#I don't like bible's formatting

[who-dat-homeless]

Just learned that Leonard nimoy incorporated Jewish culture and Judaism into Spock and Vulcan culture and now I'm sitting like

"Oh fuck now I need to read Tora from cover to cover to write some silly spirk porn"

[lemonduckisnowawake]

What if I theologized hanahaki? What then? Like if hanahaki was a symbol of unrequited love that desperately wants to be requited? Because God so loves us enough to want to be with us but also loves us enough to hold back lest His holiness turn us to ash because the flowers have become so embedded in us. So what if the flowers are a sign of our own rejection of God and the desperate craving we all have deep inside for Him...but also our way of melding with something that needs to go and thus being unable to be saved from it because we made it us in a sense? Like...

...

There’s a new wave of people who claim to be without the Flower Rot, also known as Hanahaki and Hua Bing.

These people claim that, without surgery, they have managed to completely remove the Rot. When asked what had caused this, one woman who wished to remain anonymous told the reporters, “It was…God, I guess. But He was also a man. He just…said that because the Rot’s too rooted in us, even if we wanted God we’d just burn with the flowers. But the only way’s to have His love take it away. So He said He’d take Rot and fade because He was a man, then come back because He’s God, and give us love to remove the Rot because He’s both.”

Her explanation aligns with similar ones from other witnesses with the Rot gone. They claim that the risk of fading with the removal of the flowers was taken by a man. But that His Godliness also signified that He could “grant His love” to permanently dispel the Rot.

As a refresher, it is quite unclear why the Rot suddenly began to manifest inside our lungs millennia ago. The most common legend is a tale of how humanity and God once lived in harmony in a garden. However, one day, man rejected God and told Him they could create a garden of their own. Though He offered a chance to repent from their rejection, having told them previously that such an endeavour would bring death upon them, they refused to acknowledge their wrong and were thus severed from His power and acceptance.

The proud declaration of humanity was not a nonsense claim, as they indeed found they could produce beautiful plant life for a garden.

However, that came with the cost of death, for these flowers grew inside them and were expelled through bloody coughs and sneezes.

Such is the duality of this universal Rot—a sign of divine rejection, some say, or a sign of our own ability to create beauty made more glorious through our own sacrifice, as others say. Of course, there are others who say this Rot is more complicated than simply a sign of our glory or a rejection from the divine, but those claims as much less popular.

In recent times, science has discovered that this Rot is simply a natural and inborn function of our body. “In fact, it’s inaccurate to call such a natural part of human experience a rot,” Doctor Kinuyo Yahagi of Hanahaki Research Association said, showing a bloodied purple iris of hers. “Yes, it is unpleasant but it is a fact of life, just like death and hunger and blood.” She then gave an animated explanation how there was a particular genetic wiring within our lungs linked to the brain’s rejection and affection chemicals. If the two are stirred in such a way, a pathway is made from the brain to the lungs triggering the genetic code and causing flowers to bloom.

“It can be removed by surgery,” a surgeon from the local medical center said. “However, studies have shown it is risky as it can affect your ability to love and process rejection, so it’s up to the patient to take the risk or not.”

Activists have cried that a difficulty in loving is not a sign of deteriorating humanity, and that those who choose the surgery are still acceptable.

“Hanahaki or not, we all still die, right?” a video of one academic debate records a professor speaking to one of the new Rot-less people.

The Rot-less person—a professor as well—nods thoughtfully. “Yes, but now, my death becomes a death without the disease signalling our separation from the divine, which is no true death at all.”

The ethics of removing the Flower Rot surgically still are debated, though much support for it has arisen in the past few decades. Research into these new rot-less people has also steadily increased, all done with the utmost legal and ethical restrictions to the volunteer’s rights.

“Hopefully, we’ll get to the bottom of this and find a better way to remove the disease,” Dr. Yahagi’s co-worker who wished to remain anonymous said. “Natural or not, it is still unpleasant. Why continue with something that is now proven to not be inevitable?”

[norman-fucking-reedus]

BEGGING ON MY KNEES FOR CORRUPTION KINK WITH DARYL YOU WRITE SMUT SO HEAVENLY😫😫😫

SWEET LITTLE SINNER

THE YUMMY STUFF: Age gap, (Daryl is in his late 50s, Reader in her early 30s) Creampies, breeding kink, fingering, bit of cockwarming, just smutty stuff, ...petnames 😇, semi-public?? guys they fuck in the church, virgin fem!reader, religious!reader, dont cancel me for this, but religion kink

DO NOT READ IF YOU THINK YOU'LL FEEL OFFENDED BECAUSE HOW YOU FEEL IS NOT MY PROBLEM

OKAY ANON I KNOW IM ANSWERING THIS REQ MONTHS LATER BUT BEAR WITH ME ALRIGHT 🎀

Im playing around with a new posting format and I honestly really like it so far! Im just literal dogshit at summaries so I don't necessarily bother with them (I mean at least I try) but eeeerm guys let me know if its cutie AND PLEASE LOOK AT MY BLOG PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I CHANGED THAT TOO

So after scrolling through the mounds of unanswered asks I have, I found this one and it reminded me of a conversation I had with my sister abt Daryl x a Christian girl who holds herself very high to her faith and has a deeper understanding of the bible

This takes place around the time they find gabriel, and somehow this ended up being a !greene reader, I also had to extend the church for... purposes :3

Believe it or not this is my first time ever writing corruption kink 😭 I got this request back when I was still fresh on tumblr and its been sitting ever since because I just didn’t know what to do (and I still dont)

southern gothic has me in a chokehold and I cant breathe

"Come on! Fight to the fence!" The sound of Rick's voice bellowed over the deafening clang of metal and ringing gunfire, rapidly taking down any walkers that shuffled within range as the men helped the women to climb over the fence first, Carl dropping down and catching all the weapons that were tossed onto the safe side.

Rosita crawled up the chain fence quickly, noticing that you were behind her when she was balanced right on top and extending a hand out to you. "Up and over" She lightly yet urgently joked, and you could only let out a small huff of air as you grasped her hand, and hauled yourself upwards, swinging a leg over to join her in scaling down the other side.

"Let's go! Move your asses!" Abraham shouted as he fired his gun, covering Rick as he made a break for the fence, the redhead man not far behind once the walkers had started to herd up. He threw the firearm over the fence and easily jumped onto half the fence, using a walker's head as a boost to fling himself over onto the other side.

As you and the others hastily gathered your belongings, no one dared to look back at the remnants of Terminus, trying to stay together as you all ran for a safe place behind Rick, expecting that he had some kind of miracle up his sleeve and would find a place to hunker down for a few hours, days even.

Despite the chaos and the destruction that surrounded you, you and the rest of the group hastily gathered your belongings, not daring to look back at the ruins of Terminus. Trying to stay as closely together as possible, you all followed Rick's lead as he dashed through the trees. He was the one who had kept the group alive for so long, and everyone was hoping that he could do it for just a little while longer.

After what felt like forever, you could feel the intense heat seeping into your skin and making your clothes stick to your body. Every step you took felt like a burden, with the fabric rubbing against your flesh. The air was thick with humidity, and you could feel the moisture clinging to your skin, making you feel sticky and uncomfortable. You glanced around at the other people around you, all of them appeared to be struggling in the heat, with their foreheads glistening with sweat and their breathing labored.

As you looked over at Daryl, you couldn't help but notice the solemn expression on his face as he kept his eyes fixed on the ground. It was clear that he had been struggling to come to terms with Carol's sudden disappearance, and had been much more withdrawn and reserved than usual. He seemed to be lost in thought, lost in his own world, and it was hard to know how to reach out to him.

"Right here," Rick spoke as he brought the group out to a small clearing that was surrounded by trees, briefly scanning the area before crouching down in the dirt and beginning to frantically dig.

Abraham scoffed, "Tha' hell are we still around here for?" taking a few steps forward as he analyzed and addressed Rick, watching the man pull out a blue duffel bag.

"Guns. Some supplies," He said bluntly, pulling the black zipper back and further exposing the bag's contents, multiple guns, and other hand-held weapons. "We go along the fences, use the rifles, and take out the rest of 'em."

"What?" Glenn gawked, staring at Rick in disbelief as he listened to the words spewing out his mouth, bouncing around uncomfortably in his head.

Rick started to pull out the variety of weapons one by one, not once turning to meet Glenn's gaze. "They don't get to live."

The latter pursed his lips and huffed, stepping closer to Rick as to get his attention. "Rick, we got out. It's over."

"It's not over till they're all dead." Rick growled, shaking his head.

"They are dead. That place is on fucking fire, crawling with walkers in every which way." Rosita spat, laughing in annoyance at Rick's stupidity.

You shake your head as Rick continued to pull items out of the bag, "We got lucky back there," you said, voice low and trembling. "It's not worth risking our lives by going back in" your eyes meeting Rick's in a plea for him to understand. "God doesn't always give us a second chance. Just play the hand you were dealt" The thought of going back into that walker-infested place made your skin crawl, and you couldn't understand why Rick was wasting his time.

"Does he think he could give me one?" A familiar voice spoke softly from behind your group, faces lighting up in surprise and joy as Carol lightly stepped through the forest, appearing from behind a tree with her signature smile tugging at her lips, stretching all the way up to her ears when all of Daryl's weight barreled into her frame, almost knocking her straight onto her ass with a shocked laugh.

Her unexpected appearance managed to lift the once extremely heavy atmosphere, now bright and bubbly as it was filled with smiles.

"Did you do that?" Rick questioned once it was his turn to hug Carol, not getting a verbal response but the cheeky smile painting her blood-covered face was more than telling. However, it didn't last long once she scanned over the entirety of the group. "You have to come with me."

Carol led the group through the forest and down the train tracks until reaching a small cabin hidden in the trees where Tyrese and sweet little Judith had been holed up waiting for her return, everyone watching as Sasha, Rick, and Carl sprinted towards them, each cradling their respective loved one. It was another emotional yet much-needed heartfelt reunion, especially considering that the last few weeks had been nothing but hell in a handbasket.

"We should get moving, the fire's still burning" The grey-haired woman suggested as she gave the tall, rising black smoke one last look over.

"Yeah. We need to go" Rick nodded as he took stared at the smoke, an unreadable expression on his face and in his eyes.

Daryl huffed slightly, "Yeah, but where?" glancing around the remote area.

"Doesn't matter. Somewhere far away from there."

It had been a long few days since the group had gotten somewhere far away from there, and a long few days since anyone had anything to eat. Stomachs were empty and energy seemed to only be decreasing, the hunger gnawing away at all of you.

As the sun slowly began to rise above the horizon, Daryl quietly made his way into the dense forest in search of something to eat. It was quiet, and peaceful as he gingerly and skillfully walked through the mess of vines and roots at his feet, blue eyes scanning the dirt floor for any sign of movement that might indicate the presence of an animal.

Oddly enough, it felt like he wasn't necessarily alone in these woods, glancing around and over his shoulder more than he typically would. Maybe it was just a nearby walker he could sense before he could see, but he knew way better than to believe something like that. His gut told him that there was someone else out here, and Daryl learned to always listen to his gut.

He instinctively raised his crossbow to be eye level, scanning the treeline as he took careful and quiet steps, moving from the west to the north and then east. There was a slight breeze that ruffled the leaves, tousled dark hair in his face, and flowed a dirty white skirt from a few feet from him, a tiny but audible gasp heard.

It had come from behind a thick collection of bushes, Daryl carefully combing them out of the way with one hand and ducking to prevent anything from getting in his eye. He had a tight grip on his crossbow, ready for whatever potential danger could be on the other side.

Luckily for him though, there was no danger. It was just you, the weird and off-putting Greene who had somehow turned into a new interest for Daryl, not quite being able to put his finger on just what it was that drew him towards you.

You were a quiet, soft but strange Christian girl, much different than Maggie and Beth. Unlike them, you seemed to have some kind of spiritual connection to the bible, a deeper understanding of it that often made others feel oddly safe around you, as if you truly did have God protecting you.

Funny enough, it reminded Daryl of when his parents would drag him to the southern church, forcing him into the small confession box where he would sit and sob for hours, silently begging for God to come save him.

He could hear you softly murmuring something, but the full words didn't entirely reach his ears. You were kneeling in front of a large moss-covered log, hands clasped together with your head down, looking up every so often. He watched how every time you leaned back, your hair fluttered back and fell back into position.

Not wanting to be creepy, he decided to come out from where he had been hiding, a little taken aback when you seemed to not be bothered, as if you had already known he wasn't any sort of threat.

"Hell ya' doin' out here girl?" Daryl grumbled out, standing a few feet behind you. He watched as you repeated the motion with your head a few more times, eventually pushing yourself up off your knees.

You knocked the gathered leaves and a few bugs off your skirt, smiling at him softly. "Prayer. I come out here every mornin' for it"

He scoffed slightly, glancing down at the ground as he rolled a rock under his shoe. "Why bother? Not like s'gon get heard anyway"

“Yeah? We’ll see. I prayed we find a safe place today” You said as you brushed some hair our your mouth, wind starting to pick up in speed.

Daryl hummed, “Pray we also find some food?” flipping his own hair out his face.

“Of course,” You laughed slightly, airy and light. “But with you out here I think that’ll be answered”

The man scoffed again, this time ducking his head at your words. “Yeah right” He mumbled out.

“I mean it. Look, there’s a squirrel in that tree” You point to a nearby oak tree and Daryl follows your finger, pulling the trigger of his crossbow faster than you could even fathom.

The squirrel hit the ground, Daryl stepped over a few roots and bushes to pick it up, pulling the arrow out and tossing the carcass over his shoulder.

“Good eye girly. C’mon, guess yer God is gon help ya’ help feed us” He glanced at you from over his clear shoulder, motioning for you to follow him with a short nod of the head.

You followed as he walked through the thick mess of bushes, the green leaves staining your cowgirl boots as you stepped on them. The birds chirped loudly above head as the sun got higher and higher in the sky, the air starting to increase in temperature.

It was quite a nice walk through the forest regardless of the heat, Daryl making for much better company than you expected even though he didn't have much to say. You filled the silence by humming softly to yourself, staying a few feet behind and looking around the wooded terrain, keeping an eye out for animals and walkers.

Daryl paused for a moment, holding up a finger and then positioning his crossbow again. The weapon fired, and you watched as it struck another squirrel, this time pinning it against a tree.

He yanked the arrow out, sliding it back into the holder on the front of his bow and tossing the second squirrel over his shoulder.

"Need'ta get at least five," He said as he continued walking, glancing at you again from over his other shoulder just to make sure you were still there.

You scoffed slightly at his words. "Five?" You repeated, staring at the angel wings on the back of his vest.

