#READ THE FIRST SEA SERPENT READER FIRST TO GET SOME CONTEXT!

[kobb4ni2]

[ FEM SEA SERPENT! READER + YANDERE KING DRABBLE ]

TW: Alot of blood mentioned, and drunk kissing (not sober so that's bad >:v), SPOILERS FOR KING'S REAL NAME, and implied s3x

I feel like King would be incredibly touchy only to you. King has been deprived of physical touch or any kind of affection, how can he? When he spend most of his days being a lab rat for Vegapunk. King can't even imagine touching someone so affectionately yet when you slowly broke down his walls and how you capture his heart raw, and the many days (aka everyday) he wanted you only to his side, how he wants to hold you close, skin pressed against him tight, he knows the goo goo eyes he notices from other people whenever both of you are hanging out (aka stalking).

Oh how he despise it. If every dead body he had killed because of his fires he could be making a forest a burning one to be exact, but he dares to never even let a single drop of blood be in his rugged up hands when he caress your tail, or your hands.

You've always taught that King only liked to be near you and even touch your tail because he wants you to talk more about his extinct race and if you want stop talking he will make you you by using the fires of his back but how wrong you were. You carefully unravelled him, like a tightly tuned shamisen, your words, touches, voice are like your hand carefully playing with heart like a talented maestro yet when you keep on strumming his feelings you failed to realized the blood dripping out of your fingers when doing so. King's swords is not only covered in the blood of his enemies, or even thinks to be near you but your name also carved in his sword.

He doesn't care about the height difference you guys have, even if your are in your smallest from (16'9) he will always find a way to feel you whole.

May it's the way you make him feel small when you look at him, or how your tail wrap around his waist, maybe the times he allowed you to touch his wings and how much he tried his best not to kiss you when you get near his face, he wants to taste your colored lips and let his face be full of your lipstick stain.

Depravity makes a man or any creature kind, and was that true for Alber when he was under you drunkingly kiss his neck while you hold him up, Alber wants you you maybe one day he can kiss you deeply and passionately after a wild hunt of sheading blood in your name as a infant baby with brown skin, with black feathers that were on your arms as Alber holds the other infant baby that has the same brown skin as his but a tail longer then it's entire body just like their mother.

How I make the yandere character act at my fanfics :3 (NO ONE CAN STOP ME)

(Random tiktok of the day:3)

[young-dumb-and-vaccinated]

The Sommelier (Hannigram x Female!Reader) pt. 25

Y/n puts an end to everything.

@dovahdokren @deadman-inc-bikeshop @lov3vivian @wisesandwichshark @scpdragon

⚠️HUGE⚠️ trigger warnings: rape, drugging, sex trafficking, VERY graphic descriptions of violence, physical violence (please let me know if I leave anything out)

Hannibal could walk through a valley of human suffering and not even flinch. You couldn't tell if that made him subhuman or superhuman. You, however, were just human.

You wanted to be a badass. You wanted to kick the door down and make a scene. But one woman was enough to break you.

She was wearing only a large t-shirt. A cloth bandage covered in blood covered her pubic area like a makeshift pair of underpants. She laid limply against a stone. Her arms were punctured where needles had been.

"I don't..." she mumbled, clearly intoxicated beyond function. "...don't make me..."

You knew you couldn't afford to stop. But compassion kept your feet firmly on the ground in front of her.

"What is Chase making you do?"

"I can't-" She said, pressing her forehead against the rock. "I can't be an unwoman-"

She began to slam her head against the rock with clear intent to take her own life. Without thinking, you grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her into the grass. She sobbed, a bloody, but thankfully, survivable, gash on her forehead.

"Tell me your name." You demanded, squeezing her shoulders.

"...Tiffany." She said with a sudden lucidity.

The name unlocked a memory in you. It was the still image of a sunny young girl, immortalized on a faded missing person's ad hung up at the grocery store. Tiffany Rose Pierce, it read.

"I'm gonna get you out of here, Tiffany." You whispered. "I'm gonna get all of you out of here."

"Vanguard won't like that." She said, slipping back into a state of minimal consciousness.

"Stay here." You instructed, pushing yourself back to your feet.

You readied your gun and slowly, carefully pushed the cabin door open. Suddenly, the stained glass window was the least of your worries.

The entire area was lined with cheaply-constructed bunk beds, like an overgrown henhouse. Women with distinctively long hair were shackled to the lower bunks. Their shaven counterparts, the unwomen, were forced to be the slavedrivers. They held the chained women down.

You heard the rattling of chains coming from the right. It was accompanied with screaming and wet slapping.

"Take daddy's cock you filthy fucking broodmare." A familiar voice grunted.

The only way you could look at him was behind the barrel of your gun. He was exactly how you pictured him while listening to his voice in the car. Unremarkable, middle-aged and serpentine.

"Pastor Armitage!" You yelled.

To hear someone call him by his title in the midst of violating a person was enough to send him into a panic. He sputtered and his entire face turned red.

He didn't suffer for long, though. A 12 gauge shell right through the face took care of that. Fragments of his head, his blood and brain matter splattered everywhere. His knees buckled and his limp body collapsed.

The room fell silent. Smoke trickled out of your barrel.

"Where's fucking Chase?" You asked the room.

Someone weakly pointed up the stairs. You met her eyes and nodded.

"Sorry about the mess."

Now you knew how Hannibal felt. Blowing someone's head off made you acutely aware of your own head on your shoulders. You held it higher. You felt no remorse as you ascended the staircase with your gun blazing.

You came across a room with some words etched in the door. 'Skin room'. You launched your foot squarely into the door, causing it to violently swing open. 

You examined the room from behind the gun. Chase had done a hell of a job dressing up this cheap cabin bedroom like a hotel suite, but the smell hit you before you could be fooled. A brick chimney, a wine cooler and a mahogany desk were positioned so the eye would gravitate towards the luxury while the nose picked up the brutality. The stained glass window was suspended in front of the real window, absorbing the mid-morning light and giving the room an eerie sepia tint. 

You cocked your gun to announce your presence. You heard the sound of running water, and then a side door swung open. 

“You’ll forgive me a couple minutes to freshen up.” Chase said, shaking his hands dry. “Cleanliness is close to godliness, after all.” 

You said nothing. You didn’t want to dignify him with a conversation. 

He bent over and pulled a bottle of wine from his cooler. He placed it squarely on the desk. You looked at it, then did a double take. He grinned sadistically. 

“Is that...” You leaned in to get a closer look. “1907 Heidsieck Monople Gout?” 

Chase shrugged. “You tell me. You’re the wine expert.” 

You’d heard many a conflicting story about the legendary 1907 Heidsieck. Some said as many as 2,000 bottles were pulled up from the depths of the freezing Baltic sea. Some said a single bottle could go for half a million dollars. With that kind of precedent, you never thought you’d ever have to worry about it. Yet, there it was. Right in front of you. 

“I’m saving it for a special occasion.” Chase said, suddenly reminding you where you were.

You returned to your gun. “For when you kill me?” 

“For when I save you.” Chase smiled, his unnaturally white teeth glistening in the sepia light. “See, Miss [F/N], you survived two of my attempts on your life. God has smiled down on you.” 

“Or, maybe,” You interrupted. “You’re just horrible at killing.” 

Chase raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

"A knife through the hand hurts like a bitch, but it isn't fatal." You shrugged. "And you didn't do a good enough job beating the fear of death out of Catherine. Else she might have actually gone through with it. Maybe if you'd sent Tiffany-"

"God loves you." Chase interrupted before you could poke more holes in his attempts on your life. "Why you're still alive when so many less deserving of death have died is beyond me, but god works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?"

"She sure does." You smirked.

Chase cleared his throat. You'd pegged him as the type to get irrationally angry at the implication of god being a woman, so his reaction surprised you.

"Well, let's get down to business, shall we?" He gestured to a seat across from him.

You narrowed your eyes. "I don't think so."

"Pity." He pouted. "Not even for poor Mr. Graham?"

It dawned on you that he probably still thought he had Will, and you could use it to your advantage.

You held your gun at your side and hesitantly sat down in the seat. A gluttonous smile spread across Chase's face.

"So it wasn't wine after all." He said. "It wasn't even your own life. You're only willing to save your soul for the sake of your precious Will Graham."

"What do you care?" You growled through your teeth. "This is just a power grab for you. You wouldn't know what genuine empathy for another person feels like."

He grinned, as if someone had just flipped his 'on' switch. "Jesus does."

"Did Jesus use his influence to lure teenage girls into a sick breeding ring?" You sneered. "I don't remember that from VeggieTales."

"Genesis 1:28." Chase said. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply."

"I suppose you also don't eat shellfish or wear mixed fabrics." You rolled your eyes.

"It's always the same arguments from you atheists." Chase scoffed, adding a distinct bite to the last word. "When are you going to show some actual proof that the bible isn't an infallible model for human morality?"

"Maybe when you stop eating shellfish and wearing mixed fabrics." You repeated.

"They are minor sins at best." Chase grimaced. "I have gotten right with Jesus. You, on the other hand, oh, you. Your sins are weighty."

"I did just blast a rapist's head off." You admitted. "And it's going to be two very soon if this one doesn't get to the fucking point."

"I know about your exploits." He squinted. "With Mr. Graham and the man with the Nazi accent."

"He's actually from Lithuania, which, if you wanna be technical," you corrected, just for the sake of being annoying. "Is an ex-Soviet state, but whatever."

Chase tensed up at being corrected. "I know about your hedonistic sexual activities with two men, your exploration. But in the bible, Satan approaches these two people called Adam and Eve..."

"No he didn't." You shook your head. "It was a serpent. The devil wasn't a concept when Genesis was written."

Chase gritted his teeth. "God made one man and one woman. Each to fill each other's sexual desires, within the context of marriage, entirely-"

"But Adam had two spouses, didn't he?" You cocked your head and smiled. "Eve wasn't even the first woman in Adam's life. That was Lilith."

Chase heaved a frustrated sigh. "How do you know that?!"

"I was raised catholic." You said in the tonal equivalent of smacking him upside the head. "I was forced into religion at a young age and brainwashed to hate myself."

"See, that's where we agree." Chase tented his hands, thinking he found a genuine point of connection. "Organized religion is a cancer on society. Christianity is fundamentally about a relationship with god."

You laughed. It was the first real, good laugh you had in a while.

"Don't laugh." He scolded. "I am sorry that that was your experience with religion and that the Catholic church modeled a false teaching of who god is and what he wants. Not all christians-"

You wiped a tear from your eye. "Homie, you killed four people in front of me."

