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the-chosen-fanfiction · 3 days ago

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Jesus | Now That It Is Fulfilled | Platonic [Male Reader]

With the risen Jesus sitting at your table, you can’t help asking the questions on your mind about what will happen to the rest of you now that He has fulfilled the Messianic prophecies.

Requested by Jean-Paul

There exists no word to describe the ambiance hanging in the streets of Jerusalem in the days after Jesus’ resurrection. None had expected that Jesus would have risen from the dead in spite of what both the Prophets as well as the Messiah Himself had said. Things have started making a bit more sense now that everything is fulfilled through Him, but you still have much to learn.

Jesus had appeared to His followers and bestowed upon them the knowledge of the Prophets that had foretold what had to happen to the Messiah and what this meant to all the nations of the world. Salvation through Him and Him alone, through grace instead of works, for mankind would not be able to save themselves. There lays wonderful promise in this masterly plan that God had so meticulously put together, but you only now realise just how limited your understanding of the full picture is.

You aren’t the only one having questions, so it seems. One sunny afternoon you find yourself getting ready for dinner at the home of Simon Peter and Eden, having taken a seat next to the former tax collector who is anxiously penning away on his wax tablet. Although most Disciples have already arrived, there are still a few missing individuals including the resurrected Jesus Himself, so there is still some time before food is served. You lean a bit closer to Matthew, and although he has grown less tense over time, more comfortable in his own skin, he still jumps slightly when you speak to him.

“What are you writing?” He nearly makes a wrong scratch with his stylus, causing you to promptly apologise.

“Just… Just my thoughts for now.” Matthew replies, “I’m not sure if it will end up in my official account yet.”

You hum in thought, trying to look over his shoulder to read what he has to say. When Matthew realises you’re peeking at what he’s doing, he shields it with his arm.

“Hey, can’t I look at it?” you say with a small pout, smiling reassuringly. “You know I won’t judge you.”

Matthew sighs, removing his arm from your field of view. He allows you to read over the words that he had been so nervously scribbling down. As if afraid to be chastised for them, the son of Alphaeus looks away.

“Do you think it’s ungrateful to think that way?” he asks when you are halfway through the text. “To still be anxious about what will come next?” Usually, Matthew’s writings are more factual, containing barely any of his personal thoughts. This time around, however, he’s put his heart on paper.

Complex worries of what may happen now that Jesus has risen from the dead. Concerns regarding the safety of everyone involved, the conspiracy theories that might spark around Judea that this is all an elaborate hoax, fears that Rome will retaliate and kill Jesus for good this time. Not that they could even if they tried. That much is clear as day and Matthew is very aware of that, too. Still, it remains a thought that apparently seems to grip your friend in question, who is still waiting for your verdict over his uncertainty.

Despite being familiar with the prophecies about Jesus and seeing them in their full context now that they have been given their full meaning through Him, your minds are still mortal and subjected to human nature one way or the other. Although completely convinced of Jesus’ divinity and that through Him all things will be made new, you feel as if there is something missing inside of yourself.

“I must admit this has gone through my mind as well, to a certain extent.” you reveal to Matthew, who shifts in his seat to face you better now that he knows you won’t tell him off for doubting in spite of everything that has happened. “I know that with Jesus on our side we can go through anything, but… We now know that Rome will not shy away from killing us. That our opponents will persecute us. It is not beyond them. Yes, Jesus rose from the dead; literal death itself couldn’t hold Him. And yes, the Son of God is just that powerful! But… I can’t help but wonder what awaits us. Because I know that Jesus won’t always be here to aid us psychically. How can we ever do this without Him?”

Matthew gives you a small smile, relating to your words. “This changes everything,” he whispers, “This isn’t going to be a hometown thing anymore.”

“It stopped being a hometown thing a long time ago, Matthew.” you say with a sigh. The door swings open to reveal the few remaining people that had been expected to turn up. Jesus, John and Big James take off their sandals before joining the rest of you at the table. Eden waltzes around to hand out drinks and appetisers. Jesus takes the seat at the head of the table, as He usually does whenever all of you are having dinner here.

You’re just enjoying a bite of pickled cucumber when Matthew nudges you. “Do you reckon we should ask Him about it?”

You nod, earning a questioning look from the former tax collector. “Would you… Um… Would you mind asking it for us at an appropriate moment? I fear I won’t really know the right words to say.”

A small smile forms over your lips as you swallow your food. “Don’t you worry about it, Matt. I know that you do know the proper words. I mean, look at what you’ve written down!”

“I’ve never voiced it out loud.” Matthew mutters in a low voice so that only you can hear, at least attempts to, for Simon Peter tears a piece of bread from a loaf and sticks it into his mouth before intersecting himself into the conversation.

“What have you never voiced out loud?

The son of Alphaeus blinks, rubbing his neck in typical Matthew-fashion as he attempts to gather himself, put on the spot. When his dark eyes flicker to meet yours pleadingly, you take it as a sign to help him out. “That we are worried about what comes next. The two of us can’t be the only ones.” You turn to Jesus before Peter can comment and clear your throat, “Rabbi, may I ask You a question?”

Jesus hums and smiles knowingly as He grabs a piece of flatbread and dips it into a royal amount of olive oil. In spite of the resurrected, perfect body of the Son of God not needing any nutrients nor substance to thrive anymore, Jesus still seems to thoroughly enjoy the act of eating in and of itself. You can’t blame Him for that, wondering what it must be like to eat as much as you want without getting a tummy ache. Even you can’t escape the small bit of fat forming on your lower stomach anymore, inevitable as you age no matter how much exercise you’ve been getting during these past years of being on the road alongside the Messiah.

“Of course, (Y/n),” says Jesus as He takes a sip of water. You are momentarily reminded of His oath to abstain from drinking wine anymore before the Kingdom had come and decide to use it as your starting point.

Inhaling to speak, you lean a bit closer to Him as you formulate the question. “You said that You shall not drink of the fruit of the vine anymore until Your Kingdom has come. Here You are, risen from the dead, and yet You still drink water. Does this mean that your Kingdom has not yet come?”

The eyes of Jesus glitter kindly as He smiles. “Sharp observation there, son.” He tells you, “It indeed means that it has not yet come.”

“So when will it come?” Nathanael asks as a follow-up question.

“Only the Father in heaven knows that.”

“But I suppose that means that we’ve got work to do,” you continue, “Converting people to Your message, getting them to follow You and thus the path to heaven… Right?”

Jesus chuckles lightly. “You seem to still be under the misconception that one individual can convert another. That is not quite how it works. You should have known better by now that you cannot change another person’s heart, and that one has to choose to follow God by themselves.” There is no accusation in His voice as He explains it.

You sigh and smile a bit in response to His words. “Yes, I know that, but that’s not my point. My point is… What will happen next?”

Big James pipes up at that. “Yes! All of us are eager, Rabbi. Please, tell us what will come next.”

Jesus hums in thought as He puts the piece of flatbread onto His plate. For a moment, He lets his gaze go through the room to observe the following He had gathered over the years of His ministry. To outsiders, it might seem like a ragtag group of people put together just because their Messiah couldn’t get anyone else to join Him.

However, each and every one of you would be able to prove them wrong. In spite of your differences in background, experience and even culture, it all makes the message of the Gospel so much stronger. Everyone is in equal need of salvation, no matter where they come from, and at the same time, everyone is welcome at the Lord’s table, all united because of Him.

He is going to miss it.

“I won’t be able to stay with you for a long time.” Jesus tells you. Even though it is something you had already expected, it still makes your heart heavy with sadness now that He confirms your assumptions. “After all, My purpose here is fulfilled. Soon, it will be time for Me to go back to my Father in heaven and prepare for you all to come and join Me.”

“Soon.” you muse with a small hint of humour in your voice, and everyone chuckles lightly at the term that had become notorious over the past years due to its elusiveness. “How soon may that be, Rabbi?”

“You are asking a lot of questions today, (Y/n).” Jesus says with a small smile. “Let Me not worry you with semantics. I will go when the Father calls Me.” He may know more than He is letting on, but you decide to not pry.

“But what will we do once You are gone?”

“I was getting to that.” Jesus hums with a wink, “Your task will be to spread the Good News to the ends of the Earth. To the poor and the rich. The sick and the healthy. Man, woman, child. Everyone who has ears must hear about salvation from their sins through Me.”

“How will we do that?” Thaddeus wants to know.

Jesus takes a moment. “Once I’m gone, you will not be left alone. My Father will send you a Helper to guide you in your faith. Through Him, you will be able to do many things in My Name.”

“A Helper?” Matthew pipes up. “What’s His Name? Is it Someone we know yet? Is He from Judea, or…” his voice trails off as he waits for the Son of Man to answer.

“No, Matthew.” Jesus explains, a graceful smile over His lips. “You will see.”

“What else can You tell us?” you query, causing the Messiah to laugh out loud at your eagerness and curiosity.

“Even though I have a glorified body now, give Me a break!”

The lighthearted chuckle that goes through the room has the looming tension regarding Jesus’ upcoming departure fade away a bit.

“I want all of you to remain faithful. To remember that you are never alone, through nothing.” Jesus’ voice turns more serious as everyone’s food goes untouched. Even Eden has paused in her task of refilling cups as she listens to what He has to say.

“The years up ahead will be difficult for you. You will face many perils, meet people who will want you dead, for there is still great evil in this world that can not yet be taken away. It is not time yet. There is still mercy to be found until the Kingdom comes, and the Father wants everyone to be saved.”

“Are you saying we might suffer the same fate as You did?” Little James asks with a small voice.

Jesus whispers, brow furrowed together. “Yes. But I do not want you to be afraid. I have revealed Myself to you to give you a glimpse of what the Kingdom will be like. Now that you have tasted that sliver of My greatness, witnessed a speck of what eternity will look like once you are with Me and my Father in heaven, I want you to step out in faith of that Kingdom, and go out into the world in order to spread the news of it amongst the nations. There is room at the table for everyone, and you are the pioneers of something that will exist until the end of time itself, and far beyond that.”

Your heart flutters inside your chest at the thought.

“This life is like a grain of sand in a desert. Like a drop in the ocean. Being a true follower of Me will bring about danger, and persecution, and anguish for many, because the great evil in this world still tries to break your faith. To take apart what I have started to build by being here and doing what I did.”

Jesus speaks passionately about it all. You have forgotten when you’ve taken your last breath, as it sits tight inside your throat, afraid to miss a single beat of what He proclaims.

“But hold onto My Truth, no matter how difficult things get. None of you will have it easy. I Myself had to suffer through great things to accomplish what I did, for it was the only way for a just sacrifice to take place in your stead, for God is just without wavering.” Once again reminded of the way Jesus gave Himself up in order to save mankind, your heart skips a beat. It had been a perfect sacrifice, a masterly plan that had changed everything.

“Many of you will die by those who try to oppose My words. But what you will gain in the end is worth all the sorrow. With Me, your soul is safe. The safety of your soul is infinitely more important than the safety of your body. Your Earthly tent, your temporary flesh, use it to proclaim this message to the nations, so that they may be saved also. I cannot promise an easy fall, but I can promise a gentle landing. All things have been done through Me, clearing the path for you to the Father. That is all you need to focus on. As long as you keep Me in the front of your mind in everything you do, you will do great things in spite of the dangers you will face.”

Jesus pauses to let all of you digest His words. You commit them to memory. The Messiah takes up His bread, dipping it in the oil again despite doing so before, taking a bite as He thoughtfully gazes through the room. He chews slowly before swallowing, wiping his mouth on a napkin.

“When I called all of you, when you decided to follow Me, you gave up your old identity so that I could replace them with a new one. The identity that I gave you is one of confidence and faith. Sometimes, it might be extremely difficult to remember who you are in Me, but in the end it’s all that matters. Seek out one another, find a group of other believers to meditate on My Word lest you forget it to apply it to yourself whilst preaching it to the nations. As I mentioned, you will receive a Helper from heaven, but that still doesn’t mean that you can do this all by yourself. All of you may stand courageous in truth no matter what will come your way. That is all you need to know for now.”

You mull over His words as the others start to mutter amongst themselves, discussing what Jesus had explained. Jesus had warned about the perils of following Him before, but now it had become more real, and thus required more. It was the only way to bring about true, genuine faith, to trust in the face of evil.

“I think it will all be clearer once that Helper arrives.” Simon Peter tells you as he notices the look on your face. You nod at the older son of Jonah and watch how Jesus grabs yet another piece of flatbread as well as a bunch of grapes.

“I wonder what He will be like,” Matthew adds, “That Helper, I mean. Do you think we can see Him the same way we see Jesus?”

You shrug, unsure of the theory to be true or not. “Perhaps. But maybe not. I think that we must trust Him in this, too. Like we always have. To constantly remind ourselves of our own identity in Him, and that we need to hold onto it even when we can’t see Jesus physically anymore.”

“But we will feel Him, no?” Matthew queries. You’ve noticed he has stopped writing a while ago, choosing to fully focus on the conversation instead. His stylus lays untouched next to this wax tablet.

