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#and how sanctification works
delicatefury · 1 year
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Well. Today I was told that Mardi Gras is pagan. The reason? It’s a spring celebration (?)
Which was followed by Easter being pagan because it moves around. I said that’s because it aligns with how Passover is scheduled and was told that’s because Passover’s scheduling is taken from paganism too (??) (you think the Jewish people built their calendar off of the Greeks/Romans?)
Then told all Catholic holidays are stolen from whatever local pagan tradition because of the Roman emperor (???) (never mind how many were in place before Constantine’s decriminalization of Christianity).
Then told that not eating cloven hoofed animals came from the Muslims (????) (Islam. Which was founded 700 years after Christ and thousands of years after Judaism.)
And of course fish on Friday being because of the Italian fishing industry. Which may hold some merit but still isn’t the whole picture.
And just… there’s so much bad info that’s taken as true because it’s anti-Catholic.
Oh. And humans are a plague on this earth and have no place in the natural order (???????).
Look, I know that a lot of people on this hellsite probably agree with at least some of these, but it was a lot to process in 45 minutes.
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for i have sinned
masterlist
Pairing - priest!wanda maximoff x reader
18+ : dubcon, religious language used in and out of sex, smut; degradation, rough sex and kissing, strap use(r receiving), blood kink, cutting (wanda to r), sacrilegious asf tbh, dom!wanda
A/N - catholic school trauma said i had to write this and also photoshop priest!wanda so that’s an extra little gift
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A job at the catholic church was not what you’d originally planned for your summer break from university, waiting tables or serving behind a bar was what you had in mind but this was all you could find. And money is money.
So now you’re finding yourself making copies of fliers for the church, leaning against the wall with the whirring of the printer as background noise. You didn’t necessarily believe in this stuff but putting ‘atheist’ on your application wouldn’t have done you any favours so within the hours of nine and five you’re catholic through and through. 
It was only your first week and it’s already getting boring. The smell of the candles burns your nose and the polish they use on the pews makes you cough but at least you don’t have to sit through services and mass.
“Afternoon, Y/N.” Wanda smiled as she walked in.
“Hi, Wanda.” You returned.
“Mass starts in twenty minutes - all staff are expected to attend. I wasn’t sure if you knew so I thought I’d tell you.” You did not fucking know at all, you’d had enough of sitting through masses during your catholic school days and it took so much effort to hold back the grimace fighting its way to the surface.
“Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
“No worries. They’re big on Latin here, so I’d brush up on that if I were you.” She added. “I could always help you if you want.”
“That’d be great, thank you.” You smiled as she left with a nod. She’s too sweet for you to turn down, always smiling and softly spoken, going out of her way to help anybody and everybody. Everyone who steps foot in the church knows how nice she is, such gentle innocence and light radiates from her.
You made sure to drink another coffee before the service, you were going to need it if you didn’t want to doze off.
The last few weeks have been spent printing flyers, drinking crappy coffee, learning Latin with Wanda whilst trying not to stare at her unimaginable beauty and sitting in on sermons. At least when Wanda gives them you can watch her speak, white clerical collar around her neck, black blouse hanging over her body.
Her hands made gestures with her words, fingers dancing through the air, svelte and adorning a couple of rings. Her voice was soft as her eyes gazed over the crowd and although the lilt to her voice was melodic, you tuned her words out, instead flitting your eyes between her and the stained glass windows beside you.
“For this is the will of god, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorailty; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honour, not in the passion of lust like the gentiles who do not know god.”
Her words barely registered as you just pulled at a loose thread on your sleeve, eyes mindlessly trailing over her body; up her long legs clothed beneath trousers, boots partly covered by them. 
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.”
She could tell you weren’t paying proper attention when she caught sight of you at the back of the church where you sat alone, a bored look plastered over your face. She wasn’t surprised, she sees you fighting back yawns any time you attend a service, she catches you stealing glances at her during your tutoring sessions.
She was aching to do something about it. It goes against her own life, her entire life and vocation she’s built. But she’d be helping though, right? Doing the lord’s work. You were a stain, dirty and sinful, desperately in need of purity. It was her calling to erase the tarnish within your soul.
“But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.”
She glanced at you and licked her lips, she can’t wait to set you on the right path. Her hand gripped tightly onto the missal stand as she flicked pages, clenching her jaw at your obvious inattention and sending a sickly sweet smile your way when you glanced up. 
“Okay, repeat that back to me.” Wanda spoke from beside you, she sat next to you at the table in the break room where she’d been helping you with your Latin, chin resting in the palm of her hand as she watched you.
“Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus.” You returned, returning the radiant smile she gave you. (Outside the Church there is no salvation)
“Good girl.” She knew that would make you nervously clear your throat the way you did and she didn’t even bother hiding the smug smirk that tugged her lips upwards. “Try this one. Nitimur in vetitum.”
You repeated the phrase as best you could, basking in the praise she sent your way. “What does it mean?” You asked her and watched as she inched closer with eyes darker than you’d ever seen them and her hand trailing over your thigh beneath the table. You wanted to move away, you knew this was wrong but you couldn’t ignore the shivers sent through you at her touch.
“We strive for the forbidden.” She returned lowly, plump lips so close to your cheek you could feel the ghost of them pass over your skin and the intrusion of her hand pushing further and further up your thigh.
“Wanda, we can’t do this - you can’t do this.” You rushed out, moving your head back from her.
“Deus vult.” She growled through clenched teeth, a possessive hunger on her features you never imagined she could ever possess as her fingertips harshly dug into your flesh and her lips slammed into yours. You wanted to push her away, you really should push her away but the way her lips moved with yours was better than you could’ve imagined, all the rough possessiveness she could harness. (god wills it)
Her grip was harsh on the back of your neck until she pushed your head away at the sound of approaching footsteps, all of a sudden encompassing that innocent doe eyed facade she always sports when a few colleagues walked in. You lowered your head nervously at the stern glance she addressed you with, perfectly hiding the fact she was so near to just fucking you on the table just moments prior. 
“This will be continued.” She whispered before taking her leave.
Wanda was a woman of her word and that’s why you’re now in her bedroom with your back flush against her door as her lips claim yours and her tongue licks into your mouth. The ring on her thumb pressed into the centre of your throat when she held onto your neck, cold against your heated skin. 
The way her lips slotted with yours was desperate with her teeth nipping at your bottom lip, clashing into yours sloppily; it was clear she’d been wanting to do this for a while. Her other hand trailed down your side, creeping beneath your shirt to pinch the bare flesh of your waist. 
She growled breathlessly against your lips, “Hoc est corpus meum.” Her thumb pushed onto the column of your throat and you were sure her thick silver ring was going to leave an impression behind but the thought of being left with any physical reminder of her only made the arousal in your belly grow tenfold. Her hand slid further down until she cupped your cunt through your trousers, feeling your heat as you just yelped in surprise. “Corpus tuum est corpus meum.” Her voice was low and possessive and she claimed your lips as hers again, not caring about the way she pushed your head into the wooden door behind you. (this is my body)(your body is my body)
Wandering fingers grabbed the hem of your shirt before yanking it over your head, drinking in the sight of your body as she tossed it across the room, reaching behind you to rid you of your bra with an immediate sinking of her teeth into your breast. You hissed at the feeling, arching your body into her as her fingertips pulled at your nipple and her tongue licked over your skin.
She pulled open the button of your trousers, forcing them past your hips and only pulling away from you to watch as you stepped out of them and kicked them across the hardwood floor. When she pushed her hips back into yours you felt a bulge against you through the thin material of your underwear and you couldn’t help but rock your hips over it whilst she kissed you. 
“Such a little fucking whore.” She breathed, stepping backwards to unbuckle the belt around her waist, undressing herself so she stood before you with only her shirt and clerical collar on her body and the red strap she’d been waiting to use on you between her legs. You licked your lips at the sight of it, not missing the way Wanda smirked at the flustered look on your face.