He placed his hand over his heart. "And christ forgave me. And he can forgive you too."

"Alright, this has been fun and everything," you said, standing up. You aimed your shotgun and cocked it. "But, I did come here to kill you, so, open wide."

Chase put his hand squarely over the barrel and pushed it out of the way. "You don’t have the guts to pull the trigger."

You pulled the trigger and blasted his hand clean off. Any hope of reattachment was shattered, as bits of his hand painted the walls and floor.

You opened the gun and let the two empty shells fall to the ground while Chase screamed in agony.

Instead of going through the motions of reloading, you smashed him over the head with the gun. He wrapped his good hand around the barrel and attempted to wrestle it away from you. You took this as an invitation to corner him against the wall with the still-hot barrel against his neck. He smashed his forehead into your nose, sending you tumbling backwards.

The shotgun fell to the ground. You pinched the bridge of your nose to control the blood flow. Chase wrapped a champagne towel around his stump and picked up a small revolver on his desk. He let off a shot, which lodged itself into your shoulder. By the time he let off the second shot, you were on the ground. The third shot didn't fire, just let out a flash and a bang.

"Goddamn blanks!" He cursed.

He tore open a drawer and rummaged around for bullets, giving you a window to come up from behind and gouge your fingers into his eyes. He screamed, dropping a handful of bullets. He flailed aimlessly, then charged backwards, slamming you into the cheap drywall.

He felt around for the bullets without the advent of eyesight. You knew you wouldn't be able to take aim with your shotgun with a bullet lodged in your shoulder, so you dove for the revolver.

Chase grabbed you by the ankle and dragged you down. You hit the floor with a thud, the collision making the bullets jump. Chase grinned, using the sound to place them. He turned around and reached for one, while you scooped up another that had rolled under the desk.

You scrambled to your feet. Chase's hand was just centimeters from the revolver. Thinking fast (but not so thoroughly), you grabbed for the revolver. You wrapped your hand around the barrel, putting yourself at a disadvantage if he fired off another blank.

Chase, however, wasn't that forward-thinking, and opted for a childish game of tug-of-war instead. Knowing he had the brute strength advantage, you waited for him to pull back and released your grip. Chase tumbled, cursing on his way down.

With no thought on your mind but ending this, you launched your foot into his sack, causing him to scream and drop the gun.

Just as you thought it was over, just when the gun was in arm's reach, he kicked your knees backwards and you fell. You swallowed the pain and army crawled for the revolver.

"I don't think so." Chase spat, smiling like a maniac. He grabbed your face with his good hand and his fingers slithered down your throat.

"Choke..." he demanded. "Choke, demoness."

Strengthened by animalistic instinct, you crushed his fingers under your teeth. The sound of snapping bone filled the inside of your head and a sudden rush of blood flooded into your mouth. He withdrew his hand, leaving a finger behind to limply fall down your throat.

You coughed and gagged while Chase screamed. A single bloody digit dislodged itself from your windpipe, flew across the room and landed on the desk.

Chase sputtered something resembling a laugh. "Maybe you're not such a dumb bitch after all."

You grabbed the gun and pushed yourself up with the help of the desk. The finger stared up at you as you loaded the single bullet.

You positioned the finger onto the trigger and guided it with your gloved hand. Then you aimed it at his forehead. Dead by his gun, by his trigger finger. Bleeding on the ground in his private bunker while the empire he built collapses around him. A coward's death. It was poetic enough an end as he deserved.

"You want to say a prayer before you meet god?" You offered.

"My soul is saved." Chase said through ragged breaths. "My place in heaven is secured."

Bang. One bullet, right between the eyes. A bloody fingerprint on the pistol. You dropped the revolver and collapsed. You just laid there, listening to your phone buzz.

[ninja-muse]

i’m trying to branch out and read outside my genre (fantasy) do you have any book recs for someone whose heart is in fantasy but needs to see what else is out there?

Hi anon! Thanks for the ask! Fantasy’s such a wide genre, and this is such an open ask, that I’m mostly going to be recommending books with similar feels or themes from other genres, to push you a little outside the fantasy bubble and introducing you to different genres and types of storytelling. If you have a favourite subgenre or trope or author, I can maybe get a little more specific or offer read-alikes.

Also, I don’t know if you knew this before asking, but fantasy is my favourite genre too, so some of these recs are books that pushed me out of the genre as well, or that I found familiar-but-different.

And this is getting long, so I’m going to throw it under a cut to save everyone scrolling.

Science fiction

the Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold - This is space opera, which means it’ll have fairly familiar plots except with science-y things instead of magic. There’s an heir with something to prove, heists, cons, and mysteries, attempted coups and assassinations, long-suffering sidekicks, and a homeworld that’s basically turn-of-the-century Russia but with fewer serfs. It was one of the first adult sci-fi books I read and genuinely liked.

The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey - I finished this recently, and the second book of the trilogy just came out. This is post-apocalyptic sci-fi, but not grim or particularly complex. (Some SF gets really into the nuts and bolts of the science elements; this isn’t that.) Basically, Koli’s a teenager who wants more than his quasi-medieval life’s given him, and finds himself in conflict with his village (and then exile) because of it. I could see where the story was going pretty much from the start, but I loved the journey anyway.

The Martian by Andy Weir - This doesn’t have much in common with fantasy, but it’s my go-to rec for anyone who’s never read science fiction before, because it’s funny, explains the science well, and has a hero and a plot you get behind right away. In case you haven’t heard of it (or the film), it’s about an astronaut stranded on Mars, trying to survive long enough to be rescued.

Foreigner by C.J. Cherryh - This is an alien first contact story, about a colony of humans in permanent quarantine on an alien planet. The MC is the sole social liaison and translator, explaining his culture to the aliens and the aliens to the human, and working to keep the peace—until politics and assassins get involved. It’s been over a decade since I read this, so my memory’s blurred, but I remember the same sort of political intrigue vibes as the Daevabad trilogy, just with fewer POVs.

Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor - One from my TBR. It looks like dark fiction about women, outcasts, and revenge, which sounds very fantastic and the MC can apparently do magic—but it’s post-apocalyptic Africa.

Speaking of political intrigue and sweeping epic plots, the Expanse series by James S.A. Corey has both in spades. Rebellions, alien technology, corrupt businesses, heroes doing good things and getting bad consequences, all that good stuff. It takes the science fairly seriously, without getting very dense with it, and will probably register as “more sci-fi” than my recs in the genre so far.

Oh, and Dune by Frank Herbert is such a classic chosen-one epic that it barely registers as science fiction at all.

Graphic novels

It’s technically fantasy, but assuming you’ve never picked up a graphic novel before, you should read Monstress by Marjorie Liu. Asian-inspired, with steampunk aesthetics, and rebellions and quests and so many female characters. It’s an absolutely fantastic graphic novel, if you want a taste of what those can do.

I’d highly recommend Saga by Brian K. Vaughan. It’s an epic science fiction story about a family caught between sides of a centuries-long war. (Dad’s from one side, Mom’s from the other, everyone wants to capture them, their kid is narrating.) It’s a blast to read, exciting and tense, with hard questions and gorgeous tender moments, and the world-building somehow manages to include weaponized magic, spaceship trees, ghosts, half-spider assassins, and all-important pulp romance novels without anything feeling out of place.

Historical fiction

Hild by Nicola Griffith - Very rich and detailed novel following a girl growing up in an early medieval English court. It’s very fantasy-esque, with battles and politics and changes of religion, and Hild gets positioned early on to be the king’s seer, so there’s “magic” of a sort as well.

The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry - A widow goes to the Victorian seaside to heal and reawaken her interest in biology. Slow, gentle, lovely writing and atmosphere, interesting characters and turns of plot. Doesn’t actually deliver on the sea monster, but still has a lot to recommend it to fantasy readers, I think.

Yiddish for Pirates by Gary Barwin - The late-medieval Jewish pirate adventure you didn’t know you wanted. It’s funny and literary, full of tropes and set pieces like “small-town kid in the big city” and “jail break”, and features the Spanish Inquisition, Columbus, the Fountain of Youth, and talking parrots, among other things.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - A thousand pages about the building of a cathedral in England, mostly focusing on the master builder, the monk who spearheads the project, and a noblewoman who’s been kicked off her family’s land, but has several other plots going on, including a deacon with political ambitions, a war, and a boy who’s trying so hard to fit in and do right.

Sharon Kay Penman - This is an author on my TBR, who comes highly recommended for her novels about the War of the Roses and the Plantagenets. Should appeal to you if you liked Game of Thrones. I’m planning to start with The Sunne in Splendour.

Lady of the Forest by Jennifer Roberson - Either a Robin Hood retelling that’s also a romance, or a romance that’s also a Robin Hood retelling.

Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell - A novel of the Shakespeare family, mostly focused on his wife and son. Lovely writing and a very gentle feel though it heads into dark and complex subjects fairly often. A good portrait of Early Modern family life.

Mystery

There’s not a lot of mystery that reads like high, epic, or even contemporary fantasy, but if you’re a fan of urban fantasy, which is basically mystery with magic in, then I’d rec:

Cozy mysteries as a general subgenre, especially if you like the Sookie Stackhouse end of urban fantasy, which has romance and quirky plots; there are plenty of series where the detective’s a witch or the sidekick’s a ghost but they’re solving non-magical mysteries, and the genre in general full of heroines who are good at solving crimes without formal training, and the plots feel very similar but with slightly lower stakes. Cozies have become one of my comfort-reading genres (along with UF) the last few years. My intros were the Royal Spyness novels by Rhys Bowen and the Fairy Tale Fatale books by Maia Chance.

If you like your urban fantasy darker and more serious, and your heroines more complicated, try Kathy Reichs and her Temperance Brennan novels. Brennan’s a forensic anthropologist, strong and complicated in the same ways of my fave UF heroines, and the mysteries are already interesting, with a good dash of thriller and a smidge of romance.

Two other recs:

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart - The first of four books about a forensic anthropologist in Ireland, who’s called in when the Garda find bodies in the peat bogs and need to know how long they’ve been there. They’re very atmospheric—I can almost smell the bog—and give great portraits of rural Ireland and small-town secrets, and since not all the bodies found in each book are recent, they also bring interesting slices of the past to life as well.

A Burnable Book by Bruce Holsinger - This is essentially a medieval thriller about a seditious book that’s turned up in London. I liked the mystery in it and that it’s much more focused on the lives of average people than the rich and famous (for all that recognizable people also show up).