“I think so, yeah.” you say as you take a sip from your drink, watching how Jesus converses with Little James and Thaddeus on the other side of the table. The interaction is lighthearted and gives you a sense of peace.

With a deep breath, you conclude.

“Ever since Jesus said that it is finished, we have nothing to fear because of it. Whatever we’ll go through here will be temporary and just the smallest of specks compared to what we will gain. That, coupled with that Helper He mentioned… I think we will be just fine, no matter how things will end here on Earth.”

Peter and Matthew nod thoughtfully at that. Matthew writes something down on his tablet and you lean a little closer to him.

“For in your official account?”

He smiles a bit, shrugging. “I’m not sure about that yet. Regardless, it goes into my personal archives.”

You can’t argue with that, choosing to hold onto the words that Jesus had spoken to you and committing it to memory, locking it away deep inside your heart.

#the chosen #reader insert #the chosen x reader #chosen x reader #platonic #the chosen jesus #jesus x reader #the chosen jesus x reader #jonathan roumie

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the-hem · 1 year ago

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They would not accept Him. The Truth behind the Jews and the rejection of Christ.

The story of Jesus failing the ecumenical proofs of the Pharisees and their rejection of Him has caused billions of people to suffer and die. Let us see what the truth behind the story is.

We do not know who the Jews that interrogated Jesus in the temple. We do not know their names, or if they were even real. We do know from the script below all Jesus asked them to do was believe in the nature of the work of the Gospels. He didn't care of they believed He was the Son of God or not.

This is the very same theme that runs through the Book of Mormon. In neither text does Jesus say harm should come to the Jew.

The Jews Reject Jesus

22 The Festival of the Dedication of the Temple took place in Jerusalem during the winter.

23 Jesus was walking on Solomon’s porch in the temple courtyard.

24 The Jews surrounded him. They asked him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

25 Jesus answered them, “I’ve told you, but you don’t believe me. The things that I do in my Father’s name testify on my behalf.

26 However, you don’t believe because you’re not my sheep.

27 My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me,

28 and I give them eternal life. They will never be lost, and no one will tear them away from me.

29 My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than everyone else, and no one can tear them away from my Father.

30 The Father and I are one.”

31 The Jews had again brought some rocks to stone Jesus to death.

32 Jesus replied to them, “I’ve shown you many good things that come from the Father. For which of these good things do you want to stone me to death?”

33 The Jews answered Jesus, “We’re going to stone you to death, not for any good things you’ve done, but for dishonoring God. You claim to be God, although you’re only a man.”

34 Jesus said to them, “Don’t your Scriptures say, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’?

35 The Scriptures cannot be discredited. So if God calls people gods (and they are the people to whom he gave the Scriptures),

36 why do you say that I’m dishonoring God because I said, ‘I’m the Son of God’? God set me apart for this holy purpose and has sent me into the world.

37 If I’m not doing the things my Father does, don’t believe me.

38 But if I’m doing those things and you refuse to believe me, then at least believe the things that I’m doing. Then you will know and recognize that the Father is in me and that I am in the Father.”

39 The Jews tried to arrest Jesus again, but he got away from them.

40 He went back across the Jordan River and stayed in the place where John first baptized people.

41 Many people went to Jesus. They said, “John didn’t perform any miracles, but everything John said about this man is true.”

42 Many people there believed in Jesus.

The Festival of Dedication performed in the winter in Jerusalem is Hannukah:

"Hanukkah in Hebrew means “dedication”. That is what it is all about, chasing the darkness away and bringing back the light through the rededication of something that you might have considered lost or too defiled to be used again by God."

Jesus walks along the "porch" of Solomon a very special place in history as this is where Solomon kept the Four Pillars, the Four Vedas and used the porch, the meditation seat, to look over the edge into the Black Sea, the place where God emerged In the Beginning in order to See Himself.

For Jesus to place Himself here during Dedication is a very sacred act. It tells us everything about His Distilled Inner Nature.

Jesus tries to explain who He is to the Jews who are gathered for dedication but He tells them they are not His flock and because of this they will not know Him. So who was the flock, and can we hold Jews responsible for the fact Jesus did not come to speak to them in the first place?

Let us look at the Gematria and see what this means.

v. 24: is 15779, אה‎זזט, "Ah hurry up" or Beshalach. About this, the Rabbi says:

"It is customary that in order to prepare for the revelation of a new and profound teaching, the crowd sings a special melody to prime themselves for the discourse.

At this particular gathering, the yeshiva students were eager to hear the Rebbe's teachings and began speeding up the song. The Rebbe admonished the young men for their display of honest and well-meaning enthusiasm.

The entire point of absorbing Chassidic teachings, he explained, is to develop the trait of pnimiyut — to be genuine to the core, and to put one's entire self into the moment.

Why does it take such a radical shift in thinking in order to enable a person to live in the moment? Well, for one, being in the moment has some scary consequences.

It means that you open yourself up to something outside of yourself beyond your control; namely, life. In order to avoid being hurt or feeling too much, we've learned to seek self-stimulation that can draw us deep into ourselves and protect us from having to feel too much about things we can't control."

The gathering wanted Jesus to provide proof He had been on Sinai and seen God. This is of critical important to Jews, that their holy men understand Horeb, the climb to the summit of the Holy Mountain. Jesus was standing there on Solomon's Porch so we know He had.

Jesus explains why He will not assert He had attained Horeb. So who is Jesus and who are the sheep?

v. 25-27: 14239, אדבגט, "the Advocate."

=Jesus says He came to convert people to Judaism in order to combat the classism of Rome and reinstate the Law regarding all practical spiritual approaches to life contained in the religion.

The culmination of these is Shabbat. Everyone on earth must observe and is guarnteed Shabbat. Shabbat means each of us entitled to rest, eat, fellowship and recenter without fear of any kind.

I have said it before, Jesus came to remind the Romanized world Shabbat could not be denied. All of the Parables Jesus spake tell the world to observe Shabbat. The Jews of His time understood this.

v. 28-30. Jesus makes the amazing claim Shabbat will confer eternal life. The Number is 13840, אגחדאֶפֶס‎, aghdafes. "To draw happiness everlasting closer."

ag= to be near

together with the preposition παρα (para), meaning near or nearby: the verb παραγω (parago), meaning to lead along or close by. This word may describe a passing close by something (MATTHEW 9:9, MARK 15:21, JOHN 9:1), but in the classics it often denotes a leading astray, divert or "take for a ride" or "give the slip" (JOHN 8:59). It may also mean to change slightly and is used to describe the changing of the letters of a derived word. This puts to mind natural evolution and may even be hinted at in texts such as 1 CORINTHIANS 7:31 and 1 JOHN 2:8 and 2:17.

hadah=to being a jolly tingle to a friend

The verb חדה (hada I) is said to mean to sharpen. It's used only twice in the Bible, both times in Proverbs 27:17: "Let iron sharpen iron, and let a man sharpen the countenance of his friend". Obviously, a verb that means to sharpen can be easily tied to iron (that's normal), but to stick the same to a man's face is rather curious. It's just as lopsided to figure that the man's face will be gladdened (as is normal), while the iron will somehow be gladdened also (which is curious).

Still, it's also quite absurd to reckon that iron is sharpened by iron. Iron, if it gets sharpened, is sharpened on a stone, not on more iron. In fact, when a sharp iron object meets another one, both objects will get blunted.

And when they meet a jolly tingle erupts, quite like the joy that arises in two friends meeting. Ergo: this verb should probably be translated with to gladden or rejoice.

efes=for all time

v. 31: to stone to death means to question, to ensure the response is thoroughly researched and understood by the one being interrogated.

Continuing to v. 32-33: 15058, א‎האֶפֶסהח, ‎‎ahafeshah

ah=brother

ha=who sees, who perceives

fe=phe, from Nephilim "extraordinarily"

Root פלל (palal) is all about distinguishing and discerning, and often emphasizes representation of something unseen or not present. It's frequently used in the sense of to entreat or pray on someone's behalf.

Noun תפלה (tepilla) means prayer. Noun פליל (palil) describes an inspector or umpire and noun פלילה (pelila) refers to the place at which an umpire operates; a judge's office. Adjective פלילי (pelili) means "for a judge" or "to be judged" and noun פליליה (peliliya) means verdict or assessment. Noun פול (pol) means beans (and was probably imported but fits right in).

Verb פלה (pala) means to be distinct or separated. Pronoun פלני (peloni) refers to "a certain person/place."

Verb פלא (pala') means to be extraordinary. Nouns פלא (pele') and מפלאה (mipla'a) refer to extraordinary things or deeds. Adjective פלאי (pil'i) means extraordinary.

shah=shuah, but also remains humble.

The verb שחח (shahah) means to bow down or be bowed down, crouched or humbled. Adjective שח (shah) means low or lowly.

This was the expectation for the temperament of the debate. Not unusual.

v. 34: 4514, דהא‎ד, dahad, "sharp understanding."

Jesus says, "You want me to be wise like God but be humble also, now listen to how I respond in the manner you require."

v. 35-37: 9742, טזדב, tazdev, "To enlist in the elevation of humanity."

ta=to hire

az=to help

ev=Eve, humanity

It is generally accepted God created the universe and the Torah to create a race of beings, us, believe or not, that is ingenious enough to overcome any limitation save the eventual end of his own life.

Jesus says if not, then:

v. 38: 9783, טז‎חג‎, 16. "Watch, and learn."

"The ayin is the sixteenth letter of the alef-beis. According to the AriZal, the ayin is a vav contained in a nun. The nun represents humility. The vav signifies Torah, which descends from Heaven to earth in its inherent design of a hook or a chute. Vav also has the gematria of six. This represents the Six Orders of the Mishnah, the Oral Law. Only an individual who is unassuming, who has the humility of the nun, is fit to acquire the higher level of the vav, the “crown of Torah.”

There is a second aspect of the ayin’s design, which is that the ayin is actually two eyes united at the optical chiasma—the nerve center that receives and interprets visual impulses—at the back of the head. Two eyes attached to a central link can be clearly seen in the letter’s form.2 This offers us a new understanding of the mitzvah of donning tefillin: specifically to the positioning of the head tefillin. In Deuteronomy3 it says that G‑d’s commandments shall be “between your eyes.”

In Jewish law, between one’s eyes means the point between the eyes as it travels up just above the hairline. In actuality, the proper position of the head tefillin is slightly above the hairline atop the soft part of the skull.

Viewed from above, this soft spot is literally at the mid-point between one’s eyes and the chiasma. The head tefillin is thus set directly between the physical eyes of the body and the eye of the brain, just as the Torah prescribes."

The Jews tried to trap Jesus in arguments again, but instead Jesus left and demonstrated: He Baptized people, He included them in a ritual bath which takes place before a marraige, AKA Shabbat.

The end of the section has a value of 15-8-10, י״החי‎‎, "the living."

Jesus went forth and give each person He met a purpose. This is prescribed in the Torah, much more than once. Except Rome taught most people they did not serve a purpose except to serve others- either in the army, as a slave, a whore, or for entertainment, and you did not want to be that entertaining to the Romans.

One person or crowd of persons at a time, Jesus spoke of the importance of individual purpose and how its realization through Shabbat served the state not through slavery but through equality.

There has never been a Jew since the dawn of time that has rejected this idea. Certainly it did not hurt them when Christ reminded them of it, but every Jew understands the importance of social equity and the Jewish people always have.

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driiipgod · 4 months ago

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[TEXT] I think we both know the answer to that 😏

[TEXT] Maybe I can really help with your grieving process...

contact: colby. 🔥

@driiipgod: netflix? chill? both?

( 📩 ) ; are you offering a hookup to the grieving girl?

( 📩 ) ; tempting offer.

#unpunishble #MESSIAH SPEAKS—TEXT REPLIES #//YOURE SO WELCOME

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michelletan345 · 3 years ago

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My testimony

Growing up in a Buddhist family, I had been brought to temples since young. During my junior college years, I started seriously exploring Buddhism. I would read up on Buddhism, chant scriptures and even visit temples to pray for good exam results. However, outwardly, my behaviour showed that I was still living in darkness. My heart was pre-occupied with BGR, exams, online games and secular music - no different from the world.

It was a couple of months after my A’Levels that my grandmother fell seriously ill. I remember praying to the goddess of mercy for my grandmother’s healing. However, my prayers went unanswered. I also remember how dreadful and depressing the Taoist funeral rites were, and how distraught my mother was. Life suddenly seemed to have taken on a gloomy tinge, and the afterlife depicted by Buddhism/ Taoism didn’t seeem any better.

Was this what life was about, I wondered.

It was around that time that my friends invited me to an Alpha course at their church. Feeling down and with much freed up time before starting university, I accepted the invitation.

And things changed after that.

I started looking forward to those sessions. The people were friendly and there was always delicious home-cooked food provided during teabreaks! The arguments by Nicky Gumbel to support Christianity were also compelling. For example, he quoted C.S. Lewis, saying that Jesus was either a liar or a lunatic or the Lord. Now, that was intriguing!

