#and ash would need a new apartment with only her name on the lease

[karajaynetoday]

i'll be honest, it's better off this way | luke hemmings

image credit 

hello pals! long time no writing! i know it seems a bit weird to post a luke break up fic just after he got engaged but to be fair, I already had this in the works before the news broke yesterday, so soz not soz. It is kind of a happy break up story though... kind of? this one features lyrics from our song by niall and anne marie that are in italics throughout the piece (you know i love a song lyric incorporation lol) and i’m a bit rusty, so any feedback is welcome! a big shoutout to my dearest @notinthesameguey​ for beta-reading this one for me, you’re a gem blanca! enjoy xo

Word count: 2.3k

Warnings:  mentions of a break up and a car accident/hospitalisation (minor/non-graphic)

(This is a fem reader insert)

More writing here | send thoughts/feedback/suggestions here | if you’d like to be on my taglist go here

I'll be honest, I'm alright with me

Sunday mornings, in my own bedsheets

The break up with Luke had been easier than you’d first thought. It’d been months of growing apart, feeling like a stranger in your own home, before you finally worked up the nerve to utter those four words: We need to talk. He’d been spending most days and some nights in the studio, and you’d been working overtime at your job too; you were ships in the night who barely had time to say hello and goodbye, let alone have any sort of proper conversation. You’d spent an entire evening rehearsing a script in your head, and as soon as Luke walked through the door and greeted Petunia, you mustered the courage to stand up and speak your truth. 

It turned out that you weren’t alone in feeling stagnant in your relationship, and although you could feel your heart breaking as you said the words, Luke’s hand on your knee was all the gentle reassurance you needed. Just like always, even when your relationship was falling apart, Luke was there for you. And that’s what he promised, that night in the living room. It didn’t make sense for you two to become strangers overnight after 3 years together, but you also both knew that you needed space to grow and heal, and that space needed to happen sooner rather than later. 

You could tell that part of Luke wanted to fight it, wanted to raise his voice, wanted to convince you to stay. But part of Luke also knew that it was time to walk away, no matter how much his heart was feeling like it was being ripped out of his chest, because he did truly love you, and if he loved you, he’d let you go. 

Even though Luke insisted you could stay in the spare room for as long as you liked, it only took a week or so to find a new place. An apartment in KayKay’s building opened up for rent, and thanks to her help, you secured the lease and started moving in as soon as you could. Ashton accompanied you to Ikea and then helped with assembling a new bed and dining table for you, while KayKay helped unpack some of your boxes. You could tell that they were trying to be sensitive, but at the same time were desperate to know what went down in the break up, and after a few slices of pizza and half a bottle of wine, you felt the emotions rushing to the surface.

“It feels dumb to get upset, after all, I was the one who suggested we should break up.” You sniffled, smiling sadly as Ashton handed you a tissue.

“Just because it was something that needed to happen, doesn’t mean you can’t be sad about it. You two shared a lot in the time you were together, it’s only natural that it’s going to take you a while to untangle yourselves from one another and to get your head and heart back on the path that’s right for you.” KayKay spoke softly, throwing an arm around your shoulders.

You knew she was right, and the healing would come; it was all part of the rollercoaster of walking away from someone you thought was the love of your life, but had turned out not to be. Time to adjust and find some independence, and re-shape the life you found yourself in until it was the life you wanted. 

But every time I think that I can get you out my head, you never, ever let me forget

Once you’d completely moved out Luke’s house, your reasons to contact him became few and far between. A few occasional texts to advise that he’d let his family know about your split, and a link to a new cafe nearby that he thought was your kind of vibe (and it absolutely was). Everyone in your friendship group was trying their best to help you both cope, but it was hard to avoid the awkwardness that came with a break up of close friends.  

You felt like you were walking on eggshells for a while, so you started to say no to invitations out. You threw yourself into a new work project, and barely replied to any group chats. Whenever your friends called, you had the perfect script rehearsed, about how you were going to be up for promotion, and after the next month or so, you’d have plenty more time for catching up with everyone. You were fairly certain that no-one believed your story, but you were sticking to it nonetheless. You’d seen photos online of Luke out and about with various beautiful women amongst the partying crew, and even though you knew better than to torture yourself with doom-scrolling through the internet, you couldn’t help yourself. You had to keep reminding yourself that it was YOU that wanted the breakup, and that it was for the best. Or something like that.

It was coming to the end of your big project, and the entire office decided to head out for celebratory drinks. You only stayed for a couple, because after a month of overtime you were ready for bed. Your boss took you aside to assure you that the promotion was yours and the new contract would be on your desk on Monday, and as you reassured him you were excited to take on the role, a song playing over the bar’s speakers made you stop in your tracks. You’d spent many a Sunday morning dancing around the kitchen making pancakes with Luke and singing these words; something you’d completely forgotten until this moment. As you stepped outside to await your Uber, the first person you wanted to call with the news was Luke. Your fingers hovered over his name for a good few minutes before your Uber driver honked and broke you out of her trance, and you settled for texting the group chat instead to share your exciting update. Lots of confetti and heart eyes emojis started popping up alongside congratulatory messages, and you let out a giggle when you saw that Luke had sent a photo of Petunia with “congrats!” scrawled across it in purple font. It was the last thing you remembered, before the squealing of tyres and your vision going black. 

Just when I think you're gone, Hear our song on the radio

Just like that, takes me back, To the places we used to go

The rhythmic beeping of the hospital monitors was the first thing you noticed as you stirred awake. The second was a dull pain across your skull, and the third was that your arm was in a sling. Fourth was the large, warm hand that was holding your own and gently squeezing; without opening your eyes, you knew it was Luke’s. You felt too weak to say any words, so instead you tried your best to squeeze back as you slowly opened your eyes. You heard a sharp intake of breath, before Luke’s smiling face came into view.

“Hey there, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” Luke asked, reaching up to gently brush some hair out of your eyes.

“Like I was in a car accident.” You managed to croak out, shooting him a wry smile and earning a laugh in return.

“You are correct, you can pass go, and collect $200. A pretty gnarly accident, the car’s a write-off, but thankfully everyone’s injuries are relatively minor. Some dickhead ran a red light.” You could tell Luke was trying to remain calm, but under the surface he was pissed.

“Not ideal, but at least I get a few days off work.” You joked, grimacing as you tried to sit up. Luke stood and gently maneuvered your pillows to support your back and shoulders better, and you felt a zap of electricity as his hands brushed your arms in passing.

As Luke sat back in the chair next to the bed, you suddenly realised that it was just the two of you in the hospital room. 

“No offence, Hemmo, but what are you doing here? Considering we’re no longer significant others, and all…” You said awkwardly, looking down at your arm sling with sudden great interest.

“Very observant, dear. Glad to see the concussion hasn’t affected your short term memory, I was worried you’d forget me entirely. You did, however, forget to update your emergency contact details, so I guess I was first on the list for the hospital to call. Ash, KayKay and I have been taking shifts but they’re out getting food right now - “ The rest of Luke’s explanation was cut off by a gasp and a cheer at the door, signalling Ashton and KayKay’s return and subsequent delight at you being awake.

The days that followed were uncomfortable physically, but kind of heartwarming emotionally. You got home to your apartment thanks to KayKay’s assistance, and found that your friends had stocked your fridge and freezer full of ready-made meals and your favourite snacks. They’d also made a roster so not a day went by without someone popping in to check on you, although you noticed that Luke never came by. 

Your recovery was slow but steady, and soon enough the doctors gave you the all clear. At this point, it was nearly 6 months since you’d broken up with Luke, and you could feel your mindset shifting. He was no longer the first person you wanted to call with good or bad news, or the first memories that popped into your head when you needed cheering up. It almost felt like… relief? Because for the longest time, even though you knew the break up was for the best, detaching yourself from one another seemed almost in possible after so many years of so many memories. 

I've been waking up alone, I haven't thought of him for days

I'll be honest, It's better off this way

The tipping point came at Calum’s birthday party, a month or so later. Ashton had invited you out for coffee and nonchalantly mentioned that maybe, possibly, well actually extremely likely almost definitely Luke was bringing a date to the gathering at Cal’s house; a girl he’d been seeing for a month or so. Everyone wanted you to be comfortable, and everyone, Cal especially, wanted you to be there, but they also understood if you wanted to avoid any potential awkward encounters with Luke and his new love interest. You assured Ashton that it would be fine, that you honestly weren’t bothered, and laughed off his suggestion of setting you up with a super hot blind date to help level the playing field.

The night came along, and you found yourself stumbling along Calum’s front path in the dark as you tried not to drop the gift you’d bought for him (a new cookbook and a collection of various hot sauces).  “Bloody 5sos and the “no good party starts until 11pm rule”, you muttered to yourself as you almost tripped over again, and you heard an indignant shout that sounded very Ashton-like behind you.

“Oi! Don’t be mad at us, you know that rule has never let us down!” Ashton bellowed, as he came forward with his phone flashlight switched on, KayKay not too far behind him.

“Damn girl, you like fiiiiiine!” KayKay said, letting out a low whistle. You rolled your eyes, knowing she was exaggerating. Your outfit was essentially a denim skirt and a t-shirt - maybe you’d sexed it up a little bit with some thigh high boots, tousled hair and a red lip, but all’s fair in love and war, right?

The three of you made it inside, and a very tipsy Calum greeted you with open arms and a lot of excitement at your gift of hot sauce. It felt so nice to be back with all your friends at a house party, like the old days, and you found yourself stepping out onto the back patio for a moment of quiet reflection and to share some pats with Duke.

You’d exchanged a wave with Luke when you’d entered the house, but hadn’t quite worked up the confidence to go up and speak to him, especially when he had his new girl in close proximity. She looked really friendly, though, and you could tell from the spark in both of their eyes that their relationship was blossoming in the best possible way. Part of you thought you’d be upset about it, but all you truly felt was content. Content in your life as it was, surrounded by friends that loved you just as much as you loved them, and actually quite proud of how far you’d come over the past year. You’d learned to stand on your own two feet, and you’d grown into a much more settled, independent human as a result. 

You were lost in your train of thought when you heard the song change on the speakers inside. Duke’s ears perked up and he licked your hand attentively when you stopped patting him as the song registered - it was your song. Or at least, it used to be. You felt a smile creep onto your face when you remembered the Sunday mornings of pancakes and singalongs, and the smile grew wider when you saw Luke’s girlfriend dragging him onto the dancefloor, much to his (fake) protests. You made eye contact with your kind-hearted, softly-smiling, gentle-eyed ex-boyfriend, and for a split second you saw a flash of concern cross his face. In response, you raised your glass in a cheers and shot him a wink, which earned a smile and a small laugh from Luke before he turned his attention back to the beautiful girl in his arms. You took a sip, and smiled to yourself. It truly was better off this way. 

When I hear it, I just can't stop smiling, I remember you're gone

Baby, it's just a song on the radio, That we used to know

Taglist: If there’s a line through your name, I couldn’t tag you, so please message me to let me know your new URL or what the go is!   @suchalonelysunflower @blackbutterfliescal @redrattlers @loveroflrh @spicycal @notinthesameguey @metalandboybands @cheekysos @ashton-trash  @another-lonely-heart @queenalienscherrypie  @becihadshawn  @allthestarsandthemoon  @oyesmendes​ @andrianawinchester @333-xx  @findingliam-o @hoodhoran @rbforsmileycal @myloverboyash @myhappylittleyoutubee @saywhatnow07 @secretsicanthideanymore @ar1analara  @killmywildflower​

[strigital]

Do tell about Nim, I couldn’t find much info about her through your blog and I am dying to know more about this werewolf lady

well grab a pint and sit yo booty down, cause our bard of the evening tonight is Nim and she's drunk as all hell and ready to weave some outrageous stories!! 🍻

in all seriousness, thank you for asking! 😭💗 she came about back in ye oldie days of hype over the 11th of november 2011, and since then refuses to give up the title of my fav oc!!

now, a Paarthurnax would say: lets-a go!

a quick recap of the events in Skyrim:

Naali Saryn was born sometime in 4E 130 on mainland Morrowind as a result of a quick fling between an unknown Dunmer girl and Lucien Lachance and Kassandra Saryn's (The Hero of Kvatch's) son.

Sometime in that year, the baby was found aboard a ship bound for Raven Rock and when no one came forth to claim her a couple of elderly and childless ash yam farmers decided to take her in until her family was found.

The family, of course, was never found, and so they raised her as their own for the next sixteen years. They called the girl Nim - short, sweet, meaningless, and easy to shout out into the fields where the little brat is out adventuring when the house chores are yet to be done.

Nim grew up alongside her best friend Teldryn (don't believe his tales about his past, there's a reason why he wears a helmet in his hometown). For years the kids dreamt of leaving Raven Rock behind and making it big in the big city. And idea which really annoyed Nim's ol' Nana, who believed that everything needed for a simple happy life was right here on Solstheim.

After one particularly nasty fight with Nana about the ordeal, Nim gathered a bag of things and slipped out in the dead of night to catch an early morning ship with Teldryn.

They stuck together for a while then went on their separate merry ways. He - to Blacklight, she - to Leyawiin. Once in the wild, Nim had to quickly figure out her place in the pecking order. The romantic life of crime seemed to be the most attractive for her, but getting on top could never be easy. Especially for a young, inexperienced, and naive girlie. So she ended up running with the wrong kind of crew. Ended up in some truly dark places. Barely got out alive. Learned from her mistakes. Wore the scars of abuse like armor and made sure that since that day no one in this world or any other would play her for a fool, use her or put a finger on her without her permission.

By the time she turned fifty, Nim was well known amongst certain circles as the kind of scoundrel, thief, bard, and wench one should not trifle with. But her luck had to eventually run out, and so it did on the night of the fabled Umbacano Mansion heist, which failed so badly Nim had to either leave Cyrodiil or end up in a Thalmor owned torture chamber.

Skyrim seemed like a perfect place. After all, in a kingdom torn apart by the civil war, no one would even notice yet another greyskin refugee, right? Well, the Thalmor did. And so she ended up on a cart bound for Helgen to have a date with an executioner. But then Alduin showed up to crash the party before he himself got rudely interrupted by another dragon, who swooped in to save the Last Dragonborn.

After the narrow escape, Nim concluded her duty to warn Balgruuf of the dragon threat and went on to start a new career as a merc with the Companions. She and Aela became fast friends and when the prospect of joining the Circle came up she gladly accepted a sip of her new sister's blood. To never again be helpless and weak? To rip apart any fool who'd take her for just another elf wench who can't put up a fight? Well of course it was worth giving up the ability to sleep and having to get used to all smells suddenly becoming ten times worse!

After that Mirmulnir showed up and ended up as another ornament above the throne in the Dragonsreach. And Nim got stuck with a title which she would wear with great discontent for years to come.

Eventually, she ceased trying to run away and hide from her destiny, accepted her role as the Last Dragonborn, and begrudgingly began her quest to save the world. On her journey, she met and became tight friends with Yollokmir and Alasil who taught her how to speak, fight and fly like a dragon. With their help she inherited Konahrik's legacy: his mask embued with his soul, his citadel far up in the mountains - the NebenLok Zeikangaar - and the right to revive and lead the order of dragon riders sworn to defeat Alduin - DovahDein.

As she gained power and the word of her great many deeds spread across Skyrim, she managed to get quite the following of fellow men, mer, and Dov, willing to follow her into Sovngarde and beat the hell out of Alduin. Alas, she failed. Twice.

At that point, Alasil informed her of a special someone who might be of help in their quest against Alduin and who might prove difficult to convince to join her cause. That was the first time in fifty years that Nim got to visit her home. Unfortunately, Solstheim had changed. And upon arrival, she learned that her Pa passed onto the realm of Azura soon after her departure, and her Nana... well, she wasn't young anymore and suffered greatly due to all the ash ruining her lungs... and when the islanders got called to the All-Maker stones night after night by a mysterious spell, she just worked herself to death. That was the only thing Nim wouldn't forgive Miraak for, not until he swallowed his pride and sincerely apologized for being responsible for his potential mother-in-law's death.

And with Miraak's help, they finally sent Alduin back to his Maker, enjoyed a few peaceful years until High King Ulfric became a bit drunk on his power and needed a good ass whooping as well. Then Miraak suddenly found himself as the new king and Nim... she just did her own thing. As always. The end?

Oh and all the while running about, gathering forces, growing her Dragonborn powers, hunting Dragon Priests and Alduin's henchmen, she also meddled with the Thieves Guild, put Karliah in charge and became her right hand, managed to become an advisor on all things dragon at the Mage's College, ended up teaching lute and songwriting at the Bard's College (she's taking a break since Viarmo can't seem to handle her teaching tactics), earned the title of Thane in every hold and became a good friend to the Dawnguard fellas (Isran is more than happy to teach her kids the ropes of monster hunting) after kicking Harkon's ass into Oblivion. In what little free time she has Nim also manages the Lakeview Manor and leases the ash yam farm back in Raven Rock for some extra cash. All in all, a busy woman!

and some tidbits about the dovahmom:

Although Nim is perfectly aware of her real name, she chooses to use the one given to her by Nana. Both as a sign of respect and because, frankly, she dislikes both the Sarynes and the Lachances, who are, in her humble opinion, just a bunch of pricks. Somehow, the ghost of her murdered grandad finds this opinion of hers kinda funny.

Her friends sometimes describe her as "cyrodiilic brandy in a cup of tea": she's this small elf girl with pretty blue eyes and a smile on her face and you think that she'll be very pleasant and cute and shy and then... then you realize she drinks like a sailor, swears like one too, can beat anyone into the dirt (thanks, Hircine) and doesn't take shit from nobody. She openly speaks her mind and doesn't give a shit about what someone might think of her. She does what she considers the right thing to do, never plays nice with those she dislikes, never pretends to be someone she isn't. She's feisty, sassy, brassy, and, quite honestly, just doesn't give a fuck.

Nim is in almost complete control over her inner beast, partly thanks to her draconic blood, partly - to the ring she got when she and Sinding had that little party on a moonlit night in that grotto. She only loses control over herself when both moons are full and thusly will travel deep into the wilds a few days before the magical night. This way the only people that might get hurt are bandits, necromancers, hags, and the like. She and Aela also managed to get a small werewolf pack going, named the Whitemane Pack after the old man himself and dedicated to those who wish to take control over their inner beast, hunt with honor, and cause the Silver Hand as much grief as possible.

