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thyfaithfailnot · 1 year ago

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Essay #14: What is Truth?, Pt. 4

Disc.: The following is a non-profit essay intended for educational purposes. All talks, dictionary definitions, and scripture verses belong to their respective owners and/or publishers. No copyright infringement intended.

I served in the England Coventry mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was thrilled at the opportunity, and what added to my delight was that I was given the chance to serve in a foreign country, and the only language that I needed to learn was English. I felt like I had an advantage in that I’d been taught to speak that language since childhood. I did everything that was asked and expected of me to prepare myself to serve The Lord during that time. While I was preparing to serve, I was planning on a two year mission. Even when I had my final interview and my missionary application was submitted, I was planning on two years. By the time I received my call to serve (which incidentally was a mere 10 days), an announcement was made at the April 1982 session of General Conference, by President Gordon B. Hinkley (then a counselor in The First Presidency). He said that all missions for young men and young women would be 18 months. A lot of people asked me how I felt about that, and I told them I wasn’t sure, as I wasn’t in the mission field at that time. Today, I would answer that question this way: it is a testimony of how very aware God our Father is for all of His children.

I went on my mission in July 1982. I arrived in England in August of that same year, and I returned home January 19, 1984.

While I was serving, I was chased down streets, had doors slammed in my face, and was told that I was going to Hell, that Lucifer himself led The Church. I was threatened, yelled at, and overall persecuted for being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ. As awful as this sounds, however, it wasn’t very new to me, as I’d been ridiculed for my religious beliefs many times before then.

***

One of the most powerful sermons ever given by The Savior is what is now referred to as His “Sermon on the Mount”. It reads:

“Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in Heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

~Matthew 5:10-12

What’s interesting about this passage is that, in the verse preceding it, Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

Believers and followers of Jesus Christ and His teachings have always been scoffed at, teased, talked down to, hated, despised, and persecuted. Similarly, people can’t seem to leave The Church of Jesus Christ alone, even 203 years after Joseph Smith had his First Vision. We will now explore some of the questions and concerns that have been identified by some who question the veracity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the truthfulness of which I again bear my testimony. I KNOW that it is His church. And although we may not know the answer to every question (which I shall henceforth be referring to as “concerns”), it does not mean that His Church hasn’t been restored in this, the “dispensation of the fulness of times” (Ephesians 1:10).

***

Concern #1: If God was able to create Adam and Eve from clay and the world out of nothing, then why did He have to have sex to create us in the premortal existence? Shouldn’t He be able to create our souls in ex-nihilo?

This concern is a little troubling to me. First of all, I had to look up what “ex-nihilo” meant. The Merriam/ Webster definition is “out of nothing”. As I pondered the idea of ex-nihilo, I looked up what some of the leaders of The Church have said on the subject, as they are theologians and scriptorians in their own rights.

The following quotes are from a talk entitled “The Creation”, given by Elder Russell M. Nelson at the April 2000 session of General Conference:

“It is difficult for mortal minds to comprehend the majesty of The Creation.

“I testify that the Earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. It did not come ex-nihilo (out of nothing). And human minds and hands able to build buildings or create computers are not accidental. It is God who made us and not we ourselves. We are His people! The Creation itself testifies of a Creator. We cannot disregard the divine in the Creation. Without our grateful awareness of God’s hand in The Creation, we would be just as oblivious to our Provider as are goldfish swimming in a bowl. With deep gratitude, we echo the words of the Psalmist, who said, ‘O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the Earth is full of Thy riches.’”

This reminds me of what Alma said to Korihor in The Book of Mormon, “All things denote there is a God; yea even the Earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea and its motion, yea and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:44).

William Wordsworth penned the words:

“Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:...

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.”

~Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood, lines 58, 64-54

The King James version of the Bible in Genesis 1:1-2 reads: “In the beginning, God created the Earth. And the Earth was without form, and void…..”

The Revised Standard Version of the Bible reads the same exact way.

The New International Version reads thusly: “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. Now the Earth was formless and empty……”

And lastly, the Christian Standard Bible reads the same way as the NIV of The Bible.

All scripture was written by the spirit of revelation. Having said that, it is important to know that all scripture should be understood and learned from a need for that same spirit.

As Jesus neared the end of His Earthly ministry, He said to His Disciples in John 15:26:

“But when The Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from The Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from The Father, He shall testify of Me.”

Notice how the word “comforter” is capitalized; this would indicate that The Comforter is someone’s name or title. The Comforter being referred to is The Holy Ghost. All three members of The Godhead are identified in this one little verse. As we read the scriptures and look for answers, The Comforter, also known as The Holy Ghost, will testify to our hearts and our minds that which is true.

***

Going back to the verses in Genesis, all four accounts testify that the Earth was originally a void. Merriam/Webster defines the word “void” as “containing nothing”. As I read these talks and scripture verses, I do not see any evidence that the Earth was created out of nothing. The Earth was without form, the definition of which is “the shape and structure of something as distinguished from its material” (Merriam /Webster). I think that the Earth was empty and unorganized. When God created this world, He organized it. He divided light from darkness; created the plants and the vegetation; divided the waters into oceans, streams, and lakes; placed all kinds of animals and insects on the world, each having its own purpose; and finally, placed man upon the Earth. I love all accounts of Genesis 1:26-27!

“And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the Earth.

So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.”

~Genesis 1:26-27; KJV

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole Earth, and the creatures that crawl on the Earth.’ So God created man in his own image; He created them male and female.”

~Genesis 1:26-27; CSB

The time that we were given in this life is precious. We were sent here to learn and to grow. We were sent here to develop faith, period.

And as to the manner of our spiritual creation? Ecclesiastes 12:7 (KJV) reads: “ Then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.”

Acts 17:29 (KJV) reads: “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that The Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” (Sidenote: The RSV of that same verse reads: “Being then God’s offspring…..”)

Herbrews 12:9 says: “Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?”

Doctrine & Covenants 29:30-35 gives us some very valuable doctrine regarding our spiritual origins:

“But remember that all My judgments are not given unto men; and as the words have gone forth out of My mouth even so shall they be fulfilled, that the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first in all things whatsoever I have created by the word of My power, which is the power of My Spirit.

For by the power of My Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal—

First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of My work; and again, first temporal, and secondly spiritual, which is the last of My work—

Speaking unto you that you may naturally understand; but unto Myself My works have no end, neither beginning; but it is given unto you that ye may understand, because ye have asked it of Me and are agreed.

Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto Me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.

Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for My commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual.”

How grateful am I for modern revelation that helps us understand that we are all spirit children of a kind and loving Heavenly Father! Even if you do not accept modern revelation, it is clear to see that we are of divine origin from the Bible passages I quoted. Modern revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith enhances, reinforces, and clarifies what the ancient prophets and Apostles tried to teach.

I can neither confirm nor dispel what was supposedly said by previous leaders of The Church. Many have taken what previous and even present leaders have said out of context. On the topic at hand, it is doctrinally sound to say that we were created spiritually before we were created temporally and that we all have a purpose to our individual time here on this beautiful Earth we call home.

I do not know exactly how we came to be created spiritually. One could assume certain things, and I believe that is ok. I know how we are created physically and that is a tremendous, beautiful, almost mystical process in and of itself. To speak of my Earthly parents in an irreverent manner is something that I would never do. Likewise, to speak of our spiritual creation is something that is and should be kept sacred and reverent. The love that one should hold for Earthly parentage is sacred. The love that one should hold for Heavenly parentage is even more sacred and holy. It has been said that we are not Earthly beings having a spiritual experience; rather, we are spiritual beings having an Earthly experience. I like that and I believe it to be true.

Final thoughts

My final thought on this very important concern is this: I do not believe that my Savior will ask me if I knew how my spirit was created when I stand before Him on The Day of Judgement. No, I believe that He and His Father will be more concerned with how I chose to spend my time, how much I loved His children, and how much faith and spiritual knowledge I acquired during my precious time on the Earth.

#christian blog #faith essay #the church of jesus christ of latter day saints #christianity #inspiration #education #faith essays

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incorrectsmashbrosquotes · 2 years ago

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Vampire Ramble

You know one thing I never like about modern vampire media? Something that just really gets lost about vampires?

The horror of their existence.

Vampires were meant to be abominations. A thing to be reviled and hated, and for good reason. I’m not sure how we got to “you should aspire to date one” but we are and there’s not much I can do about it with bellyaching.

So, if you will, allow me to tell you about my vampires.

First and foremost, I must be clear, my vampires MUST be turned willingly. They cannot force or trick someone into turning. They cannot give birth. They must knowingly and honestly enter this Living Hell.

My vampires experience the world through a pane of glass. They feel nothing, and taste nothing. They feel neither pain nor pleasure, no physical sensation at all. They are, after all, living corpses. When they grip you tight they don’t feel the breaking on bone beneath their fingers. When they sip coffee, only the rough idea of liquid passing down their gullets is what they process.

Of all the things in the world between heaven and earth, there is one thing they can both feel and taste.

Blood.

Blood is the only thing that penetrates that pane of glass. When blood drips onto their skin they feel it’s hot wetness. When they drink it, they taste its metallic bitterness. And yet, it is the only thing they can ever taste, and thus it is the sweetest taste in the world. And so they drink deep and long every time they feed. And their victims always die, for the life in their blood is the one thing that makes the vampire feel alive.

