#this was a meandering thing I wrote after a minor breakdown

[yutzen]

Where No One Calls Your Name

Ever since the Reevaluation of the Virtues and the upheaval of their respective Spheres, ever since the Seven of us were requested and established in our positions, it’s become clear how little we knew. We may be the Almighty’s own, but we were still fragments, meant to converse and join in order to paint – and thus form – the bigger picture. In this, mortaldom has taught us plenty – the Seven were chosen for their understanding of themselves, but were ordered to listen. And so we have…

The Sphere I represent has been, perhaps, better understood than most. Diligence is universal, something mortaldom practiced and admired even before they knew of the Almighty. The understanding of the toil, the joy of a job well done, of the tasks that kept them and those around them alive and well, and the simple happiness of having something done by one’s own hands, something that would leave a mark. The carving of a better world.

But my predecessors failed to account for those Diligent souls that stepped up because they had to. Because no one else could, or would. Those that saw the world threatening to cave in upon them and those they loved, and held it up on their shoulders, a pillar to those around them. Those that would’ve preferred for a world that wouldn’t crumble, but wouldn’t let it fall. Wouldn’t wait for another to take the burden. No one made them do it but themselves, and yet they stepped up, in the full belief they had to.

There were so many, from the beginning until now. And they continue to arrive to this day. Even those who find satisfaction in work well done often have such stories as well, and the needs that come with it. Those who would sacrifice the work that satisfied them to complete that which needed to be done… And it’s those who arrived most recently that truly need some of our latest constructions. It may have been late for some, but in Heaven, it’s never too late. Not truly…

The matter is, Diligent souls often needed respite, as many do. To be away from the toil that defined their lives. And for many of them, all that was needed was something else to work with, something to put their energy towards that they would enjoy doing, and freely walk away from once they believed they were done. Choice is what defines Heaven, after all. Many of these souls wanted to busy themselves with something that they could call theirs, projects of their own, collaborative or otherwise. And with their relentless energy, we’ve ended with the great towers, and castles, and palaces that one can immediately see upon crossing the thresholds between Spheres. And the endless halls within, stretching beyond space to fit all the wondrous things they have made…

But these uncovered cases, these souls that had to take reins no one else would take, they often didn’t want to be busy. They wanted nothing to do with any projects. And the sight of these toils only served to put them off, and sometimes distress them. And it baffled those before me, as it baffles some now…

I understood. They needed a different respite. And I toiled to make something that would bring them peace. It was one of the first works of Reevaluation, and thus one of the first that were questioned for intruding in another’s Sphere. But ours is complicated work that often cannot be so neatly subdivided. Far too many of my predecessors refused to understand that, and the strain that’s brought to the Choirs has been… I would not say regrettable. Tragic, perhaps. Our charges never needed to put up with such incompetence. But I have gotten sidetracked, and I apologize for it.

I set out to make something that would let them rest. To find them the respite they needed. And I found, as I spoke to them and delved into their stories, what I needed to know, even if it took me some time to understand it. I found that I would need to set apart a place for them, and weave it both into newer ground within Heaven and – curiously enough, I thought at the time – throughout existing lands and rewards, even grazing the surface of other Spheres as I went. Threads of it passing through others’ rewards, yet utterly unseen, never truly touching them. An endless, unseen observatory that would perturb no one… Especially not those inside.

I quickly figured these souls wanted to be undisturbed… Some of them were perfectly comfortable with the edge of a cloud, somewhere in the far reaches, where no one would find them, but others had a certain draw towards busier places. Busy, yet peaceful, some would say oxymoronically. I pondered how and why someone would seek respite in the heart of a grand metropolis, even in the midst of the busiest of parks, let alone the common avenues. I went on, threading together places until they could sit undisturbed and unseen, unacknowledged rather, whether sitting at the edge of the sky or in the midst of a raucous crowd, and obtaining their feedback as I went. I swore I’d listen, and so I did… They wanted peace, and in a way, quiet. They wanted to be alone, they said, but it took me some time to understand the very specific kind of isolation they wanted.

Even those that wished to be away from every other soul still wanted to watch the world go by. They wished to witness, yet not participate, to know it was moving on, yet not be the ones pushing it along, like passengers looking out their window. And most of all, whether high and far out in the edges of the Spheres, or lost within the populous depths…

One of them put it very succinctly. They said, and I quote… “I need to be somewhere where I won’t hear my own name”.

What followed was far easier for me to understand. These souls, they saw their world, the world of those around them, threaten to stop turning if they didn’t do something. Often, it was requested, if not demanded of them, but not always; the end result was just the same, with them taking up the weight of the world upon their shoulders. What else could I give them but a chance to let it go, and watch life go on without needing them at all times? Without anything or anyone calling for them to take up the burden once more?

What else would soothe their souls, but the knowledge the world would keep turning without their help? What else could a lifelong helper, exhausted after all those years, wish for?

And so, that’s what I weaved together for them. This reward is weaved far and wide, a singular strand with many loops and turns across the realms. Always close, almost touching, but never a true part of what it passes. And those outside it will pass this by without noticing anything but another face in the crowd, silent and peaceful where they sit. Another person on a park bench, or right off the edge of a cloud in the distance, or even just on the subway seat in front of them, there when they arrived and there when they walked off…

And the Diligent would get to see the winds and clouds of Heaven pass them by, with nothing but blessed breeze in their ears. Or they would get to see others live their new lives, in their instants between Rewards, or simply enjoying the afterlives they earned. Hundreds and hundreds passing them by whose names they would never know, nor need to. And the divine wheels would keep turning right before their eyes, without needing their hand. Life after life would go on, and they needn’t do anything to make sure there’d be a tomorrow. Not anymore.

Of course, it would be easy for them to walk away. To breach the thin walls of this weave and enter their witnessed scene, or simply return to the Sphere and find something to do. Something that’s theirs, at last. And eventually, they all do. Eventually being a key word in the process, of course, since some remain for quite a while to pull themselves together at last. Some never found a moment to do so in their lifetimes, after all, and only came to realize it once it was over… But in time, they all find their bearings, and move on.

As intended. This was never meant to be a permanent settlement – nothing is, up here, but my work here even less so. It’s an ephemeral stay, a place between places, little more than a breather. And yet, it is necessary, perhaps even more so than those places meant to last far longer. For these moments of transition, these rests between undertakings, these pauses that last so very little in comparison to all the rest? They are vital for them. The most ephemeral moments of all can be the most important for mortal souls… And this is something my predecessors, and even I, often struggle to understand.