Classics

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift - I swear this is actually one of the first fantasy novels but few people ever really class it as such. Basically, Gulliver’s a ship’s doctor who keeps getting shipwrecked—in a country of tiny people, a country of giants, a country of mad scientists, a country of talking horses, etc. It’s social satire and a spoof of travelogues from Swift’s time, but it’s easily enough read without that context.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Another, slightly later, fantasy and satire! Even more amusing situations than in Gulliver’s Travels and, while it’s been a while* since I read it, I think it’ll be a decent read-alike for authors like Jasper Fforde, Genevieve Cogman, and that brand of light British comic fantasy.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare - Also technically a fantasy! I mean, there are fairies and enchantments, for all it’s a romantic comedy written entirely in old-fashioned poetry. It’s a pretty good play to start you off on Shakespeare, if you’re interested in going that direction.

On the subject of Shakespeare, I would also recommend Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, and King Lear, the first because it’s my favourite comedy, the others because they’re fantasy read-alikes imo as well (witches! coups! drama!).

the Arthurian mythos. Le Morte D’arthur, Crétien de Troyes, The Once and Future King by T.H. White, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain, etc. - I’ve read bits and pieces of the first two, am about 80% sure I read the third as a kid (or at least The Sword in the Stone), and have the last on my TBR. Basically, these stories are going to give you an exaggeratedly medieval setting, knights, quests, wizards, fairies, high drama, romantic entanglements, and monsters, and the medieval ones especially have different kinds of plots than you’ll be used to (and maybe open the door to more medieval lit?) **

Beowulf and/or The Odyssey - Two epics that inspired a lot of fiction that came later. (There’s an especial connection between Beowulf and Tolkien.) They’re not the easiest of reads because they’re in poetry and non-linear narratives, but both have a hero facing off against a series of monsters and/or magical creatures as their core story.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley - The first real science fiction novel. It’s about the ethics of science and the consequences of one’s actions, and I loved seeing the Creature find himself and Frankenstein descend into … that. It’s also full of sweeping, gothic scenes and tension and doom and drama.

* 25 years, give or take

** There are plenty of more recent people using King Arthur and associated characters too, if this "subgenre” interests you.

Other fiction

Vicious by V.E. Schwab - I don’t know if you classify superheroes as science fiction or fantasy or its own genre (for me it depends on the day) but this is an excellent take on the subject, full of moral greyness and revenge.

David Mitchell - A literary fiction writer who has both a sense of humour and an interest in the fantastic and science fictional. He writes ordinary people and average lives marvelously well, keeps me turning pages, plays with form and timelines, and reliably throws in either recurring, possibly-immortal characters, good-vs-evil psychic battles, or other SF/F-y elements. I’d start with either Slade House, a ghost story, or Utopia Avenue, about a ‘60s rock band. Or possible The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, which I fully admit to not having read yet.

Devolution by Max Brooks - A horror movie in book form, full of tension and desperation and jump scares and the problems with relying on modern technology. The monsters are Bigfeet. Reccing this one in the same way I’m reccing The Martian—it’s an accessible intro to its genre.

Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson - Contemporary fiction with a slight literary bent, that doesn’t pull its punches about Indigenous life but also has a sense of humour about the same. Follows a teen dealing with poverty and a bad home life and drugs and hormones—and the fact that his bio-dad might actually be the trickster Raven. Also features witches, magic, and other spirit-beings, so I generally pitch this as magic realism.

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones - Another Indigenous rec, this time a horror novel about ghosts and racism and trying to do the right thing. This’ll give you a taste of the more psychological end of the horror spectrum.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia - A good example of contemporary YA and how it handles the complexities of life, love, and growing up. Follows the writer of a fantasy webcomic who makes a friend who turns out to write fic of her story and who suddenly has to really balance online and offline life, among other pressures. Realistic portrait of mental health problems.

Non-fiction

The Book of Margery Kempe - The first English-language autobiography. Margery was very devout but also very badass, in a medieval sort of way. She went on pilgrimages to Jerusalem, was possibly epileptic, frequently “saw” Christ and Mary and demons, basically became a nun in middle age while staying married to her husband, and wound up on trial for heresy, before talking a monk into writing down her life story. It’s a fascinating window into the time period.

The Hammer and the Cross by Robert Ferguson - A history of medieval Norse people and how their explorations and trade shaped both their culture and the world.

A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor - Travel writing that was recommended to me by someone who raved about the prose and was totally right. Fermor’s looking back, with the aid of journals, on a walking trip he took across Europe in the 1930s. It’s a fascinating look at the era and an old way of life, and pretty much every “entry” has something of interest in it. He met all sorts of people.

Tim Severin and/or Thor Heyerdahl - More travel writing, this time by people recreating historical voyages (or what they believe to be historical voyages, ymmv) in period ships. Severin focuses on mythology (I’ve read The Ulysses Voyage and The Jason Voyage) and Heyerdahl’s known for Kon-Tiki, which is him “proving” that Polynesians made contact with South America. They both go into the history of the sailing and areas they’re travelling through, while also describing their surroundings and daily life, and, yes, running into storms and things.

Hope this helps you!

[draconesmundi]

Book Review: Dragons - A Natural History, by Dr Karl Shuker

Hello fans of dragon books! Here is a review of a book that I found quite helpful in researching mythology and folklore, by the famous cryptozoologist Dr Karl Shuker!

More under the cut:

This book is arranged slightly chaotically, with the five chapters being titled Serpent Dragons, Semi-Dragons, Classical Dragons, Sky Dragons and Neo Dragons. The bizarre classification doesn’t make the book hard to navigate as it’s only around 120 pages long with large illustrations, so a dragon can be found easily by flicking through the pages, but these arbitrary titles do not add anything to one’s understanding of dragons.

Each chapter has a selection of 5-8 dragons picked from mythology and folklore, and the chapter then goes in depth into each dragon. Usually it does this by telling a story, but for some dragons there is a quick description of the dragon alongside theories and ideas linking the dragon to the fossil record. With dragons such as the cockatrice and the Chinese dragon, the text will jump around the folklore to give the reader a full idea of what the dragon is about, rather than focussing on one story.

The writing style is engaging; each of the stories is written with dramatic flair – exciting to read to yourself, but without the storybook language to make it a collection of bedtime stories for a small child, making the recommended reading age for this book anything from ‘scholarly children’ to ‘adults that enjoy dragon facts’. All stories are from folklore or mythology, with very little extra embellishment from the author; it’s hardly a primary source but it means you can get the full extent of say, Seigfried slaying Fafnir, without reading the whole Volsungsaga. It’s a good first-stop for learning about mythology.

The strengths in this book is that it is very broad and covers a wide range of dragons from a wide range of cultures. However, one of the limitations is that the texts touches only on the surface of the stories; for example, the names of famous dragons are sometimes missing (the dragon of Koshi is called Yamata no Orochi in many other texts for example, and a winged serpent from Welsh mythology is called a gwiber).

The other limitation is the links between mythology and palaeontology. As someone who loves heaps of both, I found some of the ‘explanations’ for dragons a little odd as sometimes the author leaned dangerously close to the ‘living dinosaur’ theories (for a variety of reasons you can easily debunk ‘living dinosaur/other prehistoric reptile’ theories). However, Dr Shuker does keep his voice impartial and doesn’t say “the Loch Ness Monster was definitely a plesiosaur”, but I personally don’t like the “but maybe, possibly, if a plesiosaur survived… and was hiding… maybe…?”, but that is a matter of personal taste. If you love that sort of stuff, it’s sprinkled throughout many chapters.

The book is presented nicely, with a huge diversity of illustrations, from photos of dragon artefacts to woodcut prints, carvings, paintings, embroidery – the images are a rich history of dragon culture in themselves. This gives the book a ‘non-fiction’ feel, and helps educate the reader as to where these dragons fit in the public consciousness.

For example; in the ‘Seigfreid and the Slaying of Fafnir’ chapter, we have a painting from 1880 by Konrad Dielitz, a still from the Niebelung film by Fritz Lang (two parter film, 1922-1924, based on Richard Wagner’s opera based on the legend) and a photograph of a wooden carving in a 12th century church in Norway. All three of these images are of the same subject, but each one carries layers of meaning – the sword-and-sorcery style fairy tale illustration by Dielitz, the old black and white film with the giant dragon puppet and the wooden carving nearly as old as the story itself puts the tale in context of a much richer story of European culture and how much we like dragons and dragon slayers.

The illustrations alongside each chapter are one of the things that really make this book pop as a comprehensive introduction to the world of dragon mythology. The book is only 120 pages long, so it’s not going to be an in-depth anthropological dig into why so many cultures like to talk about big serpent monsters, but for the short amount of pages it does try it’s best to put forward as many different dragons as possible: a must-have for a dragon nerd’s bookshelf.

Dragons covered are:

Ampitheres and other winged serpents, Basilisks and Cockatrices, the dragon of Bel, Bunyips, the Carthaginian Serpent, Cetus, Chinese dragons, the Dragonet of Mount Pilatus, Fafnir, the Gargouille, Gwiberod (just named ‘winged serpents of Wales’, and likened to Kuehneosaurus), Jormungandr, Komodo dragons, La Velue (named Peluda in the text), the Lambton Worm, the Lernean Hydra, the Leviathan, the Lindorm King, the Loch Ness Monster, Mokele-Mbembe, the Mordiford Wyvern, O-Goncho, the Piasa, Quetzalcoatl, the Salamander and the Pyrallis, a sea crocodile spotted near Ireland, Sea serpents (linked to whale palaeontology), the Mushussu or Sirrush, St George’s Dragon, the Tarasque, Tatzelwurms, Tiamat, the Wantley Dragon, the Weewilmekq (or giant leech), Yamato no Orochi (just named as the dragon on Koshi), and a few other brief dragon mentions.

Author and Book Links:

Dr Karl Shuker’s website

Dr Karl Shuker’s blog

More about the book

Amazon link to book (£2-£4) (to avoid Amazon, best bet is eBay, the book is currently out of print so pretty much every copy you’ll buy via Amazon, eBay or another seller will be second-hand - often good as new!)