And yet, the people they drain are not truly dead. Their corpses are clay cold, but their souls live on, eternally, within the vampire. Forever trapped behind the pane of glass that imprisons the vampire. The soul of a vampire is a patchwork of pain and suffering, sewn together from the agony of their victims.

So what now? Can this curse be cured? Can the vampire ever become a human again?

Yes.

To live again, to break the curse of the vampire, the vampire must chose it. Again, the cure is not something that can be forced. It cannot be coerced or tricked. A vampire must knowingly and completely chose life and humanity.

And then, they must face their victims. They must live their pain and fear. They must experience every horror and agony they felt as the vampire took everything from them so that they may make their own cursed existence a little more pleasurable.

Only when that is done, when the vampire has laid every single one of their victims to rest, can they become human again.

#incorrect super smash bros #not a quote #vampire #vampires #vampire idea #ideas #writing #writing idea #writing prompt #horror #fantasy #dark fantasy #fantasy horror #blood #thought #musing #musings

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readermishok · 3 years ago

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Top 20: my favorite interactive stories

Hello, guys!

Once I saw that one of my popular and mostly likeable posts was about IF, I decided to share with you my personal top of the best IF authors I have known.

I read a lot of WIPs (work in progress) and finished novels since three long years, so I might recommend truly incredible stories. I apologies for adding pics and some additional info about my MC, but I wanted to bring spark of life into this top.

MC – Julia (deShanre), she|her.

I'll start with telling about quartet of works greatly affected on me. It was almost like… living my second life. It felt so real, so vibrant. In the darkest times it gave me the strenght to meet the next day.

1. Samurai of Hyuga, Books 1-4 by Devon Connell (WIP, planned 7 books). Patreon. Buy Book 1. Buy Book 2. Buy Book 3. Buy Book 4.

Samurai of Hyuga is a brutal, heart-pounding interactive tale. Prepare to enter the land of silk and steel, where fantasy clashes against grim reality, and where the good guys don't always win in the end. It's a harsh world with tough choices at every turn. Good thing you're the toughest ronin around.

My MC: Ronin, the master of the Jigoku Ittō-ryū, The Sword Who Cuts the Heavens

Jigoku:

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2. Fallen Hero by Malin Ryden (WIP, planned 4 books). Tumblr: @fallenhero-rebirth. Patreon. Buy Book 1.

Become the greatest telepathic villain Los Diablos has ever known! Once you were famous; soon you will be infamous. That is, unless your old friends in the Rangers stop you first. Juggle different identities and preserve your secrets as you build new alliances and try to forget the friendships you've left behind.

My MC: Sidestep Puppetmaster:

Jane (puppet):

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3. I, the Forgotten one by Bacondoneright (WIP, planned dilogy). No tumblr or Patreon|Ko-fi. Demo.

It has been five long years since the end of The Border Wars. Five long years without a purpose. Endlessly drifting around from one job to the next, serving your apathetic father only to receive no credit. Nobody in Kanton truly knows what you did. How you won The War, leading the armies of Kanton as a youth.

Nobody knows what it took out of you. Spending your formative years in war is not good for one’s outlook on life. Your emotions now lie behind a mask of stoicism. After all, all emotions do is cloud one’s judgement and wind up costing lives.

Nobody knows how much it hurt to be cast down from the throne and succession. To be disinherited, cast away from the family, and left aside to die.

My MC: The Marshal, the bastard child:

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4. The Exile by Pheo (WIP). Tumblr: @exilethegame. Patreon. Demo.

You’re the ex-commander of the Kingdom of Plaithus, and your name is known by all. It used to be whispered in fear by your enemies, and the very mention of it could send men fleeing. Your people had cried it out in battle, swords raised in your honor as they faced death fearlessly. You were a hero, and to some, a legend.

Until you weren’t.

You can’t remember what happened. All that’s left are blurry faces, screams, and the feeling of blood on your hands. The only reason you still have your head is because of the pity of an old friend.

And now? It’s only been a year since the incident, and already things are going wrong again when a rather peculiar sorcerer offers you absurd amounts of gold in exchange for protection from… well, that’s the problem, isn’t it? You don’t know.

My MC: the Commander:

Ex-commander.

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Shepherds of Haven by Lena Nguyen (WIP). Tumblr: @shepherds-of-haven Patreon. Demo.

Shepherds of Haven is a dark fantasy interactive fiction game. In it, you play as a Mage living in a world where magic is outlawed and your people—those possessing supernatural powers—are oppressed and reviled. The world is ruled by humans who believe in science, technology, and industry: at best, you and your kind are nothing more than a fairytale, and at worst you are the state’s greatest threat.

My MC: Human Mage, gunner

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God of the Red Mountain (WIP). Tumblr: @friendlybowlofsoup Demo.

You are a spirit born of the Red Mountain–though you’ve run away from it long ago. You’d be content to stay away, too, if not for the mountain god who suddenly comes looking for you. But what purpose do they have? And what exactly is your end goal?

Based on East Asian myths and folklore, you play as a powerful, nameless spirit in a shifting world. As a being caught between death and life, you are connected to a stream of limitless power, and the more you are known, the more powerful you become.

However, your journey will not be so smooth. You have been cursed by powerful, malignant beings known as Foxes, and it’s only a matter of time before you fall from sanity yourself.

My MC: Owl spirit, human appearance

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The Bastard of Camelot by Rebelgirl (WIP). Tumblr: @llamagirl28 Demo. Ko-fi.

Your child will be the undoing of Camelot. Born under an ominous prophecy, you are the incestuous bastard of King Arthur and Morgana Le Fay. Will you fulfill the prophecy, or rebel?

Be the villain they expect you to be, or the hero they don’t- be remorseful or unapologetic, make your destiny or be Morgana’s tool of revenge.

Arthur can’t have any more children, making you the sole blood heir, and sole other Pendragon. As a Pendragon, you have the power of dragons.

The Bastard of Camelot is a trilogy following Mordred as they become a knight of the Round Table, and save or destroy Camelot.

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The Seven Heirs of Ophaesia: Part One by (WIP). Tumblr: @fantasyfawkes Demo. Patreon.

The Seven Heirs of Ophaesia is a low-fantasy game set in a Renaissance-esque world where you play as one of seven heirs to a fictional kingdom rife with intrigue. As the King’s seventh child, you are a prince or princess of Ophaesia, a luxurious nation along the southern coast of Selanes. You are the first child of your father’s third wife, a woman hated throughout the realm due to the pervasive suspicion that she poisoned the previous queen, and her poor reputation taints your image in the eyes of the court and beyond. From your days in the palace nursery all the way to adulthood, you must navigate treacherous court politics and delicate foreign affairs while trying to find your place in the world — and your family.

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Attollo by A.E. Jendryke (WIP). Tumblr: @attollogame Demo. Patreon.

After several years of radio silence, you receive a message from your younger sibling that carries a strange sense of urgency to it. Either out of familial concern, or boredom, you embark on a journey from your residence to your siblings apartment in New Hampshire to see what’s wrong and then get on with your life. Too bad it’s never so simple.

Deal with cults, interdimensional entities, and far too many people with superpowers (where, for once, you’re the odd one out) in your journey to bring your sibling back from an underworld far out of your control.

My MC: lawyer

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Land of the Dragon (WIP) by Hilsee Foo. Demo. Last update was long ago... (crying)

Welcome to the Land of the Dragon! Here you shall experience an adventure in an ancient land, navigate court politics, forge friendships, and maybe even pursue romance if you so choose!

The Dragon Emperor sits upon the throne, as he inherited it from his father before him. But all is not well in the realm. In the provinces, an Uprising is gaining both strength and popularity. At court, the Elder Prince plots in secret to usurp his brother's throne. And within the Emperor's harem, the Empress and Imperial Consort vie for power.

As the Emperor and Empress' only trueborn child, you are at the centre of this power struggle. When all hell breaks lose on your 21st nameday, what will you do to find your place in this world?

All this, and more... In the Land of the Dragon.

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The Northern Passage by Kit H.J. (WIP). Tumblr: @northern-passage Demo.

The Northern Passage is a horror fantasy CYOA, where you play as a hunter sent up north to investigate a series of missing people along the border and in the port cities of the Blackwater.

Working with your handler, Lea, you will travel north and discover that things are far worse than you ever could have imagined, and that there is something powerful lurking out in the deep, dark sea…

My MC: Hunter

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The Nameless by Parker Lyn (WIP). Tumblr: @parkerlyn Demo. Ko-fi.

The Nameless is a low fantasy WIP that is character and romance driven, with your race (sheevra) loosely based on stories about the fey and other myths. Where deals are a weapon and a name is the most intimate secret someone can offer. You play as a sheevra investigating the city of Renescen after the complete disappearance of one of four sheevra Clans in the world, running across a ragtag group of both sheevra and mortalis along the way.

Will you find out what happened before it comes for you?

Mortalis appearance

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Virtue’s End by Crimsis (WIP). Tumblr: @virtuesend-if Demo. Patreon.

