 63. The Flaming Lips - American Head 62. Sufjan Stevens - The Ascension 61. Kylie Minogue - DISCO 60. Selena Gomez - Rare 59. Thundercat - It Is What It is 58. Yellow Days - A Day In A Yellow Beat 57. Perfume Genius - Set My Heart On Fire Immediately 56. Phantogram - Ceremony 55. Washed Out - Purple Noon 54. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush 53. Four Tet - Sixteen Oceans 52. Lianne la Havas - Lianne la Havas 51. Caribou - Suddenly 50. Lennon Stella - Three. Two. One. 49. Yaeji - What We Drew 우리가 그려왔던 48. Duckwrth - SuperGood 47. Little Dragon - New Me, Same Us 46. Omar Apollo - Apolonio 45. Mehane - Cold Water 44. Fleet Foxes - Shore 43. Big Sean - Detroit 2 42. Phoebe Bridgers - Punisher 41. Sam Smith - Love Goes 40. Momma - Two of Me 39. Mac Miller - Circles 38. Golden Vessel - colt 37. Yumi Zouma - Truth Or Consequences 36. RAC - BOY 35. Kacy Hill - Is It Selfish If We Talk About Me Again 34. Blxst - No Love Lost 33. Låpsley - Through Water 32. Cub Sport - LIKE NIRVANA 31. Yves Tumor - Heaven To A Tortured Mind 30. Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn’t 29. Glass Animals - Dreamland 28. Jaden - CTV3: Cool Tape Vol. 3 27. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene 26. Purity Ring - WOMB 25. Khruangbin - Mordechai 24. keiyaA - Forever, Ya Girl 23. BENEE - Hey u x 22. Ariana Grande - Positions 21. Chloe x Halle - Ungodly Hour 20. Petit Biscuit - Parachute 19. 070 Shake - Modus Vivendi 18. Young Ejecta - Ride Lonesome 17. Jessie Ware - What’s Your Pleasure? 16. Wajatta - Don’t Let Get You Down 15. Moses Sumney - Græ 14. Fiona Apple - Fetch The Bolt Cutters 13. Teyana Taylor - The Album 12. Lady Gaga - Chromatica 11. Dua Lipa - Future Nostalgia 10. Amaarae - THE ANGEL YOU DON’T KNOW 9. Medasin - RIPPLS 8. Alina Baraz - It Was Divine 7. Disclosure - ENERGY 6. Jónsi - Shiver 5. Duval Timothy - Help 4. King Krule - Man Alive! 3. Ricky Reed - The Room 2. Jhené Aiko - Chilombo 1. SAULT - Untitled (Black Is/Rise)

3 notes · View notes

ours-is-the-fury · 4 years

Text

By The Moons I Honour Thee

Contains: SWEARING, VIOLENCE, POSSIBLE NSFW THEMES

CHAPTER 1...

The colours of Faster-Than-Light gave Jules a headache.

Slipstream engines were the fastest form of FTL but it came at the cost of comfort; the ride was bumpy and the slipstream tunnel wasn’t entirely stable, but the speed more than made up for it. The headache wasn’t a priority right now, however. The Dalek Saucer in pursuit was a far more pressing issue.

“Computer, how far behind is the hostile?” Jules asked hurriedly, his fingers dancing over a keyboard.

“Four kilometres and closing,” the cool robotic voice replied. “They still have a weapon lock despite your efforts.” The usually emotionless electronic speech contained an almost undetectable tone of condescension. Jules raised an eyebrow but ignored it. Now was not the time to get into a shouting match with the computer. He spun the chair to look backwards and a holographic screen showing the rear of the ship flickered into life. The Dalek Saucer was gaining slowly - a blue laser bolt flew past the ship. The lock was not perfect, it seemed. Spinning back forward, Jules threw the ship into a pattern of evasive manoeuvres to shift the Dalek lock.

“Tell me you fixed the cloak!” Jules yelled at the hatch down to the cargo hold.