It nudged against you when she closed the space between you, holding your chin between her finger and thumb to make your eyes lock with hers. “Genua ante patrem tuum et orate.” She muttered through gritted teeth, pushing you behind her to swap places, nudging your shoulder down until you were on your knees before her. (kneel before your father and pray)
“Forgive me father, for I have sinned.” You closed your eyes as you spoke, head bowed and hands clasped together. You shivered at the feeling of something cold gliding over your shoulder and pushing your head up from beneath your chin, cool metal on your skin when you opened your eyes to Wanda towering over you. She held a silver letter opener against you with her fingers wrapped around the handle, guiding the pointed end down the thin skin of your throat musingly. 
“Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” You continued with bated breath at her next move, the feeling of the blade moving lower to settle beneath your collarbone. (my fault, my fault, my grievous fault)
“I’m going to make you pure.” Wanda whispered, pushing the sharp metal into your skin. You winced at the two cuts she decorated your flesh with, a cross that will stay on your body as a scar and a reminder of who had been there.
With one hand she pulled your head back by your hair, with the other she swiped her thumb through the pooling blood, the crimson that was slowly but surely dripping down your breast. The bloodied pad of her thumb drew the sign of the cross on your forehead, two overlapping lines of a red smear. She admired the sight of you beneath her, looking up with teary eyes.
“C’mon, take it.” She smiled, pushing the tip of her cock against your lips, roughly pushing it past your parted lips when you slackened your jaw for the intrusion. She fucked into your mouth, not caring about the way it hit the back of your throat roughly and caused tears to spill down your cheeks at the feeling. 
She only pushed your head away once she was satisfied and your lips pulled away with a string of saliva clinging to her length and your face hot and wet with tears and bleary eyes, she only pointed to the bed and you followed her gesture obediently, lying back with your head on her pillows as she climbed over your body. Her gaze was predatory, the stroke of the back of her fingers down the skin of your cheek shocked you but the soft look on her face wasn’t completely honest. Yes, she looked at you admiringly but more as though you were in need of her help, the sacrificial lamb she was saving from slaughter - this was for your own good.
She pushed her lips to yours and caught the yelp you let out into her mouth when she pushed into your dripping cunt without any warning, she eased into you slowly, stretching you out and coating her cock with your arousal before pulling out and thrusting into you again to begin her harsh pace.
She grabbed the hands that clung to her back, linking her fingers with yours and pushing them into the mattress either side of your body whilst she continued to fuck you
“This is for your own good, you know?” She breathed through grunts of her own from her clit rubbing on the strap as she fucked you, growing closer to climax with each snap of her hips into yours. “Dirty sinners like you need to be fucked pure, isn’t that right?”
You couldn’t even answer her, too mesmerised by the sight above you. Her body hovering over yours, fitted shirt still on her body with her collar still fixed around her neck and the crucifix necklace she always wore swinging rhythmically above your face. The silver pendant shone in the light as it swayed. 
“Isn’t that right?” She repeated sternly with her hand now squeezing at your throat and lusting eyes boring into yours.
“Y-yes, yes.” You nodded, cutting yourself off with a moan as Wanda’s pace increased, growing rougher if that was even possible. You could hear her pushing into you, the small thuds of the bed and the shaking of the wooden crucifix on the wall, threatening to fall if she fucked you any harder.
“You belong to me.” She uttered, bringing her lips beside your ear. “I’m your fucking God. Now, be a good little devoted catholic girl and fucking cum all over my dick.”
With the way her voice rasped and her thumb rubbed over your clit, it took practically seconds for you to scream her name, your body hot and shaking as your back arched off the bed and your eyes scrunched closed. Her own orgasm was close behind and you both took a few moments to catch your breaths before she left you empty and discarded her strap across the room. 
She lay beside you where you looked at the ceiling in a daze and musingly dragged her fingertip over the drying blood on your chest.
“I don’t think you’re quite pure yet.”
“I s’pose I need more of this penance then.”
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There are several different areas of how youth ministries work that I have major issues with.
teenagers are taught appallingly little theology. We got three sermons on David and Bathsheba in a year telling us not to have sex, but not a single one on the process of sanctification. (like, seriously is that the only story in the Bible that you can find to teach this lesson with? Last I checked there was an ENTIRE BOOK about not awakening love until its time. I digress). No real theology is taught, everything is overly simplistic with the flimsy excuse of "keeping the messages simple in case someone who has never heard the gospel is in the room." They are supposed to be preparing students for adulthood, but they give the group with the most questions the least amount of answers
There is also little to no Church history being taught. In tenth grade I studied Church history for school (because I was homeschooled and feel called to missions, more on that later) and I would bring up that I was learning about Athanasius, or the Counter Reformation, or Dietrich Bonhoffer, and my friends had never heard of these people and events that helped shape what we believe and how it plays out in our lives. I'm not saying I expect them to be an expert, but to have no familiarity with those who came before us is mind boggling to me.
There are no resources or help for students feeling a call to ministry. I have felt a call to international missions since I was eight years old, and I go to a church with a huge emphasis on missions. So you'd think they'd be excited and jumping on the opportunity to teach me what that looks like, help me figure out ways to start preparing so that I'm making the most of my time, right? Wrong. I was told that it was cool that I felt this call but I was acting like i was better than everyone else and I needed to focus on the lessons they had and I had time to figure out my calling when I was older. I'm thankful that my parents have ways encouraged me in this calling, and I was able to create my own plan to prepare me as best I could for a life of missions. (i won't go into what exactly the plan was here, but I believe it was a wise one and I'd be happy to answer any questions about it.) I look at my peers and my friends who are still in youth, and there are so many who are feeling a call to ministry, and they are coming to me for advice. We are the all or nothing generation, there is no more sitting on the fence. Imagine what it would look like if we took our youth seriously when they say they feel called to ministry! I've graduated now, and if I had taken the advice of those who told me I was too young to know of I was called to missions to not I would have missed out on over ten years of studying the Bible, how to communicate the gospel to people of other religions, praying for people groups where no one knows Jesus. TEN YEARS! How is this acceptable?
Anyways, TLDR the only reason I know what i do of the Bible is because I took it upon myself to study, and the sad truth is most students don't even know enough to make that decision. We have the reverse problem of 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, where students are longing for solid food, but we are only fed milk.
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walkswithmyfather · 7 months
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Romans 8:28‭-‬32 (AMP). “And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers. And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity]. What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be [successful] against us? He who did not spare [even] His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?”
“May all things work together for your good as the Lord lights up every room you walk into.” Amen. 🙏
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beanlot · 2 years
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How does Ellie and Abby differ in bed? Love ur fics, ur always bringing something new to the table 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩
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ellie is hands on.
she understands how much you relish just the mere stroke on your hip, just as much as she savours how your skin reacts under the sanctification that was her fingertips - she’d unearth every fragile nerve in your body, nerves you hadn’t known existed, and only would amplify their sensitivity with just her fingers. sometimes, you’d underestimate the true divinity of them; you’d forget how saintly they’d slew inside of you, only to be reminded of what promised land she’d send you to when she’d twine them inside your pussy so skilfully. being rewarded with your whines and whimpers in her ear was nothing more than narcotic utopia, only using her tongue on your neck and collarbone - potentially your breasts every now and then when her fingers were short of vigour.
personally, i don’t think ellie is much of a dirty talker. she presents herself as very reserved and vanilla, but that’s only skimming the surface on a superficial level - in her lewd temper, ellie might not be afraid to delve into such pornographic words about how perfect your cunt looks from here, or if you like what she’s doing to you.
but in terms of kinks, ellie would like to regard herself as experimental with you - but after spitting in your mouth or having her hands bound by rope, she prefers things being raw and.. simple. generally, ellie is more of a make love to you and let me appreciate your body person rather than having her wrists torrent with irritation from such harsh bondage or seeing the decimation of your skin with her bite marks, which she feared would disappoint you.
and of course, she’s a switch - orchestrating herself with such duality that sometimes, she was serene enough to ask you to eat her out, have you tongue-deep inside her. sometimes it was 50/50, other times it was 30/70, or even 80/20. but on the days where you had done most of the work and hadn’t came, she’d remain persistent in making it up to you through the boiling guilt in her chest; this could be from giving you more orgasms than intended, guzzling at your clit under the dinner table, or joining your showers with her strap - which was as much of a reward for her as it was for you.
finally, ellie’s aftercare is nothing short of heavenly. she’s your sweetheart, even on the days she’d be blighted after a session - it was always you that she insisted be overindulged. whether it was her washing the bed with scents of ocean fervour and citrus; having you lay on her lap whilst she’d spray cucumber serum on your skin, or stimulating ticklish patterns on your waist and admiring how godly seraphic you look in the dusk, all whilst contemplating what animation to watch.
now this is where shit gets rough, because..