Daryl nodded, peering up into the trees and looking around on the ground. "Yeah. Got a lotta people to feed"

"And you think five is the lucky number?" You joke lightly, a small smile tugging your lips as you stay hot on his heels.

He shrugged, squirrels bouncing with the motion. "Dunno. Depends on how many ya prayed for"

"Well, if you told me, I would've prayed for at least ten" You appeared at his side and bumped his arm with yours, his gaze meeting yours for only a split second before you were suddenly startled by Rick and Glenn's out-of-nowhere appearances.

They pointed their guns at both of you, and you put your hands up to show you weren't a threat. "Jus' catchin' some breakfast," Daryl said as he dropped his arms and nodded at Glenn in greetings.

"Ready to get some concrete under your feet?" Rick asked him as the four of you began to make your way out of the forest and back to the rest of the group, the day only getting hotter and hotter. "I think it's time."

Daryl hummed, a thin layer of sweat starting to form on his forehead. "That is sweet music to my ears, Officer."

"We take the next road we come to, try to get back to going north 'till we find a vehicle." Rick gestured slightly with his hand, gun still in his grip just in case.

You all stepped up the steep hill leading back to the road where the group had decided to set up a temporary camp for the night.

Rick meet Daryl's eyes, placing a hand on his squirrel-less shoulder. "Good?"

"Good"

"–And Father God, I once again call upon you to ask for a blessing, a miracle, an answer. You've got me so far, this group, I ask, will you continue to do so? Will you bestow us a safe place? A home?"

Back on the road once again. It was hot as the group ventured forward, worn down shoes and boots slapping against the burning pavement as you all conversed amount yourselves and entertained one another, Michonne and Carl in some form of competition while you lingered behind, Daryl nearby just in case a walker somehow nabbed you.

He silently listened to the soft whispering of your voice, the gentle lull you used as you spoke your prayers, walking with your head down and the palms of your hands facing towards the sky, almost reaching out in a sense.

There was a few questions lingering on his tongue, but growing up in the southern church Daryl had learned not to ask questions until after prayer. Hell, he had learned not to ask questions period.

Daryl only watched you out the corner of his eye, your plush lips moving slightly as you murmured. There was just something about you that was captivating, the fact that you were almost a mixture of Beth's sweet and softness, Maggie's stern and stubbornness, it made him curious to know what the third mysterious Greene had to offer.

"Amen" You mumbled a little louder than intended, clasping your hands together as you finished and concluded your prayer. You brushed some hair out your face when you lifted your head, catching a glimpse at Daryl's watchful eye.

He looked away when your gaze met his, furrowing your brow slightly with a small and playful smile. "What?" You appeared closer to his side and purposely bumped into him, watching how he staggered a little in his pace.

"Nothin'. Jus' hot as hell out here" Daryl shrugged slightly, sweat rolling down his face and back.

You hummed softly, "Hell is a lot hotter than this, but it is super hot. Just wish we could find a river or something" fanning your legs with the loose fabric of your skirt.

Daryl glanced at you, eyes dropping the flowing motion of the fabric. "Tryna' go swimmin'?" He questioned, because a dip in the cool river didn't sound that bad at all

"We weren't really allowed growing up, swimsuits were always super revealin' so we just stayed inside most summers" You shrugged, a tiny smile on your lips as you recalled past memories with your sisters, even if it was just sitting inside trashing the kitchen. "We weren't even allowed to wear shorts that didn't stop at the knees"

It made sense, ever since the farm you, Beth, and Maggie had always been more modestly dressed then the rest, never wearing something too short even if it was the only option.

But even then, as long as your skirt as, Daryl still couldn't help himself from picturing the entirety of your bare legs, a shiver coursing through him as he tried to wipe the image away as quickly as it had come. You were sweet, almost too sweet for him. He was damaged and tainted, you were pure and holy.

"My moms used'ta watch me 'nd m'brother when we went to the river behind our house 'cause I ain't know how'ta swim as a kid" Daryl forced himself to say, tearing his eyes away from the dingy fabric and looking anywhere that just wasn't where you were.

Of course, it wasn't it that easy, especially when you giggled at his sentence which almost caused him whiplash from how hard he snapped his neck at you.

"Sorry, sorry. Just– You didn't know how to swim? Even I can swim" You covered your mouth as you spoke through your laughter, cheeks starting to hurt a little from how hard you were smiling.

Daryl scoffed, the sound of your giggles being music to his ears. "Laugh it up girly. Won't be funny when I throw ya' in a river"

You did laugh even harder at that, maybe because you knew it might be true. "It'll be hilarious! Even more because you'll be the one finding me a new outfit"

"Jus' a little water. S'not like yer damn skirt s'gon wash away" Daryl rolled his eyes, watching as you fake a look of offense.

"How do you know that? It just might! Then you'd have to cover me up" You folded your arms over your chest, quirking a brow at the older man as he glanced you up and down.

"Maybe I don' want to" He mumbled with a short shrug of his mouth

"What do you want?" You asked with a small tilt of your head.

Daryl's lips moved way faster then his brain, and he found himself suddenly muttering out "Wanna see wha's under tha' pretty dress"

You stared at him for a little, and he wished he could just bury an arrow in his head now, but then you chuckled a bit, nudging his arm with yours. "That's a sin, Daryl"

The two of you fell silent, your words lingering in Daryl's mind as he focused his gaze down on the floor, his ears perking slightly when they caught the gentle sound of your humming, some kind of song that he had surely never heard before.

He didn't wanna admit that your voice was soothing and melodic, it almost reminded him of his mother when she would cradle his trembling body in her arms, bruised and bloodied as the soft vibrations of her humming buzzed through him, comforting him as he softly sniffled into her chest, clutching onto her shirt and wondering what it was that made him so undeserving of God's–

"Help!"

The scream of terror rang out from the forest to the woods, and you all looked around at each other as your movements halted, everyone turning in the direction they thought the cry had come from with their weapons drawn, you subconsciously inching closer to Daryl for safety.

"Help, anybody! Help!" The cries came again, this time audibly and undeniably from the left side of the trees.

Rick nodded his head, gun drawn and pointed as he dashed off the road and into the forest, the group all following closely behind as the screams and pleads for help didn't cease, getting louder and closer which drew the attention of nearby walkers, having to dodge and take out any that got too close.

"Anyone, help! Help!"

As you all sprinted deeper into the trees, the sound of snarling and clicking teeth began to mix and become more audible, eventually leading the group out into a green clearing where there was a... pastor cowering ontop of a large stone rock, slipping off and making a half-ass attempt at kicking the walkers.

There weren't that many walkers, but it was still enough to where Rick felt firing his gun was necessary. The gunshots rang out through the forest, and you covered your ears at the loud noise, wincing slightly as it bounced around uncomfortably in your head.

Daryl took out the last straggler with a hard stab of his knife, wiping the thick blood off his blade on his pants before he slid it back in his holster, appearing at your side as he analyzed the pained expression on your face.

"Ya' alrigh'?" He murmered softly, hands hovering over your face but not quiet touching it, almost as if he was restraining himself.

You nodded, uncovering your ears and glancing at the pastor on the top of the rock, Daryl and everyone else following your gaze.

He whimpered softly and quietly from where he sat, eyes frantically darting between the all of you as if you all were the threat.

"Come on down." Rick said in a loud, stern voice, taking a few steps forward in front as the group took a few steps back.

The man rolled on his stomach and awkwardly wormed his way down grunting slightly and crying out when he slipped the rest of the way and landed on his ass.

A few giggles erupted from you and Maggie, stifling your laughter in the same way you've both always done by simply turning your heads away from the source of humor.

Rick didn't seem too entertained though, glancing the man up and down when he stumbled to his feet and dusted himself off. "You okay?" He raised a brow, emotion unmoving and flat.

"Sorry. Yes, thank you. I-I'm Gabriel." He stammered out, his lips pulling themselves into a small an nervous smile.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick titled his head as he asked condescendingly, taking another step closer to 'Gabriel.'

The man in question chuckled slightly. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"

"We don't give a rats flying fucking ass what it looks like." Abraham barked out, and you could only nod your head in agreement.

Gabriel mumbled out some kind of understanding before he put on his best brave face. "I have no weapons of any kind. The word of God is the only protection I need"

At that you scoffed, covering your mouth in a fake apology. "Oh sorry, just that, didn't really look like God was protecting you now was he?"

Gabriel smiled nervously and awkwardly at your words, his eyes taking in your attire and the sparkly cross around your neck. "Well, he led a woman of your nurture here, so that must mean something right?"

"Oh of course. It means that you have something we want" You spoke softly, yet your tone was oddly dark. It somehow flipped the aura surrounding the group, replacing it with a heavy presence that just couldn't be explained.

"I-I have nothing to offer. Whatever food I- I had left, it just hit the ground." He glanced down at the ruin pile of whatever it was he had.

Carl stepped forward, fishing something out his pocket and holding it out to the pastor. "We've got some pecans, sorry if you're allergic" He partially joked, taking a step back and behind his dad.

Gabriel thanked him, dumping a few into his mouth and chewing. Judith cooed sweetly from where she rested against Beth, the mans eyes softening as he spotted her. "That's a beautiful child," He said, glancing around at just how many of you there were. "D- Do you have a camp?"

"No. Do you?" Rick asked without hesitation.

"I have a church." Gabriel mumbled, and your ears perked up at the sound of that. Daryl also noted the way your face lit up, while his twisted in distain.

Rick stuck his gun in the waist band of his jeans, aggressively grabbing Gabriel. "Hold your hands above your head."

"How many walkers have you killed?" He questioned, roughly patting the man down in search for any weapons.

"Not any, actually." Gabriel answered nervously.

"Turn around." Rick commanded and he spun the man, continuing his thorough search. "How many people have you killed?"

"None." Gabriel said as Rick spun him back around, narrowing sharp, quizzical blue eyes at him.

"Why?" He almost hissed the words out, whispering them out through the skin of his teeth.

Gabriel was silent for a moment, glancing at all of you before back at Rick. "Because the Lord abhors violence."

"We've all done something, we were all born as sinners. Nobody's perfectly pure." You spoke up from where you stood behind Daryl, shaking your head slightly. Daryl could argue with your words that you were the most perfect damn thing he’s seen, but he forced himself to keep his mouth shut instead. You were pure and holy, he was damaged and tainted.

He looked at you, slightly taken aback. Rick finished his search by nodding in confirmation that he was clear, taking a step back from Gabriel but not too far.

"I sin almost every day," He murmured out after a moment, scanning you all once more before his lips shifted into another small nervous smile. "But those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers."

"You said you had a church?"

You sat outside on the church step with all the other women, plus Gabriel, while all the guys stormed inside to do a thorough search of the building, in search of any weapons or any other people. Although Gabe claimed it was just him and himself, Rick didn't believe him and didn't want to take any risks.

It was quite peaceful, birds chirping above with a slight breeze that brought a little bit of cooling relief from the burning sun. Judith cooed softly in Beth's lap, shaded from the sun courtesy of Carl's hat, too big to properly fit her head but big enough to cover her body.

"I spent months here without stepping out the front door." Gabriel's voice cut through the blissful silence, and you tried not to shoot him an irritated glare. Rick came out first, followed by Daryl and then Glenn. "If you found someone inside, well, it would have been surprising."

"We found a short bus out back." Rick said, hands on his hips as he squinted from the harsh glare of the sun. “Nothing else besides that. I think we can settle down here for a minute”

“Shit ain’t settled ‘till we get Eugene’s ass to Washington” Abraham’s voice barked from behind the man, Eugene and Rosita following suit.

Daryl stood on the step above yours, and you turned to smile softly at him as his large frame blocked the scorching light of the sun from spilling down onto you.

He scowled in response, but only because he didn't wanna make his cheeks any more red than they already were. He turned his head away and decided to just blame the burning sensation on the Georgia heat.

Rick shrugged his shoulders as he dismissed Abraham. "Yeah, well, people are exhausted. This place has four walls and a roof. Safe. In other words, we're staying here."

"Sounds pretty good to me, I've slept inside a chapel before," You said as you twisted your head to look at Rick, glancing inside the church to get a glimpse at the size inside. "Plus we can all fit in there, so why not? We could even do our own version of 'The Last Supper' but with squirrel meat" You added, gesturing towards the string of squirrels Daryl had managed to catch on the journey here.

"That kinda does sound good" Beth smiled as she bounced Judith on her leg, the thought of eating meat making her really hungry. "And we can have a bonfire! It'll be even better 'cause we won't have to sleep outside after we put it out" She gasped slightly when the idea crossed her mind, sitting up a little straighter as she talked about it.

Maggie smiled softly at the two of you as you both made light of the situation, grateful that you had always been able to see the bright side of things and just simply brush things off, sometimes falling and scraping your knee but getting right back up to walk it off.

Out of the three of them, you had always had a much stronger connection to God even as a child, sometimes walking right out of Sunday school because you claimed the teacher "silenced" his voice. Growing up, you only continued to believe more and more, so much to the point that it almost worried Maggie, like you could always see something that she couldn't.

There were times when she found herself a bit envious of you, especially when you both had reached your teen years, Maggie starting to take a dive at rebellion and you still as perfectly holy as you had been at age five, wardrobe consisting of nothing but your pristine white clothes, and the same faded white cowgirl boots daddy had bought for you a decade ago on Christmas. He had gotten you all a pair to wear around the farm when dealing and riding with the horses, you and Beth wearing yours down to absolute hell.

By the time you were both in your early twenties, petty rivalry put aside years later replaced by constant gossip and the latest guy Maggie was going out with, she realized that there was no reason to envy you, because she didn't wanna be you. You were pure, holy, and kept yourself high within your faith, studying the Bible in a way that she sometimes couldn't even wrap her head around.

"We need supplies, no matter what we do next" Rick spoke up as he glanced around at everyone, watching Beth pass over Judith to you to sit in the shade Daryl provided.

Glenn nodded in agreement. "That's right. Food, water, ammunition, anything we can find"

You quirked a brow at Gabriel, glancing him up and down. "How'd you survive here for so long?"

He jumped slightly at the sound of your voice and stuttered as all eyes landed on him. "W- Well, I had God protecting me"

"No, you didn't. God doesn't protect, he watches" You rolled your eyes at him, as if this wasn't common knowledge.

Gabriel was taken aback by your response, mouth slightly agape as he scrambled to find a different answer. "Our annual canned food drive, things fell apart right after we finished-"

"That's great 'nd all, but Rick, seriously, we're gon' get heatstroke s sittin' out here in the boilin' sun" Maggie cut the man off, fanning herself with both her hands even as she was pressed up against your side, trying to hog the shade that you were already sharing with Beth and Jude.