“It’ssss taking sssome time,” hissed the response. The female Ice Warrior was no engineer. “Illegal cloaking devicessss don’t come with manualssss!” The ship violently lurched as a laser bolt sheared through the starboard wing.

“Warning. Hull damage sus-” The voice was cut off buy the blaring sound of a Dalek.

“FLEEING VESSEL. CEASE FLIGHT AND PREPAIR TO BE EXTERMINATED!”

“Piss off, tin can.” Jules retorted to himself, barrel-rolling the ship and dodging more bolts. “Rakara, tell me the time circuits work.”

“Currently, yessss,” she responded, confused. “Whhhy?”

Jules avoided the question, “Ready a Z-Neutrino torpedo.”

The Chula warship the Selene dropped out of slipstream just ahead of the Dalek saucer and disappeared. Two seconds later, the Dalek vessel exploded and the Selene flew out from the wreckage.

*****

Leaving the remains of the Dalek ship far behind, Jules punched in the coordinates for the planet Balthazar and engaged the slipstream engines. Getting up from the command chair, he climbed down to the cargo bay to where Rakara was waiting, her arms folded.

“A time Jump?” She hissed menacingly, “The Churshhhh will impound the Ssssselene this time.”

“The Church won’t find out; their temporal department is too busy hunting for a blue box to worry about a small retrograde hop.” Jules was trying to convince himself more than her. He was worried they’d take away the Selene and leave him stranded on some backwater world. He ran a hand through his scruffy black hair, exposing his left eye…or what was left of it. The cyber implant had not been some off-the-books black market upgrade, but a full-on conversion, or what was supposed to have been. The process had been interrupted by Rakara – a debt he would never be able to fully repay. Rakara’s crimson eyes looked him up and down.

“You need a sssshower,” she finally said after a few moments pause. “You ssssmell of sssweat and adrenaline.”

Jules nodded in agreement, “You have control,” he said softly and walked to the shower room.

*****

The Selene emerged from Slipstream on the edge of Balthazar’s orbit. The planet was a city world, with population figures numbering in the hundreds of billions. Jules piloted the ship along an approach corridor and set her down on a floating landing pad hovering between skyscrapers. The cargo ramp opened and Jules strolled out into the driving rain; the planet had global storm systems caused by the ionisation of the atmosphere. Too many star ships, Jules thought to himself as he walked toward the public transmat booth. The booth looked like a glass telephone box with a number pad fixed to one side where the transmat location was dialled in. With a zapping sound, Jules was rematerialized on the pavement outside an unassuming three-story building in the undercity. The door slid open with a click and he continued inside. The corridor was a pale sickly green colour, made worse by the dim lighting. Jules made for the only door at the far end, however before he got there, the door opened and a man stepped through…no, not a man, a flesh avatar.

“Halt!” the Flesh announced. “Identify yourself.”

“Jules Flynn, contract bounty hunter for the Church.” Jules replied with a bored expression. This routine was getting old now. The church had become so paranoid since word of the Doctor reached them; Jules wasn’t interested in galactic politics. For the most part he just liked getting paid.

“You may proceed,” the flat voice informed him. Jules pushed past the flesh guard and into the office of Adrian Ziegler.

“Sit down Jules.” Adrian didn’t look up from his holopaper, but Jules did as commanded. “Word has reached me of a destroyed Dalek ship in sector B37, was this you?”

“I’m not sure what-” Jules was cut off.

“The destruction was caused by a Z-Neutrino device, something which is illegal in most galaxies. So, I ask again: did you have anything to do with it?” Adrian’s voice was calm and slow, his steel grey eyes studying Jules over the paper.

“You’re more worried about a Z-Neutrino device than my time hop?” Jules asked, perplexed.

“In all honesty Jules, I’m not worried about either. Top brass is. However, you report to me and I need you.” Adrian clicked his fingers and the holopaper fizzled out of existence. With a tap on the keyboard another hologram appeared; this one took the image of a jet-black crystal, shaped like a cut diamond. “This,” he gestured, “is the Vortex Core.”