[robertodacosta]

I wanna hear more about evil creation goddesses and your thesis

yeah i got you, dude. absolute favorite thing to talk about. i’ll try and be brief, but i’m boiling down 65 pages of material, so i might get a bit wordy.

so my thesis itself was about how Revelation, the final book of the biblical New Testament, was a politicized adaptation of various regional creation cycles, adapting the recurring principle of death and rebirth, creation through destruction, to fit a monotheistic anti-imperial perspective. basically, my argument was that Revelation argues the old world must be destroyed so that the new world can come as a paradise for the pure among Christian men. Revelation is the most well known apocalypse, but if you read enough creation and apocalypse cycles, you come to realize that in many important ways, very many are all very similar. patron gods triumph over chaos to create (in Revelation, this is found in the conflict between the Lamb of God and the ancient serpent/the sea, read: Christ vs. Satan), and something must die so that there can be birth. The central element of interest in that to your question is creation cycles, and the role of goddesses within that.

creation through destruction, i.e. rebirth, was the essential meaning of the Combat Myth, which is a recurring element consistent in creation cycles of the Ancient Near East region, that can also be identified in creation myths globally. essentially, the Combat Myth goes like this: a hero-god enters into combat with the embodiment of chaos, almost always associated with the sea, and sometimes characterized as a goddess. the hero-god always wins, order defeating chaos, and in victory he creates the world, from the body of his foe. our hero-god becomes a creator-god and thus emerges as the most important god of the pantheon, through an act of combat. but for him to create, he has to destroy.

there are a lot of creator gods, but not a lot of creation goddesses. instead, we see two trends: goddesses associated with fertility, harvest, motherhood, and the earth, and the archetype of the death of the goddess. cross-culturally the idea persists in cosmogonies: creation is the domain of men, procreation, or sacrificial object, is the role of women. for context as to what I mean when I say death of the goddess, here are two key examples: in the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, which was ritually recited for the Babylonian new year, Tiamat, the Mesopotamian goddess of chaos and the sea, is killed by Marduk, the hero-god of Babylon, and he snaps her spine in two to create the earth and the skies. secondly, Kore/Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring, was kidnapped by the god of the dead, Hades, and functionally dies every year when she descends to the underworld to be his queen, only to be reborn each spring. this death and rebirth was reenacted annually by the cult to Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, an agrarian interpretation of the new year. this is the most common role of goddesses in creation cycles, dying so that creation can result. again, we see creation only through destruction.

the phrasing of ‘evil creation goddess’ is specific to the goddess Perpetua in DC’s Year of the Villain event, as there is no truly evil creation deity that I’m aware of. instead, the terms of creation myths are normally order vs. disorder, rather than good vs. evil. so instead of seeing evil creation goddesses, we do see goddesses associated with primordial chaos, like the aforementioned Tiamat, or the Greek goddess Nyx, who was worshipped by the Orphic cult as being the embodied primordial chaos the universe emerged from. but rather than having destructive functions, instead, it is normally the goddess who is destroyed, so that the hero-god can establish order over chaos and become creator. so in that context, I’m of the opinion that ‘evil creation goddess creates universe, is imprisoned, returns to the world and wants to destroy it’ lacks nuance compared to the roles ascribed to goddesses in actual creation cycles. sure, Perpetua textually functions like a primordial chaos goddess, but destruction for the sake of destruction is boring. Cosmogonies typically relegate women solely to the creative function of motherhood while male gods can be creator gods, so creating a cosmogony of the DC universe that presents a goddess as creator, but then making her inherently evil rather than an agent of either order or chaos frustrates me. creation stories had a clear reason to exist, and they were resonant because they performed a clear ritual and political function. to tell a creation story that’s stripped of that purpose, to me as a reader, feels empty.

but since you specifically asked about goddesses, here are a few goddesses associated with creation I personally think are really interesting and zesty! Aside from Tiamat, the closest goddess to a creation goddess is the Greek goddess Nyx, who was born of chaos, from which everything emerged in the predominant Greek creation myths. Nyx was worshiped by the Orphic cult as the originator of all, rather than chaos, and as the mother of Phanes, the Orphic demiurge (in this context, demiurge is best understood as analogous to the contemporary deist conception of a Grand Motivator, rather than the Gnostic definition of demiurge as false god). she created the world by speaking it into being via prophecy, which is very cool if you also have a niche interest in prophetic women in the Greek tradition, which I do. there are various goddesses associated with the earth who have some creative function in their associations with agriculture or wilderness, such as the Roman Gaia or the Greek Demeter. I have a particular soft spot for Cybele, a cthonic mother goddess from Phrygia, who was adapted by the Romans into Magna Mater, whose cult grew particularly popular when the state co-opted her. she’s referred to the mountain mother and mother of gods in various sources, and she’s a mediator between known and unknown. she also wore city walls as a crown as a protector of cities, which isn’t relevant if your interested in creation goddess only, but is very relevant to my thesis, as two women in Revelation are heavily associated with cities and suggest the iconography of Cybele’s mural crown: the first, coded as the embodiment of the city of Rome (suggestive of the imperial cult of Roma), is brutally murdered, and the second, a bride who is Jerusalem, is bodily transformed into the new world, in the form of a holy city. there are various other goddesses with creation affiliations, as well as some regional war goddesses who have no creative function but are very cool figures, such as Ishtar/Inanna or the Canaanite Anat, who is the primary actor in a fragmentary form of a Combat Myth narrative in the Ugaritic Texts!

if you’re interested in further reading, I’d recommend looking into the scholarship of Tivka Frymer-Kensky, Adela Yarbro Collins, and Eva Feder-Kittay’s article “Woman as Metaphor.” I hope this was helpful and interesting, and if you have questions about anything, lmk!

[weelittleweasley]

All Eyes on Me | Sweet Pea x Reader

Prompt: You catch Sweet Pea watching Betty’s Serpent dance at the Wyrm and you want him to know that his eyes stay on you only.

Request status: Open

Warnings: smut, profanity, jealous reader

It was around nine thirty when you got the text from Betty. You were sat on your bed, typing up your essay that was due the next day. You suspected the text to be nothing major--you knew she was out with your friends and your boyfriend, Sweet Pea. They were all at the Whyte Wyrm for Mr. Jones’ retirement party, but you decided to stay home. You thought it would be awkward for your boyfriend’s non-Serpent, North Side girlfriend to tag along in a place where everyone knew she didn’t belong. Besides, you had work to finish up.

You picked up the phone, reading the text from Betty that read, Come to the Wyrm. You’re not gonna wanna miss this. The text was unclear, but there was a nervous pit in your stomach that was growing by the second. Your anxiety started to build as you changed out of your pajama pants and into leggings and a sweater. Calling to your mom quickly, you tell her you’re running out to get homework from a friend. If you had told her your true plans, she wouldn’t let you leave the house.

The engine of your car purred underneath you as you made your trek to the South Side of the tracks. The five minute drive lead you to the Wyrm, where you could almost feel the sound of the base rippling through the poorly insulated walls of the bar. You turning the ignition off, closing the car door behind you. 

The brisk air engulfed your body as you pulled your arms tighter around your body to block out the cold. Your teeth chattered as you scurried to the door of the bar. As you quietly crept the door open, you examined the bar. You had only been inside maybe once or twice briefly when Pea had to swing by and pick up some things. But this was the first time you were here and planned on staying. No one noticed the petite North Side girl who wore a sloppy sweater and yoga pants, the keys to her Jeep dangling in her fingers. As you entered the bar further, you saw Veronica and Archie on-stage, singing a duet. You were confused as to why they’d be singing Mad World in a bar full of gang members--it was completely out of context.

Brushing it off, you scanned the bar for Betty who sent you the text, but you lost her in the sea of leather jackets and tattoos. Then, you catch your boyfriend, leaned up against the back wall, a confused look on his face as he watches two lovey dovey North Side kids sing a strange duet. Ronnie then stops singing and runs off the stage, Archie following behind. You ignore the talk of people and try to catch the attention of your boyfriend, but you stop when you see Betty on-stage. She starts to continue the song, slowly undressing herself from her denim top and pink skirt to unveil a lacy black leotard. Your eyes widen at the sight. What in God’s name was she doing? Betty seems like she’s in her own little world as she twirls around stage, dancing against a pole. 

Quickly, you look over to see your boyfriend’s reaction. You think that Pea was probably getting a kick out of this. Some good girl trying to be a Serpent. But when you look over to him, your small smile fades when you see Sweets completely enthralled with Betty. His eyes don’t leave the stage as she dances around. It’s like he’s in a trance. Your heart starts to beat faster out of sheer anxiety. You look at Betty then at Jughead and then back to your boyfriend in complete disbelief. What was happening? Mr. Jones stops Betty, thank God, and everyone gives her a pitiful clap. Mr. Jones wraps her in a Serpent jacket as you stand there in shock. You don’t even want to walk over to Pea. You were far too embarrassed to confront him.

You remain in the same spot in the bar, just thinking about what happened in the five minutes you entered the bar. Ronnie and Archie were suddenly in a fight, Betty was strip teasing, and now your boyfriend was enthralled by her? It was too much to absorb.

“Y/N?” a voice calls as you look over to see your boyfriend approaching you. “What are you doing here, baby? I thought you said you had work to finish up?” he asks with a small smile. His one arm grabs you by the waist to pull you in for a kiss, but you turn your head, his lips falling on your cheek. He’s clearly confused by your actions as you push his hand off of your waist gently. “Something happen?”

You can’t even fabricate a sentence. There was too much to say. “Betty?” you ask almost as a question. “What the hell was that?”

Sweet Pea shrugs. “She tried to do the Serpent dance I guess. I don’t know why. I’ll see if I can squeeze it out of Jones later.”

Still unfathomed by this, you shake your head. “That’s not my point.” Pea furrows his brows. “You couldn’t rip your eyes away from her for two seconds to see your girlfriend walked in the bar.” Pea becomes visibly uncomfortable as you shake your head. “Ridiculous.”

He doesn’t say anything in response. He was guilty as charged. He was staring at Betty dancing. Pea knew that he was wrong for doing so and he knew that you’d be giving him a hard time for this. Finally, he opens up his mouth to say something. “Baby, I’m sorry. I didn’t think-”

“Exactly,” you cut him off. “You didn’t think.” He stops talking. “I don’t even wanna be here anymore. I feel so out of place,” you huff, knowing that you don’t belong in a place like this with people like this. 

Sweets nods his head. “Okay. We can leave. Where do you wanna go?” he asks.

You lightly laugh, “Home.” With that, you exit the bar in a huff, hearing Pea’s heavy boots following you. He calls your name as you walk back to your car, opening the driver’s door.

But he abruptly shuts it, preventing you from leaving. “I’m not letting you leave that easily,” Pea tells you as you cross your arms. “Let’s talk this out. Come back to my place. I wanna talk to you,” he grips your waist as you roll your eyes. You knew what he was trying to do and it certainly wasn’t working. “Please, Y/N. I’m serious.”

With a huff, you speak, “We are talking about this and that is all.” Pea smiles as you open the door. “Get in the car. I’m driving.”