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abby’s a biter.
honestly, i see abby the complete antithesis to ellie in bed. maybe it’s the brawny figure, the callous irises bleached with such ascendancy that she strikes me as someone who likes to hunt you. where ellie likes to use her hands, abby is one to know that her mouth is her paramount - her tongue is superlatively impulsive on your body, inviting itself wherever it wished: your mouth, your breasts, your hips, your clit. and eventually, her primal instincts became axiomatic, because her teeth were as entitled as her tongue. she’d bite at your shoulders, your lips, your nipples, thighs - and if her urges desired, she’d test the waters with her teeth sampling your clit. which was rather detrimentally agonising on your end and often resulted in establishing timeouts for her, but some days, it was your cup of tea.
i mean put it this way, the only time abby would use her hands had to be necessary, whether this was through stripping you or keeping your legs still to finish slurping at your folds; this usually meant a lot of your sex was facesitting in the gym whilst she used weights, calibrating to being perched upon the dresser before a night out with your leg on her shoulder, adjusting to the tremor in your thighs when you’d cum on her lips.
and abby knows she’s freaky - i’d say she prefers to keep the sex between you dynamic, the adrenaline of exploring kinks like no other refreshment. you’d cottoned on that abby already acknowledged herself to be a sadist, and decided to serrate the blunt edges with conversations on your personal fantasies; some you regret talking about, such as abby’s fantasy to fuck you whilst you slept, or the ongoing discussions about if she could whip you so you could get a taste of the disciplinary raw strength behind her arms. because she liked reprimanding you, and this was often the case when you’d nosedived into the rabbit hole of disharmony and conflict - because you learnt (and so did owen) that abby was one for hate sex. she likes to broadcast her barbarity on your body, and personally, i think this fuels abby’s potential to dirty talk - often resulting in belligerent hisses in your ear about what a fucking whore everyone thinks you are, and how fucking dare you speak to her like that.
and although the sex between the both of you seemed toxic and violent, it was your love language - because you know in the complex roots that abby is, she maintains so much love towards you; it’s safe to say that abby is a shatterproof top.
finally, abby’s aftercare is the antipode to ellie’s. whilst ellie would typically be giving herself up to you through acts of service - abby is in the simplest of words, a bellyacher. and it goes a little something like:
my muscles ache, babe.
fuck, my hip.
think i pulled something.
you’d be the one picking up the fragments she’d left of you, susceptible to the irony of her complaints; sometimes it would be through bathing in the puddle of sweat that you both were whilst her face would burrow itself between your breasts, which sometimes only activated another hour long session when her tongue would stroke against your nipple. other times, it could be ambling yourself to the kitchen to make her a hot brew and massaging muscle cream into the most delicately sculptured parts of her body. and it was these moments where, although she treasured you, it was just mere realisation that she was so grateful
that out of the billions of people on this planet, you were the one she met.
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ladytemeraire · 4 months
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Actually no re: that post from @kintatsujo, one of my favorite details in Hunchback of Notre Dame comes at the end of Hellfire
Because yes, Hellfire is the one of the greatest villain songs of our age, I will die on this hill; Frollo is the most terrifying and monstrous Disney villain of Disney in general and the Disney Renaissance in particular because there is no magic, no mythology, no godhood – there is just a man and his bigotry and his lust struggling against his sacred duty —
And yet —
At the very end of Hellfire, Frollo holds the last note of "she will be mine or she will burn" for a ridiculously long time, long enough for the main chorale leitmotif to play out in its entirety, and even before he drops the note the choir has disappeared and Frollo is left alone in a cold-toned stone corridor.
There is no Inquisition here; there is no sacred choir, there is no church or Church (he's not even in Notre Dame, he's in his own personal quarters), there is no promise of divine retribution, there is no Hellfire. There is simply a man in the cold dark stone corridors of his quarters, squaring with his own insatiable desire and guilt against the responsibilities of his office and the divine calling, with nobody to hear or witness but the wind whistling.
(Contrast literally all of Sanctuary, where Notre Dame herself and implicitly the saints and even God work to free Quasimodo, rescue Esmeralda, and subsequently protect and defend those who stand against injustice, and thus excoriate and ultimately destroy those who oppress the innocent and oppose the will of God. The choir absolutely demands a plea for salvation from the fires of Hell over the course of this scene from long before the moment Frollo ignites Esmeralda's pyre, culminating in "Save me, immolated Savior, who opens the gates of heaven; hostile wars oppress, give vigor, bring salvation; be the glory everlasting, glory, glory, always glory, in the highest" with the sopranos absolutely belting sanctus sanctus in excelsis landing as Quasimodo frees Esmeralda and bellows Sanctuary — the compassion and will of God comes down embodied in Quasimodo to free one injustly condemned, and then continues in Quasimodo and in Notre Dame herself to defend holy ground and repel injust invaders looking to desecrate her grounds in the name of false piety. What counsel shall be called to defend, when even the just man can hardly be secure?)
Frollo spends the entirety of Hellfire justifying himself and his actions, begging for forgiveness and absolution and justification, and at the end it's just him. He has been offered sanctification - every time he pleads "it's not my fault, I'm not to blame" the choir echoes mea culpa, mea maxima culpa (by my own fault, by my own most grievous fault), and so in the end It's just him. It is his own finger-pointing and condemnation turned inward, and it's such a good visceral and physical representation of how isolating that rigid mentality and false piety can be from actual repentance, forgiveness, and grace.
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artsyunderstudy · 1 month
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hey, it’s the someone wicked anon again. you answered that beautifully and with so much grace<3 i completely see where you’re coming from with the repression aspect—that’s partly why i wondered whether my question would sound stupid, because the entire premise of the story is sexual freedom, and here i was asking why simon didn’t give up sex work at the end. and even though there’s still some things i disagree with, i think the point of good literature is to make people reflect on and challenge their beliefs, and you definitely achieved that. you have such a mastery of language and character-building—it was a joy to read. you dealt with this tricky topic in a really mature, thoughtful way. the research is evident. it’s a lovely, lovely piece of work, and it’s going to stay with me for a long time. you’ve given me a whole new perspective to think about—thank you.
Thank you so much for this response, I'm glad I was able to articulate my views on the matter well. I'm really heartened to hear that the story made you reflect on those perspectives.
I come from a very religious, conservative family and I've had to spend a lot of time challenging the beliefs I grew up with. And where some of my gut reactions stem from. I think that connecting and listening to people who have vastly different life experiences and perspectives from me has been key to me growing. (Though I still fuck up all the time.) I think empathy is how we bridge gaps, and I want to encourage empathy in my writing.
I was speaking to a friend the other day about how complicated a topic this is to write about. It's complicated because of the implicit bias we have as a culture toward sex work, and the sanctification of sex in general. I think people are drawn to sex worker erotica because there's something forbidden and tantalizing about it. Or, and often in the same story, it's a savior narrative. And it's all predicated on this idea of all people in sex work being victims of circumstance, and that it's something shameful. The truth is more mundane. It is a job that some people enjoy and some people don't, where there may or may not be exploitation. I also saw a post recently about how we are exploited in all sorts of professions, but we normalize it. In sex work, we sensationalize it. (Which often leads to more bias toward the sex worker themselves, not toward the systematic issues that allow that kind of exploitation.) It's just something I've been thinking about.
Anyway, it's complicated. And there's no story you can write about it that's going to please every reader, no matter the perspective. But I'm glad that mine allowed you to empathize even while not being fully on board with all decisions made. It means a lot to know that.
original ask here
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hiswordsarekisses · 1 month
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Progressive sanctification is not a partnership with the Spirit in the sense that we each—the believer and the Holy Spirit—do our respective tasks. Rather, we work as he enables us to work. His work lies behind all our work and makes our work possible.
The Holy Spirit can and does work within us apart from any conscious response on our part. We see this in the initial act of sanctification when he creates within us a new heart and a new disposition toward God and his will. He’s not dependent on us to do this.