Jules raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to mean something?”

A harsh look. “The Vortex Core is possibly the most powerful artefact ever discovered. The Core can wire itself into any navigational system and gives it the positional data of every ship in the galaxy.”

Jules blinked. “How the hell would it know that?”

“We don’t know - no one does. But it’s true and it’s missing. Top brass doesn’t want people knowing about this as we don’t exactly need a mass panic on our hands, but if we don’t get to the device…we can’t imagine the damage the Daleks, Cybermen or Sontarans could do with that data.” Adrian stood up. “You’re the best tracker we have in our employ, we need you to locate the object for us. Its last known location was in the Delirium Cathedral; the headless monks had it in their possession.”

Jules just sat there, slightly stunned. Cloaking and time travel were one thing, but to know the position of every ship in the galaxy…to have that power… “I’ll find the device. But to destroy it. No-one should have that power.” He shifted to stand and froze, hearing the cocking of a gun behind him. “This is about that Doctor isn’t it? You want to know where he is. You may be a galactic peacekeeping force but you don’t have the right to people’s locations, and you don’t have the right to kill whoever you want.”

“The Doctor is a threat to the Church and the galaxy; he must be stopped!” Adrian spat, “We received a message from the future - he will destroy all of us. This galaxy, this universe. A war without end. With the Core we will know his location and we can end his reign of terror.”

Jules dared to stand, feeling the gun barrel in his back. “I will not give you the device. Find him yourself if you have this much courage in your convictions, but I grew up on the stories of a man, a wanderer, who helped people, who saved people. Now if he is this Doctor then by the moons, I will not help you.” His breathing quickened, anticipating a fight. He fidgeted with the ring on his left little finger.

Muscles flexed in the other man’s jaw. “Then it seems you have outlived your-” before Adrian could finish, Jules twisted the ring and the room froze. The desk fan in the back corner ceased spinning; Adrian stopped talking. Jules looked around. The micro Time-Stop would only last a few minutes, enough time to vacate the building and gain a small head start on the Church…

#doctor who #oc #own character #ice warriors #sontarans #cybermen #daleks #sycorax #the church #the silence #52nd century #chula warship #scifiandfantasy #scifi writing

4 notes · View notes

deeeryfawn · 4 years

Text

1 Kings 10-11 KJV

1.And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard questions.

2 And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

3 And Solomon told her all her questions: there was not any thing hid from the king, which he told her not.

4 And when the queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom, and the house that he had built,

5 And the meat of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their apparel, and his cupbearers, and his ascent by which he went up unto the house of the Lord; there was no more spirit in her.

6 And she said to the king, It was a true report that I heard in mine own land of thy acts and of thy wisdom.

7 Howbeit I believed not the words, until I came, and mine eyes had seen it: and, behold, the half was not told me: thy wisdom and prosperity exceedeth the fame which I heard.

8 Happy are thy men, happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and that hear thy wisdom.

9 Blessed be the Lord thy God, which delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel: because the Lord loved Israel for ever, therefore made he thee king, to do judgment and justice.

10 And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices very great store, and precious stones: there came no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

11 And the navy also of Hiram, that brought gold from Ophir, brought in from Ophir great plenty of almug trees, and precious stones.

12 And the king made of the almug trees pillars for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house, harps also and psalteries for singers: there came no such almug trees, nor were seen unto this day.

13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.

14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.

16 And king Solomon made two hundred targets of beaten gold: six hundred shekels of gold went to one target.

17 And he made three hundred shields of beaten gold; three pound of gold went to one shield: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Lebanon.

18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.

19 The throne had six steps, and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were stays on either side on the place of the seat, and two lions stood beside the stays.

20 And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom.

21 And all king Solomon's drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver: it was nothing accounted of in the days of Solomon.

22 For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.

23 So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom.

24 And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart.

25 And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.

26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the vale, for abundance.