But we understood this time, at last. And it will serve us well as the Reevaluation continues. Much of it has been to understand those we are working with, and for, to bridge those gaps we did not know existed. I know those that toil in Patience and Humility have found such knowledge useful, so far. And perhaps they will discover something that will help us in turn, thanks to it. Something to bridge another gap, correct another of our mistakes, and inch towards Perfection on our part… No matter how unreachable it is.

Our work is never done.

--Shoruel, Angel of Diligence and Fourth member of the Council for the Reevaluation of Virtues

[sheliesshattered]

This Isn’t A Ghost Story extras for Chapter 6: The Future

Chapter 6 of This Isn’t A Ghost Story has been posted! You can find it here on Tumblr, or here on AO3. Spoiler-ish extras under the cut!

With chapter 6 under our belts, we’ve made it through the main portion of this fic! The next two chapters will wrap up a few loose ends -- and possibly create a couple more, of the open-ended variety -- and if I hadn’t gotten quite so deep into the world-building for this, I might have actually ended the story here. All the research I did for the world-building directly inspired the next two chapters, which were both written and finished before I had anything more than a basic sketch in place for chapter 6. 

Egyptology in the 1920s has clearly been a huge part of the world-building for this story from the beginning, and we get a bit more of it in chapter 6. The Doctor mentioned Howard Carter briefly in chapter 5, and here we loop back around to that and find out that Clara and the Doctor knew Carter well. I didn’t want to derail the chapter too much with talking about their friendship in any detail, but large portions of the timeline of when they were in Egypt in the 1920s was built around the historical events of the discovery and documentation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, and there are a few passing allusions to it in the journal entries in chapter 3 as well.

Howard Carter (pictured above in 1924) and his team of excavators found the entrance to Tutankhamun’s tomb in November of 1922, which would have been during the phase when Clara and the Doctor are exchanging letters and falling in love. One little historical detail that I sadly couldn’t quite use was that 23 November 1922 was actually a date of minor significance in the discovery of the tomb. It was the day that Carter’s financier, Lord Carnarvon, arrived at the dig site to witness the opening of the tomb, along with his daughter Lady Evelyn Herbert, who would have been about a year and a half younger than Clara. This picture of the three of them was taken at the entrance of the tomb in late 1922, and is similar to how I imagine Clara and the Doctor’s picture with Carter would have looked:

As the tomb was being excavated, Carter and Carnarvon assembled a team of experts to help with the huge task of cataloging, preserving, and translating all the many items found in the tomb, and though I never called it out specifically in This Isn’t A Ghost Story, I figure the Doctor was part of that team, probably specifically focused on translation work. In late February 1923, there was a short halt in the excavation that lasted a few weeks, which was what led, in our fictionalized version of events, to the Doctor briefly returning to Glasgow, and Clara’s impulsive decision to follow him there. After their wedding in May of ‘23, Clara and the Doctor went directly to Egypt, and the Doctor returned to work on Carter’s team.

Family members, tourists, and the press were all known to visit the dig site during that first year of excavation and the resulting media craze:

Given that, and Clara and the Doctor being ‘disgustingly in love newlyweds’ it seemed reasonable that Clara would have visited the site at least a few times, and been on good terms with Howard Carter. Carter actually got his start in Egyptology when he was hired as a young man to paint reproductions of ancient temple walls and other Egyptian artifacts:

During the excavation of Tutankhamun’s tomb, he made detailed sketches, including careful measurements, of every item removed from the tomb and where it had originally be found in the tomb. Much of what we know about King Tut’s tomb now is down to how methodical Carter was in documenting the original untouched state of the tomb, both with measurements, drawings, and photography. These are both drawings Carter did of the tomb during that period:

Chapter 3 mentions that Clara decided to learn to draw in the summer of 1923, so I liked the little detail that it was Howard Carter, with his meticulous and beautiful art, that suggested she take up the hobby. Modern Clara also notes in passing that she drew all throughout her childhood, particularly her ghost, which all connects back to those early days of their marriage in 1923.

I’ve got more up my sleeve about the world-building elements for the next two chapters, but since chapter 6 was the last chapter I finished, long after chapters 7 and 8 were done, I thought I’d talk a bit about the writing process as well. The final scenes I wrote for the entire story were near the end of chapter 6, and despite knowing what I needed this chapter to do, what needed to be in place to set up chapters 7 and 8, chapter 6 gave me a bit of trouble along the way. 

I imagined this chapter in a lot of different ways as the story was evolving, but I always knew I wanted to emphasize the possibility of future travels for Clara and the Doctor. The theme of ‘101 Places To See’ is so strong in canon that echoing it for 1920s Clara was a big part of my world-building from the beginning, and I felt like any version of a happy ending for Clara and the Doctor had to include travel. An early draft of this chapter ended on Clara’s final line from Mummy On The Orient Express, ‘Then what are you waiting for? Let's go.’ to help emphasize that travel theme -- and because I can never resist borrowing a line from canon whenever I can find an excuse.

Another early sketch for this chapter had Clara and the Doctor venturing out for grocery shopping, with the Doctor complaining up a storm while Clara tried to carry on a conversation with him without any strangers taking note of it. Originally I had planned to include more of Clara’s work week, and had scenes roughed in where her friend and fellow teacher Amy Pond found out that Clara had gotten “engaged” over the weekend, leading Clara to have to make up something on the spot about how she’d been in a long-distance relationship that had only recently turned serious, which was why Amy had never met him. There was a whole thing about how Clara and Amy (who taught ancient world history) were co-directing Coal Hill’s production of Antony And Cleopatra, and Amy wanting to make sure that Clara wasn’t going to run off to see the world with her new fiance before the night of the play. Eventually that all got boiled down to just a single exchange between Clara and the Doctor, as I decided to keep the focus tight in on the two of them and their relationship, and not even include dialogue from any other characters.

One thing that comes up again and again in my writing projects is that when I’m imagining the plotline early in the process, it always takes up a lot more calendar days than the final product does. I imagine events taking place over the course of weeks, but then find that the emotional flow works much better condensed down to a handful of days instead. Despite my stories following that same pattern in development for more than a decade now, it somehow always seems to surprise me, lol.