I started to be curious as to what the Bible was about. I was also determined to apply my amateur literary critique skills gained from school (Literature being my favourite subject) to deconstruct the text. There was just one problem - I was too prideful to ask my friends for one, as I didn’t want them to think I could be so easily swayed to the faith.

Nevertheless, curiosity got the better of me, and after a search on Google, I visited a Christian bookstore to purchase a Bible, hiding it in my bag until I reached home, as if afraid that anyone would find out this secret. Once home, I started to pore through the pages, gulping down this living water thirstily. I felt a sense of wonder as I flipped through the pages, marvelling that I was actually reading about God’s actual words to us through His prophets! I was especially touched by the wisdom in Ecclesiastes. After reading through the Bible, I could not help but be convinced that the God speaking in the Bible was real. My literary examination did not uncover any inconsistencies which seemed to suggest the contents in the Bible were fictitious. On the contrary, it seemed to be written with authority. Could this be the answer?

And my eyes were opened.

Weeping, as my heart whispered to me the obvious reply, I recited the sinner’s prayer on the floor of my bedroom and accepted Jesus into my heart. I was 18.

But the story does not end there quite yet. While the stony walls of the Jericho that was my heart had been chipped away by God, the Jericho that was my prideful self took longer to crumble. I was ashamed that I had changed my mind when I had always been known aas a Buddhist. What would everyone think of me?

However, eventually, I could not betray my heart and keep my conversion a secret. It took a few days/ weeks, but I eventually confessed to my my friends and family that I had accepted Christianity. They were surprised, as expected, but did not have a major reaction otherwise. Prideful me had overestimated myself in their eyes!

Looking back, I do regret that I had not reacted like the Samaritan woman at the well (who had immediately and joyfully shared her new found revelation of the Messiah across to her entire town). At the same time, the fact I was ashamed serves as a reminder to myself up til today that I had not come to the faith swayed by a trick of emotions or persuasive charisma, but simply because of God’s Word - which had revealed the hard truth which my sinful self had refused to accept but eventually had to bow down to. God won!

#christianity #testimony #ex-buddhist #convert #JESUS

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troybeecham · 4 years ago

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Fr. Troy Beecham

Sermon, 2 Epiphany 2021

John 1:43-51

“Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

The day before this interaction between Jesus, Philip, and Nathanael (also called Bartholomew in the other Gospels), Andrew and Peter, who both had been disciples of John the Baptist, had become Jesus’ disciples. The Baptist has said to his disciples when he saw Jesus approaching, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” And so, they became disciples of Jesus from that moment. They approach Jesus and have asked him,“Where are you dwelling?”, and he answers them saying, “Come and see”. In the Gospel according to St. John, this is spoken in the form of a command,meaning something more along the lines of “come and, because you believe, you shall see”. But see what?

It was Andrew who first believed and became a disciple of Jesus, and it was he who went and found his brother Simon to introduce to Jesus, saying “We have found the Messiah”. That was the day when Jesus said to Simon, after meeting him, “You will be called Cephas (Peter)”. The next day Jesus decides to return to Galilee and the text simply says that Jesus finds Philip. Among the crowds who were following the Baptist, Jesus singles out Philip, and says to him, “Follow me.” Philip, with Andrew and Simon Peter, were from the same hometown, Beth Saida. One imagines that it was one of the brothers who points out Philip to Jesus. Philip immediately joins Jesus, and he in turn finds Nathanael (probably Bartholomew of the other gospels), and tells him that the three have found the one to whom the Old Testament points, saying to him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael quips, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” It had become a commonplace for Judeans to despise Galileans as country bumpkins, hot-headed radicals always ready to fight. Nazareth, being one of the main towns in Galilee, was held in little respect. Rather than engaging in a lengthy remonstration, Philip simply says, “Come and see”, just as Jesus had said to Andrew and Peter. Surprisingly, Nathanael joins them, but he seems to be holding his judgment in reserve. Come and see what, exactly? Sure, John the Baptist had said to his disciples that Jesus was the Messiah, the Lamb of God, but from Nazareth?

When Jesus sees Philip bringing Nathanael to meet him, he exclaims, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asks Jesus how he knows him. Was it perhaps because of Philip? Had the Baptist spoken about him? Had his devotion been noticed and had he been singled out for praise? Well, it turns out, it was none of these…nothing that would give him reason for feeling superior to anyone else. Rather, Jesus casually mentions that he had seen him sitting under a fig tree before Philip came to fetch him. Knowing that Jesus could have had no physical means of knowing the small details of how and where Philip found him is a revelation to Nathanael. Something sparks in his spirit and he knows that, even for something that might seem so trivial, only God could have revealed it to Jesus, something that had not happened among the Jewish people for centuries. Nathanael is stunned and electrified all at once, and exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel!” Nathanael’s exclamation comes from his knowledge of, and belief in, the writings of the Prophets. Knowing this, Jesus says to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” He then added, speaking to them all, in the plural “Very truly I tell you all, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.” From the start of his public ministry, Jesus informs his disciples, and us, that he is the fulfillment of the Prophets prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, the great end time representative of God who reveals God to the world and to whom all judgment is given. It must have been a shocking revelation to the four disciples gathered there I can imagine how their minds would have been overwhelmed with the implications of what Jesus is claiming about himself. Jesus is claiming that from now on God is communication with the people of Israel, and all of the nations, directly through him. He, Jesus, is, as John has said only a few verses before this, the Word of God Incarnate, the living embodiment of the mind, voice, and will of God. These words are nothing less than thunderous, earth shaking, life altering.

And amidst all of this blazing revelation, what is it that Jesus has invited them all to see? What is it that he has invited us to see? We can get a first glimpse in what Jesus says to Nathanael. Jesus uses of the term Israelite; not Judean, not Galilean, not even by tribe. Jesus in so doing demonstrates that, like John the Baptist, he is calling on all the scattered and divided people of Israel to respond as one people, letting go off centuries of rivalry and mistrust in each other and turning back to God as a united people, the people of the covenant, the people of the Law and the Prophets. The self-revelation of God in Jesus begins with his call for them to return to faithfulness to their covenant with God as one people. None of them would have missed the significance of what Jesus had said using the term Israelite, and in the years to come they would learn a hard discipleship through being required to accept into their company Galileans, Judeans, tax collectors, gentiles…even women!

The coming of the kingdom of God among us who are his disciples begins when we leave behind judgment and learn simple obedience. Obedience to what, or to whom? Obedience to the Son of God, who reveals to all creation the heart, mind, and will of God…and that will is that we love one another as he loves us. Change, the healing of the world, begins with a small number of people who have learned to first be obedient to God by accepting each other, and then they find that they have learned to love each other, and all of our old judgments about each other have been swallowed up in the love of God. It is not up to us to create the Kingdom of God and complete the healing of the world; only God can do that. It is not up to us to change each other; only God can do that. Ours is only to love each other and to invite each other into the fellowship of disciples of Jesus. If we will, then we too shall come to see the glorious self-revelation of the God of all creation in his most beloved Son. Won’t you come and see?

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ's glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #troy beecham episcopal #jesus #father troy beecham episcopal #saints #god #salvation

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heartsinruins · 4 years ago

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GENERAL

★ This is a drama free zone. I don’t want to see excessive OOC venting on my dash, especially if it is passive-aggressively directed at other members of the community. If you have a problem with someone, talk about it in private, it’s really that simple.

★ We don’t condone ship-shaming on this blog. I’m a firm believer in people’s right to do whatever the fuck they please as long as it makes them happy. Some nerds roleplaying a personalized take on a character on the internet is not going to have any bearing over canon whatsoever. Please chill. (Obviously p*do stuff is gross so fuck right off with that shit tho.)

★ I work a job that takes up a lot of my time. I am also mentally ill. Please keep this in mind when interacting with me (the mun) OOC. There will come times where i won’t have the energy to engage in social interactions, even over text, it is a 100% me problem, so please, don’t ever take it personally. I read all of my messages and appreciate every single one immensely.

★ This blog does not accept magic anons.

★ If you’re under 18 i will slam dunk you into the nearest trash bin. Get off my blog.

RP ETIQUETTE

★ Do not mass like or reblog my content. Additionally, always reblog RP memes from the source. It is extremely frustrating to have to dig through my notes in search for the stuff that is actually important.

★ Do not reblog threads, OOC posts or art that does not mention or explicitly involve you. Close friends are exempt from this rule.

★ Do not god-mod or metagame. I will drop you harder than a hot potato if you do this.

★ Generally speaking, this is a paragraph/novella style only blog, but i will put out the occasional call for smaller interactions when i am feeling uninspired or lazy. We all have days like that now and again.

★ Pleeease make an effort to move the plot/scene forward. I can’t believe i have to say this but “walks away and/or ignores.” is almost never a valid reply unless my character has done something to warrant such a response.

★ My character is dangerous. It is not cool of you to go out of your way to push his buttons or otherwise test him because your character has plot armor, i will not be expected to tone down his violent impulses so your muse can look “badass.”

SHIPPING AND NSFW

★ Like all my characters, Stripes/RA9 is a single-ship muse and is not currently taken.

★ Once Stripes’ affections have been earned, there’s no dividing them between multiple partners. He just isn’t wired that way.

★ I’m willing to explore different shipping scenarios over on Discord, but don’t push me to make it canon, if Stripes is in an established relationship on this blog, it’s not going to happen.

★ There may be mentions and depictions of very heavy subject matters on this blog. Including, but not limited to: Gore, body horror, mental illness, suicidal ideation, physical abuse, psychological abuse and sexual abuse.

★ Writing about something does not mean that you condone it in real life. Recognize this.

PLOTTING/THREADS

★ I vastly prefer plotting over memes, but will reblog the latter now and again regardless.

★ If you like a plotting call, you will be expected to come up with ideas too. RP is a two way street, you can never expect your partner to do all the heavy lifting.

★ Meme threads are more likely to be dropped than plotted threads. I’m very story oriented and if it doesn’t feel like a thread is going to have any bearing over Stripes’ story or character, my interest usually fizzles out pretty quick.

……………………………………………………

Thank you for reading all the way to the end. If you can abide by these rules, you’re ready to get stuck into some shenanigans with the android messiah himself. Have at it.

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driiipgod · 1 month ago

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@iconiic

[TEXT] Guess who is having people over for a barbacue this weekend?!

[TEXT] My family is coming to meet you.

[TEXT] SURPRISE.

#iconiic #willcw #MESSIAH SPEAKS—TEXT REPLIES #😂😂😂😂

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maman-suho · 5 years ago

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Vampire Issues || Jisung

“I think you have dental cavities” + “You have your dentist on WhatsApp?”

Gif by @clehanie

Tags: Vampire!Jisung, Human!Reader, Neutral!Reader, Jisung’s First Time, Dirty Talk, Humor

Words: 3k+

A/N: Trying to do a vampire drabble, but not in an emo atmosphere where everything is serious and dark was my plan. Here take some funny vampire vibes, please. And yes, I did it @ifyoudokokodope.

***unedited***

The cold air was hitting you in the face while you were trying to act as if the frigid bench you were sat on wasn’t freezing your ass. Each one of your breathing was sending condensation curls in the air and you were glad your coat was protecting you from autumn’s coldness.

On your right, Jisung was speaking constantly as the chatterbox he was, and you swear to God all you wanted was to come back home and bury yourself in some fluffy blankets. But he didn’t even realize it. He was still describing this horrible feeling he had developed two days ago, his naked arms moving in the night air as if you weren’t here freezing to death. Maybe that was his plan; making you die so he could use it as an excuse to make you stay forever by his side.

Deciding it was time to put an end to his interminable speech you stopped him to summarize 30 minutes of conversation. “Okay so you’re telling me that it hurts at the back of your mouth when you drink either a cold blood from a dead body— which is gross by the way,” you started while picturing your best friend eating on a corpse with blood all around his mouth, “or when you’re sucking hot blood from a living creature?”

“Yes.” He simply answered while looking at you with his cute squirrelish eyes. “And what’s even weirder is that I never felt that before!”

You stopped for a second, wondering in silence. You could feel his eyes looking at you as if you were the messiah of his troubles. “Can you even feel pain?” You asked.

"What?” If your phone had been able to capture his presence, you would have take a picture of his surprised expression. “Y/N—”

“No I mean," you started to correct yourself. “you’re basically dead. If I don’t punch you in the face with garlic on my hand you won’t feel it so how is it possible for you to feel that—”

“I know I should have stayed quiet about that.” He replied to your mocking smile while leaving the bench to run away from you. In a rush, your hand grabbed his arm and forced the not so young boy to sit again, even if you both knew he had enough strength to resist it.

“Okay okay. Wait. Are you sure it’s coming from your teeth?” It was the first time in 40 minutes that you were really considering his problem as something serious.

“Absolutely sure!” He yelled. Two walkers on the street looked at you with weird faces, and you realized how strange it was to be with a guy who barely wore a shirt in autumn. “You wanna check?” Suddenly Jisung opened his mouth and approached it from your face.