Carol nodded her head in agreement, also dripping in sweat. "Yeah. You said it was safe, so why aren't we inside yet?" She gestured to the church.

"Alright, alright. Everyone inside. Let's cool off and rest our feet. We can discuss what's next later." Rick nodded and propped the church door open so that the group could easily fit through with all their stuff and guns, loud clattering as these things were dropped on the floor.

You followed after Maggie as she helped Glenn haul a bag inside, holding Judith on your hip as she sucked on her tiny fist. The way you held her almost looked natural, as if she was your very own. Daryl tried to pry his eyes away, but he just couldn't. He was drawn to you in a way he couldn't understand.

It bothered him in a way, the world had ended and you treated every day as if it was just an average day, as if dead people walking around was nothing more but an inconvenience. You were a carefree and buoyant spirit, as if your mind was consistently clear and levelheaded.

But it also intrigued him, how somehow someway in a world plagued with darkness that forces people to be tough and hard, you still manage to be soft and dainty, as if the plague hadn't even touched you once.

There was a combination of walker blood and mud splattered all across your white dress, some of it on your sleeves and your face, yet it didn't make you look any less tender, especially now as you seemed to sit cozily in the nave of the church, bouncing Judith on your leg as you softly hummed her a song.

Inside the church was fairly big, the back of it containing a few large offices that Rick deemed the safest the camp out in for the night, explaining that the doors had locks and that if someone were to break in everyone would hear and have plenty of time to wake up, claiming that everyone could sneak out the back door or just fight if need.

"The food lasted a long time," Gabriel said once the large wooden door creaked shut, other members of the group finding a place to settle down. "And then I started scavenging. I've cleaned out every place nearby, except for one."

"What kept you from it?" Rick questioned.

Gabe shrugged. "It's overrun."

"How many?" Glenn pipped in from against a wall.

Gabriel slightly tilted his head in thought. "A dozen or so? Maybe more."

Rick scoffed, hands on his hips as he stared at the man. "We can handle a dozen."

"Bob and I will go with you," Michonne said calmly as she stepped forward. "Tyreese should stay here, help keep Judith safe."

"That'll be okay?" Rick glanced over to the man in question, who nodded his head.

"You ever need me to watch her, need anything for her, I'm right here" Tyreese said with a small smile.

The corner of Rick's mouth slightly quipped upward in a tiny smirk. "I'm grateful for it."

"I'll draw you a map–" Gabriel spoke up but was quickly cut off, "–You don't need to, you're coming with us." by Rick who shot him down with a cold icy glare.

It caught Gabriel off-guard and made his anxiety go through the roof. "I– I'm not gonna be of any help, you saw me up on that rock, I'm no good around those things." He stammered, trying to plead his case nervously under Rick's burning gaze.

"You're coming with us."

The sun had set long ago, and the inside of the church was lit up with a warm candle ambiance that fueled that lighthearted mood, everyone in the group chattering and laughing with one another for the first time in what felt like years.

"I'd like to propose a toast." Abraham loudly announced over everyone and all conversations ceased as the ginger easily captured all eyes in the room, raising his glass of wine that Gabriel had pulled from his own office.

"When I look around this room... all I can see is survivors." He said, scanning his eyes over the nave and everyone inside. "Each and every damn one of you has earned that title."

Abraham was silent for a moment, giving the room one last glance over before tipping his glass. "To the survivors."

"Survivors! Cheers!" You all said in unison, raising your glasses and clinking it against the person beside you, the church erupting back into its previous laughter as everyone resumed drinking and enjoying the night.

You scooted your way over to Daryl who was sat in a corner, purposely getting in his space and holding out your glass to him. "Survivors." You mumbled, a tiny smile tugging at your lips.

He glanced at you, a faraway expression on his face as he raised his glass to yours, mumbling out a soft,"Survivors" that was only loud enough for the both of you to hear.

"Now," Abraham said out loud once again, all eyes falling on him. "We get Eugene to Washington, and he will make the dead die, and the living will have this world again." He took a swing of his drink, raising his pinky. "And that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip."

From where Judith sat snuggly in Rick's lap, she cooed and fisted some of his shirts in her small hands.

"Eugene, what's in DC?" The ginger questioned, all eyes now falling on the scientist for the answer.

He took a moment, clearing his throat before he spoke in his usual flat and unwavering tone of voice. "Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude, that means food, fuel, refuge."

"Restart," Abraham concluded, Eugene giving a short and curt nod at the response. "However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started."

"Save the world for that little one, save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there, who don't got' nothin' left to do except survive." Abraham spoke, his words of encouragement ringing out through the church's walls.

Judith cooed loudly as she squirmed in Rick's lap, and he smiled at her as he readjusted his grip on her tiny torso. "I think she knows what I'm about to say," Rick joked, managing a few laughs from people. "If she's in, then I'm in too."

"We're all in" Carol interjected, smiles spreading across everyone's faces as conversations and laughter began to fill the room again, people started to celebrate by drinking, clapping, and cheering, the energy in the room upbeat and positive. "Let's do it!" Abraham exclaimed, clearly now tipsier than everyone else as he raised his almost empty glass in the air one more time.

The once warm and cozy atmosphere that the church had inside during the earlier activities had been snuffed out long ago, leaving a cold and empty feeling inside the nave.

It wasn't literally cold, or maybe it was just the cigarette that was keeping Daryl warm, taking long drags from the small stick every minute or so. He couldn't be bothered to go all the way outside, and the natural glow of the moon seeping into the room was more than enough.

Plus, it's not like he was alone, considering that you were sitting in the aisle over from him with your head down.

It had been just the two of you in pure silence for about thirty minutes, and Daryl had only been staring at you for twenty. He tried not to, he really did, but it was hard for his eyes to peel away from the way your dress reflected the light, hands neatly folded together in your lap as hair spilled down your shoulders.

Because of the wine from earlier, there was a slight buzz that ran through Daryl's nerves that somehow encouraged him to stop staring and stand, making his way over to where you were sitting.

"Smoking is a sin, and so is interrupting my prayer," You said once he was sat a few inches from you, not even glancing up at him once.

Daryl let out a tiny scoff, taking another drag from his cigarette. "Yeah, well, s'gon fall on deaf ears anyway"

"Do you not believe in God?" You asked as you blinked your eyes, now turning your head to look at him with genuine curiosity etched on your features.

The man shook his head. "Ain't ever believed in no God," he said, pulling another hit and speaking around it. "Hell, ain't ever believed in nobody"

You sighed a little, leaning back against the bench. "God believes in you"

Daryl scoffed a lot louder at that. "Don' even believe in m'self"

"Well, I believe in you," You said with a shrug, scooting a bit closer to him to bump him with your elbow.

He grumbled as he bumped you back, more so pushing as he held his cigarette between his teeth. "Wha' else ya' believe in? Sandy Clause?"

You let out a small giggle at his butchered version of the fictional character. "Santa, and no, I don't. But I do believe that this is the next world though."

"Why? We ain't dead yet" Daryl analyzed you from the corner of his eyes.

You shook your head, "No, we're not. We never have been. Don't you see? This, this is the resurrection" waving your hands around for emphasis.

"I thought everyone was s'pposed ta' disappear or some shit?" He questioned and you rolled your eyes at him. "Oh come on, I thought you didn't believe in stuff like that. Did you also think that Jesus was gonna fly down from the sky and save us all?"

Daryl huffed as he took a long drag, getting more toward the last few puffs of his cigarette as he raised a brow at you. "Ain't that tha' whole point?"

"That's what people want you to think. They always talk about the resurrection and how Jesus will come back from the dead to save humanity from its wrongdoings, which is exactly what's happening now"

"Tha' hell ya' tryna' say, girl?"

"That God has a plan. He wants the world to be pure again, he wants us to be pure again"

At your words, Daryl scoffed, taking a long and final drag of his cigarette. "Well, m'not very pure unlike yerself" He said as he stomped out the butt of the remaining stick, crushing it under a muddy a boot.

"You're tainted, and its okay. No need to be envious of my non-sinning streak" You jokingly said, flipping your hair which got a tiny chuckle out the older man.

"Now I definitely don' believe ya' ain't ever committed no sin" He said, shaking his head.

You had a small smile playing at your lips, shrugging both shoulders as you looked at him. "I mean, technically walkers aren't people, so I don't really think I've killed anyone"

"Steal anythin'?"

"Thou shall not steal, Daryl. Plus, looting stores is only against the law"

"Well, everyone's told a lie"

"Oh, I'd never lie. The truth will set you free"

Daryl frowned at your words. "Yer startin' ta' piss me off, girl"

"I'm just not a sinner, Daryl. I was raised inside a church, so I spent all my time studying the bible and asking God questions." You said with a sigh, thinking back to when you were still a little girl.

"Wha' kinda questions?" Daryl asked, and you turned once again to meet his gaze.

"Well," You started, taking a moment to think before glancing back up at him. "I've always wondered if you commit a sin inside a church, if it still counts as a sin"

"How would ya' know?"

You shrugged. "I don't, I've never really had any sin to commit"

Daryl hummed, eyes flickering down to your plush lips, tracing the shape of them a few times before shifting his gaze back up to meet your eyes. "Lust is a sin"

"Now that's just unholy, Daryl" You scoffed at him, crossing your arms and turning your head away to hide the heat that rose to your cheeks, because lust was indeed a sin. "It's extremely important to save yourself for the person you're gonna marry. Sex is an emotional gift"

The man furrowed his brows, "How do ya' know tha' if ya' ain't ever fucked?" suppressing the shiver that ran through him at his own words.

Something dark twisted and turned in his stomach just thinking about the idea that you were just as pure as the day that you were born, and he tried not to think about the wildly dirty things he wanted to do to you that he knew would potentially leave a stain. You had probably never even thought of doing something like that, let alone with someone of his nature.

But you had, and you were right now, nervously and subconsciously squeezing your thighs together the more self-aware you started to feel within the older man's presence, feeling his eyes traveling over the length of your body. "I told you, I studied the bible. Sex is the connection of two people who are bound to one another for life, aka being married of course"

"Sex could also just be sex," Daryl shrugged, his brows unmoving as your words confusingly rang out in his ears. "Ain't much of a difference is there?"

You sighed, shaking your head at him. "Of course there is silly. When you're married, sex is a form of art and beauty, as well as conception. God intends for us to use our bodies as a way to communicate with our partner. Any other time, sex is just a form of escape and pleasure, abusing the gift that God has given us in a sinful way, or as you know, lust"

Daryl hummed as you simplified the words for him in a way that he still didn't necessarily understand, but he just decided to pretend like he did. "Ya' ain't ever go through hormones growin' up?"

"Are you asking if I get horny?" You let out a tiny giggle at how his eyes snapped to yours at the blunt question, his cheeks starting to tint pink as he grumbled and looked away. You laughed and wrapped your hands around his forearm, pulling at the man and trying to get him to look at you. "Don't get embarrassed! Are you?"

Unknowingly, you had instead pulled yourself a lot closer to Daryl, and when he twisted his head back in your direction, you were both face to face, noses almost touching.

Daryl stopped breathing for a few seconds as your doe eyes stared up at him, flickering down to where your fingers gripped what you now realized was his very muscular forearm. Sitting this close to him under his burning blue gaze made you feel a bit small, and made a funny feeling form in your lower stomach.

His own eyes flickered back down to your lips, finding himself using his other hand to brush some hair out of your face, curling his fingers at the back of your hand and cupping your cheek in a big, calloused palm, tracing his thumb over your bottom lip. "Maybe I am"

"This is God's house, Daryl." You muttered in a hushed whisper as you curled your fingers around his arm, trying not to downright melt into the warm touch of his hand.

"Think he's gon' watch us?" He whispered back, and your lower stomach tingled in a way that made your whole core heat up, feeling a mild throbbing sensation coming from your private area as you looked up at the older man, running his thumb over the edge of your jaw.

"I– I don't–" You stammered, shifting your eyes away from his as you found yourself at a loss for words.

"Said ya' always wanted ta' commit a sin inna church, righ'?" Daryl tilted your gaze back to his, stroking your cheek with a gentleness you didn't even know he could muster. "Might as well do the one tha' feels best"

"But I've never done something like this... Will it– Will it hurt?" You said as you searched his eyes, the blue orbs going soft and tender.

"M'not gonna hurt ya' at all sweetheart," He said in a genuine voice, holding your face a little tighter. He couldn't even imagine hurting something as dainty as you, especially not with the way you were looking up at him with curious and innocent eyes. "If anythin' I do hurts, tell me, alrigh'?"

You nodded, the corner of your lips twitching into a smile as it felt like there was an entire butterfly exhibit in your stomach, Daryl learning down into your space and first giving your lips a small peck, before pulling you completely flush by the back of your nape, a shiver running up your spine that went all the way down to your clothed cunt, legs squeezing together as Daryl deepened the kiss, your first and hottest kiss ever.

It made your head light and dizzy, leaving you starstruck and dazed when he pulled away with only a thin trail of saliva connecting your lips, Daryl brushing the skin of your cheek once again as you slowly blinked, still feeling airy from the kiss you just experienced.

"Do that again please" You murmured in a tiny plea, feeling both sets of your lips tingle in excitement at all the new sensations Daryl was showing you.

He pulled you in for a chaste peck, catching your bottom lip between his teeth. "Ya' like tha', pretty girl?" He mumbled the words against you, pressing another kiss to your plush lips and swallowing the tiny moan you let out.

You moved to wrap your arms around the older man's neck, Daryl now taking both his hands and gripping you by your waist, pulling a shocked gasp from you at the way his touch made your cunt ache. He carefully moved you to lay on your back, slotting a thigh between your legs and pressing the denim material against your soaked panties, a noise mixed between embarrassment and need coming from your throat.

It felt so good, and you found yourself trying to rut against Daryl's thigh as he started to kiss and suck at your neck, making you giggle slightly as the skin there was more ticklish than anywhere else. His body was big and warm as it was pressed on top of yours, feeling a pulsating sensation traveling through your nerves as you continued to needily hump his leg, whining softly as you tried to further fuel the feel-good moment you were having.

"Let m'help ya' out doll, jus' leave it all ta' me, gon' make ya feel real good" Daryl spoke the words from the underside of your jaw, kissing his way up to your lips before he leaned back, pulling his thigh back and leaving a hand on your hip, courtesy of your fingers scrambling to curl around his for comfort.

"I'm a bit nervous," You said, avoiding his gaze out of embarrassment as you spoke the words. "What if I mess something up?"

"Tha' ain't gon' happen, m'gon do all tha' work fer ya'" Daryl said as his hands moved down to your thighs, lifting and pulling your legs to circle his waist, a shrill shriek tearing out your throat as your dress started to slip down and pool at your waist.