Really early on in working on Ghost Story, I knew I wanted to keep Clara’s canonical birthdate of 23 November 1986 and build the rest of the timeline around that, and I picked out November 2014 as the time period for the main part of the story because it corresponds roughly to when the end of s8 of the show originally aired. But in a very early outline of events, Clara didn’t have the nightmare that led to her memories coming back until the night of her birthday, a full week later from what ended up happening in this final version. 

Even as recently as a few weeks ago, I was still planning on ending this chapter on her birthday, and it wasn’t until I started digging into the scene by scene and line by line breakdown of the chapter that I realized that it really wasn’t necessary. And leaving her birthday as an upcoming event folded in nicely with the ‘Future’ theme I wanted for this chapter, so again I decided to keep the focus tight on Clara and the Doctor’s relationship as they unravel the mystery and deal with the fallout of what happened in 1927.

Figuring out what I actually wanted to happen this chapter versus what could be left on the cutting-room floor, as they say, was a huge part of the final phase of writing This Isn’t A Ghost Story. Once I had cut out extraneous scenes and meandering plot tangents (and poor Amy Pond), I was left with a very specific list of scenes and conversations, and I wrote them much the same way I write everything, jumping around to a given scene as dialogue or internal monologue occurs to me. To me it always feels like putting together a large jigsaw puzzle, filling in holes and connecting up pieces as the puzzle comes together.

I find that technique works really well for me when I’m in early and mid development of a story, but once I was down to just a couple of scenes that still needed written, progress slowed way down. I got to the point where I knew the emotional content of a scene and even most of the dialogue, and needed just a little bit of stage direction to stitch the whole thing together. Those of you who have been following along with my #process thoughts posts here may remember me posting about working on that last scene just a couple of weeks ago, trying to wrestle it into shape. 

@tounknowndestinations, @praetyger, and a few others of you have asked about it, and I can now reveal that the very last bit to get written was the sequence with Clara preparing for bed and then the two of them getting into bed. I had the awkward sex conversation and the final scene the next morning already written, I just had to connect the first part of the chapter up with those last scenes. I’m happy with how it eventually came together -- and very curious to hear if any of you could pick out that that was the last bit written? -- but not having the option to work on anything else, just those specific words in that specific place, made it more of a struggle for me than writing most of the rest of Ghost Story.

My husband and beta reader Jack was more involved with the editing of this chapter than he was with any of the other chapters, and in several places helped me rewrite individual lines or conversation beats until we were both happy with how they read. @praetyger asked how I know when writing is ‘done’, and I have to admit it’s mostly a process of reading it over and over again, and then getting Jack to read it and taking his feedback seriously. I tend towards overly long run-on sentences, so if Jack gets lost while reading a sentence, that’s one he’ll call out as needing to be reworded for clarity. 

There’s one sentence in this chapter that we went back and forth over quite a lot: ‘The feeling of what might have been that seeing their wedding photo had elicited in her wasn’t some strange, misplaced jealousy, but rather the knowledge she carried deep in her soul, buried in her subconscious, that their story wasn’t over yet.’ It was originally even more wordy, and Jack would have preferred the final version be a lot more simple, but it just didn’t read right to me without ‘elicited’ so I stuck to my guns on that bit, even as I filed down some of the wordiness in other parts of the sentence.

Both for reworking a sentence and for writing big sections in the first place, my method is generally to write it and edit a little as I go, trying to get the word choice and pacing as close to what I want as I can on a first pass. Then I’ll let it sit, at the very least overnight but often for days or longer at a time, then come back and reread it when it isn’t so fresh in my mind. At that point, sometimes a phrase will jump at me as awkward or something I used just a paragraph or two earlier, so I’ll rewrite it, let it sit, come back and edit it all over again. Sometimes what seemed like plenty of room for an emotional beat when I was writing it will go by way too fast when I reread it, so I’ll add to it, give it space to breathe. Rinse and repeat.

For the record, Jack’s favorite line from this chapter is this bit of dialogue for the Doctor: ‘“Yes,” he allowed warily, clearly not sure where she was going with this.’ I imagine it’s probably for similar reasons as why he liked the ‘she didn’t add again but knew they were both thinking it’ bit from chapter 5. I try not to put my own marriage into my writing too much, but there are some experiences of being married that I think are probably pretty universal.

@ephemeralhologram asked about my writing inspiration, and for me my writing is always driven by a kernel of a what-if idea and a desire to convey a certain emotion. I almost always start out with a ‘plotbunny’ idea, some tiny thing that I daydream about and consider from multiple angles until a plot and emotional tone starts coming into focus. 

For Ghost Story, it was actually a shitpost here on Tumblr about a real estate agent having a conversation with the ghost who haunts the house they’re trying to sell, along with wanting to try telling a Twelve/Clara story in an alternate universe completely separate from the show canon, which I had never done before Ghost Story. The emotional tone started out much sillier, more in line with that Tumblr post, but as I got into the world-building and decided I wanted to have a mystery and mutual pining at the center of this story, the tone shifted quite a lot.

The other major drivers of writing inspiration for me are that I enjoy putting words together into interesting and emotionally evocative combinations, and I enjoy conveying character emotion and eliciting emotion in the reader. No matter what fandom I’m writing in, no matter how close to canon or how AU, how short or long the story is, those two things are always at the center of my writing.

I walk around the house or do chores that I don’t have to focus on too much (dishes are excellent for this) just tossing around bits of dialogue in my head until I find an emotional beat that grabs me or a bit of phrasing that I really like. I jot those down into a googledoc -- most of my DW stories start out in a doc called “Doctor Who Bits” that is in fact just fragments of multiple stories, and then eventually a story will graduate into having its own dedicated googledoc. Figuring out the plot is just as much about deciding on the emotional journey I want to take the characters and/or the readers on as it is deciding on an order of events.

Thank you to @tounknowndestinations​, @ephemeralhologram​, and @praetyger​ for the questions! I am more than happy to answer any questions about my writing process or details about this story, or anything really, so feel free to hit me up in my ask, or in the comments on this post, or in a comment over on AO3. Thank you to everyone who has followed along with this story, and for all the support and encouragement you’ve offered along the way, I couldn’t have written this story without this wonderful little corner of the Whouffaldi fandom! ❤️

--

Extras for Chapter 7: The Museum

[liz-and-the-blue-bird]

First Video Review

Am I allowed to do this for such a minor thing? Whatever, I’m gonna do it. If you somehow missed my spam (apologies, btw), here’s the video. 