In a dark world overrun by monsters from the shadow plane, you exist as a hybrid monster hunter called a helvling, a human whose very soul has been Bound to one such entity. Travelling from warded settlement to warded settlement with your surly Keeper, Shea, you have the thankless task of defending the common folk against these horrors from Hel.

Usually, a fate such as yours is only reserved for the lowest of criminals, as penance for their loathsome deeds… You wouldn’t know if your fate has been deserved, however, since upon completion of your Binding seven years ago, all former memories of your human life have been lost.

You’ve been moulded into a weapon by the Virtuous Order, trained to be an unfeeling and ruthlessly efficient hunter… But is that who you are? Who are you, truly?

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A Tale of Crowns (WIP). Tumblr: @ataleofcrowns Itch.

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy love story with Middle Eastern roots, both on pc as well as mobile! It’s entirely text-based, with choices throughout to shape both your main character’s personality and skills as well as influence their relationships with others. There are four love interests for you to choose from, both female as well as male, each with their own stories and secrets for you to uncover!

Crown of Arsur

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Wayfarer (WIP). Tumblr: @idrellegames Demo. Patreon.

When your mercenary work backs you into a corner, you take the only option available and accept a contract: to travel to the city of Velantis and steal an ancient artifact said to be blessed by the gods. Simple, right?

But Velantis holds more than you bargained for. Gathering a ragtag party of malcontents and renegades from across the city, you must navigate enemy factions, meddling guilds, and escalating political tensions. Your choices will ultimately determine the city’s fate – and the fate of every person who lives there.

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When Twilight Strikes by evertidings (WIP). Tumblr: @evertidings Demo.

You are a bounty hunter. Responsible for taking in rogue supernaturals, you work for IAOS—the International Agency of Supernaturals—where, alongside your best friend and partner, you two have quickly become the best hunting duo of the branch. After a particular tricky hunt, you brief your boss, Caine Atheron, and come back to work the next day to find that he has mysteriously disappeared overnight, the company is now in the hands of his best friend, Sebastian Mai. And though no one else seems to question it, something tells you that there’s more to the story.

With bounty cases rising at an alarming rate and a second mystery unfolding, you and your ragtag team of allies set out to find the truth.

But as you go further and further, the secrets you uncover begin to make you question: who… or what exactly are you fighting for?

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Passanger by Pime (WIP). Tumblr: @the-passenger-if Demo. Ko-fi.

Do you like monsters? Do you think they are the best part of their respective movies, books, and shows? Then The Passenger might be the game for you.

The Passenger is a choice script work in progress in which you are an eldritch abomination that’s about to be devoured by another unthinkable creature. Good news is you are pretty crafty and know how to jump dimensions to escape your ghastly fate; bad news is, you’re now stuck on Earth, trapped inside a dumb human larva.

As years go by, you realize the amount of energy you need to leave this horrible dimension behind is a lot more than you anticipated. Not to mention the creature that almost ate you all those years ago never really stopped looking for you. But there’s no way it’ll pinpoint your actual location… right?

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Scout: An Apocalypse Story by Anya (WIP). Tumblr: @anya-dev Itch.

It has been over a decade since a worldwide natural disaster obliterated the natural planet and decimated human civilization. There are small groups of humans still alive, fending for themselves, trying to create communities amongst the rubble.

You are a 24-year old scout living in a small community on the edge of the Orange Plains. You lost your mother and your sister before finding your way here. You are primarily an academic, and you put your skills to use on regular scouting missions. With your best friend and your scouting team leader in tow, your small group is a pillar of the Community.

On your first scouting mission of the hot season, you meet the leader of the People Across the Orange Plains. Will you break from the Community you have known your whole life? Ask a romantic partner to join you? Discover secrets that your own people have been hiding? Become a leader yourself?

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Body Count by Nell Bolton (WIP). Tumblr: @bodycountgame Demo. Ko-fi.

Your life isn’t going how you’d hoped. Despite having big plans when you graduated, you’re stuck in a dead end job and a crappy flat with zero romantic life to speak of. All until a friend convinces you to join the cast of a new reality TV show.

The premise is simple: 12 singles are sent to a villa on a tropical island and they live there together for a month. After 28 days, the couple who is voted by the other islanders as being most likely to withstand the test of time will win £500,000. In addition, the couple with the highest body count will win £500,000. Total prize pool? £1,000,000.

In this context, “body count” refers to how many people you’ve slept with… right? Well, that’s what you think when you sign your contract. Turns out, though, that not all of your fellow cast members will be using that definition to get to the prize.

Fall in love, win big money, solve some murders and try to stay.

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Project Hadea by nyehilism (WIP). Tumblr: @nyehilismwriting Itch. Ko-fi.

You play as an OPERATIVE of Scytha Industries, a highly selective private security company. As their most elite Operative, you possess many skills and talents, not to mention top-of-the-line equipment - including your very own AI module, IVI.

This, of course, puts a price on your head. An AI module goes for billions on the black market; carrying one around in your skull is, perhaps, not the safest idea. Sure, you’re more than a match for anyone who might come after you - but no-one outside the high levels of Scytha knows about it, so you should be safe anyway, right?

Wrong.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I do want to thank all these tremendously talented authors for creating such complex and beautiful worlds. I love it with all my soul.

Thanks for reading, I hope you will find story for yourself. I’ll gradually extand this top!

Stay tuned.

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antoine-roquentin · 4 years ago

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obliquely, this is in reference to how formerly working class bastions in the midwest that used to elect socialists now elect republicans. if we all gave up the theory that LGBT people are normal, we might once again go back to the days where we elected socialists across the country. thomas frank, what’s the matter with kansas:

But its periodic bouts of leftism were what really branded Kansas with the mark of the freak. Every part of the country in the nineteenth century had labor upheavals and protosocialist reform movements, of course. In Kansas, though, the radicals kept coming out on top. It was as though the blank landscape prompted dreams of a blank-slate society, a place where institutions might be remade as the human mind saw fit. Maps of the state from the 1880s show a hamlet (since vanished) called Radical City; in nearby Crawford County the town of Girard was home to the Appeal to Reason, a socialist newspaper whose circulation was in the hundreds of thousands. In that same town, in 1908, Eugene Debs gave a fiery speech accepting the Socialist Party’s nomination for president; in 1912 Debs actually carried Crawford County, one of four he won nationwide. (All were in the Midwest.) In 1910 Theodore Roosevelt signaled his own lurch to the left by traveling to Kansas and giving an inflammatory address in Osawatomie, the onetime home of John Brown.

The most famous freak-out of them all was Populism, the first of the great American leftist movements.* Populism tore through other states as well—wailing all across Texas, the South, and the West in the 1890s—but Kansas was the place that really distinguished itself by its enthusiasm. Driven to the brink of ruin by years of bad prices, debt, and deflation, the state’s farmers came together in huge meetings where homegrown troublemakers like Mary Elizabeth Lease exhorted them to “raise less corn and more hell.” The radicalized farmers marched through the small towns in day-long parades, raging against what they called the “money power.” And despite all the clamor, they still managed to take the state’s traditional Republican masters utterly by surprise in 1890, sweeping the small-town slickers out of office and ending the careers of many a career politician. In the decade that followed they elected Populist governors, Populist senators, Populist congressmen, Populist supreme court justices, Populistcity councils, and probably Populist dogcatchers, too; men of strong ideas, curious nicknames, and a colorful patois....

For a generation, Kansas has been the testing-ground for every experiment in morals, politics, and social life. Doubt of all existing institutions has been respectable. Nothing has been venerable or revered merely because it exists or has endured. Prohibition, female suffrage, fiat money, free silver, every incoherent and fantastic dream of social improvement and reform, every economic delusion that has bewildered the foggy brains of fanatics, every political fallacy nurtured by misfortune, poverty and failure, rejected elsewhere, has here found tolerance and advocacy.

Today the two myths are one. Kansas may be the land of averageness, but it is a freaky, militant, outraged averageness. Kansas today is a burned-over district of conservatism where the backlash propaganda has woven itself into the fabric of everyday life. People in suburban Kansas City vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of New York and Washington, D.C.; people in rural Kansas vituperate against the sinful cosmopolitan elite of Topeka and suburban Kansas City. Survivalist supply shops sprout in neighborhood strip-malls. People send Christmas cards urging their friends to look on the bright side of Islamic terrorism, since the Rapture is now clearly at hand.

