#stripled

[mrkida-art]

Sketches of Frór, the middle child of Dáin I

[loveerran]

The account of the 2000 Stripling Warriors in the Book of Mormon (Alma chapters 56-58) is one of the best known and most cited stories in LDS lore. They are the focus of lessons and talks, are featured in artwork and music, and are mentioned nearly every mother's day because of a passage relating how they learned faith from their mothers.

The parents of these young men were Lamanites who had buried their "weapons of war" and made a covenant to never again take a life, not even in self defense. When they were faced with destruction, the Nephites offered them shelter in the land of Jershon. Many years later, when the Nephites were themselves threatened in an existential war, these parents began to question their covenant to not take up arms. Ultimately, they chose to keep their promise to God, but many of their young sons (who had not taken the oath) chose to fight in defense of the Nephites. They became known as the Stripling Warriors.

The Stripling Warriors are held up as examples of righteousness and obedience. The account relates how, in at least two key battles, none perished. One of the primary takeaways is that if we have faith and are obedient, we will be preserved until our work on the earth is finished.

This belief in the preservation of the righteous is related in Alma 57:25-27 following one of those key battles:

25 And it came to pass that there were two hundred, out of my two thousand and sixty, who had fainted because of the loss of blood; nevertheless, according to the goodness of God, and to our great astonishment, and also the joy of our whole army, there was not one soul of them who did perish; yea, and neither was there one soul among them who had not received many wounds.

It is interesting to me that the heroes of the story, those who were righteous, obedient and blessed, were all wounded. Some severely. And in that fact I see a metaphor for mortality in general: Even the most righteous, who exercise faith and endure to the end, will be wounded along the way.

Wounds acquired in mortality are not a sign of evil or lack of favor with God. We're all wounded. Some of us may have even fainted with the loss of blood. The Savior invites us to minister to and care for each other, much like the Good Samaritan of the parable

[mormonbooks]

Stripling Warrior

4/5 STARS

Summary: This collection of comics (3 issues and an Annual) has the worlds first ever Gay Mormon Superhero! In fact, it has a lot of different Queer and Mormon (or Mormon-adjacent) characters, all fighting against injustice.

The main character, Sam Shepherd, gets visited by an Angel soon after marrying his husband Jase. The Angel (Abish from the Book of Mormon) calls him to be The Hand of God and punish sinners. He fights homophobes, misguided missionaries, and Cain himself, alongside his companion, Fe, who also received powers from Abish.

Read at your own risk: This book is has a complex approach to mormonism, as well as deceptions of queer sex (Not explicit but pretty nsfw). I think it's a lot of fun, and is an honest portrayal of queer mormon experiences, with fun fantastical versions of Mormon beliefs (Like a Holy Ghost Force Field).

Overall, I enjoyed it! I've been dying for a Mormon Superhero, and queer mormon superheroes are even better. I would love to see more stories with Sam, Fe, Jase, Shonda, and Riley in the future.

Spoilers and Review Breakdown Under the Cut

1. Well written - 3.5 Stars.

Overall, I think the writing is done well. Some of it is cheesy, and there are a couple of deus ex machina's but it feels like it fits in the genre and with what the comic is trying to do.

2. Fun level - 4.5 Stars

I really enjoyed it! I read the whole thing in one sitting and it was engaging and exciting and it made me laugh.

3. Complex faith - 3.5 Stars

This one is complicated to answer. This definitely feels like media aimed at ex-mormons. Most of the characters are Ex (or "Jack") Mormons, and don't have high regard for the church as an organization. They do believe in Angels and Heavenly Mother (cause that's where their power comes from) but the church officials (like mission presidents) are shown as villains. It's a very irreverent story. And there's a part in the last issue where Heavenly Mother and Heavenly Father are pitted against each other that I didn't really like.

The only exception is Riley, an asexual missionary who states his firm testimony a couple of times. He is one of the heroes, but still firmly believes in the gospel.

I like it because it has characters from all over the spectrum of mormonism (from actively serving a mission to "my parents were mormon but we don't really talk about it" and everything in between), which I think is cool, but it's also definitely got an exmo bias.

4. Homophobia scale - 5 stars

it's so gay!!!!! They have a character for each letter of LGBTA, it's delightful.

It is also NSFW. Nothing explicit (?) but characters are often naked, and the two married couples are shown being intimate quite a few times. I don't normally love stories like that, but for a comic that is about the sacredness of queer intimacy, I understand why it's included.

5. Mormon weird - 5 stars

SOOO much mormon weird. Abish is an angel. The heroes have Liahona Guides. The big villains are Cain and Ammon. It's so much fun.

6. Diversity of characters - 4 stars!

The main character and his husband are both white guys, but Fe is latina, her wife is black (and trans!), and Riley is a POC.

7. Other problematic stuff - 3 stars

I love this comic but I don't think it's for everyone. On top of being irreverent and nsfw, it also incorporates some indigenous american culture into the mythos in ways I'm not sure about. This is going to happen with anything that talks about Nephites and Lamanites, but mostly I don't know why Ammon has a pet Quetzalcoatl. 🤷

But, like I said, I did enjoy it. I think there's a lot of potential in these characters and I would love to see more stories with them

[lazaefair]

The way TOG fandom will look at fan art depicting Joe with a skinny bony twink at least a head shorter than him and half his mass, and blithely identify said twink as Nicky despite bearing zero resemblance to either movie or comic character, and fall all over themselves to repeatedly reblog said art for two years straight with no sign of stopping 💀

[illizstrations]

for being rivals, we sure do have a lot of ex dodgers on our team 🤔

[buzzterposey]

Almost Friday (x)

[brockpurdy]

ROSS STRIPLING Ross The Boss 

[oldshowbiz]

The Red Plot Against America by HUAC investigator Robert E. Stripling

[creaturetale-askblog]

The first hypothesis, inquiry of loss

Where two used to roam one now stands to shoulder everything lost in those embers

Next (the proposal of the test)

[mrkida-art]

Children of Durin

[tratadista]

I'm Confessin' That I Love You - Byron Stripling

[mormonbooks]

Some of my favorite scenes from Stripling Warrior by Brian Andersen

(Fe and Riley are my favorites ... If you couldn't tell)

[conniesblueboys]

[2bearbear]

2024 KLOVE Cruise USA Travel Itinerary Day 15: Visiting Striplings General Store, Ole Times Country Buffet, Thrift Stores and Driftwood Inn enroute back to Miami! On Day 15 of our post-KLOVE Cruise 2024 travels in the USA, we commenced our journey back to Miami after visiting Jacksonville, Charleston, Charlotte and... ( Open Link to Read More.. ) https://www.2bearbear.com/2024-klove-cruise-usa-travel-itinerary-day-15-visiting-striplings-general-store-ole-times-country-buffet-thrift-stores-and-driftwood-inn-enroute-back-to-miami/

[violettesiren]

When The Wind

blows a bell rings, but barely. The sickle moon's ghost ear floats over us, listening, listening. Branches creak, idle swings clatter, a bucket's blown clear across somebody's backyard. You whistle the same song as last night: a cold cold heart that wants melting. We sat up late, wine glowing. Winefire I whispered, as if it were nothing but spirits had brought us to Burning Wing Gap where the golden leaves lay down a carpet we climbed till the sky stopped us. You took my fingers and rubbed them like flint. Kindled fear: scent of late summer wildfire, the loud bell, and all night the silence of fields having given themselves up to burning.

When The Wind by Kathryn Stripling Byer

[buzzterposey]

Babe, wake up. Photo day disposables just dropped. (x)