In that moment, Sweets knew that there was no chance that he was going to have things his way tonight. Tonight, you were in charge and that brought a new kind of thrill to him.”

You found yourself in Pea’s trailer, you sat on his kitchen counter as he leaned against the sink. “I came here to talk,” you tell him. “So start talking or I’ll start walking.”

Sweets lightly laughs before saying, “Baby, I’m sorry for what I did. You know I only have eyes for you. It’s not like Betty and I fucked.” You physically cringe at his words, begging him to stop. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just got caught up in the moment. Everyone was watching Betty like that tonight. If you looked around the bar, you’d see that, princess,” he coos, walking over to you, placing his hands on either side of you as you still sat stoically on his counter. “I’ve done my share. What do you wanna say?”

Remaining silent for a few seconds, you want Sweet Pea’s anxiety to grow. To be honest, your anger had abated and now you just wanted him to know that he was yours and his eyes would remain on you at all times. Once you see a tinge of fear flash in Pea’s eyes, you speak, “This doesn’t happen again. Got it?” Sweets nods, pushing himself back, but you grab his flannel, pulling him back into you. “From now on, you have your eyes on me. I didn’t agree to be your girlfriend so I could have you looking at other girls, now did I?” you ask him.

This dominant nature that washes over you gets Pea excited as his eyes fill with lust and he gulps. You have a small smirk on your lips, watching the boy before you turn into complete putty at your words. “No, you didn’t, baby,” his voice is low and husky.

You smirk, titling his chin upwards. “Good boy,” you praise him before pressing your lips to his. His mouth his hungry for yours as he pulls you in closer to him. You tangle your fingers in his hair, parting your lips so his tongue can enter your mouth, massaging his and yours. Pulling gently at the roots, he scoops you up to carry you to his bedroom. When he places you back down, he quickly discards his shirt as you slowly pull off your sweater. Sweets’ eyes rake up and down your body as he sighs a string of profanities. His hands slither up your sides, but you slap him away. “No touching. Not tonight.”

Sweets groans, “Fuck, baby, please. I have to.” You knew that Pea always loved touching you. It made him feel like he was in control. He was the one calling the shots. But that was not how tonight was going to go. Tonight, you were the one in charge and he would be the one helpless at your touch. 

“You weren’t good tonight,” you tell him, tracing his lips with your finger. “You don’t get to touch me tonight. Not until I think you��ve earned it.”

He gives you a look as if to say, What are you doing to me? That only makes you feel more empowered. You have more of an effect on him that you thought. “Baby, please. I need to,” he slide his hands up your back, the contact of your bare smooth skin against his palms makes his heart rate skyrocket and the bulge in his pants rise.

Shaking your head, you slap his hands away again. “Not until I say so. I call the shots tonight. Do I make myself clear?” you tell him, pressing small kisses to his jawline as he groans in response. “Good.” With that, you drop yourself to your knees, pulling his jeans down to his ankles. You can hear Pea whisper under his breath as you smirk. As you pull down his boxers, his erection slaps his stomach and you smile. “Remember, baby. No touching,” you remind him as he bites down on his lip hard, looking like he could draw blood.

Slowly, you wrap your mouth around his cock, taking him in your mouth slowly. He groans out in euphoria, loving the way your mouth feels around his throbbing dick. You hadn’t given him head in the longest time. After you take him in, you start to bob your head up and down, slowly teasing him. Your tongue glides up and down his shaft, sucking on the tip of his dick. “Fuck,” he breaths. It takes everything for him to not wrap his hands in your hand and buck his hips up to force you to go faster. Your slow pace was killing him. “Please, baby,” he begs.

With his words, you stop sucking him off and speak, “What was that? You want me to stop?” 

“Shit, no, baby. I want your pretty mouth wrapped around my cock,” he tells you as your mouth turns up into a smile.

Pushing him further, you speak, “Whose pretty mouth?”

Pea finally catches the drift. “Yours, baby. I want your mouth around my cock. I only get this hard for you. I only wanna fuck you,” he tells you as you start to suck him off again. He throws his head back and lets out a groan. You hollow out your cheeks, bobbing up and down his shaft. With the parts you don’t reach, your hand stokes up and down. Your warm tongue glides over his veins and he groans louder and you know he’s coming close to his release. You continue to suck him off faster and you feel him twitch before releasing his load in your mouth. Proudly, you swallow his come and wipe your mouth. Rising back to your feet, you drag your hands down his chest. “Can I touch now?” he pants. You nod your head and in a flash, you are underneath him on his bed. He tugs your pants off and impatiently and literally rips your panties off your body.

His lips attack your neck, biting and sucking at the sensitive flesh, leaving hickeys all over your jaw and neck. You arch your back as his large hands grope your breasts, trailing down your stomach to your pussy. He slides a long digit up your slit to see how wet you were for him. You were so ready for him as he chuckles against your skin. You may act like you were the one in charge, but at the end of the day he knew that you were completely weak for him. 

“Just fuck me already,” you whine as he laughs.

“My pleasure,” he pants before thrust his large length inside you. Loudly, you moan at the sensation of him filling you up. He starts to move, giving you no time to adjust to his size. He was to eager to fuck you. “Shit,” he breathes as you let out a sigh. “So tight for me.”

Dragging your nails down his back, his lifts your leg over his shoulder so he can fill you up completely at the best angle. “Oh, right there, baby! Yes, don’t stop!” you moan out, making him slam into you harder and faster. “Fuck, don’t stop, don’t stop,” you moan, arching your back in complete euphoria. He groans, the grip on your waist vice like, sure to leave bruises in the morning. He was so rough with you, but he knew you fucking loved how he felt slamming his hard cock inside your tight pussy. He can feel your wall tighten around his cock and he moans out in pleasure. The two of you are close and then you come all over his dick. As he feels he is close, he pulls out, releasing on your stomach.

The two of you struggle to catch your breath at a steady rate. You keep your eyes shut, still coming down from your high. As Pea calms down, he grabs a towel from the bathroom for you to clean yourself up. You silently thank him, wiping his come off your stomach and chest. The room is silent before he speaks, “I thought you said you only wanted to talk?” He kneels next to you as you sit on the bed.

You roll your eyes, “We both knew this was coming.” He laughs before kissing your lips gently.

[wingletblackbird]

30, 31, 53?

30. Favourite line you’ve ever written?

Recently? It’s probably this one: “When in doubt, when hopeless, rage against the indifferent universe.” Without context, I find it lacks the full impact, however.  

Of all time? It’s something along the lines of “the time when sea serpents still swam the ocean.” That one was the concluding line to a prologue I wrote when I was nine. I only vaguely remember if that’s how it went. It’s significant to me only because it was probably my first attempt to write anything that wasn’t for school. I showed it to my mom, because I recognized that the flow of the words sounded quite nice, and I wanted to know what she thought. She asked me if I’d written that myself or copied it from somewhere. (She thought I might have been practicing my handwriting which, incidentally, remains almost illegible.) I was  thrilled since I figured that meant I’d done a good job if she’d thought a grown-up might have written it. I haven’t thought of that in quite some time though.

31. Hardest character to write?

Of the characters I’ve written, I think I’ve struggled the most with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has a very divided and convoluted internal life, and that can be hard to get right.

53. What does writing mean to you?

I suppose the primary thing it means to me is empathy, connection, understanding, the knowledge you are not alone. I’ve always been a voracious reader, and I think writing must start with reading. For me, reading is something I’m sure I always would have enjoyed, but it also became a means of coping. I was born and raised outside of Canada, even though I am Canadian, (and even now I feel like I’m pretty much from nowhere. I’m not any other nationality, nor do I feel like it, but I often don’t feel Canadian either.) As a result, up until I was thirteen, I was the only, (and I do mean the only), white girl in my community. What’s worse is there was a stringent amount of xenophobia I was exposed to. I was extremely isolated, and this was especially bad in the first few months before I knew the language. As a consequence, I latched onto characters who were different, or ostracized, or cut-off. They became my friends and my refuge. I knew instinctively if someone could write about character’s like that, it meant that I was not alone in feeling that way. Someone else out there had an idea of what it was like. If it was a book that was written centuries ago, it was almost like someone was empathizing with me across time. They made me feel like I wasn’t alone. I desperately needed that. That’s what words and stories are to me. That’s what they do. They preserve and recognize the human condition, and they capture truths that remain unaltered across countries, race, and centuries. They are a medium of communication. They are invaluable, but also sacred, and not to be treated lightly. What will you preserve? What will you teach?

This really hit home for me when I was in High School and got seriously into classical mythology. I was amazed by how stories like The Iliad are still popular, still resonate. It makes sense that they do, because they’re about human mortality, and the universality of human grief, the inevitability of it, the acceptance which must be found that you cannot alter it. Achille’s story is very raw, and frankly so is Hector’s and Andromache’s. What struck me most though was The Epic of Gilgamesh. It’s quite possibly my favourite. After my dad died my mom was talking about grief. She was trying to quantify what her greatest struggle was, and ultimately it was reduced to that fact that she loved this man so much, so much, but he was taken from her (against his will), and there was nothing she could do. Her exact concluding words were: “My husband, whom I loved…died.” It blew me away, because I’d heard these words before. I pulled out The Epic of Gilgamesh and read to her words which he repeats over and over again: “My brother, Enkidu, whom I loved, the end of mortality has overtaken him.” I read the entire passage to her and she went really still and finally said that that was precisely how she felt. Words written on clay tablets millennia ago still captured how she felt in the 21st century. They made her fell less alone, understood. That is incredible to me.

That is what writing means to me. It’s a means of preserving truth, of learning lessons, of remembering, and above all else, it is about connection. I’ve been nurtured by so many stories, and so I want to write them. Life is all about stories. It’s all about the narrative, about finding your place in the journey that is life. I was renowned in High School for having a story for every situation under the sun. I seemed to collect them and preserve them in my head for moments when they would be needed: Stories my mom told me, or my grandparents, or my aunt and uncle. There is power in the sacrifice of characters, meaning in their emotions, consequence to their actions; purpose in their struggle; it matters. It all matters. We matter. People have been writing for millennia trying to capture the human condition, and I want to be a part of that. I’ve been writing since I was nine, and it’s really something I enjoy, (I tend to feel a bit twitchy if I haven’t written anything in awhile), but it’s only recently that I’ve truly started to have the discipline to see it as a craft to be honed. Stories have become a part of me. 