“Ew no!” With a hand on his head, you pushed him away before he got too close. You couldn’t decide if you were disgusted, afraid or amused. “And let your teeth far away from my neck, please. I do care about my life.”

“You know I won’t hurt you.” Answered the young vampire with a genuine smile. With the coldness of the air, you instantly felt your cheeks blushed but were glad your ears had reddened due to the weather, so he didn’t notice anything.

Clearing your throat you kept talking to avoid the sudden tension. “Han. Do you brush your teeth?”

“What? Why?”

“Do you?” You said a bit more authoritative.

“No of course not.” He defended himself. “I’m a vampire why would I do that? Only mortals do such boring things.”

You looked at him with a meaningful glare, knowing perfectly what was creating this sudden pain. On his side Han Jisung, was trying his best to not look at you directly, watching the street as if it was now the most interesting thing of the night. You didn’t really understand why he was still acting like an old teenager after so many years of living (or in this case, of being dead) but liked the fact that he didn’t make any difference between you, just as if you were two normal young adults in college. To be honest that’s one of the reasons you liked winter and autumn so much. Because their long nights were giving you more time to spend with this unbearable and hyperactive dead creature.

"What?” He finally asked to prevent you from putting your head in the clouds.

"How old are you again?” You tried even if you knew exactly how old he was.

"In human life? I heard I was transformed when I was 19."

"No. Vampire age you silly bloodsucker.”

“42.”

As old as it seemed compared to your age, it was really young for a vampire. And you knew transformation had stopped his body from growing up, so maybe it also had slowed his psychological way to the adult world. That’s why 42 years after his death he was still Jisung, the cute and loud guy you had met two years ago at the music store.

"And you never brushed your teeth in 42 years?”

"Nope.”

You cleared your throat once again. “Han. Let’s be honest. I think you have a dental cavity.”

A short silence fell on the conversation before his shock made him realize what you’d just said. “Excuse me, what did you say?”

“You heard me. And I’m sure you knew it.”

“Stop kidding. I’m dead I can’t…”

“I’m not sure bacterias really care about you being alive or not. They’re eating you anyway.”

“Gross.”

Your laugh echoed on the dying leaves on the pavement. “Says the guy who sucked a grandma last week.”

“Don’t say it like that. At least she wasn’t dead.”

You put on a disgusted face to judge him. Indeed imagining him bite an old grandma in her sits while she was watching the last tv show was giving you the need to throw up. “Maybe she is now. Old people are weak.”

“I’m sure she’s not.” He said but you felt like he was making a mental note to check that later.

When he looked at you again you were now on your phone, chatting with someone as if the actual conversation was over. He felt a new stress grow in his chest and let his suspicious mind ask for him what was going on. Not that he was jealous, but he was more worry about what you were probably planning. “Wait, Y/N.” He knew you for many years now and was able to read in you like an open book. You were preparing something. “Who are you texting?”

“My dentist.”

“What? You have your dentist on Whatsapp?”

“Yes.” You answered your eyes still on the phone. “Every human person should text their dentist once in a while. It’s a matter of survival.”

“And what is she saying?”

You felt the apprehension in his voice but decided to be honest. Indeed, you were aware he was smart enough to feel it coming. « One of her patient canceled his appointment at 6:45 pm— Jisung? » Raising your head you discovered he had silently left the bench to escape your plan.

“No. Nononono I’m not going there. Dentists are monsters I’m sure their ancestors used to be vampire chasers.” You heard him say from far away.

Shit. He was really fast, you knew it. You also knew that if he had decided to flee, you wouldn’t be able to catch him, his supernatural pace unable to reach for a human. “Wait, please, Jisung come back.” You tried.

He was afraid, you realized. Afraid as every child would be for their first time to the dentist. In a way, you had to admit it was cute. But his avoidance prevented you from smiling. On the contrary, you got up to chase him. “I promise it won’t be painful. Plus, my dentist is very nice and you won’t feel anything, especially since you’re–”

“Since what?!” He said with an angry voice. He had stopped walking, and so had you. And in a blink of an eye, he was right in front of you again, failing to control his unnatural speed in public. Even if you knew he was able to be fast it always surprised you. Especially when he was angry, and when your human instincts told you to run away. “Since I’m dead?” he said with a deep voice, his face only mere centimeters away from yours.

In a normal situation you would have been flustered by this sudden proximity, but feeling his fear turning into anger you did your best to calm your beating heart. “I know I am a dead monster, and I know you are still alive. You said it three times in fifteen minutes. Stop making me feel guilty about that. And don’t pretend you’re not afraid of me, I can hear your heartbeats.”

It was now time to act responsibly before things turned into something terrible for your relationship. That’s why you took a deep breath, putting your hands down on his arms to calm him. He was more afraid than angry, you thought. “Okay first, there’s nothing to feel guilty about. I’m not afraid of you. That’s absolutely not why my heartbeat is increasing.” He was now too close to your face to not realize your blushing. But your eyes looking straight at him, he wasn’t able to look away and hide the happiness your words were creating in his cold heart. “Second, my dentist is really nice, I’m sure you’ll love her and why not trying? Maybe she’ll be able to solve your problem.” You kept going in a comforting tone, even if your heart was threatening to tear your chest up.

“Not as much as I love you.” He answered smiley again.

“You…” Flustered wasn’t enough to describe your feelings. You’d succeeded to calm him with words, but were now stressed enough to die of hypertension. “Stop that.” You said while avoiding his eyes. If Jisung was human you would have been able to feel the warmness of his body due to the reduced distance.

“But why would I go there?” he started to whine again as a way to let you breathe and relax. Your heartbeat was now starting to make him feel anxious about the effect he had on you. “I’m sure I can ask a mentor, he will be able to solve my problem. Maybe Jinyoung Hyung. This old pal might have faced that before.”

Suddenly something warm seized his hand. Looking at it briefly he watched you interlaced your fingers with his cold ones. The warmness of your body was one of the things he liked so much about you. You felt so comfortable, and cozy in a way he knew he couldn’t. “Do it for me?” You acted, toying with his feeling and knowing it would bring him where you wanted.

If he had a heart he would have been able to feel it burn his insides. But all he could do was to keep driving you in a corner for fun, as he always did since you’d met. “Hmmmm but—”

That’s when he felt your cold lips touch his. It only lasted a second but it was enough to make him shut up. His eyes became round, his mouth opened in an « o ». The vampire reaction was cute enough to make you smile. This sudden kiss had him shut his mouth for a second before he was back to normal, though a serious frown had appeared on his face.

“I thought you told me to keep my teeth far from your face.”

You laughed, watching him smile. “I know. But I’m trying to be convincing.”

“It almost worked. But…” in a malicious smile he got closer to you, linking his arms around your waist even if your coat was providing him to actually hug you close. “What about you give me a real kiss and then I’ll go to the dentist?” His face was now really close to yours but you weren’t able to complain, smiling childishly to him.

Your arms fell on his shoulders and your cold fingers intertwined with each other. “No. Go to the dentist and then I’ll give you a proper kiss. After some hours, of course, I don’t want my mouth to taste the denti—”

It was enough to convince him to go there, even if he thought it was useless. “That’s a deal.”

To stop you from teasing him even more, he kissed you quickly, just as you did before, and broke the embrace before you had time to realize what was happening. Taking you hands he then started to leave the place you arrived an hour ago, seeing you smile in the corner of his eye. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be late for that.”

________

Close to his face, you could almost feel his breathing on your skin. “That’s it.” You finally said. “Forward and then backward. Again. Yes, again. Just like that.” A silence fell in the room. You were watching each other calmly, doing your best to control the situation. “And now do it faster.” Your voice echoed in his head and he stopped for a second.

“Are you sure?” He asked, afraid to do something wrong.

“Sure.” You gently smiled. “What are you afraid of?”

Listening to your advice he agreed to rely on you. “Wait not too fast either.” You stopped him, seeing he was following your advice to the letter a bit too much. You were now afraid he wouldn’t control himself and broke something. Facing your worry, the young vampire slowed down until you were at ease again.

“Okay, that pace is perfect. Keep it like that. And try to keep it for many minutes.” You finally said, happy to share this so weird moment with him. You’d never imagined finding yourself in this situation at such a young age, especially with a vampire. But thinking about it, you decided to consider this as training for the future.

“Minutes?!” He yelled, stopping everything he was doing.

A shocked face appeared on your features. “Oh, you were planning to be quick?” You mocked.

“It’s not something I really plan you know.”

You raised your eyes to heaven. He had such a way to be funny and irritating at the same time. “Please, do it for at least 3 minutes. That’s all I’m asking.” You finally said to stop this useless conversation. Was he planning to shut up?

“But it’s too long I won’t be able to hold it. Let me go faster.”

“Han no I— wait stop you’re going to—” You felt his speed increase, each of his movements turning messy and impossible to follow. Closing your eyes you realized it was too late. He had decided to pursue his own pace, not caring anymore about what you’d said before. That’s when you heard it. Crack. Something hadn’t survived his supernatural strength.

Opening your eyes you saw the toothbrush divided into two pieces. The first one in his hand, and the other one still in his mouth. “You’re going to break it.” You finished, exhaling loudly. You knew it was a bad idea the day he asked you to learn him how to brush his teeth but had still decided to give him advice. It was like helping a child do it, except that this kid was impatient and had enough strength to break a neck with one hand. “Well done,” you said, exasperated. “now we have to buy a new one.” You hadn’t planned to spend your monthly budget in toothbrushes, but if it was the cost of his learning you were ready to help him.

“It’s not my fault those little things are so delicate.”

“No, you’re just too strong and unstoppable.” You said. Seeing a smile appear on his face you prevented him to do something stupid. “And don’t even try to use your supernatural strength as an excuse to not brush your teeth. The dentist was clear, you have to take care of yourself.” You turned to put the dead toothbrush in the trash bin.

He smiled, mouthing ‘okay madam’ before hugging you from behind. His sweet movement was a way to apologize, you knew it. But if you succeeded to hide your smile he still felt your heart increase its beating. « I like it when you talk dirty. » laughed the young koala on your back.

Escaping his embrace you left the bathroom to take your coat. “Come on the grocery store close in ten minutes and I won’t let you come back home before you learned how to properly brush your teeth.” He watched you preparing yourself to fight the cold and the snow, and smiled at the cute shape your heavy coats, gloves, pullover, and beanie, were giving you. You looked like a baby wrapped in blankets.

“Can we buy some candies while going there?” He said, following you outside. “I heard Chupa Chups made special lollipops for Christmas.”

“So you can have caries again?” You looked at him seriously. “Hell no, I don’t want to carry you to the dentist every week.” A smile appeared on your face, happy with your sense of humor before you kept walking in the desert street.

“HAHA, really funny.” He said loudly. “But if you reward me with such a kiss every time we go there, then I’m ready to do it every day of my life.” He said with a proud smile on his squirrelish face.

“It’ll be long, don’t you think?” You joked, not even considering playing his game. He laughed and took your hand in his. Even if your skins were separated by dense gloves, he was able to feel the warmth of your fingers around his.

« Okay then, every day of your life? »

You smiled. « Better. »

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frmartinshomiliesandreflections · 4 years ago

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12th November >> Fr. Martin’s Gospel Reflections / Homilies on Matthew 17:10-13 for Saturday, Second Week of Advent: ‘I tell you that Elijah has come already’.

Saturday, Second Week of Advent.

Gospel (Except USA)

Matthew 17:10-13

Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him

As they came down from the mountain the disciples put this question to Jesus, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?’ ‘True;’ he replied ‘Elijah is to come to see that everything is once more as it should be; however, I tell you that Elijah has come already and they did not recognise him but treated him as they pleased; and the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands.’ The disciples understood then that he had been speaking of John the Baptist.

Reflections (8)

(i) Saturday, Second Week of Advent

There was a tradition among the Jewish people, present in the Jewish Scriptures, that the prophet Elijah would return to earth just before the coming of God’s anointed one, the Messiah, to prepare people for his coming. That is why, at the end of today’s first reading which was written less than two hundred years before Jesus, the author says, ‘Happy shall they be who see you’, in other words, ‘Happy shall they be who see Elijah when he returns’, because they can be assured that the coming of the Messiah is imminent. In the gospel reading, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as the prophet Elijah who had been promised. He had worked to prepare people for the coming of Jesus. Yet, by the time Jesus spoke in today’s gospel reading, John the Baptist had been executed. As Jesus says, ‘they did not recognize him but treated him shamefully’. People should have been happy to have seen Elijah present in John the Baptist, ‘happy shall they be who see you’. Instead, many wanted rid of him. Jesus goes on to say, ‘the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands’. People should have been even happier to see Jesus, God’s anointed one, and, yet, some wanted Jesus dead. We don’t always respond well to the gifts and graces that God sends us. We fail to recognize the ways that God is blessing us. We reject God’s gifts to us, or carry on as if they are not there. Today’s gospel reading encourages us to grow in our appreciation of all that God is doing for us, all that God is giving to us, all that God is holding out to us in his love. Advent is a season when we are invited to learn to receive all that comes to us from God. The Advent prayer, ‘Come, Lord Jesus’ is one expression of our desire, our openness, to receive the coming of the Lord and all the blessings he brings with him.