Nim is raising Blaise and Sofie as her own since they both were just wee lil' war orphans (the babes are in their teens now). She never quite really knew why... Nim was never a wifey nor a baby momma kind of woman. In fact, she can't even have children in the first place and, honestly, always thought of this as a blessing - never having to worry about contraception like all those other girls and just having fun without a care in the world! Her friends sometimes joke around, saying that she might've finally "ripened" for the motherhood, but she doesn't care. She loves Blaise, Sofie, and Sissel (thanks, Miraak, you're so good at kidnapping children!) and is content with being their famous Dragonborn mom. Post-Alduin Miraak, however, is secretly annoyed for not being able to get her pregnant. Oh well, the man can dream...

Oh yeah! Nim plays the lute and sings too! It's a skill she picked up across taverns all over the continent when she realized that bards get free drinks and a bed, as well as ample opportunity to sniff out and seduce prey. And even though her days of hunting for good-looking rich fools are long behind her, she still performs in inns and taverns across Skyrim. Firstly, it brings in a fair amount of money, and secondly, it's good for her Voice! And also just plain and simple fun.

Also, people get terribly surprised when she, a Dunmer, doesn't act like one at all! Nim might've grown up in Raven Rock, a Dunmer settlement, but she spent the rest of her life traveling the continent and then living in Skyrim. She's more Nord-ish than some Nords! And the Nords actually really love it! It's so so easy to just get plastered with the homegirl, punch some faces and pass out on a heap of hay behind the inn, just happy to be alive on this fine snowy day. The only truly Dunmer thing about her is the occasional "n'wah!" which escapes her potty mouth. I mean, she doesn't even like sujamma all that much and would rather have a pint of mead! Whatever Ancestors she has must be spinning in their graves fast enough to generate electricity.

uuuhhh I think that's all the important stuff? i might've forgotten, in which case, I'll add it later... meanwhile, have some more Nim content:

^^^ the fanfic is slow, but it's moving... at a snail's pace. my advice: don't expect updates, so that when they do come, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

[thebiasrekkers]

The Girl In The Window - MYG

For @prisczero​, a companion story to their fic The Boy In The Window. 

Plot: The girl next door romance - except it’s a window.

Rating: PG // SFW

Genre: fluff | romance | next door neighbors

Pairing: Min Yoongi x Female Reader

Warnings: None

Links: FAQ || BTS Masterlist || Admin E’s AO3 || [ REQUESTS ARE OPEN ]

Word Count: 3,152

AN: I adore this story concept and wanted to do something special; mostly because they’re such a huge fan of my BTS Mafia series, “Make It Right”. So yeah, this is for you. I hope this makes your week! Please go check out her stuff, she’s amazing. All reblogs, critiques/reviews, comments and affection are accepted! Happy reading!

© thebiasrekkers (Admin E). All rights reserved. Reposting/modifying our work is prohibited. Translations are not allowed. Plagiarism/stealing is not tolerated by any means. Legal action will be taken in instances of theft.

He wasn’t a morning person.

Not by a long shot.

But what choice did he have since the movers only had a slot available at 7AM? If he didn’t do it now, Yoongi would be forced to wait until tomorrow to get the rest of his shit together at his new place. He wasn’t about to wait. He’d waited long enough. He needed to get out now.

After four hours, all of his belongings were situated in his new apartment. It was modest, modern, and simple enough that he wouldn’t complain. Attachments were hard for him and he didn’t expect himself to be staying there longer than a year. Moving around helped him think; helped broaden his horizon and expand his spreadsheet of experiences.

It helped breathe life into his music.

The sun was out, but Yoongi was a Night Owl. He showered, ate a frozen dinner, and trudged to his bedroom. He pulled the blackout curtains over the window and crawled into bed. He didn’t care if his hair was wet or that the window was still open. If he caught a cold, oh-fucking-well. He’d get over it. 

Just like every other obstacle in his life.

Waking up several hours later, Yoongi busied himself with unpacking a few boxes. Mainly the ones for his mini studio. Monitors were arranged on a desk, an electronic keyboard plugged into the wall and situated one side of the L-shaped desk. A sound board sat off just to the left of his keyboard and two large speakers rested on the floor on either sides of his desk. Hooking up the robot arm to his microphone, he adjusted the shock mount and pop-filter, swiveling it back and forth to make sure it was exactly where he wanted it to be. 

Desktop tower, dozens of cords and cables, and readjustment of his desk chair later, he was finally satisfied with his work station. Yoongi booted up everything, made sure all of his programs were running smoothly, before debating on making dinner. A loud stomach growl following the thought was the deciding factor.

He opted for cup noodles this time.

Itching to get to work, he slurped down noodles as he pulled up his music making software. Hitting the ‘enter’ key, the bass fired off with a deep melody rolling through the tones. He eyeballed the time, not caring that it was late. It wasn’t like he was being loud and he didn’t have downstairs neighbors to worry about. As far as he knew, the walls were made of reinforced concrete.

Too bad he forgot that the window was open.

Yoongi blinked rapidly, his vision blurring momentarily as he stared listlessly at the computer screen. A soft haze of smoke wafted into his line of sight, reminding him that he hadn’t knocked off the ash on his cigarette in about ten minutes. Crossing his eyes, he saw that the cigarette nearly burned out to the filter. Sighing, he groped around for his can of soda. Shaking it, he dropped the ash and cigarette but into the mouth of the can. He took a moment to pull the sleeve of his hoodie back to look at his watch. It was almost three in the morning. 

“Maybe I should take a break,” he muttered, already standing from his chair. 

He stretched, popping a few bones and releasing the tension on the muscles around his neck and shoulders. Patting his pockets, he found his pack of smokes. He was already lighting up another cigarette as he made his way out to the window. Pulling back the blackout curtains, Yoongi mentally noted that he needed to do laundry at the end of the week. Regardless of his terrible habit, it didn’t mean he enjoyed sleeping in an ashtray.

Blinking against the light of the moon, Yoongi brushed his fingers through his hair. And that’s when he saw her. She looked lost in her own thoughts, hugging her arms close to her chest. He wondered if she was cold and thought about asking her, but then realized how creepy that would come across.

Inhaling slowly, he leaned out of the window. The ember glow from the end of the cigarette distracted him momentarily. He still didn’t know what he wanted to say, so Yoongi croaked out the only thing he could think of that wouldn’t sound completely asinine.

“Hey.”

Resting his elbows on the window sill, Yoongi swiveled the cigarette to the side of his mouth so he could get a better look at his neighbor. She seemed to scrutinize him, sizing him up. He wondered if she was going to say something about how loud he’d been the last few weeks.

“Hey. Smoking isn’t good for you, you know.”

He blinked, surprised that this was the answer she was giving him. He half expected to get cussed out because he’d been a lousy neighbor. He hadn’t introduced himself or even bothered to stop by to get to know his neighbors. Was it because he had no plans to stick around for longer than the lease term?

Chuckling, he watched the smoke push from between his teeth as he flashed her a grin. “You’re right.” And after a few seconds, Yoongi felt his deadpan expression return. It was his normal look - the one coined as his “resting bitch face” by others. “Hold on.”

Pulling away from the window, he reached around for the soda can on his desk. Holding both the cigarette and the can, he made a show of throwing the remaining cigarette into it. He waved the can back and forth, a gesture of “good faith” was what he would call it.

“Last one.”

She scoffed. Rightfully so. 

“You’re telling me you’re gonna quit smoking?”

He nodded and Yoongi watched as she shook her head. She didn’t have a reason to believe him. Hell, he didn’t half believe it himself. However, instead of disgust, there was a ghost of a smile on her face. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

“Just like that?”

Yoongi’s expression remained neutral. But even he could feel his eyes tightening up around the corners as he held back a snicker. He’d often been told that his eyes had a way of smiling even if his mouth didn’t. Sometimes he was just too honest. Or at least his eyes were.

Nothing else was said between them. He opened his mouth, prepared to continue the conversation, but soon realized it would fall flat. Again, he tried and, again, he shut his mouth. He rubbed at his fringe in frustration, attempting to start the conversation back up. There had to be something…

“What’s your name?” he finally blurted out, peering intently across the small expanse of space that separated them. 

She crossed her arms across her chest, humming to herself. She was probably surmising whether or not it was a good idea to divulge such information to him. Especially if he’d been a rude neighbor up until this point.

“You first.”

Brows knit over his eyes, but he chuckled a little to himself. She wasn’t about to make this easy for him. “I’m Yoongi. Your turn.”

And then she smiled; a soft gesture that seemed to pull the breath straight out of his lungs. “My name is Y/N.”

“Y/N,” he murmured to himself, rolling it over his tongue. 

Movement caught his attention and he watched Y/N shuffle slightly, her arms tightening around her chest. Maybe she really was cold. It was late, after all. 

There was a cascade of andromeda reflected in her eyes, stirring something inside of him. For what felt like an eternity, nothing else was said between them. Instead, Yoongi watched as Y/N looked lost in her own world. He couldn’t help but think it was a little adorable that she seemed lost inside of her own head.

He’d leave her to it. There was something he needed to work on; now more than ever.

Yoongi disappeared into his room, closing the window. But he didn’t bother with the blackout curtains. He wanted her to see the light of his computer; to let her know that he was still there.

Pressing the “enter” key on his computer, the soft bass drummed across the speakers and reverberated off the floor. The rhythm wasn’t harsh or distracting. It was chill, soft like a whispered echo lost across the skies. 

Y/N looked a little tired. Maybe this will help her sleep.

Grinning, he threw the can into the trash by his desk. Setting up an automation playlist of things he’d worked on, he made sure that every piece was something relaxing. It would be loud enough to press through the glass. 

He knew that it would reach her.

Yoongi didn’t think there would be another night after that one. He was pretty sure he’d turned her off from wanting anything to do with him. It wasn’t like the 80’s where you could simply hold casual conversations with the next door neighbor through their window. Hell, it would have been more comical with two cans connected with a line of string.

That sounded more interesting.

But providence decided to show him some mercy and granted it to him. 

Then another. 

And another. 

And another.

The days turned into weeks - the two of them meeting every night to chat side by side with two full arm lengths separating them. For the first time in years, Yoongi could feel a connection that didn’t feel cheap or contrived. It was true and he didn’t have to question it. Y/N was so honest that he knew it to be true without poking or prodding her over it.

They laughed, fussed, cussed and nitpicked at each other. Yoongi couldn’t remember a time when he’d smiled so much; when he wasn’t throwing himself into his music and nothing else. When he wasn’t allowing for anything else to intrude into his world. He kept it that close to him for a reason. He kept his distance for a reason.

But not with her. 

With Y/N, he wanted to let her in. He wanted to get even closer to her. Closer than the stretch of arms and fingers it would take to reach her.

He wanted to touch her - to hold her hand and be near her than he was already allowed.

Groaning, he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes. A small cluster of cigarette butts were piled in the plastic ashtray. He told her he’d quit smoking, but the mounting stress on his shoulders was about as much as he could stand. Yoongi couldn’t focus. Work was becoming tedious and while producing music was his passion, there was the constant yearning for a need to be resolved pulling at the forefront of his mind. 

This wasn’t going to work. He had to get this out of his system because whether he said it out loud or not, he knew one thing was true.

He couldn’t get Y/N out of his mind.

Sighing, he grabbed his hoodie. He decided that he needed to just see her. Not from the window, but from her front door.

A cold wind whipped through his body, halting him in his steps. Pulling out his phone, he spied the time. Normally she was home by now, but it was also getting a little late. She hadn’t called out to him so there was a chance that she was asleep. Hell, she probably could have been out with her own friends.

Making his way to her front door, he lifted up his hand to knock. But just before his knuckles could hit the surface, his nerves seemed to knot up inside his stomach. All of his worries, all of his doubts, came flooding across him mercilessly.

What if she doesn’t feel the same? he thought, his brows furrowing slightly as his hand slowly pulled away from the door. What if she pushes me away?

Yoongi roughly shook his head back and forth, pivoting away from the door. He couldn’t face her like this. He needed to clear his head. He needed to come back with more confidence. If she rejected him, she rejected him. They could at least still be friends. She could still smile at him.

Things didn’t have to change if he couldn’t have her.

He walked for what felt like miles, even though he knew it was only a few blocks. An hour passed and Yoongi knew he needed to head back. It was late, past the allotted time they usually met up, but he knew he had to take the chance now. Nothing would be certain if he did nothing.

Once again, he stood outside of her door. Yoongi attempted to swallow the lump in his throat, his heart jack hammering wildly in his chest. And once again, he raised his hand up to knock on the door.

It’s now or never, he thought.

But before his knuckles could hit the door, it swung open. His eyes went wide and he blinked in surprise as Y/N let out a small squeak of surprise. Yoongi stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, rocking back on his heels as he looked back at her.

“Hey.”

Silence. She seemed to be gathering herself before her own lips parted to speak.

“Hey.” 

Her voice sounded a little off; like she was attempting to dam up everything inside of her. Yoongi wasn’t sure what to say, so he opted to shift his weight from one foot to the other. This wasn’t how he’d planned it. It was like seeing Y/N’s face knocked all the fight straight out of him.

“Are you okay? I was worried when you didn’t show up! And there was no music, and–”

Yoongi blinked up at her. Under the light of the moon and the street light on the corner, her eyes shined like diamonds. It wasn’t until that same sheen pooled around the lower parts of her eyes that he realized she was about to cry. He stepped forward on impulse, his hands resting on either sides of her face as his thumbs swept away the tears that began to fall.

“Shh, don’t cry. I’m okay,” he said softly, and he couldn’t help the small smile that was forming on his lips. He couldn’t believe that she was worried over him like that. She’d been waiting for him all along. “I’m sorry for worrying you.”

He felt her leaning her cheek into one of his palms, causing his heart to skip a beat. She looked so pretty under the light that it almost hurt to look at her. 

“Why didn’t you come?”

And then her question, her soft voice, did make him close his eyes.

What could he say that wouldn’t sound like an excuse? What would even make sense?

The truth.

“I wanted to come to your door this time. But as I was about to knock, I chickened out...” He took a breath, wetting his lips and opening his eyes to look down at Y/N. “I just - I couldn’t do it. I was nervous…” He sighed. “So, I went out for a walk. Thought it would clear my head. But then I realized over an hour had gone by and I came back and… as soon as I was about to knock, the door swung open.” 

He couldn’t help but chuckle a little at what just transpired moments ago, as well as how in sync they both were. He was worried about her and she was worried about him. He wanted to see her up close and she was about to run next door to do just that.

Yoongi saw her smile, the insides of his palms wet from the fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. Her smile was the only reassurance that he had to know that they weren’t tears of sadness. 

“Yoongi?”

Again, he wiped at her face. “Yes? Why are you crying again?”

She shook her head back and forth, dabbing at her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie. A knot twisted inside of Yoongi’s chest as his hands rested on her shoulders. He gave them a gentle squeeze, unable to chase the concern from his mind.

“I’m just happy.” Y/N looked back up at him and he gave a soft sigh of relief. “I’ve wanted to be this close to you for so long. I even had dreams about it.”

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “But you were scared of rejection.”

It wasn’t a question. She nodded.

Leaning down, he brought his face closer to hers - smelling the faint scent of her shampoo. “Me too. But here we are, aren’t we?”

He gave a voice to his feelings at last. Yoongi wasn’t sure where he’d mustered the courage. Maybe it was her tears. Or knowing that she was that worried about him, that her heart was drawing itself toward him without realizing it. Whatever the reason, Yoongi knew that he was so thankful.

Thankful for her.

“Y/N?” Her eyes lifted to meet his gaze and he let it linger there before lowering to stare down at her slightly parted mouth. “I want to kiss you.” 

His eye-line shifted to meet hers once more, waiting for her to give him permission to claim what he’d longed to taste for days now. Y/N said nothing. But she did, however, nod, and that was all he needed. One hand moved from her shoulder to rest at the back of her neck, pulling her into his space. His lips pressed gently over hers, sealing them with a soft kiss. Darkness overtook everything as he shut his eyes, wanting to enhance the flavor of this moment more than anything else.

Slowly, Yoongi pulled back - removing his mouth from hers. His fingers danced through the soft baby hairs at the nape of her neck and he stroked his thumb along the length of her jawline. There was a pinkish tint to her cheeks and he grinned down at her, the onset of tears clear in her eyes. 

Once again, silence filled the void. He wanted to hear her voice again; to know that this wasn’t a dream. Anything would have been fine. Yoongi just wanted to know it was from her.

Nerves bundled up around his chest; the all-too-familiar butterflies dancing in the pit of his stomach. And then Y/N took a breath, causing you to get lost in her gaze again. This woman who managed to send you soaring high and grounding you at the same time.

This girl he’d met through his window.

“You taste like cigarettes.”

Yoongi quickly bit his lip, stifling an outburst of laughter, before leaning in to bring you back into his center of gravity. Seconds before his lips met hers, he flashed a devious smirk at her.

“Last one, promise.”

[seriouslyhooked]

When We Collide (Part 2)

Emma Swan has always known one thing: trust no one but yourself. Unfortunately she forgot her one rule and now she’s paying for it. One bad decision led her to the monstrous ‘Crocodile’ a mobster in New York who goes by the name Gold. Hope seems lost until she meets another person in this underworld, Killian Jones. Despite the place they find each other, a true love blossoms, and they manage to get away. But what will happen when Emma discovers who Killian really is? Will love prevail? Um, yeah, I’m writing this, so duh – it’s all love all the time. Fic features motorcycles, hot guys in leather cuts, and a bit of action/drama. Will end happily, and despite the first chapter, will be light on angst. Part 1. Available on FanFiction Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hey everybody! So first and foremost, thank you all so much for your responses to the first chapter of this fic. It has been exciting to wade into new waters, and this AU is exactly that for me. As promised last time, this chapter represents a jump into the future, and many of you might think to yourselves, wow, Emily, you really skipped a lot of stuff here. No worries, there will be some flashbacks and plenty of explanations going forward. I just don’t love angst so much, and wanted to get us to a better place before we relive some of the earlier parts of this CS love story. Anyway, thanks to you all for tuning back in and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Three Months Later

Packing up the last of his things in this shithole apartment, Killian was struck by how easy it was to say goodbye to a place he’d lived for months on end.

It was no hardship to close this chapter and to bid farewell to this hollow and lifeless space. Oh it had flair and style, and many would see it and acknowledge that by New York City standards this flat was a castle in the sky, with clean white lines and ample room considering the density of the city. But it would never be his style. His home – his real home - was nothing like this. It was free and open and warm. It was removed from the hustle and bustle, nestled away in a place of calm. Not like this place.