I’m gonna run down the feedback I received and also a lot of thoughts of my own. 

Recommended soundtrack

So, btw, Youtube Analytics is like way more detailed than I expected. I guess this is what happens when your parent company is a massive search engine that makes money on incredibly specific targeted ads. 

I digress. 

It’s been about 24 hrs since I published the video, and it’s gotten about as many views as I’d expected (which is to say, less than fifty). Here’s the breakdown: 

33 views with 120 minutes of total watch time (audience retention of ~45%). 2 comments, both positive (thanks guys!).  Pretty much all my views came from discord, where I shared the video and asked for feedback.  All the discord views are complete watch throughs, other sources are a mixed bag, most people dropped after around 2 minutes. 

With that in mind, this video is basically unlisted on youtube, given that no one has seen it, nor will it be recommended often. 

That’s fine, I don’t really mind. I think the video deserves around maybe 100 views. Max. Seriously. 

Let’s start with feedback: 

1) Audio balance is the worst 

Yea sorry about that. I’ll be honest, when I recorded then put the music, I thought it was fine, but now that I watch it, yea the music is a bit too loud at points, and the ed cut in was way louder than my talking volume, it’s a bit of a mess.  I suspect it’s because when I’m just listening to audio, I close my eyes and focus, but on a video, I’m watching a thing so the audio gets messed up more in my head, so the parts that need to stick out need to be more emphasized. I’ll get it sorted for the next time. 

2) Text on screen is weird 

There’s a few pieces to this. First of all, the transition is just really bad. The slides in particular. @shinbec made a great point about how dated they feel. I’ll defend myself, I chose the slide transition because I thought it provide a specific energy to the video. It does, but he’s right, they feel like they’re made in powerpoint. The fade ins are less problematic, but they do lack variety. Moving forward, I’ll probably have to come up with some more interesting transitions. Especially between scenes. 

Secondly, the use of the text in general. @chuuni-p made a good point saying that the text at the beginning with the direct quotes felt weird. Yea, it kind of does. I suspect it’s a combination of the poor transition and the strange phrasing (saying “quote” “end quote” very much cuts into your mental flow of the paragraph). But he did like the quotes near the end where I didn’t directly quote. I’m a bit torn on this. I like the direct quotes and then the text because it adds a sense of proof. Like, here it is! I’m not lying! kind of thing. If that makes sense. But the transition fails to emphasize that. This is all just something I should keep in mind for future text on videos. I don’t think this is something that is going to go away, it has to get better. 

3) My voice is nice 

Hey, thanks. I like my voice, I’m glad other people like it too. 

Now then, on to my own personal criticisms. 

The video now feels far too long to me. You may recall my surprise at my recording being 8 minutes and 30 seconds long. But it makes sense. I wrote about 1300 words, and I speak at about 175 wpm (this is above average). Of course it was gonna be 8 minutes long. It would be great if it needed to be 8 minutes long. 

But it doesn’t need to be. 

The video meanders, I think. When I wrote the script, I set out to post an interesting video about how Project No Chikara actually ended up revitalizing anime, even though its shows failed, with an interesting minor point on how the theme of the first show (So Ra No Wo To) actually lines up fittingly with that premise. Yet, due to the structure of the essay, it ends up being something else.

Here’s the structure of the video: 

Intro (what is anime no chikara?)  Body 1 (What So Ra No Wo To does well)  Body 2 (What So Ra No Wo To does poorly)  Conclusion (How did Anime no Chikara end?) 

Just looking at this, you might see the issue. If you look at the topics of each paragraph, they don’t line up together. The Intro and the Conclusion are related, and the two body paragraphs are, but they aren’t technically related to each other. 

And that’s the rub. 

Essentially what I did was write a So Ra No Wo To review (6/10 btw) and then forced a structure into the intro and conclusion so that I didn’t have to title the video “So Ra No Wo To Review.” I don’t think that’s a very good strategy, and it lacks a sense of cohesion. Like seriously, you could rip out the middle two paragraphs (starting at around 1:00 and ending at about 6:50) and put the “thanks for watching” at the end of Amazing Grace and it would be cohesive. I could call that video “So Ra No Wo To, A Review on Moving Forward” and I think it would be a decent generic anime video. 

I talked with another friend about this the other day. I think I could rip Body 2 out entirely, and restructure Body 1 to be more about Anime no Chikara and the integration with So Ra No Wo To. It would require more research and less “oh btw the show did x” but it would be a more flowing and exciting viewing experience. At least I think so. 

My favorite book on writing, On Writing Well, has multiple chapters dedicated to ruthless cutting. The author mentions his distaste for adverbs because they rarely add to a description, unless you are using poor adjectives. He talks about how when he was a teacher, he’d tell his students to make their 10 page articles into 5 pagers, and once they’ve finished, ask them to make it a 4 pager. 

If you’ve paid attention to The Nerdwriter, you may know that he used to make a video every single week. To be frank, that’s an ungodly amount of production for a single man making tightly edited videos. But it speaks volumes that when he slowed production down from 4/month to 2/month in order to “focus more on each video,” his videos remained short—they did not grow longer. 

You might read all this and think I’m being kind of hard on myself for my first video. I got quite a lot of compliments, lots of people excited for where my channel is headed. (spoilers, it’s headed straight into a million kyoani videos.) 

Maybe I am hard on myself. But if you consider video essays a form of art, and I certainly do, then I should learn to color in the lines. 

[joanmjames]

Before You Say I Do!

If you are planning to get married, Marriage is Under Fire, Don’t stop firing back! seeks to better prepare you for this life-long journey.

May I engage your thoughts for a moment? Isn’t it frustrating and even devastating if you enter into something that is life-long in nature and you were not properly informed nor equipped to deal with it? Wouldn’t that be catastrophic? Also, if you are enlisted in your country’s army and there is war going on, in which you are expected to fight to protect your country. However, you do not possess the necessary training and weaponry to do so. Wouldn’t that define serious casualties? It sure would! Therefore, if you are planning to enter into marriage or already in it, then get equipped to guard its gates and protect it against the attacks being launched against it.

STRUGGLES ENCOUNTERED DURING MY WRITING OF THIS MANUSCRIPT

As mentioned before, this manuscript , came as a result of an inspiration from God, at a time of a great battle in my life. I was dealing with various major psycho-social issues, simultaneously during the time of writing.