It left your lower half completely exposed, and it was almost an instinct to drop your hands down to cover your panties, a hot blush painting over as Daryl gripped both your hands in one, moving them away and pinning them to your chest. "Nuh'uh, ya' ain't gonna hide from me, pretty girl"

You whined softly as he released your wrists, ducking his head down to kiss and lick your stomach, causing you to jerk from the wet muscle dragging across your skin. His fingers traveled down past the hem of your undies, pushing them midway down your thighs before sitting back up and lifting one of your thighs, yanking the flimsy blue fabric the rest of the way off and stuffing it in his back pocket, pulling you a bit closer as he licked his lips, eyeing the prettiest pussy he's ever seen.

You weren't exactly sure what to do with your hands, deciding instead to clench the cross around your neck in one and prop yourself up on the other, all this being so new and different, dirty and sinful, that you couldn't help but wanna watch.

Daryl placed a hand on your hip, the other moving to gather spit on his fingers. "Gotta get ya' stretched out so I don' hurt ya'"'

"Is this part gonna hurt? I've only masturbated once, but I was too scared to actually finger myself" You frowned a little, feeling your nerves spike as it started set really just how inexperienced you were.

Daryl leaned down and placed a soft peck to your lips, dipping his fingers into your cunt gently and rubbing the digits up and down your slit, pressing down against your clit and moving in a circular motion, his actions on the bundle of nerves sending shivers sparking up your spine, letting out a moan that was deep in your throat right against the older man's lips.

He let out a low chuckle, adding a second finger to his movement against your clit. "Doesn' hurt now, does it?"

You shook your head, body tingling in a foreign way that almost made you feel like you had been tased but in a good way, not that you've ever been tased before. The rough pads of his fingertips against your clit drove you absolutely crazy, the faster they moved the more you found your hips jerking down in a clumsy attempt to speed up whatever high it was you were riding right now, feeling better than you ever have in your whole life.

"There ya' go beautiful, c'mon, cum on m'fingers" Daryl murmured the words out, quickening his pace as he could feel your legs twitching around him, your whines and whimpers getting louder and louder. He spread your cunt lips apart more which revealed your raw clit more, a few harsh strokes to the small bud before you were biting down on your bottom lip and letting your head fall back, a shaky, pleased cry tearing out your chest as waves of electricity coursed through your entire nervous system.

Rather than pulling his fingers away, Daryl dragged them back down your now much more sensitive slit, this time slipping a single digit past your tight entrance, the feeling foreign and oddly unique. Daryl's finger was a bit bigger than average, so you could feel there was a slight stretch to your virgin hole.

Daryl could feel it too, as well as the way you experimentally clenched and convulsed around his stilled finger, giving you a few minutes to adjust to the new feeling.

When he began to slowly thrust the digit in and out, curling the tip of his finger each time in search of your sweet spot, carefully watching the way your face twisted and contorted.

"Ya' alrigh'?" He asked, starting to brush his thumb against the skin where he was gripping your hip.

You nodded, involuntarily clenching around him. "Yeah, it just feels really funny, maybe I just had my expectations too high," You said as you furrowed your brows, a bit upset that 'fingering' wasn't all you chalked it up to be.

"First finger ain't much, second one might feel 'bit different" Daryl said as he pulled the digit back, this time pushing back into you with both fingers, the stretch and drag of the two digits feeling agreeably more different than just one.

This time Daryl just kept up his steady pace, continuing to thrust and curl his fingers into your cunt, starting to scissor you further open. Your eyes trailed down to follow the movement of his other hand as he released his grip on your hip, beginning to undo the zipper of his jeans and shoving them halfway down, the first and biggest cock you've ever laid eyes on.

Your jaw went a little slack, scrambling to find words as you felt panic boil in your stomach. "That– That's not gonna fit!"

"Calm down doll, I swear yer'gon be jus' fine" Daryl murmured softly, reaching down to reassuringly press his forehead against yours, so close that your eyelashes were almost touching. "Told ya', m'not gonna hurt ya'. S'probably not gon' feel tha' best at first but it gets better, righ'?"

Taking his words into consideration for a minute, you nodded your head against his and let your eyes flutter shut as he placed a chaste kiss to your lips, followed by another, and then the feeling of his fingers slipping out of you.

It left you feeling oddly empty, but there was excitement building up as you watched Daryl spit on his cock, using it as lube as he dragged it up your already slick slit, pressing the tip into your hole and easily pushing past, the stretch of his cock slowly slipping into you a lot more painful than expected, your hands finding his forearms where he gripped your waist and squeezing them tightly, wincing slightly as you dug your nails into his skin.

Daryl caressed the skin of your waist with his thumb, trying his best to ease the discomfort he could see and knew he was causing you. "I know, I know, s'gon be alrigh' gorgeous, yer' alrigh'" He muttered, pulling his hips back and pushing them forward again, repeating the motion in long, deep strokes.

Whatever his method was, it was definitely working, each drag of his cock against your walls feeling better and better, your cunt only getting wetter and wetter which made it so much easier for Daryl to increase his pace, trying his best to restrain himself from completely plowing into you like he had been craving to do for days, weeks now.

He didn't wanna hurt you or go too rough, this was your first time for crying out loud, a sweet christian girl who hadn't even dipped her own fingers inside herself, and here he was, a grumpy tainted man who had somehow managed to stuff himself balls deep into her pure little pussy, hugging his cock in a warm, velvety hold that he just wanted to absolutely ruin.

He watched the way your eyes fluttered, soft moans coming from you as your face seemed to be pleasantly relaxed, the tight and fearful grip you once had on his arms now reduced to a lazy and content hold, fingers squeezed every once in a while when Daryl's cock would bump a rather sensitive nerve. "That actually feels good" You mumbled as a small smile twitched on your lips.

But Daryl knew how he could make it feel even better, and his restraint to hold back from completely plowing into you had run down to nothing, a sharp grunt leaving his throat when he snapped his hips forward, shoving the entirety of his cock into you suddenly.

You let out a surprised squeak at the action, Daryl's hands planting themselves awkwardly but firmly on the church bench, your own moving to keep yourself steady as he ducked his head down to begin sucking your neck, setting a rough and unforgiving pace.

"Oh my fuuuck" You moaned out in a shaky, pleased breath, fingers curling into the wood and your toes curling in your boots. It's like you were dancing on cloud ten, each hard bump of his tip to your cervix making your mouth practically water, sending bolts of lightning licking up your spine.

Daryl groaned into the skin of your neck, sucking and kissing against your pulse as he got lost in the warmth of your cunt. "Got such a perfect fuckin' pussy, love tha' s'all fer me"

You whined and couldn't help but clench around him at his words, a shudder running through you when you felt him start to speed up, pulling tiny moans out of your chest at every thrust.

Daryl muttered in a husky voice right by your ear, "Feels so fuckin' amazin' doll, so damn tight 'nd wet, might fuck ya' fer hours" grabbing you by the hip and pulling you impossibly further in his lap, driving his cock faster and deeper into your body, nailing your tender sweet spot dead on which caused you to let out a high pitch cry, Daryl muffling your sounds with a slow but sloppy kiss.

He slammed his cock right into the sensitive bundle of nerves, each thrust making you feel dizzy and lightheaded, knocking the air out of your lungs but it felt so good you couldn't even care, eyes starting to roll back when Daryl slid a hand down to roughly finger at your clit, the way he was stimulating your whole cunt making the entire room spin, a shaky, needy sob spilling pat your lips as your whole body was drowning in pulsing and throbbing tingles, Daryl placing another kiss to your lips as he only went faster.

"Ya like tha' huh m'lil sinner? Goin' against everythin' ya' stand fer, feels real good don' it?" He groaned the words out against your lips, and you downright whimpered at his words, heart pounding in your ears as he worked your clit, still ramming in and out of you at an animalistic pace. You couldn't think, and the only word you could muster was a small, broken "D-Daryl"

Your hips jerked down to clumsily grind against his fingers and his cock, needily chasing the building high of your second orgasm as it became difficult to keep your volume at a low, moans starting to tear themselves right out your throat.

Daryl reached an arm underneath your back and flipped you into a sitting position, straddling his lap with his fat cock now one hundred percent of the way buried inside you, so deep that you were convinced for a second that he was in your stomach. You draped your arms over his shoulders and muffled a lewd moan into his neck, the first thrust sending him deeper than ever.

He held you flush against him and bunched your dress up with one hand, and squeezed your hip with the other, letting out breathy, heavy moans of his own as he bounced you in his lap, the tight and slick drag of your raw cunt against his throbbing cock straight up addictive.

"So goddamn wet baby, ya' was saving this wet ass lil' pussy fer me huh, lil' devil?" As the man spoke, he sounded extremely winded, with deep and passionate huffs, you couldn't help but convulse around him at his words, a tiny noise leaving your lips as you clung to him tighter, whining as his hand on your hip pulled you even closer against his pelvis. "Fuck, so fuckin' perfect doll"

Only choked-off moans and whimpers came from you, trying to muffle your sounds into Daryl's neck as his cock shifted angles inside, driving himself right into a soft and squishy spot that made you mewl, the man holding you down as he continued to slam into that spot head-on. His thrusts were fast and unforgiving, fucking your cunt almost as if he hated you, but his grip was tight and protective, holding your body against his like he loved you.

Which he did, but he just didn't know how to say it. His only hope being that you could feel it in the way he fucked into you, hips starting to falter slightly as your tight cunt milked his cock, practically sucking him in and making it impossible for him to ever want to pull out.

From the way you had started to tremble and spasm around him, Daryl could tell that your orgasm was getting closer and closer, encouraging him to quicken his pace. “Gonna cum, pretty girl?” He murmured as he moved down to pepper kisses across your cheek.

“Yes! Oh my goodness yes” You moaned as your entire body pulsated, each bump of his tip to your cervix sending you further into bliss. Your arms dropped down and you curled your fingers into his sturdy shoulders for purchase as he relentlessly pounded your twitching pussy, keeping your limp body closely pressed against his.

Daryl could feel the boiling heat of his own orgasm rising in his gut, the wet and warm slide of your cunt against the throbbing pulse of his aching cock pushing him closer and closer to the edge. He hitched your dress up further as he adjusted his grip on you, speeding up his pace even more as he started to chase after his own relief, the squeeze of your soft and squishy walls practically making him drunk.

He groaned as electricity licked and burned through his veins, thoughts flashing and racing through his head. “Let me cum in ya’ doll. Gonna get ya’ nice ‘nd plumped up with a lil’ baby, huh?”

That sent tingles shooting down your spine, clenching down around his thickness at the words each time they rang out in your head. Growing up, all you've ever wanted was to have a sweet little baby of your own, and after unlocking such a world like this you couldn't possibly picture life without Daryl at your side.

"Please, please give me that" You almost whimpered as you trembled against his chest, heart pounding in your chest as a heat burned and built up in your stomach. You jerked your hips and made a clumsy attempt to rut down against him, but he tightened the hold he had on your lower half to stop your movements. "I've got ya' gorgeous, m'gon take care of ya', told ya' m'gon make ya' feel good"

Daryl readjusted his position, moving you to sit up properly and gripping you at the waist, pinning up your dress there as well as he started to bounce you in his lap, downright using your body as a sex toy as he plowed right into your sensitive sweet spot, pulling strained and guttural moans from your chest as you tried your hardest to keep your volume down as to not echo off the church's wall, biting back sobs as your hands found their way to Daryl's chest, fingers curling into the strong flesh as all the digits had a hot buzz to them, lungs suddenly not being able to take in any air as your stomach burned, toes curling in your boots and teeth clenching as a wave of scorching hot pleasure washed over your whole entire body, this time not being able to hold back the loud cry that tore it's way out your throat, uncontrollably convulsing around his cock as he thoroughly fucked you through your orgasm, muffling your pleased moans with a messy kiss.

With the way your now overly sensitive cunt squeezed and roughly gripped his pulsating dick, Daryl wasn't far behind in his orgasm, grunting into your mouth as his hips stuttered inside you, cock twitching eagerly as he pumped his load deep into the warmth of your heat, Daryl slipping his tongue into your mouth and pressing it up against yours.

When he pulled away, you were nothing but a puddle of pure jelly, going limp in his grasp as he wrapped a secure arm around your middle, moving to kiss and suck your neck as he covered you back up by dropping your dress, deciding he wanted to stay wrapped inside you a little longer.

"Are you gonna give me my panties back?" You questioned from where you now rested against his shoulder, eyes following the older mans movement as he flicked his lighter, holding the flame up to a new cigarette.

The tip burned red as he took the first and long drag, blowing the smoke up in the air and holding the cigarette away from you by stretching his arms across the bench, humming softly as if taking a moment to think. "Nah"

You pulled back from his chest and gawked at him. "No? There'll be a sticky mess between my legs in the morning!"

He smirked at you, showing a sliver of his porcelain teeth as he did. "Tha's the point, lil' sinner, yer gonna be feelin' me fer days"

The nickname made you blush, turning your head away from the man as you also considered his words, a part of you wanted to feel and experience it all over again, almost arguably a divine slice of heaven itself, and you wanted to taste it once again.

"Well you should never commit a sin twice" You mumbled instead of your real thoughts, cheeks now starting to heat up from embarrassment and a bit of shame, Daryl's cock still buried inside you as a reminder of what you had just done, a reminder that the purity and sacrality you had been preserving for your future man had been completely stripped by another.

Unless, Daryl was your future man, clenching down around him as he took another drag of his cigarette, placing a hand back over your now-covered hip, traveling up to your waist, and squeezing the flesh there. He wasn't the God-fearing, clear-minded, faithful man you had dreamed about as a little girl. Still, he was the strong, protective, and leaderful man that you had dreamed about as a young woman, the man you dreamed of to provide for you and the home you built for another, to protect and preserve the family he's made.

His hand grazed your jaw, fingers caressing your cheek and tracing over the shape of your lips. With his gentle and soft touch, you could feel each blister and callous formed on his hands, the rough feeling of hard work against your skin causing goosebumps.

"Somethin' bad gon' happen ta' us?" He questioned, talking around an exhale of smoke as he did.

"We'll go to hell, Daryl!" You rolled your eyes at him.

He lazily shrugged a shoulder, staring at you with searching eyes. "We'll go together"

Your mouth gaped at his words, stammering as you struggled to find your own. "W– Well I'd much rather prefer we go to heaven together"

"They not gon' let me in" Daryl scoffed slightly as he spoke.

"Not when you commit sins like lust, Mr. Tainted" You flicked his forehead, and he grumbled swatting your hand away, rubbing the reddening skin.

