#✤ verse — the love of nature is a kind of religion

[barleyo]

Take Me to Church.

Priest! Miguel O'Hara X Fem! Reader (smut)

A/N: Hello, my blessings! I hope you all can see what I was going for with this, I mean, Miguel is Catholic. I also hope this doesn't seem rushed! I'm not very well versed in religion, so I hope none of this comes off as blasphemous or disrespectful. Much love to all of you, and thank you for your continued support!

Wordcount: 3.3K

Tags: Dub-con, loss of virginity, manipulation, p in v, coercion, power dynamic, abuse of power, use of "Father" in a religious way, not an inc*stual way, HEAVY talk of religion (sin, penance, etc.), oral (f receiving), desk fucking, implied age gap

Miguel O’Hara was the leader of his local congregation. He was a devout man, trusting God’s will above anything else, and leading the church to trust just the same. He led them onto a holy path, clear of temptation and sin.

He himself, however, was not free from these temptations. No matter how much he had prayed to clear himself of these thoughts, they still remained. He beseeched God to forgive him for what he had thought, what he had felt. 

Nothing seemed to stop his mind from falling into the gutter, especially not her presence. 

Lord, forgive him for his sins. 

Forgive him for giving into her allurement. 

(Y/N) had knocked on Miguel’s office door. Normally, she would refrain and not impose on his valuable time, but for some time, something had bothered her deeply. Having nobody else to turn to, she came to his door, tail figuratively between her legs. 

“Father O’Hara? May I come in?”

“Yes, my child, do come in,” he said, his voice kind, yet firm. 

She walked in, awkwardly closing the door behind her and standing by the door. 

“Please, sit.” He pointed to a chair across from his desk, and removed his small reading glasses that sat on the tip of his nose. He removed the small stack of papers that he had been going through off of his desk, turning his full attention to the woman. “What seems to be the issue?”

“Apologies, I don’t mean to take up any of your time, I can see that you’re busy–”

“Nonsense, child. I am never too busy to give assistance to one in need. So?”

“Right, right.” She took a deep breath, clenching her fists in her lap. She quickly started muttering something under her breath before looking up to meet his eyes. 

He looked at her with his deep, dark eyes, filled with curiosity. Part of her felt that he could see right to her soul, that he knew exactly why she was there. Perhaps he had known the second it started. 

“Come now,” he said, arms crossed over the desk while he looked at her, head slightly tilted, “you are safe here with me. Unburden yourself and your soul, dear girl.” 

“Father, I– I believe that I need to look for forgiveness from God.”

“And why would that be?”

“My mind, Father,” (Y/N) said, chewing on the inside of her cheek, pricking blood from the thin skin.

“Ah, a matter of the mind, is it?” His brows furrowed together, creating a small dimpling near his forehead. Shifting in his chair, Miguel straightened his posture, as if he were preparing himself for what she had to say after the fact. “Care to explain further?”

“They’re bad thoughts, sexual in nature. And, I just feel that,” she paused to swallow a lump in her throat, briefly covering her mouth while she did so, “that they plague me.”

He felt his chest tighten. She felt what he had felt, though, he doubted for the same reason. 

Miguel hummed, clearing his throat quickly. “Is that so? So, you have been having unwanted sexual thoughts?” 

(Y/N) clung onto his words, feeling her face flush when hearing him say it out loud. “Yes, but that isn’t all. I— well, goodness, I’m so embarrassed.” She held her face in one of her hands, looking down at Miguel’s own hands that laid flat on the desk, avoiding his deep gaze.

She felt one of them reach out to lay over one of her hands, even before she could see it happen. Her head tilted up to see his face morph into a look of reassurance. 

“Do not let shame stop you from seeking full forgiveness.” Letting his hand linger for a second longer than he knew was acceptable, he slowly inched it away and continued with a sigh. “Speak only the truth, and allow me to guide you into the comfort of God’s shining light. Go on, now.”

“I have given into these desires.” She hung her head, face contorted into an ashamed look, eyebrows knitted together and mouth in a tight, thin line. She sat and waited for him to respond to her confession, but heard nothing. “Father O’Hara…?”

Miguel felt his face grow warm. Unsure if the tightness he felt in his chest was jealousy or judgment, he simply kept quiet, thinking over the woman’s words. 

Finally, he spoke, with a slight cracking in his voice, straining out of his throat. “With a man?” he asked, not sure if he wanted the answer.

“No–! No, Father, no, certainly not,” she rushed, trying to clear her name as quickly as possible. “Certainly not, no. It’s not that.”

“Then what have you done?” His heartbeat slowed once more, feeling a bit relieved. 

“It was only once, maybe twice, that I’ve done it– touched myself with these thoughts in mind.” (Y/N) absentmindedly rubbed at her temples while she spoke.

He felt a pang of guilt strike his chest as his pants tightened slightly. He knew it was wrong, he shouldn’t have been excited over this, but how could he control himself? 

“It’s perverse and explicit, I cannot go into detail, for my own sake, but just know that my actions have haunted me since, and I just don’t know what to do. Father, I need your help.”

She was weak in her flesh and desire, it would be easy to prey on her, to fulfill his own desires. She was malleable under his guidance, and he knew it. Miguel also knew that what he felt was wrong, but it did not stop him from hesitating to answer her plea, mulling over what to do with his influence. His heart and mind were fighting, passion and righteousness in an entanglement he wasn’t sure his body could host much longer. 

“Your sins will be forgiven, as they always will be,” he said, “but you must reach out to God to fight against the base desires that you have given into. We all sin, do we not?” 

“We do, yes,” (Y/N) answered, lips coated in shiny spit from her incessant chewing and biting as she tried to keep herself grounded.

Miguel felt his eyes dip to her lips, the clear sheen of saliva practically sparkling in the low light of his office.

“Right, well,” he shook himself out of it, “we all sin, and God makes no exceptions. As long as you seek out his light, his light will shine on you, and you will be forgiven, my dear. Believe in that, and believe in the love God has for you.”

Miguel O’Hara was the leader of his local congregation. He was a man of God. He served God, and only God. He should not think these things, he knew better. 

Why couldn’t he keep his mind off of her? Why couldn't he be the holy, resilient man he knew he needed to be?

The second she left his office that day, he could not stop himself. His mind raced while he imagined what she was doing on her evenings alone. It drove him crazy. Had she gone back on what she promised? Was she sinning again, hands between her legs, panties to her knees, wanton moans escaping her spit-soaked, puffy lips?

He thought he was stronger than this, and yet there he was, praying to God for the strength to fight against his urges, urges he had for that sinful, tempting woman. A woman who returned the next week with the same problem.

“I must say, my dear, I am extremely disappointed in you,” he said, standing behind her chair, leaning down to her ear. 

He was a hypocrite, and he knew it. He was a sinner, a filthy sinner, and he knew it.

“Father, I–”

“Quiet down.” He placed his finger over her lip, silencing her while he continued. “You have forgotten my words. You trail out of God’s light, do you refuse forgiveness? Do you enjoy this sin?”

“No, Father O’Hara. I’m sorry,” (Y/N) choked a sob back. She felt her tears stream down her face faster than she could wipe them off. 

“Penance, I’m afraid, is not a fitting punishment, dear girl. God has not turned away from you, and he never will, but,” he whispered, placing his hand under her chin and forcing him to look at him from her chair, “you must pay for what you have done. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know,” she sniffed deeply. “What must I do?”

“Do not worry about that, I shall show you. Here,” he stood up straight and tapped on his desk, “sit here.”

(Y/N) followed his directions and sat facing him. “I don’t understand, what will this do?”

Miguel didn’t answer her, instead slotting himself between her legs, kneeling before her and looking up to her through hooded eyes. He pried her legs apart with his hands, pushed her skirt upwards, and leaned in, exhaling against her clothed cunt. 

“Look at that,” he nudged the wet patch on the front of her panties. “Is this what your thoughts are about?” he asked, eyes still focused on her heat. “Hm?”

“N-no, no that would be wrong!” She tried to close to her legs, but her hands held them forcefully apart.

“Do not lie in the house of God, my child,” he said flatly.

“This– this is wrong–!” She interrupted her own sentence with a small moan as she felt him lick a stripe of the fabric of her panties.

“There is nothing wrong with me absolving you of your sin, that’s all I am doing. I shall let your sin travel from inside of you to the outside. Do you not want to be free of your evil thoughts?”

A look of confliction flashed on her face. “But we aren’t married, isn’t this sinful in itself?”

“God commands me to take no wife, we are both free from that. It is my duty to guide your soul onto a holy path, won’t you let me do that?” Miguel slipped her panties down to her ankles, waiting for her to answer him.

“Father… please, just please— help me,” (Y/N) said, eyes darting away from him, shame creeping all over her body. 

Miguel O’Hara was the leader of his local congregation. He was a man of God. He served God, and only God. He should not think these things, he knew better. 

Why couldn’t he keep his mind off of her? Why couldn't he be the holy, resilient man he knew he needed to be?

The second she left his office that day, he could not stop himself. His mind raced while he imagined what she was doing on her evenings alone. It drove him crazy. Had she gone back on what she promised? Was she sinning again, hands between her legs, panties to her knees, wanton moans escaping her spit-soaked, puffy lips?

He thought he was stronger than this, and yet there he was, praying to God for the strength to fight against his urges, urges he had for that sinful, tempting woman. A woman who returned the next week with the same problem.

“I must say, my dear, I am extremely disappointed in you,” he said, standing behind her chair, leaning down to her ear. 

He was a hypocrite, and he knew it. He was a sinner, a filthy sinner, and he knew it.

“Father, I–”

“Quiet down.” He placed his finger over her lip, silencing her while he continued. “You have forgotten my words. You trail out of God’s light, do you refuse forgiveness? Do you enjoy this sin?”

“No, Father O’Hara. I’m sorry,” (Y/N) choked a sob back. She felt her tears stream down her face faster than she could wipe them off. 

“Penance, I’m afraid, is not a fitting punishment, dear girl. God has not turned away from you, and he never will, but,” he whispered, placing his hand under her chin and forcing her to look at him from her chair, “you must pay for what you have done. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know,” she sniffed deeply. “What must I do?”

“Do not worry about that, I shall show you. Here,” he stood up straight and tapped on his desk, “sit here.”

(Y/N) followed his directions and sat facing him. “I don’t understand, what will this do?”

Miguel didn’t answer her, instead slotting himself between her legs, kneeling before her and looking up to her through hooded eyes. He pried her legs apart with his hands, pushed her skirt upwards, and leaned in, exhaling against her clothed cunt. 

“Look at that,” he nudged the wet patch on the front of her panties. “Is this what your thoughts are about?” he asked, eyes still focused on her heat. “Hm?”

“N-no, no that would be wrong!” She tried to close to her legs, but his hands held them forcefully apart.

“Do not lie in the house of God, my child,” he said flatly.

“This– this is wrong–!” She interrupted her own sentence with a small moan as she felt him lick a stripe of the fabric of her panties.

“There is nothing wrong with me absolving you of your sin, that’s all I am doing. I shall let your sin travel from inside of you to the outside. Do you not want to be free of your evil thoughts?”

A look of confliction flashed on her face. “But we aren’t married, isn’t this sinful in itself?”

“God commands me to take no wife, we are both free from that. It is my duty to guide your soul onto a holy path, won’t you let me do that?” Miguel slipped her panties down to her ankles, waiting for her to answer him.

“Father… please, just please— help me,” (Y/N) said, eyes darting away from him, shame creeping all over her body. 

A hot, wet feeling placed itself between her thighs. Miguel spread her legs as far as they would go while he delved into her, tongue working through her slick folds. 

“You are already wet, you really were thinking of this, weren't you?” 

He smirked and brought his head back down, placing wet, messy kisses from her inner thigh to her throbbing clit. He honed in on the nub, wrapping his chapped lips around it and swirling it around with his tongue. 

(Y/N) looked down and watched as his brown hair moved back and forth as he lapped at her cunt. Hesitating, she reached her hand out and gripped his hair, holding him in place, and rolling her hips onto his face. Her hips stuttered as she moved, moans catching in her throat. 

“F–Father, it feels– I feel—”

“I know, you are very close.” 

She looked confused, not sure what he meant. “Huh–?”

Miguel pulled her hand out of his hair and pushed her down on the desk, flat with her legs in the air. He spat directly onto her cunt, spreading it with his tongue. He craned his head back and locked eyes with her, replacing his mouth with his fingers, circling her clit quickly with his thumb.

“Do you feel that tightness building up?”

“Yes, make it stop, it feels odd, please. Make it stop,” she said, grabbing onto his wrist while her rubbed her. 

Miguel shushed her, placing his other hand on her thigh. “Just wait, (Y/N).” 

Thumb still focused on her bud, he pushed his tongue into her entrance, feeling her tight walls fight and clench against his prodding. He slurped at her walls and dripping arousal. 

“No, no– I–!”

Her hips involuntarily rolled against his face one final time before she felt the tight coil in her stomach burst. Her thighs squeezed over Miguel’s head and kept him in place as she came, legs shaking and mind blurring. 

(Y/N) let go of his head quickly, sitting up on the desk and pulling away from him. He wiped her slick from his mouth and chin, cleaning his face from the sheen of her cum. 

“Father O’Hara, are you okay? I didn’t mean to do that, I don’t know what came over me…”

“Hush, now. Save your words for what is to come,” he said, standing to his full height. 

He pulled her body back to the edge, pushing her down, flat on her back. Pulling himself out of his pants, he adjusted right at her entrance. Before pushing in, he took hold of both of her hands, holding them above her head. 

“This will hurt. You will bleed, but you must relax. Do you understand?” He saw her nod. “Good girl.”

He pushed into her, slowly inching his tip forward. (Y/N)’s hands clenched, fingers dug into her palms while he painstakingly forced his hips further. 

“Relax,” Miguel whispered as he dipped his head down to be level with her ear, “don’t squeeze so tight, just let me work you open.”

He bottomed out, sliding all of his length into her. 

“No, hurts s’bad, can’t take it ‘nymore!” She whined loudly, tears flowing out of her eyes due to the harsh stretch of his cock.

He was so big, and she was so small. He should have been careful with her, and he should have treated her like the fragile little thing she was.

It only made him fuck her rougher. 

His muscled hips pull out of her, tip barely staying inside.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t take it, I–”

“Yes, you can.”

He snapped into her. His thrust knocked the wind out of her lungs, having her choke on her words. (Y/N)’s hands immediately flew to his clothed shoulders, gripping onto them. To steady herself, she dug further into them, practically ripping the fabric of his shirt. 

The sound of her half-pained, half-pleasured noises send him back to his movements. He starts thrusting, quickly fucking into her heat. 

“You are taking me so well, you sure it’s your first time?” he asks, smirking.

“Yes, Father. I-I’ve never done this before,” she said through gritted teeth, “Dunno if ‘m doin’ it right.”