But we’re dependent on him to do our work; we cannot do anything apart from him. In the process of sanctification there are certain things only the Spirit can do, and certain things he has given us to do. For example, only he can create in our hearts the desire to obey God, but he does not obey for us. We must do that, but we can do so only as he enables us.
So we must depend on the Spirit to do within us what only he can do. And we must equally depend on him to enable us to do what he has given us to do. Whether his work or our work, we’re dependent on him.
We aren’t just dependent on him; we’re desperately dependent. Because we so often equate Christ-like character with ordinary morality, we fail to realize how impossible it is for us to attain any degree of conformity to Christ by ourselves. But if we take seriously the many Christ-like character traits we’re to put on, we see how impossible it is to grow in Christ-likeness apart from the sanctifying influence and power of the Spirit.
~ Jerry Bridges
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. Galatians 5:25
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3rdeyeblaque · 8 months
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Today we venerate Ancestor Bishop C.H. Mason on his 157th birthday 🎉
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Bishop C.H. Mason founded the Church of God in Christ (COGIC), THE largest Black American pentecostal church in the U.S. In doing so, he preserved and cultivated the religious culturesof our Afrikan ancestors while fighting for ourreligious freedom of expression and integration in the church house.
Brother Mason born to former slaves in Shelby County, TN. Due to his family's impoverished status, young Mason worked as a sharecropper and did not receive a formal education. Yet he still learned how to read and write. As a child, Mason was greatly influenced by the religion of his parents and other former slaves. He admired their prayer rituals, spontaneous singing, & shouting. At age 12, he embraced the Afro-Baptist faith and was later baptized in his older brother’s church.
In 1895, Brother Mason met Charles Price Jones, a popular Baptist preacher from Mississippi. Mason and Jones started preaching the doctrine of holiness and sanctification together in local Baptist churches, which led to their expulsion from the Baptist & Methodist churches. They, and others, established the Church of God and Church of Christ. Their movement consisted of both Black and White folk were grossly dissatisfied with mainstream denominations. From COGIC’s inception, Brother Mason ordained and allowed whites to join his denomination. He dreamed of an integrated church and believed that all races were entitled to equal rights and authority therein. Their principal belief was that being sanctified was an internal experience that resulted in external changes within individuals & their communities. They taught their followers to seek higher spiritual development and encouraged them to rekindle the dynamism of "slave religion".
In 1897, Brother Mason established St. Paul COGIC in an old cotton gin located in Lexington, Mississippi. He then started using the name “Church of God in Christ”, because, "God told him that if he used that name it would cause people to follow him". By 1904, Brother Mason established pastoring 4 churches: St. Paul in Lexington, Saints Home and Dyson Street in Memphis, and a COGIC church in Conway, AR.
In 1907, he attended an interracial service in Los Angeles, CA. After which, he declared that he'd experienced a spiritual metamorphosis and that he now believed in speaking in tongues. This is what spurred Jones and others to excommunicate him from their Holiness association. This ultimately led to Brother Mason and Jones’s 12yr partnership ending over theological differences, rights to church properties, ecclesiastical power, and the COGIC name itself. After 3 years of legal battles, in 1911, Mason’s legal victories catapulted him into historical prominence and placed COGIC in the Mid-South’s religious pantheon.
Brother Mason was also an outspoken conscientious objector. He was arrested in 1918 and probed by the FBI for teaching pacifism and encouraging Brothas to refuse being drafted into WW I and II.
By the early 20th century, the Black Christian middle class frowned upon any & everything associated with Mother Africa. They believed shouting, dancing, & especially speaking in tongues, were shameful & hindered Black progress. Defiantly, Brother bMason encouraged his followers to embrace their Afrikan heritage and gave them space to express themselves in church. He allowed the working classes to dance shout, testify, speak in tongues, string musical instruments, & sing gospel. His preservation of the Afrikan heritage, freedom of religious expression, & leadership spearheaded COGIC’s astronomical growth.
In the 1920s, COGIC had 30K members &, as a result of the Great Migration, 68.7% percent worshiped in urban cities. By the 1930s, COGIC was an urban phenomenon. During the Great Depression, Brother Mason’s churches fed and clothed poor Whites and Black Peoples across Memphis
Today, it has an estimated 6.5 million members and 12,000 congregations. COGIC is the largest African American denomination in the United States, with eight million members worldwide.
We pour libations & give him💐 today as we celebrate him for his passion & commitment to the preservation & cultivation of our Central/West Afrikan cosmologies, cultures, & belief systems via our religious of expression.
‼️Note: offering suggestions are just that & strictly for veneration purposes only. Never attempt to conjure up any spirit or entity without proper divination/Mediumship counsel.‼️
Offering suggestions: COGIC bible/prayer offerings, water libations, gospel songs of praise/dance
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#hoodooheritage #ATR #ATRs #hoodootradition #TheHoodooCalendar #ancestors #veneration #theblackchurch #ancestorveneration #bishopchmason #cogic #cogicchurch #og #deepsouth
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ae-neon · 1 year
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Controversial ACOTAR Crackship?
This is just my opinion, I'm not an unbiased source. Don't like? Just scroll
Was explaining to my lovely mutual how :
Fey.ris is what Fey.sand should have been (and is actually better than Ne.ris) because the material conditions necessary to "excuse" bad behaviour exists for E.ris but don't exist for R.hys
(and for some reason F.eyre's narrative is obsessed with excusing as well as always explaining why her side have the moral high ground 🙄😕 so, here's how it might actually work and not come off as cognitive dissonance + hypocritical nonsense)
R.hys has been the HL for his court for over 400 years. He is the Most Powerful™ and his nepotism circle are the Most Powerful™
E.ris on the other hand is still under the very real threat of his father and his brothers as well as being isolated and lonely. This makes the "mask" necessary and, more importantly, BELIEVABLE.
Therefore F.eyre's (+the narrative's) exoneration and sanctification of the love interest doesn't come off as hamfisted and self righteous as in canon.
It also doesn't force F.eyre to give up her action heroine archetype as the overall plot of the AC is one of an impending rebellion (the I.llyrians don't count, they are no threat and especially no threat in comparison to B.eron and an Autumn succession war)
It would fit for F.eyre to be the bridge that reconnects L.ucien to E.ris as she has/ would have a separate personal relationship with both (N.esta doesn't work here)
As always I maintain the V.alkyrie plotline belongs to her and it actually makes sense for there once to have been a female warrior group who now no longer exist in the current sexist climate (aka B.eron's reign) this could be a key point in the rebellion (again I'm not a warrior N.esta supporter so she doesn't fit)
Also fits F.eyre as liberation figure, to help the AC rebellion, cause she's doing fokol for the I.llyrian women.
It even makes more sense for E.ris to have a secret enclave he considers his home outside the capital
And last but not least E.ris has no mind fuck abilities so even the idea of manipulation or threat of control
(this is where the opposite pairing does have merit because N.esta isn't as vulnerable to R.hys' mind fuck powers or even his plain old manipulation, he could never convince her to get half naked or pretend she's a sexual pet)
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orthodoxadventure · 4 months
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"I say that the Virgin Mary could not be sanctified before Her conception, inasmush as She did not exist. If, all the more, She could not be sanctified in the moment of Her conception by reason of the sin which is inseparable from conception, then it remains to believe that She was sanctified after She was conceived in the womb of Her mother. This sanctification, if it annihilates sins, makes holy Her birth, but not Her conception. No one is given the right to be conceived in sanctity; only the Lord Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, and He alone is holy from His very conception. Excluding Him, it is to all descendants of Adam that must be referred that which one of them says of himself, both out of a feeling of humility and in acknowledgement of the truth: "Behold I was conceived in iniquities" (Ps. 50:7). How can one demand that this conception be holy, when it was not the work of the Holy Spirit, not to mention that it came from concupiscence? The Holy Virgin, of course, rejects that glory which, evidently, glorifies sin. She cannot in any way justify a novelty invented in spite of the teaching of the Church, a novelty which is the mother of imprudence, the sister of unbelief, and the daughter of light-mindedness) -- Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Catholic Church
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Devotional Hours Within the Bible
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by J.R. Miller
The Heavenly Inheritance (1 Peter 1:1-12)
“To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered. .. who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.” It is a sweet pleasure to be chosen to be a friend even by a true and noble man, to have a pure and loving heart turn to us and choose us from among many for regard, affection and interest. But it is far more precious to know that God has chosen us to be His friends. His children. Jesus said of His disciples, “You did not choose me but I chose you.”