Under the state’s simple blue flag are gathered today some of the most flamboyant cranks, conspiracists, and calamity howlers the Republic has ever seen. The Kansas school board draws the guffaws of the world for purging state science standards of references to evolution. Cities large and small across the state still hold out against water fluoridation, while one tiny hamlet takes the additional step of requiring firearms in every home. A prominent female politician expresses public doubts about the wisdom of women’s suffrage, while another pol proposes that the state sell off the Kansas Turnpike in order to solve its budget crisis. Impoverished inhabitants of the state’s most scenic area fight with fanatical determination to prevent a national park from opening up in their neighborhood, while the rails-to-trails program, regarded everywhere else in the union as a harmless scheme for family fun, is reviled in Kansas as an infernal design on the rights of property owners. Operation Rescue selects Wichita as the stage for its great offensive against abortion, calling down thirty thousand testifying fundamentalists on the city, witnessing and blocking traffic and chaining themselves to fences. A preacher from Topeka travels the nation advising Americans to love God’s holy hate, showing up wherever a gay person has been in the news to announce that “God Hates Fags.” Survivalists and secessionists dream of backyard confederacies out on the lone prairie; schismatic Catholics declare the pope himself to be insufficiently Catholic; Posses Comitatus hold imaginary legal proceedings, sternly prosecuting state officials for participating in actual legal proceedings; and homegrown terrorists swap conspiracy theories at a house in Dickinson County before screaming off to strike a blow against big government in Oklahoma City.

the problem with this simple story is that social liberalism actually grew in lockstep with an economic policy tailored to the poor. in the 70s, the most common place to get gender reassignment surgery was at a catholic hospital in small town colorado. in 2010, in response to deep opposition in the town, the practice was forced to move to california. the second most common place was at a baptist hospital in oklahoma city, where such surgery was viewed as routine until a number of religious leaders decided to oppose it in the 70s. at the same time, many other religious leaders spoke out in favour of the surgery, saying that it comported well with religious tenets.

likewise, colorado legalized abortion in 1967, as did states like kansas, missouri, georgia, and north and south carolina prior to roe v wade. today, these states are considered anti-abortion and anti-lgbt hotspots, yet prior to the late 70s, compassion for such people was viewed as paramount in the life of america’s christians. so what happened? it clearly wasn’t an emphasis on the social aspects of poor american lives that shifted the political arena in favour of religious conservatism. rather, as thomas frank points out in the same book:

Nobody mows their own lawn in Mission Hills anymore, and only a foot soldier in its armies of gardeners would park a Pontiac there. The doctors who lived near us in the seventies have pretty much been gentrified out, their places taken by the bankers and brokers and CEOs who have lapped them repeatedly on the racetrack of status and income. Every time I paid Mission Hills a visit during the nineties, it seemed another of the more modest houses in our neighborhood had been torn down and replaced by a much larger edifice, a three-story stone chateau, say, bristling with turrets and porches and dormers and gazebos and a three-car garage. The dark old palaces from the twenties sprouted spiffy new slate roofs, immaculately tailored gardens, remote-controlled driveway gates, and sometimes entire new wings. One grand old pile down the street from us was fitted with shiny new gutters made entirely of copper. A new house a few doors down from Esrey’s spread is so large it has two multicar garages, one at either end.

These changes are of course not unique to Mission Hills. What has gone on there is normal in its freakishness. You can observe the same changes in Shaker Heights or La Jolla or Winnetka or Ann Coulter’s hometown of New Canaan, Connecticut. They reflect the simplest and hardest of economic realities: The fortunes of Mission Hills rise and fall in inverse relation to the fortunes of ordinary working people. When workers are powerful, taxes are high, and labor is expensive (as was the case from World War II until the late seventies), the houses built here are smaller, the cars domestic, the servants rare, and the overgrown look fashionable in gardening circles. People read novels about eccentric English aristocrats trapped in a democratic age, sighing sadly for their lost world.

When workers are weak, taxes are down, and labor is cheap (as in the twenties and again today), Mission Hills coats itself in shimmering raiments of gold and green. Now the stock returns are plush, the bonus packages fat, the servants affordable, and the suburb finds that the princely life isn’t dead after all. It builds new additions and new fountains and new Italianate porches overlooking Olympic-sized flower gardens maintained by shifts of laborers. People read books about the glory of empire. The kids get Porsches or SUVs when they turn sixteen; the houses with asphalt roofs discreetly disappear; the wings that were closed off are triumphantly reopened, and all is restored to its former grandeur. Times may be hard where you live, but here events have yielded a heaven on earth, a pleasure colony out of the paintings of Maxfield Parrish.

america's workers and small farmers were saved by the reforms of the 1930s, as frank explains, then crushed as the wealthy found out how to squirrel away their taxes (in part thanks to the collapse of the british empire), accumulate wealth away from prying eyes, lobby the government for preferential treatment, and between 1976 and 2000, triumph completely in the political domain. mission hill donates more money to politicians than the rest of kansas combined. unions are swamped in state politics, and see declining fortunes. as a result, neoliberal social atomization takes effect, which sees even workers demanding beggar-thy-neighbour policies. and when thy neighbour is socially distinct from you, it becomes easier to justify voting for such politics based on a survival instinct. the majority of the working class tuned out and do not vote any more. among the rest, low skilled working class jobs in highly stratified and inequitable cities vote democrat, hoping for some patronage from the white collar creative class voters they serve, while blue collar skilled workers tend to vote republican, devoid of any examples of class politics in their lives with the death of unions and hoping to keep their share of wages against their only opposition, the tax man.

ultimately, any socially liberal politics sustained by donations from rich big city donors is unsustainable. on the other hand, the notion that “woke” politics is holding back leftism is, save for a few clearly absurd situations (robin diangelo, for instance) also wrong. economic leftism leads to social leftism, because respect to the working class leads to respect for its identities. neoliberal atomization is a much deeper force than can be surmounted at the ballot box, even in a primary, but it is always an economic force first and foremost.

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confused-as-all-hell · 4 years ago

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Nina Zenik's trade was love.

Her lips were the colour of teenage breakups, her eyelids dusted dreamy gold. Her kisses tasted like melting chocolate, and the touch of her bare hands was wildfire, burning, destruction. Within a cage of ribbon and bone, her heart wept for quiet.

Her smile could have set the world aflame.

Nina had ridden desire until her body gave out, had slept with infatuation in her bed, had risen to the prying hands of lust. She had never known gentle touches or warm butterfly lips; men and women both saw her body, saw an opportunity, a conquest.

She loved, my god, she loved.

But nobody had ever loved her.

Some tried; they took her to quaint little cafes and pretty sparkling monuments, but her laugh was too bright, her grin too wide, she was too much to be managed.

Her friends did their best to cheer her, and their kindness was often her lifeline, but Inej’s comforting hand never struck out, and Kaz’s vicious mind never bent towards anything but his studies, and Jesper was too busy with his boyfriend for more than a friendly hello.

Nina had never expected them to wage her wars, but some little, nagging part of her mind longed to be fought for.

So when she met Matthias Helvar, she hated him.

He was gentle, kind, waited on her opinion, halted before kissing her fingertips. His warmth, she thought with breathtaking terror, was just a ruse.

No person on the entire fucking Earth could romantically love her.

She knew that her giggles were just too raucous, and her body too curved, and her wit could have cleaved the moon. She knew she was too much, and she knew she wasn't enough.

When she was studying, when she was jesting, when she was laying on top of Matthias' broad frame, the vines crept in.

When she heard him sneer at a young woman, when she heard him degrade her, their, rights, those tangling vines nearly fucking strangled her.

For the first time in her life, Nina fell silent. The stars spun before her eyes. The ocean was in her ears. The hatred and bewilderment clouded her lungs.

When she mentioned it to Kaz, he only frowned. "Helvar isn't known for his humanity," he said fairly.

Nina didn’t shake. She didn’t sob. She didn’t bury her face in her hands and weep.

She was still Nina Zenik, and she would not lose her heart over a hateful boy.

She only turned to Kaz, seated at her desk, and Inej, cross-legged on the bed, and Jesper, sprawled on the floor.

And Nina did what she had forsworn eight years ago.

She begged.

They were good to her, her friends.

They worked quietly and quickly, abandoning their piles of homework to soothe her furious heart, ditching their responsibilities for her anger.

It was their love she clung to when red flashed before her eyes.

Yes, she cared for Matthias, more than she ever wanted to admit.

But she was proud to be a female, and prouder still to be a feminist. She refused to dissolve her values for a few hours of sex.

They worked through the dregs of night, and when the first wisps of sunlight spun around the stars, Nina at last sat back.

Later that day, Matthias Helvar was expelled.

She had been staring at his back during one of their lectures, silent silent silent, as Inej squeezed her hand tight.

When the announcement came, all she felt was a bitter surge of terror.

The look on his face, the misery and humiliation and awful bewilderment, it would fucking haunt Nina forever.

He turned to her, eyes full of hope. "I was with you that day," he said softly. "You know I didn't."

Matthias, bold and kind and gentle, the god of burnished gold, a saviour like none she had ever known. His kisses tasted of salvation, his laugh sounded of redemption.

And fuck if the pain on his face didn't break her damn heart.

I'm wrong I'm wrong I'm wrong.

For just a second, Nina wondered if she had acted too harshly. But the image of the girl, sobbing into into her hands, screaming she was worthless and awful and didn’t deserve to be called human….

“I am so sorry, Matthias,” Nina said softly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Months later, Nina still dreamt about the hopeless look in his eyes, the way he would pick her up and kiss her neck, how his kindness was her tether.

Did she love him?

Yes.

She loved him, simply, bitterly, indomitably.

It felt like dying.

It felt like waking up in the middle of the night, heart hammering, and trying to shift the veil of sleep from your gaze because something's wrong, something's out of place, and fuck if it isn't a boy with pretty blue eyes.

It felt like searching for your oblivion in someone else's body, and their hands are too wide, and their breath too rough, and the fury that lights your bones aflame is too fucking much.

Nina was no stranger to heartbreak. Many, many boys had shattered her courage, her wit, her pride; she had built it up again, a fortress of red silk and crimson anger.