28 And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king's merchants received the linen yarn at a price.

29 And a chariot came up and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means.

1.But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites:

2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, Forasmuch as this is done of thee, and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded thee, I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, and will give it to thy servant.

12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; but will give one tribe to thy son for David my servant's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

14 And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, Hadad the Edomite: he was of the king's seed in Edom.

15 For it came to pass, when David was in Edom, and Joab the captain of the host was gone up to bury the slain, after he had smitten every male in Edom;

16 (For six months did Joab remain there with all Israel, until he had cut off every male in Edom:)

17 That Hadad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants with him, to go into Egypt; Hadad being yet a little child.

18 And they arose out of Midian, and came to Paran: and they took men with them out of Paran, and they came to Egypt, unto Pharaoh king of Egypt; which gave him an house, and appointed him victuals, and gave him land.

19 And Hadad found great favour in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

20 And the sister of Tahpenes bare him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in Pharaoh's house: and Genubath was in Pharaoh's household among the sons of Pharaoh.

21 And when Hadad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab the captain of the host was dead, Hadad said to Pharaoh, Let me depart, that I may go to mine own country.

22 Then Pharaoh said unto him, But what hast thou lacked with me, that, behold, thou seekest to go to thine own country? And he answered, Nothing: howbeit let me go in any wise.

23 And God stirred him up another adversary, Rezon the son of Eliadah, which fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah:

24 And he gathered men unto him, and became captain over a band, when David slew them of Zobah: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt therein, and reigned in Damascus.

25 And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, beside the mischief that Hadad did: and he abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria.

26 And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.

27 And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father.

28 And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.

29 And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:

30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:

31 And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:

32 (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)

33 Because that they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father.

34 Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes:

35 But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes.

36 And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there.

37 And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel.

38 And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did; that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee.

39 And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever.

40 Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.

41 And the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?

42 And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.

43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

#bible #christian #kjv1611 #king solomon

2 notes · View notes

patricianandclerk · 5 years

Text

In The Beginning

Roleswaps though…

Raphael, one of the four remaining central Archangels – they were down one, since the war – felt… nervous. There was no reason to be nervous. It had been a lovely day so far, and a lovely existence all around; the Garden of Eden was flourishing, and Adam and Eve seemed very happily set in their places; there were a great many animals and plants, and—

He liked plants. He really liked plants.

He hadn’t expected to, as much as he did, but he really did: he liked to reach out to them and see their beautiful, green leaves, and all the fruit they bore, and oh, the flowers, the flowers! How beautiful they were…

But being in amongst the plants only soothed the nervousness a little bit.

He didn’t know why he felt anxious. He often did, that was all.

And Upstairs, as of recent, she was being… She was smiling more. It was never a good thing, when she smiled that much, and she was answering even fewer questions than usual. He hated it when she wouldn’t answer questions, and he hated how the questions just seemed to bloom up in his head, the way they flourished and blossomed and then died and just… Seemed to bud even more questions.

“And how— How fare ye, er, great angel, Raphael?”

Raphael pressed his lips together to keep from bursting out laughing as he looked at the Principality on the Eastern Gate. She had been hastily stuffed into her vessel, so it seemed, and her eyes shone with golden light as she looked up at Raphael.

“We can lose all that,” he said. “How are you doing, Daniel?”

“Er,” she said, leaning from one foot onto the other. “Well, there’s— There’s some trouble, that’s all. There’s this— There’s this demon, just, just hanging around.”

“Hanging around?” Raphael repeated. “Well,” he murmured, uncomfortable with the words even as he said them, “Uriel’s taught you what to do with them, right? Just a quick one-two and snickersnack with the, um, the sword.”

“Snickersnack, Raphael?”

“Or something like it.”

“It’s just— He didn’t strike me as very susceptible to snickersnacking, or even snickering and snackering in separation.”

“Oh. That is a problem. When did you see him last?”

“He’s here now,” Daniel said, and pointed.