From the jump, Killian made sure to keep nothing of value stowed away here. There were furnishings included when he signed the lease, ones that spoke to his higher status in the syndicate, and which gave the right air of self-importance, should anyone ever come to check up on him. Yet there were no traces of him at all, despite the privacy and protection the place provided. He brought no remnants of his past or his real life to New York. There were no pictures, no mementos, nothing that he looked at and saw any real value in. Everything here was part of a façade designed to keep up with the lies he told to stay alive, and even that was kept to a bare minimum. Lies were easier to manage when there were less of them to own, and to an outsider, this place looked exactly like what it was – the crash pad of a man with very little time and little attention to decorative details. That never bothered Killian though, as this place was not important; it was merely a means to an end.

That end was grounded in one goal: kill the man they called the Crocodile. It was the only reason he’d ever come to New York, the reason he’d started this descent into the underbelly of society. It had driven him for years, the need to get revenge on a beast so sinister he couldn’t even be called a man. Slowly but surely, Killian had ingratiated himself into the world of this monster, climbing up the ranks of the man’s operation, earning tiny morsels of Gold’s trust, and getting ever closer to a moment where he could kill his enemy, ridding the world of one of its darkest beings. But then something unexpected happened – in the midst of total darkness, he’d found an angel, the only one capable of pulling him into the light. Emma.

Emma Swan was a rare gem in the midst of soot and ash. In the New York underworld, where Killian had been operating for over a year, he had never run into anyone like her, but three months back, when he was returning from a run, he’d encountered her for the first time. It was all a matter of chance really. He had only just arrived from his assignment monitoring a shipment of guns from the Irish to the Crocodile. His job was to survey the transaction, to make sure the Irish held up their end, and to ensure the guns made it from point a to point b. Then, right as he was reporting back for duty, another member of the crew was busted for skimming profits by Gold. Gold’s normal enforcer was tied up with a cartel issue, necessitating Killian’s retrieval abilities to be used for the first time. It was at first a sign from a higher power that he was moving up the ranks, and Killian appreciated that movement if it meant justice would come sooner. But then he saw Emma, and in the sight of such a heavenly gift, his whole world shifted. He hardly deserved her, stained as he was from the choices he had made and the things that he’d done, but from the moment they met, he was dead set on trying to be better for her and for the sake of their future.

Closing his eyes even now, he remembered that night so clearly. Emma was dressed in the bar’s uniform of a short black skirt and a revealing gold top. It was barely decent, designed to be leered at by patrons, and certainly not made for the long, grueling hours that she worked. But as he watched her strut about the place in those matching black heels no woman should be able to maneuver, Killian felt the pierce of cupid’s arrow at his breast. Her long blonde hair hung loose around her in cascading curls that tempted his fingers. He wanted to run his hand through it and see if it felt as silky smooth as those golden strands appeared. His eyes trailed down her body and he’d taken in her mix of slender curves and undeniable allure. Then he looked back to her face again, struck by its charm and classic beauty.

Just the sight of her was enough to leave him breathless, but when she looked at him and he watched her cheeks flush and her lip catch between her teeth, he was gone. She didn’t seem aware in the slightest of the situation she was causing just by existing. Maybe she thought she was attractive, she must, given the ogling eyes that emanated from every corner of the Lair, but the truth was Emma was temptation made flesh. It was like a star made of hope and possibility had come down from heaven and graced this dismal place with one of its own. Though the bar was dark, every light seemed to find its way to her and the rest of the world faded away. For a moment Killian had wondered if he were suffering from some kind of hallucination, but after blinking a few times Emma remained where she was. Thank Christ.

That first night, their meeting was too quick. They had no time to delve deeper or see if the spark of their first interaction was more than a moment, but Killian knew it was. The second he touched her, a thrill coursed through his veins, lighting him up in ways he’d never been before. At that moment, he realized he could never truly walk away from this woman. One subtle graze of skin on skin and he was hooked, addicted to her light and vibrancy. That made leaving her that night and every other night the past few months so damned regrettable, but now that was over. Tonight they’d be leaving New York, never to come back to this hell on earth, and for the rest of his days he’d stay with his Swan, protecting her, adoring her and loving her forever more.

Those thoughts of forever stayed with him as he double checked the apartment one last time. A final scan revealed what he expected – there was nothing of import to leave behind. His whole life fit in one small rucksack, and that was for the best. He didn’t want to prompt suspicion as he left, and his neighbors were used to seeing him with bags of this shape and size. It needed to look like any other night, and thanks to his carefully plotted attentions, it did.

Sitting behind the wheel of the vehicle he’d been using this past year, Killian started it up and heard the tell-tale purr of its sport ability. It was purposefully subtle, but anyone who knew cars knew this model was a beast on the road. Made for daring speeds and fast getaways, this car had been an accessory to a number of questionable moments, but none held the stakes he was facing tonight. He pulled out of the car park and drove, his awareness at an all-time high as he looked down at his watch. He had an hour to get somewhere twenty minutes away, but he used every minute to make sure he was safe and undetected.

Though no one was following him at any point of the drive, Killian made sure to take precautions. He took mostly side streets and alleyways that he’d studied now for weeks. Gold knew all the details of this car, and he was notorious for keeping track of his soldiers, so Killian had to be prepared. Gold had a connection to the police department and an all access pass to their street-search camera grid. More than 90% of the city was hooked into this means of surveillance, but Killian had studied that grid for weeks, and by now knew how to avoid nearly every camera.

When he finally arrived at the drop site, he was certain that no one had followed him and he was confident his movements were not noted. He then moved to the side of the dilapidated building he’d parked behind and took out his supplies. He had a crowbar to remove the license plates, and a blasting gun to cut out all trackable VIN numbers and different parts identifiers. He eroded those trackable features and then took the gasoline can he’d hidden in this building days ago and doused the car. He lit the fucker up, and watched the flames rise. With a blaze this high there was always a risk, but he knew this was out of the way and the burn would hurt nothing and no one. In ten minutes enough damage would be done to destroy any evidence, but even that wasn’t enough. His contact’s men would be here tomorrow to drag the wreckage to impound and have it compacted. There’d be no trace left of this car for anyone to find.

When enough time had passed for Killian to be certain the blaze would stay strong enough to work, he walked half a mile to the nearest bus stop. He traveled five stops rather quickly given the time of night, and then walked another quarter mile to the warehouse where he was set to meet the man who could get him out of here. By the time he walked up to the back door, the timer he’d set on his watch buzzed. He was exactly on time, but from what he could tell, he was the first to arrive.

Moving forward, Killian saw the shoddy looking tarp along the back wall and smiled. He moved to the object with purpose and pulled off the covering to reveal his bike. Damn he’d missed the old girl. He couldn’t keep any trace of this motorcycle while on his quest for revenge, but he couldn’t bear to give her up. Call him sentimental, but this machine was too beautiful and capable to abandon. It was the first splurge he’d allowed himself when he got out of the service, and the closest key to freedom a man could possess. For a long time, this bike had been his greatest love in life. But remembering that fact struck him in the gut. Now that he thought about it, that was pretty pathetic. He had never really understood love until Emma, and this moment made that all too clear.

“Is this the part where you tell me you’re having second thoughts?” a voice asked from behind Killian and without turning he knew it was Will Scarlet, his ticket out of what would otherwise be a sticky situation. Killian cursed at his lack of attentiveness. For Will to be able to walk in here without him knowing was not good, even if Will was a specialist at doing exactly that.

“Never,” Killian replied, finally meeting his friend’s gaze.

“Well, if you’re going to righteously piss off the most powerful man in New York, you might as well have conviction,” Will joked. Killian couldn’t join him in the lightheartedness, because he understood that under the teasing tone was all truth. The Crocodile would be pissed, but it didn’t matter. He’d be weighed down in a trap too strong to break out of, and while he wrangled with the crumbling of his empire, Killian and Emma would break away once and for all.

“You get the files?” Will asked, his face searching for good news. Killian laughed and produced the small flash drive Will had given him a month ago. He tossed it across the room to Will’s waiting hands.

“Have I ever failed you?”

“Not once,” Will said truthfully. “Makes me happy you changed your mind on all this. I know this wasn’t your first plan.”

Will was hinting at Killian’s original intention, which was to kill Gold, not turn his allegiances to the feds. Once upon a time a legal take down of this monster had been considered deeply unsatisfying. The only thing Killian thought he would ever accept was the knowledge that Gold was dead and by his hands, but that all changed with Emma. He couldn’t have his revenge like that and have her too, for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, logistically he’d never survive an assassination against the Crocodile. The man was highly guarded with too many fail safes in place for it to be a clean and easy kill. For another, he’d never be able to look his sweet Swan in the eyes again if he killed in cold blood. He’d taken lives before, but never in vengeance. It was always for honor, to protect the living, not avenge the dead.

“Plans change.”

“That they do, especially when there’s love involved.”

Killian didn’t even try to argue with that assessment from Will. He made no attempt to hide his feelings for Emma. In fact, he’d been candid from the start. When he reconnected with Will three months ago, a few days after meeting his Swan, he was honest from the start. He would help to bring Gold in, but his price was absolute.

“Did you hold up your end of the bargain?”

“You know I did,” Will said, producing papers that Killian looked over, knowing they’d be burned in a matter of minutes.

They said everything he needed to see – official signed approval from a judge that he had total and full immunity from all actions he’d taken as a member of Gold’s crew. An exemption of identification from the impending trial, and a promise that he and Emma would never be called to testify. Their names were so far out of this, the FBI had no server that held their names. Will had told exactly no one who they were except the judge, and the judge was clean and able to be trusted.

“It didn’t hurt when he saw your military record,” Will admitted, causing Killian to flinch. No one was supposed to see that. His work was always too classified for anyone to know. “But don’t worry, all history of that being accessed were completely erased. I used data protection NSA couldn’t crack.”

“And the reward money?”

“The funds have all been wired to the specified account. Emma is the only one with access, all of it under her new last name.”

Killian lit the pages on fire, trusting all of this to be above board. He didn’t dare to take them with him as they were traveling and he knew Will would have deposited needed copies somewhere they’d be safe. In the meantime, Will produced a pouch with new passports and IDs as well as a stack of cash. Killian raised a brow at the money and Will shrugged.

“I wasn’t sure how much you were taking with you, and that’s 3 months of CI pay I never gave you. Maybe you can stay in some half decent places. Treat your girl to something better than a Motel 6.”

Killian didn’t bother arguing with Will. He didn’t need the money, he’d brought plenty already, and he had more than enough stashed back home. But he accepted Will’s generosity and knew he’d use it to spend on Emma. God knew she deserved it, and he would find a way to make her happy, providing him the only reward he could ever want.

“What’s the temperature looking like this evening?” Will asked, and Killian took the question for what it was – Will wanted to know how much heat Gold and his men would be packing.

“Six Hungarians, two Russians, and the Irishmen. Anywhere from four to seven. Gold will be there, but not his son.”

“Neal fall out of favor again?” Will asked.

“He’s leaky,” Killian said, repeating Gold’s exact words.

The irony was not lost on him – it was only though Gold’s son that Killian had managed to get access to the server Gold kept hold of containing all of his extensive blackmail accounts for decades. Even with that though, there had been a need for hacking the system and Killian had needed Neal to get that done. Gold’s son was given just enough to think he mattered, but nothing near the whole scope of any issue. Still, the bust was going to focus primarily on the things Gold’s son did know, and subsequent prosecutions of Gold and his allies would be explained away as revelations that came from those initial breadcrumbs.  

“Can’t deny that. His big mouth is the bedrock of this whole case. Well at least it was, until this. I owe you for this, Killian.”

“And I owe you. Without you I couldn’t have done this. For Emma and for me.”

“Well, the bust goes down in thirty more minutes. And you’ve got places to be. Wouldn’t want to keep the little missus waiting,” Will said, and though the words slammed into Killian, he had to push through. If he wanted to make that title a reality for Emma, not just on the papers they’d been given, they had to get out of here. The stakes were too high for them to mess around.

With a last goodbye to Will, Killian revved up his motorcycle and shot out into the night. He had one last spot to go to, and he just prayed that when he got there Emma would be there safe and sound. It was a risk, what he was asking her to do tonight, but she was so damn smart and savy, and above all, she was a survivor. He had to believe that she could do this and that it would all go exactly as it should.

What if she was discovered leaving? He thought, as he got closer to their hideout. What if the Crocodile has somehow discovered our plan? Hell, what if she’s changed her mind, or if she’s realized that she is worth so much more than a man who bears the scarring of a criminal?

These thoughts plagued him as he raced to the abandoned garment factory that was ten blocks from The Lair. It was way too close for comfort, but just outside of Gold’s highly surveilled radius. Ten blocks in New York at night was a worrying trek for anyone, but for Emma, a ‘ward’ of Gold’s who owed a debt, it was potentially fatal. The fear at what might happen if she was caught grabbed hold of his heart, and when his anxiety was about to take him over, he heard the soft echo of Emma’s knock on the wooden door. It was a sound pattern only the two of them knew and his heart leapt in relief as he moved to let her in. When he saw her there on the other side of the door, safe and looking like she could hardly wait to go, Killian felt like the luckiest man alive.

“You’re here,” he whispered, pulling her into him, his arms encircling her and pulling her close so he could breathe her in and convince himself he hadn’t dreamed her up.

“Of course, I’m here,” replied sincerely, her hand coming up to cup his cheek as her eyes searched his. Her smile was the most beautiful thing the world over, as was the soft laugh she let escape in the fact of his needless worry. “You promised me forever, Killian, and I intend to collect.”

Her words pushed him to action, and without thought to the fact that they needed to get going as soon as could be, Killian kissed her. It wasn’t a tame expression of his love either, but a scintillating symbol of his unyielding devotion to Emma and her pleasure. He would live every day of his hopefully long life worshiping her and trying to make her see how much he loved her. She was a miracle – his saving grace – and if he could make her feel even a fraction of the joy and happiness she brought into his life he would be happy. All of that promise he threw into this kiss, and when they finally broke apart, Emma’s responding expression told him she’d understood him completely and that she wanted him just as much.

“Forever isn’t enough,” Killian said honestly. “No amount of time could ever be enough with you, Swan.”

“I know,” Emma whispered before pressing one last soft kiss against his lips. “So let’s not wait any more. Let’s go home.”

Killian loved the sound of that, and though he had to keep his wits about him as they left the city, Killian couldn’t recall ever being so happy. With Emma’s hand in his, he felt like the king of the world, and when they both got on his bike, with her body pressed tightly against his back as they sped off in the night, he knew he was invincible and that he’d do whatever it took to get them out of this darkness and towards a life truly worthy of his love.

Post-Note: So there we have it. I know that these first two chapters have been shorter. I think there’s a very good chance that the chapters will get longer as the story develops. I just wanted to get us out of the darkness before I really delve in. Next chapter we will also go back to Emma’s POV and we will get her perspective of what freedom means to her, and what she wants in a life post-Gold. I am still really excited for this story, and I think it’s offsetting my muse well. Going back and forth between this and ‘Feels This Way’ which is like the opposite story line, is awesome, and I hope it keeps me on a good path writing wise. Anyway, I want to thank you all so much for reading. I would love to hear what you think, and as always, hope this chapter finds you well and enjoying your weekend!

[emilyxvalentyne]

Alcoholic Love CH Part 3

A/n: here is part 3! I’m so glad you guys have loved the series. I am sooooo sorry I took forever to get this to you. This one is written in a 3rd person kinda scripted writing for the beginning of it. But then later on transition into Calum’s POV. I felt like it was important to portray his emotions now in the storyline. I wanted you guys to see how he has been dealing with their problems. This one is a bit short, so sorry I’m advance.

Disclaimer: I am in NO way associated with the characters used in this storyline. Nor am I a licensed personal to tell you what treatments the characters use in this part. Please seek personal help if you are developing or have any symptoms that make you concerned of your health

TRIGGERS/WARNING⚠️⚠️⚠️: Overdose, Alcohol Abuse, Drug Abuse, Depression, Anxiety. If you or a loved one are experiencing any of these illnesses please seek medical help or call the toll free numbers listed in the website below. You are not alone if you can not tolerate any of these triggers or warnings please STOP and skip this PART.

https://psychcentral.com/lib/common-hotline-phone-numbers/

Word count: 1705

Part 3

EMT: “Vitals and BP are 76/55 a neighbor found her in her yard unresponsive. Unfortunately we could not find a form of identification, the police are working on the warrant to search the residents”

Dr.Lyn: “BP is low for her age. Any ideas why”

EMT: “ we found 3 bottles of alcohol at the residence”

Dr. Lyn: “well 3 bottles of beer could not have done her this much harm?”

EMT: “it wasn’t beer Doctor, it was 3bottles of Stella Rosa”

De. Lyn: “she’s going to need her stomach pumped, but before we continue, get radiology down her to preform an X-Ray to figure out why she can’t breath on her own.”

Nurse 1: Dr. Lyn Detective Mitchell is here to speak to you.

Dr. Lyn: great send him in.

Mitchell: Doctor we have contacted the owner of the residence he is on his way now. I need to speak to the patient when she regains her conscience.

Nurse 2: Dr. Lyn our patient blood pressure is dropping, radiology has confirmed that there vomit in her lungs.

Dr. Lyn: prepare suction tube to get it out of her lungs. Order an ultrasound. Look detective right now we are focusing on keeping her alive. If you could please get her information that would really help.

Nurse 2: Dr. Lyn you need to come see what’s on this ultra sound.

Dr. Lyn: Alright what is it.

Nurse 3: we went to get the vomit out of her lungs but we can’t preform the gastric suction, because we believe her appendix is about to rupture.

Dr. Lyn: let me see, run it over her right mid side. HER APPENDIX HAS RUPTURED WE NEED TO PREP HER FOR THE OR STAT! Let’s get her there now everyone let’s get her going, page Dr. Davis now.

Nurse and doctors rushed to get Emily into the OR. Meanwhile Calum was being held in the waiting room while he got his ID check, and so he can prove to the hospital that he knew who you are.

Mitchell: Calum Hood?

Calum: yes that’s me what is going on?

Mitchell: I’m Detective Mitchell I was called into this case when we found her at the residence. Now I need to ask you a few questions? Starting with her name, where she is from and any other information.