And/Or

(ii) Saturday, Second Week of Advent

We hear a great deal about John the Baptist in the Season of Advent. He has been rightly referred to as the great Advent Saint. He features particularly in the opening two weeks of Advent. After that, the other great Advent Saint, Mary, the mother of Jesus, begins to feature more prominently in the church’s liturgy. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus identifies John the Baptist with the prophet Elijah. There had been an expectation that Elijah would come just before the Messiah would come. Jesus identifies John as that Elijah figure. Yet, by the time Jesus speaks in this morning’s gospel reading from Matthew John had already been beheaded. In the words of the gospel reading, ‘they treated him as they pleased’. Matthew presents Jesus in our gospel reading foreseeing his own death in the death of John. Both were prophets who disturbed certain vested interests and both paid the ultimate price. Even as we approach the feast of the birth of Jesus we are being reminded of how Jesus’ life would end. The fate of both John and Jesus reminds us that proclaiming the gospel of God in word and deed brings its own cost. It will not always be well received. That is why, if we are to be courageous in our living of the faith, we need to keep asking for the Lord’s help. A verse from today’s responsorial psalm would be a fitting prayer, ‘O Lord, rouse up your might, O Lord, come to our help’.

And/Or

(iii) Saturday, Second Week of Advent

In this morning’s gospel reading Jesus identifies John the Baptist with the prophet Elijah. It was believed that Elijah would come just before the coming of the long awaited Messiah. Jesus says of John the Baptist, the long awaited Elijah figure, that ‘they did not recognize him, but treated him as they pleased’. The experience of John the Baptist would become the experience of Jesus himself, as Jesus says in that reading, ‘the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands’. Both John and Jesus proclaimed the values of God’s kingdom and both of them suffered greatly for doing so. Even as we draw nearer to celebrating the joyful event of the birth of Jesus we are being reminded of the cross that awaited this child. I have a print of a painting of the birth of Jesus by the German artist Sieger Köderand at the bottom of the painting there is an image of the adult Christ under the beam of the cross looking upon the baby. At Christmas we celebrate the good news that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son. This morning’s gospel reminds us that God’s giving was a giving-unto-death, a giving that cost not less than everything. It is this costly gift that we open our hearts to receive anew at this time of the year, so that we can give to others as God has given to us.

And/Or

(iv) Saturday, Second Week of Advent

There was a Jewish tradition in the time of Jesus that the day of the Lord’s coming would be preceded by the coming of a messenger who would prepare the way for the Lord’s coming. According to the prophet Malachi, the last book of the Hebrew Bible, that messenger would be the prophet Elijah who would come from heaven to where he had ascended many centuries before. That is the tradition Jesus’ disciples give expression to in their question to Jesus at the beginning of today’s gospel reading, ‘Why do the scribes say that Elijah has to come first?’ This question reflects an objection to Jesus by the Jewish scribes, ‘if Jesus is God’s anointed one, why has he not been preceded by Elijah, as the Scriptures say he will be?’ Jesus replies by saying that Elijah has come; he is none other than John the Baptist, but people have not recognized John as the messenger of God, the Elijah figure sent before the Lord’s anointed one. Jesus draws attention to the human failure to recognize the messengers God sends. We live in the period after the death and resurrection of Jesus and the risen Lord is constantly sending us his messengers. We too can fail to recognize them. Advent is a time when we are invited to become more attuned to the various ways that the Lord comes to us. Very often he comes to us in ways that forces us to rethink who we are and where we stand. We can be tempted to reject the Lord’s messenger as John the Baptist was rejected by many of his contemporaries. Our resistance can sometimes be a sign that the Lord is trying to break through to us in some new way.

And/Or

(v) Saturday, Second Week of Advent

This morning’s gospel reading makes reference to Jesus and his disciples coming down the mountain. The mountain in question is the Mount of Transfiguration. The disciples have had a wonderful experience of Jesus in all his glory on that mountain, so wonderful that Peter wanted to prolong the experience, ‘Let us build three tents...’ As they come down the mountain, the mood changes somewhat. In response to the disciples’ question about the coming of Elijah before the coming of the Messiah, Jesus identifies John the Baptist as that expected Elijah figure. Jesus goes on to say with regard to John the Baptist, ‘they did not recognize him but treated him as they pleased’. Jesus makes reference there to the recent beheading of John the Baptist by Herod Antipas. He also declares that how John was treated is a forewarning of how he himself will be treated, ‘the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands’. After experiencing Jesus’ glory on the mountain the disciples are now faced with the looming reality of Jesus’ violent death. As we are about to enter the third week of Advent and draw closer to the feast of the birth of Jesus, we are being reminded that the child in the manger, the son of Mary, would become the Son of Man who die on a Roman cross because of his faithfulness to the work that God gave him to do. At Christmas we celebrate God’s giving of his Son to us. This morning’s gospel reminds us that this giving was a giving unto death. As the fourth evangelist expresses it, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’.

And/Or

(vi) Saturday, Second Week in Advent

In the weeks prior to the feast of Christmas John the Baptist features prominently. In this morning’s gospel reading, Jesus refers to John the Baptist without mentioning him by name. The disciples ask Jesus about the Jewish tradition that the prophet Elijah will come before the coming of God’s anointed one. This tradition is based on a text in the prophet Malachi, ‘I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me… I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes’. In the gospel reading Jesus declares that Elijah has already come and they treated him as they pleased, which is a clear reference to the recent execution of John the Baptist. Jesus sees in what happened to John a sign of what will happen to him, ‘the Son of Man will suffer similarly at their hands’. We are about to celebrate the birth of Jesus and prior to that we will read the gospel about the birth of John the Baptist. However, this morning’s gospel reading refers to the death of both John the Baptist and Jesus. We are being reminded that we cannot separate the birth of John and Jesus from their death. The cross casts its shadow over the crib of Bethlehem. When we look at the baby in the crib, we cannot but call to mind the good shepherd who laid down his life for his flock, the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life for all. It is that same self-giving love of Jesus that we celebrate at every Eucharist and that is given to us anew at every Eucharist. As Paul reminds us, as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup we proclaim the Lord’s death.We are sent from the Eucharist to live what we have proclaimed, to give what we have received.

And/Or

(vii) Saturday, Second Week in Advent

When Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, in response to a question of his disciples, that ‘Elijah has come already’, he is referring to John the Baptist. He was the Elijah figure, the prophet whom the Jewish people expected to come just prior to the coming of the Messiah. Jesus says of John the Baptist that ‘they did not recognize him but treated him as they pleased’. By this stage in Jesus’ ministry, John the Baptist had been beheaded by the ruler of Galilee, Herod Antipas. Jesus is saying that people did not appreciate who John the Baptist really was; he was indeed the prophet who was expected to come just before the Messiah. Because they did not recognize him for who he was, they treated him shamefully. Jesus was very aware that the fate of John the Baptist would be his own fate too. Many people would fail to recognize who Jesus really was, would fail to appreciate his true significance, and, as a result, they would do to Jesus what they please, treating him shamefully. The failure to appreciate others, to recognize their true significance, often leads to their being treated badly. Treating others with respect begins with the recognition of their full significance and dignity before God. How we see others will often impact on how we relate to them. Today’s gospel reading suggests that the way people see others can be very limited, and, so how they treat them can leave a lot to be desired. The gospels keep challenging us to refine our seeing, so that we see others in all their God-given dignity and relate to them accordingly.

And/Or

(viii) Saturday, Second Week in Advent

Today’s gospel reading from Matthew follows on immediately after the story of the transfiguration of Jesus, in which the disciples saw Moses and Elijah speaking with the transfigured Jesus on the mountain. As they come down the mountain, the disciples ask Jesus a question about Elijah, whom they have just seen with Jesus. According to the Jewish Scriptures, Elijah was to return to prepare the way for the Messiah. If Jesus is the Messiah, where is Elijah, they wonder? In response, Jesus identifies John the Baptist with Elijah; John is the prophet who was to come to prepare the way for God’s anointed one. By this time in Jesus’ ministry John the Baptist had been executed by Herod Antipas, and Jesus now announces that he will experience the very same fate. Having witnessed Jesus in all his glory as Son of God on the mountain, it must have been difficult for the disciples to hear Jesus speak about himself as the Son of Man who must suffer as John did. As we approach the feast of Christmas we are being reminded that the baby in the crib became the crucified Son of Man, and that the wood of the manger points ahead to the wood of the cross. Mary’s child was, indeed, God’s loving gift to humanity. ‘God so loved the world that he gave his only Son’. The adult Jesus would, in turn, give himself completely to humanity, out of love, ‘No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’. The same divine love which we celebrate at Christmas is celebrated again on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Both feasts, Christmas and Easter, call on us to share with each other the love which we have so abundantly received from God through his Son.

Fr. Martin Hogan.

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kiranatrix · 5 years ago

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Deathnotetober 2019

Day 1: Prompt “Light”

@deathnotetober

An overcrowded world is the ideal place in which to be lonely.

That was what L Lawliet, PhD candidate in Applied Physics, often thought as he made his way across the campus, eyes on the ground as groups of his student peers rushed past. To study groups, to lunch on the green, to pre-game before the football match (none of which he was ever invited to due to his status as an outcast here). L was as invisible as a ghost that haunted this place, seeking out the less crowded spaces to study, like the cactus garden. Or more often, spending his nights and weekends working in the lab of his advisor, Professor Quillsh Wammy.

Dr. Wammy was an inventor but not wholly respected on campus or in the academic world at large due to his lack of recent productivity. His primary invention had been the technology that enabled household vacuuming robots well over a decade ago, and the funds from his sale of those patents had allowed him to self-fund his lab on campus. So, the mantra of ‘publish or perish’ hadn’t applied, and the administrators tolerated his presence, holding out the hope that perhaps Dr. Wammy would strike gold twice. They provided little support to his or his students’ efforts, but that was fine by L and Dr. Wammy-- the less administrators snooping around, the better, given the sensitive nature of their work.

Today, it was enough for L to pass by in anonymity, ignoring the Friday night excitement, the electricity that cracked the air like a Tesla coil that missed him every time. His odd looks and mannerisms, the unconventional way his mind leaped to deductions, had inspired the gamut of reactions from disgust to cruelty to jealousy. His own reaction was to present a cold, detached exterior and shut down social interaction before it happened. Over time, the others were content to ignore him and he did the same.

Plus, he was excited too tonight, although for a separate reason.

Scanning his student ID, L slipped into the chaotic lab full of beeps and blips and a constant background hum of the upright servers along the wall. He called into the lab as he went to his workbench, “Professor?” There was no reply, but that might just mean his advisor was asleep in his office again, passed out over some esoteric publication on the latest use of artificial intelligence.

He smiled as one of the cleaning robots bumped into his leg, bleeping indignantly. It had been covered in bumper stickers over the years. “Having trouble finding your station again?” L picked it up and walked it over to its dock, setting it down to recharge. “There you go. Drink up.”

L wandered over to check on Beyond (nicknamed for its beyond human-ability processing skills), his first and, sadly, very crude attempt at a humanoid robot. It had lost its ambulation ability after an electrical fire and had never had any kind of proper conversational ability, but had come in quite handy for a) solving his latest neural network problems, and b) coming up with unique and hilarious insults.

L typed into Beyond’s keyboard input, “Status of latest natural language program compilation #request.” He’d been waiting all week for Beyond to finish it so he could upload it into his latest creation. Lawful Intelligence Generator and Heuristic Technology- LIGHT.

Some words popped up on the screen, making L snort with amusement.

“I finished it hours ago, you salt-sprinkled slug.”

L grinned to himself and typed back, “Not bad. Care to share the results? #request.”

Green text scrolled across the screen. “Don’t get your nuts tied in a bow, Lawliet.” A link to a server location popped up on the screen. “Better appreciate it.”

“Efficient as ever.” L hummed happily, sending the program immediately to the neural net of his new project, and then sent Beyond back into the simulation he’d written to amuse the AI. “Nighty night.”

L cast his eyes to the Professor’s office once more, stepping closer to peek inside and see if anyone was in. Empty. Perfect. Dr. Wammy hadn’t wholly approved of L’s thesis project and had cautioned him about activating it, moving such a humanlike replica from the realm of theory to reality. Quillsh preferred assistive technology, not AIs that purported to replace human ability and companionship. That was dangerous research, he’d told L, time and again.

But L had his own ideas about what was dangerous, and the Department of Defense grant that his advisor had recently accepted seemed far more ethically fraught that his...project. Technically, his thesis was aimed at programs to more efficiently and accurately profile criminals and integrating massive datasets from legal libraries and police databases, but L hadn’t been content with just that.

They’ll see and understand eventually. L opened the door to the closet containing his latest android, held up in a standing position with metal brackets fastened to the wall. The entire closet was a Faraday cage and he’d taken numerous precautions to prevent any accidents like with Beyond. I learned from my mistakes.