I think I’m succeeding in my goals though. Last year I wrote a poem about how I felt going to and from school everyday when my dad was dying. I read it to my mom, and she got very quiet. I asked her what was wrong, and she shared with me that my father had told her he’d felt the very same way going to and from school when his mother was dying. It really moved me to think my dad and I had felt the exact same things decades apart. More than that, I felt like in writing the poem I learned about my dad when he wasn’t even there: Echoes across time.

[madsigano]

Because you Love to Hate me- Book review

Warning: May contain spoilers!

Because you Love to Hate me was a book I had been dying to get a hold of ever since a few of my favourite Booktubers mentioned this collaboration. 

The book contains 13 short stories of villains, each author paired with a Booktuber to give them a prompt for said short story. I have to admit, some stories I absolutely loved... others I either had a neutral or slightly negative opinion of. Let’s go through them:

The Blood of Imuriv by Renee Ahdieh, prompt by Christine Riccio:

This short story prompt was “The Grandson of an Evil, Matriarchal Dictator who tried to rule over the universe wants to follow in her footsteps and accidentally loses his temper, killing his sibling in a game of chess”. Wow, Christine. That’s a prompt and a half. 

The thing about this story was that although it was very good, there was too much content for the reader to fully grasp the storyline itself. This would make for a good book, but the shortened version left my head thinking the story lacked, simply from the amount of information that had to be thrown at the reader for the story to make sense. Christine- although I love her- could have maybe made the prompt a little easier for Renee to write something readers would appreciate more. That said, if this short was made into a novel, I can guarantee I would enjoy it more. 

3/5 stars.

Jack by Ameriie, prompt by Tina Burke:

The prompt given for this story was “Jack and the Beanstalk meets Phalaris of Agrigento”. One of the more well thought out ideas for a prompt, I’ll give you that, Tina.

However this was one of the stories I didn’t enjoy as much. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good “take a childhood classic and remake it”... but this just didn’t grab me. I rarely find a book I struggle to read through, but this was one. The character to me didn’t feel villain-y, and I also struggled to connect with her. 

The friendship between man and giant didn’t really feel like that, which is probably why the ending didn’t shock me as much as I think Ameriie was intending. 

It shocked me, but only in the way that there was no build up. Had I been given hints to this happening it may have affected me, but I personally felt it was a bit hit-and-miss.

2/5 stars.

Gwen and Art and Lance by Soman Chainani, prompt by Samantha Lane:

The prompt for this story was “A modern-day mash-up of the King Arthur Legend and Persephone-Hades Myth”. As someone who avidly loves all things myth and legend, I had high hopes for this one, Samantha.

However, this didn’t feel evil. I loved the context and the layout of text-style storytelling, I thought this was pretty creative actually. But this didn’t fit with the book for me. I was expecting one of the boys to act more like Hades and be cunning in his pursuit of Gwen, or for Gwen herself to feel a bit more villain-y. But I just got that High School not even the meanest of mean girl vibe.

2/5 stars.

Shirley and Jim by Susan Dennard, prompt by Sasha Alsberg:

“A young Moriarty”. Many things to be done with that prompt. I maybe would have expected the story to just be about Moriarty and his psychopathic ways coming to the surface, like a true origin story. But I got a gender-bent Sherlock and John. As teenage girls swooning over teenage-hottie-new-guy Jim Moriarty. 

Okay... I was actually surprised at how much I ended up liking this one. Sherlock is one of my favourite shows, and yes I am one of those people who ship Johnlock and/or Jimlock. So for Moriarty and Shirley to be a kind-of couple warmed my little shipper heart. 

But the end. It was so well done. The twists and the explanations just... Ah! 

4/5 stars.

The Blessing of Little Wants by Sarah Enni, prompt by Sophia Lee:

The author’s prompt for this story was “ A Dark Sorcerer’s motives for seeking immortality or Omnipotence”. First thing you think is, “Voldemort!” right? (If you haven’t figured already I skipped to the prompt before reading the story itself). But alas, no Tom Riddle for us.

I got serious Magneto vibes instead, and I’m not complaining. I was confused to the extreme; WAS HE REAL?! I thought he was part of her imagination but then her reaction confused me even further. Definitely well written on Sarah’s part. This seriously needs to be a book just so I can find out answers.

4/5 stars.

The Sea Witch by Marissa Meyer, prompt by Zoe Herdt:

Zoe’s prompt was “What if the Sea Witch had previously been in the Little Mermaid’s shoes but decided to kill the love interest and turn back into a mermaid instead?”. Let me just start by saying that “what if...” is my favourite prompt for any book. Every scenario in my head is a what if of book characters. 

This story was one of my favourites in this book, simply because it was this kind of origin story I had been expecting and waiting for. The plot of an outcast mermaid who has a serious fangirl crush (let’s be real- who doesn’t have an unhealthy crush on someone famous?), gets rejected in the most awful way, gets bullied by him and his slimy girlfriend, tries to kill herself, falls in love again with a human, becomes human for him, only to get betrayed by him, then (my favourite part) lets him enjoy his wedding day until she slits his throat. Good on you girl. Promptly returning to the sea, she becomes the sea witch we all know and love to hate.

5/5 stars.

Beautiful Venom by Cindy Pon, prompt by Benjamin Alderson:

Warning: mentions of rape.

When I read the prompt “Medusa, Go!” I was not expecting to read such an amazing story. Medusa was one of my all-time favourite legends from history when I was younger, so when I say I had high expectations, I mean really high.

And I was not let down. This story features easily the most evil villain in this book, and I don’t mean Mei Du/ Jia Mei Feng. This Medusa tale has an Asian twist to it, placing the well known Greek Mythology Gods into this culture instead. Jia Mei Feng is one of the lucky girls to be chosen to be the Emperor’s new wife, but the at-first dashing Hai Xin unexpectedly comes into her life and will not leave her alone. Her path twists violently into a dark path when Hai Xin kidnaps Mei, and rapes her when she says No.

I cried so much at this story, as it truly represents victim blaming as well as the rape culture, and the Goddess of Purity (Goddess of Bitchiness as far as I’m concerned) blames Mei, asking “did you say no?” and “Did you refuse him during his first visit?”. The Goddess curses Mei to look as ugly as a serpent, becoming Medusa, for something that was not her fault.

The power this story holds is incredible, showing that we must not ignore these issues and unite against victim blaming and rape culture. It is not ok.

5/5 stars.

Death Knell by Victoria Schwab, prompt by Jesse George:

The prompt for this story was “Hades waked up after being unconscious at the bottom of a well in Ireland”. The lyrical, beautiful writing from Victoria in this story was extraordinary and had me hooked from the start.

The relationship that blossoms between Death and Grace is short and quick, which is normally something I don’t particularly like, but I found myself enjoying the rapid romance between the living girl and the boy tasked with transporting her to death. 

Although this story was very predictable- you knew as soon as she avoided him the first time that she was going to escape death at any cost. And you knew as soon as they were near the well that she wasn’t going in. Yet I wasn’t disappointed. 

4/5 stars.

Marigold by Samantha Shannon, prompt by Regan Perusse:

I have to admit, I had to re-read this one when writing my notes because I had completely forgotten about it. an “Era-Queen retelling in Nineteenth-Century London” was a very good prompt, and I’m a sucker for historical retellings. 

Yet I couldn’t remember it. And then when I read it I understood why. Nothing about this story grabbed me. Which surprises me given my previous statement about how much I love historical retellings. It wasn’t that I thought it was particularly bad, it was actually very well written, but it just didn’t grab me.

3/5 stars.

You, You, It’s all about You by Adam Silvera, prompt by Catriona Feeney:

This story’s prompt by Catriona was “A female teen crime lord concealed by a mask”.

The immediate aspect that spiked my interest was the second person point of view. Second person is always guaranteed to interest me as the character is you, which brings you even deeper into the story. The main character herself was definitely one of the most twisted villains in this book; wearing a mask made of the flesh of her abusive father. That was very disturbingly creative on Adam’s part. The storyline of the drugs being made by this crime lord was incredibly creative, not just using illegal drugs we already know about, but using the drugs to make the character even more disturbing.

4/5 stars.

Julian breaks every rule by Andrew Smith, prompt by Raeleen Lemay: 

The prompt “A psychopath in a futuristic setting” really excited me, as I have a worrying love of psychopaths. 

Andrew did not disappoint, making me laugh out loud earning strange looks from people near me, and just overall writing a very good story. 

I do want to know what Andrew has planned for Julian though, as that cliffhanger left me aching for more.

4/5 stars.

Indigo and Shade by April Genevieve Tucholke, prompt by Whitney Atkinson:

“Beauty and the Beast: Suitor’s revenge” does actually sound like the dark sequel to the classic tale, but this story strayed from the darkness it could have been. 

To be honest, I find the Beauty and the Beast story to be overused right now, as the Cinderella one was for a time. This story I’m afraid to say does slot into the overused category. The story was good, don’t get me wrong, but it was the bad side of predictable.

3/5 stars.

Sera by Nicola Yoon, prompt by Steph Sinclair and Kat Kennedy:

Congratulations Nicola, Steph and Kat- you made my favourite story in this book! Talk about saving the best for last. As previously stated, I love all things myth and legend. So the prompt “Gender-flipped God of War” is so far up my street it’s in my back garden.

I could go on forever about this short story, but I’ll dial it down as much as I can.

The writing style from Nicola was amazing; a diary documentation kind of layout, watching Sera grow and seeing from her mother’s eyes what was happening. It did make me laugh a few times throughout; especially when little Sera put up finger guns to the murderer and said “bang bang”. I thought that was just a very funny image. 

The best part of this story was the POV flip at the end. We’d seen from Sera’s mother’s third person POV that Sera had been extremely ill, and then it had jumped to Kareena watching Callie being burned alive by Sera.

But the POV flip to Sera’s POV creates a reallllllly condensed version of the last 15 or so pages, showing the reader how she felt this entire time. She changed her appearance dramatically by dying her hair and wearing contacts because she wanted her mother to love her, and the “light” she was feeling was something she knew was dangerous so she tried to conceal it, making her ill. 

And then we find out that her sister tried to kill her while their mother stood and watched, hence why Sera killed her sister. This moment had my mouth nearly to the floor. Beautiful writing from Nicola and a perfect prompt from Steph and Kat.

5/5 stars.

If you didn’t agree with my review please feel free to comment, but please don’t write anything offensive! 

Likewise if you did agree, or enjoyed this, or want to add a bit more then please feel free to comment or message me!

[christianpublishinghouse-blog]

Revelation 12:9, 12 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 12 Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! Woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows he has a short time.”