Miguel grunted and deepened his strokes. “Just let me do it, just gotta– gotta sit there n’ take it.” He allowed himself to kiss the tip of her cervix with his cock’s head, shallowly impacting onto the sensitive spot. 

His hands fall to her hips. He grips onto them and holds her in place, keeping his brutal pace. He eyed the thick, white ring of her arousal forming on the base of his thick length, watching it grow and shift as he pounded into her fluttery walls.

“S’happening again, fix it–! Please, Father,” she felt a strong pang of ecstacy crash over her.

“Mhm..”

A few scattered thrusts nudged her over the edge. (Y/N)’s walls clenched repeatedly over Miguel’s dick, squeezing him tightly with her velvety, slick cunt. 

“Fuck, c’mon now, relax.” His eyebrows knitted together as he massaged her hips, trying to get her to relax. “So tight, damn.” He finally pulled himself out and took to pumping himself in his hand. (Y/N) watched him fist his cock between her legs.

“Ah–”

He came onto his palm. The sticky, thin seed covered his palm. Miguel licked his cum off of his hand, watching as (Y/N)’s face heated up as he did. He cleaned it off, letting his tongue dart between his fingers to tease the girl before stopping and wiping the rest onto the girl’s cheek. 

“Come, down now,” he said, pulling her off of the desk. He chuckled as she stumbled over to the door, legs weak. 

“Thank you, Father,” (Y/N) croaked out, holding onto the doorknob. “But, what– if I keep thinking those thoughts, what do I do? Will I be forgiven?”

Miguel took his spot at his desk, wiping away at the wet spots left on the wood. 

“If you continue to be plagued by such thoughts,” he said, “do not be afraid to come back to my office. Remember, we all sin, but we can always fight for forgiveness.”

[bunnyreaper]

Demon Gaz, who's looking for a pretty little plaything to corrupt. Maybe a priests daughter, or someone who (somehow) has never sinned before.

<3

hopefully you enjoy this crime against christianity <3 cw dubcon, religion.

looking like such an angel, kyle finds his job incredibly easy. his beautiful brown eyes look like they're incapable of hiding a single sinful thought, never mind an entirely devilish being.

his smile is so bright the local god-fearing women think it could ward off any ill fate that could befall the town--if only they knew the reason for their downfall was their darling local charmer. 

you and kyle had been friends for a while now, he was new in town and took a shine to you immediately when you sat next to him in church one day.

from that moment on, he knew that he would make you his. 

it was easy to get you alone, under the guise of bible study, of reinforcing your father's teachings. the sessions started with quiet, companionable reading. kyle would keep you company, answer simple questions you had, and ask you about your life. 

no boys, no parties, no sin. 

he couldn't ask for a prettier, more innocent little thing to corrupt. 

your descent started slowly, in a way he couldn't have even planned. he didn't have to seek you out, as you followed him around like a lost lamb, unknowingly leading itself to slaughter. you tried to spend as much time with him as possible, obsessed with the way he looked at you like no one had before. 

you could sense his desire, even if you thought it to be something simple and innocent--the kind of love and admiration your parents' marriage was built from, the kind of devotion you had for your god. 

you had no idea of the lust that lay within--the corrupting, all-consuming need. kyle garrick was a selfish man, used to turning girls like you on their heads and feeding off their sins before moving on to the next. 

something about you was different. 

perhaps it was because he'd never met one so pure and untainted, or maybe it was because, unlike the others, you had no sense of self-preservation. it could be that you always had this look in your eyes like you wouldn't really mind if kyle led you astray, you'd follow him anyway. that was something he quickly became addicted to.

the poking and questioning followed soon after, kyle subtly guiding you to question the gospel, your father, and everything you've ever known, all for him. he pretended to struggle with his faith too, though he supposed it wasn't a lie, as once upon a time he had. 

you were quick to follow, enamored by your guardian angel in every way, believing he could never steer you wrong. 

after all, questioning is normal, natural, why we were given free will--that's what kyle always says. and with the sweet way he says it, so earnest and everything... there's no way the two of you are doing anything wrong.

so when he pulls you into his lap one day, bible in hand, you don't question it. when he asks your interpretation on a particular verse, and leads you to a certain conclusion, you don't question it. 

when he takes you on a walk through the churchyard flowers and kisses you under the flower-filled pergola, lips against yours like he's devouring you, you don't question it. 

from there, the rest is easy. coaxing you into sneaking out late at night, straight into his arms, getting you to give up your vow of chastity, your commitments to the church, your devotion to god.

instead, you worship him. his name falling from your lips like a prayer as he drives inside you, taking you for him forever. spoiling you for other men, breaking all your oaths. 

he stretches you out, shapes you to him, claims you with his cock, his cum, his fingers, the way his nails scraping down your body carves his name into your soul.

you cry out for him when your pretty mouth is on the end of his cock, you cry out for him when he's gone--tears beading in your eyes either way. 

and when they try to take you away from kyle, to make you 'see the light', 

all the lessons you've been taught about vengeance and grace fall away, and you search for a new beginning--disavowing your church, your family, your upbringing. 

and with your fall complete, when it's time for kyle to skip town? there's no way in hell he could leave you behind.

[jo-harrington]

Charitas. (An As Above, So Below Story)

Gratia. Charitas. Solamen. Grace. Charity. Peace. The oath of the Knights of the Holy Order.

Summary: You and Eddie--separated by time and endless suffering--don't realize how many strings keep you connected on the web of fate. What players are there trying to cut those strings? And when will you both find out that they are unbreakable?

Word Count: 3.7k

Pairing: Eddie Munson/Fem!OC (The Knight - Written in 2nd Person POV - You/Your - No Use of Names of Physical Descriptors)

Warnings/Themes: Soulmates, Kas!Eddie, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Minor Character Deaths, Manipulation, Transformation, Corruption, Supernatural Encounters, Religious Elements, Discussion/Criticism of Religion, Biblical and Other Literary and Pop Culture References

Note: Sorry this one has taken forever. The next part is already written, just gotta clean it up. Shouting out @powderblueblood and @rosewaterandivy for being my fellow media vacuums and not only enabling me to do this/what's next but also Powder specifically for her love of the Archie-verse because CAoS is one of my favorites and why would I not let the Knight get a chance to face Faustus Blackwood one on one while also maybe alluding to The VVitch and criticizing religion even more?

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

“But the rage passes and leaves no trace behind.” ― Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus

November 12, 1986

You'd developed a dislike for small towns.

Hawkins might still be home in some ways, but it was more because of the people who had lived there--the memories--than the town itself. But it, too, fell into the category of small towns that you'd grown to hate:

Small, unassuming places that held some kind of dark, terrible, dangerous secret. Atrocities in the making.

You'd walked into Hawkins fully oblivious to the monsters that lurked there, though.

Here and now, with Greendale, you were almost too aware.

Jinette had entirely too much to say about it and that unsettled you.

Strange energies and missing children and sudden turns of fortune for seemingly innocent townspeople. Rituals performed in the woods and a possible portal straight to hell.

"I'll knock on the door," you joked as you read through a report he'd provided about the Greendale Mines. "Maybe I'll get some kind of time off for good behavior if I hand Satan my soul in person, instead of waiting to die for him to take it."

Jinette ignored you; jokes were lost on the clergy.

Instead of a lecture though, he simply gave you a warning: to be on the lookout for witches.

"Thought the Order vowed not to discriminate against religions," you'd scoffed at him. He ignored you again and just sent you on your way.

The Order against discrimination? Sure. The Catholic Church? Definitely not. And Jinette? The most judgmental bastard of all.

Still, his warning was front and center as you felt an unnatural, chilling frequency of magic in the air upon your arrival in Greendale.

"Let's get this over with," you slammed the door shut and shouldered your backpack so you could start investigating.

Greendale was nice enough--it had that hazy, natural beauty of the late fall that was synonymous with upstate New York--and if you weren't in such a sour mood, you probably would've enjoyed it. This stage of your work was always somewhat fun. Talking to people and learning local histories, seeing different buildings as you walked around, eating a little lunch at some hole-in-the-wall off-the-beaten-path type of place.

But you were surrounded by ghosts. Both literal and figurative.

Someone died on that street corner, heart stopped cold as though someone had stuck a pin in it.

There was a bakery that had apricot kołaczkis; not Italian but still one of Nonna's favorites.

The dentists office used to belong to a serial killer who'd never been caught; the spirits of his victims rapped on the little window at street-level, begging to be let out even decades later.

Cerberus Books was a beacon for classic horror with neon lights and mannequins dressed as monsters in the windows...and Eddie would have loved it.

You fought the urge to flinch as you felt the phantom feeling of his hand in yours, his voice in your ear urging you to go inside and look around.

You closed your eyes and took several calming breaths to clear your mind. Little by little those ghosts were banished and you'd regained your cool, your focus.

If the Order wanted you to be a weapon, you would be one. You'd break whatever darkness lurked in Greendale and then onto the next job, and the next one, and the next one. Until you could go home. Your real home.

Then you wouldn't need to rely on ghosts anymore.

Or fear them.

Your world was knocked off its axis as someone exited Cerberus Books and crashed into you. Even moreso as a surge of unearthly, dark power clashed with your heavenly one, and you fought the urge to tap into that power to repel the intruding force away from you.

The man that crashed into you grabbed your shoulders to steady you before you fell, and you breathed in the smoke-and-brimstone tinged air that surrounded him. It was suffocating and further tapped into that instinct towards defensiveness.

But as you regained your bearing, all you could see was how unassuming he looked.

Truly, his visage belied that imposing aura--a kind older man in a suit and fedora, with neatly-trimmed facial hair, and a gentle smile--but you could sense that he was a witch, just as he sensed you were...

What were you?

He held you there for a moment and you watched as his brow quirked. He read you, just as you read him. A mutual discovery. Tenuous, so as not to alarm one another, but curious.

Although naturally adverse, you could sense no danger to each other.

"I'm so sorry," he apologized softly. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"N-No, no," you insisted. "I was caught up in my head, it's my fault."

"You're...new to Greendale." he stated.

"Just driving through," you answered, an excuse that was well-used in the past few years. This time you had a feeling you meant it. "Maybe sticking around for a few days."

"The diner has a great cherry pie."

"Cherry's my boyfriend's favorite."

"Is he traveling with you?"

Yes.

It was on the tip of your tongue. Because yes, actually he was just here with you. The memory of him, the ghost of him. You wished he was, and maybe that was enough to make him real.

Maybe that was enough so this witch felt him.

"No," you said instead. "It's just me."

His gaze softened as you continued to study each other. You held out your hand to him.

"Anyway, I should get going," you told him and you held out your hand to shake. "Thank you for the recommendation, and sorry again Mr..."

"Spellman," he replied, hands letting go of your shoulders so he could shake yours, but his words were like a shot to your heart. "Edward Spellman."

November 6, 1983

Henry was an observer, a thinker, a visionary.

He took care of them, offered mercy when he wasn't required to. He simply demanded obedience in return for all that he provided for his children in the Upside Down.

But for some reason beyond understanding, chaos had broken out.

And he was livid.

Eddie stood tall and received the images that his master filtered through his mind; strange growths, riotous creatures, and the partial reformation of the beast that Henry himself gave life to: the Mindflayer.

All with a will of their own.

"You must fix this," Henry demanded of his right hand, his general. "You must restore order."

The efforts of the physical communication winded him, as he was still fragile and healing from the attack by Eleven's friends, so he continued to relay unspoken demands through the collective consciousness. He strained to spread his authority as far through the dimension as he could.

Destroy the malcontents or you shall be destroyed.

A warning not just for Eddie, but for any of the creatures that resided under his rule to reconsider their rebellion before they met their demise.

Then came a jarring mental image of a wasteland of bodies, torn apart but still writhing and alive. The pain that would come in the wake of any betrayal would be immense, and he would keep all of them alive for as long as he saw fit to extend their suffering.

No Gods or devils could enact the devastation he could, if only they tested him.

"Does that mean you too?" you sowed doubt inside of him. "The destruction? What would happen if you didn't listen?"

Eddie stiffened as he felt the tug of your presence at the corner of his mind, hidden in that deep, dark pit. A spark amidst the void. He growled, both in acceptance of Henry's orders and to silence you.

"Do you know what this reminds me of?" He fought the urge to twitch under Henry's all-knowing gaze as you continued. "The Emperor. And Vader. Do you remember Return of the Jedi?"

His mind was a flurry of images again, these vague and distant though, twining with the ones that Henry had just relayed to him: spaceships and planets and furry little creatures, and Vader towering over Luke--

"Do you question me?" Henry snapped at him, gnarled body shaking with the effort. Eddie's eyes focused on his master once more. "Beast?"

He ducked his head and growled again. Grumbled. Repentant in his errors.

"Question him," you hissed, emboldened to no longer stay buried and hidden in the pit but slithering along his skin. Unseen, but acutely felt. "Do it. What's happening? Why are they rebelling? Ask him."

He let the growl turn into a roar, a battle cry and a warning to keep you silent. He then took to the air, determined to succeed in snuffing out this insurgent blight that had taken root in the Upside Down.

His master needed him, relied on him.

He wouldn't fail.

No matter how much you tempted him to.

November 14, 1986

To find witches, one often had to think like a witch.

Though the term witch when it came to those who practiced magic was just as broad as the term Abrahamic when it came to some of the so-called “major” religions of the world. One of your fellow Knights considered themselves a witch, more of a polytheist with an affinity for Hecate, but they derived their abilities from nature.

Technically you did too, your powers rooted as deep within the earth as they were tied to the Heavens.

Maybe it was all the same? Or maybe it was all bullshit.

The type of witch that you were looking for though, the type that Edward Spellman was, was something else. Dark rituals, blood curses, deals with demons, names signed in books, machinations with The Devil himself.

“Arthur Miller was popping a boner somewhere right now,” you muttered.

You supposed it felt a little unsettling, but less in a way that made you fearful, and more in the way that oil floated on water. Similar, both liquids, just...not meant to mix.

Which is why you kept yourself calm and open minded.

"I'm not here to kill them," you reminded yourself. "Find out why innocents are disappearing...stop them, maybe...but they'll carry on unharmed."

Truly, you could have just followed Edward Spellman as he went about his business in town, but you figured that that would have probably been as suspicious and rude as you could get.

That's why you enacted your own sort of a tracking spell.

Witches didn't always move in the world like mortals did; they transmuted, teleported, moved along the shadows cast by clouds and trees and blades of grass.

But if you reached out…asked the clouds and trees and grass to show you what they’d seen? Well, then it would be impossible for them to stay hidden.

So you walked.

Left your car at the motel and set foot into the lush forests surrounding Greendale, letting instinct guide you.

The further away from town you got, the more unruly your surroundings became, until you ended up following an old, overgrown set of railroad tracks deeper into the wilderness. Bats or birds--you couldn't quite tell--flew overhead; omens of some sort urging you to give up and go back to safety.

