#church mice

[theendorisit]

American Christianity: legalism, enforcing stupid laws, chucking away religious freedom for others

British Christianity:

Jesus bringing the Gouda News.

[aunti-christ-ine]

[sketchysketchiness]

Friar Tuck and those cute little church mice

[corvidae1917]

i had “hello” from the book of mormon musical stuck in my head in the shower and thought of these silly little fakemon. i call them door-to-dormice :D

[mars-ipan]

looks at you . realllyyyyy hard.............. hey................ can u tell me more about sinner hajime bearding w. chiaki and his shame over it im thinking about it and how it affects him real bad.. r they dating married.. r they just a random fling i need to know the deets i need the DEETS!!!!!!!!! sits down

OK SO. i have NOT spent a lot of time on this so bear with me bc i’m mostly figuring this part out as i go. it’s going under a cut tho bc i know myself

ok. to start with. chiaki is one of the first people hajime meets when he moves in— they’re neighbors and in true midwestern fashion she brings him a casserole as a welcome gift. from there they become fast friends! i think, like most people in town, chiaki goes to church on sundays, but she isn’t there often outside of that. she’ll show up to events and volunteer from time to time, though! maybe she occasionally helps at sunday school. maybe it’s her that gets hajime thinking about trying to confess in the first place! she’d never pressure him into going or imply that he had any particular sins to confess, but i think hearing someone he trusts speak highly of the priest there would get him thinking.

anywho. chiaki ends up introducing hajime to a few of her friends, though he doesn’t really connect with them too deeply. they all get along nicely though, and while hajime does have his Guilt following him at all times he feels a bit better after he hangs out with her and her friends— takes his mind off of things for a bit. she has a rabbit named usami, too! she reminds hajime of some of the animals he helped raise on the farm back home. but hajime and chiaki end up basically being besties not long after hajime’s moved in. chiaki eventually develops feelings for hajime, and since she trusts him to be kind regardless of whether he reciprocates, she tells him almost right away. hajime is ecstatic— this is an opportunity! a girl, a nice girl who likes him. if there was any girl that hajime could fall in love with, it’d be her. and if he loves her, then he won’t have any of these other thoughts! he won’t be wondering what his priest looks like under the robes if he has a girlfriend— it’s perfect! so he says yes, and they begin to date.

hajime tells Father Komaeda basically immediately— he’s excited! look, Father, your teachings are working! i’m in a heterosexual relationship, this is what God wants! except…. komaeda isn’t as enthusiastic as hajime expects. supportive, absolutely, his smile as bright as ever, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. he doesn’t celebrate. he tells hajime he’s happy for him— chiaki’s a lovely girl, after all— but reminds him that resisting temptation is not a one and done battle. going out with chiaki is a step in the right direction, absolutely. however, he warns, hajime shouldn’t be too surprised if he finds himself struggling to shake away his impure thoughts. these things don’t disappear overnight. in fact, they should continue their lessons to help make sure that hajime can stay on this path to the light. hajime agrees immediately, thanking komaeda for his wisdom. still, though, he feels positive about this! having someone else to focus on will make leaving behind these unwanted lusts much easier.

except… hajime can’t make himself want her, not in that way. he tries. god, he tries. he loves chiaki, truly he does, but he doesn’t feel as fuzzy as he thinks he should when he holds her hand. kissing her feels like kissing a wall. he freezes up uncomfortably every time she tries to initiate anything further, and, saint that she is, she backs off every time without any hard feelings. he enjoys spending time with her, and holding her, but he’s not… he can’t get himself to desire her. not to mention, the impure desires haven’t gone away, not at all. they’re just as bad as they were before— in fact, they seem to slowly be getting worse. he doesn’t know what to do. hajime cares about chiaki, so much, and he doesn’t want to hurt her. she’s his best friend, and the last thing he wants to do is break her heart. plus, if he breaks up with her, then isn’t that like admitting defeat to his sins? like saying he can’t overcome them? and if he breaks up with her, what does he even say? that he can’t bring himself to be attracted to her? that he’s never been able to think of her in that way, only with… no. there’s no way he can tell her that, she’ll be disgusted. but he hates the idea of lying to her and stringing her along. his only option is to keep trying. he’ll be a better boyfriend, he’ll fall in love, he has to. she deserves someone who loves her, and maybe he can be that someone, if he just keeps trying.