But to break someone else's heart, to dream of a guileless laugh like rumbling thunder, to think of his coffee order whenever Inej asked her what she wanted for breakfast, it was nearly too much to bear.

She tried to heal herself.

She tried changing her perfume and restyling her hair, tried shedding the skin of a rash, reckless woman, and dressed in the suitable tones of a graceful lady.

But a quiet life did not suit Nina Zenik.

The roar in her head could have broken queens. The hum of adventure in her veins moaned for one more taste. The tide of kindly words and gentle smiles were unfamiliar in her mouth.

Her friends always did their best to extend a hand, and it was due to Kaz's ability to hack the school website that her grades remained polished. It was thanks to Inej's quiet that Nina could breathe for just a bare second. It was put down to Jesper's raucous laugh that she clung to life.

How stupid, she told herself, to cry over a boy.

But she knew there was no shame in crying over a boy. It was natural to mourn a relationship, a missed opportunity, and it didn't make her less.

What she really meant was: How stupid, to cry over an awful person.

Was Matthias awful?

That remark, that stupidly bitter remark, was terrible, yes. But she in her indomitable fury had reacted so harshly.

Worse men than twenty-three-year-old Matthias Helvar had learned better. Couldn't he?

For a second, hope lifted her heart on the wind.

The very next morning, she hurried out to the center where Matthias was doing his penance, and she begged to speak with him.

When he stalked out, tall and breathtakingly handsome, aurete hair brushed back and glacier eyes gentle... fuck if she didn't lose her damned mind.

"Nina," he whispered, so softly, as if her name was his salvation. As if they were back in the safety of her bedroom, bare among the silk sheets, limbs intertwined as he gasped for her to keep going, not to stop.

"Hello," she said shakily.

"Nina, my love," he said again, his words heavy with sorrow. “My sweet garden flower.”

Her joy rose like a crashing wave, and for just one second, it felt like she might conquer the entire fucking world.

"Matthias," she said, her voice strangely airless.

He rushed towards her, fingers reaching, and she dared to close her eyes. His calloused palms brushed against her bare throat.

"My darling," he murmured into the hollow of her ear. "Oh, Nina, why would you come here tonight?"

"Am I unwelcome?"

He laughed, but it was injected with something akin to misery. "You were always welcome, Nina. I never turned you away from my door. My bed was yours. My hands, yours. The key to my dorms hung around this pretty neck. When have I ever denied you houseroom?"

"I thought you might hate me," she admitted, still trembling. The idea seemed ridiculous now.

"Hate you?" Matthias echoed, thumb grazing her pulse point, pressing down gently. "My fucking god, Nina, I have detested you since the very moment you said my name in that damned lecture hall."

Her heart stuttered.

"Every aspect of your pretty fucking face," he whispered, still soft as if he was kneeling for his confessional, "reviles me. Your laugh, your grin, those little melodies even the birds cannot mirror. The way you write your birthday cards. The way you sat by while I was convicted for a crime I did not commit."

He kissed the corner of her mouth, light as a butterfly's wings. "Oh, my darling, but you knew. Was I so terrible to you? Did I not sing you to sleep and hold your hand and bring your spring blossoms?"

She tried to croak his name, but he ghosted a finger across her lips.

"I loved you, Nina Zenik," he said. "I love you still. But send me to fucking hell if I wouldn't drive a blade through your heart." He pressed his mouth to her own again, so delicate, so careful. "I thought you cared for me."

But Nina was beyond responses. She was dashed on the rocks, laying on the stretcher, amid the ashes of her ancestors.

"No?" said Matthias gently. "Very well, my sweet love. Go to your grave in my arms, as I went to heaven in yours."

His fingers brushed her lips, grazed the swell of her breasts, closed around her throat.

When Nina woke the next morning, it was to her own unmade bed. Her neck was so swollen, peppered in bruises and markings in the shape of broad fingertips. She could barely speak.

She didn't know if she would have, even if given the choice.

The words within her, the lovely ebb and flow of their comfort, had washed away with the tide at last.

Within a few days, the markings on her skin had nearly been scrubbed away, and the gasping pressure of her larynx had eased up enough for her to cry.

She felt like an untethered ship, bound for no shore, alone on the ocean with no hope of salvation. No matter how loud her desperate screams, there was no lighthouse beacon shining through the storm, no gentle arms to welcome her home.

Her tears fell like raindrops, pattering into her morning tea and onto the silk of her pillows, rolling down her face and staining her clothes with salt.

Inej tried to soothe the grief, and her grace was often enough to hold the hurricane at bay. She slept in Nina's bed, hands outstretched as if beseeching forgotten gods, the set of her delicate face troubled.

Kaz worked hard to keep her grades high, and he seemed to take her desk as his own, working there until the latest hours of night whenever Inej ran late. He was always there, irate and dry perhaps, but there.

Jesper, newly engaged to bright-as-the-stars Wylan Van Eck, could be counted on for mindless chatter and familiar jests.

It helped, of course it did.

But nothing filled the hole in her armor, the pride Matthias had so aptly destroyed.

Some people had thought of Nina's rage as a monster, a beast slithering through the night, a serpent prone to striking first and thinking later.

But she had loved that fury, loved her pride. It gifted her a defense against sneers and remarks and hatred. It had given a little girl with happy eyes a purpose, eighteen years ago.

Nina blazed like fire, lovely and breathtaking, but so many forgot that her flames were not just pretty. They were scalding, awful, burning hot to the touch.

And she had been fucking stupid enough to think Matthias could withstand the inferno.

It was ten months before she saw him again.

Nina was leaning over the counter at a little cafe, doing her best to remember her friends' orders, touching her fingers one by one.

A laugh, like the demanding rumble of a hurricane, crested over the cafe.

Her heart fucking stopped.

Matthias was seated at a rickety table, arms tucked behind his head. He was grinning at a boy seated across from him, one of the number who had snickered at his remark over that weeping girl, all that time ago.

He glanced to the side, laughter on his soft rosy lips, and caught glimpse of her.

It was too late to smooth her straight dark hair, or wish she had worn a ball gown instead of ripped jeans and one of Jesper's T-shirts.

It was far too late to do anything but stroll up to his table and lean across the wood.

"Aerts," she said with a click of her tongue, indicating the other boy. "Darling, and I thought your sad little gang provided good company?"

"No complaints," Aerts said with a roguish smile. "You look pretty enough to whine in my ear, though, Zenik. You fancy a tumble?"

There was a shuffle, and a loud thud, as if Matthias had swung his foot into Aerts' shin.

"Fuck off," Matthias said jerkily to her.

"I'd much rather get off," Nina said dispassionately.

His ears turned red. "You've grown more petulant than ever."

"You didn't mind my whining," she said airily.

A hand flashed in the air; Kaz, waving her over impatiently.

Nina waved to signal her understanding before turning back to the boys. "How about it, Helvar? For the sake of nostalgia. I'm going home with somebody tonight, might as well be you."

Aerts didn't seem offended she'd turned him down. On the contrary, he grinned shiftily at his friend. "Go on. It'll be fun."

They barely made it to an alleyway before Matthias was kissing her.

The sex was quick and rough and furious, bruised lips and roaming hands, gasping moans and clever fingers. It was Nina with her head thrown back against the wall, eyes fluttering like the wings of a dove. It was Matthias bent down over her, whispering I hate you I hate you I hate you as though the words were his litany.

When he knelt before her, the sun was in his skin, his hair, the brush of his tongue.

And suddenly they were in their first year again, learning to love and lose and grieve and gift.

He bought earrings shaped like little stars for her because he had seen the way her eyes lit up.

She left a bouquet of white lilies on his bed because he had once mentioned they were his favourite.

He kissed the curves of her body because he had seen the disgust which others regarded them with.

She let him cry on her shoulder the anniversary of his sister's death because it hurt it hurt it hurt.

But just like in their first year, they parted.

He would always be the boy with some semblance of poison in his heart.

She would always be the girl who was simply too much for anyone to love.

And if they met, again and again, in thrift shops and opulent restaurants and beaches and nightclubs, they could pretend it away. They could smile, wave, sleep at night with the memory of a sweet laugh ringing in their ears.

Maybe one day, another day, a kinder day, they met again.

Maybe this time, Nina would ask him to heal the hatred in his blood.

Maybe this time, Matthias would tell her why he had hurt that girl.

Maybe they would love each other anew, a spring blossom eager to flower again, an old oak tree strong enough to outwait the storm.

But for now, the blossom will wither and die every winter, and the tree will go gently to the hurricane.

For now, it is Matthias, the king of ice, Nina, the queen of fire.

For now, love is simply not enough.