"How bad could it be?" you asked aloud, only to skid to a halt as something larger and shadowy crossed your path ahead.

Once again, you couldn't make out what it was, but the energy it left behind felt dangerous and smokey, an ephemeral stain of dark magic.

You took a calming breath and clenched your fists, ready for whatever you might find, and soldiered on.

Eventually, the treeline thinned, and power lines sprung up along the track, and then a structure. Large, looming, and made of stone and glass; it was overgrown with dead ivy and surrounded by tall, dry grasses.

Gehenna Station.

You scoffed at the name, at the implication, but the longer you observed the structure, the more you felt the underlying darkness that churned within. In fact, the longer you stared, the less sure you seemed to feel of the building's existence itself. Your eyes started to lose focus of the structure; your perception wavered, almost like it didn't want you to know that it was there.

Maybe it wasn't even there at all?

"Good afternoon Miss."

You whirled on your heel, ready to defend yourself, only to find a young boy standing there. His eyes were large, cheeks round and soft, and there was a small smile on his lips; kindness and innocence emanated from him, but also a deep sadness.

It didn't take long for you to realize that he was dead.

"You don't belong here," he stated matter-of-factly. "You should go."

"I'm here to help," you told him instead. There was no duplicity when it came to ghosts; they could see through you, no pun intended. "Kids are dying. Kids like you. Can you tell me what happened? I can try to stop it and find you some peace."

His brow furrowed, and he pouted.

Then he held his hand out to you, palm upwards for you to lay your own hand in his small grasp. You hesitated for a moment, but gave in.

He was solid and your hand didn't sink through his form like you expected. But as your palms touched, you saw.

A dank cell illuminated by the moonlight with sights that would drive one insane.

A desolate forest full of dead trees and a clawed beast that slunk unseen.

And a looming tree laden with thirteen rotten apples and a swinging noose.

The Harrowing. And it truly was as it's name described, as you watched one child after another succumb to the trials.

You blinked and the images were gone, but the sound of screaming still rang in your ears.

"It's always been this way, Miss," the boy said sadly as he pulled his hand away again. "You can't help us. No one can."

Something burned in your chest at his words, the finality of it, the acceptance of this fate. How many times had you heard that from your father or Jinette or the other Knights? This is the way it always would be. Cycles. Downward spirals.

You'd already decided that that would end with you.

This would too.

"The hell I can't."

You let go of the boy's hand, turned back towards Gehenna Station, and started walking.

Every step felt heavier and heavier, but you proceeded onwards until the doors of the building opened of their own volition and then slammed shut behind you once you were inside.

November 6, 1983

Eddie soared over the vast landscape of the Upside Down alone.

He had gotten used to flying with legions of bats at his sides, wings beating in tandem. It was a euphoric experience to be with them. Be one with them. To dip and roll, swarm, and even play.

He tried calling out to them through the bond—

Help me, the master demands your cooperation, your obedience.

—but there was no response. Not even a reluctant one.

It was irritating. He was leader after Henry, for all intents and purposes. Even their friend in some cases, their own flesh and blood.

Why wouldn't they come at his call?

He could feel them. Some waiting in the trees, cowering. Some were tempted to fly with him, soar with him, safe with him in the lead.

But there was something in the air that stopped them from answering the call.

A strange sense of foreboding, a shift in the presence of the dimension itself. A change in frequency, in the fragile balance of control that Henry had over everything.

Even the particles floating around him didn’t seem right.

“Are you sure he’s in control?” you whispered deep within him. “Are you sure Vecna is telling you the truth?”

Of course, you were still there clinging to the edges of the pit inside of him, snatching at his thoughts like the parasite you were.

He curled his lip and growled at you again, willing you to be silent. But you simply refused. Whispering worries and warnings.

It was curious how your tone had changed. You seemed weaker here. Unsure. In contrast to how you’d been earlier in his master’s presence. There was a tenuous quality to you now.

He had considered, more than once, that you were some machination of Henry’s. To weed out the disloyalty in him. A little remnant of his humanity to taunt him and tempt him. A test.

But even with unhindered access to Eddie’s mind, there were simply things Henry couldn’t be bothered with. Memory, emotion, humanity. Those were all things he sought to destroy when he created the perfect weapon.

All of the things that you tried to bring out of him.

“Be careful,” were the final words slithering from you before you went silent once again.

He scoffed despite the pang in the hollow space where his heart should be.

Careful.

That was another indicator that you couldn’t possibly be of Henry’s design.

Careful wasn’t in his nature anymore.

Had it ever been, though? Even when he was alive, even when he was truly Eddie Munson, had he ever been cautious or careful? If he had been, he wouldn’t have brought Chrissy Cunningham to his trailer that fateful night.

Then he wouldn’t have shed that fragile body and become something greater.

This was fate.

He could feel you scoff at the thought now, and he grinned ferally, hoping his great and dark destiny would keep you quiet.

His wings beat harder, propelled him faster, motivated by the thought of some peace and quiet from you. At the prospect of being his master’s great weapon and champion.

He preened so hard, he didn’t realize how human the action actually was.

Until he crossed some seemingly invisible threshold, some metaphorical membrane made up of static electricity, that made everything go quiet.

The constant buzz of the hive mind was suddenly gone, thousands of consciousnesses silent, and his body seized momentarily as he reacted to the tangible loss.

Everything felt harder to do--breathing, thinking, feeling--and he went into freefall.

Down he went. Falling and flailing, air whipping about him. If he thought flying had been a freeing feeling, falling was another kind of freedom; something deep down and dark inside of him welcomed it, the prospect of a hard and fast demise.

But as his eyes drooped closed, the phantom feeling of your hands grasped at him, encircled his torso and willed him to take flight once more. Your phantasmic voice sounded underwater to his uncooperative ears, to his non-existent soul, as you screamed for him.

“Eddie!” His name brought him back into focus as hands grasped his face. Your invisible touch was electric and abruptly brought the world back into focus. “Eddie, wake up!”

He gasped a breath as your spark kickstarted his reflexes, but it was simply too late. He crashed heavily into the ground, barreling through the earth, until he came to a halt.

His body, unbreakable, seemingly bent with the impact. His ears rang, he couldn’t move, couldn’t think.

There was a distinct absence of being.

An absence of everything.

But he swore, before he lost himself, he saw the impossible.

He saw your face.

November 14, 1986

The inside of Gehenna Station was exactly what you expected.

That is to say, it was nothing that you expected; you had expected the unexpected.

If you reached out with your consciousness, you felt...a vast infinity. Halls that led everywhere, rooms of an unimaginable quantity. No wonder the outside of the building felt as if it wasn't there, because it really wasn't. This pocket reality was folded inside of it.

And what this pocket reality was, was a school.

A suspiciously empty school.

There were empty classrooms and hallways, an auditorium with a slide projector showing a list of incantations on a screen at the front, a cafeteria with trays of abandoned lunches.

You explored and searched--looking for someone, anyone--until you found yourself back in the main atrium, before a statue of a man with a goat's head and lower body, winged, with two fingers pointed up and two pointing down, surrounded by statues of children.

Baphomet.

"Interesting," you muttered as you encircled it.

You'd think a place like this, a place of satanic witches, would have some kind of idolatry towards Satan himself. Traditional depictions of devils and demons, maybe even some kind of artistic imagery of the archangel Lucifer?

Not this.

Your thoughts raced.

Hadn't you just contemplated your fellow Knights and their differences of beliefs outside? Yes. And that was where the mystery of this school and these witches remained. Everything had meaning; imagery like this had meaning, words had meaning.

Gehenna had ties to Hell and eternal suffering, places of divine punishment, and yet this was a school. A place for children to learn and grow. And Baphomet? People often mistook it for something sinister but Baphomet symbolized balance, the equilibrium of opposites; as above, so below and all that. Equal light and darkness inside everyone and everything. Peace at finding a balance with it. Equality in all and for all.

How could a statue that depicted children, trusting and reverent, stand for an institution that killed kids?

You supposed that the contradictions found here were akin to those in your own beliefs; how the church was supposed to be merciful, but you only found wickedness--like Jinette...like yourself--tied to it. That's how you were in this mess in the first place; someone using God as a justification to kill and steal.

"Guess all religions are shit," you snorted.

That's why you needed to find out what was actually happening here and stop it.

Unfortunately, in your rumination, you'd let your guard down.

You felt it before you saw it, the slide of your sneaker on the uneven floor. When you looked down to investigate, the tiles--made to look like a thousand eyes--began to fall away right under you.

The last thing you did before the floor beneath you disappeared and you fell into some dark oblivion wasn't an attempt to save yourself or find something to hang onto.

Instead you snorted and thought:

Guess the whole thing about being delivered right to Satan wasn't such a joke after all.

"I am good, but not an angel. I do sin, but I am not the devil." — Marilyn Monroe

[daught3rofyahweh]

Ways to give Jesus vibes to your craft 🕯

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ᶠᵒʳ ʷⁱᵗᶜʰᵉˢ ʷʰᵒ ʷᵒʳᵏ ʷⁱᵗʰ ʰⁱᵐ ♡

Practice green magic, love magic, and healing magic

With being a form of God, Jesus of course is connected to all things nature and spent a lot of time living in it due to living conditions in his era, so green magic could definitely grab his attention! Love magic that consists of self-love and friendship work, is a great way to involve Jesus into your spells because he is all about love and teaching people to be better versions of themselves and bring people together, though I'm not sure he'd appreciate you doing romantic spells as it might go against the other person's freedom. Jesus was an amazing healer, from wounds, to exorcisms, etc., so I'm sure he'd love to help with some anti-illness and mental health spells for yourself and those close to you.

Get a tarot deck that you feel resonates with him

Find a deck that reminds you of him due to it's art or you just feel like would draw him in. I have seen many christianity themed decks around the internet and they can be SOOO PRETTY!!

Buy crystals that remind you of him

A great way to feel closer to Jesus in your craft, is to carry crystals that resonate with his personality. Crystals that represent peace, love, tranquility, protection, and spiritual awakening and psychic development very much suit Jesus's personality. The most popular stones associated with him throughout history have been bloodstone and amethyst.

Do home blessings and protection spells

Jesus was known for bringing peace, cleansing, and protection to all places and people he visited. Do home blessing spells and protection spells to clear spaces, yourself, and loved ones from harm done by evil spirits and people and bring comfort. It could be as simple as sprinkling salt or holy water around or having some iron laying around. The cleaner the space, the more welcoming it is for Jesus's presence.

Incorporate the bible into your practice

The bible can do more than just teach you ways of life, it can also bring blessings and protection. The bible is very powerful as it is the word of God, verses and psalms can be used in many kinds of spells from jars, charm bags, witches bottles, etc. Verses and psalms could even just be used in picture frames as decor as a easy way to let their power into your home.

Here is a pdf from pinterest that is very helpful with the usage of psalms:

Read books about Jesus and the religion

Books can be very helpful when it comes to learning more about Jesus and the ways you can connect with him. I love my book about the catholic church because it has explained so much to me about God.

If you don't own a rosary, knot magic is your friend

Knot magic is a great alternative for those who don't own a rosary yet but would really like to do a prayer meditation. I have actually made one of these but I made an anglican version due to those rosaries only having 33 beads so its faster to make. Using knot magic as a rosary allows the user to pray to Jesus while also practicing their craft at the same time due to being able to use any color, annoint with oils or holy water, and add charms to the rope.

Get herbs and plants that remind you of him

Buy herbs, spices, and plants that remind you of him due to their properties. Use the herbs and plants in spells, as decor for altars, etc. A spice that I commonly associate with Jesus is mustard seed due to him mentioning it a lot in the bible. Mustard seed represents growth, dependence, and faith.

Listen to worship music during workings and divination

Listening to worship music while practicing your craft can help energize your spells, rituals, and divination while also bringing protection and calmness to you while doing so. It can also attract Jesus to help you in the working and can be used as an offering.

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[utilitycaster]

you got me. i binged all of midst in two days and it was great, but now i dont have a lot of other podcasts to listen to. do you have other good fiction podcasts you like?

DO I. I am not the Most Podcast Person I know but I definitely follow a lot because I drive a lot and walk a lot and put them on in the background while I do chores. Also, I'm sticking to scripted/plotted fiction here and not actual play but I can provide some actual play podcast recs too, though none are terribly obscure.

Wolf 359 is a completed podcast but a great binge. It also is science fiction and deals with capitalism and corruption and complicated characters and weird space stuff; it regularly makes the "great fiction podcasts" to check out and I think is closest to Midst in that it's also a tightly plotted work that goes to a natural end point.

I frequently talk about and recommend the Silt Verses and the thematic nature is remarkably close to Midst, but the vibe is very different. It has a lot of folk and body horror elements (audio-only, but they are absolutely present). Also covers the "man what if capitalism and religion were working explicitly in tandem" element of Midst with the added dimension of "what if there were many many gods and and they all demanded literal, physical sacrifices". Sister Carpenter is cut from a similar cloth as Lark and I love her dearly. To draw other comparisons would be to spoil it. It's on season 3, which will be its last. It is extremely intense in that when I fell behind I found it tough to binge without taking breaks, but it's really fucking good. (I also recommend this to people who like Candela Obscura, though that's more for eldritch horror vibes).

The Penumbra Podcast is great because it has two separate storylines (it was originally intended to be an anthology, but people fell in love with Juno Steel specifically). I like both, but Juno Steel is the more popular one - it's set in the future, in our solar system but in space, and follows Juno Steel, a private eye. It's extremely weird neo-noir. There is a homme fatale and a fantastic cast of characters, and it's also an interesting ongoing plot. The Second Citadel is more fantasy rather than sf though it's also kind of in that general New Weird bucket and is even harder to describe but I think it's underrated. It's also on its final season but it's been going on a while so it will take a bit for you to catch up.

Within the Wires is also a podcast I've recommended in the past. It's by the people who do Welcome to Nightvale which isn't listed here both because I assume you are aware of it, and because that's an ongoing slice of life sort of thing; there are plots but there's sort of that sitcom-esque "nothing really changes the status quo" element though the earlier era had some more structured stuff. Anyway, Within the Wires is found audio, so each season is different - the first is relaxation cassette tapes, the second museum audio guides, the third voice memos, etc. There are callbacks/connections between seasons at times, and I would recommend listening to at least the first two seasons in full (which are very strong) to get a sense of the world before hopping around later. The reason I recommend it here is because the worldbuilding is spectacularly done in a way that reminds me of the elegance of the worldbuilding in Midst, and because it's found audio, while it's one narrator per season you will get those weird asides and interesting tonal choices.

Tentative rec for Camlann, a roughly modern day post-apocalyptic take on Arthurian legends and the folklore of the British Isles only because it just started and has 3 episodes. I like it, but I don't know what plot it's building to (nor how long it will be; they have funding for one season but aren't sure about future ones.)