hajime confesses all of this to Father Komaeda, of course, who hears all of it and simply nods. while he agrees that hajime should keep the true nature of his thoughts from her, he also subtly suggests that hajime break off the relationship if he’s not in love with her— lying is a sin, too, and true, holy love cannot be forced into being. perhaps they’re simply better off as friends?

hajime thinks about that advice, but he can’t bring himself to do it. he doesn’t want to hurt her, and he especially doesn’t want to lose her.

here’s the thing. chiaki is observant. she’s just that kind of person, she’s a good judge of emotion. she can tell that hajime seems uncomfortable showing affection to her, even if he’s trying. at first, she chalks it up to nerves, but when it doesn’t go away and almost seems to get worse, she starts to wonder what’s wrong, why he doesn’t seem to be that into her. so she looks a little closer. she notices that hajime prays a lot more often now than when he first moved in. she hears him mumble to himself when he thinks she isn’t listening, things about being wrong and having to try harder, having to be better. she knew from the start that hajime has some deep insecurities— he’s not very good at hiding it— but it’s worse than she thought. hajime’s been going to church near-daily now, and when she goes with him to mass on sundays she sees the way he watches the sermon, almost enraptured. she knows he gets along well with Father Komaeda— in fact, she’d consider them close friends. eventually, she notices things— hajime blushes with his whole face… when Father Komaeda is close to him. he sings the Father’s praises regularly, often thanking chiaki for telling him about the church so he could find his faith again. in moments of vulnerability, hajime has told her that he confesses somewhat frequently— what about, he never told her, but he assured her that he hadn’t hurt anybody so she never pressed him about it. the pieces click into place, and oh… oh, hajime.

unlike hajime, chiaki has nothing against homosexuality. she believes that god’s love comes in many forms, and so long as the people in a relationship truly love each other, then it doesn’t really matter what gender they are, does it? at first, she’s a bit hurt that hajime didn’t tell her, but she quickly reminds herself that hajime seems to deeply resent this part of himself— chances are, he’s yet to even accept it. she hurts for him, i think. she doesn’t like seeing her best friend be so cruel to himself over how he loves. she keeps up the relationship for a couple weeks, to give him the chance to tell her. when it’s clear that he doesn’t plan on telling anyone anytime soon, she decides to take matters into her own hands.

when chiaki approaches hajime and tells him she thinks they’d be better off as friends, he panics. he practically begs her to stay together, asks what he did wrong, promises he’ll do whatever it takes to keep this relationship alive, anything. chiaki looks at him softly, takes his hands in hers, and tells him that it’s okay, he hasn’t done anything wrong. she knows how much he cares about her, but there’s nothing either of them can do if they simply aren’t romantically compatible. “you can’t help who you love,” she tells him. hajime’s breath seems to stutter at that, and he pulls her into a tight hug, apologizing and sobbing gently into her shoulder. it’s a bit awkward physically, since chiaki’s pretty short in comparison to hajime, but she holds him as best she can. when he eventually pulls back, she tells him that they’ll always be best friends, okay? hajime sniffles, smiles, apologizes for breaking down like that, and agrees. best friends. he still doesn’t tell her. she doesn’t ask him to. he’ll tell her when he’s ready.

hajime tells komaeda about the breakup less than 24 hours after it happens. komaeda offers him a kind, gentle smile, clearly meant to reassure him. it reaches his eyes. “i’m sorry things didn’t work out, but i’m grateful you were able to maintain your friendship,” he says. he promises hajime that being single won’t doom him, and that he can still be freed of his sin even if he doesn’t have a nice girl to settle down with at the moment. they will continue their guidance, and one day hajime will be purified. hajime thanks his priest for all he’s done for him. Father Komaeda says he’d do anything to help someone dear see the glory of God.

[thekenobee]

📍Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin

[virgulaleal]

O QUEIJORCISTA

Grátis no seu navegador

Um jogo de ação que coloca VOCÊ, o irmão Karras Mundongo, contra os dragões da Catedral Maldita.