We see here that Satan the Devil is thrown down from the heavens to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. The Bible talks about the heavens, and it is only by the context that one can truly determine what is meant. The heavens can be the earth’s atmosphere where the birds fly. (Deut. 4:17; Pro 30:19; Matt 6:26) The heavens can be outer space, which is on the other side of the earth’s atmosphere. (Deut. 4:19; Isa 13:10; 1 Cor. 15:40, 41; Heb. 11:12) The heavens can be midheaven, which is where the eagles fly; thus, within our atmosphere. (Re 8:13; 14:6; 19:17; De 4:11 [Heb., “heart of the heavens”]) Heaven can also be the heaven of heavens or highest heavens (Deut. 10:14; Neh. 9:6). “The Hebrew expression [heaven of the heavens], however, may be nothing more than poetic imagery.”[1] This is an expression of completeness for the physical heavens, as they visually extended out from the earth in all directs as far as the eye could see.

Now that we have covered all of the aspects of the physical heavens, we can now turn our attention to the spiritual heavens. The spiritual heaven exists outside of the physical heavens and is the home of God and all other spirit creatures, like the angels, cherubs, and seraphs. (Jude 6; Gen. 28:12, 13; Matt. 18:10; 24:36) The spiritual heavens would have an infinite vastness, unlike anything we could possibly imagine. In other words, the spirit creatures, who share the spiritual heavens with God, do not have access to his presence at all times, beholding the face of the Father.

For example, consider our Milky Way galaxy. There could be as many as a trillion stars in our galaxy. If humans had a spaceship that could travel at the speed of light, 186,282 miles per second, it would take 100,000 years to cross it. This boggles the mind does it not. Now, there are about 100 billion galaxies in our universe. We are not finished yet because there are approximately 125 billion universes. Now, this is almost impossible for our human mind to grasp. What a backyard for the human family. Whoever said that we would get bored if we lived for an eternity, likely never considered the vastness of it all? Moreover, the universe is continuously growing, as are the others. If this is what we have, one cannot really wrap their mind around the spiritual heavens.

Satan and his angels had access to the spiritual heavens in the days of Noah, and centuries later in the time of Job.  “Again it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah that Satan came also among them to present himself before Jehovah.” (Job 2:1) Even centuries later Jesus speaks prophetically of a future fall that Satan is to have, as a result of Jesus ransom sacrifice. Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” He also said, “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.” John 12:31

We will never know the day and hour of Christ’s return. However, many Bible writers speak of the “last days” before that return. Paul wrote, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”–2 Timothy 3:1-5, 12-13

While we may not know the day and hour of Christ’s return, the events of the 20th century and now the beginning of the 21st century suggest that we may very well be living deep in the “last days.”[2] Even though the “last days” has been going on for almost 2,000 years from now, it is quite short, when one contemplates eternity. Some Bible scholars believe that Jesus’ return is very close [which they should not suggest]. However, they then go on to suggest, “be careful to obey the Scriptures and accurately interpret the evidences of Christ’s return without abusing the Scriptures in an attempt to somehow date his coming.”[3]

Again, here is how we are to view Christ’s return. We should live as though it is tomorrow, but plan as though it is 50-years away. Again, how are we to apply this principle? We live as though Christ is returning tomorrow, by walking with God, having a righteous standing before him. We plan as though it is 50-years away by living a life that makes plans for a long-term ministry that fulfills our end of the great commission. (Matt 24:14; 28:19-20; Ac 1:8) Our sinful nature would not do well if we knew the exact day and hour. We do badly enough when we simply think Christ return is close. You have had religions that have set end of time dates, or are constantly saying, ‘the end is near!’ The ones who set actual dates for Christ’s return: quit their jobs, sell their homes, take all their money out of the bank, and take their kids out of school, either (1) to have a good time before the end, or (2) to spend the last couple years yelling from the rooftops that “the end is coming!” Those who are constantly saying, ‘the end is near,’ are similar, in that they do not take job promotions because it would cut into their ministry, they do not allow their children to have university educations or plan careers because the end is near. These groups are at least concerned about their ministry, but they fail to realize, that we do not know when the end is coming, nor are we meant to. Below, we will talk about the 50-year ministry plan, which is not saying that Jesus is returning in fifty years because it could just as easily be three hundred years.

In dealing with Satan and his angels being kicked out of the spiritual heavens, and cast down to the earth says, Revelation 12:12 says, “O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows that his time is short!” We do not know if this has specifically happened as of yet, but we do know that a great wrath will go with it, which will last for a short time. What a “short time” is specifically we do not know. To whom is that great wrath going to be directed toward? Certainly, Satan is not interested in the world of humankind, who is already alienated from God but only in the chosen ones of God, and his sole efforts will be toward eradicating them if he cannot turn them away. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus identifies the signs of Christ’s presence, and the conclusion of the age, followed by talk of the Great Tribulation. It would seem very likely that Satan’s being expelled from the spiritual heavens, having a great wrath for God’s people, because he knows his time is short, could very well coincide with the Great Tribulation, coming just before it.

Matthew 24:21-22 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no flesh would have been saved: but for the chosen ones[4] sake those days will be cut short.

Even if this has yet to begin, we know that we are likely living deep in the last days, with things deteriorating from bad to worse, and will culminate into the Great Tribulation such as this earth has never seen, nor will ever see again. We do know the devastation of the First and Second World Wars of the 20th century, and that this Great Tribulation is going to be so bad, these will pale in comparison. If we knew that a hurricane was coming to our beachfront property, and we did not prepare, this would be foolish.

We are losing millions of Christians every year to the progressive, modernistic world of humankind, who is alienated from God, and the Great Tribulation is not even upon us as of yet. In Satan’s attempt to acquire the minds of today’s true Christians, he uses fear. Right now, to be a truly conservative, evangelical Christian, who allows the inspired, fully inerrant Word of God to lead his way, is very unpopular, and these few are viewed as being different, the lepers of the modernistic society.

Eighty percent[5] of “so-called” Christianity have abandoned their post, and joined the ranks of the world, because they cannot handle being different, and would rather be popular. It is these ones, who Satan is using to blind the minds of our Christian brothers, misleading them from their conservative position into the world of liberal-progressive Christianity.[6] Instead of making their churches like a biblical church, based on criteria from the Word of God, these ones are making the church to suit the worldly people who would not otherwise attend their church. In this liberal-progressive environment, the churchgoers are nine-part world and one-part Christian. Moreover, even the modern so-called Bible translations, like the Good News Bible, the Contemporary English Version, the New Living Translation, have the translation philosophy that is focused on today’s reader, making every effort to translate the original language text so thoroughly that the modern language translation is easy to read on a 6th to 7th grade level. In doing this, they have,

reduced the level of vocabulary from what you had written to what the translator regarded as a seventh-grade vocabulary level;

cut your sentences down into a series of shorter sentences;

dropped metaphors because he decided that a target audience did not know how to handle figurative language;

changed words that he thought to be old-fashioned;

eliminated words that he thought to be technical;

changed words to match what he thought you had intended to say.[7]

Satan has also used commercialism and materialism to sidetrack the Christian mind, brainwashing them into thinking that they need the latest of everything. Even true Christians are swept away in this battle for the mind, as they too are becoming as Paul put in the above, “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” The philosophy is that pleasure and material wealth are the single genuine goals in life. Another propaganda tool of Satan is the television, movie and music video industry. The eyes are the window to the heart, the seat of motivation is bombarded with scenes of graphic horror, scenes overwhelming the mind with rape, murder, robbery, arson and every other crime. The movie and television industry has a way of making the evil of this world look like the good thing, and Christian moral values a bad thing. (Isa 5:20-21) If true Christians are to survive this offensive material, then they must be selective about what goes into their mind.

Satan also uses our natural desires for a sexual relationship, which should be with our wife alone. This is seen as old-fashioned in today’s world. Everything about this world reeks of sexual immorality. Many products sold on the internet or television, are sold having half-naked women advertising them. (Heb. 4:13) A recent sitcom in the United States is called, ‘The New Normal.’ The premise of the show is about two men named Bryan and David, who are a happy gay couple living in Los Angeles, California. The title of the show exemplifies the new mindset of the Western world toward homosexuality, the new normal. In other words, it is just an alternative lifestyle, which is now normal. Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9

Marriage is no longer honorable, as many live together outside of marriage, and of those who have married, about fifty percent end in divorce. (Matt. 19:6-9; Rom. 7:2, 3; Mal 2:14-16) The young ones these days are living in a world of nothing but parties, drugs, sex, and loud, hateful music. (1 Pet. 2:12) The apostle Paul’s words to the Ephesians are very fitting,

The Old and the New Person

Ephesians 4:17-19 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

17 This, therefore, I say and bear witness to in the Lord, that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 who being past feeling gave themselves up to shameless conduct,[8] for the practice of every uncleanness with greediness. 20 But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard him and have been taught in him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that you take off, according to your former way of life, the old man, who is being destroyed according to deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and put on the new man,[9] the one created according to the likeness of God in righteousness and loyalty of the truth.

Satan is very crafty in using the natural desires that God gave us, which are now bent toward wrong, as a tool in his chest of weapons, in the battle for our minds. Yes, his battle for your mind, my mind, every true Christian mind carries on without letup. On Ephesians 4:17-19, Max Anders writes,

4:17. The Gentiles in Ephesus were particularly sinful. Ephesus was a leading city of commerce and culture in the Roman Empire, the home of the pagan temple of Diana, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Worship of Diana involved the worst immorality of degraded pagan religion. That influence made Ephesus a wretched hive of scum and villainy, a wicked place indeed. Temple prostitution, graft, crime, immorality, idolatry, and every conceivable form of sin abounded. Many of the Christians in Ephesus came out of that kind of background. In contrast with that evil background, Paul made his appeal, “Don’t live like that any longer!”

First, he says, it is futile to live like that. It leads to nothing.

4:18. Second, he says, it reflects darkened understanding, a result of having turned their backs on God. Their hearts are hard, and as a result, their mind is dark. Lives separated from God’s holiness are ignorant lives. This is hard for the sophisticated, educated people of Ephesus to accept. How dare someone call them ignorant. Paul did not contend they had no knowledge. He contended the knowledge did no good in leading them to a lifestyle that pleased God. Without such a lifestyle, their minds did not function properly.