When I got the inspiration to write on this topic of “Marriage Is Under Fire – Don’t Stop Firing Back!” I questioned God so “why this topic,” He further impressed upon me again the fact that in actuality “Marriage Is Under Fire – Don’t Stop Firing Back!” it was then I surrendered my will to His and my reluctance turned into obedience. As a result of this, I am the humble writer of this manuscript.

My obedience did not come without many struggles. One of these was time constraint. Due to the fact that I wear so many hats, so to speak and in addition to the fact that I am gainfully employed full -time, I had to be deliberate in making time to spend on the writing of this book. I had to utilize every possible time which should have been used for rest and relaxation to complete this.

My health was another major struggle I had while writing. I got a medical diagnosis that was life-threatening and disheartening, it literally took the winds out of my sails. During that period I journeyed through the “valley of the shadow of death,” and as the Psalmist David said “I feared no evil.” Interestingly, it was during that time that I wrote most of the material in this manuscript. I had a near-death experience, but God is my healer and the restorer of my soul!

As human, I had to be cognizant of the fact that my experiences should make me better and not bitter. On this premise, I guarded my heart against bitterness and wrote as I was inspired. By no stretch of imagination was this one of the easiest things to do, but I was supernaturally enabled to produce this masterpiece.

I pride myself in having very high standards for excellence, quality, perfection and an inclination to be successful in whatever I do. I set deadlines for myself to complete different sections. Needless to say if these deadlines were not met, then I was left a bit disappointed with myself. I then had to extend grace and mercy to myself by reminding myself that incidentals happen along lifes journey. Although I did not fail to incorporate excellence and quality in my writing, I had to be mindful of that, so I re-strategized and picked up from where I left off and continued to the end.

MY TRIUMPHS

Despite the various incidentals and roadblocks along the way, I was determined to finish this manuscript, have it published and ultimately released on different platforms, namely Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and in print, just to name a few. My ultimate goal is to have this powerful life-changing information with the necessary tools into the hands of those who need it most.

Finally, I am very grateful to God first and extremely thankful to those who were quite instrumental in helping me to realize this dream. Also for bringing this manuscript to fruition. Again, I want to say thanks collectively. Many individuals and couples will greatly benefit from the information and tools contained in this manuscript. No one is exempted because it covers a broad spectrum of people across many cultures and ethnicity.

LESSONS LEARNT ALONG THE WAY

I have learnt many valuable lessons along this journey. Namely “never give up and never quit.” Always be persistent and persevere until purpose connects with destiny!

Another lesson is to always “complete whatever you have started and that which is in line with your destiny.” Despite the roadblocks and detours, just meander your way through them as well as hurdle over them. Always endeavour to work assiduously with excellence to accomplish your goals. Be focused! Never forget to be obedient to the voice of God, despite the odds which may be stacked up against you. Try to develop and maintain a winning attitude.

The writing of this manuscript has also given me a greater insight into the words of God. It also propels me to dig deeper into the scriptures, in order to gain more knowledge and to discover further biblical truth about this covenant relationship.

VERY IMPORTANT FOOD FOR THOUGHTS

Marriage is a covenant and not a contract. This statement might appear to be highly controversial to many, but there is in fact a considerable feature of marriage that is actually a contract. This can easily be mistaken for purely a contract only. In essence, a contract is deeply embedded into a covenant, but not all contracts can be considered a covenant.

Although the components of a contract namely, an offer, acceptance and the fact that it is enforceable in the Court of Law help to form the base of the marriage covenant; marriage cannot totally be considered as a contract. A covenant is ratified by a contract due to its contractual components.

Throughout the scriptures and especially in the Old Testament there are many different covenants mentioned. Some of these are the Mosaic Covenant in the book of Exodus, Noahic Covenant in Genesis, covenant made with Abraham also in the book of Genesis etc.

In the Old Testament a covenant was entered into by the sacrificial slaying of an animal. This was then ratified or validated over the body of the slain animal. The ratification was then done with a procurement and the terms of the covenant. in this procurement the curse(s) that will come upon the head of the person(s) who violates this covenant is also explained. This solemn process is typological of the curse that would be placed on the violators in like manner as the animal that was slain. This covenant must be sealed with blood.

In this book, the marriage covenant is our main area of concentration. This is in fact a “Bond” between a man and his wife. It is quite binding in nature and is intended by God to be entered into for life. This should NOT be broken, except in the case of sexual unfaithfulness.

This marriage covenant is divinely and uniquely designed by God Himself. It is indeed sovereign and transcends the lifetime of a man and his wife. The words of the vows states “until death.” This defines permanency. If broken, except under conditions stipulated in the scriptures, there are serious consequences.

The marriage covenant specifically, is the one of which I speak, do have an offer (i.e will you marry me?), an acceptance (in the form of “yes I will do”) and also for the fact that it is enforceable in court – in the event that there is a marital breakdown. Here the judge will make a ruling and legally formalize it into an Order. This explains what the conditions should be, after the breakdown. For example, if there are assets to be equalized, then this would be included in the Court Order. Also details regarding Custody and Access of children of the union, if they are minors. Ultimately there is a dissolution of the union or a finalized divorce.

However, this covenant relationship of marriage has a deeper spiritual meaning. In fact, it is indeed a mystery. The great mystery in this special type of relationship is that of “leaving and cleaving,” whereby a man leaves his parents and cleave to his wife and became one flesh. They became one spiritually, sexually and emotionally.

The Blood Covenant

The Bible speaks specifically of a blood covenant. Under this law a marriage was considered one such covenant and was ratified upon consummation. Both parties were expected to be virgins and on the wedding night the marriage was to be consummated. Upon entering the woman her hymen should be broken, thereby producing blood which flows over the mans part. This automatically forms a blood covenant. Therefore, to exit this marriage they would each need to be able to separate their blood cells which became intermingled upon consummation.

By law the newly wedded couple had to sleep on a white sheet on the wedding night. On the morning after this sheet was to be produced to the elders of the city for inspection. If there was no blood the woman would be stoned to death for having been sexually active prior to marriage.

Contrary to common and widely accepted sexual practices, God is still interested in the preservation of the glory of virginity!

[tune-collective]

The 20 Best deadmau5 Songs

The 20 Best deadmau5 Songs

He may not be one for metaphors or lofty album titles, he may not know how to refrain from weighing in on any given subject, he may not really know how to play a bunch of traditional instruments, but Joel Zimmerman, aka deadmau5, is absolutely one of electronic dance music’s greatest producers.