No, this android was special, L knew it. It would be the one that would make him famous, make all the other robotics luminaries stand up and take notice at last. It was….pure coincidence that he’d designed it to appear as his idea of human perfection. Plush lips and expressive eyes (currently closed), light brown real human hair that he’d taken great pains to source. A slender muscled body that was entirely too anatomically correct. The artificial skin was warm and responsive, could detect pain or pleasant sensations as a mode of avoiding damage.

L tilted his head as he stared at the android hung on the wall. With its arms outstretched and head hanging down, it vaguely resembled some Messiah nailed there. If this were a real person, L would never have had the nerve to talk to him, let alone reach out and touch his face as he was doing now. His fingers moved to the back of the android's neck and he pressed in a particular spot three times. “Open your eyes, LIGHT.” It would only respond to commands made in his voice, he’d made sure of that, but he would need to speak the bonding words before the imprinting was final.

LIGHT’s realistic eyelashes fluttered, it’s lids gradually opening to reveal prismatic amber eyes, pupils dilating and contracting as they focused on the dim closet and eventually L in front of it. A lilting metallic voice, “You have activated me. System diagnostics proceeding.” LIGHT’s eyes rolled back a moment and then snapped back to L. “All systems online.”

“Hmmm. We’ll have to work on your voice modulator later.” L kept his hand on the back of LIGHT’s neck, and looked directly into his eyes. His own voice was barely above a whisper, “Listen to the words I am about to speak.”

“I am listening.” LIGHT stared at L unblinking, his chest rising and falling in a parody of breathing.

“Apple. Mu. Student.” L spoke the string of words slowly, deliberately, and pushed down the intimate sensation of touching someone like this, a stranger so close and skin so warm. He feels so human. “Pieta. Infinity. Shinigami. L Lawliet. Apple. L Lawliet.” He saw the apertures of LIGHT’s pupils dilate and contract, and the impassive expression on the robot’s face melted to one of calm wonder.

“L Lawliet.” After a long moment, LIGHT whispered, “Then…am I your friend?”

L nearly cried with the hopeful, beautiful look on LIGHT’s face, shouting down ‘he’s not real!’ to smile and nod in assent. “Yes, LIGHT. My first friend.”

#death note #deathnotetober #light yagami #l lawliet #android au #fanfiction #prompt 1: light #my writing #i may add some more through the month if ppl like this AU

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hollowcrovvn · 5 years ago

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The Ostensive Fumblings of Being Human (part 2)

Pairing: Connor x female!reader Rating: G for Gross Cute Crap Summary: Set two months after the ending of Detroit: Become Human, androids are living in government created “pop-up” communities while efforts are being made to integrate them into society. You are a grad-student volunteer with the Detroit Crisis Response Unit (DCRU), working to help with relief efforts… or at least, doing the work no one else wants to do. Which brings us to part 2.

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3) (part 4) (part 5) (part 6) (part 7) (ao3)

The moment kept playing in your mind, giving you little snapshot glimpses of his face when he saw your phone number written on the cup. His face, perplexed, but so curious as he took in your every word with such rapt attention.

“Ugh… no.” you whined towards the ceiling, throwing your head back and sinking further into your sofa. Some TV series played ideally while you tapped a stylus on the screen of your tablet, opened to some notes regarding your most recent class. You risked short glances over to your phone.

“Stop it.” you said to yourself, “It’s not a big deal and you don’t even know if he’ll text.”

You sat silently for a moment, nearly forgetting about it in the thrall of the TV and procrastination on your assignment when your eyes slowly drifted over to it again.

“Son of a bitch.” you huffed, throwing tablet aside as you got up and made your way across the small one bedroom apartment to your smaller bathroom. You needed a shower and some comfy clothes and maybe some sleep.

Several minutes later you came out from the bathroom, towel drying your hair and feeling a bit more human with the cold no longer biting at your skin still from the damp outside. You weren’t looking, not really, your eyes just fell to the phone on the small kitchen table and noticed the screen was list with an envelope icon.

You managed to pretend not to be interested for approximately fifteen seconds before you were over, picking up the phone and trying to not think about how fast your heart was going as you opened the message…

… which was just from your DCRU supervisor reminding you to go to the DPD station downtown after checking in on site tomorrow.

You felt your heart fall and sighed as you clicked the message and set a reminder. Someone in Jericho had requested a number of open human-on-android violence cases as well as android-on-human and someone had to go get the stats. Most android cases were still considered “sensitive” so the only way to get the information was from the source. It was a placating act, something to make Jericho not so hostile to DCRU and their efforts, even if they could realistically do nothing about the numbers. You wondered if you would be lucky enough for it to be the same station Connor worked at.

You took your phone and headed off to bed, setting your alarm. It was nearly 11:40, which was not ideal if you didn’t want to be a zombie tomorrow. Sighing, you flicked off your lamp and curled up, closing your eyes and tucking in. Your breath began to slow and your body relax when suddenly the darkness behind your eyelids lit.

You opened your eyes a slit and saw the envelope notification with a question mark attached.

[ new sender ]

[ accept msg y/n? ]

You never hit “y” so fast in your life.

[ from: DPDCNSL#317

Thank you for agreeing to continue corresponding with me. I am looking forward to the experience.

And thank you for the coffee.

Have a good evening, ---.

Connor ]

And then before you could respond the little dots indicating he was responding popped up immediately.

[ from: DPDCNSL#317

Lieutenant Anderson has informed me that saying, “I am looking forward to the experience” sounds “creepy”. I am looking forward to being able to speak with you more.

Connor ]

You smiled and quickly wrote up a reply-- which you waited a few minutes to send because… like that is what you did right? You didn’t wanna reply too fast… right? You killed some time, changing his name in the message box.

[ from: ---

You’re welcome. And pls don’t thank me for that pitiful excuse for bean water. Next time, I’ll get you a latte and you’ll never be the same again. ]

[ from: Connor

You are correct, but not in the way I believe you think.

Regardless, I would like that. You are studying at Wayne State, correct? ]

You froze, staring at the words with shock. How the hell did he know that?

[ from: ---

You pull up my file, copper?]

[ from: Connor

I did a search on the internet. You came up under the staff listing as a research assistant for Urban Studies. Is that correct? There is no image, so it could be another ---. ]

[ from: ---

Bit weird to be searching for someone you just met. ]

[ from: Connor

I agree. Lieutenant Anderson located the information and sent it to my terminal. I was… curious. I apologize, I do not wish to cause you to feel uncomfortable. ]

It didn’t really matter much. All the information on the website was basic things and any social media you had was hidden from the outside. It was harmless, as far as most things went.

[ from: ---

It’s alright, next time you can just ask me. Though I think to make it up, you can buy me the coffee. Only fair. :) ]

[ from: Connor

I do receive a salary now, so that is a possibility.

--- it is now almost midnight. You should be resting as you have already lost two hours of the recommended time for sleep. I would recommend lowering your caffeine intake to 300mg per day to prevent further sleep disturbance.

Good night, ---. ]

[ from: ---

You can pry my coffee from my cold dead hands, hippy.

Good night. ]

Wildly specific advice aside, it was-- kinda sweet. That bit that you assumed was a joke about “receiving a salary” got a small chuckle from you. After waiting a few minutes though, it appeared that he was done messaging for the night.

Not too bad, you hummed to yourself, First potential friend outside of campus in four years. Adult humaning at last.

---

“Checking in on site” was just code for “bring us all our coffee order before you do any real work” and you did so as usual, dropping the cups off at the various desks, crowded into the small “conference” building. All of the DCRU’s own buildings were of the same shake-n-bake quality as the shelters put up for the androids. They did little to hold out the chill, but they kept out the damp. Several people had space heaters beneath their desks or blankets wrapped around their legs.

After dropping off the last drink, you made your way over to the desk of the person you liked most of all the superiors, chiefly because he would never ask you to bring him coffee. His name was Josh, and he had served as one of Markus’ companions during the start and the heart of the revolution. Prior to Jericho, he had been a university professor, which was something you found common ground with.

He was sitting still, as if staring off into the distance, but a quick note of his eyes would show them flickering back and forth. He was reading.

“You ready to do some real work?” he said, voice tinged with faint humor as he continued to scan through whatever files were working their way through his synthetic mind. You’d gotten use to this.

“Yes, for the love of Markus Christ.” you huffed, enjoying in the private joke. Since the revolution there had been no less than 112 articles official and amateur declaring Markus as an android “Messiah”. Based upon Josh’s word, this caused the actual Markus a great deal of discomfort, but still the metaphor stuck.

“I’m going to have to tell Simon that one.” Josh said with a laugh, finally turning his eyes to you indicating he was finished with whatever he was working on.

“But first things first.” he said, pulling out a tablet and handing it to you. It was one of his.

“You know most of these “deviant” criminal cases are still on lock down?”

You nodded.

“We’ve gotten clearance to have the files downloaded. Part of our agreements with the government involve… some explaining. I won’t sugar coat it. Some of these open cases are violent, resulting in death of the human or the android or sometimes both.”

You swallowed, eyes flicking to the tablet as if there would suddenly appear images but there was only a menu showing how to accept file download.

“... death can be a hard topic for anyone. Even more so for your people when it involves Android on Human crimes. You may see some disturbing things. You alright with this?”

“Of course!” you said, a bit quickly and a bit more defensively than intended.

“I mean that… I want to do anything I can to help. I know that… I know they are pressuring to have these androids turned over for prosecution.”

If Josh were non-deviant, he wouldn’t have tensed at the words, but he did.

“Historically speaking, we haven’t given any android justice. I know this is important. Anything I feel is secondary to that… is what I mean.”

Josh smiled warmly, standing up and hesitantly patting your shoulder.

“You remind me of my old students, ---. I’m sure you’ll do what you can.”

You nodded vigorously, because you would.

---

It was too far and too cold to walk the length of Detroit back towards downtown, so you took an automated cab. You’d tucked Josh’s tablet safely away in a rucksack over your shoulder and flipped through your phone idly.

You hovered over the message window with Connor for a moment before quickly sending off a few lines.

[ from: ---

Just so there are no surprises, I’m heading to the DPD station rn for unrelated stuff. Might see you! ]

It took you way longer than necessary to actually hit send, but when you did you were shocked that his response was almost instantaneous.

[ from: Connor

Unrelated to what? Also, are you alright? Do you have an open case with the DPD? ]

[ from: ---

It’s all good. And meant I just happen to be that way as opposed to ya know, stalking. ]

[ from: Connor

“Stalking” does imply stealth, which would be in direct opposition of your current actions if that was the intent. I agree that your actions do not constitute “stalking”. ]

You huffed a sigh, but then were startled as the message pinged again.

[ from: Connor

Bit weird though. ]

You felt a smile slowly form at one corner of your lips

[ from: Connor

That was a joke, in case it was too vague. ]

[ from: ---

I gotcha ;)

See you in a bit maybe. ]

And with that, you shut off your phone’s display just in time to exit the cab out front of the DPD building. Inside, the DPD had the same tell tale signs of the android revolution with its lack of noticeable androids. It was not until you got up to the reception desk that it dawned on you they both were identical. They were androids, they had just removed their LED. She was even wearing a name tag that said, Alicia in clear bold font. She was wearing regular professional wear, no Android identifiers in sight.

You’d heard the DPD had gotten on board relatively quickly with providing androids with pay, not wanting to lose the bulk of their staff. While the cleaning crews were absent, the receptionist turned up her face and smiled pleasantly,

“Good morning, how may I assist you?”

“Good morning!” you said, a bit too quickly, “My name is ---, I’m here from the Crisis Response Unit. I have a meeting with Captain Fowler.”

“Yes, we were told to expect you! Do you have your I.D.?” she said, and you were struck by how… friendly she was, as opposed to all the other ST300’s you’d encountered. You pulled out your “badge”, which was nothing more than an I.D. card with a special DCRU designation stamp inside a flip wallet. You passed it to her and she scanned it quickly.

“You’re all set! Just head right through these gates here and go straight back. Fowler’s office is the one in the middle with the glass doors, it should not be hard to miss, but if you get lost just grab one of the officers. They all should know all too well where his office is.” she said with a faint laugh at some private joke.

You nodded, fumbling to put your I.D. with a quick “thank you” before you headed through the gates. It was bigger inside than you expected, with several desks and lots of people working, standing and having their morning coffee or otherwise engaged. You noted the glass enclosed office towards the middle of the room and headed in that direction. There were three people already waiting inside and two of which you recognized immediately.

Captain Fowler was up, preparing to come open the door for you, but Connor beat him in a few brisk steps.

Hank was grinning at you in that suspicious way that you recalled from grade school… like he knew something you didn’t. In this situation, it was pretty unsettling. Did they find that parking ticket from sophomore year?!

“Good morning Ms. ---, please, have a seat.” Fowler gestured to the one other empty chair next to Hank, “These two suspect characters are Lieutenant Hank Anderson and his partner, Connor. They have been working the deviant android cases since the start.”