Calum: uhh okay yeah, her name is Emily Blanco, she from Las Vegas, and she is a full time student at UCLA, she on the girls soccer team.

Mitchell: and how do you know her?

Calum: she’s....... she’s my girlfriend, well ex girlfriend. Where is she I want to know I want to see her?

Mitchell: you’ll see her soon but as for right now you need to tell us how you can identify her tell us about her physical features so I and the hospital know that you are who you say she is.

Calum: okay. She has long dark almost black hair but it’s dyed blonde at the ends, She has brown eyes, a nose ring, a red dragon tattoo on her back, she 5’8, and she has a a birthmark on her left thigh.

Mitchell: alright I’m going to go work this information to the nurse and I want you to relax man. I’m going to give you my card if you have any other questions.

Calum: thank you detective.

——————————————————

I was just about to start my day when I got the call saying that there was an incident at my house. I never bothered changing the name to hers because I know she didn’t want to see me. She made that clear when I last saw her. I was going to give it some time before I would try to at lease speak with her. But I found myself not wanting too anymore.

Well now it felt like it was to late. I still don’t even know what happened. The lady I spoke with this morning only told me that they needed to search the house for their investigation, and that Emily was in the hospital and I needed to give out any information I know about her. Then that’s when I came directly here. I know that it’s Emily. But I myself, still have not processed what exactly is going on. I felt like I was in shock. I couldn’t hear anything, or feel anything. I now felt prisoner in my own conscience.

“Hey man is she okay? Have you heard anything yet?” Then my trance was broken. Ashton now appearing in my private waiting room. He didn’t look to well either. He seemed sad, worried, not his usual self. He damn well felt hundred times worse then I did. And that is what made me feel guilty.

“No man, they have not told me anything, I did get interrogated though. They’ve already built a case the house is getting searched right now” I don’t know why I felt this sort of way. I felt like I should not be here. Like I’m not that important. Her family should be here not me. I’m supposed to cry and feel anxious to hear from her, but I don’t. Now that is what made me a bad guy.

Ashton on the other hand was bitting his nails. A habit of his that he only does when he is anxious. Ashton was the first one to meet Emily. She was his roommate for 2 years before her and I got together. Ashton knew her from the inside out. Probably even better then I did. She was like his little sister. They never looked at each other anymore then that. Then when Emily and I started dating Ashton became distant with her. He both told us that he never wanted to get involved with our relationship because he strictly was never going to choose sides if we ever did split.

“Fuck man, I just hope she’s okay, I feel terrible for not checking in on her” he feels terrible about not speaking to her. About leaving her alone when she needed friends the most. About leaving her in the dark while I was out with someone new, all while she was trying her best to keep it alive. And Ashton was the one who felt terrible. I felt terrible for not caring. For feeling selfish and wanting to walk out right now. That how much of a piece of shit I am.

I took the past month of my life and moved on. I moved on so fast that I never let myself grieve over the lost of her love. Time and time again I let her down. She didn’t deserve that. She didn’t deserve a guy who spent his time lying and cheating on her. She didn’t deserve to wasting her time waiting up on me to come home, all while I was out sleeping in some other girls bed. She took care of me while I was sick. She picked me up from airports and parties when I couldn’t drive. She showed my parents the city of LA while I was working. She stayed through all the tours and was patience when we went on months with out seeing one another. She did it all. Just for me to forget about her so quick. I ditched her the moment things got complicated for me.

I wanted to so badly just get up and leave. To never step foot any near a place she was at. I wanted to permanently make myself forget that this ever happened. But if I leave now it would only prove I was the bad guy. I never use to let my ego control me. I never had much of one until I started seeing Haylee.

Haylee Bell, she was the blonde who took up most of my time. Haylee was my escape. I could fake that she needed me. That would be my ticket out of here. Ashton would have to buy it. I could just tell him that she was not feeling well and that I have to go see her. That would get me out of here. The only thing is that if the detectives came to find me here I wouldn’t be here.

“I got to go Ash, Haylee isn’t feeling to well”

“You’re just going to leave Cal? Aren’t you worried?”

“I am Ash. I just need to go handle Haylee first, I got to clear my mind up a bit” it wasn’t a complete lie. I was worried but I just needed to leave. Maybe if I convince myself that everything was fine it would turn out fine. I just needed to see Haylee.

————————————-

“Come on babe, you know you want too? Go to Steven he can get you a score” her sweet words had me at my knees. I needed to relieve my stress and get myself high. To get this weight lifted off my shoulders for just a few hours.

As always Steven met in the back ally by her apartment. It was always a causal deal. I take out the trash and see Steven taking out his. We exchange a quick hug and then we hand off. Nothing more. Then I make it back to Haylee’s.

“Good your back now let’s do this” words like that should excite someone, usually they’re tied to sex. But now for us. Ours excites us more. It’s like a kid opening his Christmas gifts and seeing that he got all that he wanted and more. This is what keeps me alive. Without it I would be down in the dumps. I first started it when I met Haylee. It was at a club on sunset Blvd. It was only two lines. Then as started seeing her more it tired in to three, then four, now five. As the effect starts to fade. That’s when I go in for another round. Nothing can bet the feeling then finally getting to fucking score off on drug.

I don’t love Haylee. But I now only use her as my anchor. I’m tied down here because she she knows the best dealers in LA. She’s a fucking decoy for my one love. I love cocaine.

@shanetoo @kikibelle @ambermtz13

[pievibes]

“No” She gasped loosely, staggering back. Her heart raced. “You- you can’t be here”

Leaning against the granite countertop in the middle of the kitchen, a warm smile played on familiar lips. “And yet I am. You miss me darling?”

Bile bubbled up in her throat. “You died.” She hissed. The smell of wet paint and pine was dizzying as it filled up the apartment. The lease still laid on the counter. A year. It had been a year since she finally rid himself of the old memories and moved somewhere new. Somewhere that didn’t smell like winter and frost. 

Curious eyes cut across the room, sharp as a blade. Everything they landed on, the hero made a mental note to throw away. Gloved fingers danced over a shelf, lingering on a small woven basket filled with decorative balls. “I remember Mexico. You didn’t want to leave. You wanted to stay an extra day. But work called- like always.” A small sigh. 

The hero was going to be sick. She shouldn’t have brought the basket to her new life. She thought the personal keepsake hadn’t been tainted by the villain but she was wrong. But burying it away now wouldn’t be enough. Burials could be faked. Proof of that stood in front of her, stared at her, expectantly. No, she would have to burn it. Watch it go up in smoke. When nothing remained but ashes, she could brush them aside and restart her life.

“Work called because there was a new string of murders.” Her voice trembled. She hated it. “But you knew that.” 

Tsking, the villain swept closer, caressing a finger under the hero’s chin. The scent of pine was overwhelming now, enveloping her in a cold embrace. “They weren’t supposed to find them until after we were back from the trip. Why would I want to leave paradise early?” 

The hero flinched back, Her lover let her. The hero almost wished she hadn’t. The soft touches reminded her of early mornings and candle light dinners instead of the violence she knew the hands were capable of. 

The villain had the gall to look hurt at the space between them. “It wasn’t your fault” she said softly, letting her hand drop back down to her side. 

The hero’s eyes flicked up. They had known each other long enough to know what was going on with each other. Maybe all she needed was an explanation from her for closure- “The choice about calling the station. It’s okay. I forgive you. We can still go back to paradise, darling” She continued.

 The hero’s fingers dug into her palm, grounding her. That wasn’t the right response. They didn’t know each other well. Not anymore. Had she ever known her well? Surely a girlfriend would know when her partner was a killer. How blind had she been? 

 A sharp breath and she stepped back again. The floor beneath her squeaked in protest. “There is no paradise anymore. Not with you.” Not without her either. Up in flames. That’s where that dream had gone.

  Her ex-lovers hands wrung together. The hero stared. Once those hands had cupped her cheeks. Caressed her skin. Promised her the world. Now all she could see was the way they could twist a neck. End someone’s world. What lives had ended so they could have their happily ever after?

 “Don’t be like that,” There was a soft plead in her voice. “I did what I had to so we could build our future. The names from your files weren’t good people. You knew that. You hated them. They gave you nightmares.”

A disgusted noise left the hero’s throat. She had a different variety of nightmares since she found out who her love really was. “I hate you.” She stalked forward, heat licking at her tongue. She jabbed a finger against the villains chest. She was within killing range. Her hands could easily reach out. Slip a knife through her ribs. Wrap around her neck. Too close. The smell of winter fueled her rage instead of quenched it. “Your name is on a file. Your name is on a goddamn obituary. Right where it should have fucking stayed.” She had no right to come back into her life and ruin everything. She didn’t need an explanation for closure. She needed her gone. Only one body would let her truly build her future. Only when nothing remained but ashes, could she brush them aside and restart her life.

[taterjoseph]

Loss

This is another one of my sad ass Erik stories. This one deals with loss, and if any of you have truly lost a loved one, I send out my condolences. It's really hard when someone is taken away from us so soon, especially when it sudden. All we can really do is hope for an afterlife, and that they have found peace

Bitch don’t hate on me cause your nigga finally realized your fat ass ain’t worth his time and decided to get with a real bitch.

Those were some of the last words she had heard from her cousin before she was reduced to what was probably ash in the blazing inferno that was likely plastered over every major news network in Oakland. As tears slid down her cheeks, she shook her head, imagining all the making up they could have done. It didn’t have to be that way, they could’ve talked about it.

As she buried her head in her hands, she took a deep breath. It would be hard having to face her auntie, knowing that she had fought with her cousin less than an hour before she had begged and pleaded for her not to get in the car with her ex. She didn’t even know how everything had gone so wrong, they grew up so close. He was drunk, but Kadejah didn’t listen. She was drinking and all she could get out of the situation was, don’t leave with my ex. Bouncing her leg, she pushed her curly hair out of her face, ignoring her phone ringing for the fifth time.

It was Erik, there was no doubting it. She knew from his ringtone that it was him. He was the only person in her contacts list that had a personalized ringtone, one he set for himself. She couldn't move, she couldn’t do anything. Kadejah was gone and it was all her fault. Despite what anyone said, she couldn’t help but feel like she could have done more to protect her younger cousin, to stop her from getting in that car.

It had always been like the two years that separated the two of them were decades apart. Gina was always the older, more mature cousin who protected her little cousin from bullies, whereas Kadejah was the younger hothead who was always into trouble. There were many times when their mothers had to separate the two due to their very hot natures coming into the forefront.

As they got older, things seemed to change. They began running with different crowds, seeing different people, and all of a sudden, it was like they were worlds apart. Kadejah began hanging with a bad crowd, got involved with drugs, and the rest was history, but through it all, Gina never turned her back on her. She always tried to get her clean clothes, food, clean needles once she realized that pushing her to stop wouldn’t help her, anything that would help her cousin live an easier life.

Kadejah’s life was hard, that much was almost an understatement. She remembered the times when she and her cousin would have to share clothes because her mother would just drop her off and not come back for months. She remembered when they were younger, and Kadejah would come back with cigarette burns on her arms, dirty clothes, and was too small for anyone’s liking. It was just a bad situation that she would always ask her mother why they couldn’t get her out of, but her mother said the best thing you could do for someone is to help them along the way, and slowly urge them where they need to be. She said that forcing them was more of a hindrance than a help, and she would learn that as she got older.

When her aunt got clean, there seemed to be no one happier about the situation than Gina. Kadejah as happy for it to just be her and her mother, no strange men in and out, no drugs. This lasted for a while, but as many understood, nothing was permanent and her aunt had relapsed in less than five years.

At that point, Gina’s mother had had enough and filed for sole custody of Kadejah from her sister, and she got it. Her cousin finally had a stable home, but by that point, it only served to make her behavior worse. She would act out because despite it all, she missed her mother and she wanted to go home, but her aunt just wasn’t giving her that.

But through it all, they loved Kadejah. She was family and they were not going to give up on her or her mother, and that was it. No matter who said they were washing hands they'd never even dirtied with them, Gina and her mother stood firm.

Her phone ringing again reached her ears, but she couldn’t bring herself to answer it. She’d been in the same spot for hours, saying that she needed to get up, to let her family know that she was okay, to let Erik know she was okay. He was all the way in Wakanda, there was no way for her to really call him aside from the Kimoyo beads she had in her room, sitting on her bedside table.

It had been twelve hours. Twelve hours since she’d been dragged away from the car that contained the charred remains of her cousin and ex-boyfriend. She’d kicked, screamed, and fought until two firemen had to literally carry her off of the scene. Her aunt was there, screaming and begging God to take her, to miraculously save Kadejah, but it was too late. She was gone and they were left to mourn her.

Gigi.

Her final words. They’d come out in a scream that she hoped to never remember, but would likely follow her for the rest of her life. Never had something so nostalgic sent such a horrid chill up her spine. It was her childhood nickname, and only Kadejah could call her that. She hoped to never hear it again. As her phone rang again, Erik’s face coming up on the screen for the twenty-third time, she reached for it, trying to gather herself before tapping the screen, his face coming into focus.

♠️♣️♠️♣️♦️♥️♦️♣️♣️♣️♣️♣️♣️

Twenty-three times. He had called Gina twenty-three times since he’d heard about the accident at Coco Loco, a local nightclub his girlfriend attended and told him she was excited to be at. There was some twerk contest her cousin was in and she was going to support her.

He’s remembered the huge stacks of ones she’d gotten from the bank, as well as the smile on her face as she talked about how she knew her cousin was going to win the first prize, $10,000, which would be used to pay for her rent up to her lease and a new wardrobe. He’d joked that Gina should have gotten on the stage to guarantee that they got the money and she’d laughed for almost ten minutes. After that, they said their goodbyes and he hung up.

For twenty-three calls, he thought that was the last time that he ever saw her smile, which was why he showed his ass until T'Challa got a jet by the time the tenth rolled around. They were somewhere around New York when she finally picked up, and he has never felt more relieved in his life.

”Aye man, don't ever scare me like that, I was worried as fuck about you!” He was met with nothing but silence, the playful smirk falling from his face. ”Gigi?” And that's when it came.

He's heard Gina cry before, but he’d never heard her cry like that before. It just didn't sound right. That cry came from a place that both great happiness and sorrow came from, and it seemed like Gina was experiencing the latter.

She didn't say anything, just sobbed for what felt like an hour or two. Then, she was silent. She’d sniff occasionally, so he knew she was here, but for the next four hours, she said nothing and he didn't make her, he just listened, lifting his head every time it looked like she was going to say something, to let her know he was listening, but she could be see him anyway.

When they lowered the jet somewhere around the state line, he hung up his phone, running his hands through his hair. They had about a half hour until they would make it home and he honestly didn't know what the fuck to do, to say. He didn't even know what happened. Pulling out his phone, he decided to do a little looking, not having really done any since he called her six hours before. It took him a good twenty minutes of finding before anything good came up, and when he did, he felt dread pool at the pit of his stomach.

It was on Worldstar, Fox 2 still being vague about what happened. It showed the video of what happened, and there were people everywhere, doing their best to help the situation.

”Gina, get back! It's gone burn yo ass up!” He caught a flash of pink, the dress that Gina had worn that night, that she still had on. She was kneeling by the vehicle, which was flipped over. She seemed to be trying to reach in, to help someone out. He couldn't hear what she was yelling over the crowd’s panicked noise, but he definitely could see the fire. It was at the bottom, likely spreading, but he could tell no one was really hurt yet. She was trying to open the door, but it seemed to be locked, so she took her purse and beat on the window, but nothing seemed to work.

”Gina!” The fire was spreading know, and there was a very small window of time for Gina to move before things went to shit. The sirens had sounded and firemen were forcing their way through the crowd, but Gina paid them no mind, still hammering away at the window with desperation. She was saying something, but he couldn't hear her over the noise.

He then watched the firemen drag his girlfriend off of the scheme, and she was fighting them tooth and nail to get back. It even got to the point where she was beating one of the two firemen with her clutch while the other one held her ankles, all whole bucking her body to get them off of her. He wanted to be angry, but Gina was stubborn and would probably have rather burned up. That car looked very familiar, though.

”No,” she screamed over and over again, a female police officer and an ambulance worker having to come over and hold her down so that she didn't run towards the fire.

He kept hearing the same name over and over again.

Kadejah.

Kadejah was the name of Gina’s cousin and he wished he had nicer things to say about her. No matter how he tried to put it, Kadejah was far from who Gina thought she was. Or at least he hoped she was, because he couldn’t even look at the two and think they were even friends, let alone cousins.

The last time he had seen Kadejah, it had been at Gina’s birthday party. She showed up drunk, got into an argument with her mother, and threw Gina’s entire birthday cake at the woman before storming out. That night, he and Gina spend six hours, roaming the streets of Oakland to find her. When they did, she was so high, she could barely form coherent sentences, and she pissed all over his expensive leather seats. Gina apologized over and over again before taking her cousin to her house and putting her to sleep. The next morning, Kadejah was gone, as well as about $300 worth of random shit Gina had laying around.

Now, he felt bad. Despite her being addicted to drugs, Kadejah was misunderstood, and he knew that. Now, it looked like her life was over before she could even turn it around.

When Okoye lowered the jet in the parking lot of Gina’s apartment complex, he didn’t even wait for the safety steps, opening the hatch and flying up the stairs, just to see that her door was ajar, and the sorrowful sobs poured out into the hallway.

When he stepped in, he saw Gina’s mother clutching to her daughter as if her life depended on it, rocking her from side to side as she wept. She barely spared him a glance, running her hands along Gina’s arms as she whispered consoling words in her ear.

“Come on, Baby. You need to eat something. All this crying gone make you sick.” Judging by the faint odor coming from the pile of towels in the hallway, she’d already made herself sick.

“No,” she whispered pathetically, her hands covering her mouth, almost as if her mother was trying to force feed her the sandwich sitting in the countertop. His heart broke as he watched her bury her face in her arms, her chest heaving as she pushed more sobs out, her arms trembling under the weight of her upper body. He couldn't bear to see her that way, gently pushing the older woman out of the way as he scooped her into his arms, feeling her tears wet the front of his shirt.

”I gotchu, Ma,” he whispered as he pulled her closer to him, rubbing soothing circles in her back.

Losing Kadejah was going to be hard on Gina, but he would help her through it. He couldn't imagine what it felt like to lose a sibling, someone so close to him, and he couldn't even fathom it. She was feeling a pain he hoped to never experience.