–

The demon Sanfte sat in the dust and sand, some ways away from the great wall about Eden. It was, he felt, a dreadfully funny thing to put about a garden, not that he’d ever known a garden before, except for the one that had been up in Heaven. There was something about a garden, he felt, that ought grow outward, and a wall seemed rather to get in the way.

And there was the general inconvenience of the thing. The wall wasn’t something he wanted to have any go at climbing, and flying over the top had gotten some dashed angry angels fussing over him, with their flaming arrows and their angry little words.

Bless them.

No sense of narrative convenience, but that was angels for you.

But then, this was… You know, it wasn’t his business to worry about that sort of thing. Some things, Sanfte supposed, were ineffable. The big wall was all part of God’s big plan, or what have you, and given that Sanfte had Fallen (rather a long way, at that…), it wasn’t really his problem anymore. Ineffability and all its trappings could quite comfortably pass him by.

In Sanfte’s arms coiled a snake that had slipped out through a crack in the wall, and been coaxed easily into his lap. Animals loved Sanfte. They thought he was soft and warm and comfortable, and they liked to curl about his arms and the plush thighs of his vessel, or to slide up and sleep against his neck. Foolish things, really. They had no idea what was holding them.

Animals—

Yes, animals, he thought, they were a very good idea.

Even a wrong clock was right twice a day, he supposed – not that clocks had been invented yet, but you get the drift.

“Oy!” said a rather angry voice. Sanfte looked up, and beheld in his glory the archangel Raphael. The black hood of his robes had been thrown back, and about his head flamed a halo of fiery red hair, sparks flickering from some of the red curls and catching on the air. Sanfte had seen this business in Heaven, of course, albeit usually from quite the distance.

“Hello, dear,” Sanfte said mildly, with a little smile. His blue eyes were uncomfortably glittery, twinkling like they were full of stars, and Raphael was forced to suppress the instinct to look away from them. “Care to sit down?”

Raphael stared at him.

“What are you doing here, fiend?” Raphael demanded, trying to make his voice seem big and loud and commanding, the way Michael seemed to do it. It didn’t much work – or if it did, it didn’t work on this demon.

“Enjoying the warm weather,” Sanfte said pleasantly. “Don’t you think it’s a lovely day?”

“All the days have been nice so far,” Raphael said, and he glanced down to the snake in Sanfte’s arms, coiling about his arms and hissing softly. It had laid its chin upon the soft, warm flesh of Sanfte’s wrist, and was dozing with its yellow eyes open. Its scales looked beautiful, shining in the light, and Raphael reached out to touch—

But the snake hissed and pulled away, curling more tightly about Sanfte’s arm and hiding in his armpit.

“Oh, no,” Sanfte said, and the sympathy sounded real, but it was bordered with an agonisingly cutting edge, like real honey with razorblades in. “Don’t animals like you, Raphael?”

“It’s the hair,” Raphael muttered, withdrawing his hand and sliding it into his other hand’s sleeve, his lips pressing tightly together. It was actually… It was rather endearing, Sanfte thought. Sweet, it was. Sweet little angel… But then, not that little. Raphael had a good foot on Sanfte’s height. “They think I’ll burn them. Anyway, you shouldn’t be here, demon. Get thee hence.”

“But hence to whence, dearest?”

There was a lovely bit of colour in Raphael’s cheeks, now, burning them almost to match his hair. “I don’t care! Just… go.”

A pause spanned between them, and Sanfte watched Raphael for a long moment. “Rather impotent, that, wasn’t it?”

Glancing back in the direction of Daniel, Raphael hesitated a moment, and then he reached in, and grabbed Sanfte by the white-robed arm. Reality shifted around them with a sudden pop, and Sanfte released a giggle. They were away from the gate, now, and away, too, from Eden: they were out in the midst of the desert, where angels didn’t even patrol.

“Oh, you beastly thing of virtue,” Sanfte chimed, soothing the serpent in his arms. “That tickled most dreadfully. Won’t you do it again?”