We are told also that we love God because He first loved us. Instead of puzzling our brains over the doctrine of “election,” let us accept the sweet thought which such words as these bring to our hearts. How sacred it makes our life seem to think of it in this way!
“Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.” When God chooses us to be His children, He also provides for making us holy and fit to be partakers of the heavenly inheritance. The word “sanctification” has two senses. It means a setting apart. The Father chooses us and the Holy Spirit sets us apart as God’s. We belong to Him and are sacred to His uses. Then the word means also the actual cleansing of the nature making it holy. The Spirit enters into our heart and makes His home there, purifying the fountains of life and overcoming and driving out the evils of the flesh. The blood of Christ also has a part in the making holy of those whom the Father has chosen. We are redeemed by His blood. The blood cleanses from all sin. Thus the three persons of the Trinity are active in the saving of everyone who is saved: The Father chose, the Son made atonement, and the Holy Spirit purifies and sanctifies .
We enter God’s spiritual family by a new birth. “In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope.” In our natural state we are not ready for life in God’s household. A wicked man, with an unholy heart, could never be happy in heaven. He cannot even be happy in a prayer meeting on earth. We must have holy feelings, desires and affections, before we are prepared for living in a holy atmosphere. The kingdom of heaven must come into our heart before we can enter into the kingdom. So God provides that when we receive Christ, the Holy Spirit renews and changes our nature, giving us the child - heart. We see here also that it is not for anything in ourselves that God has chosen us, changed our heart, and taken us into His family but “according to his great mercy.” Mercy always implies unworthiness. We are saved through the grace and love of God.
There is a glimpse here, too, of the blessedness of the Christian’s hope. It is a “living” hope. We are born again to an inheritance of life, eternal life. Our hope itself is living and eternal. Earth’s best things are uncertain, and at their best are only for a time. But the hope of the Christian is immortal. It is guaranteed by Christ’s resurrection. He conquered death, and all who rest upon Him live with Him for evermore.
“An incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance reserved in heaven for you.” Here we see what our living hope is. It is an inheritance, a free gift to us, something which comes to us from our Father. It is not like earthly inheritances, however, for they are liable to waste or to be lost. This inheritance is “incorruptible,” that is, it is not subject to decay but is eternal. It is “undefiled.” Some earthly inheritances pass down to children stained in the getting. An honest old man, dying, said to his sons, “I do not leave you very much but there is not a dirty shilling in it all.” He meant that every penny of it had been honestly earned. This is not always true of this world’s inheritances. Too often there is many a stained shilling in them. But the heavenly inheritance is absolutely without stain. It is purchased for us at the price of Christ’s blood, and comes to us from our Father’s hands, white with heaven’s own purity.
Another thing about it, is that it fades not away. Earthly inheritances often fade away, leaving the inheritor in poverty. This inheritance is beyond the reach of robber and money panic and all shrinking in values. It never can be taken from us. It is not in any banks or investments of earth but is laid up for us in heaven, reserved there in security until we get home.
“Who are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” Not only is the inheritance kept in secure reserve for us but we are guarded on the way to receive the inheritance. This is very important. The world is full of dangers through which we must pass to get to heaven. On every hand there are enemies. We could never get safely to the blessedness laid up for us if we had no protection along the way. But we are guarded by the divine power. God Himself is with us always, sheltering us with His wings of love, keeping us. Our part is faith resting in the divine keeping, simply going forward in the way of duty, leaving to God the guarding of our lives.
“You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials.” For a little while the Christian is to be tried. “Weeping may tarry for the night but joy comes in the morning.” We can surely bear trial a little while. Then, there is a “need be” in the trial. There is a blessing which God has to give us that we cannot get in any other way. The purifying of the gold never can be gotten without fire. Not to be cast into the hot furnace is to keep the dross. God never chastens unless there is a “need be.”
“These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Again, the grief is caused by “trials” which are testings of faith, so that it may shine at length in glory at the appearing of Christ. So we ought not to be troubled by our trials. There is a blessing in them. As the rough, unsightly ore, by passing through the fire, yields at last bright, shining gold so our weak faith, with its admixture of self-will and pride and evil is purified by the fires of trial, so that at last it appears before God to receive praise, honor and glory.
“Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him.” The love of Christ will keep us in temptation and trial. The secret of a faithful, true and beautiful life is this love of the unseen Friend. Drummond tells of a young girl who became wondrously beautiful in her life and character, growing into a rare Christlikeness. Her friends wondered what the secret could be. She wore upon her breast a little locket, which she always kept closed, refusing to allow anyone to see within it. Once, however, when she was very ill, a friend was permitted to open it and found there only a little piece of paper, bearing the words, “Whom not having seen I love.” This told the whole story. Her love for the unseen Christ was the secret of that beautiful spiritual life which had so impressed itself upon her friends.
The secret of the life of Moses is given in one phrase, “He endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Faith is better than sight. If we believe and love the unseen Friend, our life will be firm and steadfast in all trial, and will be transformed little by little into the beauty of Christ.
“Though you have not seen Him you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” We find here two blessings resulting from the love for the unseen Savior. One is unspeakable joy, even in a life of sore trial. The other is “salvation.” We need but to continue faithful unto the end, to receive the full and glorious inheritance.
“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care.” Both earth and heaven are intensely interested in this great redeeming work of Christ. There are smart men who are so busy in their researches into little earthly matters that they cannot get time to study the things of the spiritual kingdom of God. Here, however, we see that in heaven’s sight, nothing in this world so merits the thought, study and research of the wisest beings in the universe, as Christ’s work of redemption.
The interest of the angels in Christ’s sufferings as the Redeemer is very beautiful. There is a picture by Domenichino which represents the scene on Calvary, on the evening after the Savior’s body had been taken down and laid in the grave. The cross is empty. An angel stands beside the crown of thorns which lies there, feeling with the point of his finger one of the sharp points. His face wears a look of mystery and wonder. He is trying to find out the meaning of suffering. Angels in heaven know nothing of pain by personal experience. The artist’s thought is that to this angel, the sufferings of Christ were a great mystery which he was trying to understand. The same thought is suggested in the words, “Which things angels desire to look into.” Surely it is worth while to give thought and attention to the great and wonderful things of Christ, since even the highest angels find in them mystery worthy of their deepest study. Nothing else in all the ranks of knowledge, is so worthy of our deepest study and most diligent research and investigation, as is the glorious gospel of the blessed God!
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dangerously-human · 1 year
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I'm often reluctant to pray for my own healing, for a lot of reasons, which is something I've been working through lately. I had some really bad episodes of vertigo this week, plus allergies/cold that's been knocking me for a loop. Wednesday morning I was feeling gross, but I almost automatically said to God that I trusted him that I would feel better in time for Bible study that evening, because I've been covering for Bible study bestie (now our group leader) while she's dealing with some stuff. It nearly passed my notice, but I did indeed feel better as the day went on, and I was fine in time for group. The Lord is good - and it's a real example of "Lord, I believe! Help me with my unbelief" in action, isn't it?
That night, I was initially bummed that our group was so small, but that ended up being perfect so all of us had time to reflect on and share our testimonies. I shared an abbreviated version of mine, just some things I've been learning and a handful of examples of where I've vividly seen Jesus in my life. After, our interim teaching leader came up to me and said, "I realize you probably hear this all the time, but wow, it is just so obvious listening to you that you have the gift of faith placed on you." Spoiler alert, I do NOT hear that all the time, and I could have cried as I told her that I've been praying so fervently for that in the last several months or maybe almost a year now. The spiritual gifts are all valuable, but faith is one I particularly desired, and I know that a) the Lord delights in giving good gifts and b) if it's so strongly on my heart, he must know there's something ahead where I will need a new depth of faith, because that's so often how prayer in Jesus' name works.