"Ain't my fault, Mrs. Holy, yer' dress leaves little ta' tha' imagination" He muttered, and your eyes widened at his words.

"Are you– My dress goes to my flipping ankles!" You picked up some of the pooled dingy fabric, tugging on it for emphasis.

Daryl shrugged again at that, his eyes now traveling the length of your body where you sat still in his lap. "Don' matter, ever since I saw tha' pretty lil' face I've wanted ta' see the rest of ya', 'nd I ain't disappointed"

You scoffed in disbelief, turning your head in an attempt to hide the heat rising to your face, speaking in a hushed whisper. "My gosh, you speak such foul words in such a sacred place"

"We jus' fucked" Daryl said bluntly, taking another drag from his cigarette as he watched you snap your neck back to him, mouth slightly agape as you scrambled for words. "Y– Yes. But, that doesn't mean you have to talk like that in God's house"

At that, Daryl's cock twitched inside you, a smirk taking over his lips "Ya' said tha' same thing before m'tongue was down yer' throat"

"Daryl!" You hissed, the man chuckling as he gripped your hip and moved to kiss at your already marked-up neck, the weight of your faith starting to weigh heavy as you felt Daryl's cock hardening to life against your walls. "Fornication is straight up breaking the laws of God. We can't– I can't do this again"

The smell of cigarettes and sex painted the church air as you planted both hands on Daryl's chest, pushing yourself up and slowly off his dick with a restrained groan, turning into a sharp gasp when the elder pulled you back down, flush against him.

"Think fornica-whatever s'allot more than jus' sex, 'cause I don' have a problem makin' ya' mines" Daryl mumbled the words into your hair, holding you to his chest with one arm and stubbing out his cigarette in the wooden bench with the other. "God can't stop me from wantin' ya', can he?"

"He can, if you don't truly want me" You muttered into his shirt, and could feel the rumble of his short laughter through his stomach. "'S'good tha' I've wanted ya' fer a while then"

You sighed as you pushed yourself up to meet his gaze, eyes sharp and focused on yours as you moved. "It's more than just want, marriage is a life-long commitment, spiritual and eternal, it's about your faithfulness and loyalty to the person you love, the person you wanna become one body with, share your body with. That's why it's important to save yourself for marriage, to keep yourself pure and clean for the one you want to share it with"

"Aren't we one righ' now?"

"I– I mean– yes, but n– not in the way God intended for us to be–"

"–Why? 'Cause we ain't married? Pretty stupid if yer' askin' me"

He took your left hand in his, bring it up to his lips and placing soft kisses on your delicate fingers, lips lingering against your ring finger.

"Don' need no God ta' tell m'tha' I do or don' love ya', 'cause I know I do, dammit woman, loved ya' since I met ya' on yer' daddy's farm" Daryl scoffed as he finally spoke his feelings into the air, listening to himself and how ridiculous he sounded.

You listened intently, staring at him with glossy eyes as he spoke, your lips twitching and tugging into a tiny smile.

A provider, a protector, a man, a real man, was what Daryl Dixon was, the type of man that you thought could only ever exist in your head and bible, yet here he was, clinging to you and holding you close to him, pressed tightly against and in you, so tight that it felt like you'd just melt right into him at any second, his heart beating erratically in his chest, so much that you could feel it against the beat of your own heart.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" You whispered, watching how Daryl's eyes shifted away from yours in the embarrassed way that they always did. "Tell me!"

The man grumbled as you grabbed his face and shook his head, forcing his gaze back on you as he pulled your hands away with his, dropping them down to his chest and holding them there. "I didn' think ya'd want someone like me"

"What? Someone unholy?" You tilted your head slightly at him.

He shook his head, fingers squeezing your wrists. "Someone damaged"

"Damaged? You aren't damaged, Daryl. You're just tainted" You furrowed your brows, frowning slightly at his words.

"Ya' always say tha'" He mumbled, and you sighed. "Because there's no other way for me to put it. You're just a corrupted soul, but that doesn't mean you're a bad person"

He stared at you, licking his lips as he looked at your own, his cock twitching back to life again. "Even if I wanna corrupt ya' too?"

"And how exactly would you do that?" You laughed, but couldn't ignore the heat starting to pool in your gut, feeling a familiar buzz in your fingertips as Daryl ran his hands up your thigh, bunching the fabric of your dress all the up past your tits, a sharp gasp leaving your lips as the cold air hit them, the older man pulling you close and popping one of your tender nipples into his mouth, rocking his hips to full hardness. "M'gonna slut ya' out, pretty girl. Gonna turn ya' into my sweet lil' sinner, a little holy fuckdoll"

"I'm not a sex toy" You whined as he dragged his tongue across your boobs, involuntarily clenching around him as you tried to defend yourself, but Daryl laughed lowly as he trailed his lips up to the skin of your neck, kissing his way up to your ear and taking the lobe between his teeth. "Not yet, gorgeous, not yet"

GUYS. GUYS I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS I SWEAR.

I can't believe its done??? I've snipped so many snippets, cut so much out, stared at it for so long, and now its done (after a few decades) so I hope that everyone who I hyped up for this fic was satisfied and it was everything that I had made it out to be

Anyways this fic wouldn't have even existed without @tylermaxxine the local instigator and chronic coffee chugger

[theancientfootsteps]

someone on Discord brought up Romans 1:26-27 and activated my autistic avatar state and I ended up writing a little essay that's basically a summary of the argument Daniel A. Helminiak makes that Romans 1:26-27 is not a condemnation of homosexuality or homosexual acts in his book What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality

and I thought I'd share it here in case someone else is interested

it basically covers 3 main points:

1. what does Paul mean by things being natural or unnatural? 2. the distinction between impurity/uncleanness, and evil/sin. 3. the purpose and rhetorical structure of Paul's letter to the Romans.

keep in mind I am by no means an expert, this is just my summary of Helminiak's argument, which I happen to find very convincing. there's a lot of details and corroborating evidence left out here, if you want the full thing, I can recommend the book! I enjoyed reading it, and it also has interesting things to say about other 'clobber passages'

essay under the cut!

1. Unnatural, or contrary to nature?

So first, what does Paul mean when he calls things natural or unnatural? When we read these words nowadays, there is usually a strong moral value attached to them. When people call things 'unnatural', it means they violate some important law of nature, they are abhorrent and wrong and bad. There is, however, a lot of evidence that this is NOT how Paul uses the term (the Greek here being "para physin"). This is a term he uses many times in multiple letters, simply to mean that someone is doing something beyond what one would usually expect. It clearly has no inherent moral value to him, because he even says there are things God does that are "para physin"! So instead of 'unnatural and abhorrent and bad', we should read it more like: "contrary to her nature, Judy was super chipper this morning! she usually isn't a morning person", or "James is always so kind, but contrary to his nature, this morning he just snapped at me". In this case, by calling these acts "para physin", he is probably saying that these people are doing things that are against social norms and expectations, and/or that they are doing things that don't fit with their usual behavior.

2. Uncleanness vs sin

Second, we have the distinction between things being ritually unclean, and things being evil/sinful. Helminiak goes deep into the intricacies of Jewish law to support this point, but I'll just jump straight to the conclusion, and recommend that you read his book if you feel it needs more justification. Basically, the core is as follows:

- There are things that are considered evil, sinful, bad, morally wrong, for example murder, selfishness, exploitation of others, etc. - There are also things that are considered unclean, but not morally wrong. This is a lot of what is described in Leviticus, for example, and Helminiak uses this same distinction to clear up the infamous clobber passage from Leviticus about men lying with men. Now, these purity laws in the Pentateuch are not unimportant - when they were made, they were extremely important to the Jewish people to set them apart from others. These are the 'holy' laws after all, in the original Hebrew sense of the word meaning things that are different, set apart. They were extremely important for the formation and protection of the Jewish identity. - In many places in both Paul's writings and others' writings in the New Testament, it is made clear that this second set of laws, I'll call them purity laws, do not need to apply to gentile converts. Essentially, they are still highly respected as Jewish law, but they are not carried over to any non-Jewish people who follow Jesus because, once again, these are about the Jewish people and the Jewish identity.

This gives us a distinction between impurity (relevant specifically to Jewish people), and sin/evil (relevant to everyone). According to Helminiak, this distinction was also already accepted by Jewish people at the time, to be clear, so this is not something imposed in hindsight.

Paul uses this distinction in Romans 1. Verses 21-32 have the following structure: 21-25: These people worship idols instead of God! There are consequences to this.

26-27: They do things that are ritually impure/unclean, and also are socially unacceptable and frowned upon. They suffer public shame as a consequence.

28-31: Additionally, they do things that are evil/sinful, and for that, they deserve death.

So the stuff Paul says about homosexual acts, is separate from the things he condemns that are evil and sinful. There is no clear moral judgment about the homosexual acts here.

This leaves us with a question: if Romans 1:26-27 is referring to laws that are only relevant for Jewish people, and Paul is talking about non-Jewish people, why does he even bring them up??? To answer this, we have to proceed to our third major point.

3. The rhetorical structure of Paul's letter to the Romans

We have to consider in what situation Paul is writing this letter, and for what purpose. He is writing it to a congregation that is a mix of Jewish people and non-Jewish converts, and there is animosity between them. This was very common, and one of the major points of contention between these two groups of people was usually precisely the thing we just talked about: cleanness and uncleanness. For example, there was a lot of conflict around food, with the gentiles eating food considered unclean by the Jewish people, and the Jewish people being upset by that.

Paul's goal is to help them reconcile. But, Paul being Paul, he doesn't do this by saying "I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy." No, he does this by saying "why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

When we look at the rhetorical structure of the letter, we see that Paul does the following things: - Sympathize with the Jewish people to get them on his side. Because aren't these gentiles just gross and awful? - UNO REVERSE! Actually you, Jewish people, you also do things that you consider unclean, and things that you consider sinful! So stop judging - Sympathize with the gentiles to get them on his side. Because aren't these Jewish people so annoying? - UNO REVERSE! Shut up, you're no better than anyone else!

So by bringing up these unclean/impure things in 1:26-27, Paul is sympathizing with the Jewish people in the congregation to get them on his side, to get them listening to him, only so he can turn it around later.

It's like if I were trying to convince a loud conservative of something, I might do so by first sympathizing with them to get them on my side, so that then I can flip things. I could say: "Ah yes and these liberal snowflakes are so dramatic, aren't they? They are always overreacting to things, they make such a big deal out of tiny little things like which exact words you use. Right? Don't you think so? But look, see! You are no better! You also overreact and can be dramatic! Because you act like it's a huge burden to use the right pronouns for someone, like your rights are being taken away from you just because someone wants you to use they/them pronouns!"

So, now that we have examined all of this, I think it's safe to say: taken in context, these verses really aren't what they seem to be in isolation. And they are most likely not a condemnation of homosexuality or homosexual acts.

[durnesque-esque]

Sorry wait can i ask about catholicism? (Pls feel free to ignore of youd rather not, no pressure)

The pope chooses a name? The last popes name wasnt actually Francis? Why??? I assume they pick a Saint name but like.... whats wrong with their own personal name?

Thanks, hope youre having a decent day.

Turtle i saw at work for tax <3

Hey there - yeah, kinda like Kings / Queens choose a regnant name, Popes choose a Papal name. Although, this may also be something you're unfamiliar with, given the last King and Queen of England have both chosen to use their own names as their regnal names. But Queen Elizabeth's father was Albert but adopted the name "George" as King - "to emphasise continuity with his father and restore confidence in the monarchy." In Catholicism, it's a tradition that developed after a few centuries and an oft-cited reason is that Jesus called the first "pope" a new name - "Peter" rather than his given name "Simon."

Bible verse: "Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah,[a] the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter,[b] and on this rock[c] I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."

I throw quotes around the word "Pope" up there because Peter was a leader of early Christianity, but the tradition of the Papacy didn't really solidify until the 400s. The Catholic Church, however, draws the line of the Papacy to Peter through all the early Bishops of Rome - which remains the official role of the Pope. The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. Anyway, back to the point, the choosing of a new name symbolizes the beginning of the new role and Popes will choose their names to signify their intent and inspiration as new Pope. I don't know how familiar you are with Catholicism, but one sacrament of the Catholic Church is Confirmation wherein members of the Church become recognized as adults. As a part of this tradition, believers will choose a Saint that they draw inspiration from or feel represents a need in their life and will take the name of that Saint as their Confirmation name. Not one they'll use in real life, but they are called by that name during the Confirmation mass.

For example, as a wayward youth I was constantly losing things (whoot undiagnosed ADHD!), and St. Anthony is the Patron Saint of Lost Things, so my Confirmation name is Anthony. So again, Popes will pick a new name that signifies the beginning of their new life as Pope and that is usually significant to them personally and as a signifier of the kind of values they hold / ideals they aspire to. In this case, the previous Pope Leo - Pope Leo XIII (Pope from 1878 - 1903) was known for his modernism (of the time) and intellectualism. "In his famous 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum, Pope Leo outlined the rights of workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions, and the formation of trade unions, while affirming the rights to property and free enterprise, opposing both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism." He is also "particularly remembered for his belief that pastoral activity in political sociology was also a vital mission of the church as a vehicle of social justice and maintaining the rights and dignities of the human person." (same source as prev).

So we might hopefully anticipate then that Pope XIV (birth name: Robert Prevost) intends to focus on the well being of the poor and the rights of the working people of the world - which would be a continuation of Francis' general direction.

Pope Francis' name btw was originally Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He was the first pope to choose the name Francis. St. Francis was creator of the Franciscan order - an order known for its devotion to poverty, chastity, & obedience. I think we can see that Pope Francis was devoted to care for the poor - as much as any Pope can be.

Anyway, that was a crazy long answer, but hopefully informative. I should say here that I have not been a practicing Catholic in almost 10 years - haven't been religious in any meaningful way for almost as long - but I do have 2 theological degrees with a foci on Church history. So I'm not speaking out of my ass here. While I may no longer be a member of the Catholic Church, as an activist, I am deeply interested in the Papacy as an indicator of direction for the Catholic Church. Because, like it or not, it will be a driving force on the world stage. It is better for the world to have a good Pope than a rigid conservative Pope. I am optimistic - given his opening address and name choice - that Pope Leo XIV may be a better Pope than some of the options we were spared would have been.

In the Papacy, much like politics in general, a liberal is often followed by a conservative - to get a centrist with SOME liberal leanings, is a far better outcome than what we could have had. Imagine if we'd had another Ratzinger aka Pope Benedict?

Oh and cute turtle. <3

[knight-a3]

Hazbin Masterpost

Heavenbound Masterpost

Sera, high radiant seraphim

I wanted angels to look more human. The whole "biblically accurate angels" thing is not quite as biblically accurate as you probably think.