“Look,” Raphael said, kneeling in the sands before him, and Sanfte raised his eyebrows. “Doesn’t it— doesn’t it seem weird to you?”

“Weird?” Sanfte repeated. “Being taken out to the middle of the desert by a handsome archangel? Rather. Why, how weird would you like us to get?”

“What? No, no, I just mean… The wall. The wall, doesn’t it seem— Well, a beautiful garden like that, it’s meant to grow, to expand, and there’s— There’s a big wall about it.”

Sanfte raised his head slightly, looking at Raphael thoughtfully, and he tilted his head. “Well… Yes, I did think it was a little odd. But you know, it’s… It’s ineffable.”

“Ineffable?” Raphael repeated, leaning in closer. His hair flamed, and Sanfte wondered what it would be like to run his fingers through it. Would it burn him? Was it holy fire, the holiest of holies?

“You know,” Sanfte said. “Ineffable, my dear boy: inexpressible, unutterable, inconceivable. The Divine Plan. Hardly for the likes of me to know the reasons why. I’m a demon. I just do what feels good.”

Raphael blinked. “Is that— Is that why you’re here? Because it feels good?”

Sanfte smiled. “Of course,” he lied sweetly. “Don’t you like the sun on your face?”

“Er, well,” Raphael said, leaning back on his heels, and glancing up toward the sky. Sanfte watched as his fingers reached up to brush his face, his knuckles touching over a dreadfully handsome cheek, up to a cheekbone so sharp one could nearly cut oneself on it. “I— I suppose it does feel nice. Yes. No!”

“No?”

“You tempter!”

“Me?” Sanfte asked, with injected innocence.

Raphael exhaled hard, and he stood to his feet, putting his hands on his hips. “I just— I’m just worried, that’s all. I’m just worried that it’s… That something’s going to go wrong.”

“Oh, you dear thing,” Sanfte said, reaching out and gently patting Raphael’s bare, beautifully brown calf where his robe bared the skin. Raphael shivered. “Why, nothing’s going to go wrong.”

“Right,” Raphael said, swallowing. “Right, yes. You’re right. And I don’t need your comfort, demon!”

“No, dear, of course not.”

“Right,” Raphael said. “Right.”

And he put them back.

–

Such a dreadful palaver, Sanfte mused as he watched Adam and Eve rush over the sands, out into the desert proper. His serpent had slinked, most obediently – as a personal favour to a friend, you understand – back in through the crack in the wall, and had passed on a message to poor Eve.

The girl was—

Not that Sanfte felt guilty.

He didn’t know that he ought feel guilty, really, being a demon. But he didn’t much like the sight of her, shivering in the cold, and her belly already had a swell to it, already pregnant. She was struggling to keep up with Adam.

And that small angel – Daniel, Raphael had called her – had rushed off—

And forgotten her sword.

Bless.

Such little things as get forgotten…

Sanfte leaned down, holding it by its golden hilt between thumb and forefinger. It didn’t half sting, and he let out a little hiss of noise as he held it at arm’s length, but then flickered across the sands[1]. “Hello?” he called out, and the pair looked to him. “You poor things, it’s going to get dashed cold, you know, when the sun finishes going down. Here, have this.”

Adam took the sword in hand, and wielded it high: flames lit their three faces, and for just a moment, Eve saw the Sanfte beneath, and gasped, tugging Adam back slightly.

“Do keep warm,” Sanfte murmured softly, and took his leave.

That was probably rather a nice thing to do, he thought, nicer than a demon ought, but then, he was a demon, and demons, he felt, could do whatever they liked. If it brought him pleasure to be nice, then he ought be nice – there was a little hedonism.

Oh, and look.

“Cooey,” Sanfte said as he took lazy step back toward the Gate. “Lost something?”

“My sword!” Daniel said fitfully, digging through the sands. “I’ve lost it, oh, my sword, my sword—”

“Goodness,” Sanfte said, with amused disapproval. “You’ll forget your own head, next.”

[1] Sanfte hated to run. He made a point of avoiding the awful practice.

