#jesus translating and explaining everything was so difficult lmao

[mangywayway]

Okay, having a Pokèmon AU myself I'll add "my team" and why I think it suits them (also YES PLEASE BILLY WITH A BANETTE IS A FANTASTIC IDEA OMG)

This will be messy af, sorry in advance lol

Billy's team on my part: Audino, Floatzel, Typhlosion.

Audino, Billy's mom pkmn (in my AU but it can adapted in case 👀). Not a pkmn that ppl will associated Billy with because you know, he's small, he's extremely sensitive and he's a fairy type. But this little thing is a FUCKING TANK. Literally. It can be strong as fuck and really resilient. From on side I want Billy to have something from his mother, and the other I want to give him a shield (kinda).

Also quoting the pokedex: This Pokémon has a kind heart. By touching with its feelers, Audino can gauge other creatures' feelings and physical conditions. Audino's sense of hearing is superb. Not even a pebble rolling along over a mile away will escape Audino's ears.

Yeah, considering Billy's family situation I think it will suit it (give my boy a breath pls)

Floatzel. Literally Billy core. I'm not even going to explain it, just trust me. If Billy was a pokemon, it would be a Floatzel.

Typhlosion. A Pokemon starter, and a fire type. Cyndaquil (the first state of this evo) is small and shy, but at the last it becomes this explosive pokemon. Again, quoting the pokedex: If its rage peaks, it becomes so hot that anything that touches it will instantly go up in flames.

And also: When heat from its body causes the air around it to shimmer, this is a sign that it is ready to battle.

Steve team, on the other hand is: Servine, Ampharos, Gengar.

Okay, Servine, starter pokemon. His entire evolution line is based on royalty. Serperior (it's evo) is called the Regal Pokemon) so I think it will suit well Steve and all his King title. It's also the starter from the Unova region (so basically the USA inspired region) and I think it will the classic starter set chosen by the middle-class fa,ily and stuff like that.

Also quoting from the pokedex: Servine’s one weakness is its inflated sense of pride. It takes a while for Servine to be able to cooperate with other Pokémon. <- this scream a lot s1 Steve honestly

Ampharos is a pokemon used a lot when ppl get lost in the sea, because the type of it's tail is really bright (Ampharos, the Light Pokémon. Ampharos emits a strong light from the tip of its tail, which can be seen over long distances and serve as a beacon to those who are lost). Outside of the fact that this is the most motherly pkmn I could think of without it being too obvious, I also love the idea of it serving as beacon to those who are lost (Flayed Billy coff coff),

Also pls, look at the Mega form and all its FLUFF

Last one, Gengar .

Again, she's just perfect. Usually this pokemon it's considered a prankster, but usually people have a lot of prejudice against it (being a Ghost type etc). So yeah, I think that it will be a pokemon Steve will bond with for various motives (and also to piss of his parents).

Pokemon AU Billy and Steve's teams ideas...GO

Cause I wanna draw them. However Steve having Tinkaton and Gengar are a must have. And Billy has a Banette

(For people unaware, about Banette lore: "Being driven to life by a powerful grudge, it keeps its life force safely in its body by the means of its zipped up mouth. If unzipped, it would lose its energy.")

Just saying Billy holds alot of grudges. Thanks to @lamay13 for this idea! 🥰

Also tagging: @mangywayway @thediktatortot @half-oz-eddie @stranger-rants cause I'd think you guys would enjoy this lmao

[galaxy-of-hair]

I was wondering if you could explain being a christian witch, the whole mixing of those ideologies is kind of weird to me and I don't understand.

i guess first i’d like to apologize that i took so long to answer your question; at first i didnt see it cause my mom was in town and i was off tumblr, and then when i finally did i wanted to take my time meditating on how to answer it. 

second i’d like to clarify that anything i say on this subject is only applicable to me and my practice and my beliefs, and my intention is not to speak for or over anyone. one of the wonderful things about being a witch, Christian or otherwise, is that it is a very personal, personalized path, and everyone has their own unique journey and set of beliefs and i would never presume to speak about anyone else’s deal. that is not and will never be my place. when i look to find my way in my practice and study, i can (and do) absolutely learn from other humans, but ultimately i am led by the Word and the Holy Spirit when it comes to choosing what i will or won’t integrate into my practice. God is my ultimate authority, not people (no offense to people lmao)

third, i’d like to say that i am severely ADHD and currently not on medication, so if i don’t explain things well or jump around from topic to topic or meander in a way that makes this difficult to follow i apologize in advance, i’m doing my best lol

fourth i’d like to say thank you for your question, you were very respectful in your wording and i appreciate that, i’m always open to questions, even though i may not be the best at answering them, and if you have any follow up questions after reading this novel i’m about to write, feel free to message me or send me another ask or comment or whatever