More under the cut

This gets into some theology. So, I wanted heaven to be more human, since God created man in his own image, and it works best with the lore I am building. It just gives a more heavenly vibe when the angels aren't some creature-things. I want heaven to feel heavenly, okay?

Clothes: I changed her outfit, because the canon one is a bit too complicated and I didn't understand the construction of it. So I did something that's easier for me to understand. It's overall more animation friendly, and that pleases me.

Halo: I have specific ideas about halos. They denote the type and rank of angel they are. Seraphim have two silver ring halos. I haven't decided if I want to make her one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues (the Elder Seraphim) or just the head of the Radiant Seraphim(the broader rank of seraphim). Either could work. But if she's a virtue, I'd need to make a small change to her halo, as per my own lore rules.

Wings: I've decided to give seraphim wings with three sets(six total) of primary feathers, instead of six entirely separate wings. Mostly because I do not want to draw that many wings nor figure out the anatomy of it. It mimics the six-winged look while being easier for me to wrap my head around and draw. I also just like the look better.

They can also be summoned and dismissed at will, because I don't want to have to draw them all the time. It's a cop out, but I will do it.

--Biblically Accurate Angels--

"Biblically accurate" is not quite what most people think. Y'all are like, "biblically accurate angels are crazy looking eyeball and wing monstrosities, no wonder people were scared!" But that's literally not what the bible says.

Angel means "messenger", and they often appear as regular-looking people. Sometimes they have a "countenance of lightning" and "raiment white as snow". Jesus was once described(post-resurrection) as having feet of molten bronze(the molten part is the key: it's literally white-hot, not brown) and hair as wool(specifically referring to the color, not texture, and the commonly associated color is white). These are descriptions of glowing.

The crazier depictions tend to happen in visions or dreams, too. It's likely they were symbolic descriptions rather than literal. That the individual components had a cultural connotation that implied something about them. Many eyes symbolized constant watchfulness, for example. I mean, we sometimes describe an angry person as having fire in their eyes or steam coming out their ears, and that's not literal. We describe a sly person as a snake or a fox, but it's not literal. The book of Revelations and the Old Testament, in particular, use imagery, symbolism, and metaphors A LOT. And things get a little muddy when carried between language, culture, and time. Translation, localization, and modernization are tricky processes.

--Seraphim-- <-Link to some helpful info about this topic, if you're interested in that type of thing.

"Seraph" is a back-formation. It's a singular form of a pre-existing plural word. Seraphim is the plural form. I will probably use seraphs and seraphim interchangeably, so just don't worry about that.

The Hebrew root word "sarap" means something along the lines of "burning". It was often used to refer to snakes (possibly because the venom causes a burning sensation, or maybe as a metaphor for purification). It is only used once to describe a heavenly being, in the book of Isaiah. Every other time, it is translated as "burning ones" or "fiery flying serpent". In Egypt and other surrounding cultures, cobras would be used to symbolize divinity, sovereignty, and royalty. The Hebrews probably adopted the imagery. The seraphim described in the Bible might not even refer to what we typically imagine to be angels.

Long story short; seraphim means fiery flying serpents and symbolize divinity and/or purification.

--Cherubim-- <-Link to more cool info!

While I'm on the topic of the etymology of angels, I might as well address cherubs. Cherubim is the proper plural form, but I will probably use cherubs and cherubim interchangeably as well. Just roll with it, it's fine.

The youthful child depiction possibly comes from some rabbinic folk lore that claims the word is related to the Aramaic term for "like a child" or "youthful", but I'm not sure if that's true.

What I'm seeing most consistently is that they're implied to have wings. It seems commonly accepted that it comes from an Akkadian word meaning, "to bless". One source claims it means "hybrid" or "mount, steed" and refers to winged beasts that the Canaanite sky god would ride. Which would align with the depictions of cherubim as tetrads(a hybrid of four creatures), and/or the use of it as some sort of divine flying chariot.

There are a lot of theories, but nothing concrete. It gets very unclear and I'm not an expert. But I'm incorporating a variety of ideas into my lore, and I think I'm doing good with balancing them.

--

In the end, I'm using the terms seraphim and cherubim to describe ranks of angels, because it's what works best with our current understanding of the words. I'm not going to include the other traditional classes of angels like dominions, thrones, etc, because it's overly complicated, and not actually biblical. I don't want to waste brain power on that. Also, the Bible doesn't actually describe the hierarchy of angels at all. It's not even clear if seraphim and cherubim are supposed to be considered angels.

[thesovereignsring-if]

Hello! Your IF story inspired me to start my own IF game

Im thinking of using twine

And I would like to ask you if you had any tips or advice

Thank you!

Also side note I’m really excited and very interested in how this story is going to play out I already love the cast and can’t wait to see the rest!

OOoo thank you so much! I'm very flattered the game inspired you!

Twine has many different story formats, each with their own pros and cons. I personally use Sugarcube (I think next to Harlow, it is the most popular) so all my tips will be for Twine Sugarcube:

Basic tips:

Bookmark the Sugarcube V2 Document. This is your bible. It will have everything you need to use Twine. It's a daunting read, but I use it to troubleshoot when I forget how Macros work. I always have tab open for it.

Download a Twine Template. If you are brand new to Twine and making IFs, I heavily suggest downloading a template or two. Most of them come with tutorials and examples on how they work. Sometimes they even provide more helpful resources on Twine. I use Vahnya's Template II that I modified myself afterwards.

Study from pre-exisiting Twine IFs. Might be controversial, but I personally believe that diving in and seeing how other authors code and structure their stories helps a lot. Eventually you'll figure out a system and structure that works for you. It might not work for all games, but most Twine games can be downloaded and opened up in the twine editior. If you're worried about spoilers or upsetting people, feel free to download my game and see whats inside. I make multiple copies of the game, so any build I have out in the public is not the original build and therefore have no spoilers. I know it will look insane when you open it, but there's a method to the madness.

Writing and Planning:

Making an IF is no joke! Plan your story out, know your big variables, your branching routes and at least some part of your ending!! Try to stay as organized as possible. These projects and can will spiral out of control if you're not careful. I suggest having a giant excel sheet with tabs for important variables, chapter/scene breakdowns, wordcount and characters ect. Updating it will be a pain (that I am guilty of not doing) but will make developing easier. Even if you don't make a big project, its still good practise to do it.

#Stylesheet:

All the code in here relates to how the game looks. You can fiddle in there to configure the game to look how you want it to look. If you even want to see what element is tied to what ID code, the best thing to do is playtest the game (build >> play) and then leftclick and select "inspect element" you browser will open up the developer window and you see what elements are tied to what and even play around with the contents to test out CSS elements you like.

This website is a great resource on using CSS and other coding language. I personally used it many time to modify my game.

Helpful resources and Macros:

Chapel has made a LOT of custom macros that you can add to your game. You can find the list here.

But the most important one is the Pronoun Template. It might be confusing at first but one you understand how it work, its a great tool to have. You can even add gendered titles so that they work with the pronoun template.

Idrellegame is a great resource on coding in Twine. You can find the list here. It helped me out when starting out.

Exporting to Itch:

I never see people talk about Butler when it comes to uploading If games onto itch.io, so i'm doing it now.

What is Butler? Its a command-line tool that Itch made to upload your game onto Itch.io quickly and reliably.

The documentation is here. And I suggest coping and pasting the export codes onto a doc so you can use them for every update afterwards.

Here is a youtube tutorial you can follow along as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JCJa5iWREM

I personally have the Butler on the Itchio.app so that's its always up to date.

Thats all I can offer off the top of my head, if you or anyone wants some help on something specifically, feel free to DM me or drop another ask in the inbox. Always happy to help. Working in twine is very overwhelming for newcomers.

[traegorn]

Do you have any tips for how to write a book? My husband thinks I should write the shitty wicca hallmark romcoms I want to see in the world and I think I might actually try

Plot your structure ahead of time. I'm not a panster -- I'm very much of the perspective that you'll have less to clean up in the edit if you plan out your entire book ahead of time. So this is how I write.

Like I like to start by writing down everything I know about the story -- characters, setting, etc -- and making a story bible to refer back to. You'll add to this as you go too. It's easiest to remember what color a random character's eyes are if you put it in a side document.

Then write a synopsis of your story. Like under a thousand words, but have it break down your entire plot, motivations, etc. That way you know where things are going before you start. Now, you can change this as you go if the way your characters end up doesn't jive with your original plan. I rewrote the synopsis for Shadowcasting about halfway through because one of the major characters just felt different than she did in my original plan, and her changed motivations shifted a lot of the events of the story.

Then comes your chapter by chapter outline, pacing out rising action, climax, etc. by breaking down the whole thing. I number the chapters and write a brief two or three sentence synopsis about what happens in that chapter.

And then, once I have that document, I start writing the actual text chapter by chapter from the beginning.

I don't write romance, so I don't know the genre well enough to give advice on mapping out the kind of thing your audience expects -- but if you read a lot of that genre, you probably already know that bit by now. But make a plan, know the tropes (and which ones you want to use, which ones you want to avoid, and which ones you want to subvert), and then execute it. The hard work is getting the actual text down.

And then, once you finish a draft? Put it in a metaphorical drawer and don't look at it for a week.

You want to let yourself forget it.

Then, open it back up and start your first set of revisions -- read through the thing and start cleaning up language and fix any structural issues you missed. At this point I've done things like re-ordered entire sections of the book -- the fight at the church in Bloody Damn Rite happened at a completely different point in the original draft, and the party Riley attends with Carson wasn't even in the first draft.

Then set it back down for a week.

When you open it back up you look for continuity errors, and go through the whole novel again. Then put it back down for another week, and when you open it back up you'll go through it again to fix language.

You're going to be doing that a lot, putting it down, fixing a more granular thing, and then repeating the cycle getting smaller and smaller each time. And then finally, you'll have a book.

If you're submitting to publishers, this is where you stop and start that whole process (which I know little about because I chose not to pursue that route). If you're self publishing and you work with an editor, this'll be the time you get them involved. If you want beta readers, this will be when they take a look too.

And then you should probably make more changes. If you're not hiring an editor, I recommend letting it sit again and doing a few more passes. Also, this is where a self publishing person has to do the work of formatting the interior (please get your front matter right like copyright page and title page), and either contracting a cover designer or doing it yourself. For my comics I do my own covers, for my novels I hire a graphic designer.

But eventually, at the end, you'll be ready to send this into the world.

And then the hard part starts: Getting anyone to read it.

Good luck.

[waffledforbreakfast]

Sending Love Letters - [MUTI! BLLK X F!READER]

(SEPARATE) pt1

Staring: rin, sae, shidou, niko, kaiser

pt2: ness, otoya, karasu, Reo

[ BLLK Scenario Masterlist ]

TW: heavy ooc, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad formatting, cringe, scuff, etc.

>Rin

Rin just finished showering, and was going through his school bag. 

He tossed a few crumpled pieces of paper away, and pulled out his homework. As he did, a neatly crafted envelope slipped out from his notebook, the heart seal immediately catching his eyes.

He put his work aside and inspected the envelope, he did get occasional confessions at school, but this is the most effort and care he’s seen in one. His name was written in cursive on the back, indicating that the letter was in fact for him.

“Who sent it… Could it be-No, no no. They wouldn’t…” a familiar name popped into his head, but he’d never admit he was hoping it was you.

Rin sat down on his bed as he tore apart the letter carefully, making sure not to damage the paper. The letter was folded in half, little Sanrio characters around the border and neat handwriting 

His eyes skimmed the paper, reading every word while holding it tightly.

Rin’s face flushed as he read, by the end of it, he was red as a tomato. He’d never gotten so flustered from other confessions, why was it he felt so… strange reading this one? Was it because it was written in your handwriting? Or the fact that it was your initial sighed at the end? 

No no no, surely not. At least that’s what he told himself. “Right… It could be anyone, she’s not the only one with that initial, and there’s no way to be sure it’s her handwriting. She’s probably not the one who sent me this.”

He dropped the paper, losing interest.

Not even 12 seconds passed til he picked it up again, “Sh1t, what if it is her…” Rin’s face reddened at his own thoughts. He looked again at the handwriting.

“I’m sure she wrote this, that’s her handwriting. She always tilts her ‘E’ slightly, and that’s her pen for sure, she always writes in 0.38…. How do I know that-” He buried his face in his arms, embarrassed that he had unintentionally memorised almost everything about her.

“This is so pathetic, what if it’s not her…” he frowned at the thought, he’d spent more time than he’d like to admit on the letter, but he couldn’t bring himself away. He groaned as he fell back onto his pillow. On one hand, the love of his life might like him back, on the other, it could be some extra he didn’t care about.

He lay there for a few moments of silence before getting interrupted 

“So, you like someone?” Sae leaned against the open door of his room, observing Rin and his red face.

“I- HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE FOR!?” Rin shot up, quickly putting the letter under the blankets and threw his pillow at his brother 

Sae tried to hold in a laugh as he caught the pillow “Calm down Rin, I just came to let you know dinner’s ready.” he tossed the pillow back and waited for Rin

The younger brother rolled his eyes, face still red. But he got off his bed and closed the door behind him, heading to the dinner table.

“You should send her a letter back, tell her you like her too” Sae said, walking behind him

“... I don't like her.” Rin lied, trying to convince himself more than his brother

“Sure you don’t, [Y/N] right? You’ve mentioned her a few times”

“Once. I mentioned her once.” Rin glared at Sae

Sae just shrugged “Well, you mentioned her by name, so that’s something. Cmon, let’s eat.”

Rin rolled his eyes, but joined Sae anyway. 

Also Sae def threatened to tell their parents unless Rin told him more 🤭, so after dinner mostly consisted of Sae bullying Rin for it :> 

>Shidou

Shidou just finished showering, and was now lazing around doing nothing.

He was flipping through his sketchbook until he saw a cute envelope taped to an empty page (A/N: for those who don’t know, art’s actually his favourite subject :D we stan artist Shidou (all from the Egoist Bible/Wiki btw) )

He pulled it off with no particular care and would’ve ripped it open if not for the Hello Kitty decorations. Just kidding, he admired it for two seconds before tearing it apart.

He didn’t even read the words at first, he was just looking at the decorations.

That was until he noticed the handwriting, it looked exactly like yours. Then he immediately looked at who signed it, your initial. 

He sat there for a few seconds, contemplating. Did you really write this? Was this really meant for him? The moment that thought crossed his mind, he threw the paper and balled up in anticipation 

He started panicking, “Sh1t, did [Y/N] send this to me?? Fvck fvck fvck- oh g0d…” his face heated up, he didn’t care much about it until the possibility of you being the sender hit him.