My Ask | My Ko-Fi | My Ao3 | Requests always welcome!

#as defined by dictionary #crowley #aziraphale #good omens #fanfic #raphael #sanfte

70 notes · View notes

osmw1 · 5 years

Text

Dimension Wave Chapter 30 — A Springboard unto Death

“I bite my thumb at thee, Miss Kizuna!” Yamikage shouted out from the deck.

We’re back at sea, as we usually are. The only thing different was that water surrounded us in every direction. There was no land at all to be seen.

“Oh, picking a fight, huh?” “I can take no more squid!” “I understand, but Sheryl, you too must give due respect to our bounty.” “… I’m not wasting food. Just repurposing it.”

The first glance of yet squid again had Yamikage shrieking, while Shouko chastises Sheryl for loading our lunch into the ballista. But there were two others.

“Ahaha, you guys are hilarious!” “Ugh… why did I sign up for this…?”

Tsugumi had a good laugh, but Alto was far less impressed. How did the six of us sailors end up like this? you may ask. Well, let’s go back to about a week ago, to the day after we beat Dimension Wave.

We decided we needed a day off. Actually, it’d probably be more accurate to say that we needed a day to walk to the Second City to research the newly implemented items. By chance, we bumped into Romina and with the warm support from everyone, I had her make me a new weapon out of the parts I got from gutting Cerberus. Romina eyed me with suspicion when I handed the items to her, but she said nothing of it and forged me some proper equipment. I mean, it was only natural that I stood out just a little when I’m the only one with a huge inventory of Cerberus’ parts.

In any case, what she came up with was the Cerberus Slaughterer—an unadorned blade that like nothing but an oddly matte black kitchen knife. A weapon forged from the mats of a boss monster that powerful, it should be accordingly lethal. Well, should… … but I wouldn’t know. I didn’t even have the Energy to equip it. So, away it went into my inventory, biding time until I can wield its potential.

Then, we went shopping to check out the updated weapon types, Stones of Mediations, and other new stuff in the game. Along with a newly purchased reel, I had a beaming smile plastered on my face as Shouko, Yamikage, Sheryl, and I made our way to the Second City. Then, I saw it.

—The lure.

It was glimmering—no, rather, it was glowing. We came across a merchant selling a lure that would glow in the dark. Or better yet, a lure for night fishing. 10,000 serin was its price. As soon as I showed any intent on purchasing it, Shouko immediately tried to stop me. You absolutely cannot buy this, Kizuna. Do not be swindled, she pleaded, but alas, it was to no avail—my wallet would soon be 10,000 serin lighter.

“You are being completely cheated by the merchant! Please, just listen to us!”

I had no regrets. I still have no regrets because, though it unbeknownst to any of us at the time, I definitely did not make a bad decision. At the end of the day, I went to bed and slept soundly, pleased with a peaceful and successful shopping trip.

The next day. After deciding that I should regain my lost Energy, we set off back to our floating home base of a sailing ship. Things were still fine at this point.

“We may not risk thee taking damage, Miss Kizuna. Thou art best to rest in the cabin.”

Maybe I was still tired from all the shopping I did the previous day, I left the deck to the rest of them and went to a nap as suggested. There are two bedrooms in the cabin. But for some reason, I felt a little embarrassed to be the only one sleeping and so, I locked the door before the Sandman visited me.

“Gah! Help!”

A few hours later, I was awoken by the racket outside. I stepped up and out to the deck and immediately understood the situation.

… my fellow party members were engaged in some sort of act of piracy.

To sum up the bizarre turn of events unfolding in front of my very eyes, my sister, Tsugumi†Exceed, was about to be thrown overboard. In the water waiting for their meal were three Blue Sharks. Honestly, it seemed like a slapstick routine more than anything.

“What the hell are you guys doing?!”

I snapped to my senses and shouted at them. Shouko was the first to respond.

“Executing a stowaway!”

All of my attention was on them. Something must’ve happened while I was asleep, but frankly, I really didn’t want to know. I just didn’t have much of a choice but to talk things over with them.