”Come on, Ma. You gotta get up.” Standing, he hoisted her into his arms, carrying her over to the kitchen table, the sandwich sitting there. Within the next ten minutes, she had taken three bites, managing to keep it down. It wasn't much, but it was something. It was the first step on a long road to recovery, but he would be damned if she got lost along the way.

[phoenixfeatherquillwriting]

12 and 48 for the AU mashups please?

Hi!!! Thank you for sending this in, I’m sorry I missed it! (12+ 48= Roommate AU+ Fake Dating AU)

Aris and Ash are graduating from college and both want to try living in a different part of the city. Ari finds a little apartment and it’s perfect. Close to work and her favorite hiking trails, not too expensive, has a proper kitchen and a tiny but workable washer… But there’s a catch. The owners are a bit old-fashioned and have a condition that only family members and long-term couples can share rooms. (Constellans are not very judgemental regarding other people’s romantic lives, but there are a few standards to follow, especially in the opinion of older people.)

“Ash what can I do?” Ari complains. “Now that I’ve seen it, I can’t imagine myself anywhere else… But I can’t make the rent without a roommate and we wanted to stay close.” 

“Why can’t we share, just like we always have?” Ash asks. (Ash and Ari became roommates halfway through college and settled into the routine well.)  

Ari explains the restriction. Ash just grins. 

“I know that look, what sort of devious scheme are you planning?” 

“Well we’re just gonna have to make it official aren’t we? Let’s have our first date before we move in.” They wink. 

Ari splutters uselessly for a while, but has to admit it’s a decent idea and she doesn’t have a better one. (She also has to come to terms with the fact that she’d miss Ash more than she’d like to admit, and if this is the way to keep them close….) They sign the lease and pack up within two weeks. 

Rooming together is second-nature to them now, but the dating part leads to some adventures…

Ari has never been an extremely affectionate person. She’s certainly come to favor Ash’s hugs, but she is blindsided by how quickly, easily and…eagerly? Ash’s behavior towards her progresses in public. Ari second-guesses her every move, even with them, most of the time, but to Ash this seems natural. They think nothing of holding hands, walking with arms linked, sharing an umbrella or scarf, brushing noses, even kisses. 

Pet names… so many pet names. Ari has one or two for Ash, most often “Pyro” or “Sparky,” but Ash has a growing collection. “Morning Seven,” they say. “How was your day Einstein? Any groundbreaking discoveries?” “Looks good, Raven, what did you make?” “Cheer up Sunshine.” (That one makes Ari teary.) 

Their clothes keep getting mixed up accidentally-on-purpose. Ash begins wearing a specific jacket of Ari’s almost all the time when winter hits. Ash’s pajamas are more comfortable than Ari’s own, so why not cuddle up?

Speaking of cuddling, Ash insists rather quickly that they share sleeping space. “C’mon Ari, what kinda couple are we if we don’t snuggle at night?” More winks. Ash has learned how to butter Ari up with extra-warm cuddles, so it doesn’t take long to crack her. 

Ari now has a stack of books about relationships, romance, and Proper Couple Behavior. Ash says not to worry, she should let it come naturally. But to Ari, this method of learning and studying is natural. It’s just how she absorbs things. Blame it on the science. 

Her People Manual already had an “Ash” section but it fills and fills and fills. Ash’s favorite foods, the brands of makeup they use, their shoe size, the temperature that keeps them comfortable, what kind of care they need when sick, what kinds of decorations they like. Even things Ash compliments Ari on so she can remember to do them more often. 

It becomes evident that Ari’s primary love language is Quality Time. She makes it her mission to take Ash for fun activities as often as her work will allow her. 

Ash’s love language is Words of Affirmation. Ari already knew this, seeing Ash’s habit to compliment close friends each time they encountered them. But the amount offered increases exponentially now that Ari is around almost all the time. Gifts also tend to appear, although there’s no rhyme or reason to when.

Ari also takes it upon herself to be more active in learning ways to address and alleviate the times Ash has body dysphoria. This had actually bothered her for some time, the helpless feeling of having a friend sad without being able to fix it, but she worried it would be overstepping her bounds to do anything about it. Now she has the cover of their being a couple, “So I should know these things.”

 Tracking data is second-nature to Ari, and she quickly discovers a cluster of days about twice a month where Ash tends to feel down. Gifts of cologne, a new tie, some pride flag merchandise, or a gift card for cosmetics are Strategically Placed at these times for Ash to find. Exercise also helps, as do movies with popcorn and cuddles, or even just spending some time talking honestly together.

When friends come over, they always compliment how homey and tidy the place is. Homey is Ash’s area of expertise and Ari simply cannot sit still if anything is out of place. They make a good team. 

They bring each other to work functions, usually introducing the other as their “partner.” They are each other’s biggest source of support, no fibs on that one. 

And…. within the year, the dating aspect isn’t such a fib anymore. ;) 

They actually get together on the day they had decided was their ‘anniversary.’ The apartment owners, staff, and the neighbors never even notice a difference. As far as they know, it’s their third anniversary instead of their first.

[sarahanneborrello]

“We didn’t train to maim, we trained to kill”

I’m both a night owl, and an extreme morning person. Yes, I’m the asshole who puts hot water on the stove almost immediately after rising around 7:30am, puts on the talk radio and lights the candles. The talk radio thing is kind of new though. I had never lived completely alone before 8 months ago, and one of the things that would make me feel incredibly dark was just how quiet it is without the scuttlebutt of another human in the background. If there are a couple of voices going back and forth while I’m making my coffee it feels far less heavy to be making it for one.

When I first moved into this tiny apartment, it was after some weirdly traumatic experiences. There was the breakup, which I won’t dive into, because it’s nobody’s damn business... -Then I was living couch to couch, bed to bed, then at an artist commune/ hostel type deal with 33 other people, (6 per room), then with a couple with a highly dysfunctional/toxic situation going on, and then here. The landlord of this charming (sarcastic) little building is an 82 year old veteran of the Israeli army named Avi. He was an assassin trainer? which is a thing? I guess somebody’s gotta train them…  “We didn’t train to maim, we trained to kill. “ he said to me and my friend Greg while showing us the building. He even grabbed Greg’s wrist and almost broke it to prove to us that he hadn’t lost his touch. Hilarious. The room is tiny. A bachelor, I guess. But I envisioned it as better than being a burden on my friends- So it became an option.

Fast forward two weeks later, and it was the only option. This place was the cheapest place I could find and I still couldn’t afford it at the time. I showed up here in a fit of desperation. I was sweaty, in need of a bath, and at my wits end. I smelt like a merlot soaked ash tray, and felt heartbroken. Embarrassing. I was back living in my car for what felt like the millionth time, with all of my possessions in hefty bags in the back seat. I sat in in Avi’s office for about 20 minutes and was fighting back an ugly cry. I told him the long and short version of why I had to live here. I had nowhere else to go, and Oh yeh the old ,' I can’t afford it,  but you HAVE to let me stay.’

He said, “You look sincere. I believe you. You will stay here a week rent free. Then next week we make a lease and you give me what you can.”

HE WAS MY F*cKING ANGEL. I left and ran errands all day and wasn’t able to move into my room until 11pm that night. The maintenance man let me into the empty room. A two burner stove, mini fridge, 2 large windows, lots of roaches- all different sizes. I had a backpack, a bottle of chardonnay, and a massive air mattress that a friend let me borrow. Thank god for my fire escape. It was the only thing about the place that felt romantic.

This was my new home.

Before I set up my air mattress I got fast food from Carl’s Jr. and ate it on my floor, which was stupid because roaches were ALL over that- I think I even went live on Instagram while I ate it because I had this eerie sense of pride that I had not completely thrown in the towel that day. I blew up my mattress and drank all of the wine. Cried until the wee hours of the morning. It was the beginning of my true independence. What a terrifying thing, to be alone with me. To face her. My God, the unprecedented horror.

Eight months later, I’m finding it to be a lot more peaceful. Mornings are warm with the radio and the coffee. There are colorful gifts and the smell of tobacco leaf candles burning. Sometimes there’s an angry homeless man who yells repetitively “ NOBODY GIVES A F*CK, I SAID, NOBODY!”- and even he feels like home to me. So this morning I reflect on how I got to be sitting in this room. And how this room became MY room. So important. I’ll never forget this place. Even if I wanted to I couldn’t. A space that is truly yours is SO IMPORTANT. Grateful for my artist’s sake that I’m here. Maybe someday I’ll have a kitchen, and a closet. But until then, this is it. Today I don’t hate it. 

[thedeviljudges]

omg please write the angry dog harringrove au, I love it already!

Okayyy, so I finally wrote that drabble based off my tags for this wallpaper. I also took name inspiration from @little-noodle-curl‘s lovely piece of art ft. Billy and his dog Archie because it’s the most adorable name ever, and it fit. But uh, I hope I did my own prompt justice??? lmao. Hope you like it, anon.

Steve’s learned punctuality straight from his father, that a man on time is a man to be trusted. While he’s had qualms with that particular phrase in the past, it sticks to the back of Steve’s mind like gum under a desk – useless, a little gross, and painstakingly obvious.

Though there’s two parts to time Steve can’t quite escape. As mastered as being on time has entrusted his dependability, he’s never figured out how to avoid wrong place, wrong time situations.

Steve’s timing in that regard has always been an empty shell, left filled with echoed footsteps of his demise. He’s found himself in many a situation he shouldn’t be in, doesn’t want to be in, and another moment of ill chance shouldn’t surprise him.

Then again, he hadn’t expected this.

Additionally, Steve’s prided himself on taking advice from others, weighed the options, choosing what parts he should adhere to. Yes, he thought it quite strange that many of his new neighbors told him to avoid apartment 201B, glancing down the hall, glancing at the numbers on the mailbox that sits in the foyer as if it might sprout a head and eat them whole.

Thing is, none of them said why, gave no indication other than the fact that that boy in there… and then they’d go quiet, shake their head while leaving Steve confused, built in questions leading into the precipice of the stairs where his apartment door sits, where 201B resides.

So really, out of propriety he left it alone, heeded the advice full stop just this once because he’s never seen anyone come or go from the apartment.

Often, he thinks its empty, that everyone’s forgotten that the tenant inside left ages ago because Steve never hears anything. Which leaves him up for chow as all eyes are on him, resting inside of the insidious tone the carries over when gossip runs rampant.

Steve smiles, and he’s polite. He goes to work, and he comes back, and as time shifts, his stay grows welcomed, and he’s forgotten about the door, about the warning, about anything other than sweet old women and the college students he passes in the hall who don’t give him the time of day.

He forgets, but his timeliness doesn’t. Steve forgets, and his father’s words stick, but he doesn’t think it applies to this situation.

So, when Steve attempts to wrangle his keys from his pocket to insert them into the lock, grimacing at the heavy weight of the shopping bag in his arms, the last thing he expects is to end up on the floor of the hallway in front of his apartment, breathless and confused from no longer being upright.

Steve hits the floor with a thud after a solid weight knocks him down, the contents of his grocery bag spilling across the thin carpet; the brown paper sack he’d used rips right down the middle. The weight of something moving stays on top of Steve no matter how much he squirms, and when he finally blinks away the stars in his eyes, he comes face to face with a dog.

A large dog.

A very large doberman with teeth and beady brown eyes.

Steve shrinks back despite being on the floor, shuffles his feet across the carpet for leverage. It’s difficult to move from being pinned down, and then suddenly the dog, black and brown and so very intimidating, is licking Steve’s face instead of eating it.

“Oh god,” he gripes, feels saliva drying against his cheek. Steve holds up his hands as a deterrent but not even that tames the obnoxious enthusiasm the dog bestows. “Okay, okay.”

Steve resolves to being pinned under the animal until he grows bored, thinks maybe a new face won’t be so interesting when Steve isn’t doing anything to reciprocate the affection this dog clearly thinks he deserves. He also contemplates whose dog this is as Steve knows his neighbors, knows the other tenants that dwell in the building, and not once has Steve seen a dog - a fucking doberman - this large around the building.

“Archie.”

The dog perks at the voice, turning its head away from Steve, the reprieve welcome and long enough for Steve to slide away from the pet. His back hits the wall, keeps his eyes trained on the animal in case it might attempt a round two, and ignores the distant footfalls that grow louder, closer.

“Are you okay?”

Steve blinks, eyes swinging away from the dog and up, up up until he’s met with bright blue eyes and golden curls. “Uh.”

“Didn’t knock your head too hard, did he?”

There aren’t any words left in his throat, in Steve’s brain, and like a slow motion movie, the man above him gradually sinks down until he’s crouched in front of him. “Archie gets a little enthusiastic around new people.”

As soon as he does it, Steve mentally berates himself from nodding dumbly, mouth parted slightly.

“You sure you’re okay?”

Steve scrunches his brow like he’s finally registering the questions he’s been asked, heat creeping up his cheeks as he flushes from idiocy. The dog had occupied him long enough for him not to notice that it had an owner, a very pretty one, Steve thinks, as soon as his mind snaps back from the fuss.

He doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know how to alleviate the silence that follows his reply, so he shrugs and attempts to stand up. Steve doesn’t wobble, nor does he catch himself agains the wall, but it doesn’t stop the stranger in front of him from reaching out to grab his elbow, gently helps Steve onto his feet, help he definitely doesn’t need but can’t be bothered to reject.

Steve doesn’t want to admit that his elbow, just like his face, is warm, sending a shiver down his spine and is only interrupted when the man lets him go in favor of hastily picking up Steve’s belongings. There’s a few apples that’ve run away from him, rolled down the hall, and Steve stares dumbly again before he can say anything remotely promising.

Instead, he says, “At least the groceries are safe.”

He’s met with a snort as the stranger sets Steve’s purchases in front of his front door. The paper bag lies on the carpet pathetically, not even enough to convert it into a makeshift brown basket that would, at the very least, hold all the fruits and vegetables Steve bought. So much for being an adult. So much for being healthy.

“And if they’re not, I’ll pay for them. I’m still really sorry.” The man glances behind him where Archie - the black and brown dog Steve now knows the name of - sits patiently waiting for his owner. Steve doesn’t think anything of it until his eyes pass over the front of the door.

201B

“Oh.”

It catches the stranger’s attention, brow arched and confused. Those blue eyes bore into Steve’s, puts him on the spot in a way he doesn’t like - or at least in a way he thinks he doesn’t like. They’re so tepid, bowls of ocean waves that remind Steve of the sun, of the water. “You live here?”

“Yes,” is the answer given, and then a nod down the hall, a glance at Archie who’s ears perk up. “M’name’s Billy.”

He doesn’t offer his hand, and that makes Steve sad, feels like maybe he lost the chance when his brain stalled because he’d been too busy looking instead talking. “Steve,” he gives in reply. “I didn’t think anyone lived there.”

Dipping his head to the side, a little movement that spurs the look of gears turning, Billy goes from thoughtful to mildly surprised to annoyed. “Right. I’ve lived her for four years.”

“Oh.”

“Are they telling you I died?”

“I-” Steve shuts his mouth, shakes his head until a strand of hair falls in front of his face. “They act it, though. I’ve never seen anyone come or go.”

Billy’s shoulders fall in exasperation, looking up at the ceiling like it might sprout a storm cloud with thunder and rain and a lighting bolt that might just burn him into a pile of ash. Steve feels guilty then, not even his fault for the way the tenants talked about a seemingly vacant apartment. Though, he guesses he probably should’ve taken the hint if they weren’t in a rush to lease the place out, and really, it’s not any of Steve’s business.

Well, until-

“I threaten the landlord once, and clearly that means I don’t exist anymore, fuck.”

“You what?” Steve doesn’t take a step back. He really doesn’t. He’s already leaning up against the wall, his groceries in a pile at this feet in front of his apartment, and Billy’s been nothing if not helpful. Really, it’s how bold Billy is, except Steve thinks like owner, like pet.

Billy’s lips thin, eyes falling to the ground as he realizes he’s said too much. “I might’ve suggested Archie would get ‘em, but that’s only because the asshole wouldn’t fix the heater. Or the sink. or the leak in the ceiling, or-”

“Gotcha,” Steve says waving Billy off with a slowly forming smile. “Probably deserved that, then.”

“Maybe,” Billy says sheepishly, shoulder in a half-raise. It’s his turn to fidget, it seems, as Steve notices the way he taps his fingers against his upper thigh, other hand running through his curls. They get stuck on knots along the way, little tangles from a day worn thin, and as unruly as they get the more Billy tries to busy himself, the frizzier they grow.

Steve knows he should excuse himself, thinks he should be the one to call their bluff and go about his day, but somewhere deep down a part of Steve still feels guilty for being so rude, hadn’t exactly hated the dog either. He’d just been caught off guard, and first impressions are clearly not his forte.

So, Steve makes a brash decision in the span of zero seconds because clearly his brain is still foggy from the tumble, and he sure as shit isn’t finding Billy cute or anything.

Steve’s not usually a liar; he knows that much.

“Would you help me bring these inside?” He sorta kicks at his things, not touching them with his foot because of germs - though he internally sorts because they’re already on the floor.

“Sure,” Billy says softly, a pause blooming across his face. He doesn’t move first; he allows Steve to grab a couple of things, hands them off to the other man before grabbing what’s left.

“Archie can come.”

And at the sound of his name, the big ole dog comes running at a gallop until Billy hisses under his breath for him to slow down.

“He doesn’t bite,” Billy says quickly, almost like he thinks the dog might tackle Steve again. He doesn’t, but he does bump his nose against Steve’s thigh, tail wagging as Steve pats him on the head as best as he can with his arms full of slowly warming food.

“That’s very good to know.” He fumbles for his keys in his pocket, produces them, unlocks the door, and stumbles inside with two new guests Steve hadn’t planned on having. “He’s just happy to have a new friend.”

“Is that so?”

Steve motions to the countertop in the kitchen. Small as it is, they set everything down until Billy steps back and lets Steve start putting things away. “He’s probably tired of being with you all day. Needs a reprieve.”

He’s met with a frown, pink lips unhappy until Steve meets Billy’s gaze. As best as he can, Steve holds back his smile, an effort of joking quickly turning sour until Billy catches on, smiling brightly in return. “He’s a pound puppy. Probably misses the attention.”

Archie, who clearly knows he’s being talked about, barks. It makes Steve jump because it’s loud, but he huffs out a laugh anyway. “I think he agrees.”