And it's just. There are a lot of ways I could fit this together - maybe, in time, I'll have the kind of faith to pray for my own healing, even from the things that seem impossible to change, even those I've clutched so tight to my chest that I can't imagine who I'd be without them - but most of all, the point is that I believe he is who he says he is. That doesn't mean the prayers that have been wrenched from the depths of my heart recently will be answered the way I want them to be, but I am learning to pray bigger prayers, and I trust him with the asking and the outcome. This isn't by my own work, it's entirely a gift from God that I am coming to know him so much better, and that faith that I cling to even when it doesn't make sense - it's from him and it's because he does not change, he is Truth. I am finding so much joy in obedience to his perfect will and I know I have so much further to go in sanctification, which instead of scaring me, excites me to see who I'll be as I continually become more like my Maker and Savior!
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"Hidden Dreams in the Depths" Version 2.7 Update Details
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Dear Travelers,
Below are the details of the Version 2.7 update "Hidden Dreams in the Depths" and the update compensation.
〓Compensation Details〓
Maintenance Compensation: Primogems ×300 (60 Primogems per hour the servers are down)
Issue Fix Compensation: Primogems ×300 (please refer to the relevant compensation mail for more details)
Dispatch Expedition Adjustment Compensation: Mora ×5,000, Lotus Head ×12, Matsutake ×12
〓Scope of Compensation〓
Dispatch Expedition Adjustment Compensation and Maintenance Compensation: Travelers who reach Adventure Rank 5 or above before 2022/05/31 06:00 (UTC+8).
Please claim before the end of Version 2.7.
Issue Fix Compensation: Travelers who reach Adventure Rank 5 or above before 2022/05/31 06:00 (UTC+8).
Please claim the compensation mail before 2022/06/03 06:00 (UTC+8).
Our developers will distribute compensation to Travelers via in-game mail within 5 hours after the update maintenance is finished. The mail will expire after 30 days, so don't forget to claim the attached compensation in time.
〓Adjustment of End Date for the Claiming of Serenitea Pot Placement Function Maintenance Compensation〓
The deadline for claiming the compensation of the Serenitea Pot Placement Function Maintenance (Realm Currency ×5,000) issued on 2022/05/30 11:00 has been extended to 2022/06/02 11:00. The remaining compensation for the Serenitea Pot Placement Function Maintenance will not be available after the Version 2.7 update maintenance.
〓Update Schedule〓
Update maintenance begins 2022/05/31 06:00 (UTC+8) and is estimated to take 5 hours.
〓How to Update Game Client〓
PC: Close the game, open the Genshin Impact Launcher, and click Update.
iOS: Open the App Store and tap Update.
Android: Open the game and follow the directions on-screen.
PS5™ and PS4™: Highlight Genshin Impact from the Home Screen, press the OPTIONS button and select "Check for Update."
Please do not hesitate to contact Customer Service if you encounter any issues installing the new version. We will do our very best to resolve the issue.
〓Update Details〓
I. New Characters
5-Star Character "Valley Orchid" Yelan (Hydro)
◇ Vision: Hydro
◇ Weapon: Bow
◇ Yelan's Elemental Skill "Lingering Lifeline" fires off a Lifeline that pulls her in rapidly, entangling and marking opponents along its path. When her rapid movement ends, the Lifeline will explode, dealing Hydro DMG to the marked opponents based on Yelan's Max HP. Additionally, each opponent marked by the Lifeline when it explodes grants Yelan a chance to obtain Breakthrough. This will cause her next Charged Aimed Shot to have a decreased charge time, and once charged, she can fire a "Breakthrough Barb" that will deal AoE Hydro DMG based on Yelan's Max HP.
Her Elemental Burst "Depth-Clarion Dice" deals AoE Hydro DMG once and creates an "Exquisite Throw," which aids her in battle. This follows the character around and will initiate a coordinated attack under the following circumstances, dealing Hydro DMG based on Yelan's Max HP. This can occur once every second when your active character uses a Normal Attack and will occur each time Yelan's Lifeline explodes and hits opponents.
◇ A mysterious person who claims to work for the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but is a "non-entity" on the Ministry of Civil Affairs' list.
4-Star Character "Mender of Tribulations" Kuki Shinobu (Electro)
◇ Vision: Electro
◇ Weapon: Sword
◇ Kuki Shinobu's Elemental Skill "Sanctifying Ring" creates a Grass Ring of Sanctification at the cost of part of her HP, dealing Electro DMG to nearby opponents. Grass Ring of Sanctification follows the current active character around. It deals Electro DMG to nearby opponents periodically and restores HP for the active character(s) within the ring's AoE based on Kuki Shinobu's Max HP. The HP consumption from using this skill can only bring her to 20% HP.
Her Elemental Burst "Gyoei Narukami Kariyama Rite" stabs an evil-excoriating blade into the ground, creating a field that cleanses the area of all that is foul, dealing continuous Electro DMG to opponents within its AoE based on Shinobu's Max HP. If Shinobu's HP is less than or equal to 50% when this skill is used, the field will last longer.
◇ The capable and reliable deputy leader of the "Arataki Gang" - Please note: capable and reliable are not appellations for the "Arataki Gang," but for their deputy leader in specific.
II. New Equipment
Aqua Simulacra (Bow)
Increases HP. When there are opponents near the character equipping this weapon, the DMG the character deals is increased. This effect will still be detected when the character is off-field.
◇ This longbow's color is unpredictable. Under the light, it takes on a lustrous, watery blue.
Fading Twilight (Bow)
This weapon will come with 1 of 3 buffs. Each of the 3 buffs will increase the DMG dealt by the character by different percentages. When the character hits an opponent, the buff will change to the next effect type. This can be triggered once every 7s, and can be triggered even if the character is off-field.
◇A precious bow made of platinum, inlaid with an orb that shimmers with the light of eventide.
III. New Events
During the event, go to The Chasm and investigate the mysteries of the depths. Complete various challenges in the event to obtain rewards like Primogems, Crown of Insight, Weapon Ascension Materials, Talent Level-Up Materials, Mystic Enhancement Ore, Hero's Wit, and Mora. Complete specific "Realms of Guile and War" to obtain the event-exclusive weapon "Fading Twilight" (Bow) and its Refinement Material.
〓Event Duration〓
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〓Eligibility〓
Reach Adventure Rank 28 or above
Complete the Archon Quest "A New Star Approaches" and World Quest "Wherefore Did the Spiritstone Descend?"
Complete Arataki Itto's Story Quest "Taurus Iracundus Chapter: Act I," Raiden Shogun's Story Quest "Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II," and World Quest "A Teapot to Call Home: Part I" to enhance your experience.
*If you have not completed Arataki Itto's Story Quest, Raiden Shogun's Story Quest, and World Quest "A Teapot to Call Home: Part I," you can enter the event through "Quick Start" in the event page.
IV. New Main Story
1. New Archon Quest
Archon Quest Interlude Chapter: Act II - "Perilous Trail"
Archon Quest Interlude Chapter: Act II - "Perilous Trail" will be permanently available after the Version 2.7 update
◆ Quest Unlock Criteria
• Complete Raiden Shogun's Story Quest "Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II - Transient Dreams"
• Complete Arataki Itto's Story Quest "Taurus Iracundus Chapter: Act I - Rise Up, Golden Soul"
• Complete the Archon Quest "Chapter I: Act III - A New Star Approaches"
• Complete the World Quests "Wherefore Did the Spiritstone Descend?" and "A Teapot to Call Home: Part I"
During the "Perilous Trail" event, reach Adventure Rank 28 and complete the Archon Quest "A New Star Approaches," World Quest "Wherefore Did the Spiritstone Descend?" and you can use "Quick Start" to begin the Interlude Chapter. (Complete Arataki Itto's Story Quest "Taurus Iracundus Chapter: Act I," Raiden Shogun's Story Quest, "Imperatrix Umbrosa Chapter: Act II," and World Quest "A Teapot to Call Home: Part I" to enhance your experience.)