[alexagirlie]

Monstreous May Part 4 - The Undead

(Masterlist)

A/N: I love vampire boys! This series takes place adjacent to my Vampire Fic The Latest Plague, some parts take place before, some during and some after. Divider by cafekitsune

Pairing: Osferth/Sihtric

Rating: M

Words: 1305

TWs: vampires. vigrin osferth. first times. grinding. feeding. feeding kink. oral sex. masturbation. teasing.

Summary: Osferth joined the group in Coccham and after seeing how unnerved by being surrounded by the undead made the young man, Sihtric goes out of his way to make the baby monk feel safe and welcome.

Taglist: @gemini-mama @foxyanon @legitalicat

When Sihtric first met Osferth he wasn't sure what to make of the young man dressed in the robes of a christian monk who approached Uhtred on the step outside Aethelflaed's wedding. He wasn’t paying as much attention as he probably should have been, distracted as he was by what he had seen in that graveyard. Distracted by the promise of a hunt with Uhtred and Finan for a job well done, followed by a good and proper humping.

Finding Osferth in Coccham after the journey to Lunden and Uhtred's meeting with the Thurgilson brothers was a surprise. He honestly hadn't thought the baby monk would show up and yet there he was, sitting at Gisela's table, eating a bowl of hot stew.

Sihtric wanted to be mistrustful of a Christian son of King Alfred but he felt a kinship to the other young man for being born a bastard. He knew the kind of shame that came with that so decided to give Osferth the benefit of the doubt. 

He started with just observing Osferth, learning what he could and trying to find a good opening to approach the other man. Sihtric got the opportunity when he saw how unnerved Osferth was by the vampires in Uhtred's household. The flash of fear whenever one of the vampire's let some of their nature show. 

Most of Coccham inhabitants were human, but several of Uhtred's personal guards, Finan and Sihtric included, were all vampires, along with the Lord himself. While Osferth had heard much of Uhtred from his Uncle prior to his death, he obviously had not heard the news of Uhtred being turned and didn't know how to react.

Sihtric decided that much like he had done with Finan, he would show Osferth that vampires were more than what the church taught that they were. That they were not soulless monsters set only on killing, so Sihtric goes out of his way to make the baby monk feel safe and welcome.

He started simply, by inviting Osferth to join him and Finan during meals; they needed blood to heal and thrive but could eat when the occasion called for it. He offered to show him around Coccham, had Osferth join him in caring for the horses, and he even offered to begin his sword training.

They end up spending a lot of time alone together, discussing their upbringings, their shared status as bastards, even their religion and over time became quite close. Sihtric had never realized how close until one sunny afternoon spent laying by the river Osferth leaned over and kissed him.

It was just a chaste press of lips, over before Sihtric had a chance to react but it was enough to spark the start of their relationship. Now most of their time together concluded with kissing and soft touches. It was slow and sweet, exploring, and so very different from Sihtric's other two relationships. Both Uhtred and Finan had come to Sihtric already well versed as lovers, Osferth was Sihtric first virgin and he found he quite liked teaching the other man all the ways to feel good.

As Osferth's confidence grew, so did the boldness of his actions. Chaste kisses became open mouthed, with tongue and teeth, deep enough to leave them both breathless. Soft touches moved under clothing and grip turned tight enough to leave bruises, prompting hips to grind together. Their relationship continued to escalate until one night, as the two lay entwined on Sihtric's bed, the vampire on his back with Osferth cradled snugly between his thighs, when Osferth propped himself up on an elbow and asked for something Sihtric never expected.

“Would you feed from me, Sihtric?”

Sihtric was completely caught off guard, he hadn't expected Osferth to want such a thing but he couldn't help the mixture of arousal and excitement which filled his body.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes please,” He reassured, voice soft but earnest, “I wish to know what it feels like.”

Sihtric turned them over so Osferth was sprawled on his back and they removed his tunic so his chest was bare.

Sihtric kissed up his stomach, his chest, paying special attention to the curve of new muscles which had started to form on the other man after weeks of training. He worked his way up to Osferth's mouth and they spent several long minutes kissing and grinding together until a flush of arousal had spread across Osferth's cheeks and down his chest.

Sihtric separated them enough so he could whisper in Osferth's ear, “ready?” He asked, nipping the skin below his mouth.

Osferth moaned and tipped his head back, “yes! Please!” He begged, squirming impatiently from underneath the Dane. 

Sihtric licked a line from Osferth's ear down to where his pulse beat most enticingly in his neck and bites down. The taste of Osferth's blood flooded his mouth, sweet and rich and hot and Sihtric moaned as he took the first swallow. He gripped Osferth tightly by the hips as the younger man whined, desperate and loud as his hips bucked up and their hard cocks ground together in their trousers.

Sihtric only swallowed a few delicious mouthfuls before he pulled back and licked the wound until it closed. It didn't want to risk taking too much and hurting Osferth.

Osferth didn't smell hurt, he smelled like a mix of arousal and embarrassment and that wouldn't do. He didn't have any reason to be embarrassed, Sihtric liked that he enjoyed being fed on. Liked it even more then when Uhtred or Finan got aroused from having his fangs in their flesh.

Sihtric cupped Osferth's cheek and made the other man meet his gaze. Osferth's eyes were hazy with arousal and his face was deep red.

“Good?” He asked, just to be sure.

Osferth nodded wordlessly and Sihtric felt his cock throbbed at the confirmation that sweet, christian-raised Osferth, enjoyed being fed on, even if the fact did embarrass him.

“Sihtric…. Please” Osferth begged, face going even redder.

“What do you want?”

“Touch me please.” They had never taken that step before but Sihtric was more than willing. He rolled his hips down testingly, and when Osferth threw his head back and groaned he did it again, and again. Chasing the embarrassment away until it was replaced with just the tantalizing smell of arousal and desperation, Osferth's arms wrapped around his shoulders and held Sihtric tight.

Sihtric pulled them to the edge of the bed and ignoring Osferth's protests, slid off the side to drop to his knees between Osferth’s thighs. Osferth caught on to his intentions quickly and together they got his trousers unlaced and his cock out. It was long and slender, just like the man it was attached to, and Sihtric wasted no time getting his mouth on it.

It was over fast, Osferth's inexperience combined with his already heightened state of arousal had him spilled down Sihtric's throat in no time, gasping and whining so sweetly.

Sihtric barely gets a hand around his own cock before he was spilling on the floor, coming like a green boy himself. 

Osferth was still catching his breath when Sihtric pulled himself off the floor and helped the younger man get himself tucked away. Deciding to ignore his own mess on the floor for the time being he crawled back onto the bed, pulling Osferth into his arms instead. They fall asleep like that, Sihtric holding Osferth tightly to his chest.

The next morning when Osferth and Sihtric arrived for the day's training together, clothing rumpled and with Sihtric's bite mark clearly visible on Osferth's neck Uhtred and Finan shared a knowing look. Sihtric groaned to himself, but accepted the teasing comments with good cheer and got them back by putting first Finan, then Uhtred on their ass the first chance he got.

[caputvulpinum]

if you're sick and tired of talking about the temple passage, just go ahead and delete my ask haha

but this is something i struggle with so much. like yeah the event may very well have not been antisemitic when it happened! but it's been utilized in antisemitic ways so much since, i've heard sermons by my old pastors, i've had jewish friends tell me about the ways it's been used against them. i love church. i love going every week and the stability it brings, i love singing with other people, i love baking for coffee hour, i love working at soup kitchens, i love being with people! but as i've grown more and more aware of the antisemitism and all the other bigotry that seems to be built into its very foundations, it's gotten harder and harder. i go to a liberal church now, but is that enough? are we doing enough as a congregation? am i perpetuating discrimination in some way i don't know yet? can we use the temple cleansing verses in a non antisemitic way or have they been tainted? can the church continue and be a force for good or are its foundations rotten? i know it's probably not a yes or no thing, it's probably complicated... christmas, the perfect time for religious angst

What you're going through right now is what I went through before finally deciding to leave Catholicism, and is at its roots why I studied to become a theologian. I find religion so beautiful in all its forms and reasons; we invent the supernatural to create explanations for the things which exist beyond us. The occult is the place where humanity revels in its inherent nature as contradictory, illogical, and strange.

And Christianity as an institution has, undeniably, been a source of much beauty and good in the world. No one can deny that objectively. The whole of Vatican City alone is a testament to the glory of God in art, and even without acknowledging any charity work done by any church or Christian organization, the kindness and support of parish communities alone cannot be overstated.

But it is also the case that Christianity as an institution has, undeniably, been a source of countless horrific, torturous deaths, systemic abuses and oppressions, and multiple genocides. This, too, is something no one can deny objectively. It exists not as the other side of the coin to the former; it is the same thing. The same good and beauty is fed and feeds the ugliness and the carnage.

What is the capability of an individual person in the face of all that trauma, all that debt of blood? You can't do anything about it. And even if you thought you could, how different does that make you if you still work under Great Man Philosophy? Is anything here worth saving? Is any experience free of the original sin of antisemitism and genocide and imperialism and colonialism?

I don't know. But what I do know is that I find it important that we all think of these things and acknowledge them. Christianity has done horrific things. But by not learning about the good things that the institutions have done, by refusing to recognize them, we forfeit our ability to more accurately define what is bad and why. The Spanish Inquisition is a horrible part of history, but Christianity couldn't have reached that point if it was all Inquisitions.

[gayleviticus]

i finished reading damascus by christos tsiolkias (his novel about the apostle paul and early christianity) and was very pleasantly surprised by how it manages to be such a nuanced and complex look at such a controversial figure without descending into the saccharine preachiness of Christian fiction (and in fact, being written by someone who is not a Christian and also filled with enough shits, fucks, cunts, and reference to arse-fucking to instantly kill the average Christian fiction writer)

he manages to balance contrasts very effectively; a cruel, profane world of crucifixion and rape with a genuinely subversive religion of love and solidarity; a Paul flowing with genuine kindness and faith but also struggles with streaks of pride and jealousy.

but what impresses me most of all is the way the novel holds both Paul's apocalyptic gospel of resurrection in a world to come and its radical rejection of the injustice of this world with Thomas' naturalistic gospel that the kingdom has come and is among us already in Jesus' teaching. especially the way Tsiolkias acknowledges that even as Paul's gospel sits awkwardly with our modern scepticism it has heirs in any revolutionary tradition that wishes to change the world; it is this gospel that stands in condemnation of the systems of the world as they stand, and that spread the teachings of Jesus to the entire world (notably Damascus takes the interpretation that none of the other apostles bar Paul would fellowship with Gentiles). it would have been very easy to tap into the zeitgeist of scepticism and write a novel where Paul is a charlatan or crazy fundamentalist, and the gospel of Thomas marginalised and ignored as heretical and Gnostic is rather the true faith buried by orthodoxy. Paul is a very acceptable scapegoat to bash; if we can blame all the uncomfortable bits of the Bible on him (or the bloodthirsty and primitive Old Testament) we can maintain an unsullied image of pure Christianity. [and i don't mean to say this is entirely unjustified, especially given the way evangelicalism in particular loves to deploy isolated verses rather than entire texts! When your primary mode of engagement with him is not actually reading his epistles as works of literature, but throwing Romans 1.27 at gay people to convince them to stop being gay 100 times, that is naturally going to deeply warp your perspective of how much of his corpus is actually problematic (which, imo, when we account for 1) cultural norms re homosexuality and pederasty 2) the fact about 3-6 'Pauline' epistles were probably not written by him and 3) some verses possibly being interpolations, is really not that much).] But such a novel purporting to expose Paul as a fundamentalist charlatan would be just as didactic and simplistic as pious Christian fiction where Paul can do no wrong and harbour no doubts and is a direct mouthpiece for 21st-century evangelical doctrine. And so I very much appreciate the thought and empathy Tsolkias puts into this novel to understand Paul, rather than taking a few soundbites as an excuse to dismiss the man entirely. His Paul is flawed - a man who falls victim to jealousy, who sometimes makes his heart stone to avoid doubt - but also a man who believes in friendship and love across barriers of male and female, slave and free, Jew and Greek, one who hopes that this world mired in empire and oppression and crucifixion need not be the only way. and also a man who has a homoerotic relationship with Timothy that also has v queer-coded parallels in him bringing home an uncircumcised Gentile to the apostles in Jerusalem who he fears will reject this pagan. which is cool imo

[bigbroadvice]

Hi, I want to preface this with the fact I was raised in a conservative home, homeschooled, and very .. insulated from people I guess. My first public schooling experience was college and I only made a few friends I kept at arms length for a while. So I don’t know a ton of people.

I have recently been questioning a lot about politics and religion and science (I was never taught about evolution either and am just now learning about it) and I am .. questioning LGBT stuff and I was wondering if you know of studies proving LGBT identities? Or evidence for them? I was raised being told they just didn’t exist and the idea that they could be real is .. I guess amazing to me. I’m so sorry if this sounds cruel at all. I support and love my LGBT friends, I just don’t understand if there’s any science or proof behind it and .. I’m kind of questioning if I’m LGBT too but I really need evidence or I know I’ll never be accepted by my family. Are there studies proving people can be born gay or trans? Or anything else? Something like that? I’ve found studies looking at trans brains that look promising and the hemispheres and hypothalamus of gay and lesbian people but idk if there’s anything else.. thank you in advance.

Sorry this took so long to respond. I felt like I needed to do some research for it but I’ve been struggling to keep my head above water with college work.

Don’t worry, this is a perfectly valid question given where you’re coming from and that’s exactly what I’m here for, all the questions you’re not sure who else to ask.

Honestly, it sounds like you’re already doing a really thourough job researching, in fact I’d love to see what you’ve found. I’m not sure what kind of scientific proof I could find for you that LGBT people are real. It’s like finding research that proves the sun is real. Of course it is, it’s right there. Queer people are everywhere and always have been.

But I understand that you were raised in an environment that went to great lengths to deny that reality. I was also homeschooled in a very conservative home and while they couldn’t outright deny the existence of queer people because I had some access to the outside world and knew I myself was queer, they did try their very hardest to explain it away as something you get infected with, confusion, a choice, and/or sin.

I don’t know all the science behind why people are queer, I just know that they are and there’s no changing it. Some people are naturally attracted to another sex, and some people are naturally attracted to the same one. Some people have always felt comfortable in the gender they were assigned at birth, and some people never have and never will. People will try to tell you that can be changed, but it can’t. They used to try to medicate it like a disees but all that did was make people depressed or feel nothing at all, not start feeling attraction for the opposite sex.

Growing up, they told me that if I prayed enough and did all the right things I could stop being queer if I wanted it enough. Well, I’m here to tell you that’s a lie. I went though years of conversion therapy and am still just as queer as I’ve always been. No amount of bible verses and earnest pleading prayers and counseling sessions and exorcisms was able to make that go away, it just made life miserable.

The only choice involved in being LGBT is weather you choose to love or hate yourself for it. It’s not going away, so you can either choose to live in shame and keep yourself from things that would make you happy, or you can embrace it and live freely.