He’s quite prodigious with eight studio albums released in 10 years, a successful label that helped spawn Skrillex and others, and his own music production Master Class series. You get the feeling he does everything the hard way, but he somehow does it so well.

Here’s a list of the 20 best deadmau5 songs to date, in our critical opinions. Enjoy, and feel free to disagree.

20. deadmau5 – “Bot”

For Lack of a Better Name is deadmau5’s fourth studio album and one that cemented the noise artist as one of the greats. It spawned tons of hits, and while “Bot” isn’t the LP’s grandest achievement, it is one of deadmau5’s most interesting songs. It’s full of wacky textures and frog noises. It sounds like the tribal music of exotic aliens who dwell in some kind of fantastic cyber jungle.

19. deadmau5 – “Alone With You”

This glittering bit of progressive house come from Random Album Title, deadmau5’s beautiful third LP. The persistent beat keeps bodies moving through the sparkling, melodic mist. It’s the kind of emotional build one happily and aimlessly explores over and over again.

18. deadmau5 – “Closer”

That exciting five-note progression should be instantly recognizable as John Williams’ alien-speak melody in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Daft Punk also used the sample, officially titled “Wild Signals,” as the intro to its Alive 2007 set, but deadmau5 takes the motif and turns it into something even grander. He deviates after the first two minutes, though those five notes continue to make their way in and out of the melodic lines. Maybe the aliens are listening.

17. deadmau5 – “Snowcone”

The first official single from deadmau5′ latest album, W:/2016Album, earns its name. It’s light and airy atmosphere captures the feeling of a light snow, and as we move forward into the beat, we find ourselves exploring deadmau5 hidden love of hip-hop rhythm. Kanye West and Pete Rock are fans. They shared a video of themselves listening to it in the studio, upon the reception of which deadmau5 announced “Snowcone” as one of his favorite songs on the new LP.

16. deadmau5 – “Infra Turbo Pigcart Racer”

Track five from while(1has got to be one of the most unique weapons in deadmau5′ musical arsenal. At just more than nine-and-a-half-minutes, it tells the supersonic story of, well, let’s pretend it really is a piggy racecar driver. It’s called Fast and the Furriest, and it is all about one adrenaline junky porker who makes his way into the Tron world and unlocks the true supersonic potential of those light bikes. Alright, I just made all that up, but doesn’t it sound like that?

15. deadmau5 – “Hi Friend”

This song perfectly captures the vibe of going out to your favorite nightclub and running into everyone you know and love. Lots of electro, heaps of filters, and dope party raps from MC Flipside.

14. deadmau5 – “Aural Psynapse”

Though it appears on 2011’s 5 Years of mau5 double-disc compilation, “Aural Psynapse” was first recorded and released in 2001 under deadmau5′ former alias Halcyon441, another Joel Zimmerman screen name lost in the annals of time. Proving the old adage that everything old is new again, the single went on to peak at No. 7 on Billboard‘s Dance/Electronic Digital Song chart. It’s a beautiful, emotional song where synths take the lead in all shapes and forms. Definitely a classic deadmau5 atmosphere.

13. deadmau5 – “HR 8938 Cephei”

This stand-alone release never graced an official deadmau5 album. It was one of Zimmerman’s Soundcloud dumps, but it’s nothing to overlook. At nearly 11-minutes long with a distant star namesake, it’s a progressive journey that starts cold and somber, builds into a hopeful, shoulder shaking beat, and here and there blasts the listener with strong, powerful moments.

12. deadmau5 – “Brazil (2nd Edit)”

Whatever happened to the first edit of “Brazil?” Well, deadmau5 decided it wasn’t that important. He might have been right. This track has been sampled by Kylie Minogue, Alexis Jordan, and Taio Cruz. It’s got an infectious beat and an easy-going staccato synth melody. Does it make you feel like you’re in Brazil when you listen to it? It’s a lot cheaper to enjoy than a vacation, in any case.

11. deadmau5 – “Maths”

Who’s ready to get weird? We are, and deadmau5 is bringing the electronic, alien funk heavy on this cut from 2012’s > album title goes here It served as the album’s lead single, and originally, it was supposed to be the final track on 4×4=12. The anxious, rising motion of the hook is the stuff dance floor come up dreams are made of. No one can stay seated when a tune like this gets dropped. This weird little tune is a get-up-and-go machine.

10. deadmau5 – “Moar Ghosts N Stuff”

Question: Why does “Moar Ghosts N Stuff” precede “Ghosts N Stuff” on 2009’s For Lack of a Better Name? Answer: Because deadmau5 is a troll, and he does whatever the hell he wants. This creepy organ intro is bone-chillingly cool. It’s actually a sample of Frederic Chopin’s Piano Sonata, Op. 35, No. 2 in B-Flat Minor, if you care to know. The vocal sample is from a monologue in The Brain From Planet Arous, a black-and-white, 1957 sci-fi indie flick. It also is an incredible way for deadmau5 to say “yeah, I just totally changed the game, and I am one of the best ever. Part two comes before part one. -shades fall on eyes- Deal with it.” This motif is one of deadmau5’s most memorable and instantly recognizable melodies. It just had to crack the top 10.

9. deadmau5 – “Sometimes Things Get, Whatever”

Another absolute fan favorite, this one being an early cut from 2008’s Random Album Title. It’s an easy song to relate to. We’ve all been overwhelmed by life to the point that we revert to cold robot mode, right? Zimmerman probably feels this way all the time. He’s totally that perfectionist sound engineer guy who frets over everything. I can’t actually say that with certainty, but c’mon, listen to this. Ironically, it’s a pretty straightforward and simple composition. He’d probably have a big explanation for why that’s not true, of course. It probably took like a million hours of engineering to create this. It’s probably too complicated to explain, so, you know, whatever.