2. New Story Quest
Yelan's Story Quest "Umbrabilis Orchis Chapter: Act I - Calculated Gambit"
◆ Quest Unlock Criteria
• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above
• Complete Ganyu's Story Quest "Sinae Unicornis Chapter: Act I - Sea of Clouds, Sea of People"
• Complete Archon Quest Interlude Chapter: Act II - "Perilous Trail"
3. New Hangout Event
Hangout Event: Kuki Shinobu - Act I "The Gang's Daily Deeds"
◆ After the Version 2.7 update, Hangout Event: Kuki Shinobu - Act I "The Gang's Daily Deeds" will be permanently available
◆ Event Unlock Criteria:
• Reach Adventure Rank 40 or above
• Complete Arataki Itto's Story Quest "Taurus Iracundus Chapter: Act I - Rise Up, Golden Soul"
And Archon Quest Interlude Chapter: Act II - "Perilous Trail"
4. New World Quests
"On the Stage, Behind the Stage," "The Tales Behind the Fan," and more.
V. Other Additions
1. New Recipes:
○ Yelan's specialty: "Dew-Dipped Shrimp"
○ Kuki Shinobu's specialty: "Omurice Waltz"
2. New Achievements added to the "Wonders of the World" and "Memories of the Heart" categories
3. New Namecards:
"Yelan: Throw": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Yelan
"Kuki Shinobu: Net": Reward for reaching Friendship Lv. 10 with Kuki Shinobu
"Travel Notes: Divine Will": Reward obtained via the BP system
4. New Furnishing: Leisure Device: Confused Confuzzlement
A furnishing combination made with great care by Tubby, this set comprises a Seeker's Board and many Confuzzled Tubbers. After interacting with the Seeker's Board, you can begin a treasure hunt or view hunt records. The Confuzzled Tubbers can be freely placed within a set space, where they will continuously remain. You can combine these placements with pre-existing furnishings within the Serenitea Pot to hide the Tubbers, after which you will have to search for these Tubbers within a time limit.
After hearing about Mondstadt's traditional game, Windtrace, from the Traveler, Tubby also resolved to create a game based around hide-and-seek, thus creating this particular furnishing combination. However, such a game that only involved Tubby, the Traveler, and Paimon would have too few people and thus lack a certain fun factor. As such, Tubby created many "Confuzzled Tubber" toys to play the role of other participants. Tubby even suggested that the Traveler could use adeptal energies to create playing fields and invite friends to come and experience the fun together.
5. Added "Challenge Features" descriptions to Domains of Blessing, Forgery, and Mastery with a high Recommended Party Level.
6. The gadget "Floral Zither" can now be purchased from the NPC Granny Shan in Liyue Harbor.
7. Added Sets 7–14 of Genshin Impact "Paimon's Paintings" chat emojis.
8. Added Character level-up guides: Travelers can check Characters' Talent recommendations and Artifact Main Attribute references.
9. Spiral Abyss
Floor 11 Ley Line Disorder changed to:
• DMG dealt by claymore-wielding characters increased by 75%.
Updated the monster lineup on Floors 11 – 12 of the Spiral Abyss.
Starting from the first time that the Lunar Phase refreshes after updating to Version 2.7, the three Lunar Phases will be as follows:
Phase I:
Closing Moon
After the active character uses an Elemental Skill, >Normal Attack DMG is increased by 16% for 8s. Max 3 stacks. Stacks are counted independently.
Phase II:
Matched Moon
After a character's Elemental Skill hits an opponent, that opponent's Physical and All Elemental RES will be decreased by 12% for 8s. Max 3 stacks. Stacks are counted independently.
Phase III:
Steelsunder Moon
After the active character uses an Elemental Skill, that character's next Normal Attack that hits an opponent will unleash a shockwave at that opponent's position, dealing DMG. This effect can occur once every 1.2s.
〓Adjustments & Optimizations〓
● Quests
1. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "The Thundering Wilds" in Narukami Island by replacing some of the opponents.
2. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "For The Harbingers!" in Narukami Island by weakening the lineup of opponents.
3. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "Full Speed Ahead" in Yashiori Island by replacing some of the opponents and removing barriers along the way.
4. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "A Crackling Crisis" in Yashiori Island by weakening the lineup of opponents and extending the challenge time.
5. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "A Gentleman Strikes in Broad Daylight" in Yashiori Island and Seirai Island by extending the time that patrolling opponents pause at the stationing points.
6. Reduces the difficulty of Daily Commission "Dangerous Haul" in Narukami Island, Yashiori Island, and Seirai Island by reducing the Movement SPD of the Slime Balloon and cutting down the number of opponents along the way.
● System
1. Optimizes "Weekly Missions" in Battle Pass: for "Weekly Missions" completed in the week of a version update, the progress of that week's "Weekly Missions" will be carried over to the updated version's BP. This is effective from the Version 2.8 update.
2. In "Dispatched Expeditions", the rewards of exploring Dihua Marsh, Liyue is adjusted to "Horsetail" and "Snapdragon," while the rewards of exploring Guili Plains, Liyue is adjusted to "Mora." After the version update, we will issue Travelers Mora ×5,000, Lotus Head ×12, Matsutake ×12 as compensation.
3. Optimizes the sorting rules of the Character Selection page: for characters at the same level, ascended characters will be placed in front of the rest.
4. Optimizes the display of information: when prompts appear on the center of the screen, the info list on the left, such as quests and challenges, will turn translucent.
5. Optimizes the UI style of item sources in the Inventory: when an item source is unavailable, it will appear as white text on a dark background.
6. Optimizes the control experience of the controller in "Settings": as long as the left tab is not switched, re-enter the option list on the right and the list will remember the position previously selected.
7. Optimizes the description list of characters' Talents when cooking, crafting, forging, dispatching, and furnishing creating: the height of the list is self-adaptive.
8. Optimizes the indicative effect of Oculi detectors on the World Map: visual effects are added to the marked scope.
9. Optimizes the presentation of dialogue window in Co-Op Mode: Party Chat is set by default after entering Co-Op Mode and opening the chat list.
● Characters
1. Optimizes the animation performance of some characters after being launched.
● Audio
1. Optimizes the sound effects of some objects.
2. Adjusts the Japanese voice-over for some Story Quests and certain bosses.
3. Optimizes and adjusts the Korean voice-over for some characters and NPCs.
4. Optimizes the mechanism when idle voice-over is interrupted by the character's Elemental Skill.
● Other
1. Reduces combat difficulty for some opponents at World Level 3–6 (including "Oceanid," "Geo Hypostasis," "Cryo Hypostasis," "Maguu Kenki," "Thunder Manifestation," "Golden Wolflord," "Stormterror," and "Azhdaha").
2. When the characters Jean, Amber, Rosaria, and Mona are obtained, they will be wearing their Alternate Outfits by default.
3. In the "Test Run" events, the appearances of the characters Jean, Amber, Rosaria, and Mona will be adjusted to the Alternate Outfits.
4. Adjusts bitrate for cutscenes of previous Versions on mobile to 2,500 kbps to streamline client size.
5. Support for the Chroma feature on Razer devices is temporarily disabled due to game crashes. This feature will be restored as soon as the issue is resolved.
〓Bug Fixes〓
● Quests
1. Fixes an issue whereby the speakers of certain dialogues were displayed incorrectly in the World Quest "Valor's Afterglow."
2. Fixes an issue with the Daily Commission "Felonious Floaters" whereby the models of opponents might sink into the ground.
3. Fixes an issue with the NPC Atsuko whereby her behavior and dialogues would be incorrect under some circumstances.
4. Fixes the refresh errors of Explosive Barrels and Boom Blossoms in Daily Commission "Impregnable Defense" in Yashiori Island.
5. Fixes the erroneous visual effect of the destination spot in Daily Commissions "Voltage Charge" and "Full Speed Ahead" in certain areas in Inazuma.
6. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby the quest objective "Go to Uyuu Restaurant to finish the light novel" in the Story Quest "Mysterious Urban Legend" could not be completed.
● Enemies
1. Fixes an issue in Domains whereby Rifthounds and Rifthound Whelps might move outside the barrier.
2. Fixes an issue whereby the opponent "Fatui Skirmisher - Anemoboxer Vanguard" might keep charging at the character when using support skills.
3. Fixes an issue whereby launched opponents would continue to fall even after the game is paused.
4. Fixes an issue whereby after some characters attack, opponents might not enter combat normally.
● Co-Op
1. Fixes an issue with Co-Op Mode, whereby after the host exited Co-Op Mode when it was raining, the current character and opponents would not be affected by the Hydro element caused by the rain.