Roube todos os queijos para a Madre Superiora! A tradição do dogma Ratólico está em jogo!

[imogenkol]

Not the Airbnb guest testing me in my own damn house

[theflyingfeeling]

i just noticed that for some reason i don't remember joonas' middle name and i was trying to recall it by going through the all of blind channel's full names in my head

i don't know what happened when i got to olli because my brain just autofilled it so i said in my head: "olli elias kau- wait he's surname isn't kaunisvesi- i mean olli elias mattson"

i'm way too deep in this ollixallu shit

actually im just sleep deprived and my brain isn't working properly but i'm making it abou ollixallu shit again

no but the way Olli Elias Mattson sounds so cute?? 😭😭😂😂😭😂😭😂😂

I hope they'll take Matsson as their shared surname when they get married 🥰

[skyriderwednesday]

Not that I don't love the books as they are, but I think Redwall should have committed to the critters believing in human Jesus.

[artistaspiring]

i MIGHT consider going back to church if this was the speaker. 1 time. Just to see the mouse

The Vicar in the Pulpit Church Mouse // MedievalKnight 

[amalgamimage0]

New Ko-Fi Post: CotSM Prologue - 2nd Draft!

Hey guys,

Here's the prologue from the 2nd draft of my debut fantasy novel, Church of the Southern Mice! Keep in mind, I will be taking this down the instant the official release is up ready for publication. Enjoy and consider donating to my Ko-Fi page to help support it!

[cassandraclare]

Chairman Meow to Church

Well, it's been a while! I am trying to be better about posting, I truly am. Today, since it is a miserable rainy day here, have an adorable letter from Chairman Meow to Church, after Church has moved to England. :) Written for Diane from Kickstarter.

Church Cat,

My person, the taller one, promised me that he would bring this message to you at your new palatial home in England. He has told me that the palatial home actually belongs to your human, but I do not believe him. That sounds like humanist anti-cat propaganda.

He also said he did not know what a small cat would do with such a large home. Clearly he does not understand us at all. As you know, there are many rooms that can be important in a cat’s domain. There is the room for lying around sleeping in, and the room for chasing mice, and the room for meowing loudly, and room with the best sunspots for napping in, and the room with the best furniture for sharpening claws, and the room where there are most likely to be mice.

This is the second time I have mentioned mice. I must be hungry. I will find my other human and alert him that it is time for the can-opener. Please accept this housewarming gift of a false mouse stuffed with drugs. The humans call it catnip. I’m sure you have enjoyed it before, since you are very old.

Meow,

Meow

[jacobwren]

The Church Mice - College Psychology On Love (US Garage, Punk, 1965)

[thekenobee]

6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam 6 weeks and I'm out of this bedlam-

[frankhightower]

2023 Size Drive: introduction

I've been thinking about doing a growth drive or a shrink drive for a very long time.  I knew that if I did it, I had to show my world, so I would have to give my characters roles in the "story". About a year ago, I decided I should just do both at the same time! (and let whichever "side" got more donations "win out") but I was busy last year with the "one pokémon for each follower" thing... which ended up indirectly bankrupting me. I ran a poll to see what would be best / most popular (instead of continuing the "a pokémon every day regardless of if it eats up all the drawing time" routine), and "growth drive" won marginally by 8 percentage points ...with error bars of ±8 percentage points—not great, but at least the error was not more than the winning option's lead (to be fair, there was one more vote on "open regular commissions", but that user deleted their twitter account, so their vote got subtracted from the official count by Twitter, saving me having to deal with a tied vote) What you see here are all established characters, so let me explain all the non-canon debauchery I'm committing here:

Bobby wouldn't dare venture into the human town, he might get shot!

Cameras in this world do NOT look like go-pros, they look like accordions!

Mouse police don't patrol the Human Town Square!

Jason and Matron don't canonically ever meet! (but I think they'd get along if they did)

Although the Size Drive was motivated by Macro March, I'll keep it open through April, owing to how late I posted it, both to twitter and to here.

Posted using PostyBirb