my answer is under the cut cause it’s heckin long

((tl;dr - i’m not mixing ideologies and there’s a lot of other blogs that can answer your question better and probs more precisely sorry lol)) 

this hard for me because if i give any kind of detailed answer, i will by necessity have to discuss at length my Christianity, and that’s a very personal thing that i’m still trying to be more open about. when i say, “my Christianity” i mean that the way i practice Christianity (my belief system and my relationship w God) differs greatly from what people generally assume to know or understand about Christianity. what i mean to say is: when you say, “i’m Christian” people immediately assume all kinds of things about what you believe, based on their own personal experience with practitioners of the religion, and as there are numerous denominations, those assumptions can vary greatly and are almost always wrong. the reason i have a hard time being open about it is that i have been trying to talk with people about it my whole life, both with believers and non-believers and it’s almost always been a negative experience, so it can be hard for me to open up with regards to that.

so i guess the short answer is that witchcraft isn’t really an ideology. neither is it a religion. it’s a practice. it’s a way in which i exercise my God-given power. and that’s really the key for me, because even if i might do something like say, make a protection sachet, smoke cleanse my home, perform a binding spell, etc (which are the types of things that a secular witch might do or a wiccan or a pagan), when i perform them, i draw my power from God and the Word and the knowledge of the promises he made to me in the Covenant.

a lot of my beliefs are geared towards using Faith based power to alter things in both the spiritual and the physical. i’ve found in some of my most frustrating conversations about this topic that most people don’t have the same vocabulary definition of Faith as i do, so here’s some stuff about that to clarify what i mean.

here’s what Merriam-Webster says about faith:

Definition of faith 

1a :  allegiance to duty or a person :  loyalty lost faith in the company's presidentb (1) :  fidelity to one's promises (2) :  sincerity of intentions acted in good faith

2a (1) :  belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) :  belief in the traditional doctrines of a religionb (1) :  firm belief in something for which there is no proof clinging to the faith that her missing son would one day return (2) :  complete trust

3:  something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially :  a system of religious beliefs the Protestant faith

and i think that’s people generally think about when they hear people use the word “Faith.” they think of it as just a synonym for religion or belief in God, or as a blind belief in something for which there is no proof, i.e. “blind faith” or “just hanging on till Jesus comes” or clinging desperately to something unrealistic in a delusional manner. obviously some of these are more derogatory than others, but i’ve spoken to all sorts on this subject and come across all of these misunderstandings of the word “Faith” at one point or another. the cool thing about the Bible is that it will often offer its own definitions to the words used within. 

one of my favorite verses on the subject of what Faith is, is Hebrews 11:1. when this verse comes to mind i often think of the NKJV translation, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”[x] 

here is the same verse in The Amplified:

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses].

so there’s a lot to unpack here. firstly, Faith is substantive. it isn’t the superficial placation of a worried mind or shallow platitudes void of meaning used to make oneself appear enlightened and righteous in the eyes of their earthly peers. it’s not shouting ineffectually into the void. it’s practical and effective. it’s power to change reality, not only in the spiritual but in the physical.

the stuff about “title deed, confirmation” and “divinely guaranteed” is in reference to the things promised to us by God in the Abrahamic Covenant, of which Jesus’s blood sacrifice was a fulfillment. i am included in this Covenant by virtue of the Blood of Jesus, even though i am not Jewish, i am included because i accept His sacrifice as a placeholder for me and have entered into Covenant with Him.

so Faith is the confirmation of things divinely guaranteed by the Covenant, the comprehension as fact things that cannot be experienced by the physical senses. Faith isn’t belief without evidence, it is the evidence. my belief of a thing (as long as it is in line with the Word and the Covenant) is enough to bring it into being. this is really cool when you start learning stuff about quantum physics (like i have the most basic of understandings on that subject, but the little i know about it is very exciting, the idea that science is finally starting to confirm what i’ve known to be true all along, check out the documentary, What the Bleep Do We Know) and how simply observing a thing can change the entire behavior or nature of the thing. so like, something promised to me by God in the Covenant both is realized and isn’t realized depending on whether or nor i observe it. once i observe it by having the knowledge of it, the understanding of it, and finally the belief in it, it comes to pass, or manifests into existence. there’s also scientific evidence that you can speak Life or Death into a thing. anyways i’m digressing.