#nina zenik #six of crows #matthias helvar #crooked kingdom #king of scars #rule of wolves #anyways i put this in someone's inbox but thought i would share anyways #here #sorry if it sucks #im so fuckin tired

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dog-day-morning · 3 years ago

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The word of God tells us we shall suffer for the cause of Christ, he who seeks a greater reward must attain a greater faith. Unto whom much is given that much more is required. You wanna eat that whole caramel cake, you crave that sweet tea, you pursue that woman in a nightclub hoping to get her in a compromised position, face down tail up because face it, we're not willing to bow down to the will of God, but we’re so happy, and ready to give in to that round mound of doo doo brown. The 3 Hebrew boys Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego went into the fiery furnace defying Nebuchadnezzar's declaration to worship him. These men had the inspiration, strength, and courage to say, even if He doesn't deliver us, we know that He can. That kind of faith is called perfected faith. We can be lazy because we refuse to work with what God gave us before the day of calamity comes to devour us. Tribulation is kicking into high gear, and many of God’s people are none the wiser. There are people who were working 3 jobs before, and after this pandemic became a global concern who know what is on the horizon. You don't need an Issachar spirit to discern the times; read the Bible. He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘A shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time? The gov't has pulled back on unemployment benefits forcing many to find a job. The 2 righteous servants in the parable of the 3 servants increased the wealth of their employer who trusted 3 men with different amounts of talents [money], and the 1 who didn't work diligently for his master inherited weeping, and gnashing of teeth. God invested in us, and He expected a greater return from this major investment. Jesus was the greatest financial venture ever made. The Father placed His faith in His Son who in turn gave Him many more sons that walk amongst us waiting for the Day of Judgment. This investment which supersedes all, but are intertwined will never decrease, and forever increase. The 144,000 isn't a spiritually inspired interpretation based on mine, and Mima getting the Holy Ghost or having an encounter with the Holy Spirit to speak in tongues. Sit down grandma, your Depends are leaking brown stuff that reeks of formaldehyde, and raw chitlins. God is looking for a righteous Nation to worship Him not themselves. These men, and boys who represent the 12 tribes of Israel have never been defiled by women, and hopefully not by men either. You lucky mother You can take the word literally or as a misinterpretation. Those who don't believe in the written word who believe that God's word isn't infallible aren't all to blame for this heresy. Those who originally interpreted the King James Bible added to, and took from are suffering for a misleading interpretation. The prophetic which God didn't let man corrupt altogether has pretty much played out verbatim. We may be dying to a world that is trying to kill our faith that God has no intention of doing until He finds His true worshippers, and He’ll never destroy one's faith in Him. Winter is coming and you and I must be prepared. We must live like today is our last without being caught up in fear. I'm suffering from a form of laziness called jackass. God shall supply all your needs, but faith without works is dead. The ant has the intuition to work throughout the Summer knowing that Winter is coming. A lot of these drones won't live to see the finished product. Ant mounds look like the Pyramids of Giza that secure the Queen, but where is the King? They serve the one who gives life that sustains the colony, she is their goddess, but what happens if the Queen dies? There's more than one Queen serving the colony who can breed an entire colony independent of one other. fulfilling their role while working together in unison with the others who all serve a greater purpose. This

is a major element that drives the Kingdome of heaven. Christ is just like His Father In the Kingdome that includes the Holy Spirit which they will pour upon all flesh again soon. There are no cowards or sinners in the Kingdome. The angels are not as drones, they are blessed warriors.

Revelation 21:8

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

1 Corinthians 6:8-10

8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren.

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Alkebulan we need to wake up and get right. Black American's of the tribes of Judah, Gad, Reuben, and Issachar you need to aim at my forehead, and scatter my scatter brained grey matter all over the pavement. When Joe Biden told a radio podcaster if you don't vote for me you're not Black, he must be color blind. This vaccine that suspiciously looks like the Mark of Whodunnit. They can plant a microchip in your arm that can track your every move, financial transaction, and possibly your dreams while you sleep. Some Walmart stores are refusing to take cash when you check out; they only take debit, and credit cards. These are signs that we’re living in the End Times. The Last Days. I'm looking at this as a sign to get the hell outta this city, and decompose. What in God's name am I afraid of? Jesus took a beat down like a man on a mission.. You're not weak or simping if you gave your life for a people you fed, healed, gave sight to, preached to, taught them a new way to live, pray, love, told them about a Kingdome greater than Jerusalem, and you didn't kill anybody in the process knowing what they were going to do to your physical body in an almost retarded like bid to destroy their salvation. I've done none of that; my bad. Stop looking for men, especially zaddy to deliver us. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” Some of us foolheartedly called Bill Clinton the first Black president when he's not, never can, or will be to me in any sense, Barack wasn't either. Thomas Jefferson, the third elected president, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809 was described as the “son of a half-breed Indian squaw (Black) and a Virginia mulatto father (Black).” Abraham Lincoln, the nation’s 16th president, served between 1861, and 1865. Lincoln had very dark skin, and coarse hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed “Abraham Africanus the First” by his presidential opponents and cartoons were drawn depicting him as a Negro. Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight David Eisenhower, and the scourge of the South Andrew Jackson were all n**gahs. I’ll see you come Hanukkah you self-hating black, Uncle Ruckus’s. I don't celebrate Thanksgiving, why should I be overjoyed about the genocide, and enslavement of God's people? Christmas is what it is. Hopefully you will celebrate this holiday season together fulfilling God's prophetic word. I can't unless you kill me. The Christmas holiday is as pagan as Joel Osteen is at scamming. David Duke, you might wanna go to ancestry.com, and take a DNA test. You might be 30% Swahili. By the looks of those big, gorilla nostrals you had before that rhinoplasty. You, and Bull Connor may be related to Idi Amin. Your biggest shame is your greatest blessing. Personally you can kiss the skid marks in the middle of my skid marks after I take a fresh dump. Conservative, political pundits, and wannabes whose names I won't mention, but one in particular who looks like he smoked 23 blunts in 15min. with no filter. Please keep him in California, and let him drown with his zaddy, and pancaked tail, bowed hipped women. Use your lips as a floatation device dude. These people are ashamed of the God who has blessed many, and plenty. These people suffer, hopefully not always, from the white savior or white zaddy complex. The truth isn't in any of them, that's why they're so adept at lying when making bold-faced statements before the public that opposes their previous opinion like people don’t have YouTube or google. I’ll Bing a factoid or Yahoo that mother to get the truth I may even pay for it, gimme a dollar. My inability to walk amongst men as a man has stagnated my propensity to live That's BS, my Apostle said something this past Sunday that's stuck on my forehead. YOU'RE LAZY!!! I am what I am, a pain in the rear end. This has gone on way too long. Sometimes

I feel as though God wants me to kill myself because the PO PO won’t. I would feel better if my natural family would stab me in the neck, not my back, with a piece of diseased, pork, spare rib from a boar hog, and let me die from a rare form of trichinosis. The people have spoken while I’m playing Jay, and Silent Bob. Father, get me outta here. Elohim, 9/16/2021

#your financial transactions

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arcticdementor · 3 years ago

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It is, indeed, important to notice that my argument so far supposes no evil intentions on the part of the Humanitarian and considers only what is involved in the logic of his position. My contention is that good men (not bad men) consistently acting upon that position would act as cruelly and unjustly as the greatest tyrants. They might in some respects act even worse. Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. Their very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be ‘cured’ against one’s will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level with those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals. But to be punished, however severely, because we have deserved it, because we ‘ought to have known better’, is to be treated as a human person made in God’s image. In reality, however, we must face the possibility of bad rulers armed with a Humanitarian theory of punishment. A great many popular blue prints for a Christian society are merely what the Elizabethans called ‘eggs in moonshine’ because they assume that the whole society is Christian or that the Christians are in control. This is not so in most contemporary States. Even if it were, our rulers would still be fallen men, and, therefore neither ver wise nor very good. As it is, they will usually be unbelievers. And since wisdom and virtue are not the only or the commonest qualifications for a place in the government, they will not often be even the best unbelievers. The practical problem of Christian politics is not that of drawing up schemes for a Christian society, but that of living as innocently as we can with unbelieving fellow-subjects under unbelieving rulers who will never be perfectly wise and good and who will sometimes be very wicked and very foolish. And when they are wicked the Humanitarian theory of punishment will put in their hands a finer instrument of tyranny than wickedness ever had before. For if crime and disease are to be regarded as the same thing, it follows that any state of mind which our masters choose to call ‘disease’ can be treated as a crime; and compulsorily cured. It will be vain to plead that states of mind which displease government need not always involve moral turpitude and do not therefore always deserve forfeiture of liberty. For our masters will not be using the concepts of Desert and Punishment but those of disease and cure. We know that one school of psychology already regards religion as a neurosis. When this particular neurosis becomes inconvenient to government, what is to hinder government from proceeding to ‘cure’ it? Such ‘cure’ will, of course, be compulsory; but under the Humanitarian theory it will not be called by the shocking name of Persecution. No one will blame us for being Christians, no one will hate us, no one will revile us. The new Nero will approach us with the silky manners of a doctor, and though all will be in fact as compulsory as the tunica molesta or Smithfield or Tyburn, all will go on within the unemotional therapeutic sphere where words like ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘freedom’ and ‘slavery’ are never heard. And thus when the command is given, every prominent Christian in the land may vanish overnight into Institutions for the Treatment of the Ideologically Unsound, and it will rest with the expert gaolers to say when (if ever) they are to re-emerge. But it will not be persecution. Even if the treatment is painful, even if it is life-long, even if it is fatal, that will be only a regrettable accident; the intention was purely therapeutic. In ordinary medicine there were painful operations and fatal operations; so in this. But because they are ‘treatment’, not punishment, they can be criticized only by fellow-experts and on technical grounds, never by men as men and on grounds of justice.