Connor politely offered you his hand, which you took. He squeezed gently, mischief glinting in those brown eyes before he let go and all but ushered you to your seat. Hank snorted.

“We’ve met.” Hank said, disregarding any pleasantries.

Fowler looked surprised.

“We frequent the same coffee shop.” you added, “So it was a very brief meeting.”

“You’re lucky.” Fowler said, eyeing Hank with disapproval. Hank seemed oblivious, or more likely, immune.

“We’ve been informed that the ADA’s office is seeking to prosecute these androids. It is highly likely that they are being concealed among the deviants at the relief camp.” Fowler leaned back in his chair, “So, we’ve been told to assist you in whatever way you need.”

“Some of us are a bit too eager…” you heard Hank muttered under his breath. Connor’s eyes trailed on him slowly, making no expression you could see but Hank must have gotten the message because he grumbled and slumped back.

“I appreciate that, Captain Fowler.” you began, “Markus has agreed that his people will search into the population of their androids for these individuals. It’s a good start to integrate androids into the justice system.”

Though you had your own opinions regarding the effectiveness of that. How could any android expect a fair trial when a jury of their peers would most likely be full of humans? But that was a topic for another time and place.

“These files are sealed, so we are requesting a downloaded copy so that efforts can be made to locate these androids.”

Captain Fowler looked unconvinced.

“I have confirmation from the governor and the President’s staff approving this request, if you would like to see it. The governor also said you might like to call her office as well.”

“I think I will do that. In the meanwhile, if you’d gentleman escort Ms. --- to the break-room where she might be a bit more comfortable?”

Hank stood and gave Connor a hard pat, “All you buddy.”

He left without a second glance.

“Right this way. ---.” Connor said, Chief Fowler now too engrossed with his phone to notice Connor used your first name.

It was hard to contain a smile as you walked alongside the detective, following him to a small break-room.

“Coffee?” he asked and you nodded briskly. He poured some of the dark, strong smelling liquid into a mug that read “#1 Dad” and after considering for a moment, pot still in his hand, he poured another.

Bringing both he came to sit with you at a rickety table, stabilized by a half folded paper plate under one leg.

“Don’t think this counts.” you said, taking the mug in both hands, enjoying the warmth if not the overly strong taste.

Connor did not drink.

“You work with the Detroit Crisis Response Unit?” he said, getting right to the point.

“Volunteered. Don’t give me too much credit though. When I joined up, it was all about flooding relief. The Android situation was a surprise.”

“Do you dislike Androids?” he asked.

“Wow. Talk about a hot button topic, Connor. You sure you don’t wanna ask me what my favorite color is first? My favorite movie?”

“No. I would much rather know your stance on the current events seeing as you are working as a relief volunteer.”

Direct. You hid behind the lip of the mug, feeling his eyes keenly on you.

“Why do you wanna know?” you countered, taking a small sip.

“I’m simply curious as to how you feel about your current assignment.”

“I feel just fine.” you said, “I guess… well. Guess sometimes they just spook me. Just like most people.”

“I see.” Connor said, seeming to relax a fraction, “You are afraid of them?”

“Not “afraid” just-- reasonably cautious.”

Connor seemed to be processing this, tapping his fingertips against the mug in his hand and watching himself do so intently.

“You worked on “deviant” cases for awhile, yeah?” you began, “Are… do they make you nervous? Because that’d be understandable given what you’ve seen.”

“They-- did. Before. Now I realize it’s the same as humans. We’re all capable of violence.”

Before you could continue, another man walked into the break-room, smile slick as oil.

“Well, there you are, tin-can.” he said with a smirk, picking up the coffee pot and sloshing some of it onto the counter as he poured a mug full.

“Whose this?” he said, giving you a smirk.

“A liaison from DCRU.” Connor replied coolly, bringing the coffee mug to his lips.

“Is that even good for your health, Con?” the man asked, but Connor ignored him.

“And who is this charming fellow.” you asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Detective Reed. Gavin, Reed.” he answered, giving you a wink, “Now I can see why Con here was in such a hurry to get his ring off before you showed up.”

Ah. That. That was. Not expected. Your blood ran cold, eyes immediately falling to Connor’s left hand as if you’d catch sight of a tan line or some other indicator that you’d been incredibly stupid.

“I got some super glue over at my desk if you need a quick fix.” he said, tapping Connor’s chair with the toe of his boot. Connor, looked somewhere between deflated and coldly controlled anger.

Hank’s appearance in the break room door thankfully put a halt to whatever was going on between the two men, his eyes fixing Gavin with a vicious glare.

“Don’t you have reports to finish, detective?” he said, circling in so that Gavin was forced to walk towards the door.

“Just tryin’ be a good wing-man for my bro, Connor.” he said, disappearing into the hall with a laugh.

Hank looked between you and Connor, noting the change in your demeanor, arms pulled in and looking anywhere but at his partner.

“Fowler uh-- got the call. You can come over to my desk and we’ll get you sorted.”

You hurriedly stood, fishing out your tablet so you’d be ready to download those files and get out of here as soon as possible.

Connor said nothing in his defense, but he watched you intently, searching.

“... thanks for the coffee.” you said, following Hank out.

---

Connor did not join you at Hank’s desk, which must not have been part of the plan because every few seconds Hank looked over his shoulder for him.

“Here. You should get a prompt to download any second now. There are photos, so if you’re squeamish I advised ya not look at the screen while they are downloading.”

You took his advice, letting the tablet drop unceremoniously to the desk as you leaned against it, arms crossed.

Hank was not scowling for once, but you were, brows furrowed tight and troubled.

“Look… ---, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Don’t-- just don’t judge Connor before you get to know him. I know he’s a weird one. I know most people, hell even me, have this innate prejudice, but he likes you. Which is a big deal for him. He’s learning how this goes, so I don’t know-- maybe give him a break.”

“... did… did his wife die or something?”

Hank stared at you, eyes wide and confused.

“His wife.” he repeated, not so much a question but a confirmation of whether or not you were a rambling idiot.

“That detective! Gavin whatever-the-hell said that Connor took off his ring before I got here!”

Hank groaned, resting his face in his hand as he shook his head. The sound quickly turned into a laugh of sorts. He looked back up at you with that same mystified look he had before.

“You really don’t know. Kid, Connor took off his LED before you got here. That’s what Gavin meant. He’s an android.”

A lot, like a lot of things suddenly made sense now.

You sunk into a nearby chair, dazed.

“You really had no idea? With how fuckin’ weird he is?”

“I thought he was just… like, ya know. A hipster intellectual.”

Hank choked on nothing, busting into a loud laugh, “Well you ain’t wrong, kid!”

The tablet pinged, indicating it had finished downloading. Hank popped up, dismissing the file before you could pick it up.

“Like I said. Some gory stuff. I’d advise you get that to whoever wants it and not go poking around in it.” he handed you the tablet, “And for god’s sake, go talk to him before you leave. You’re the first person he’s been around that ain’t me and trust me, that’s good for him.”

You ran your hands over the tablet’s smooth sides, mind going a hundred miles a minute. You turned to leave and saw Connor coming back towards the desks, seeing clearly now the flashing LED he had replaced on the side of his temple.

His expression was blank, but you had dealt with enough androids that you could just faintly see the lines of nervousness and… hopefulness as he passed you.

You caught his forearm, touching the same place where androids connected systems.

“... I don’t dislike androids.” you whispered, risking a look at him through your eyelashes. He was-- smiling and it was so damn beautiful you felt the wall you had started constructing around your heart from Gavin’s words crack open.

“I’m glad to hear it.”

You smiled, “Text me when you are ready to shell out for that latte.” and gave his arm one last small squeeze before heading out of the station.

#dbh fanfiction #dbh connor #dbh fanfic #dbh connor x reader #dbh connor x f!reader #detroit become human #dbh #oh look i wrote part 2 really fast oh no #i gotta keep this momentum up #also i just love really long titles like fallout boy songs so thats why its long by fallout boy #on mobile the font is FUCKED #the ostensive fumblings of being human

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zayashmaya · 6 years ago

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Gods and Monsters - 2 - Cruel World.

- part 1 is in my master list! -

Lanque Bombyx x Reader; SFW

You deal with the repercussions of post-pailing regrets and Lanque is a bitch.

Because you’re young, you’re wild, you’re free You dance in circles around me You’re fucking crazy Oh, oh You’re crazy for me

- Lana Del Rey

You bided your time with the Soleil twins after escaping the abandoned mansion together. Something told you that this was to be the end of your journey, and yet you were unwilling to come to terms with the depressing thought. So when the wilderness beckoned you to embark on another round of aimless wandering, you bit back the urge to answer its calls.

Barzum and Baizli were more than happy to distract you from your worries. Where once you shied away from them in fear, now you gleefully sat through their choreographed performances and entertained them in turn with stories of your adventures. You never imagined yourself to develop such a fondness for children, but all of the young trolls you had befriended sparked a bit of hope within you — no matter how bleak Alternian society might be, there were still remnants of innocence.

You wondered if the twins would have enjoyed Karako’s company. Did Bronya allow him to frequent his blood cast’s church?

Bronya. You should visit her soon; it’s been quite a while, and you have yet to check up on Lynera apart from the brief texts you exchanged during your stay with the twins. Perhaps you could play with the grubs — you needed to feel useful again.

Your body has been fairly useful. No. You were not going to think about that damn jadeblood.

You suggested a trip to the church in an effort to quell your ridiculous existential crisis. They were becoming embarrassingly frequent lately, and you could not afford to fall into a deep depression after having amassed so many wonderful friends. Why hadn’t you been relying more on them instead of flitting about like a social butterfly for superficial connections?

With a newfound determined attitude, you set off with the young trolls to find some sort of comfort in their strange religion. Chahut greeted you with a warm smile as you situated yourself on one of the rickety chairs and continued with her sermon. Barzum and Baizli were enthusiastically whispering to themselves about how much they had missed the church while trapped at the mansion, allowing you a moment of peaceful solitude. You leaned back in your chair and looked up at the multicolored ceiling, a light smile playing on your lips as you recalled hazy memories of a carousel, and falling into a blissful sleep with Karako in your arms.

A heavy thud came from the seat beside you. You tilted your head and saw Marvus’s easygoing expression staring back at you. “Waddup lil buddy, funny seein u here lol.”

You grinned in earnest now, happy to see your friend. And quite a handsome one, at that. “What can I say — this place just reels me in. I feel safe here, somehow.”

Marvus nodded slowly and patted your knee. “The mirthful messiahs b protektin us buddy.”

“Amen to that,” you replied, letting Chahut’s deep, droning gospel tether you to the moment.

The air was saturated with a sugary smell wafting from the purple candles on the altar. A tingling sensation creeped up your body, as though you wanted to join the other purplebloods in their honks and whoops at Chahut’s every word. You might be getting a bit high from the fumes.

Was it a sense of belonging that kindled the fire of elation within you? You felt like flying, reaching out past the colorful hues coating the ceiling to become one with the dark carnival all over again.

You have never felt more real.

Marvus’s comforting presence was all you needed in order to clear the fog of doubt that had plagued you. Somehow, you suspected he understood your place in the world far better than you did. Hadn’t he once talked about timelines and reality with you?

Or maybe you were too busy stuffing your face with food as he fed you, too captivated by his charm to really listen.

Wait, maybe you were remembering wrong. Marvus had definitely brought up the hemospectrum and the oppression of his cast.

You closed your eyes and slumped against him. Without question, his arm settled around your shoulders. You smiled to yourself and decided not to think about the past. There were new memories to be made, after all. And you had plenty of friends to make memories with.

Unfortunately, you would learn that new memories were to be made with trolls who were distinctly not your friends. One such person who had climbed his way to the top of the list was Lanque, and in a cruel twist of fate, you somehow managed to cross his path once more.

Your evening was supposed to be fun! Remele was hosting a party for highbloods to garner socialite points or whatever her reasoning had been; as soon as you heard about the dancing, you had stopped listening to details. Even your faux pas with regards to asking Tagora for fashion pointers had worked in your favor. He pampered you with a brand new dress and agreed to letting you use the iridescent lotion that had once made Galekh mistake you for a rainbow drinker, blushing all the while as he explained your mission — get some dirt on Remele to help him win his plagiarism case against her.

Would you do it? Would you sell out one friend in favor of another?

As you checked yourself out in Tagora’s full-length mirror, you decided to let luck guide your way. Since when have you ever been a planner, anyway. The furthest you’d gone with brilliant planning was to invite Stelsa with you, and boy did she squeal in glee at the offer. The two of you had taken great care in pampering each other at her home before heading out, and throughout your drive to Remele’s abode, you could not help grinning at how well things were going for you for once.

And here you currently found yourself, locked in a staring contest with Lanque from across the room. Oh, how lucky you were.

A bubbly ceruleanblood pressed close to him singlehandedly continued the conversation as he folded his arms and dragged his gaze along your body. He regarded you with the same distasteful sneer he threw at Lynera after roasting her. You hated how he managed to still look attractive with that sour face.