my point is, if i were in a doctor’s office and i told them i believe i have the power to change my physical reality through words and belief, they might jot down that i have “Magical Thinking” and like, i guess being a witch i wouldn’t argue with them. it is essentially magic. when i had the rare pleasure of having a pleasant conversation with someone about my beliefs, it was almost always with a non-believer, and the best way i could think of to get them to understand is, “it looks a lot like witchcraft.” when i finally decided to start calling myself a Christian witch i was basically making the decision to stop fighting the direction that the Holy Spirit was obviously counseling me towards. i always felt lead to do things like smoke cleansing and other “magical” practices, but i was afraid that i’d be doing something wrong or unnecessary. here’s the thing: God has not given us a spirit of fear so i try to be critical of any decision made based in fear. since i started down this path in earnest i have experienced great joy and fulfillment, and better results in areas where i had previously struggled (more on this bit later). 

my attitude when talking to God is one of familiarity and assertiveness. He’s my Dad and my friend and my teacher, and we have a Blood Covenant. i talk to Him casually, and when i need to claim one of the benefits of my Covenant, i.e. healing/health, protection, a sound mind, i call it done and thank him for the result that i believe will manifest. when i go to exercise my Dominion over the physical, i.e. a bee in my space, the toilet threatening to overflow, a symptom of sickness, a person threatening me, i speak to it with the authority of someone who knows they have a Covenant with God and God-given Dominion over this world, and i use Jesus’s name. when He tells me to do something, i try to be obedient.

the reason i’ve been getting better results since i started using physical tools more often isn’t necessarily because i believe that there is inherent power in the use of them. sometimes i’ve done things in the physical because i felt lead to by the Holy Spirit, and i endeavor to be obedient even if i don’t understand the reason. there is power in obedience. 

sometimes i’ve done things in the physical because not everything set in motion in the spiritual world by Faith has instantaneous results (some things do, somethings don’t), some things take time. i struggle with memory problems and sometimes i’ll honestly forget that i already dealt with such and such issue and i’ll pray over the situation again and again, having no recollection of having done it and i feel as though this hurts my efficacy. it makes me feel disorganized in my practice. if i do a working or a ritual in the physical (like a binding or a protection sachet) to deal with the issue, i will be more likely to remember that it is done and dealt with, and every time i remember it going forward, instead of feeling the need to pray again, i will instead reaffirm my original working, strengthening it instead of weakening it.

sometimes i do things in the physical because we know about health benefits available from certain herbs, foods, oils, and even crystals. some people will say things like, “that’s relying on something other than God for healing” and they say the same thing about knowledge gleaned from the stars and planets, but like, HELLO, God made all that stuff. i don’t worship His creation, but i do celebrate it, and i am thankful for it, and i believe there is power to be found in it. some of that power we know about (i.e. medicinal herbs, essential oils) and some we either don’t know about or can’t conclusively prove with science yet.

that leads me to the other reason i do things in the physical to mirror my workings in the spiritual. there are certain practices and traditions that have been used for centuries in magic that don’t have any known, scientifically proven reason for being effective. but people keep using them, and they keep being effective. i know part of that is that belief is a powerful thing. we are beings made in God’s image. we are powerful creators, and if people believe a thing with enough conviction, it can come to pass. however, it could be that there are some very real effects that a physical substance could have in the spiritual realm. anything that alters the mind for instance (like mugwort being helpful in astral projection). my own personal example is this: i use commanding oil made from a base of licorice root and calamus root and mineral oil. i do this because it seems to be the agreed upon recipe for commanding oil and has a long tradition. i use it when assigning tasks to Angels. do i absolutely HAVE to do this? no probably not, but it helps me with making my marching orders official, like giving an assignment to troops with an official signature or seal.

basically it all comes down to this: Faith is like a muscle. you have to work on strengthening it. at least i do. so if these things help me out in the areas i have trouble with so i can “lift more weight,” i’m gonna utilize them. especially if i feel led to by the Holy Spirit. anytime i feel that i vibe with a witchcraft working, and want to add it to my practice, i look at it critically, i think about what the Word says, i ask the Holy Spirit, i think about why it might be helpful, and if it passes all my scrutiny, i go for it. if you still have trouble reconciling the ideas of Christianity and witchcraft coexisting, i’d recommend popping on over to the #christian witch tag, as there are a lot of good posts on that by people that are way more qualified than i am. 

i’m able to be a Christian witch the same way i’m able to be a Christian transgender pansexual man. not everything espoused by mainstream Christianity has a basis in the Word. it’s sad but a lot of the time people choose to parrot their pastors or follow tradition and modern, localized cultural norms instead of looking to see what the Bible actually says.

i hope i answered this question ok, and didn’t go off topic too much. if you (or anyone else reading this) have any questions i haven’t addressed, or maybe have new questions that arose from reading this post, feel free to ask. thanks again for your question and your respectful tone.