If you’re looking for more avenues to research, I’d recommend queer history. It’s really eye opening seeing how queer people have always existed in every time period and every culture, through persecution and celebration. We have been and always will be here for as long as humanity is, because we’re an inextricable part of it.

[vendettapandav]

The Cult of the Second Death, FAITH's Characters, and Demons

Note: This is just my own interpretation of the cult, the characters, and the demons. These descriptions are the premise I use for my own writing. It's derived mostly from the canon but my own research and headcanons do a lot of heavy lifting. This isn't a comprehensive list of my thoughts and I'm sure that as time goes on, I'll be adding more to. Special thank you to @simply-jason , Alastor is his own original character and this whole idea was collaboratively built with his help. It's actually part of a larger verse we have together, but for now, I'm just gonna focus on what's relevant to the Readings of the Damned fics! Please enjoy!

The Cult of the Second Death is a Satanic cult based in New Haven, Connecticut. The organization’s primary residence is a large apartment building situated close to a local prenatal care clinic, both of which are owned and operated by the cult’s leader, Gary A. Murphy Miller.

The beliefs of the cult center around a rejection of authority and inhibition. The cult looks to the story of Satan becoming a fallen angel and establishing Hell to begin another rebellion against God in heaven. From this, they believe that God is a tyrannical authority figure, and all established religions serve as enforcers of his oppressive ideals (sin, guilty before birth, lifelong penance, seeking forgiveness, etc.). They think that what the devout and pious see as sin - unholy and in need of casting out in order for mankind to becom divine again like Adam and Eve before the fall - is actually inhibition; natural desires and part of human nature that the ruling authority has warped mankind into seeing as wrong, guilty, undesirable, and in need of cutting out. However, rather than focus on atonement or penance, the cult teaches that these desires should be healthily indulged in and accepted rather than used as guilt-fodder. Their tenants are as follows: 

Healthy indulgence instead of abstinence

Vital existence instead of spiritual pipe dreams

Undefiled wisdom instead of hypocritical self-deceit

Kindness to those who deserve it instead of love wasted on ingrates

Vengeance instead of turning the other cheek

Responsibility to the responsible, consequence to the irresponsible

Man is just another animal and should not be elevated from such

So-called sins are natural desires for emotional, physical, and spiritual gratification sought from existing

The cult embrace their desires as natural inclinations and engage with them in ways that prevent guilt and shame. In this way, they see themselves as free. They are unshackled by inhibition as others are. They see authority (spiritual or otherwise) as corrupt, unjust, and oppressive, and they seek to destroy the systems in place that hold up the notions of fear, shame, and guilt as tools of control. It is for this reason that the end goal of the cult is stated to be “to free everyone from the fear they’ve been told to live under”. While the idea itself sounds admirable in theory, the means by which they practice this are sometimes far less noble. 

The cult is led by Gary - known secretly as the demon Astaroth, the Great Duke of Hell. Gary was sent from Hell by Lucifer himself in order to prepare the world for the arrival of the Antichrist. He was informed that, when then time came, the Antichrist would join him on the surface and lead the legions of Hell onto Earth, for which Astaroth would oversee the fight. Demons would spill forth, latching themselves onto humans, binding with their souls and replacing them, and setting them free of their inhibitions and false-faith. In doing so, they would be taking all of God’s creations from him (an act of revenge for Satan’s initial banishment and in order to finish what he started with Eve as the serpent), freeing them from his influence, and turning the world into a second kingdom of Hell which would be ruled by Asmodeus, the Prince of Hell. The Earth, as God and his followers knew it, would be “destroyed”. Mankind would never be able to become divine as they once were. The Antichrist would bring about a great change;  their souls would taken and replaced by demons. They would never die, never fight, never know hunger or poverty or inhibition - and therefore never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Instead, they would become the subjects of Asmodeus under his kingdom, bonded to their demons and living as non-mortals on a new, better Earth. 

Such a task would take much time, resources, and sacrifice. Many, many sacrifices. But the Great Duke was more than willing, and he was assigned the UNSPEAKABLE as his assistant. Gary was brought into the world by a small crop of Satanists in the form of an infant offered through a portal to Hell. At the end of their lives, he took over the cult and began to grow it with charm and wit. He gathered a devoted following of lost souls, rebels, and desperate folk seeking hope from the ashes of their faith which had scorned them. Gary took them under his wing, telling them of freedom and liberation. But no great thing comes without sacrifice. He built a closed, secretive community, where he introduced his cult to the ceremonies and rituals slowly. He used his dark power to fulfill their wishes. He summoned demons for them to engage with and behold in order to dispel their initial hesitations. And with these small gestures, he earned a captive, loyal following. They built the labyrinth and the temple, and they began offering sacrifices to help summon more demons to help prepare the world for the Antichrist. First he bought the apartment complex to provide his followers a main base and housing. Initially, the group’s human sacrifices were the homeless living in the local “Candy Tunnels” and a few odd teenagers who went out into the woods alone. Their souls helped someone several demons. However, it attracted more negative attention than Gary wanted. So, a few of his followers helped him secure a job at the clinic in order to help continue harvesting souls without drawing so much suspicion. This new source of souls allowed Gary to perform the Second Death ritual more frequently, though it was more time consuming as infant’s souls are very small compared to older souls.The new portals allowed more demons to come through. And with the arrival of Amy as their chosen vessel for the Antichrist to arrive in, everything is falling into place.

Beyond being harbingers of the Antichrist and his army of demons, the cult has its more mundane side as well. On the surface, it appears as a sacrirficial killing machine. And to some degee, this is true. (Though cultists mostly kill in self-defense or to defend their secrets.) However, at its core, Gary’s family has not forgotten its goal of being an anti-authority, self-sustaining community. The members of the cult are binded by their shared beliefs against established institutions of power. They are very friendly towards one another and work together to complete tasks and perform ceremonies. They grow their own food in large gardens. They produce their own supplies and build their own structures, and gather resources on their own via sustainable methods. They solve-problems as a group and don’t shy away from healthy conflict and communication to resolve issues. They are also not afraid to mobilize and rebel publicly against perceived unfair authoritarian moves by government and religious heads. On the inside, their organization is very idyllic and peaceful. You don’t have to worry about much so long as you attend you weekly meetings and pay your tithes.

Everyone in the cult knows what they’re doing. They know what the end goal of the cult is and they welcome it openly. They are excited to meet the demon that will be bound to them and, in essence, become a replacement for their souls. They are excited to live in a world where no one is inhibited by shame or guilt from oppressive authority, and where healthy expession of one’s primal self will be the norm. They are inspired by this idea and truly believe the world will be better because of it. They are also incredibly loyal to Gary and their family as a whole. If threatened, they will take all necessary action to defend them. 

Key Members

Alastor Rosales 

Alastor is something of a strange outlier when it comes to demons and the cult. He was not summoned by anyone. Rather, he seemed to find his way to the cult on his own. According to him, both of his parents were demons residing on Earth already, though that doesn’t make his own existence any less mysterious. He’s an incubus that blends in with humans and tries to live a normal life just like they do. He works a job as a pornstar and moved into the apartment complex seeking a new, more affordable home. He was startled to see how revered he was by the cultist but was slowly introduced to it all by Alu, who was more than happy to show him the benefits of being worshiped. Over time, Al has come to accept his place in the cult as one of the more relaxed demons. He’s not involved in very many ceremonies, but he’s still friendly and supportive to the community’s members. His open and affable nature has earned him the title of The Heart. 

Alejandro Garcia 

Having been captured by the cult during an attempt to save John, Garcia witnessed firsthand the power of Gary’s influence and the ability of the demons he was trying to fight. He watched John’s corruption and was forced to watch him denounce God and embrace Gary and the cult. In that moment, his cross fell from his hands and he realized that, if one as determined and devoted as even John could be broken, then there truly was no hope. There was no way that he alone could defeat the UNSPEAKABLE and the cult, and going to the church was impossible. He submitted to the cult and was indoctrinated by Miriam, who had initially captured him. It was her who carried out his Conviction Ceremony and broke him. By the end of it, Garcia found himself strangely enamored with the Mother of Demons and pursued her, eventually becoming bound to her. It took a lot time for him to grow accustomed to the teachings and methods of the cult. Eventually though, he settled in as a quiet, reserved paternal figure in the cult’s ranks. Occasionally, he even serves as its protector and helps enforce some of the rules to those who stray too far for John to lead back. He’s known among the cult as The Defender.

Alu 

Alu is an archdemon who was summoned due to an improper completion of the Second Death ritual as performed by Tiffany. He was pulled to Earth with the promise of having Lisa as a vessel. However, for obvious reasons, this didn’t work out. As a result, he began slaughtering cultists in order to take their souls and remain here on Earth until a suitable vessel could be found for him. He has no real reason to be topside. He’s just sticking around for the fun of it to cause chaos. He’s bound to the soul of Lisa Pearson.

Amy Martin 

Amy worked at the clinic run by Gary and his cult. She struggled with family issues at home, including a mother who refused to seek help for her untreated postpartum psychosis and subsequent postpartum bipolar disorder after miscarrying her twin brothers. Her father, meanwhile, was away overseas serving in the armed forces. Amy’s refusal to encourage her mother’s delusions and hallucinations led to her being neglected and mistreated by her. To try and get away from home, she took up a job at the local clinic. This led to intense friction between her and her mother, which came to head when they got into a fight after her father returned home and unilaterally decided she would no longer be working at the clinic. Hearing about her situation, Gary extended an invitation towards Amy to join them one last time via a “get-together at the clinic.” There, he told Amy about the cult and its goals, and offered to help her escape her controlling family. Amy was hesitant at first, but wanting to rebel against her family who refused to change and who had threatened to disown her and throw her out if she kept working at the clinic anyways, she figured it would be better for her to just leave first. She agreed to the terms and underwent the Second Death ceremony, becoming possessed by a demon in the process and returning home. Her parents suspected something was wrong and called a priest after she began pushing back hard against both of her parents for refusing to get help and get over the twins. Obviously, we know how that went. After the failed exorcism and the death of her family, Amy went back to Gary’s cult to stay and become the Profane Trinity; the chosen vessel for the Antichrist. Her and her demon are bound together, and they get along fairly well for the most part. She’s revered in the cult and pulls her weight to make things work. She’s also very stubborn and doesn’t want to leave. The cult refers to her as The Fallen Star.

Gary Miller 

The leader of the cult and the demon Astaroth. In demonology, he’s known as the Great Duke of Hell and part of the Evil Trinity alongside Lucifer and Beelzebub. He’s said to command 40 legions of demons. On Earth, he’s a charismatic mastermind with a soft spot for history and sweet snacks. Intelligent and cunning, Gary knows exactly how manipulate people into doing whatever he wishes of them. Beyond his sharp tongue is the powerful form of a demon capable of incredible feats. Ranging from spellcasting to demon summoning, flight to invisibility, Gary is a jack of all trades and a master at carrying out Lucifer’s will. And he will stop at nothing to complete his goals. (Though he may occasionally take breaks and find time for those closest to him.) He’s bound to the soul of his partner, John. Aside from being their leader, Gary is also referred to as The Chalice.

Jefferey (Elevator Demon) 

A demon summoned by Gary, he he came to the mortal realm after being offered the soul of the previous landlords of the apartment building who began prying into the cult’s business a little too much. He inhabits the elevator, and because of this, he befriended little Timmy who lives on the ninth floor of the apartment complex. He’s generally pretty indifferent towards others. But he will get aggressive towards anyone threatening Timmy or messing with the buttons on the elevator too much. He tends to be on the more curious side and will occasionally leave the elevator to climb on the walls and watch the cultists go about their day. It’s best to just ignore him.

John Ward 

A young priest who found himself in a downward spiral since the death of his mother, John hoped to find peace by aiding in the exorcism of Amy Martin. However, things did not go as planned. In an attempt to save her and her supposed siblings, John uncovers the elaborate plans of the cult and attempts to put a stop to them with the help of Father Garcia. Unfortunately, he is captured and defeated by Gary after wandering too far into the cult’s territory. Being confronted with the reality that he is a pawn in a game of control, he converts to the cult with Gary’s help and ends up becoming his partner. Through time and tenacity, John also ends up becoming a symbol of the cult’s strength and prosperity, and comes to serve as one of its post important pillars in its community. He’s known as The Shepherd. He convenes with other cultists and talks to them when they feel conflicted in order to alleviate them of their inhibitions, much like a priest accepts confessions of sinners so they may leave the church unburdened. He also helps assure them in their tasks, reminding people that Gary loves them and that they are carrying out the will of the UNSPEAKABLE. With him, no one goes astray. 

Lisa Pearson 

John’s childhood friend, Lisa works as a veterinarian at the local vet office in New Haven. She originally became entwined in the cult’s plans when Tiffany, her friend and neighbor, marked her as a vessel for the demon Alu in the Second Death ritual. Lisa ended up being possessed by Alu, but because the ritual was not performed properly, she was able to be successfully exorcised, though some part of her soul was still bound to Alu. After John converted, Lisa initially showed concern for him. However, over time, John was able to convince her of what Gary was doing and insisted that she join them so that the two of them could be together finally. Lisa was very hesitant after everything she’d been through with the demon. She didn’t agree with a lot of the things that Gary did. But, she loved John and thought that the goal of the cult was, on the surface, something to agree with. Plus, she was in turmoil of her own and seeking any sense of peace, comfort, and control over her life. So, she joined to be with John. Though she’s by far one of the most uninvolved spiritually, she’s a pillar of the communal spirit when it comes to interpersonal bonding and community-building. She’s known among the cult as The Bloom for her healing spirit and kind, supportive nature.

Malphas (The Profane Sabbath Demon)

Summoned by Gary to help oversee the completion of the Profane Sabbath, Malphas is a messenger demon that helps prepare and officiate many rituals in the cult. He’s fairly avoidant of most cultists, minds his own business, and only really engages when its necessary. Other than that, he’s a fairly tame and unassuming demon. It’s not clear whose soul was used to summon him to Earth. According to Gary, Malphas’ arrival was the result of approximately fifty-five babies that were harvested from the clinic. He’s referred to by the cult as The Bird.

Michael Davies 

A young boy born with albinism, his superstitious parents became concerned that his altered appearance was the work of a demonic possession. They brought him to Father Garcia in order to seek an exorcism and Garcia took on the task gladly. He spent months trying to free the boys soul. Those months in his basement led to Michael developing multiple deficiencies, malnourishment, and rickets. Eventually, he managed to escape and was pursued by Garcia through the woods before being lost entirely. He ended up being found by Miriam and nursed back to (moderate) health by her and other members of the cult, including Amy. He and her share a close relationship, having trauma-bonded over their neglectful families and their traumatic experiences with priests. 