Clive Staples Lewis, “The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment”

#quote #c s lewis #punishment #long quote

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lovepeacefaithjoy · 4 years ago

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Matthew 5

Sermon on the Mount

1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for their's is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when menshall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

The New Law

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:22but I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. 26Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: 28but I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. 29And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 30And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast itfrom thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. 31It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: 32but I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths: 34but I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: 35nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. 36Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. 37But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.41And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 42Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?47And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?48Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

#Woe #Rockaway #People & #Associates #World

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purgatoriorpg · 3 years ago

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VINDICTA. ⟡ NIKHIL VIRANI. ⟡ 27, M.

THERE ARE THOSE BORN FOR GREATNESS, THEIR FATE CARVED BY PROVIDENCE AND FORTUNE. YOU ARE NOT ONE OF THEM. You could have been, if not for how you came into this world. It’s the oldest tale known to mankind: jealousy, treachery, rage, love. Your mother was the woman torn between two brothers, her hand sworn to Cain but her heart surrendered to Abel. What happened to her is unspeakable—the terrible secret excised from history, buried beneath the splendour and magnanimous prestige of your great house. Only you remain, only you remember. They gave you a gilded menagerie for a cage and demanded choked gratitude, the chain around your throat closing tighter with each platitude you gasped out from clenched teeth. If it were not for your mind, your brilliance and unassailable intellect, their double-bladed mercy would not have been so generous. You are a once in a generation prodigy, a bona fide genius and polymath. Throughout your meteoric rise to acclaim, you have channelled your exceptional abilities to a single-minded end: vengeance. With retribution as your sole companion and consigliere, you will stop at nothing to avenge what they did to your mother. What they did to you. You have orchestrated your ascendance with flawless execution, outstripping your cousins and adversaries for the right to rule. You will take the throne, and bring this house crumbling to its knees.

DYNAMICS.

ACEDIA. ⟡ FORGIVE ME, KINDNESS IS NOT ENOUGH.

One thing you have always been strikingly aware of: you have very different memories of your childhood. Despite the blood that runs through your veins, the family that you share, your lives were night and day. Heaven and hell. She was the crown princess, the most beloved of all children and your grandfather’s darling favourite. You were the reviled spawn of a woman they were determined to obliterate from memory, from existence. You don’t know whether you learned to hate her or love her first—the two feelings have become so inseparable in your world that you can no longer bear to look her in the eye. In a household that rendered you less than shadow and sound, she was the only one to take your hand and show you kindness. She would sit with you begging for stories, listening as you wove tales for her, both real and imaginary, laughing as you forgot the details and invented your own. You wish she had never reached out for you. It would be so much easier if you didn’t have to live with her as your single regret.

INFAMIA. ⟡ THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF GREATNESS.

All relationships, by nature and default, are transactional to you. It’s ingrained in you—what will this person do in exchange for friendship? What doors can they unlock? You cannot help the cynicism and utilitarianism that has shadowed your worldview, turned you ruthless and objective, when you were never given the option to choose heart over mind. INFAMIA is as worthy an ally and friend as you’ll ever find at Verdamme. The son of a political dynasty, old money, old blood, his path to greatness primed for him since the moment he was born. If it were not for your own prodigious gifts, you might envy him his birthright and effortless entitlement. You compete, you challenge each other, you entertain yourselves with friendly, bloodless rivalry. Sometimes you even let him win. But unlike you, INFAMIA has never known the consequences of defeat. They have never tasted blood swallowed through a smile, powerless and defenceless. You win—you conquer—because you would rather die than let someone have that power over you again.

FEROCITAS & INVIDIA. ⟡ TELL ME EVERY TERRIBLE THING YOU EVER DID.

Vengeance is a demanding and all-consuming mistress, reluctant to leave you space in your heart for the thought of anyone else. You have devoted yourself to your path of righteousness, and you never wavered from it until FEROCITAS. If there was any woman that could equal your intensity and single-minded purpose, it is her. Loud, tempestuous FEROCITAS with her untameable wildness and provocation. At a certain point, your denial of your attraction to her was more of a test of your own endurance than any sincere attempt to keep her at bay. She was catastrophe lying in wait for you, chaos flickering in her smile and the promise of destruction on her lips. You went willingly, open-eyed, into the abyss and beyond it. The game of INVIDIA began as nothing more than a bet. The golden apple of Discord tossed into the fray between you, the battleground you would spill blood upon. But even you—with all your plans and machinations calculating the next ten, twenty moves ahead of all those around you—didn’t see them coming. It’s a strange, exhilarating feeling to be disarmed by someone who has outmanoeuvred you. Fair play. Victor spolia.

CLOSED. ⟡ FC: DEV PATEL.

#vindicta.#c.#a.#original rp #skeleton rp #mystery rp #lsrp #lsrpg

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nerdygaymormon · 5 years ago

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Of course God loves evyone. He also exspects eveyone to follow the rules he has set. Why is that so hard for you to understand? You aren't going to get special passes just because you feel you deserve them.

I think the Anon is the one who has an issue with giving themselves special exemptions. Do you think your words are how Jesus would communicate? Do your messages follow the golden rule? You’d be comfortable if everyone you love were to see the messages you send me? I suggest you reflect on what Christ has asked of all of us.

Jesus said God has 2 main rules--

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,"

"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

If something is said at church that bothers me, I’ll compare it against these two and see if it hangs from them.

From the Book of Matthew, here’s things Jesus asks us to do. Good chance for all of us, including the anon, to reflect if we’re following “the rules.”

Repent (Matthew 4:17) “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”

Rejoice & be glad (Matthew 5:11–12) “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you”

Let Your Light Shine (Matthew 5:16) “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven”

Married People Shouldn’t Lust After Other Persons (Matthew 5:28–30) “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell”

Go the Second Mile (Matthew 5:38–42) “Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away”

Love Your Enemies (Matthew 5:44–46) “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?”

Don’t Accumulate Wealth (Matthew 6:19–21) “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”

Seek God’s Kingdom (Matthew 6:33) “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”

Judge Not Harshly (Matthew 7:1–3) “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Treat People How You Want To Be Treated (Matthew 7:12) “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets”

Choose the Less-Traveled Path (Matthew 7:13–14) “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it”

Judge Prophets By Their Fruits (Matthew 7:15–16) “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”

Learn Of Christ (Matthew 11:28–30) “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light”

Honor Your Parents (Matthew 15:4) “For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death”

Try To Make Things Right With The Person Who Wrongs Us (Matthew 18:15–17) “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican”

Forgive Others (Matthew 18:21–22) “Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven”

Don’t Get Divorced (Matthew 19:3&6) “The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?... (Jesus answered) Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder”

Serve Others (Matthew 20:26–28) “. . . Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many”

Eat Bread & Drink To Remember What Christ Did For Us (Matthew 26:26–28) “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins”

#hateful anon

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dukeofriven · 5 years ago

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plz dont tag hate-posts to the fandoms they apply to :) (this is about hdm btw)

I am old enough to have read those books when they came out. The Golden Compass is one of the most formative books of my childhood: to this day the passages on the roofs of Jordan College shaped everything to degrees I pursued to the buildings I design as a draftsman to the worlds I shape as a writer. I remember waiting with bated breath for the publication of The Amber Spyglass.It’s the first book I remember trying to convince myself I liked, even though I didn’t. Because I couldn’t. Because it’s a bad book. It’s badly paced, it’s badly focussed, and it’s the culmination of the weakest elements of His Dark Materials as an ouvre - Pullman’s ham-handed and clumsy takedown of a religious doctrine he neither understands nor manages to surmount, finding - in his quest for the ‘anti-Narnia’ - none of the wonder and sublime that such a proper take-down actually needs, none of the truly humanist power a rejection of Lewis from an atheistic standpoint demands. Instead he leaves us with warmed-over teenaged Democritian angst - not to mention the facile absurdity of a republic of heaven. Hell, in the end Pullman can’t even bring himself to commit to his own premise - by the very nature of the work the hand of providence is inescapably an aspect of his universe, and so at best his great message is that The Catholic Church Is Bad (but equally institutionalized bastion of social rigidity and privilege such as the Oxbridge System are just fine.)I can, with the power of an adult whose education touched on religious studied, dismiss Pullman’s British Schoolboy Grudges as the childish hangups that they are, just as equally as I can mourn any man who can draw so heavily from Milton and Blake but seemingly fail to have understood either of them. I can sigh sadly at any man who claims to stand for anti-mysticism who cannot help but blanket his entire work in mysticism, just as I can only shrug at a man who is so reviled as an atheism writer who manages to write about atheism so poorly and ineptly.And from my understanding, it’s not a hallmark of his work - I hear excellent things about The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, though I’ve not yet had a chance to read it, but the hope remains that he took all the strengths that were in His Dark Materials and found a way to better refine his arguments and hone his points.Because the fact remains That The Golden Compass is a powerful work of children’s literture and The Amber Spyglass is a bloated mess that undermines any point the author might have about the inequity of organized religion by, quite frankly, losing its nerve.But to your point, sir, I can tag whatever I desire in this fandom because I’ve been here for over twenty years and I’ve earned the right to critique it how I see fit if through no other reason than having endured the suffering of lugging The Amber Spyglass around in hardcover and experiencing first hand “The Christian religion is a very powerful and convincing mistake” as a sentence a real life adult thought was profound and meaningful a bit of exegesis worth putting in a novel.