4:19. Their hard heart, which yielded a darkened mind, led to an unholy life. Paul says they have given themselves over to sensuality, a life without concern for the consequences of their actions. Their desire for sensual pleasure overrode every other regard. No matter what they did, such desire was never satisfied. They always wanted more. Lust not love dominated their lives. Such Gentiles certainly did not serve as models for the church. They were not mature. They did not bring unity.[10]

Prepare Your Mind for Action

Romans 8:5-8 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For setting the mind on the flesh is death, but setting the mind on the spirit is life and peace 7 because setting the mind on the flesh means enmity toward God, for it is not subjected to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Satan cannot read our mind. However, our emotions, life, and actions, as well as what we say are indicative of our thinking. It is his goal to know how we think so he can corrupt our mind. If we are ones who have our mind on the flesh, we will live in accordance with the flesh. However, if our mind is on the Spirit, we will live in accordance with the Spirit. If we are to desire the will and purposes of God in our heart and mind, it will only come through forming a longing for his Word, through the company of our Christian congregation, as well as personal Bible study and prayer. On Romans 8:5-8, Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier write,

8:5–8. Here, in different language, is Paul’s contrast between the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:19–23. He lists the deeds and the fruit in Galatians; here he explains from whence they arise. The mind of a human being can be set upon only one thing, either the desires of the flesh or the Spirit. The new way of life in the Spirit makes it possible for the mind of the believer to be set upon what the Spirit desires. Here is what Paul states, implicitly and explicitly, about the two kinds of people he is describing:

    Those Who Live in Accordance with the Flesh

  Those Who Live in Accordance with the Spirit

  What they think about doing Minds are set on the desires of the flesh Minds are set on the desires of the Spirit Ultimate end Leads to death Leads to life and peace Attitude toward God Hostile toward God Receptive toward God Attitude toward God’s standards Does not submit to God’s law Seeks to fulfill God’s law Ability to keep God’s standards Unable to submit to God’s law Able to submit to God’s law Ability to please God Cannot please God Able to please God

Paul is not defining two categories of people here: Christians versus non-Christians, or Spirit-filled Christians versus “carnal” Christians. Rather, he is using the opposite extremes of the spectrum to illustrate two ways of living life in God’s world. One way is to live it according to the desires and directives of the flesh, a way that produces hostility toward God and ultimately death. The other way is to live life according to the desires of God as revealed and empowered by his Holy Spirit, a way that leads to life and peace.

James Boice recounts a story from the life of the English abolitionist, William Wilberforce, that illustrates the vacuum of spiritual understanding manifested by those who are devoid of the Spirit. Wilberforce, a strong Christian, had tried unsuccessfully to get his friend, William Pitt the Younger, the prime minister of England, to go and hear the great British preacher Richard Cecil. Pitt was a nominal Christian only, a church member, and Wilberforce thought the preaching of Cecil might awaken saving faith in his friend’s heart.

Finally agreeing to go with Wilberforce, Pitt attended Cecil’s preaching service where the two sat under a powerful and wonderful presentation of the truths of God. Wilberforce was sure that his friend Pitt would sense the truth and embrace it wholeheartedly. But as they left the service, Pitt turned to Wilberforce and said, “You know, Wilberforce, I have not the slightest idea what that man has been talking about.” Boice concludes by saying, “Clearly, Pitt was as deaf to God as if he were a physically dead man” (Boice, 2:808–809).

This is Paul’s point. A person with his or her mind set upon the things of the flesh cannot “accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). All one has to do is look around societies and cultures to see the results of living life with the mind set on only that which the flesh desires. The result is not life and peace—it is death and destruction. But that is the easy observation to make, the one down at the far end of the spectrum. What about those who claim to be Christians who yet manifest many of the same characteristics as those who make no such claim? What are we to do with the indicators from contemporary polls that suggest the practices of “Christians” are often not much more spiritual than those who live in and of the world? Paul is about to suggest a serious implication.[11]

Be Holy as Obedient Children

1 Peter 1:13-16 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

13 Therefore, gird the loins of your mind,[12] and being sober-minded,[13] set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As children of obedience,[14] do not be conformed according to the desires you formerly had in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, you also be holy in all your conduct; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The Greek here for “prepare your minds for action” (ESV, LEB, HCSB, and NASB) is literally “gird up the loins of your mind (mental perception).” “Girding up your loins” infers that one is getting ready for action. This is a reference to the custom in Bible times of “tucking up the skirt of a garment into a belt and tightening it so the legs would be free.”[15] Peter was here using the expression as preparation for vital and strong mental or spiritual activity. The Greek behind “being sober-minded” has the sense of one keeping their senses. Bible scholar R.C.H. Lenski states, “Soberness is the opposite of infatuation with the things of the world, a calm, steady state of mind which weighs and estimates things aright and thus enables us to make the right decision.” (Lenski 1945, 2008, 52) As you know, Satan is seeking to get at our thinking, to corrupt it, and we need to prepare our minds for strong mental or spiritual activity. On 1 Peter 1:13-16, David Walls and Max Anders write,

1:13. This verse sets the time line boundaries for our behavior. The first word, therefore, points back to the preceding discussion that focused on our salvation hope. We entered into that hope when we committed ourselves in faith to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The last words in this verse, when Jesus Christ is revealed, point ahead to an undisclosed day in the future when Jesus Christ will come to earth the second time. Christians must not forget the first chapter of our salvation or ignore its final chapter. The first affects the second. The second affects the first. From the outset believers are to live each day for that great final day.

How do we do this? First, prepare your minds for action. In the first century, people who wanted to walk or run quickly faced a problem. Before they could quicken their pace, they had to gather up their loose flowing robes with a belt so they would not trip and fall flat on their face as they set off for their destination. Translating that into daily living, Peter said, “Pull your thoughts together. Don’t let anything hinder your mind as you put it to work for God.” In other words, have a disciplined mind.

Be self-controlled expresses the same idea. A loose paraphrase might be, “Stay on your toes spiritually.” Be realistic about what you face in your life as a Christian. Be alert and ready in your whole spiritual and mental attitude, because it is so easy to slide, especially when you are suffering. In those moments it is very difficult to “pull your thoughts together,” and to “be realistic” about your circumstances. The tendency of our mind is to scream exaggerations and denials. The inclination is to lean away from spiritual concerns.

That will be our fate unless we set [our] hope fully on the grace to be given [us] when Jesus Christ is revealed. The main emphasis is on putting one’s hope completely in the final demonstration of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. At this moment, we enjoy only the beginning of that grace. What we have experienced of grace up to this point in our lives does not begin to compare with the grace that will be ours at the second coming of Christ. We must have the long view in mind, or the short run will kill us. Peter is really issuing a command: “Keep looking toward your final salvation, which will be fully experienced when Christ returns. You have been saved, you are being saved, and you will be saved, so don’t get off course.” Our future hope is not simply a theological doctrine with little or no practical application. It is, in fact, an ethical hope. It has behavioral consequences. If we really believe in the second coming of Christ, this belief must make a difference in the way we live.

1:14. The difference in the way we live is described by Peter’s words, as obedient children. Obedience does not produce a believer in Jesus Christ, but true belief will always produce obedience in a believer in Jesus Christ. Part of this obedience is our nonconformity to evil desires. The verb conformed means “to be fashioned into something.” The word describes the practice of adopting for oneself a pattern or mold of life that is changeable and unstable.

The emphasis of verse 14 helps us see that this conformity does not begin with outward actions, as much as it begins with our attitude, our mind-set, our character. Peter is referring to a conformity of thought and purpose. What God requires in us is a total change of purpose. Our outward life will change only as it is a natural outworking of an inner change. Conformity is a lack of obedience that adopts the attitudes, mind-sets, and purposes of the culture of which we are a part. Conformity belongs to the time of ignorance when we did not know Christ and so lived like the world.

One of the prevailing attitudes of our culture is, “I don’t want any problems, any pain. I do not deserve to experience difficulties or trauma in any measure.” As believers, we are not to adopt that mind-set. We are to conform to the example of Christ, the Suffering Servant.

1:15–16. The alternative to conformity is holiness. Among God’s characteristics, as he has revealed himself, none is more significant than his holiness (see Lev. 11:44–45; 19:2; 20:7). Both the Old and New Testaments speak more about his holiness than any other attribute. The implication is that believers who cultivate Christian hope must also cultivate personal holiness. The root meaning of the word holiness could be expressed as “different or distinct.” It describes a qualitative difference. Holiness includes a specific moral sense of separation from evil and a dedication to a life of right living. The lives and attitudes of Christians should be qualitatively different because of their relationship to God through Jesus Christ. Holiness produces in our lives a loving conformity to God’s commands which ultimately produces the character of God in us.[16]

[1] , vol. 2, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised, ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley, 713 (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988).

[2] The “last days” is not some future event to which we look. It is now, Jesus Christ initiated this epoch, and it will continue uninterrupted until his return.–Holman New Testament Commentary (p. 301) http://biblia.com/books/hntc73th/2Ti3.1

[3] Towns, Elmer (2011-10-30). AMG Concise Bible Doctrines (AMG Concise Series) (Kindle Locations 6138-6140). AMG Publishers. Kindle Edition.

[4] Or the elect

[5] In this chapter percentages are rounded.

[6] The word liberal in liberal Christianity denotes a characteristic willingness to interpret scripture without any preconceived notion of inerrancy of scripture or the correctness of Church dogma. Progressive Christianity is the name given to a movement within contemporary Christianity characterized by a willingness to question tradition, acceptance of human diversity with a strong emphasis on social justice or care for the poor and the oppressed and environmental stewardship of the Earth, as opposed to carrying out the Great Commission Jesus commanded. Evangelicalism is a Protestant movement of the Christian Church whose members believe in the authority of the Bible and salvation through the personal acceptance of Jesus Christ.

[7] Leland Ryken. The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation (p. 28).

[8] Or “loose conduct,” “sensuality,” “licentiousness” “promiscuity” Greek, aselgeia. This phrase refers to acts of conduct that are serious sins. It reveals a shameless condescending arrogance; i.e., disregard or even disdain for authority, laws, and standards.

[9] An interpretive translation would have, “put on the new person,” because it does mean male or female.

[10] Max Anders, Galatians-Colossians, vol. 8, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 153–154.

[11] Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 250–252.

[12] I.e., prepare your minds for action (mental perception)

[13] Sober Minded: (Gr. nepho) This denotes being sound in mind, to be in control of one’s thought processes and thus not be in danger of irrational thinking, ‘to be sober-minded, to be well composed in mind.’–1 Thessalonians 5:6, 8; 2 Timothy 4:5; 1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8

[14] I.e., obedient children

[15] Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Volume 4: Hebrews to Revelation., 129 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002).

[16] David Walls and Max Anders, I & II Peter, I, II & III John, Jude, vol. 11, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 11–13.

No Longer Walk in the Futility of the Old Mind Revelation 12:9, 12 Updated American Standard Version (UASV) 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.