The silence this time isn’t stiffening nor filled with tension, and that’s maybe to do with Billy’s dog and how he clambers over to Steve like they’ve known each other for longer than ten minutes. Steve, who’s never owned a pet in his life because it’d ruin his parent’s house, quite surprisingly finds the doberman to be the sweetest animal he’s ever met.

“He could come around,” Steve suggests, scratching behind Archie’s ear. He’s a little dopey from the affection, and Billy doesn’t hide his grin, the love that spills across the lines of his face too pure. “To visit. If you want.”

Billy finally tears his eyes away from the dog, glancing up at Steve through the thick of his lashes. Steve would be damned to admit that Billy is soft, too, different than Archie, of course, but gentle in demeanor despite the ruckus he could ensue. “I-” he pauses, throat working for a reply.

It makes Steve hesitate, makes him think maybe he overstepped by asking, that he should learn not to be too friendly with people he does not know. Even if Steve’s a decent judge of character - or so he’d like to believe, and also has nothing to do with the fact that Billy is beautiful - he’d really like to see him again no matter what anyone in the building thinks about 201B.

“Yeah,” Billy says on an exhale, maybe reads something on Steve’s face, the genuine kindness, the lack of reproach at Billy’s insinuation that he’s not always the kindhearted type. “We’d like that.”

Steve doesn’t miss the pronoun. Doesn’t miss the way Billy smiles or how the creases by his eyes deepen. Steve isn’t sure whether he appreciated falling in front of his door if only because he’s sure he’ll feel the ache of it tomorrow, but he thinks that maybe, just maybe, he could fall again, only this time, for someone much better.

[quil12]

Let’s all gather round and hear the tale of my horrible roommate

Long post - I really just needed to vent

(Some actual stuff happens in here and it’s not just like “they don’t wash their dishes” - it’s actual stuff that I would be interested in reading if it weren’t happening to me)

It all started about a month ago. My roommate invited a strange man over during a pandemic in order to get super drunk and then sleep with him. She passed out on the floor and left him to wander around the rest of the building drunk. He started yelling and trying to get into random people’s apartments. The police got called and she got a lease violation. 

Not too long after that, she wanted her boyfriend to come and stay in the apartment. To reiterate, we’re in a pandemic right now. Also, he is a 40 year old man and I am 20. I’m not sure how old our other roommate is, but I assume also in her 20’s. Our other roommate and I were not too thrilled about this and we gave the perfectly reasonable request of asking them to get a hotel room. Just to add onto this, our other roommate is not a native English speaker and she was being incredibly rude to her because even though you could understand her, her sentences weren’t “grammatically correct” so she was pretending like she couldn’t understand her requests. Instead of talking it out, she went behind our backs to the leasing office to get permission from them. Kind of a dick move tbh.

Unrelated to that, I asked her to wash the dishes of mine which she had been using because I had given her permission to use them under the stipulation that she wash them after using them. I asked her to actually wash the dishes that she used or else to please stop using mine. This triggered a massive temper tantrum where she was screaming and slamming doors. She also took all my dishes out and put them onto the kitchen counter. 

Because of this and the whole thing with the leasing office, I asked her to please not use my things anymore. I had to repeat this request oh, about 50 times because she couldn’t get it through her thick skull to not use my things. She (and her boyfriend) used my toothbrush holder and I had to throw out my toothbrush and get a new one because the bristles were literally touching mine and I didn’t trust them to not have COVID. She used my shampoo and conditioner and then lied about it (I know because I had enough for several more washes and when I went back, there was only enough for barely 1). She used my swiffer which I have explicitly told her not to use and then left the lid off of the pads (the reason I told her not to use it), and the list could go on for a while. 

During this whole time, she was consistently slamming any door she used and regularly throwing temper tantrums. She would also just leave her dog out in the living room/kitchen totally unattended, something which we aren’t allowed to do under the lease. Not to mention, her dog is extremely untrained and will bark at just about anything. Her dog will also relentlessly chase my cat so her leaving her dog out there meant that my cat couldn’t come out with me which made me uncomfortable and also feeling bad for my cat because going out in the living room is her absolute favorite time. 

I reported this to the leasing office and they asked me to record these things happening. I recorded the door slamming as well as her dog being left unattended in the common areas. She was then given another lease violation. If she were to get one more, she would be evicted. 

Things quieted down for a little while. She finally bought her own pans and dishware - her pans are in very weird and inconvenient spots because she bought too many of them even though she never cooks. And by “inconvenient” I mean like on top of the fridge where you can’t open the freezer without all of them falling on you. She also got an instant pot and decided that it needs to be out at all hours of the day. She put it on the only counter that we have available to cook and I explained that to her because she would get pissed at me for moving it over so that I could have the counter space to cook dinner and also so I wouldn’t get any food on it. I literally get food on it all the time because it’s right where I prepare food, but I guess if she feels like thoroughly cleaning it every time she uses it then I guess she can. It’s also super annoying to not have that space that I need, but whatever, this was a relatively okay time. 

She would still occasionally slam doors and throw minor temper tantrums, but it was miles better than before. Now, let’s fast forward to a few days ago - October 30th.

She had left the apartment a few hours before. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner. As a side note, I was using my george foreman in order to cook a hamburger, so I absolutely needed that extra counter space that her instant pot took up. I moved it over to the other counter and my intention was to move it back after I was done cooking.

I was almost finished when she came into the apartment, very very drunk. She was struggling a lot with the door, but I just let her be because at this point, I have no want to have any sort of interaction with her. She came in stomping. She saw me in the kitchen because I was standing directly in front of the stove, and she decided that she was going to come in and use the microwave. She got way into my personal space, said "excuse me", and without waiting for me to get out of the way, she slammed the microwave right in my face. She then waited right behind my shoulder to wait for her food to finish cooking, effectively trapping me there. She went to the fridge and broke off one of the little pieces on the side of the shelves. They’ve come off before, but she was sitting there trying to fix it. This gave me time finish cooking my dinner, and I started heading to my room.

She then said something to me along the lines of "It was really nice of you to not let me in when I was locked out and you were standing right there." I was very puzzled by this seeing as she was in the apartment, and thus, not locked out. I asked her what she meant, and she again said that she was just locked out and I didn't open the door for her. I think that because she had some sort of issue with the lock, she thought that she was locked out. I assume she had so much trouble with it because of how inebriated she seemed to be. I asked her how she had been locked out when she had a key and was now inside the apartment without any help, but she kept insisting that she had been locked out and I had refused to help her. To reiterate, I was cooking dinner, I heard her struggling slightly with the lock, and then she came in. She struggled for maybe 10 seconds. 

 By this point, I had made it to my room and had closed and locked the door. My cat, Art was hiding away from her underneath the couch, and I didn't feel physically safe enough to go and retrieve her while Ash was blocking the way and screaming and swearing at me. I went out and retrieved her as soon as I felt it was safe enough to do so, but Art was very afraid because of this and I had to pull her out from under the couch. This was very scary for me because I didn't think my cat would be safe out there with her based on how she was acting, but I didn't think she knew she was there because she was under the couch. I was also texting my mom at this point so I could let her know if anything were to happen.

During this time, she was screaming at me to come out into the hallway and face her, screaming at me that I was a coward. I did not feel comfortable nor safe going out there with her and was seriously considering calling the police because she would not leave me alone and was constantly screaming at me. I asked her to leave me alone multiple times, but she just kept screaming at me to come out and face her. I explained to her that I didn't feel comfortable talking to her because she was screaming at me, slamming cabinet doors, and calling me names, but she continued to try and goad me to come out and face her.

She also said something very peculiar in that she has a recording of me calling her "a black asshole". I never said this. I asked her to provide me with this recording of this so that I could see for myself, but she declined. I almost never speak when I'm in my bedroom because I tend to text people instead of calling them. I have spoken to myself to get through homework which I do because I'm an auditory learner and it helps me to solidify my understanding. Other than that, I do not speak in my room except to my cat to which I'll call her a "darling girl" or occasionally tell her to get down off of places I don't want her to be. This is all to say that I did not say this, and even if I did, there would have been no way for her to hear it because I do not speak in my bedroom to anyone other than my cat whom I just coo at.

She was also trying to blame me for her lease violations. She told me that she was going to get me evicted and I told her that she is the one who has 2 lease violations, to which she then said that it was my fault because I reported her. While yes, I did report her, it seems as though it is her fault for exhibiting those behaviors in the first place. I do not control her actions.

 She finally gave up after a while and went to her room. This is when I went out and got my cat, but I very quickly ran back into my room because I still don't feel safe. She came out again shortly after and was yelling in the kitchen about how I hadn't cleaned up after myself cooking dinner. The reason for that is because she was yelling at me and I didn't feel safe enough to do so. She also shoved her instant pot into the space that my george foreman was taking up. Again, I had planned to put it back after I finished cooking, but her screaming at me really just destroyed that plan. There was no space for it to go right there, but she shoved it in anyway just cause I guess. 

Yesterday, she also got extremely drunk and left her dog tied up in front of the grocery store for about 3 hours. Someone else in the building saw her and recognized and brought her up, but she literally just left her dog for 3 hours and didn’t even realize she was missing for about 5. Legitimately a piss poor dog owner. 

 Now, let’s go to this morning, November 2nd. I tried to go to the bathroom. I had just woken up and needed to pee and get ready for the day. She left her room right after me, saw me, and proceeded to chase me to the bathroom, yelling at me the whole time.

 I got to the bathroom and thought that she would just leave me alone, but no. She tried to follow me into the bathroom as I was closing the door. I had to push against her in order to close it and lock it. Luckily, I'm stronger and bigger than her so I was able to do it, but it was still extremely scary.

 She then proceeded to pace outside in the hallway for about 10 minutes. I know because she was carrying her keys and I could hear them jangling as she went back and forth. Finally, she left the apartment and I took that time to run back to my room, lock the door, and move a bookcase in front of it.

During this time, I also got an email from the leasing office saying that they were working with lawyers to try and evict her as soon as possible, so that’s good news. 

 I had to pick up a package from the leasing office, and when I came back she was out doing laundry. I just walked past and went to my room, but as soon as she saw me, she slammed the door to the dryer. After a minute, she walked past my room, yelled the word "coward" at me (she's been doing this quite frequently - yelling at me through my door as she walks past), then went into her room for a minute. She then came back out and stood in front of my door and started whispering "you're a coward, you're a nasty human being" repeatedly. 

 Let me tell you, I have just about called the police on her 3 times in the past few days. I just need the energy out there that the eviction stuff will happen as quickly as humanly possible and I can stop being afraid to go out into the rest of the apartment. 

[animalsoffarmsanctuary]

A Week at Farm Sanctuary: New Friends, New Herds, and Summer Days!

It’s been an eventful week at our New York Shelter, with two of our newest residents receiving special introductions to what Farm Sanctuary life is all about!

Welcome Home, Erin!

Just over two months ago, we welcomed Erin lamb to the world following his then-pregnant mom Julie’s rescue. For the next two months, Julie and Erin spent some time at our onsite Melrose Small Animal Hospital. Until now, Erin was still too small to join our main sheep flock, so he and mom had some extra time to bond as she showed him the ropes and watched him grow.

Playing is hard work! Little Erin leaps from the hay bales we’d arranged for him to play on.

Earlier this week, it was clear that Erin was ready for the big leagues — his new, forever home in our main sheep flock! Here, he will continue to learn and grow among his “sheeple.” The move home also brought great comfort to Julie, who had clearly missed her friends and family while they’d been apart for the birth and Erin’s first months. We were thrilled to welcome this beautiful mother-son duo home! We documented this special event live on Facebook; if you missed it, you can catch a replay of the magic here! We’re excited to see them begin the next stage of their lives together, and you can tune in to see their progress on our Explore.org sheep barn and sheep pasture cams!

Erin tests out the new pasture while Bruce goat leaps with delight.

Erin meets Ash, who came to us from the same rescue as Julie. We hope that Erin and Ash will become good friends!

Erin explores his limits with Jordan goat, who then sought to put the little lamb in his place. We’re excited to see how Erin will continue to explore his surroundings and his place within the flock.

Erin and Julie gaze peacefully out to pasture.

Julie is a great mother — allowing Erin to explore on his own, while still keeping an eye on her beloved son. Here, they enjoy some quality time sharing a meal together.

Welcome to your new home, baby Erin — we love you!

Meet Mason Steer!

This week, we were also delighted to introduce newcomer Mason to a new herd of his own (another special event we documented live on Facebook)! Mason was raised as a companion animal on a leased farm, but he became very lonely after his friends were sold and his guardian sought a fresh start for him. We welcomed Mason to our New York Shelter last week, and after receiving a clean bill of health, it was time to find a place where he could truly shine and thrive. At Farm Sanctuary, we pay just as much attention to an animal’s emotional and psychological needs as we do to their physical health, so we eagerly set out to find a group where Mason would feel at home, and free to simply be himself.

At first, we considered trying him out with our special-needs herd — but Mason had other ideas! Mason, a Brown Swiss steer, is a big boy with a big heart — and he chose the kids in our “calf herd” — Carlton, Gary, Westley, Cashew, Jerome, Liz, and Natalie — as his people. Here, he’s already putting the little ones in their place and putting his whole heart and soul into living and loving life.

National Shelter Manager Tara Hess and Caregiver Bianca Giolitto lead Mason toward his new barn!

Susie chaperones Mason’s big entrance.

Scoping out the herd! 

Behind the scenes: Associate Editor Sam Goldstein and Susie document Mason’s introduction to the herd via Facebook Live.

Tara helps Mason ease into Farm Sanctuary life.

Young Gary kicks up some dust in an attempt to “challenge” newcomer Mason.

Mason gently asserts his dominance, making it clear to the kids that *he* will become the new head of the herd.

Mason guides his new friends.

Checking In With Some Special Recent Arrivals

Across the sanctuary, our rescued residents — both newcomers and longtime friends — have ample opportunity to shine and enjoy life. Not long ago , we welcomed seven new bovine friends who endured terrible trauma together before getting a fresh start., and we’re thrilled to be a part of the recovery process for these incredible survivors!

Some of our newest arrivals enjoy a meal around the ring feeder. These individuals endured unspeakable cruelty and neglect on a small hobby farm in Pennsylvania, where several calves drowned in their own waste. Safe at Farm Sanctuary, they are getting the fresh start in life they deserve.

Two Ayrshire cows, one Holstein calf, and four Ayrshire yearlings came to Farm Sanctuary. The first three will live here permanently, while the latter four will be placed into a loving forever home through Farm Sanctuary’s Farm Animal Adoption Network. Here, one of the yearling girls rests against her friend during a break in the meal!

Delicious!

These sweet girls will receive their new, forever names at their new, forever home — and we’re thankful to get to know them as they prepare for the next stage of their beautiful lives together. 

Visiting With Some Special Pig Pals

Youngsters Ben David and Cameron had never met before coming to Farm Sanctuary, but they quickly bonded as brothers and have never looked back! With adoptive mom Honey to guide them, life really is sweet for these adorable boys. (Psst: Did you know that you can watch this special family enjoying life in their pasture through our Explore.org pig pasture cam?)

Ben David walks through the chamomile fields on a lovely summer day!

Cameron enjoys a nice, relaxing day in the pasture!

Cameron cools off on a hot summer day! For pigs like him, mud serves as a protective coat against the hot summer rays.

Farm Sanctuary life allows our rescued residents (not to mention their “humanimal” friends!) explore new horizons and enjoy the beautiful new beginnings they deserve. Together, we can support a compassionate world where all beings experience the right to a life free from harm.

For more Farm Sanctuary updates, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. You can also tune in live on Explore.org to see what some of our rescued cattle, pig, sheep, goat, turkey, chicken, and alpaca residents are up to in real time! Want to meet our incredible rescued residents in person? Learn how to visit here. Want to help? Your support makes our rescue, education, and advocacy efforts possible. You can also help by sharing our residents’ stories to spread the word that farm animals like them are each someone, not something. A compassionate world begins with you!

[inadarkdarkroom]

Psycho Roommate

This one isn’t a ghost story it’s a real life story although I would not be surprised if this guy was possessed by a demon. I spoke briefly about this experience once on an article about losing friends but I’ll tell the WHOLE THING because it still scares me to think about it and think about HIM.

So, the story begins with my now-fiancé, M, and his friend Tim. Tim doesn’t deserve anonymity and should be locked up before he can hurt anyone. Tim and my fiancé had been friends for only about a year but they became really close and like brothers. Tim had on and off dated this girl, E, forever. Whenever they were broken up, they’d date other people and end up back together. At one point, they broke up and Tim started dating this other girl for a while. She will be now known as V for victim for the story and also because I can’t remember her name. V had a young son and I had heard some stories from M and from Tim about her, nothing bad just stories that come out when you’re reminiscing. Through this I found out that V had loaned Tim about 700$ to make a trip to Mexico for his archeology class and had bought him a laptop and all this shit. They ended up breaking up before I started dating M and Tim was back to dating his on again off again gf when I first met him.

Tim was a vegan, straight edge, hare Krishna - aka a party pooper. JK he was actually pretty fun and didn’t care what others were doing and would always be the DD. he usually had some humor about it too and didn’t even get mad when my brother thought it was really hilarious to throw empty beer cans at him at a barbecue. My brother is an asshole - but one of those fun assholes you know?

So I met Tim pretty quick after I started dating M and at that time M was living in a big rooming house in a college town that was mostly empty for the summer because most of his old roommates had graduated and didn’t do sublets for the rest of the lease. Tim is short and fat and looks like s gremlin. He was nice enough and was always joking around and was just kind of one of those “weird guys” like harmless seeming but just kind of weird. M would have get togethers and bbqs at his house semi frequently over the summer and Tim would usually come. I started to get to know him better and better but for some reason I was always uncomfortable being around him. I am a HUGE JOKESTER so I make jokes all the time and Tim would always joke back to me but would make them kind of weirdly sexual? But we didn’t put much into it because we figured he was just being that weird funny guy and he wasn’t serious about it and plus my fiancé trusted him completely.

At one of these parties, everyone else was on the porch and I had gone in the house to use the bathroom or something and Tim was coming out of the kitchen so we started joking around and kind of like play fighting and I bet Tim that I could kick over his head. I’m tall and have long legs and can kick really high and Tim was the size of a hobgoblin. So I go to do it in an arc like fashion - starting low then sweeping over his head and then coming down on the other side. When I was starting to end the kick, he pushed me, and I fell backward into the front door which was that cheap treated glass type door. THANK HEAVEN ABOVE it didn’t shatter and slice me to bits but I left a great big cobweb shatter thing from where my ass hit the door. Right after it happens, M , comes rushing in to see if I’m alright and Tim started apologizing to him and not to me. He played it off like we were just fooling around and I THOUGHT we were too at the time. Looking back on it, I remember the look on his face right before he pushed me and he had this creepy smile. Thinking back on it there’s no way you wouldn’t know that pushing me would push me into the glass door. SO everything was fine and no one was hurt so we laughed it off and continued about our night.