Shidou immediately picked the letter back up, and the envelope it came in. His name was written in cursive on the back, and he had a strong feeling it was you. “She has a fountain pen right? This sort of letting can only be done with those kinds of tools, and not everyone has one!” His face lit up, hoping it was you who wrote to him. “Yes yes, I remember she had a bunch of Hello Kitty stickers, i think she was working on this in class too” Shidou recalled you writing with your fountain pen in class while he was working on a  sketch. And he did leave his sketchbook open on a blank page at one point- it was very possible you sent it.

He put the torn envelope down and silently apologized for ripping it before reading the letter. 

He was smiling and blushing through the whole thing, the thought of you liking him almost made him want to explode 😀 

He re-read his favourite part of “I like you, Shidou” like 6 times, and was genuinely freaking out.

He pinned the letter and envelope to his wall, and stared at it for like 2 min before telling himself to pull it together (he didn’t)

He promised he’d go profess his love to you tmr as well before (trying to) sleep.

Shidou was also incredibly grateful that you stuck it on a blank page of his sketchbook, for if you flipped back just a bit, you would’ve discovered all the drawings of you that he’d make in whatever classes he had with you.

And after he remembers to confess, he’ll add your letter and envelope to the little box of other drawing of you under his bed :3 

(Also I promise he uses those pictures for NORMAL purposes-) 

>Sae

(School AU! So he’s 3rd year highschool, Rin’s in his last year of secondary)

Sae was finally done with school, all he had to do now was to pick up Rin.

So he waited outside the school gates and scrolled his phone

“Nii-Chan!” Rin walked up to Sae, having grown the same height

“Hey Rin” Sae ruffled his hair, to which Rin frowned “Ready to go?”

Rin nodded before following Sae home, but then something caught his eye.

“There’s something in your hood, hold up.” Rin plucked the envelope out and looked at it, “There’s a heart stamp, is it from your girlfriend?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend” Sae rolled his eyes “You can throw it out”

“What? I thought you liked [Y/N]? What if she sent this?” 

“No I don’t.” Sae kept a straight face but paused “... Actually give me that” he snatched the paper out of his hands and inspected it carefully. He did remember when he was sleeping in his last class you walked by him, so there was a chance it was your doing.

Sae shoved it into his pocket, “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.”

Rin gave him a side eye, but kept quiet.

Once they got home, Sae went and locked himself in his room, which Rin did find a bit strange….

Sae sat down and took the letter out, the possibility of you sending it never leaving his thoughts.

He cut through the envelope with a letter opener and examined the contents. 

Sae read each word, letter them set in. His face would imply that he didn’t care, but the mere action of reading it would say otherwise. His hyper beating heart and racing thoughts weren’t helping either.

After he finished going through it, he had to take a moment to process. He then read it again to make sure he got it right. Sure there was no way to be sure you were the sender, but who else could it be? The 20 other people in the clash who probably also like him? Probably not.

“Sh1t, what do I do tomorrow… do i kiss her?? No no, that’s too soon.” Sae felt disappointed in himself for not knowing anything about romance or love. “Maybe I should just invite her to my soccer game, that’ll impress her.”

Suddenly, a knock his door was soon followed by Rin’s voice, “Dinner’s ready”

Sae sighed and put the letter away, telling himself he’ll deal with it later before joining his family for dinner

“So, Sae” His mother smirked, “Rin told me you have a girlfriend?”

Sae’s face turned to one of shock, embarrassment and betrayal. He turned to Rin and frowned at him. “He’s lying.” Sae stuffed some noodles into his face, not wanting to talk about it

His mother rolled her eyes, finding this very amusing. “You should write back, it’s impolite to keep her waiting.”

“Sure…” Sae said, pretending to only be half-listening, “That’s not a terrible idea…”

>Niko

“Thank you” Niko gave the school librarian a quick bow, taking the manga in his hands. He just finished a series and was looking to start a new one, luckily the librarian had some recommendations, and it seemed that she very much wanted him to read it

He went to the back of the library and sat down on one of the bean bags and started flipping through it. It was a manga about high school romance, and though this was not usually his cup of tea, it was highly rated online so he thought he’d take a look.

He sat for a few hours, just reading it, occasionally sipping snacking on some pocky

Niko had just finished the first volume, and was about to go get the second one, until he saw an envelope sticking out from the last page

He took it out and held it up to the light, there seemed to be a letter inside, and based off the heart seal on the front, it was probably a love letter. 

“Should I open it? No that’s rude, it’s not mine anyway… but how would they know? Who is this even for?” he flipped the envelope around, and there was his name written out in cursive

He had to take a moment to process, this was meant for him?? He looked around, confused. Was someone watching him? But he was the only person in the library at the time, “Please don’t tell me I have a stalker…” 

He opened the envelope nonetheless, and started reading. He found it very hard to believe that someone liked him, barely any girls talked to him. Except for you

Niko’s face flushed, was it really possible that you sent it to him? No no, there’s no way you like him. Right? I mean sure, the signed initial was yours, but there’s just no way! 

He went back up to the front desk to interrogate the librarian. And to get the next volume of the manga

But the librarian insisted that she didn’t know anything, but the smile on her face said otherwise. Niko sighed, slightly disappointed that she wouldn’t tell him if you were the sender, or if it was staged at all. What if you were just trying to embarrass him?!

He took the second volume and left with the letter in hand, feeling unsatisfied 

Niko couldn’t stop thinking of you, even once he got home. He re-read it like 20 times, arguing with himself about what to do.

He groaned, “I should really do something else, I've been spending too much time on this.” Niko picked up his book and decided to read that instead.

But he didn’t make it very far before you invaded his mind, curse the book for being a romantic one.

Niko sighed, he should really sort this out, shouldn’t he? Or the feeling will eat at his heart forever. He hesitated before dialing up Aiku. Was this a good idea? Probably not, but whatever.

“Heyyy, Niko my man, wassup?”

“K so, there’s this girl I like…”

Niko explained the situation quickly to him, and asked him for his advice

“Pull her in by the hips and say her lips look lonely!” Aiku said confidently

“... I’m hanging up.”

“NIKO NOO-”

Niko sat there in silence, wondering what to do now. “I should probably confess too… BUT WHAT IF SHE WASN’T EVEN THE SENDER?”

Just then, he got a text from Aiku,

“Just send her a letter back ;)” -> “Thank you, for your one good piece of advice.”

>Kaiser

Kaiser had gotten back from practice a while ago, now scrolling his phone.

Suddenly, a message appeared.

[IMAGE]

Usually Kaiser would’ve just let Ness do it for him, but Isagi called him a brainless b1tch the other day, so he felt the need to prove him wrong

Kaiser sighed as he opened the math workbook, most things being written by Ness

He flipped until he got to the assigned pages, throwing some headphones on to focus

He pulled out his pen and got to work. A pencil you say? Tch, those are for people who make mistakes, Kaiser cleared the questions easily.

“That was easy, see Isagi? I’m not the dumb one.” he smugly thought to himself 

He was about to put the book away, until an envelope popped out.

“Did Ness leave this here?” he took the paper in his hands, flipping it around. His name was written out in fancy cursive, this definitely wasn’t Ness’

Kaiser didn’t hesitate for a second before ripping it open and reading it

With every word written, his pride and ego grew. And by the end, he was 100% sure he was gonna bag you. Was it even proven that you were the one who sent it? No- but he was convinced you liked him.

He wondered how long the letter was in there for, it’s been a while since he’s touched his math homework.

A/N: Yea im just posting all wattpad stuff now.... i feel forced to put an A/N

[wolfertinger]

I'm sorry for jumpscaring you with these big ass screenshots admin. mobile formatting is gae. screenies from the slapfight i started last night. Salem every single one of these allegations about sawyer could be true (i have reasons to believe they aren't and this is more well poisoning) and that still wouldn't ever justify dragging their rape story out into the public and picking it apart and excusing the rape itself. You're missing the point that sawyer could be a serial killer and that still wouldn't justify excusing and permitting an actual case of rape and domestic abuse against them. I've known people that were fucking awful to me and did horrible shit to me on the internet and i still wouldn't pick apart their rape/csa stories because that has nothing to do with why they suck! It's clear you're happy with sticking by someone that makes anti-metoo reactionary statements about why Rape Is Fine actually and you know what i don't give a fawk anymore. im not gonna bother with this nonsense any longer. You made your point which is that rape is fine if you don't likies the raped individual enough. And you've shown every rape victim here your actual opinions which is that you and your nasty little aryan pursedog hate them for having a backbone.

salem. jesus christ.

he needs to log off, before he puts himself in a hole, he does not want to be in. he is outright lying about sawyer, and then going, "dm me for proof tho!" essentially. he has none. and he is going to go on long yap bibles, in dms.

i have stated, so many times now. i believe and support victims, no matter what. i do not have to like a victim, to believe them. i offered majora support, if they could supply ANY proof, that they were raped. instead. i got proof from both sides of their accused, that there was no possible way to an assault to occur. i have offered to wis, if she can PROVE to me, that somehow, all of this was a misunderstanding, and lilya and mari and torin could provide PROOF they did not abuse others. i would HAPPILY change my tune. yet, nothing ever happened. i have never, in all of this time, been given a single screenshot, supporting that sawyer is the evil transmisogynist trans fetishist pedophile groomer rapist demon, that wis claims they are. instead. i have seen wis being happily racist, happily transphobic, happily and intentionally cruel, to sawyer. and salem has sat by, and allowed it all.

[ilikekidsshows]

Why do people use the “Marinette must make a mistake in every episode” thing from the show bible as a way to say that the show treats her badly? They use it to justify her decisions and act like it’s the show’s writing working against her and making her out to do bad things. Really, it’s the show’s coddling of her that’s the problem, and the mistakes she makes are quite consistent with her character.

The show bible also says that Marinette must be sympathized with in every episode or something to that effect. But they never talk about that. And when did we forget that “protagonist makes a mistake and learns a lesson” is the standard format for almost every episodic show? They’re making it out to be like this sinister conspiracy against Marinette by the writers, it’s fascinating.

---

There's a reason I made an entire ask game out of the kind of backwards defenses some of the more desperate Marinette stans come up with. They’ve seen selling themselves and each other on this conspiracy narrative where the main lead in a kid superhero cartoon teaching kids moral lessons by learning them herself is actually that main lead being punished by the writers “for things that aren't her fault”. Like, I’ve seen that phrase basically word for word so many times that I have no doubt that it's something some slightly more popular blog said once and the Marinette stans never stopped running with it.

Like, I can even understand the “Marinette must always be sympathized with” caveat, because, for all I do consider it better than Miraculous as a whole, one of Danny Phantom’s issues to me, as a moral lesson show, is how mean-spirited it often is. Yes, it's self-aware about it, but Danny often gets such a short end of the stick even when he does everything right with the show expecting you to laugh and find it funny, so you kind of want him to get away with something for once. It goes a long way selling the loser protagonist character archetype Danny is but, yeah, I kinda see why Astruc would want to avoid Marinette getting that treatment even if she wasn't his pretend daughter.

The problem is, of course, that every single time Marinette is expected to get the lion’s share of the sympathy. She's top priority. That's why the show focuses on her perspective over everyone else’s. When we only see her chaotic feelings and her guilt over her missteps, while her victims give us silence or an “I’m okay!” it does make it feel like she's the one who was hurt by her mistake most of all. It's incredibly unhelpful as a moral lesson because it doesn't teach you to take others’ feelings into account. How could it when they're never shown or named? It only teaches you to look at the projection target’s emotions, your emotions.

‘Gamer’ is actually such a good example of how Miraculous’ writing approach injures the storytelling and muddies the messaging. “Don't publically upstage your friend and classmate in the hobby he’s passionate about, not because it's important to him and, as his friend, you should be supportive, but because, if you do, you might feel bad.” No wonder big parts of the fandom still think Max did something wrong in the episode, even though it was actually very mature of him to get away from Marinette, a friend who hurt him, so that he wouldn't lash out and say things he didn't mean before he calmed down because he has a right to be upset when someone he considers a friend does that to him. Max was far more mature in that episode than our main lead, who got rewarded for doing the bare minimum to make up for her thoughtless action at the last possible moment. Instead her stans have been using this episode as an example of “Marinette being punished for Max being a poor loser” for nearly a decade.

[sparklingself]

Hello, i just discovered you and I'm instantly hooked, honesty you're the state i wanna be. so i came here to ask where do you exactly study Neville's law? Is there websites or books?? cause i really wanna understand and get deep in his teachings

hi!!! welcome!!!

my favourite resources:

all of neville's works indexed - i've been just going through everything from the beginning since june from last year (and i'm only at "The Power of Awareness", so there's A LOT). if you're new here, though, it might be a bit difficult to understand his works going from chronological order (i remember when i first discovered neville, i could barely understand half of it lol), so i'd start from "Feeling is the Secret".

neville's books - this is where i like to read his books, the format is more comfortable for me compared to other sites.

he has a TON of lectures and for those i don't have a specific site, they're mostly available on the first page, but you can also find other formats and websites which might be more comfortable for you. you can pretty much find everything in pdf, audio, html and epub form.

the YouVersion Bible app - i like that it gives you daily verses and i love contemplating on them every day. this is definitely not necessary as neville showcases so many bible verses in his works, but i just like to use it as a daily reminder.

edward art subreddit - this!!! i really recommend, especially if you're a beginner. if neville becomes too dry for you or you feel distanced from the law, edward art's works will help TREMENDOUSLY. he's just spot on every time.

[fallloverfic]

Kabru's retelling of Mithrun's backstory: Story versus Memory

I'm sure it's been brought up before, but I find it interesting that a number of Mithrun and Mithrun-adjacent theories I spot depend on the premise that what we see of Mithrun's backstory during Kabru and Mithrun's time together is factual, rather than a modified version seen through the lens of Kabru's retelling with the specific goal not of being accurate to events as they occurred, but to convince Laios of "the danger in demons." (p.77, Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer's Bible by Ryoko Kui, English translation). Obviously a lot of manga spoilers below.