#his dark materials #the golden compass #the amber spyglass

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proditorious · 6 years ago

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2, 6, 12, 24, 32

Character Development Questions: Hard Mode // accepting !

2. What was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

Tense. And that’s putting it lightly, Pazuzu never cultivated positive, motherly relationships with her offspring. To her they were an extension of her dynasty, her will, and in order to continue to serve within it & be considered useful, they had to be strong. The Eurynomus were not a family that cultivated deep, lasting bonds of familial devotion, they were bound together by pride and power. Pazuzu herself devoured her own siblings save for one, and used fear & awe to keep the rest of the family in line when she took control of the seat. Those that fell from grace, or suffered humiliating defeats were promptly fodder.

Valefor respected her for that, beneath the fear, her ruthless tenacity and unmoving heart. How she could stone face death and cut the strings on her kin as if they were mere puppets. He wasn’t the strongest of her brood, but neither was he the weakest, so she paid him no mind. If anything their interactions were brief, once Valefor was old enough to fend for himself. Which was a blessing honestly, and Valefor intentionally preyed upon that obliviousness until he challenged her.

She is perhaps the one thing he doesn’t regret killing, she was a monster through and through. Heaven forbid if she’d aligned with any of hells factions.

6.Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Valefor’s dreams are often themed around his bitter regret, the reality of being the last of his kind and his nature. More than likely, the dreams take place in the Eurynomus stronghold, with the hundreds of statues wailing and speaking out as he roams the halls looking for the exit { when he finds the exit, he wakes up }. Like judge, jury & executioner.

Othertimes it’s him sat on a pile of bones, overlooking ruins and blighted lands. Nothing good ever comes from him dreaming, so more often than not, he wills himself not to.

12. In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

The night before he began eradicating his family. Calm before the storm, for once he was utterly serene and at peace with himself. It’s the breath before the jump, before the fall. Valefor hasn’t felt like that since, and he wagers he’ll never feel like that again. It takes a certain sense of surity and confidence to reach that state of being, an investment of both heart and soul.

24. How quick is your character to trust someone else?

Valefor doesn’t trust easy, even in those he finds common ground. It takes dedication, time and effort on someone elses behalf { Valefor will make those who are serious in befriending him, work for it } in order to get him to consider giving them his trust. High risk for high reward, as those who earn his trust typically can count on him for just about anything.

Demons are hated & reviled by most, even their own. Mortals & demon slayers always fancy their chances at both power and prestiege, and his position as last of his kind makes him predisposed to distrust and violence as an answer first.

32. Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

Familial gatherings, or any setting that’s remotely tender in nature. Valefor has trouble comprehending a lot of emotions & situations that are considered gentle/loving/kind in tone { mostly because he hasn’t been exposed to them, or hasn’t discovered that he carries the emotional capacity to have said emotions. }On one hand he’s intrigued by them, on another, if it’s pertaining to something or someone he’s come to care about, it makes him irked & uncomfortable that he can’t replicate. If it’s a scenario born by someone he can’t give a single solitary fuck about, he’ll go from uncomfortable to annoyed and that’s usually when the shit hits the fan.

#demonslayvr #♱ devils in the details { answered memes }#♱ headcanons #♱ souls from the casket { q. }

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itsyourchoicedevotionals · 2 years ago

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What Is And Isn’t Allowed

“His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews; for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.” John 9:22NASB

Have you ever thought, ‘I could never have been like them, denying Jesus, even by association?’ Perhaps I’m the only one to ever think in this manner. Surely, I would’ve stood up and screamed, Have you ever thought, ‘I could never have been like them, denying Jesus, even by association?’ ‘He is the Christ! Why don’t you understand?

Much like in Jesus’ day, we’re into ‘cancel culture,’ if you don’t bow down and kiss all of their ideas. Back when the ‘politically correct’ thing started I didn’t think it would get worse. Then they started the ‘spiritually correct’ way of cutting Jesus out of life. We’ve now got the ‘socially correct’ WOKE culture. Anyone says the wrong thing, voices a wrong concept— media fingers point ‘Shame on you, you’re intolerant.’ Hollywood media, the LBGQT machine busy trying to add P for pedophiles dictate what is and isn’t allowed. Trying to rewrite our history. Many churches have succumbed to liberal machinery as well. Youth raised by the television, video games, and Big Brother training in school gullibly believe everything being crammed down their throats.

Jesus didn’t kneel no bow before any of the religiously correct bunch. Rather, Jesus completed the Law with His love causing the religious people to hate Him. He pronounced eight woes on the Pharisees, beginning with Matthew 23:13NASB “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” and continuing on through v33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?” Their disdain intensified because He told them Truth. Of all the people, Jesus held religious leaders,[equal to ‘pastors’ of today’s churches], responsible for letting go of the Truth. Nor did Jesus cave into the political agenda of the day. He saw everyone as sinners in need of a Savior. Tax collectors were the most reviled people of all the Israelites— considered politicians of Bible days. Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Instead of berating him for stealing from people, Jesus met his need and said, “Zacchaeus!”…“Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today,” Luke 19:5 NLT. Confession and restitution poured from Zacchaeus.

Rather than our being; “…the salt of the earth…” many have become flavorless salt in trying to appease the various liberal ideologies of this era. “…what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless,” Matthew 5:13NLT.

Mega churches abound. Most too often are non-confrontational, abounding in feel-good music, sermons made up of pats on the back. No repentance, restitution, or forgiveness required. More than one has succumbed to the Hollywood glamor for promotion and numbers.

Politicians, church people, movie stars, musicians and singers— let us not forget sports players, none of these are evil in and of themselves. When liberal-bunk steps in, Christ got pushed out. Man’s ideas of correctness, woke, cancel culture all comes from the father of lies, see John 8:44. We’re back to living like the Jews who had to hide how they felt or be run out of society. I’m staying on the side of truth. I intend to be confrontational, even if it costs me freedom or life. This devotional wasn't written to please you, but God, who wakes me in the night with messages burning His heart for the people to read. Are you listening? It’s your choice. You choose.

LET’S PRAY: Father God, I pray people will not succumb to the lies of this liberal bunk and correctness. Send us a mighty revival please Lord. May people’s hearts yearn for You and for Truth, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray.

#Jesus Christ #lord of lords #Lamb of God #Holy Spirit #God #it's your choice #devotional #what's allowed #pushed #non-confrontational #liberal #evil #love #hope #faith

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tonysolomon4jc · 3 years ago

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Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Keeping the commands of Jesus begins with recognizing what they are. Following is a collection of 49 of Jesus’ commands. As you read through them, ask God to help you observe these words, apply them, and faithfully follow them throughout your lifetime.

• Repent

“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17).

• Follow Me

“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

• Rejoice

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:11–12).

• Let Your Light Shine

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

• Honor God’s Law

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).

• Be Reconciled

“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23–25).

• Do Not Lust

“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:28–30).

• Keep Your Word

“Let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil” (Matthew 5:37).

• Go the Second Mile

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away” (Matthew 5:38–42).

• Love Your Enemies

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same?” (Matthew 5:44–46).

• Be Perfect

“If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:46–48).

• Practice Secret Disciplines

“. . . When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: that thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. . . . When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. . . . When thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matthew 6:1–18).

• Lay Up Treasures

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19–21).

• “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

• Judge Not

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” (Matthew 7:1–3).

• Do Not Cast Pearls

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6).

• Ask, Seek, Knock

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened” (Matthew 7:7–8).

• Do Unto Others

“Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

• Choose the Narrow Way

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).

• Beware of False Prophets

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:15–16).

• Pray for Laborers

“The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest” (Matthew 9:37–38).

• Be Wise as Serpents

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

• Fear Not

“Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).

• Hear God’s Voice

“He that hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15).

• Take My Yoke

“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28–30).

• Honor Your Parents

“For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death” (Matthew 15:4).

• Beware of Leaven

“Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees” (Matthew 16:6).

• Deny Yourself

“If any man will come after me, let him deny

• himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:23–25).

• Despise Not Little Ones

“Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).

• Go to Offenders

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican” (Matthew 18:15–17).

• Beware of Covetousness

“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth” (Luke 12:15).

• Forgive Offenders

“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:21–22).

• Honor Marriage

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4–6).

• Be a Servant

“. . . Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26–28).

• Be a House of Prayer

“It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer . . . ” (Matthew 21:13).

• Ask in Faith

“Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea: it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive” (Matthew 21:21–22).

• Bring In the Poor

“Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbors; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just” (Luke 14:12–14).

• Render to Caesar

“Show me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar’s. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:19–21).

• Love the Lord

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:37–38).

• Love Your Neighbor

“And the second [commandment] is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:39–40).

• Await My Return

“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:42–44).

• Take, Eat, and Drink

“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:26–28).

• Be Born Again

“Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:5–7).

• Keep My Commandments

“If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

• Watch and Pray

“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

• Feed My Sheep

“So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jona, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep” (John 21:15–16).

• Baptize My Disciples

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19).

• Receive God’s Power

“And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49).

• Make Disciples

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19–20).

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