Miriam Bell 

Originally serving as a nun for several decades, Miriam grew to resent the church after being taken advantage of by a priest in the congregation. She turned from God and joined a cult which performed the Second Death ritual on her where she was possessed by the UNSPEAKABLE. From this, Gary was brought into the world. Miriam remained on Earth after that, her soul now bound to the UNSPEAKABLE, and continued on in the role of a nun. She was transferred to an orphanage to help take care of the children in a newly-renovated church - the same church her ceremony had been performed in and abandoned. She connected the church basement to the cult labyrinth and “died.” (See: disappeared to run the cult with Gary.) Over time, children began disappearing (being adopted by members of the cult to grow their numbers early on). The Vatican sent a priest to investigate why and was told to ask Sister Bell. The priest stayed the night in the church trying to find the “dead” woman’s spirit, following the sound of her mad cackling, and eventually disappeared just like the children had. In his case however, he was sacrificed. Miriam serves as the maternal figure of the cult. She tends to her human and demon children alike with a kind and loving hand. And she deals with intruders and interlopers with a much firmer one. The cult often refers to her as Mother Moon. Her soul is intertwined with Alejandro’s.

Roger (Candy Tunnel Demon) 

One of the first demons to be summoned, Roger was summoned to earth using the soul of a homeless man who had been living in the tunnels- one of the cult’s primary entries and exits to their lair. He acts as something of a guard to the cult. He scares off intruders and interlopers, he helps keep nosy folks away when there are rituals going on, and he helps organize ceremonial sacrifices. When he’s not needed as a guard, he tends to wander around. He’s a very curious demon by nature. Gary advises that if he approaches to just stay still and avoid running. (Though that’s advice he offers for every demon. Running only triggers their hunting instinct and makes them want to chase someone.) As long as one doesn’t panic, it’s okay to disregard him. Some do engage with him and it usually ends without consequence. If you can keep your nerve, Roger can appear friendly. He will even leave small gifts for cultists that play nice with him on occasion.

Tiffany Robinson

Known among the cult as The Rejected Vessel, Tiffany was Gary’s right hand man and thought herself to be the perfect vessel for the Antichrist. She was diligent, refined, loyal, and stood by Gary throughout all his rituals and ceremonies. Even so, she was deemed inadequate a vessel. She became angry and jealous when Gary chose Amy as the prospective harbinger for the Antichrist. So much so that she went rogue and performed the Second Death ceremony on herself, using Lisa as a prospective offering in the ceremony. Because the entire ritual was done incorrectly and there were no proper sacrifices done, Tiffany herself ended up becoming possessed by a demon. It binded itself to her soul and fed off of her wrath and her jealousy in order to possess her. She’s still somewhere in the cult’s territory. Gary just hasn’t bothered to find her. He’s got more important things to worry about. Though some cultists worry about how the Rejected Vessel might retaliate against them all.

The UNSPEAKABLE

Gary’s little helper, the UNSPEAKABLE was sent by Lucifer with the task to assist Gary in arriving on Earth and preparing the world for the Antichrist. In order to do this, it latched on to the soul of Sister Miriam Bell when she had the Second Death ritual performed on her. It helped open the portal for Gary to pass through to get to Earth. Afterwards, it lingered with Miriam and helped her deceive her way back into the church, instructing her on how to connect the church she was eventually transferred to back to the labyrinth created by the cult. Afterwards, it guided her to take the orphaned children and bring them to the cult where they would be adopted, as well helped her get rid of Father Clark. From then on, it’s had a hand in every sacrifice and ritual to date, serving at the cult’s symbol and mascot, and the main connection between Earth and Hell. Both it and Gary chose Amy to be the perfect vessel, and it has been assisting in preparing the world for the Antichrist. The cultists look to it with awe and reverence. Its power is unknowable, its mere presence overwhelming, and it loves interacting with cult members. Specifically, the children who like grabbing onto its hands and holding on while it gently swings them around. It is bound to the soul of Miriam Bell.

Roles

Tier I Acolytes

Tier I acolytes are new indoctrinates. Most come willingly into the cult, often brought in by friends, family, or neighbors. They express a desire to join the commune and be part of the community. They are monitored heavily, offered plenty of praise and welcome in order to warm them up to the more spiritual idea of the cult. This is done by having them attend meetings. Those that comply at this stage can advance further. Those that try to escape are quickly weeded out and expelled. If they’re in too deep however, they’re taken for sacrifice. 

Tier II Acolytes

Tier II are advanced indoctrinates who have showed an affinity for the spiritual aspect of the cult. They show a measure of compliance with ritual preparation, attend their weekly meetings, and make the sacrifices necessary to be considered a proper member of the cult. At this point, demons will begin revealing themselves to them in small ways. They will find sigils in their homes, see shadowy figures and silhouettes, and be more driven and dedicated to the cause. They’ll also need to practice better hygiene and learn more efficient hunting tactics in order to gather sacrifices. Things become a little more challenging in order to prove they are worthy of truly being part of Gary’s family. Those that cannot meet the increased demand already know too much. If they fail to maintain themselves, they will be sacrificed.

Tier III Acolytes

Tier III acolytes have overcome the challenges presented to them in Tier II and are almost fully indoctrinated. They are completely devoted to the cause and beliefs of the cult. They are almost impossible to pry from the community. Often, their family and friends have already forgotten them. They are ready and willing to be chosen at any time to become a vessel for the Second Death. Almost nothing can save them now.

Tier IV Acolytes

Tier IV acolytes are the highest rank of the cult’s thralls. They are beyond any salvation. They are committed in body, mind, and soul, to Gary and his cause. They do not just wait for the Second Death. They are in line to receive it. A demon has already been selected to be bound to them. All that remains to be done is a ceremony uniting them to said demon through the Second Death. They are Gary’s chosen few below all others. 

Chosen Vessels

Chosen vessels are anyone within the cult that has been selected to receive the Second Death and have their soul and body bound to a demon. They could be followers of any level, though most commonly they are Tier IV acolytes. Amy is the only real exception to this. 

Impure Vessels

Impure vessels are vessels that chosen outside of the cult, or members of the cult who have not been chosen by Gary but have undertaken the task to perform the ceremony on themselves anyway, such as Tiffany.

Ceremonies

January

1st - New Moon’s Grace: New Year’s Day. It’s celebrated by the cult staying up till midnight to see the shift, a small potluck, a lot of dancing and drinking, and just general merriment and celebration on behalf of the cult members.

5th - 31st - Recens Satus: Taking place all month long starting on the 5th, Recens Satus translates directly to Fresh Start. In order to begin the new year on a good foot, all leftovers are sacrirficed to the demons and the focus is shifted to cleanin house. Old things that serve no purpose anymore are thrown away or donated depending on condition. This helps keep the cult’s image up and also allows for a neat, healthy, happy home for the community. Gary in particular tends to be exceptionally neurotic about cleaning.

February

1 - Rubra Luna: Celebrated as he birthday of Lucifer, Rubra Luna is spent praising his name and giving thanks to Him with various sacrifices and a long evening Mass. This day also marks the beginning of what some members call “The Month of Sin.” Demons visit throughout the weeks of February and there are several notable ceremonies that happen during this time.

4th - Vessel’s Grace: A ceremony in which one member of the cult is specially chosen to be baptised in a pool of blood and graced with the privilege of being wilfully possessed by a demon. The demon wil inhabit their body for the month, bringing vitality, blessing, and good fortune to the cult. At the end of the month, the will leave the Vessel’s body and return to Hell to report back on the status of the cult.

8th - 13th  - Seduction’s Eve: Traditionally, these are the days before the beginning of the Rite of Amor Tentura. People in relationships will sit down and discuss their relationship for the following year. Those seeking to enter a relationship will begin courting their desired partner in hopes of wooing them and taking the rite with them.

14th - 21st - Rite of Amor Tentura: The cult equivalent of Valentine’s Day, this celebration lasts for about a week and is an early celebration of Spring. The major symbol of the holiday is the Baphomet, which symbolizes fertility, love, and lust. The ceremony is an annual tradition where members of the cult find partners. They then share a rite with them to spend the entire year together. The boundaries of partnership are open and flexible. Anything goes so long as the bonding is consensual and uncoerced between any and all parties involved. This means that a person can share their vow with the same person for many years in the cult, or, if both parties feel like things aren’t working out, then they’ll be able to break it off and select a new partner to be with during the ceremony for the next year. They may even have multiple partners if everyone is in agreement to do so, or have partners of the same sex. The key part of the ceremony includes consummating the new partnerships formed for the coming year, and while traditionally, this is a public event performed under the Baphomet for all the cult to witness and pray for, Gary is lenient about making an exhibit of it. As long as you fuck under/in front of the Baphomet in your private apartments, you’re fine.

28th - Demonae Reditus - Literally meaning demon’s return, it’s a small ceremonial sendoff to the demon that possessed the vessel during Vessel’s Grace.

March 

17th Witch’s Sabbath: A day adapted in Spring led by Gary. Previously, Tiffany hosted it with the one chosen vessel. The festival involves a sacrifice, though not always a killed one. Sometimes they take new indoctrinates and bless them, offering their souls to the dark lord in exchange for a good year full of luck and life.

20th - 22nd - Vere Umbra: Taking place on the spring equinox, this a rite in which cult members go out and collect a major sacrifice to be offered up live to the UNSPEAKABLE. They take their offerings to the altar where they chant and bang on ceremonial drums, lining up one by one and bringing their live specimens to be eviscerated over the altar while bathing their hands in the blood of their kill. The purpose of the ritual is to ensure that their faith in Lucifer is not lost with the coming of a new year and to be blessed with good luck, magic, and power to face the new year and any obstacles it may bring. Gary always goes first and does a sermon throughout the ceremony as people go one by one killing animals (or other things…) they picked up while out and about. Afterward, they celebrate the equinox by eating, drinking, indulging, sinning, etc.

April

1st - Synchophanta Aurora: The cult equivalent to April Fool’s Day. A minor holiday highlighted by mostly lighthearted tricks and jokes. Everyone makes lots of small snacks and sweets to trade, and they give thanks to demons who specialize in trickery and playful magick for keeping their spirits high. 

First Sunday of the Month: Ash Sunday: A minor ceremony where the cult gathers in the church at sundown and takes turns covering their hands in hot ash and pressing their palms against the altar in reverence of Lucifer.

Second Friday of the Month: Fresh Friday - The cult has a large garden where they grow fruit, vegetables, herbs, spices, and roots. This is their designated day where everyone goes and pitches in with the harvest of crops planted during the winter and summer previous. 

15th - Income taxes due: Exactly what it says on the tin.

17th   Hunter Sunday: The cult equivalent of Easter. The adults in the cult decorate and hide small capsules and toys around the apartment and the garden for the younger members of the cult to find. There’s a lot of chocolate and mashamllows involved. The winner of the hunt gets a prize in the form of lots of sweets and a visit from a very gentle, friendly demon to keep them company for the rest of the year. (Gary has an obsession with the Marshmallow Peeps.)

30th - Walpurgisnacht: Celebrated the night of April 30th and the day of May 1st. The cult praises Saint Walpurga for battling pests, rabies, and other illnesses. Unlike Christians however, they praise the Saint for allowing witchcraft and black magic to flourish and give them power.

May

4th - May the Fourth Be With You: The cult has a lot of Star Wars fans…

5th - Cinco de Mayo: Members of the cult of Mexican descent celebrate this holiday. It is the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the Second French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862

Second Sunday of May - Mother’s Day: This cult places a special importance on mothers. Expect to see a lot of celebrations of moms. Miriam tends to make an appearance, pinching cheeks and giving gifts and calling dedicated members sweet names. Gary cannot escape the smothering she gives him.

Friday the 13th: On the years where it happens, this is celebrated as a minor holiday with lots of snacks, pranks, and dancing. It’s considered a day of good fortune and luck. 

30th - Memorial Day:This is a minor holiday where the cult takes time to mourn and remember all of its members that is has lost due to varying circumstances. It’s quiet, sorrowful, and a way to express lingering pain and grief while honoring the happy moments members had with their loved ones.

June

Third Sunday - Father’s Day: Much like Mother’s Day, the cult values fathers as well. Expect a lot of gift giving, feasting, and partying to celebrate dads. Especially the father Lucifer, 

20th - 22nd - Aestate Umbra: This particular holiday is celebrated on the Summer solstice and is believed by the cult to be when the fires of hell are closest to the surface. They celebrate by decorating the halls quite a bit and lighting candles. Prayers to the UNSPEAKBLE are almost nightly occurrences through the months of June, and masses are held in the basement often. Sacrifices must be made frequently and consistently, as the chance of demons coming to visit sharply increases. Aside from the increase in responsibility, partying is a very common occurrence. Feasting, drinking, and other recreational and procreational activities are encouraged. The event is also recognized as an excess of magic being poured out from the underworld, allowing members of the cult to feel rejuvenated and invigorated. Those that collect crystals often spend a lot of time tuning them in order to absorb the excess magic. Curses, hexes, and spells are cast in group settings to increase their power. Those that do not have a way to collect the magic often spend all day doing as much as they can to reap the benefit of its increased presence, hence the partying that happens. Gary in particular gets very neurotic about cleaning.

July 

7th - Candlewalk: This night is celebrated by the cultists lighting everywhere with only candles and walking in total darkness to invite any demons of mercy to scare off inhibitions or potential blocks in their faith. This is also an invitation to be healed by the hands of Lucifer against any ailments or struggles that a cultist might be facing. Cultists often seal themselves in their rooms for a night and commune with visiting demons about things they have hidden from their fellow brothers and sisters in order to lighten the load on their minds. They are able to trust in these demons and will be healed and forgiven by them at the price of a bit of blood being drawn.

22nd - Sloth Day: A minor holiday spent lounging about and relaxing. Often with food and drink. It’s a good day for everyone to unwind for a bit and go out to the beach or movies if they’re not napping in.

August

20th - 22nd Folium Umbra: This ceremony takes place during the Autumn equinox. It is done to say farewell to all visiting demons who are returning back to hell as the weather cools, though some may occasionally linger in the shadows until winter. Sacrifices slow down in preparation for holidays, and prayer sessions are less frequent as the last of the magic of summer fades away. It’s more of a relaxed social event where others from out of town come to visit and are offered room with others in the apartments and the temple. It’s considered a family bonding ceremony more than anything. There’s a lot of drinking, but there’s an even bigger uptick in support for those who suffer of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

September

26th - Black Sabbath: A day in which the cult offers up vessels to visiting demons and uses them in a ceremony for a bountiful Halloween season. 

October

31st - Halloween: Though the origins of the tradition are mixed for them, they generally observe it as a day of merriment and empowerment and use it for rituals and for celebrations. In some Pagan traditions, Halloween is a night in which spirits from beyond are allowed to return and wander amongst the living. For them, it means demons visiting from Lucifer’s realm. The cult usually decorate to make their apartments seem inviting to spirits and demons passing by in hopes of having good fortune result from their passing. They leave out food and small trinkets in order to entertain their “guests” and keep them please through the rest of the year.