Perhaps the only part of Mithrun's backstory prior to his rejoining the Canaries told in visual comic format rather than text that we know is accurate to how it happened (or at least absent Kabru's agenda-driven retelling) is the comic about Milsiril and Mithrun in the first Adventurer's Bible, Mithrun and the caretakers in Daydream Hour (no narrator is given for these, they are simply events shown), and panels 3-6 of p.76 of the first Adventurer's Bible, largely concerning Obrin, in essentially the only time we see Mithrun thinking about his backstory given comic form while Kabru is listening (I'm not including panel 7 because that part is a neat explanation for what the demon did but it's speculative on Mithrun's part). I also think the first page of chapter 62 of the manga is accurate to Mithrun's retelling, right before Kabru complains the story has too many characters on the following page, followed by, "We should pare it down", and we see an image of presumed edited Mithrun surrounded by the now edited and nondescript "others" (with past!Mithrun looking upset/nervous about the editing):

We then get insight into Kabru thinking, "I should get it straight in my mind..." While you could argue this is Kabru simply cutting out extraneous details/set dressing like "everyone who was there but wasn't really involved in the story"/some comment about how Mithrun is not the best storyteller, it opens the way to, what I believe is, the fact that we really don't see a lot of Mithrun's actual backstory as it actually happened. It's also good to remember that Mithrun clearly disagrees about what is an extraneous and thus unnecessary detail, and what is not (I'll get to this later).

On p.169 of volume 9 of the English release of the manga, after past!Mithrun looks in the mirror, Kabru thinks, "That's pretty good plotting. Everybody loves a tragic love story."

You could say this is Kabru being genre savvy and/or respecting Mithrun's storytelling credentials at least for this portion of the story, or seeing this part of the story and being like, "Naw, that's good, that can stay", but it also just leads more into this narrative of, "Kabru is rewriting the story to suit his ends", with his ends being: explaining all of this to Laios in a way that will convince Laios about "the danger in demons." We are seeing Kabru's story, not Mithrun's memory, and those are two very different things.

Centrally, we get the very important p.186 of volume 9, where, after, "completing" Mithrun's backstory, where he's taken back by the Canaries after the demon injures him, Kabru looks at Mithrun in the present and asks, "--how's that?"

This implies that what we see immediately prior to this is a retelling of the story from Kabru's perspective, not Mithrun's. Kabru confirms this by saying, "I tried to organize your story in my own way. I got the gist of it, didn't I?" Mithrun replies, "The details are totally different." To which Kabru replies, "I edited those to make it a bit easier to understand. It's way too complicated." In the background is an image of all the elvish relationships, seemingly indicating those are the details that were edited.

From the next panel, we're also seemingly meant to conclude that the only thing Kabru edited out was, "how elf society is structured". But well... Kabru doesn't have a high opinion of Laios (with good reason, at least when it comes to listening to other people). He seems to want the story to be as simple to understand as possible. This is encouraged by p.77 of the first Adventurer's Bible, in Mithrun's section. Kabru says, "Let's pare the story down to what you want to say. It's too unfocused. The relationships are too complex." While this does again seem to indicate a criticism of Mithrun's story-telling capability with an emphasis on the fact that Kabru thinks Mithrun could tell his own story better... I find it interesting that Mithrun actually pushes back. Mithrun explains, "But if you cut that out, the punchline doesn't make any sense," and explains about his illegitimacy. Mithrun can see that Kabru has his own version of the story to tell, which is not Mithrun's, ie., the story from the perspective of the person who experienced it, rather than someone listening to a retelling decades later, and who only knows 1-3 of the people involved (Mithrun and Milsiril, and I guess Helki if you want to include her).

Kabru's response is, "We don't need that bit either. Ideally, even a child should be able to understand it. If we summarize it... ...it will be easier to show the danger in demons." Here we see that Mithrun and Kabru disagree on what details are important, but ultimately Mithrun is fine with what Kabru is doing because Kabru's goal is not about literally rewriting history, but rather convincing Laios of something.

And we see with heavy implication that Mithrun's story has been literally pared down from the large blob Kabru is holding to the tiny orb Mithrun holds between his fingers. It's "tidy" now. Interestingly, this comic seems to take place in the same area as p.186 of volume 9 (look at what they're sitting on in the last panel of p.77 of the first Adventurer's Bible, compared to what they're sitting on in ch. 62 of the manga when Mithrun says, "There's eggshell in it.")

This use of "you" and "we" by Kabru is also pretty common when someone thinks their goals are shared. Kabru thinks that Mithrun is fully on his side about the "point" of sharing the story - to convince Laios to stop - which isn't entirely untrue. But originally Mithrun was just explaining it because Kabru was insistent on understanding what was wrong with Mithrun's body, and Mithrun also wanted Kabru to stop acting so recklessly in the dungeon ("You wished, so the dungeon provided. It's not a coincidence. Don't wish often" - Mithrun to Kabru, Chapter 61, Volume 9). Kabru is the one who decided on his own that it should be used to convince Laios (hence, Mithrun's question about who specifically Kabru plans to tell the story to, rather than his simply listening to Kabru tell a story). Mithrun is clearly not entirely averse to it, or at least not enough to stop him. But that doesn't mean Kabru's goals in the telling are the same as Mithrun's.

For a direct negation by Mithrun of Kabru's story, there's one on p.76 of the first Adventurer's Bible:

At the start of the Mithrun comic, Kabru is telling the story about Mithrun's backstory, "It's hard to imagine from the way he looks now, but... [skip] ...back then, he was a perfect youth." And Mithrun literally breaks into the retelling to say, "No I wasn't." This is followed by a panel of Mithrun's alleged perfect "past self" (as dreamed up by Kabru) glaring down at him. While Mithrun goes on to explain that mentally he wasn't a great guy, which doesn't necessarily negate the visual Kabru was painting, it also shows that Mithrun disagrees with Kabru's retelling, though he ultimately agrees with or at least goes along with the purpose Kabru has: convincing Laios that demons are bad. It doesn't ultimately matter to Mithrun that Kabru is modifying the story to tell to someone else Mithrun doesn't know, other than it might make their goals simpler to a degree, maybe. Mithrun is pointing out inaccuracy while he is chatting with Kabru and any third party is absent (and also elaborating on his own self-criticisms).

Also what is that, "[skip]" replacing in panel 1 of p.76? Is that just a part Kabru edited for his retelling, or where readers should fill in the part we see with them sitting together in the manga in ch.62? Who knows? There's a lot of things you could fill in here.

I'm not trying to cast aspersions on Kabru's character. I don't think he really changed things all that much. The big details are likely accurate, and perhaps even most of it is accurate. I think Mithrun would take issue with Kabru, say, making up a lover for him, and Mithrun's retelling seems to include Sultha, judging by that chart with Mithrun and his thoughts of other people in his past (as well as his character chart in the first Adventurer's Bible calling Sultha "his beloved"), so it's likely Sultha existing is accurate, at least to some degree. And the Mithrun lore sections in the Adventurer's Bible elaborate more in ways that generally confirm what Kabru was saying. But I think it's good to question just how much of Kabru and Mithrun talking about Mithrun's backstory contains accurate detailed backstory for Mithrun, as most of it seems to be told through the questionably edited and canonically pared down lens of someone who wasn't even alive during it (Mithrun was taken from the dungeon in year 479, Kabru was born in 492), and demonstrates intent to heavily simplify for a stated purpose other than accuracy.

Mostly I just find stories within stories fascinating and it's always good to look at who is doing the telling and why, and generally people have agenda in these kinds of things, and that can change how stories play out. And understanding that perhaps there's a lot more to Mithrun's backstory even from what we see (rather than just the things that we want to go into, e.g., Mithrun's relationships with his parents, more about his brother, more about what Mithrun's life was like during his recovery outside what little we get in Daydream Hour and the first Adventurer's Bible), because most of it is perhaps fabricated to some degree by Kabru. It opens up a lot of doors to headcanons and fanworks.

[ri47]

I wasn't sure to send this to your main or to here, but figured you might have a smaller inbox here (sad). How do you structure your plans for whatever project you're working on at the moment? Do you have one big document with all the relevant lore and other misc docs for scripts, etc? When planning the game, did you make a game design document? Or do you do something else entirely?

I recognize that everyone does things differently. But I've long struggled with the actual planning of things, namely it seems to take me forever because I can't decide on a format, especially the format of a game script.

Thanks for the time if you decide to answer. Love reading about all your stuff!

this is going to be more informal than my usual answers (a high bar!) but that kind of fits the format of my planning anyway

I'm a bit of a boomer when it comes to handling my projects, not out of a specific aversion or affinity or anything along those lines, but out of simple desire to do whatever I'm doing forever and never bother asking questions about how to do anything else. it's a comfort zone of mine that would cause a lot of other people to completely lose their minds

I do not write lore bibles in any meaningful sense. when designing a setting, I define a personal limitation of scope, imply things one layer outside of it, and then define the most granular aspect of the setting that I'm interested in talking about with a few layers of implied depth below it, which I may or may not be willing to actually dig into

this lends to me most often writing apocalyptic fiction (notably not post-apocalyptic) about the proceedings towards the end of time. I find it most comfortable to know how things end, and then write backwards from that end like I'm carving pathways off of the timeline. this also means it's much more difficult to write myself into a corner, because I start in the ultimate corner and resolve it before figuring out how I got there

of course, you mention getting caught up in pulling the trigger on which format you want to use, so I'll answer that one pretty bluntly

no matter what you are making, if it has a story, text will be involved. start writing what you wanted to write, and when you come to a point where you think it would be nice to allow the reader/player/etc interaction with what you are writing, the medium it would be most comfortable in should reveal itself to you

there is absolutely nothing at all more miserable than trying to write stories into the flesh of a game that won't take them. if you have a team, it may be their job to make this work, but if you are alone, you should relieve yourself of that responsibility. build the skeleton first, then wrap the meat around it, and deliver it as such

there are no hard rules to format, and at most primitive, there is nothing at all stopping you from simply releasing the text of your work with whichever piecemeal components you've decided would benefit the experience. if you need something a specific format can give you, then adopt it

if you can't figure it out when that time comes, talk to someone you care about and describe what it is you're working on

saying it out loud, it might occur to you what exactly you need to convey your story best, and then, again, you will have your format after you have your contents

take care! and don't be afraid to take your own unfinished works for salvage parts. or your finished ones for that matter. one hour spent reworking thirty hours of work will save you thirty-and-twenty wasted hours

[what-even-is-thiss]

could you share your thoughts on Christianity and the lgbt community? Not in a like "'oh yeah well how are you this and that if you're REALLY Christian"' kind of way, I'm asking from the perspective of someone who's been struggling with their spirituality because I don't know how I can believe and god and also be gay. Feel free not to answer this though, you shouldn't have to explain yourself to random people every time you mention your religion

There’s not a lot of mentions of what we would consider to be homosexuality in the Bible. Paul mentions it most explicitly but there’s some important things to remember about Paul. First, he’s just some guy. He did important work spreading the religion but that doesn’t mean that he’s right about everything. Second, his only exposure to homosexuality likely came from the Roman elite. And the way they did it usually involved raping slave boys and hiring young prostitutes. They didn’t usually have same sex relations in the way we think of them now. Men didn’t generally have romantic relationships with each other into adulthood and a full adult citizen being passive during sex was considered to be scandalous. Any actual romantic relationships between adults of the same sex were likely kept secret or at least weren’t talked about loudly. So Paul is living in this environment. And people aren’t completely separate from the environments they live in.

For the most part stuff in the Bible that’s translated as condemning homosexuality is referring to certain cultural practices common in the Mediterranean at the time that we also wouldn’t like today. Such as pederasty, also known as a romanticized form of pedophilia that even people at the time in cultures that practiced it heavily criticized. Consenting adults often did have romantic or sexual relations together but they weren’t commonly open about it.

Overall, the Bible just doesn’t have much to say about liking someone of the same gender if you look at instances outside of things alluding to some of the worse stuff the Greeks and Romans did. So if the Bible doesn’t say much about it, that leaves it up to us to logically deduce our personal feelings about it.

Okay. So what are the two main commandments Jesus gives us? Love your neighbor as yourself, and love god with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Basically: love God, love others, love yourself. These are said to be the rules that all other commandments stem from and supersede all other commandments in terms of importance.

So. Does being queer stop you from loving God? Loving others? Loving yourself?

Science is real. It helps us learn more and more about the universe God created all the time and science has proven time and time again that being queer isn’t a choice and that people are happier when they live more authentically.

God made you the way you are. You cannot control whether you’re queer or not. So it’s not a mistake in you that can be “fixed”. If humans were made in the image of God, you too are an image of God. So some tiny part of God, however small, looks like you. All of you. Including the queer parts.

So then. Are you loving God? Including the parts of God that are like you? Are you loving your fellow humans? Including your fellow lgbt humans? Are you doing your best to love yourself? Every part of yourself?

I don’t take the Bible fully literally. You can’t. It contradicts itself constantly. But even if you did, the world it was written for and the society that made the oral traditions it was based on no longer exist. At least not in the exact same way they once did. What the Bible does have in it is stories that can give us examples and have informed the formation of our culture as Christians. Christianity has changed a lot over the last 2,000 years. Many forms of it have come and gone. Ultimately it’s up to us as modern Christians what kind of world we want to be apart of and contribute to and what culture we want to make among ourselves. I can’t pretend to know the true nature of God but I do know that God inspires me to reduce suffering and speak up for injustice where I can.

Ultimately your interpretation is up to you. But I personally don’t see needless self flagellation over something you can’t control as an act of justice or love. Just a form of self torture that’s ultimately not adding much to the world. Adding some of your own happiness to the world in my opinion isn’t a problem.

If you want to know how being queer has affected my faith, I’ve never doubted for a second that being lgbt+ is fine. To be honest I’ve been more afraid of secular society not accepting me than God. God and I have wrestled before, but almost never over that. I am how I am and if God didn’t want me to be this way he probably wouldn’t have flipped the gay switch in my brain.

[jacquesthepigeon]

I've seen a lot of people behind the scenes with access to Confidential Stuff say that while TA and Zag are definitely responsible for a decent amount of stuff wrong with the show, the networks that air ML- especially Gloob and TFOU- also get to make demands and ultimately decide what goes into the show- they have to sign off on the concept bibles before each season goes into production. All those pre-canon bibles that had Actually Good Lore and characterization/development were rejected by said networks, so TA and Zag had to go back to the drawing board.

Like I remember a bunch of people got upset when TA said that Gloob told the writers not to send Gabriel to prison but. In total honesty? That is very likely how it went down. Which would also explain why the theatrical movie had Gabriel go to jail, because they don't need to meet the approval of any networks.

Rumors aside, it’s a known fact that suits and networks interfere a lot in productions

My issue is with how badly they failed to accommodate the story to their limitations so that it still made some sense

EDIT:

For example, the way they pushed the grand dramatic overarching plot knowing that they had to be episodic and wouldn’t be able to develop it properly. The best thing to do in that situation would be to adjust their story and tonality to better suit the episodic format but instead they insisted on narratives and formats that would contradict each other Badly. That kind of thing is what I’m referring to when I complain about their failure to accommodate.