● Character
1. Fixes an issue whereby after Arataki Itto uses his Elemental Burst in some Domains, the dust effects would remain on the camera.
2. Fixes an issue whereby when Yae Miko attacks, the position of her weapon would have a small probability of being abnormal.
3. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby when bow-wielding characters move in Aimed Shot Mode, the bowstring would be shaking abnormally.
4. Fixes an issue with Kujou Sara whereby when switching to another interface from Characters > Weapons, the weapon's disappearance would not coincide with her movement.
5. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby characters' enhanced jumping ability would linger abnormally.
● System
1. Fixes an issue when taking photos whereby the character would look in an abnormal direction under specific circumstances.
2. Fixes an issue whereby certain mappings around the Mt. Tianheng area appeared to be abnormal.
3. Fixes an issue in Co-Op Mode whereby character movements on the "Character > Artifacts" page might be abnormal.
4. Fixes an issue whereby the Enhance page would display abnormally if one tapped Enhance on the Artifacts page while removing or switching to another artifact.
● Audio
1. Fixes an issue whereby the sound effects of certain interfaces and some opponents' skills were missing.
2. Fixes an issue with the Japanese voice-over in some Story Quests whereby certain lines were missing.
● Gameplay
1. Fixes an issue in certain languages whereby option texts in Hangout Events were sometimes not displayed in full.
2. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby Lumenspar indication is abnormally displayed on the map when using the Lumenstone Adjuvant to search for it.
3. Fixes the issue whereby the friends list of some accounts for PlayStation™Network did not display correctly after changing the linking status.
● Other
1. Fixes an issue whereby the rarity of the recipe "Rainbow Aster" was labeled wrongly.
2. Fixes an issue whereby the Electro-Charged reaction mechanism functioned abnormally after the Version 2.4 update. After the fix, the Electro-Charged reaction mechanism is expected to function as it did before the Version 2.4 update.
3. Fixes an issue whereby using a "Portable Waypoint" placed on top of an NPC to teleport would cause the character to be teleported to an abnormal location.
4. Fixes an issue whereby Geo Constructs can be abnormally created on top of the gadget "Launch Tube."
5. Fixes an issue whereby certain scenery in The Chasm region appeared abnormally.
6. Fixes an issue whereby the three lamp posts in The Chasm region might display abnormally.
7. Fixes an issue whereby the secret messages in The Chasm region might not display normally.
8. Fixes an issue whereby a certain destructible wall in The Chasm region could not be destroyed under specific circumstances.
9. Fixes an issue whereby caged Golden Finches would fall abnormally in The Chasm: The Underground Mines.
10. Fixes an issue whereby the achievement "Ouroboros" might be completed incorrectly even though the completion requirements have not been met.
11. Fixes an issue under certain circumstances whereby characters do not take fall DMG after falling from great heights.
12. Fixes an issue under certain graphic settings whereby the Kamuijima Cannon's attacks might not take effect.
13. Fixes an issue whereby the model of Weasel (Wildlife) would display abnormally.
14. Fixes textual errors in Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, English, Indonesian, German, Thai, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese and optimizes some text. (Note: Related in-game functions have not changed. Travelers can view the changes in different languages by going to the Paimon Menu > Settings > Language and changing the Game Language.)
Text-related fixes and optimizations in English include:
◆ Optimized instances of a character's name from "Kazari" to "Hanachirusato."
◆ Optimized instances of an item name from "Sacred Devata Mushrooms" to "Rukkhashava Mushrooms."
◆ Optimized some lines in the quests and World Quests.
◆ Optimized the capitalization of some characters' Constellation and Skill names.
*This is a work of fiction and is not related to any actual people, events, groups, or organizations.
"PlayStation", "PS5", "PS4", "DualSense", "DUALSHOCK" are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
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walkswithmyfather · 1 year
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“Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf. And with my own body I supplement whatever is lacking [on our part] of Christ’s afflictions, on behalf of His body, which is the church.” —Colossians 1:24 (AMP)
“I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church. God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” —Colossians 1:24‭-‬29 (NLT)
“Christ in You” By In Touch Ministries:
“Our salvation is the work of Christ, and so is our sanctification every day that follows.”
“Paul wrote to the Colossians, “I rejoice in my sufferings” (1:24). Can you imagine yourself saying that? It’s a difficult claim to make, much less to adhere to day after day. In fact, that would be impossible for us to do on our own.
The apostle was able to have such an attitude only because he drew from Jesus’ strength—and the same is true for us. We can try to live the Christian life by our own efforts, but we won’t succeed. Jesus Himself told the disciples, “The one who remains in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
To live a healthy spiritual life, it’s essential to recognize that power has nothing to do with us; it comes from Christ in us. Our salvation is the work of God, as is every bit of our sanctification throughout the rest of earthly life. Not only does He transform us; He’s also the one who empowers us to obey and serve as we rely on Him. Paul understood how our responsibility and God’s power intersect. In verse 29 of today’s passage, he expressed it this way: “For this purpose I also labor, striving according to His power which works mightily within me (NASB).”
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A lot of people bash Beth for being a bad mom and praise Rio for being a good dad. Why do you think that is? Yeah, we saw a lot of Beth's questionable choices as a mom, but we barely saw Rio as a dad. The few moments we did see, it was pretty evident that Marcus really loves his dad, but Beth's children seemed to love her too. So why do people automatically assume Rio is a great dad? Didn't Rhea mention something about him disappearing frequently or maybe I'm remembering it wrong? If that's the case then maybe Rhea has a lot to do with how Marcus may perceive Rio as a dad. Sounds to me like she picks up his slack a lot. I hope I don't get crucified for this, but that's a Deansie move 🫣 Deansie is a whole other level of bad, but on the fatherhood front, I think he and Rio are swimming in the same waters 🤷‍♀️ In short, I just don't think it's fair to bash Beth as a mother and praise Rio as a father in the same breath. What do you think?
Lol, Anon, this will get me STARTED!!!
The TL;DR of it is just….
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They’re all flawed parents. I agree with you fully. The sanctification of motherhood in society and the erasure of women as human the moment they become mothers is why. My bigger rage isn’t even if people think Rio is a good dad. It’s when people feel Dean had a redemption arc because he was shown barely caring for his own children while his wife worked. I mean, what?? That woman ran that home flawlessly for over a decade, and even with Dean taking on a more active role, it was still Beth who knew about her kids’ likes and dislikes, their developmental stages, their troubles in school, their special interests. How many bedtimes had Dean missed to boink his flavor of the month over multiple years of his children’s lives? And he had the audacity to shame his wife for being busy? And fan opinions give him overblown credit for doing literally bare minimum of caring for his own children? It’s just misogyny, Anon.
As for Rio, I can respect the fact that Rio never really used his fatherhood as an excuse. It kinda feels like Rio carried a lot of guilt and shame when it came to his son. Not about Marcus but about Rio’s own inability (or lack of choosing to) be the kind of parent Marcus deserves. He allowed his coparent to raise his child and viewed his financial contribution and occasional emotional contribution as sufficient. Or maybe not sufficient. But certainly inevitable. When it absolutely wasn’t inevitable at all! Rio could have chosen conventional parenting, just like Beth could have. Neither of them chose that.
Rhea is the reason Marcus loves Rio. Rio owes Rhea everything! He will never repay her, doesn’t matter how financially secure he makes her life. Rhea will be the one to raise their son, explain to their son who his father is, comfort their son should the unthinkable happen, and probably take the brunt of their son’s anger when Marcus realizes how she kept the truth from him to protect his father. And Rio just gets to be the hero. Compare this to Beth’s coparent, who will do none of the above. Who badmouths their mother, who will not shield his children the way Rhea shields her son, and should the unthinkable happen to Beth… well… I don’t see Dean as a character who would take on the responsibility of helping his children process.
For Dean, it’s enough to just be around. Same for Rio. Beth and Rhea are expected to either be everything for everyone, or to give up parts of themselves for motherhood. Again, misogyny.
I actually have a recommendation for a piece of literature on this. It’s an old essay, written in 1971, called I Want a Wife. It isn’t a long read. It’s humorous and cynical, the language of it is really accessible, and I think it gives good insight into the experience of someone like Beth.
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