8. deadmau5 – “Animal Rights” with Wolfgang Gartner

Storytime! This jam dropped a couple weeks before I turned 23, and the night of my birthday, I was partying in college, and some drunk frat guy wandered into our after party and heard it was my birthday and decided he was gonna give me a lapdance. So I put on “Animal Rights” and he was like “Hey, I really like this song. Who is it?” And I was like, “Don’t worry about it and take your clothes off.” That has nothing to do with how awesome this Wolfgang Gartner collaboration is, how it’s super funky and was totally exciting and fresh at the time, how it blends Gartner’s signature “complextro” sound with deadmau5’s awesome, techy atmospheres – but then again, maybe it does. Either way, go get a lap dance from a frat boy to it. It’s a pretty fun experience, even though he’s totally feeling himself more than you are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_esYONwdKuw

7. deadmau5 – “The Veldt” feat. Chris James

Grab your reading list. This tune is inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story, also titled The Veldt. That’s more to do with Chris James’ original lyrics, but it’s still totally awesome. You should know Ray Bradbury as the guy who wrote Fahrenheit 451, and if you don’t, get it together! deadmau5 created this song live during a 22-hour livestream. Dude is insane, right? The original version is just more than eight-and-a-half minutes long, and when the radio edit ends at just more than two-and-a-half, you’re like “wait, where is the rest of the song,” but the video is really cool, so we share it with you. This is a majestic bit of music, a perfect combination from deadmau5 and James.

6. deadmau5 – “Some Chords”

I nominate this track for Best Song Title of All Time. Basically every song in the history of ever could have this name, but only deadmau5 was lazy and clever enough to think of it. The chords in question are the backbone for the song, the musical template around which the beat aimlessly meanders. The chords evolve through different instrumentation, all the while the texture accents weave in and out to build the song to an aggressive fever pitch. 

5. deadmau5 – “Raise Your Weapon”

Heartbreak is never easy, but the music is inspires is some of the best ever written. “Raise Your Weapon” is a rallying cry, something to cling to in times of sadness. It’s opening piano notes, matched by singer Greta Svabo Bech’s listless vocal entry, welcomes your sorrow, but soon, the song finds strength, just as you will, given enough time. Bech is positively powerful by mid-section, and of course, so is the music, which eventually dissolves into a dubstep breakdown. It grips the listener from beginning to end, and though it’s a rather primitive bit of dubstep, it’s got some of the cooler noises we’ve heard in the garish genre. We’re happy to hear those piano chords finish it out, though. Part of your sadness never dies.

4. deadmau5 – “Faxing Berlin”

Faxing is an outdated form of communication, but it may have still been slightly relevant when deadmau5 first released this track in 2006. Email was totally relevant by then, but old people, you know? Famously supported by Pete Tong, “Faxing Berlin” is actually deadmau5’s first single ever, which is worth celebrating in itself. It’s also the first-ever release from mau5trap records. It’s also a constant favorite among fans, it’s slow build progressive vibe being absolutely quintessential to the deadmau5 sound. It’s one of his chillest, prettiest compositions. It’ll put you in a trance you’ll never want to escape.

3. deadmau5 – “I Remember” with Kaskade

“Faxing Berlin” is beautiful, but “I Remember” is one of the most luscious, gorgeous, all-encompassing electronic tunes of all time. It’s got classic written all over it, from the moment the beat and chords hit your ears, to the transcendent minute vocalist Haley Gibby sings into the mic, on through its full, spell-binding nine minutes. It’s kind of the perfect rave anthem, with soft female vocals whispering vaguely positive messages and chords in the tone of soft blues and whites. Something about it makes me reminisce about raves I went to in the mid 2000s, or maybe that’s just the song’s reminiscent vibe creeping into my head. I see what you did there, guys. Good game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ArUgxtlJs

2. deadmau5 – “Ghosts n Stuff” feat. Rob Swire

Here we are again, these instantly-recognizable synth chords, this moment-defining sound. Of course, this time, we get the incredible Rob Swire, a man who was already a legend for his work with Pendulum, and who would go on to be even more famous as Knife Party. Swire is a beast on this track. This song was originally created at the request of Pete Tong, who essentially dared deadmau5 to make a new tune in time for his appearance on BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. It’s one of deadmau5’s biggest hits ever, which is more than impressive for a last-minute production. This beat matched with these scream-along vocals makes for one of dance music’s most memorable refrains. It’s a classic. Kids 20 years from now will be like “have you heard Ghosts n Stuff,” and wish they were around to party in 2009, for sure.

1. deadmau5 – “Strobe”

I don’t think anybody would argue against “Strobe” being deadmau5’s best song. It’s iconic. It’s got all the elements that make deadmau5 the producer he is. It’s slow and pretty, it takes time to evolve, it’s got a slow and steady build, it erupts into progressive house perfection, it even carries a bit of hard electro edge. It’s just the jam. It’s such the jam, deadmau5 recently reimagined it for mau5trap’s 100th release, then he gave it away for free because he knew all you fools wanted it so bad. It’s one of those perfect electronic tunes that stays with you forever, and for that, we owe deadmau5 our eternal thanks.

Source: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/02/14/the-20-best-deadmau5-songs/

[joanmjames]

THE JOURNEY OF THIS BOOK

OVERVIEW OF THIS MANUSCRIPT

I got the inspiration to write this manuscript in the early morning in the year 2009 while in the midst of a major battle in my life. At the first instance, I questioned, “how can I write on such a subject matter while being engaged in such a battle?” However, God had a plan.

Truly, at that point in time my vision and insights were too cloudy to see the plans of God for this. However, I stepped out in faith and obedience, and despite the many odds and psycho-social issues, happening simultaneously, I persevered. I wrote as I was inspired, until this manuscript was completed in the latter part of the year 2016. All honor goes to God, who is my father. He gave me supernatural enablement and made this possible. As a result of these impossibilities that I faced while writing, this manuscript is unquestionably God-centered, God-inspired and scripturally based.

The central theme of this book is that of the many fires that this sacred union of marriage is experiencing. It also offers many valuable tools to be used in fighting back to guarantee a successful marriage. Other connecting themes are the true definition of marriage, the God intended purposes of marriage, as well as the do’s and don’ts of a good marriage.

In addition, it deals with the restoration and preservation of the sanctity of marriage at great length. If you are planning to get married, It seeks to better prepare you for this life-long journey. To those who are already married as well as those who have suffered misfortune along the way I aim to strengthen you.

May I engage your thoughts for a moment? Isn’t it frustrating and even devastating if you enter into something that is life-long in nature and you were not properly informed nor equipped to deal with it? Wouldn’t that be catastrophic? Also, if you are enlisted in your country’s army and there is war going on, in which you are expected to fight to protect your country. However, you do not possess the necessary training and weaponry to do so. Wouldn’t that define serious casualties? It sure would! Therefore, if you are planning to enter into marriage or already in it, then get equipped to guard its gates and protect it against the attacks being launched against it.