Tim would always make those jokes that all friends do like “if you hurt him I’ll kill you” and one time I was like “yeah haha I’m not planning on it” and was just trying to laugh it off but he would NOT LET IT GO. He kept saying he’d kill me if I hurt M and I just kept trying to laugh it off and he finally stopped when M came back from the bathroom (we were getting lunch at a restaurant)

So once again I just chalk it up to him being a fucking weirdo and I tell M about it later and he thinks the same. That summer continued on being the best thing ever. Tim and E ended up breaking up for good this time, me and M got engaged and everything ruled. Toward the end of the summer Tim started dating a new girl named A. A was so cool and funny and she rescued and trained dogs and was just awesome. And way too cute for Tim and they’re STILL TOGETHER NOW BARFFFFF.

Anyway, M and Tim end up moving into this shitty ass townhouse in the ghetto together when both of their leases were up in August. Tim had lived in the apartments across the street and claimed he could get s discount on rent (lie) and things were getting down the wire so they just moved in there. BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER.

Anyway things are fine at first but M starts getting more and more annoyed with Tim. It’s just roommate things like Tim never cleaned and never bought anything for the place and if he did he’d buy like the shittiest stuff - like dollar store brand 1 ply toilet paper. And also his fucking cats had fleas and gave one of our ferrets fleas. She had never had fleas ever and she had a white coat so we noticed them pretty quick. He said it was IMPOSSIBLE for the fleas to have come from his cats (lie) but the fleas would NOT GO AWAY no matter how many flea treatments we gave poor little Chloe. The fleas actually probably came from Tim because he is disgusting.

Anyway things are like okay for a few months and Tim is still dating A. During this time, my fiancé ended up buying a (LEGAL) sawed-off shotgun to keep in his closet for protection. There was a dealer that just dealt right over the fence in our backyard and people were constantly being robbed and jumped and stabbed and a few murders had happened on our street SO whatever, it made him feel better before we had gotten our dog.

He had told Tim about it just so that he knew because I mean they were living together but it was always kept in Ms closet on a rack. The weekend before Halloween last year, we were all hanging out, me, M, Tim, and his new gf. We were watching the hills have eyes in the living room and just kind of goofing off. Tim and A were going to a Halloween party the next day and Tim was dressing up as ash from evil dead two - you know the bloody shirt the gun missing hand all that. He kept talking about how he should just use the shotgun as a prop and we just kept laughing it off but he kept bringing it up over and over and over whenever he could. Watching the movie - oh if that were me I’d just take the shotgun and kill the mutant. Shit like that. Eventually he starts bringing up the girl he had dated a long time ago the VICTIM (V) And he just keeps bringing her up for no reason and we were just like....okay? And ignored it. We called it a night probably around 430 am and the next morning when we woke up M Had all of these Facebook messages from V and they were all super urgent and she sounded really freaked out. She left her number for M to give her a call so he did. Turns out the night before, Tim was texting her the entire night, while we were all watching he movie, while he was with his NEW GF, and saying stuff like he’s been making himself better for her and all he wants to do is marry her and take care of her and her son. She was really worried about him and sent us the screen caps of the conversation because after she told Tim she had a new boyfriend he started saying he was going to kill himself because if she didn’t want him life wasn’t worth living. He told her he had gotten the shotgun and he was in the basement and was making a countdown until he was going to pull the trigger. He said the gun was in his mouth and he was going to pull the trigger at 335 or something. Which none of this was true because at that time we were all in the living room watching a movie together.

Tim and his gf were out for the day and we were worried for Tim and M had planned on talking to him when he got home. In the meantime I went out to the sporting goods store and bought a locking gun case and we ended up having a friend of ours who had a gun safe come and grab it for safe keeping. Tim came back and M told him he needed to get help and that he was worried. He tried to play it off like it was some joke and he was just messing around but the texts proved he was serious. M tells him he needs to get help and talk to his parents and that if he didn’t by the end of the weekend, M was going to call his parents and talk to them. We were just worried about our friend at this point. BUT

The next day we wake up to more texts. Screenshots from the night before when Tim was at the party with his new girlfriend. The texts had taken a different turn. He started saying he was on his way across the state with the gun and was going to take care of V, her son, and her new boyfriend. He sent her texts all night threatening to kill her and her son and her boyfriend in various ways. We freak out and M sends me to my dads house and talks to Tim and let’s him know what he knows. He tells Tim that the ex girlfriend has already called the police and made a restraining order and that M was going to call the police on Tim for this if he didn’t go into the hospital for a psych evaluation. In my state, you get put on a 72 hour psychiatric hold if you come forward and say you are going to hurt yourself or someone else. M made it clear that they wouldn’t be living together anymore and that someone would have to move out and told Tim that if he came back to the house before 72 hours were up he would call the police on him and tell them what had gone down.

So blah blah blah, Tim ends up moving out and fucking us over forever with the townhouse from ghetto hell. He comes back one night to “talk” and get his things and I have never been so scared of someone in my entire life. His eyes were black and lifeless and he had almost a hypnotizing effect when he talked (pure sociopath) and he was starting to kind of get M to go along with being friends again and I was pissed. I said “you two will never be friends again, I never want to see your face again, I don’t want to talk to you again, I want you out of our lives forever. You can’t be trusted and you tricked us for this long”

He then says “it’s funny that you don’t want to see me again cuz imagine how I feel about you”. Scared me to death. He goes to gather some of his things and M and I go out for a cigarette and I ask him what the fuck happened. He had no idea and said he just felt hypnotized by Tim when he was talking and he thanked me for snapping him out of it. We barricaded ourselves in Ms room for the night and didn’t sleep. For the few hours Tim was there we could hear him softly chanting Hare Krishna the entire time.

A few weeks later we were sick of so much of his shit still lying around so we packed up his stuff and moved it into the basement. I found a notebook that he had written a poem story thing in. I can’t remember it exactly but I’ll do my best :

“I walk home past the houses and see lives and lights

I make it to my dark door and open it waiting to see my love my life

I go down to the basement where I left her she still looks the same

Her hair is perfect and her lips are still stretched in a final scream

She looks so good in red

I turn the record player on and I sing”

[prekese1spiritum]

Psalms and Verses in Hoodoo

Psalms and Verses in Hoodoo

As stated elsewhere, hoodoo is not a religion. It is a system of spiritual practices and magic. Hoodoo grew up in the USA in the shadow of the larger culture of Christianity in white society. This American created form of magic adjusts and adapts itself to the larger culture around it--absorbing what its practioners can and want to use. Hence, in areas where Christian Catholicism was dominant, practitioners often used Catholic prayers. In areas where sundry forms of Christian Protestantism was strong, bible verses, usually from the King James Version, were employed.

The extensive use of the Psalms in hoodoo related to the book by Godfrey Selig, Secrets of the Psalms, A Fragment of the Practical Kabala. An English translation of this book was available in late 1930s or early 1940s in the USA. There are reports that African-American conjure doctors in Memphis did read and use this text. (Catherine Yronwode www.LuckyMojo.com wrote a fascinating article, SECRETS OF THE PSALMS, examining Selig's book and its involvement history and practice.) Some versions of the 18th century Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses contain information on the magical uses of the biblical Psalms. By the 19th century, an English language version of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses was one of the magical "receipt-books" used by African-Americans.i

For example, Protestant Southern Baptists also believed firmly in the strength of scripture and the power of God's word to cure the spiritual and physical woes of mankind.

And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:22)

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Philippians 4:4-7)

And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible. (Mark 10:27)

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26)

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. (1 John 5:14-15)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. (John 14:12-14)

The belief that God Almighty had ordained the use of divine power to attain "all things that pertain unto life" could be supported by scripture in scripture.

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (2 Peter 1:3)

Bible verses were embroidered on samplers and pillows as words to inspire Godly behavior and draw blessings from the Almighty. White Southern Christians would have been largely unconcerned with African-American servants, etc. reciting Psalms or verses from the King James Version.

The effectiveness of prayer was widely believed in the USA South. To illustrate how some Psalms and other verses in the King James Version were and are still used by some practitioners, I have assembled a collection of examples. Certainly there were more, and probably which Psalms and verses were used where, varied from practitioner to practitioner. Doubless these words were faithfully recited over candles and huricane oil lamps, remedies and mojos, as well as other charms. Certainly, some were used in connection with roots, herbs, and other medicinal and special items. It is said that many cures are brought about by trees, roots, and herbs, but powerful cures are brought about by Word of God. Sometimes more than one of the Psalms or verses would be used with others.

Healing Severe Headache or Backache Psalm 3 was recited to treat a severe headache or a backache. It would be recited over rubbing oil, and then massaged into the head and/or back while praying. The key phrase in ths psalm is "But thou, O LORD, art...the lifter of my head..." This Psalm was traditionally used in banishing and troublesome and oppressive spirits, who might be responsible for the physical discomfort. The holy name is called Jehovah-Kabodhi which signifies, O LORD, my glory. The name of God, the physician and helper, is found in the words of verse 3. The Lord (Adon) will be a shield around the one who needs healing.

Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. (Psalm 3)

A prayer such as the following may be added:

Lord of the world, may it please thee to be my physician and helper. Heal me and relieve me from my severe headache and backache, because I can find help only with thee and only with thee is counsel and action to be found. Amen. Selah.

Likewise Psalm 3 could have been also recited to bless the cup of feverfew tea or the bit of willow bark to be chewed as these were both Southern headache cures used by African-Americans. [In the early 20th century, it might have been recited over the "miracle drug" aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid). I suppose one could update this cure by reciting the verses over a couple of acetaminophen tablets.]

Bringing Good Luck Psalm 4 could be recited by someone who had been unlucky in spite of her/his good efforts. It ought to be recited three times just before sunrise.

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer. O ye sons of men, how long will ye turn my glory into shame? how long will ye love vanity, and seek after leasing? Selah. But know that the LORD hath set apart him that is godly for himself: the LORD will hear when I call unto him. Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the LORD. There be many that say, Who will shew us any good? LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4)

Adding this prayer:

May it please thee, oh Jehovah-jireh, to prosper my ways, steps, and doings. Grant that my desire be amply filled, and let my wishes be satified even this day for the sake of thy great and praise worthy name. Amen. Selah.

Get a Wish If a person has a sincere wish, s/he can write that wish in large print on a small square of brown paper. This paper should be folded and burned in a fireproof bowl with sand. In the evening, Psalm 4 can be recited while the sand and ashes are scattered outside. The wind will carry the wish. The prayer above used in Bringing Good Luck could also be added by some.

Needing Financial Capital for One's Business Psalm 4 could be recited by someone who needs investors and financial capital or economic capital in order to achieve his next goal in operating a business. It ought to be recited seven times before sunrise.

Adding this prayer, or similar prayer well suited:

May it please thee, oh Jehovah-jireh, to prosper my ways, steps, and doings. Let me find favor in the eyes of those investors who will grant my business proposal or petition even this day for the sake of thy great and praise worthy name. Amen. Selah.

Favorable Outcome for Dealing the Government and Bureaucratic Authorities If a business does not prosper, particularly if the owner must deal with new government regulations, forms, etc, Psalm 5 could be recieted daily at sunrise and at sunset until circumstances become more favorable.

Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man. But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple. Lead me, O LORD, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter with their tongue. Destroy thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee. For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield. (Psalm 5)

Successful Court Case Outcome

Psalm 5 can also be recited by candlelight or lamplight just before sunrise and just after sunset for three days prior to the court case along with devoted prayers for favor from the judge.

The following prayer may also recited with the holy name of Chanan-jah, meaning "Jah has favored."

Be merciful to me for the sake of thy great, adorable, and holy name. Chanan-jah, turn the favor of the judge to me, and grant that the judge may regard me with grace. Amen! Selah!

Healing Damaged Bones The verse Psalm 6:2 can can be recited for healing in particular bruises and aching bones. It is possible someone could have recited the verse daily over an injured or broken bone as it healed.

Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak: O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. (Psalm 6:2)

Healing Eyes

Psalm 6:6-9 was used to heal eye diseases.

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies. Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. (Psalm 6:6-9)

This prayer was added:

Jehovah my Father, may it please Thee for the sake of the great, mighty, holy, and adorable name, Help is with the Lord, heal me from diseases, infirmities, and from the pain of my eyes, for thine is the power and the help, and Thou alone art mighty enough to help. I trust in Thee. Amen. Selah.

Breaking a Hex

To break a hex, frequently Psalm 7:1-10 was recited over a pot of well water, which was poured out in the direction of wherever the hex supposedly originated.

O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. O LORD my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea, I have delivered him that without cause is mine enemy:) Let the enemy persecute my soul, and take it; yea, let him tread down my life upon the earth, and lay mine honour in the dust. Selah. Arise, O LORD, in thine anger, lift up thyself because of the rage of mine enemies: and awake for me to the judgment that thou hast commanded. So shall the congregation of the people compass thee about: for their sakes therefore return thou on high.The LORD shall judge the people: judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to mine integrity that is in me. Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins. My defence is of God, which saveth the upright in heart. (Psalm 7:1-10)

Remedy for a Sick Child

When a child is ill, with a chronic disease, write Psalm 9, with the holy and mystic name, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh," upon clean paper, with a new pen. Place this amulet in a clean bag, and hang it about the neck of the child.

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. When mine enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at thy presence. For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging right. Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name for ever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed cities; their memorial is perished with them. But the Lord shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment. And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. Sing praises to the Lord, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation. The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken. The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth: the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah. The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten: the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever. Arise, O Lord; let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (Psalm 9)

Afterward repeat this prayer with reverence with the child, and think at the same time of the holy name of "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh." This is the mystical name when Moses asked for the LORD's name, which God said unto Moses, "I Am That I Am." The mystical aspect of this name is that it may also be translated as: "I am He Who is," "I am he that will be," "I am who I am," or "I AM."

Utter also the following prayer:

All-merciful Father! for the sake of thy mighty, adorable and holy name, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh," may it please thee to take away from ___, child of ___, the illness [___ name the disease] from which s/he suffers, and relieve her/him from her/his pains. Make him whole in soul, body, and mind, and release him during her/his life from all plagues, injury, and danger, and be thou her/his helper. Amen.

Against the Power and Malignity of Enemies

The whole of Psalm 9 may also be prayed against the power and malignity of one's mighty enemies. Repeat this Psalm and pray devoutly:

May it be agreeable to thy will for the sake of thy most holy name, "Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh," to release me from the power of my enemies and opposers, and to protect me from their persecutions, as thou once didst protect your Psalm­ist, Moses, as he fled from the Egyptians that pursued him and the tribes of Israel across the Red Sea. Likewise, protect me from those oppressors and their persecutions, as thou also protected your Psalm­ist, David, from mad Saul who pursued him. Amen.--Selah!

Protection from Oppression and Persecution

Psalm 11 and Psalm 12 were recited for protection from oppression and persecution.

Help, LORD; for the godly man ceaseth; for the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity every one with his neighbour: with flattering lips and with a double heart do they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things: Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail; our lips are our own: who is lord over us? For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. The wicked walk on every side, when the vilest men are exalted. (Psalm 12)

Gain Trust and Favor

Whosoever prays Psalm 14 daily with innocent trust and childlike faith in the most holy name of the God of Truth, and prays the prayer belonging to it, will find favor with all people. He or she will be free from slander and mistrust. The most holy name of Psalm 14 is Jehovah El Emeth, which is "LORD, God of Truth."

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD. There were they in great fear: for God is in the generation of the righteous. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, because the LORD is his refuge. Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. (Psalm 14)

The prayer belonging to this psalm is as follows:

May it please thee, Oh El Emeth, to grant me grace, love and favor with all men whose help I need. Grant that all may believe my words, and that no slander may be effective against me to take away the confi­dence of men. Thou canst do this, for thou turnest the hearts of men ac­cording to thy holy will, and liars and slanderers are an abomination to thee. Hear me for the sake of thy name. Amen. Selah.

Protection from Corrupt Fools

Psalm 14 can also be recited daily to cast from one's life any corrupt fool who would lead one astray from a path of truth and virtue, especially if accompanied by this prayer:

Jehovah El Emeth, I worship thee by living out thy truth and by walking in thy truth. Please strengthen me by thine Holy Spirit, so that thy holy name be glorified. Amen.

The angels, likewise, will recognize anyone who daily prays this psalm as a righteous person.

Protection During Travel A traveler, who prays Psalm 17 early in the morning, with passion and enthusiasm, will be safe during that day and night of travel.

Hear the right, O LORD, attend unto my cry, give ear unto my prayer, that goeth not out of feigned lips. Let my sentence come forth from thy presence; let thine eyes behold the things that are equal. Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not. I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about. They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places. Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is thy sword: From men which are thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure: they are full of children, and leave the rest of their substance to their babes. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Psalm 17)

The traveler should also add this prayer:

May it be thy holy will, Jah, to incline thine ear unto me, and hear my prayer, to make my journey prosperous, to lead me in pleasant paths so that my footsteps slip not, to protect me from all evil, and to bring me safely back to my loved ones, for thy mighty and adorable name's sake. Hallelu-Jah! Hallelu-Jah! Hallelu-Jah! Amen.

Prevailing in Court

Anyone summoned to appear in a court of law before the judge in a judicial trial can make use of Psalm 20. Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved. If the whole Psalm 20 is pronounced over a bottle seven times along with a suitable prayer, while mixing rose-oil, water, and salt, in the most holy name of Jehovah, that person will surely be justified and depart without restraint. The holy name, Jehovah-Hoshe'ah, meaning the "LORD Saves" is found in verse 9.

Whoever is called before the judge should rub this rose-scented mixture on his face and hands, and sprinkle it on his clothing before departing for court.