November

1st-2nd - Dia de los Muertos: Predominantly celebrated by the Mexican members of the cult, Gary’s adapted it for everyone to join in. Everyone sets up altars and shrines in their homes with pictures and spaces for offerings. These offerings are visited by spirits of friends and family who are guided and protected by the demons through the event until it’s over. 

11th - Veterans Day: A day spent celebrating those members that have served. Usually with a barbecue and drinks. 

4th week of November - Hebdomada Veniae: Taking place the week of Thanksgiving, the Week of Indulgence is a period of seven days where each day is spent indulging in one of the seven deadly sins. Sunday begins with Pride, Monday is Wrath, Tuesday is Envy, Wednesday is Greed, Thursday is Gluttony, Friday is Sloth, and Saturday is Lust.

Sparesday: Happening shortly after the Week of Sin, this is a designated day where all leftovers and collected sacrifices are given to the demons as thanks for allowing the cultists penance for a week to indulge in their pleasures. It’s also seen as a tax for one day inheriting Lucifer’s Kingdom by feeding his subjects: the demons.

December

20th - 22nd - Hiems Umbra: Occurring on the winter equinox, this ceremony is performed by the cultists each cutting their hands with a ceremonial dagger and offering a blood sacrifice into a grand cauldron full of hot coals. After everyone has offered themselves up, they all chant as the coals are set on fire and then dance in circles around the blaze, holding hands with visiting demons as they do. The purpose of the ritual is to show devotion and receive Lucifer’s favor and mercy for a relatively easy winter. This is followed by a period of fasting and non-stop prayer until the Grand High Climax.

24th - The Grand High Climax: A major holiday celebrated on December 24th. It is celebrated with the Black Mass, a major worshipping ceremony that Gary leads, and is followed by an excess of drinking, eating, sex, and merriment. Though it’s not acknowledged by all Satanic groups, Gary’s loves it. They host a huge potluck where everyone brings something and sits at a big table together passing around their plates, having toasts, and getting be seated beside a bunch of attending demons while they all spend time together.

25th to 31st - Yule: Essentially Christmas for them. Lasting from Christmas to New Year’s Eve and originally hailing from Pagan origin, Yule is celebrated with a decorated pine tree, a lot of singing, a lot of drinking, and a lot of eating. The cult will go out and cut down trees, burn the biggest log they have, and celebrate Lucifer and the good fortune they’ve received this past year. They make straw goats and a julebukk stuffed with sweets and, after praying to it for days, allow a demon to do the honor of destroying it and scattering the treats for them to collect. This time is also spent giving gifts to one another. 

31st - New Year’s Eve: Often called New Moon’s Eve, this event is celebrated the same way as regular New Year’s Eve for almsot everyone else. 

Other Ceremonies 

Birthdays: Birthdays are a big deal in the cult and everyone bands together to make sure a member’s special day is unforgettable. There are lots of presents, lots of food, lots of support, lots of drinking, and it’s generally a very big, cool party. Sometimes demons join in and toss the special birthday person around, but for once, they take very great care not to hurt anyone. Gary can’t promise that your cake won’t be untouched though. A lot of demons like cake. (Especially Alu.)

Black Matrimony: The cult equivalent of a wedding ceremony. It’s treated as a big event. Everyone helps pitch in to decorate and cook. The church in the temple is set up with decoration and everyone attends in formal attire for the event. The ceremony is officiated by a demon and a ring-bearing tradition. Praise is given to the UNSPEAKABLE for the union and the entire night is spent partying and rejoicing.

Dark Blessing: This is essentially the cult’s equivalent of communion and confirmation. Younger or newer indoctrinates undergo two (or three, if they’re born into the cult) of these rites in their life. The first is to signify that they have completed their indoctrination and are accepted by the cult. For new initiates, this is when all of the cult is in agreement that they are faithful and trustworthy. For born initiates, this happens on the day of their birth. The second rite happens when initiates have come of age - aka, reached 18. The third rite is given when they have committed the act of bringing either their first newcomer or their first sacrificial vessel into the cult, solidifying their place among the ranks. 

Blood Sanction: This ritual is performed whenever a new initiate is born. They are essentially blessed by darkness: marked with runes of blood, they are visited by their first demon so that they are ensured protection by the dark lord before being handed over to their mother for assurance that they will always be safe in His shadow.

Ceremony of Conviction: This rare ceremony is performed when it is found that someone is growing suspicious and intruding in the cult’s matters. They are taken by cult members, locked in the basement, and tortured for a fortnight. If the figure in question is a religious figure, such as a priest, missionary, or reverend, the torture is extended for two whole months, or longer. The cult invites demons to watch and cackle as they torment the prisoner in UNSPEAKABLE ways, aiming to break their faith. The end result is either conversion or a slow, torturous death as demons devour them morsel by morsel. Cultists observe the whole thing and chant, as the energy of the demons feeding off of a live meal can often invigorate the souls of initiates who are so lucky as to witness the sight. Those directly responsible for capturing the target are rewarded handsomely by Lucifer and his demons.

Final Respite: Funeral ceremony for fallen cult members. It’s a ceremony where the body (or whatever is left) is prepared with balms and salves, locked into a black wood coffin, and held in the temple church. The cult gathers to sing and pray in tribute to the member’s life, before the coffin is set ablaze and submerged in a fountain of blood where they will descend into Lucifer’s kingdom and join him in death.

Nox Amoris: If you’re a couple looking to conceive while indoctrinated in the cult, it’s critical that you go through this ritual and gain both Gary and the UNSPEAKABLE’s approval. These rituals are only available during the Spring and early Summer and must be performed at night. If Gary approves of the conception, he’ll go to the basement to draw up a summoning circle and briefly commune with the demons about the initiate’s intentions. The ritual consists of bringing a sacrifice to the altar, eviscerating it, bringing something you hold dearest to you, putting it inside the sacrifice, closing it back up, and then leaving it for the demons to collect under a powerful seal. If the demons accept, they will visit and return the item you sacrificed while you sleep. If they do not approve, the seal and the item will disappear. The reason it is important for the demons to accept the conception is because children with their approval are marked as Children of Lucifer by default and will go unharmed by visiting demons. If a child is born in the cult and it is not approved by the demons, there is a strong chance they may target the parents after it is born, and nothing will stop the newborn from being used as part of the Second Death ritual. (For this reason, Gary encourages birth control among cult members and, if necessary, will schedule abortions at the clinic for errors.)

Second Death - A ritual performed on a chosen vessel. A special mask is placed over the vessel’s face as a guide and stained with their blood as a glass ritual knife is used to carve out the face of the victim. This creates a portal to Hell. From there, seven living newborns must be passed through in order to receive a response. Usually, this takes the form of a demon binding itself to the victim’s soul, possessing the body, and pushing its hand through the cavernous face. When not actively being inhabited, the victims face will return and they will regain control of themselves. However, the demon will still be bound to them and able to take control at any given time. After a certain point, the demon will completely emerge from the vessel’s face and walk alongside them on Earth. 

Walk of Judas: The cult performs a re-enactment of the Last Supper and Judas’ betrayal to commemorate the branching off of members from the cult to new roots. They usually don’t move far, but whenever cultists end up moving out of the apartment complex after years of dedicated service, this ceremony is held by Gary and his cult to commemorate them leaving in the hopes that they will spread the knowledge of what they have learned and continue their practices. And they’re very authentic about it. They dress the part, make bountiful feasts, and turn the whole apartment complex into basically a walkthrough theater where the departing person plays the role of Judas to affirm that they will carry on the ways of the cult long after they’ve left.

Weekly Meetings - Taking place Wednesdays and Sundays (unless there’s a holiday). These are gatherings in the temple chapel where Gary holds a short service to remind everyone of upcoming events and dates. It’s also taken as an opportunity to praise diligent members and warn of potential dangers both inside and outside of the cult.

Demons

The relationship between demons and souls are complicated. A soul is what allows a mortal creature to live and walk on Earth. Earth can only be possessed and tread upon by creatures with souls. Demons (and angels) do not have souls and so are confined to Hell. There are just two ways to get around this, and it is why they want souls in order to be able to walk on Earth. 

When a soul is sacrificed (meaning offered from a dead person) to them, it is not absorbed into them, nor does it exist within them the way it does for a human. They’re still very much non-mortal and do not become mortal by having a soul. Rather, human souls act as ticket to Earth and a source of power to keep them on Earth. Demons want them in order to wander Earth and in order to become strong and feel vitalized. 

The other way a demon can come to earth using a soul is throught a vessel. A vessel is a living person who has been prepared to have their soul borrowed or bound to a demon. Borrowed for demons temporarily visiting, bound for demon who are permanently staying with them. They prefer willing vessels, but any vessel will do as long as it has a soul. They can possess this vessel at any time and use their bodies any way they like. 

If a demon is called by its name while it is in the mortal realm, one of two things can happen. If it is bound to/possessing a vessel, it will manifest itself by taking control of the body to respond to the one who has addressed them. If it is not bound to/possessing a vessel, the demon will appear before the one who called its name. How it responds varies wildly based on the temperament and nature of the demon.

While it is generally considered ill fortune to call a demon by its name, if it is not already summoned into the mortal realm, there’s really nothing it can do. 

Demons generally do not share their true names. It is only by salvaged record that most of them are known. The primary reason for this is because if you know their name, you have the power to summon them by invoking their name. This means that, to some degree, you can control them by way of making deals at any time or interrupting their work at will.

There is a difference between possession and being bound. Possession is of the flesh. Binding is of the soul/spirit. 

Any demon can possess a person, and any demon that possesses someone can be banished with an exorcism. It already has a soul (usually from someone who’s already dead) allowing it to walk on Earth. Therefore, its hold on the person’s flesh is weak and temporary. (Such as Alu temporarily possessing John.)

A demon that is bound to someone’s soul is tethered to that person forever. Its very essence is now merged with the person’s. Exorcism can temporarily remove it from their body if it’s possessing them, but it won’t free their soul and the demon will try to get their person to run away. The person and the demon are intricately intertwined. (Such as Amy and her demon, or Miriam and the UNSPEAKABLE.)

A demon can only be bound to a mortal’s soul through ritual, like the Second Death. With a demon bound to them, the mortal will never age or die of natural causes, and some may even be granted special abilities as a result of their soul being bound to a demon. (These abilities depend wholly on what the demon is capable of.) However, because of this tether, if either the mortal or demon is hurt/killed, then the other will suffer the same fate. Kill the person, the demon dies. Exorcise the demon, the person dies. 

Multiple demons can bind to one soul. It’s incredibly rare though. Most demons don’t like to share.

Multiple souls can also bind to one demon. The more souls a demon has bound to it, the more powerful it becomes. 

When a demon falls in love with a mortal, it means they truly care for that individual. They will become very diligent, dedicated, and protective of them. They will do anything to make them happy and keep them safe. In return, they hope to be bound to the mortal. This has been the heel of many fallen demons.

The offspring of a demon and a human is known as a Demifiend. They are incredibly unique creatures. They often inherit some of the abilities of their demon parentage that will grow stronger with age. Because humans need souls to exist and a soul cannot exist in a demon’s body, Demifiends’ souls often take the form of a shapeshifting animal companion - a daemon. Much like the bond between their parents, Demifiends’ soul are an extension of themselves. They will not die of natural causes, but can be killed if their Daemon is.

Every demon has its own unique abilities and powers. This depends on their rank, how many souls they have, and their own personal forte. Some are masters of charisma, others specialize in trickery. Most demons have multiple abilities. All demons have the ability to appear at will or turn invisible in order to protect themselves.

Every demon has a different and unique temperament. For the most part, they all get along or are at least civil towards one another. Even still, they are all unique individuals with their own personalities. Some are mischievous and relish in chaos and suffering. Others are more even-tempered, neutral, and to themselves. Still others are very friendly, gentle, and outgoing. No two demons are completely alike. Not even twins.

[brotherseannsfw]

Hii, I noticed in your response in what type of woman is your dream woman you mentioned being christian. What does that mean to you, like Christianity? Because a lot of the stuffs your blog covers is kind of unchristian in its nature but I was wondering if that meant christian in the ideals like homemaker style? (Sorry if this doesn't make sense idk how to ask this question I am not versed in religion)

Okay so one of the midst fundamental parts of Christianity to me is that we are saved by faith in the lord alone. His redeeming love and forgiveness is without end. This has little to do with my answer but I want to keep that in mind. No one is unworthy of the lord's love.

Everything I post here is meant to be between consenting adults. No one is coming to any actual harm (well beyond some bruises or cuts). The Bible does not dictate what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home.

Finally, I say my partner has to be Christian, but that's because it's only in people that are able to give themselves over to the lord that I have in the past found people I could trust my heart to.

Very long winded answer I know. Feel free to ask for clarification

[majormiles]

for the fanfic asks, 🚀🥳📗? i love your fics btw, thank you for sharing them with the universe!

Thank you!! Even after all these years, it still blows me away that ppl like my stuff lmao. From Fanfic Writer Asks

Do you outline your fic first or create as you go?

Do I outline? LOL no. It is my second biggest flaw as a writer, after being a shit worldbulider. Hotspur was actually my practice at longer fic/planning and even then my outline was a list of bullet points of things I’ve set up (themes, motifs, plot points etc.) which at some point I needed to pay off. They were roughly organised into chapters and then every chapter I just crossed off anything I’d paid off. And if I didn’t pay it off, the list just moved into the next chapter.

Horrifying, I know. You are allowed to be horrified lmaoo. This is why I’m not very good at judging how long fics will be because they’re simply either as long as it takes to pay off everything, or I get bored. One of the two.

Why did you start writing fanfic?

Why? Wow, that’s a question. I don’t know! I started writing fic waaay back when I was a kid, maybe 8ish. Younger? I honestly don’t remember a time when I didn’t write. How cliche is that? It was a hobby I could do on my own which was cheap and didn’t require any special materials lol. This was back before I even knew what fic was. I just had a TV show or something I liked and I wanted to write more in that ‘verse. Kid me started with self-inserts (naturally) but once I discovered that fanfiction was a “thing” I switched to writing canon characters only, and then basically never stopped! That was going on 20 years ago, wow.

Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

DO I. Honey, that’s the dream. I keep trying but I’m just not comfortable worldbuilding. I’m very good at starting ideas as my friends and old classmates will know, but I have never written an “original” story to completion. I’ve spent the last couple of years attempting to write sci-fi pieces but after 10k, 15k (50k, once) or a couple of chapters, I hate everything about it and I scrap it. I’m really my biggest critic.

I don’t know how worldbuilders settle on “an” idea. I just. Have so many ideas! I do, at least, tend to re-use concepts from my scrapped works and try to re-work them into something else. I’m currently attempting to write a story about a father who is unable to move on from the death of his daughter (looking at you, Hotspur) and feels stuck between the past and future. I mean, it’s a sci-fi and there’s, you know, spaceships and aliens and love and stuff, but at its heart, it’s a story about a man who’s afraid to be happy. I was literally writing some of it today. It’s a hot mess. I kind of hate it! But I need to persevere lol.