STRUGGLES ENCOUNTERED DURING MY WRITING OF THIS MANUSCRIPT

As mentioned before, this manuscript , came as a result of an inspiration from God, at a time of a great battle in my life. I was dealing with various major psycho-social issues, simultaneously during the time of writing.

When I got the inspiration to write on this topic of “Marriage Is Under Fire – Don’t Stop Firing Back!” I questioned God so “why this topic,” He further impressed upon me again the fact that in actuality “Marriage Is Under Fire – Don’t Stop Firing Back!” it was then I surrendered my will to His and my reluctance turned into obedience. As a result of this, I am the humble writer of this manuscript.

My obedience did not come without many struggles. One of these was time constraint. Due to the fact that I wear so many hats, so to speak and in addition to the fact that I am gainfully employed full -time, I had to be deliberate in making time to spend on the writing of this book. I had to utilize every possible time which should have been used for rest and relaxation to complete this.

My health was another major struggle I had while writing. I got a medical diagnosis that was life-threatening and disheartening, it literally took the winds out of my sails. During that period I journeyed through the “valley of the shadow of death,” and as the Psalmist David said “I feared no evil.” Interestingly, it was during that time that I wrote most of the material in this manuscript. I had a near-death experience, but God is my healer and the restorer of my soul!

As human, I had to be cognizant of the fact that my experiences should make me better and not bitter. On this premise, I guarded my heart against bitterness and wrote as I was inspired. By no stretch of imagination was this one of the easiest things to do, but I was supernaturally enabled to produce this masterpiece.

I pride myself in having very high standards for excellence, quality, perfection and an inclination to be successful in whatever I do. I set deadlines for myself to complete different sections. Needless to say if these deadlines were not met, then I was left a bit disappointed with myself. I then had to extend grace and mercy to myself by reminding myself that incidentals happen along lifes journey. Although I did not fail to incorporate excellence and quality in my writing, I had to be mindful of that, so I re-strategized and picked up from where I left off and continued to the end.

MY TRIUMPHS

Despite the various incidentals and roadblocks along the way, I was determined to finish this manuscript, have it published and ultimately released on different platforms, namely Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and in print, just to name a few. My ultimate goal is to have this powerful life-changing information with the necessary tools into the hands of those who need it most.

Finally, I am very grateful to God first and extremely thankful to those who were quite instrumental in helping me to realize this dream. Also for bringing this manuscript to fruition. Again, I want to say thanks collectively. Many individuals and couples will greatly benefit from the information and tools contained in this manuscript. No one is exempted because it covers a broad spectrum of people across many cultures and ethnicity.

LESSONS LEARNT ALONG THE WAY

I have learnt many valuable lessons along this journey. Namely “never give up and never quit.” Always be persistent and persevere until purpose connects with destiny!

Another lesson is to always “complete whatever you have started and that which is in line with your destiny.” Despite the roadblocks and detours, just meander your way through them as well as hurdle over them. Always endeavour to work assiduously with excellence to accomplish your goals. Be focused! Never forget to be obedient to the voice of God, despite the odds which may be stacked up against you. Try to develop and maintain a winning attitude.

The writing of this manuscript has also given me a greater insight into the words of God. It also propels me to dig deeper into the scriptures, in order to gain more knowledge and to discover further biblical truth about this covenant relationship.

VERY IMPORTANT FOOD FOR THOUGHTS

Marriage is a covenant and not a contract. This statement might appear to be highly controversial to many, but there is in fact a considerable feature of marriage that is actually a contract. This can easily be mistaken for purely a contract only. In essence, a contract is deeply embedded into a covenant, but not all contracts can be considered a covenant.

Although the components of a contract namely, an offer, acceptance and the fact that it is enforceable in the Court of Law help to form the base of the marriage covenant; marriage cannot totally be considered as a contract. A covenant is ratified by a contract due to its contractual components.

Throughout the scriptures and especially in the Old Testament there are many different covenants mentioned. Some of these are the Mosaic Covenant in the book of Exodus, Noahic Covenant in Genesis, covenant made with Abraham also in the book of Genesis etc.

In the Old Testament a covenant was entered into by the sacrificial slaying of an animal. This was then ratified or validated over the body of the slain animal. The ratification was then done with a procurement and the terms of the covenant. in this procurement the curse(s) that will come upon the head of the person(s) who violates this covenant is also explained. This solemn process is typological of the curse that would be placed on the violators in like manner as the animal that was slain. This covenant must be sealed with blood.

In this book, the marriage covenant is our main area of concentration. This is in fact a “Bond” between a man and his wife. It is quite binding in nature and is intended by God to be entered into for life. This should NOT be broken, except in the case of sexual unfaithfulness.

This marriage covenant is divinely and uniquely designed by God Himself. It is indeed sovereign and transcends the lifetime of a man and his wife. The words of the vows states “until death.” This defines permanency. If broken, except under conditions stipulated in the scriptures, there are serious consequences.

The marriage covenant specifically, is the one of which I speak, do have an offer (i.e will you marry me?), an acceptance (in the form of “yes I will do”) and also for the fact that it is enforceable in court – in the event that there is a marital breakdown. Here the judge will make a ruling and legally formalize it into an Order. This explains what the conditions should be, after the breakdown. For example, if there are assets to be equalized, then this would be included in the Court Order. Also details regarding Custody and Access of children of the union, if they are minors. Ultimately there is a dissolution of the union or a finalized divorce.

However, this covenant relationship of marriage has a deeper spiritual meaning. In fact, it is indeed a mystery. The great mystery in this special type of relationship is that of “leaving and cleaving,” whereby a man leaves his parents and cleave to his wife and became one flesh. They became one spiritually, sexually and emotionally.

The Blood Covenant

The Bible speaks specifically of a blood covenant. Under this law a marriage was considered one such covenant and was ratified upon consummation. Both parties were expected to be virgins and on the wedding night the marriage was to be consummated. Upon entering the woman her hymen should be broken, thereby producing blood which flows over the mans part. This automatically forms a blood covenant. Therefore, to exit this marriage they would each need to be able to separate their blood cells which became intermingled upon consummation.

By law the newly wedded couple had to sleep on a white sheet on the wedding night. On the morning after this sheet was to be produced to the elders of the city for inspection. If there was no blood the woman would be stoned to death for having been sexually active prior to marriage.

Contrary to common and widely accepted sexual practices, God is still interested in the preservation of the glory of virginity