“Come on! Tsumugi’s my sister! What the hell happened?” “Judgement upon stowaways on our vessel!” “You stay quiet!” “… stowaways are shark food.” “I don’t have a clue what you mean.” “Seajacking shall bring demise unto us!” “I told you to stay quiet, Dark Shadow!”

Our arguing brought me nowhere closer to understanding what was going on, but at least I saved Tsugumi for now. I had to coax them out of their frenzy before I could get a good grasp of the situation. Apparently, while I was sleeping, a group of four that were stowed away in the bilge tried to hijack our ship. Our party members engaged the hijackers at the bow and easily rounded them up, as the hijackers didn’t have any naval combat–related skills. —And then.

“Are you for real?!”

That still didn’t explain anything. Then, they told me they were discussing what to do with the hijackers when one of them called out to Shouko.

“Remember how we were allies?”

He tried to fish for sympathy. It seemed like they were the people Shouko used to run with before coming to us. After seeing how well we did in the Dimension Wave, there were snide remarks about how “the likes of us Spirits” must have played dirty. It made Shouko’s blood boil, and so now, the hijackers were being dangled above the water.

“I’ll make sure to spread rumors.”

His last words were befitting of a heroin in a dating sim game. With one down, it leaves three.

“Goodbye to you two, too.” “We’ll kill you in the next Dimension Wave.” “Wh—aaagh!”

They sure can talk a lot of trash. It was a slog to get through what Shouko and the others had to say too, but I had little choice but to listen. Anyway, it turns out that the hijackers found Tsugumi hiding in a barrel, hoping to pop out and startle me.

“What a bunch of tools!” “Yes, they were quite the characters.” “Don’t pretend like you didn’t go crazy either, Shouko.” “Sorry…”

I never woulda thought that she would flipped out like this. Tsugumi then began to explain why she was here.

“I snuck here because you and your party seemed to be having so much fun, big bro…” “What, did you have enough of your permadeath run?” “I muttered that under my breath! You weren’t supposed to hear that!”

Unfortunately for you, I’m not hard of hearing It’d be weirder if I couldn’t hear you since I’m standing right next to you. And it’s not like I have super good hearing either. … not that I know of, at least.

“What’s a permadeath run anyway?” “… it’s a roleplaying thing in VRMMOs.” “Hmm, don’t think I’ve heard of it.”

According to Sheryl, it’s common in virtual worlds where you can’t voluntarily logout, making it kind of like a “if you die in the game, you die in real life” kind of roleplay. The rest of the party would kick you and cut off communication if you die, I assume.

“Wait, I didn’t know they were doing that!”

Well, I’m not about to criticize anyone how they play the game, but I can’t say I’m enamored with the idea. Maybe the frontliners are more dedicated to their role because they play on permadeath rules. Who knows.

“If everybody’s okay with it, maybe we can let Tsugumi into our party.” “But of course.” “We are indebted to your sister for bequeathing us her aid during the Dimension Wave.” “‘kay.” “But I mean, y’all just tried to feed her to the sharks…”

None of them could look me in the eyes. Did you think I’d forget about this? Tsugumi joined our party without an apology from any of them.

True to their words, the hijackers had been spreading false rumors about us back in the cities. Alto caught wind of it, explained the truth, and seemed to have turned the tables back on them. Glad that someone’s got our back.

And those were the events that led to Alto joining us.

contents: /prologue/ /ch001/ /ch002/ /ch003/ /ch004/ /ch005/ /ch006/ /ch007/ /ch008/ /ch009/ /ch010/ /ch011/ /ch012/ /ch013/ /ch014/ /ch015/ /ch016/ /ch017/ /ch018/ /ch019/ /ch020/ /ch021/ /ch022/ /ch023/ /ch024/ /ch025/ /ch026/ /ch027/ /ch028/ /ch029/ /ch030/ /next/

(leave me a tip on Patreon?)

1 note · View note