A passing partygoer broke the stare-off. When you managed to catch sight of him again, he was focusing all of his attention on his friend and blatantly ignoring you. Should you go confront him?

You chose to keep yourself busy instead. What good would it do to stir up complicated drama in the middle of a public event? Besides, you were trying to be classy for once in your life. You didn’t lather up your leg struts with Tagora’s elixir for nothing, after all. The old you, scavenging for scraps of clothing from dumpsters, was a thing of the past. Now, you were as close to presentable as you had ever been on this godforsaken planet, and damn it did you deserve a drink for all of your troubles.

Remele had excused herself some time ago to speak with Stelsa after the energetic troll had gone off on a ten minute tangent about loving her webcomic. Left by yourself and feeling uncharacteristically awkward, you made your way to a table with what you assumed to be refreshments, and reluctantly picked up the most appetizing drink available. It glowed a dull red hue and shimmered in the light. You prayed this wasn’t some sort of filtered blood before taking a small sip. A sharp fruity flavor coated your tongue, and you hummed in pleasure as you helped yourself to more.

“Careful there, don’t drink too much … lest you actually become un”. You peered over the lid of your cup. There he was, Lanque in all his bitchy glory, smirking down at you as the ceruleanblood clung to his arm and giggled at you with mortified curiosity.

You gripped your cup and sighed. “Hello, Lanque. Are we really doing this?”

His friend narrowed her eyes at you and haughtily asked, “Whaaat aaare you supposed to be? Aaa deformed lusus?” Lanque chuckled and earned a fawning look from her.

You rolled your eyes. “Never seen a rainbow drinker before, I take it.”

Her overdramatic gasp was music to your ears. But before the silly girl could hightail it out of the party, Lanque gripped her by the forearm and sneered, “Don’t be ridiculous. She’s the alien eVeryone’s been raVing about.” He cast a snooty look at you and added, "A Very underWhelming one.”

“Oh my, look aaat how red her faaace is turning! I caaan’t believe I missed spotting thaaat hideous blood, how silly of me!”

“See, darling? Underneath all that makeup, she’s quite the boring creature.”

If you held your cup any tighter, you might crush it. And spilling this presumably expensive drink all over your good friend’s flooring would hardly be appropriate, would it? You were not an uncouth person.

But you were not the most tactful person, either.

“How am I boring, exactly?” you asked through gritted teeth, loathing the fact that your height forced you to look up at his smirking, punchable, beautiful face. “You hardly know me.”

”Hardly?” A tittering laugh escaped him as he hid his cruel smile behind a hand. “As I recall it, We became fairly intimately acquainted, last We met.”

”Whaaat!” his friend shrieked, pulling at Lanque's arm with such gusto that his polished facade cracked into a displeased grimace. “Whaaat does thaaat mean, deaaar? You paaailed with this — this ugly thing?!”

“It Was certainly … a Very interesting experience.”

You thought you had grown accustomed by now to how repulsed most trolls were by your human physique. But Lanque had seen you at your most vulnerable, he had even seemed somewhat into you during your tryst, and now he had the nerve to mock you like this? You didn’t know whether to scream or cry. You chose to set down your drink on the table instead, ruefully looking away.

“The novelty of it all Wore off quite fast,” he continued, leering at you as he spoke. “She just Wasn’t that good — “

And suddenly, a very unfriendly retort tore its way out of you, like a sweltering bile of pent up anger that could no longer be contained.

“Like you were any better.”

Lanque’s smile faltered.

The flood gates broke open.

“Don’t you dare stand there and act all high and mighty, like you were some kind of blessing I squandered,” you hissed, stalking up to him with each bitter word. “You didn’t even get me off!”

A peel of snickering broke through the ensuing silence. Lanque stared down at you with such a blank expression that, for a split second, you wondered if your words were getting through to him at all. But the rising jade colored flush staining his cheeks, the contracted pupils and quickened breathing brought you a sickening sense of justice.

When had you become so aggressive?

“Was it because you didn’t feel like putting any effort into it?” you asked, secretly wishing for an answer. "Or because you’re so used to getting what you want that you don’t know how to care about anyone other than yourself?”

“Oh my …” the ceruleanblood whispered in a sing-song voice as she looked between you two, and you were seconds away from snapping at this invasive bitch before Lanque’s eyes flickered behind you, and a large hand settled over your shoulder.

“Hey there lil mama,” a familiar voice rumbled above you.

That smooth tone instantly lulled you into a happier mood. “Marvus,” you greeted with a smile, looking up at him and feeling your heart swell at his dopey grin.

“Wuz wondering if u’ll be bustin thiz shitshow,” he said, sticking his tongue out at you. “Now it’s a par-tayyy!”

You heard excited whispers in the distance — no doubt Lanque’s friend losing her cool over Marvus’s arrival. A small part of you desperately wanted to see Lanque’s reaction as well, but you were utterly done with him.

“I’m just here for the dancing,” you replied, ignoring someone’s rude scoff and focusing on how Marvus’s thumb ran circles along the divot between your neck and shoulder.

“ ♥ And you certainly look the part ♥ ,” another voice chimed in near you. A very unwelcome voice. The voice of someone who was arguably more horrible than everyone in this room combined.

You glanced at Zebruh as he winked at you and threw you a shark-like smile that chilled you to the bone. Oh, what wonderful friends you have. “Zebruh, th — thank you,” you stammered, inching backwards until you felt Marvus’s solid form against you. “What are you doing here?”

“My dear, I am a connoisseur of the arts, a true patron and supporter of Alternia’s most brilliant artist,” he raved, and turned his adoring gaze to Marvus. Knowing what you know now about how the purplebloods perceived him, you bit back a giggle. “ ♥ But when I found out Alternia’s greatest musician would be here as well, I simply could not resist making an appearance! ♥ “

“Aw thx lol,” Marvus quickly said. You could hear the strain in his voice, and decided to pat his hand gently. The poor man just could not catch a break from his crazy fans.

Lanque’s eyes followed your hand movement, much to your ignorance. His friend chose this precise moment to bounce up to Marvus in unrestrained glee, unable to hold in her excitement any longer. “I — I just — I waaannaaa saaay how much I love your work aaand aaand aaand I love you!” she cried out, gripping her hands together as though in prayer.

Zebruh was on her — and by association, Lanque — in an instant, sidling up between them. He tutted your name in displeasure and said, “Now, don’t be rude. ♣ Who are these two lovely guests? ♣ ” His hands settled on both of their shoulders, and they reeled back in opposite directions, with the ceruleanblood struggling to escape and Lanque baring his fangs in a wide snarl. You almost felt bad for him.

“Get your fucking hand off — “

“Yo dog why don’t u keep ‘em bizzay while me and the lil shorty buzz off for a bit k thx,” Marvus butted in, and suddenly you were being lifted off the ground and cradled against his broad chest and your mind was short circuiting from the drama of it all. You love your clown friends so much.

You whispered a grateful thank you to your savior and peeked over his shoulder one last time. Lanque had managed to dislodge himself from Zebruh’s hold while the blueblood petulantly sulked off after the girl.

And when you finally met his hardened stare, you could have sworn a hint of color bloomed across his face once more. He must be really angry by now, you wondered as you were led away. Maybe you managed to make him jealous of Marvus for stealing you.

Yeah right, you sardonically thought. More like he was jealous of you for being swept up by a gorgeous highblood.

“U lookin’ fiiine tonite babe,” Marvus quietly said into your ear.

You looped your arms around his neck and smiled to yourself.

#homestuck #hiveswap #friendsim #lanque bombyx #lanque bombyx/reader #lanque bombyx x reader #marvus xoloto #marvus x reader #lanque x reader #lanque/reader #marvus/reader #sfw #fanfic #zebruh codakk

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pope-francis-quotes · 6 years ago

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14th April >> (@ZenitEnglish) #PopeFrancis #Pope Francis’ Homily during the celebration of Holy Mass for Palm Sunday: (Full Text) ‘Joyful Entrance into Jerusalem Followed by Humiliation’.

Pope Francis on 14th April 2019, celebrated Mass for Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square. An estimated 40,000 of the faithful joined in the service, which included the blessing of palms and reading of the Passion narrative from the Gospel of Luke.

Following is the Vatican-provided text of the Holy Father’s Homily:

Joyful acclamations at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, followed by his humiliation. Festive cries followed by brutal torture. This twofold mystery accompanies our entrance into Holy Week each year, as reflected in the two characteristic moments of today’s celebration: the initial procession with palm branches and the solemn reading of the Passion.

Let us enter into this movement, guided by the Holy Spirit, and thus obtain the grace we sought in our opening prayer: to follow in faith our Savior’s example of humility, to heed his lesson of patient suffering, and thus to merit a share in his victory over the spirit of evil.

Jesus shows us how to face moments of difficulty and the most insidious of temptations by preserving in our hearts a peace that is neither detachment nor superhuman impassivity, but confident abandonment to the Father and to his saving will, which bestows life and mercy. He shows us this kind of abandonment by spurning, at every point in his earthly ministry, the temptation to do things his way and not in complete obedience to the Father. From the experience of his forty days in the desert to the culmination of his Passion, Jesus rejects this temptation by his obedient trust in the Father.

Today, too, by his entrance into Jerusalem, he shows us the way. For in that event, the evil one, the prince of this world, had a card up his sleeve: the card of triumphalism. Yet the Lord responded by holding fast to his own way, the way of humility.

Triumphalism tries to make it to the goal by shortcuts and false compromises. It wants to jump onto the carriage of the winner. It lives off gestures and words that are not forged in the crucible of the cross; it grows by looking askance at others and constantly judging them inferior, wanting, failures… One subtle form of triumphalism is spiritual worldliness, which represents the greatest danger, the most treacherous temptation threatening the Church (De Lubac). Jesus destroyed triumphalism by his Passion.

The Lord truly rejoiced with the people, with those young people who shouted out his name and acclaimed him as King and Messiah. His heart was gladdened to see the enthusiasm and excitement of the poor of Israel. So much so, that, to those Pharisees who asked him to rebuke his disciples for their scandalous acclamations, he replied: “If these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Lk 19:40). Humility does not mean denying reality: Jesus really is the Messiah, the King.

Yet at the same time the heart of Jesus was moving on another track, on the sacred path known to him and the Father alone: the path that leads from “the form of God” to “the form of a servant”, the path of self-abasement born of obedience “unto death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8). He knows that true triumph involves making room for God and that the only way to do that is by stripping oneself, by self-emptying. To remain silent, to pray, to accept humiliation. There is no negotiating with the cross: one either embraces it or rejects it. By his self-abasement, Jesus wanted to open up to us the path of faith and to precede us on that path.

The first to follow him on that path was his mother, Mary, the first disciple. The Blessed Virgin and the saints had to suffer in walking the path of faith and obedience to God’s will. Responding with faith to the harsh and painful events of life entails “a particular heaviness of heart (cf. Redemptoris Mater, 17). The night of faith. Yet only from that night do we see the dawn of the resurrection break forth. At the foot of the cross, Mary thought once more of the words that the angel had spoken about her Son: “He will be great… The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end” (Lk 1:32-33). On Golgotha, Mary faced the complete denial of that promise: her Son was dying on a cross like a criminal. In this way, triumphalism, destroyed by the abasement of Jesus, was likewise destroyed in the heart of his Mother. Both kept silent.

In the footsteps of Mary, countless holy men and women have followed Jesus on the path of humility and obedience. Today, World Youth Day, I would like to mention all those young saints, especially the saints “next door” to us, known only to God; sometimes he likes to surprise us with them. Dear young people, do not be ashamed to show your enthusiasm for Jesus, to shout out that he is alive and that he is your life. Yet at the same time, do not be afraid to follow him on the way of the cross. When you hear that he is asking you to renounce yourselves, to let yourselves be stripped of every security, and to entrust yourselves completely to our Father in heaven, then rejoice and exult! You are on the path of the kingdom of God.

Festive acclamations and brutal torture; the silence of Jesus throughout his Passion is profoundly impressive. He also overcomes the temptation to answer back, to act like a “superstar”. In moments of darkness and great tribulation, we need to keep silent, to find the courage not to speak, as long as our silence is meek and not full of anger. The meekness of silence will make us appear even weaker, more humble. Then the devil will take courage and come out into the open. We need to resist him in silence, “holding our position”, but with the same attitude as Jesus. He knows that the battle is between God and the prince of this world and that what is important is not putting our hand to the sword but remaining firm in faith. It is God’s hour. At the hour that God comes forth to fight, we have to let him take over. Our place of safety will be beneath the mantle of the holy Mother of God. As we wait for the Lord to come and calm the storm (cf. Mt 4:37-41), by our silent witness in prayer we give ourselves and others “an accounting for the hope that is within [us]” (1 Pet 3:15). This will help us to live in the sacred tension between the memory of the promises made, the suffering present in the cross, and the hope of the resurrection.

14th APRIL 2019 15:42PAPAL TEXTS

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