Another idea I had was something I wrote 50k for last year and then threw out. I know, my friends hate me. Um, it was also sci-fi. It about a man who is unwillingly immortal (grief and resurrection comes up a lot in my ideas) and spends a couple hundred years adrift alone. He’s picked up by another spaceship and I had absolutely no plot. It was all concept. There was a whole religion that I fleshed out and like this big secret on the ship and it was all spooky and apocalyptic. He was just a grump for 50k basically just dad-ing everyone. Ah William, I miss you. Thanks for asking!

[lumenfall]

VERSES .

✤ verse — of girlhood and grandeur

canon . Heavy the mantle of expectation lies. Young Maria proves athletic and fearless, rejecting opulence, refusing to be tempered by more leisurely and feminine pursuits. As her limbs lengthen and she hovers on the cusp of womanhood, her visage is oil-painted in shades of oyster shell and duck down, her miniature portraits shared with potential suitors. Make no mistake, an only child of noble birth is an asset. The walls of Cainhurst Castle loom tall and suffocating, her dream of knighthood far out of reach.

✤ verse — the love of nature is a kind of religion

canon . Stall tactics and a desire to learn bring Maria to Byrgenwerth.  Curiosity, too – not only for her subject of botany, not only for those whose blood is not considered vile, but for the former groundskeeper.  The first of his kind, he of humble beginnings and a grand cause.  Maria distances herself from Cainhurst and takes her place at the beast-hunter Gehrman’s side.

✤ verse — every version of the story ends with you being slaughtered

canon . Oh, but Maria thrives under Gehrman’s tutelage.  Although not the gilt-edged knighthood she imagined in the days of her youth, it is beautiful and horrifying and righteous.  Blood is in her veins, in her hair, in the treads of her boots; it drips from her leather clad form and she is unshackled.  Until the illusion shatters, until the hunt morphs into a massacre and it becomes clear that the means do not justify the end.

✤ verse — the sea slides back / the mirrors are sheeted

canon . After the butchery in the fishing hamlet, Maria retires from the hunt.  A ghost of her former self, she withdraws from those she loves by degrees, and seeks redemption in the echoing chambers of the Research Hall.  Comfort is all she has to offer the world.  In the end, comfort is not enough, and there is one final beast she must slay – but self-destruction does not expunge the stain on her soul.

✤ verse — i like to call myself wound / but i will answer to knife

canon . Condemned to the Hunter’s Nightmare, Maria resides in the Astral Clocktower.  She shows no sign of beasthood or blood sickness, her only disfigurement are those self-inflicted wounds that ended her life.  The weight of her sins is clear to her, and now she guards the fishing hamlet, the body of Kos and her orphan.  Gentle, violent, determined.

✤ verse — when i die let the wolves enjoy my bones

ancient greece . A verse inspired by but not limited to Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey.  Maria is a member of the Daughters of Artemis, a tribal society of female warriors who worship the goddess of the hunt.

[my-castles-crumbling]

Btw this is super long so if it’s too much, ignore it 💖

So i think I need some advice. I’m in a friend group of seven. Three of them are christian. People’s religions don’t often bother me, i’ve had my ups and downs with it but mostly I don’t mind what you believe.

But two of them have some opinions that they align with their religion that I disagree with. 

So Friend 1 is pro-life. She strongly believes abortion shouldn’t be an option (in healthcare) and if she was old enough, would vote against the right to have it. For everyone.

Friend 2 believes that abortion is murder, but (I would say) is pro-choice simply because even though she wishes nobody got abortions, she wouldn’t actively vote against their right to have them. 

Say if I got pregnant, I know Friend 2 would still help me get an abortion if that’s what I chose. 

And then there’s the other thing. They are both… let’s just say… not on the side of queer people. And im queer. And they know that. 

I told them back when we became friends. Friend 1 jokingly said “no one here is gay right?” (when she was sat on the lap of Friend 2, pretending they were a couple, they’re both girls) and I didn’t hear the hostility in her tone. And I said I was (well, Pansexual). I was met with an awkward silence. And the announcement that Friend 1 was christian… 

Friend 1 doesn’t agree with queer people. She doesn’t think it’s natural or right. She doesn’t like the idea of queer marriage. Or queer adoption. I don’t know her opinion on trans people explicitly but I think she’s said some classic transphobe things, like the claim the bathroom isn’t safe 🙄 ( which is obviously not true)

Friend 2 is the exact same. I tried explaining how JK Rowling is transphobic once and she brushed me off and said it sounded like she was right (ik a lot more abt that now though so i might go back to that with her soon… to be fair to her, she does listen to me and change her opinions if I make an argument she understands)

But when it comes down to it, Friend 1 thinks that it should all be done her way.

Whereas Friend 2 thinks above all she should not judge. She wouldn’t take away queer peoples rights (and doesn’t really say things like “they’re too loud” and such).

But here’s the thing. They are both good people. Friend 1 is the first person I go to with good or bad news. She is so good at understanding how others are feeling. And she gets me. She’s lovely and sweet and so enthusiastic. And I feel comfortable around her. We don’t talk about religion. She’ll mention something she believes from the bible or quote a verse and i’ll be cool with it. I’ll mention queer rights and she’ll be cool with it. 

And Friend 2 is awesome. She’s funny and kind and we talk about religion a lot. We debate everything and argue (gently, no yelling just talking) and we never end badly. It’s always like… okay. Agree to disagree. Cause she knows I respect her right to believe in god. And I know she respects my right to be who I am. 

They both always ask my permission if they can pray for me. They always invite me to their church youth group but provide me all the timings so I can come after prayers just so i’m comfortable (cause they don’t want me to feel left out when they invite the others).

But sometimes I feel… resentment. Towards them. Because they don’t like people who are like me. 

The whole abortion thing is tough, because I think no matter what you believe you shouldn’t vote against the right to HAVE an abortion. Because that’s taking away a human right (in my opinion). 

It’s not like i’m not used to this attitude. My parents are similar to this. They believe everyone should have the right to an abortion but, unless it’s a horrible (rape) situation, you should still have the child. And they believe in rights for queer people… until they’re being loud about it. Until it’s their kid. 

And I just- I don’t love that attitude and so after leaving it in my house, it’s not easy for it then to be around me and my friends. 

But also I’d hate to lose them over this. They are good people. They’re kind and funny and I get along so well with both of them. 

Friend 2 is a friend I hope i’ll have for a long time. Because she’s like a sister. We argue but we never get mad. Plus at the end of the day she’d have my back. She’d come to my wedding if I married a women (i’m also a girl) and she’d help me if I ever needed it, over all else. She believes the most important part of being a christian is not to judge others. And I think she truly tries not too. 

Friend 1 it’s harder. I love her too, she’s the best person to talk to when something happens. She’s generous and giving and she fucking cares. But she really believes these things in a way I find difficult to accept sometimes. 

I don’t have a great relationship with religion. i’d love to hash it out one day but right now I just don’t have the time to put another difficult and anxiety inducing thought through my brain. 

I don’t know what i’m asking and i’m conscious this was a long fucking message so i’m sorry. And if any of it bothers u or u don’t want it on ur blog then don’t worry at all 💖

 I just… am i wrong? For resenting them a little? It’s hard for me to tell which parts are my rocking relationship with religion that cause these thoughts, or if maybe they’re not good people for me.

Because I know if I asked them not too, they’d never bring up their religions around me. I respect their rights to opinions and they respect mine. But sometimes, it bugs me. And I, I just can’t tell if i’m being unfair. Because i am comfortable around them. And they are both sooooo kind. Well… depending on how you measure "kind" i guess. And trust me, they ever bring this stuff up, i’m always reading with a rebuttal, and they’ll always listen. It’s just not easy sometimes.

Hi! I don't think you're wrong for feeling resentment at all! Being friends with people who have difference in fundamental beliefs is HARD, especially when they have beliefs against your actualy identity. And I'm not judging you at all for it, but I do have to say, some of the things you said do seem like a bit of a red flag to me, especially for friend 1.

I think the thing is, people who different in these kind of beliefs hardly ever change them. At least not usually. And eventually, something is going to happen so that you cannot ignore those differences anymore. Like you said, you might marry a woman. Seems like friend 2 passes the vibe check in that case. but what about friend 1?

Again, I get it. I've been there. Only you can decide whether or not these friendships are worth it. But I worry a bit for you, is all.

[rumble-aint-a-rumble-without-me]

Ummmmmmmm. I hate school. During the school year it's impossible for me to accomplish anything because if I have one thing going on in a day I can't do anything else. But I've been sitting on the couch starting at my computer for the last half hour so I figure I may as well try to get past my writers block.

Introducing...

Coming Down

This song is kind of going to just be the reader looking back at all that has happened these last few months.

Verse 1

I found God I found him in a lover When his hair falls in his face And his hands so cold they shake

Dally canonically does not use hair grease, so his hair is the fluffiest thing in the world. He also has cold hands, you can't convince me otherwise. He is always cold which is why when he left New York he went to Oklahoma. (I don't know a lot about the states 'cause I live in Canada, but I looked it up and it said Oklahoma was one of the hottest states.)

I found the Devil I found him in a lover And his lips like tangerine In his color coded speak

Dally has a way with words even if he refuses to admit it. He would get good marks in English class whenever he was asked to write a straight up story, but his essays would ramble on and on and never really go anywhere. Now he can't be bothered to show up to class anyway so it doesn't really matter.

Chorus

Now we're lost somewhere in outer space In a hotel room where demons play They run around beneath our feet We roll around beneath these sheets

Reader stayed out one night even though they knew they were going to get in trouble for it. Dally and them hung out and went to all their favorite spots, and they stayed in a hotel room. Reader was feeling kinda conflicted with all that was going on and Dally could tell that and tried to comfort them as well as he could. Naturally a tickle fight commenced. The reader was surprised by how safe they felt with Dally. Like they could let go of everything and just be.

I've got a lover, a love like religion I'm such a fool for sacrifice It's coming down, down, I'm coming down It's coming down, down, I'm coming down

Reader gets home and everything kinda loses that feeling of safety.

I've got a lover and I'm unforgiven I'm such a fool to pay this price It's coming down, down, I'm coming down It's coming down, down, I'm coming down

They remember that they have a boyfriend and responsibilities to their family and everyone and they feel bad about what they are doing.

Verse 2

I found a martyr He told me that I'd never With his educated eyes And this last line is kinda sexual and I don't feel comfortable with that so just enjoy not having to watch me struggle with it.

Reader thinks that in another life Dally could have been someone who'd do a lot of good. They told him once that she could see all the lives he had ever lived in his eyes, he brushed it off but he felt bittersweet nonetheless, thinking about how highly they viewed him and being convinced that he didn't deserve it.

I found a savior I don't think he remembers 'Cause he's off to pay his crimes And he's got no time for mine

Dally gets arrested. And it's hard for reader. Dally has been being more careful than he usually is but. He got sloppy. And now she is reflecting on everything.

This time the chorus is more reflective, she is thinking about the relationship as a whole and everything that is involved with it

Bridge

Every single night pray the sun will rise Every single time make a compromise Every single night pray the sun will rise, but

It's coming down, down, I'm coming down It's coming down, down, I'm coming down

This is such a reflection of how the relationship has been and is going.

And that's it. I think this is the perfect song to pick back up on because it fits so well that it sorta writes itself and because it's kind of a summery of everything that has happened.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, *takes awkward bow*

I’m holding this against my chest, cradling it like a newborn baby, clutching it like the last item on Black Friday, gripping it like a best friend who’s moving far away. I hope you know how much it means to me that you keep coming back and breaking down these lyrics, spinning such a complex and beautiful story about Dally and his lover and gosh, I hope you know how much I love it <3

[yaksha-garden]

//holds a microphone up to u. tell me about the slay the princess/eden brainworms.

i am RIPPING the microphone out of your hand and marching up to the front of the stage to tell everyone about the brainworms. none of you will be spared. this is what you have wrought. you've let the world ending princess out of the basement now.

but also. massive Slay The Princess spoilers below. seriously, this is gonna spoil the whole deal of what the Princess actually is, and it's really the sort of game you should go into reasonably blind, you won't regret it. It's hot among indie horror let's players atm I think, so you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a playthrough.

But then again I'm not your dad so just know you've been warned.

first of all: the princess' final form/The Shifting Mound takes cues from the iconography of hindu deities, or at least seems to. if the reference was unintentional I'll be genuinely surprised (this isn't an accusation of appropriation or anything - Hinduism isn't a closed religion, and I actually think the reference fits with the Shifting Mound and the princess' many forms' whole situation, so it's just a cool detail). it will be informing my inner picture of eden's true form during their "glory days" (before plague and giving up the Keystone and most of their power) from now on.

but the whole deal of like... the princess (and the many forms she can take) being the fragmented essence of a deity of change who was feared because she also represents death is like holy cow! edencore! they're essentially a deity with a fragmented memory, a multifaceted domain, and diminished existence! they don't represent chaos but nature can be kinda similar, in themes if not aesthetics. and especially like... in the fear of something ultimately natural, like death. and how that fear isn't unfounded or unreasonably, but when taken too far, it inflicts disaster on the world.

eden too is a shapeshifter. mostly in that they have animal forms, but i think emotionally, they're a mimic - and that's the source of a lot of their apparent volatility. if someone's kind to them, they'll be downright magnanimous right back. if someone antagonizes them, they'll be bitchy in turn and they won't be the one to de-escalate or stop holding the feud first. that tbh. that sort of thing is the driving force behind The Princess' shifting forms imo. she is a creature of perception, you are what you make her, but I find she responds in kind to whatever you, the protagonist, do. if you imprison her, she seeks to imprison you. if you betray her, she'll betray you when you're the one with the exposed back. but if you love her, she'll love you back. cuts both ways.

also like... the world the game takes place in. the construct. i kind of want to make something like that as like, a dream of eden or another powerful figure? maybe one of the Devatas' past schemes to get Eden away from The Verdant Haven permanently was to trap them in that sort of dream realm, a forever-repeating, mutating, airtight story-realm. obviously that didn't work. this is where the brainworms are taking me in terms of setting and backstory design.

and also... this isn't about main verse eden. in fact, it's about their original verse, a soulslike-inspired hindu mythology-based setting where Eden was the dying, comatose god who all plant life depended on, and Vayu/Yuya was the protagonist trying to revive them. And I made this years, before I ever knew about Slay The Princess, but by sheer coincidence, Yuya <--> Eden what the protagonist <--> The Princess in slay the princess in terms of metaphysics: separated fragments of the same whole. someone who reccomended the game to me actually said after I played it and rambled at him that he partly reccomended it to me because it reminded him of vayuden a little. and man. that made me ecstatic.

anyway this is not nearly the full extent of the brainworms, just the brainworms I could put to words. you understand. thank you thank you for indulging me.