The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion; Remember all thy offerings, and accept thy burnt sacrifice; Selah. Grant thee according to thine own heart, and fulfil all thy counsel. We will rejoice in thy salvation, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners: the LORD fulfil all thy petitions. Now know I that the LORD saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call. (Psalm 20)

Freedom from Danger and Suffering for a Period of Twenty-Four Hours

To be free from all danger and suffering for one day, a person may also mix in a bottle rose-oil, water, and salt as described above while seven times reciting Psalm 20 and along with a suitable prayer, with reverence in a low voice. This mixture, if rubbed on the hands and face, and sprinkled on one's clothing, will keep one smelling sweet. He will remain free from all danger and suffering that day.

The divine title,"the God of Jacob," indicates that the LORD will choose one and will pass by another.

Protection from Storms and the Elements

If a traveler prays Psalm 22 with devotion seven times with the appropriate divine names, in full trust of the mighty protection of the exallted and merciful God, this Psalm will give protection from storms and the elements. No misfortune will happen, whether he is traveling on the water or land . The letters of the divine name, Aha, are found in the words "Eli," verse 1, "Assah," verse 33.

During the ninth hour upon the cross, Jesus cried loudly, Eli, Eli, lama sabchtani? which is from the opening of Psalm 22, ''My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?'' Those who call on the name of the LORD God will not be forsaken. Jehovah-Eli is the LORD God and whoever has life in the Lord Jesus Christ will never perish.

My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul from the sword; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth: for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the LORD, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard. My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation: I will pay my vows before them that fear him. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the LORD that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.For the kingdom is the LORD's: and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this. (Psalm 22)

Repeling Terrestrial Dangers

Psalm 22:16-17 may be used to repel bad luck and dangers from water, wind, earth, or fire. The names of the four angels, "Tharsis," "Cherub," "Ariel," and "Seruph," should be written on the four arms of a cross drawn on paper. These are all angelic princes; they have great power in governing the elements of the earth.

The verses of Psalm 22:16-17 must be written around the cross in a circle. Recite Psalm 22:16-17 each day devoutly to repell terrestrial dangers.

Whoever bears these words on paper, the Lord of the Earth, Jehovah-Adon Kal Ha'arets, will give the angels of the elements charge over that person to keep him or her safe in all his or her ways.

For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have inclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. (Psalm 22:16-17)

Blessings and Beneficent Work Naturally, Psalm 23 was used to aquire blessings, protection, luck (including luck for gambling), and other benificent work.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. (Psalm 23)

Drawing Prosperity and Money

Someone wishing to draw prosperity and money should annoint himself with an oil, such as olive oil mixed with bayberry oil, and recite Psalm 23 for seven mornings in a row upon arising from sleep.

Divination and Dreams Psalm 23 can also be recited when requesting an answer to a question in a dream. The dreamer will pray that the will of God be received in a dream, after reciting the Psalm just before the dreamer goes to sleep.

The dreamer should also add this prayer or another like it:

Lord of the World! not­withstanding thy unutterable mighty power, exaltation, and glory, thou wilt still lend a listening ear to the prayer of thy humblest creature, and wilt fulfill his desires. Hear my prayer also, loving Father, and let it be pleasing to thy most holy will to reveal unto me in a dream, whether (petition for information must be plainly stated)--as thou didst often reveal through dreams the fate of our forefath­ers. Grant me my petition for the sake of thy adorable name, Jah. Amen. Selah!

Protection Against Ill Fortune, especially on a Journey

Psalm 23 can also be recited in the morning before beginning a journey with the following morning prayer and it will protect against all manner of bad luck. The holy name of Jehovah Roeh should be held continually in the mind.

Iesus Nazaraeus Rex Iudaeorum, Shepherd and Almighty King over the whole world, protect me during this day and night; protect me, ___ child of ___, at all times, by the five holy wounds of the Good Shepherd, that I may not be seized by the hand of any malefactor, nor cut, beaten, bound, robbed, nor injured by any fire-arm or stray bullet, in the name of Jesus, King and Good Shepherd, and the power of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The holy name for this prayer is "Iesus Nazaraeus Rex Iudaeorum," (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews), which were the words placed above Jesus' head at the crucifixion.

Protection from a Troublesome Ghost If someone wishes to quiet a tumultuous or disorderly ghost, s/he can read aloud Psalm 23, along with Psalms 29 and 91, and forcefully order the ghost to stop its activities and depart forthwith. The restless spirit should depart or at least cease its troublesome activity.

With these three Psalms 29, 23, and 91, recite this prayer:

Let it be thy holy pleasure, oh my God, to quiet this troublesome spirit, which is now restless; wilt thou presently send peace in the place of disquiet. Hear this prayer as thou once did that of thy servants, Moses and David, and restore peace to ___ child of ___ for the sake of thy great, mighty, and holy name El-Shaddai. Let this prayer penetrate to thee as once the holy in­cense arose to thee on high. Amen. Selah!

Cleansing The verse Psalm 26:6 was used in cleansing oneself with various waters.

I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD. (Psalm 26:6)

Honest Employment

If the whole Psalm 26 is pronouced over a small bottle of olive oil, the jar can be labeled "Honest Employment" and set aside. Someone can annoint her/himself lightly with this oil when seeking employment or looking for a job.

Judge me, O LORD; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the LORD; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. (Psalm 26)

Feeling Lonely and Desiring to be Recieved Hospitably

When a person feels lonely and desires to be accepted with kindness and hospitality, that person should repeat Psalm 27 with reverence. The holy name in the first verse is called Jehovah-Ori, (Jehovah my Light). The light will be salvation upon that person to incline the hearts of others towards kindness and companionship.  

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Received or Accepted, Especially in a Strange or New Place

When a person will travel to a new place, he ought to repeat Psalm 27 upon his journey again and again, with reverence and in full confidence in the LORD, who will incline the hearts of men to receive and entertain him kindly.

Empowering Through the Word Psalm 29 might be recited with another psalm to emphasize the power and effectiveness of God's word.

Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever. The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. (Psalm 29)

Overcoming Troublesome Spirits

Specifically, Psalm 29 was also recited ten times over water and seven palm leaves. The water was poured out at the door of a house to cause a spirit to depart.

Protection from Storms However, Psalm 29:3-4 could be specifically recited for protections from storms. One ought to remember the USA South is along the seacoast in a hurricane belt.

The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. (Psalm 29:3-4)

Recovering from Severe Illness

To speed a slow a recovery from a particularly nasty sickness, someone might recite Psalm 30:11-12.

Hear, O LORD, and have mercy upon me: LORD, be thou my helper. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. (Psalm 30:11-12)

Safety from Evil

In fact, all of Psalm 30 might be read to keep one safe from evil occurence.

Recieving Instruction in Dreams Before a person goes to bed, s/he can pronouce Psalm 42:1-8 seven times in order to recieve guidance, understanding, or information through a dream.

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. (Psalm 42:1-8)

Make Good Wishes Come True

In the evening, Psalm 40:5 could be recited by candlelight or lamplight along with someone's good wishes.

Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. (Psalm 40:5)

Bring Love and Passion

Psalm 45 is said to possess the vir­tue of love and passion. A woman should scent a bottle of pure olive oil with pleasing spices and pronounce this Psalm over it. She may use it to scent her garments and hair, as well as annoint her skin, especially the palms of her hands. If she wishes to attract the attentions of a specific man she ought to find a reason to touch one or both of his hands. The holy name is Adojah.

My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips: therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies; whereby the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a right sceptre. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Kings' daughters were among thy honourable women: upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall be there with a gift; even the rich among the people shall intreat thy favour. The king's daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the king in raiment of needlework: the virgins her companions that follow her shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever. (Psalm 45)

Restore Love, Romance, and Peace Between a Husband and Wife

Psalm 45 can be used to help restore love, romance, and peace between those married. Let a man pronounce this Psalm over pure olive oil. He may first anoint his body with it. Then, the man must thoroughly and lovingly anoint his wife with it. He should massage her with great tenderness. There should be a proper return of conjugal love and peace. A wife, likewise, can pray the Psalm over olive oil, scented or not, and annoint herself and lovingly touch him. In the future, her husband will be more lovable, passionate, and agreeable.

Mar­ried love will again return. The holy name for this Psalm is Elohim Adonai Jah. Elohim is a supreme name of Divinity. Adonai has the meaning of "Lord" and "Father." The name, Jah, can be found by itself in scripture and should be pronounced in order to establish peace and unity.

The prayer is as follows:

Holy is thy name Elohim Adonai Jah, great exalted and adored Mediator! Great Ruler of hearts, I trust in thee so my wish will be fully realized, for the sake of thy adorable names. Amen.

Cleansing and Purifying

A verse of Psalm 51:7 is read over an infusion of hyssop water and used in making washes and for purification.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7)

Freeing One's Self from Slander

Whoever is disturbed by frequent slanders traditionally recites Psalm 52 daily in the morning.

Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. The tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him: Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints. (Psalm 52)

Deliverence from Enemies

Those who are dogged and harried from violent enemies, should pray Psalm 59 with the holy name of Jehovah Elohim Tsaba (which means the LORD God of hosts).

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear? But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah. And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. (Psalm 59)

A prayer may be added such as the following:

I pray Lord, God of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, you are my Rescuer, and Savior. Rise up, Jehovah, so that these enemies be scattered. Awaken to my defence and deliver me from these enemies, for the sake of thy most powerful, holy name, Jehovah Elohim Tsaba. Selah. Amen.

Freedom from Evil Inclination and Sinful Desires

Those sinful appetites and passions--which often overcome men--are also a man's enemies. If a man wished he be entirely free from the yetzer hara (jezer hara, jezer horra, or jezer harra) that is, from the inclination which all men possess to do evil, and the sinful appetites and passions which often overcome them, then, according to tradition, he should pray Psalm 59 from the second verse to the end. He should pray for three days in succession, at early noon and in the evening, bearing in mind the holy name belonging thereto, namely Jehovah Padahel which signifies Lord, Redeemer and Rescuer, and also, the man must also pray the prescribed prayer, and then he will become aware of the most won­derful changes within himself.

The letters of the holy name of Jehovah Padahel may be found in verses 3, 5, 8, 14, and 15; it is also found in Deuteronomy 24:18.

Deliver me from the workers of iniquity, and save me from bloody men. For, lo, they lie in wait for my soul: the mighty are gathered against me; not for my transgression, nor for my sin, O Lord. They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah. They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their mouth: swords are in their lips: for who, say they, doth hear? But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for God is my defence. The God of my mercy shall prevent me: God shall let me see my desire upon mine enemies. Slay them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord our shield. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. Selah. And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied. But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy. (Psalm 59: 2-17)

The prayer is as follows:

Lord, my Father and the Father of mine, mighty God! May it please thee for the sake of thy great, holy, and adorable name, Jehovah Padahel, to release me from the yetzer hara (from my evil desires and passions and from all evil thoughts and acts), as thou didst the author of this Psalm when he prayed to thee. Amen. Selah!

Blessing When Moving to a New Home To bring protection, good fortune, and blessing to the whole household just prior to moving into a new dwelling, Psalm 61 was recited.

Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. For thou, O God, hast heard my vows: thou hast given me the heritage of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the king's life: and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God for ever: O prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows. (Psalm 61)

Protection from Attack

To avoid attack from unknown enemies (including magical attack) and accidents, one could recite Psalm 64.

Hear my voice, O God, in my prayer: preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked; from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity: Who whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: That they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not. They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them? They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away. And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing. The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and shall trust in him; and all the upright in heart shall glory.

Healthful Sea Voyage

Psalm 64 could also be recited by seafarers during an ocean voyage in order to reach a destination in good health.

Blessings and Luck in New Endeavors Psalm 65 was recited for God's rich blessings and good luck in all of one's affairs. It could be recited while planting one's own vegetable garden or metaphorically planting the seed for any undertaking, as in starting at a new place of employment.

Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come. Iniquities prevail against me: as for our transgressions, thou shalt purge them away. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. By terrible things in righteousness wilt thou answer us, O God of our salvation; who art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon the sea: Which by his strength setteth fast the mountains; being girded with power: Which stilleth the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people. They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; the valleys also are covered over with corn; they shout for joy, they also sing. (Psalm 65)

Gain Prosperity and Happiness With Others

Someone, who will write holy words, "Aha," "Elohim," "Jeaschruhu," with the Psalm 72 on a paper and tie it in a bag, can hope for happiness in all types of relationships and prospertiy. S/he must suspend the bag around her/his neck. Then s/he will become a universal favorite, and find favor and grace from all peoples. S/he will live secure and unconcerned by the might of these words: "God" (Elohim) in verse 1, and "all nations shall call him blessed" (Jeaschruhu) in verse 17. With God's blessing, s/he will never come to poverty.

Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. (Psalm 72)

Restoring Peace Between Two Friends

Traditionally, Psalm 85 can be used by someone who wishes to be reconciled to a former friend. In an open field on a sunny day, s/he should turn her/his face South and pronounce this Psalm seven times in succession. The enmity of the former friend will soon fade away. That person may again be recieved in great friendship.

Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps. (Psalm 85)

Protection in One's Dwelling

To protect one's home, and overcome danger, especially from wild animals, one could recite Psalm 90. The superscription to Psalm 90 is "A prayer of Moses, the man of God." Moses was considered to be a powerful Conjure man of the wilderness.

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil. Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. (Psalm 90)

Power for Strength and Protection The holy name of Psalm 91 is El-Shaddai, which means God Almighty. Psalm 91 is traditionally credited to Moses since Psalm 90 is also attributed to him. Psalm 91 can be recited against someone being afflicted or distressed by pestilence, danger, or an enemy. It is a boundry of protection which can be set around the family. For example, a woman who is afflicted by a rival for the affections of her husband may also recite this Psalm, keeping in mind the name of the LORD.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation. (Psalm 91)

Triumph in Legal Court Cases Reciting Psalm 94 over a "trick" would allegedly help to triumph in court cases. Later, the trick would be hidden in or around the courthouse.

O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. Yet they say, The LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity. Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law; That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked. For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance. But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul. Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off. (Psalm 94)

Overcome All Enemies

Whoever prays Psalm 100 seven days successively, seven times each day, will supposidly over come all his enemies, by praise of that divine name of power, Jah.

Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. (Psalm 100)

He may also add this prayer:

Mighty, all-merciful, and compassionate, God, may it be pleasing to thy will to defend me from all enemies, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forevermore. I will sing unto thee, sing praises to thine name: Jah. Hear me for the sake of thy most holy name, Jah! Hallelu-jah! Hallelu-jah! Hallelu-jah! Praise ye the LORD!

Learning to Break Bad Habits and Behave Wisely

Whoever bears the verses of Psalm 101:1-3 and reads them with a humble and contrite heart can use them to learn to break the cycle of overspending and other similar bad habits.

I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O LORD, will I sing. I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. (Psalm 101: 1-3)

Against a Grievous Affliction or Severe Ill Health

Psalm 102 is said to be very useful for someone afflicted with a grievous illness, wasting disease, or physical infirmity or dysfunction. In more recent times, some have used this Psalm to request strength and solace for a cancer patient during chemotherapy.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death; To declare the name of the Lord in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; When the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the Lord. He weakened my strength in the way; he shortened my days. I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are throughout all generations. Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end. The children of thy servants shall continue, and their seed shall be established before thee. (Psalm 102)

Healing and Renewal

Psalm 103 is said to be very good for healing diseases and renewing youth. Those reciting Psalm 103, especially women, may may receive grace and favor from God. The prescribed holy name of this Psalm is Jah. Praise from one's own soul will bless his holy name, Jah.

Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O my soul. (Psalm 103)

Remedy for Female Afflictions

Psalm 102 and 103 may be used together as a remedy along with medical treatment for female afflictions, such as inflammation, odor, pain, bareness, and other disorders.

Charming and Lovable Psalm 111 was a favorite in hoodoo work, as a person may aquire many friends by reciting it. Psalm 111:4 in particular was traditionally used in love spells.

He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered: the LORD is gracious and full of compassion. (Psalm 111:4)

Increase in Might and Power

By expressing praise and enlarging an understanding of the LORD, someone can increase his might and power through sincere prayer with Psalm 112.

Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he shall not be moved for ever: the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.The wicked shall see it, and be grieved; he shall gnash with his teeth, and melt away: the desire of the wicked shall perish. (Psalm 112)

Develop Self-Tranquillity and Harmony

The verse of Psalm 112: 3 can be recited to bring tranquillity of mind and harmony.

On a Thursday, a six point star or hexagram, can be drawn on brown paper with red ink to bring honor, dignities, harmony, and tranquillity of mind. The hexagram is the Seal of Solomon the King. Psalm 112:3 should be written in a circle around the hexagram and tied into a mojo bag.

Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever. (Psalm 112: 3)

Drawing Success in Business

Traditionally, Psalm 114 is written with the holy name, Adonai, (Lord) on a clean piece of paper by anyone desiring success in his or her trade or business. This Psalm is then carried on one's person in a mojo bag prepared especially for that purpose. The divine title,"the God of Jacob," indicates that the Lord chooses one and passes by another.

When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language; Judah was his sanctuary, and Israel his dominion. The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams; and ye little hills, like lambs? Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob; Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters. (Psalm 114)

Protection from Violent or Sudden Death

Whoever prays Psalm 116 daily with devotion, trusting fully in God, will be safe from the danger of violent death, neither will that person be overtaken by a sudden death.

I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, therefore have I spoken: I was greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, All men are liars. What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows unto the LORD now in the presence of all his people. In the courts of the LORD's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 116)

Safety from Imprisonment

If anyone is concerned about some chance of detention or imprisonment, that person should draw a cross on paper. On the arms of the cross the names of the four archangels: "Michael," "Raphael," "Uriel," and "Gabriel." Between the four arms of the cross should be written the names four angels of the elements: "Tharsis," "Cherub," "Ariel," and "Seruph." The verses of Psalm 116:16-17 must be written around the cross. This is best done before on Sunday before attending the Sunday morning Church Service.

O LORD, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. (Psalm 116:16-17)

While thinking of the most holy name, Jehovah, add a prayer, such as this:

Lord of the Earth! Thou art the only God, Jehovah, even thou alone, liberate thy servant who trusts in thy most holy name. Amen.

Help in Speaking with Someone About a Financial Dispute Portions of Psalm 119 were traditionally recited to attract financial aid and money, particularly Psalm 119:17-24 might be recited when dealing with a bank or financial dispute.

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. (Psalm 119:17-24)

Attracting Luck While Gambling

The verses of Psalm 119:17-24 were also often read lowly seven times in sucession by gamblers to attract winnings. These verses must be recited in respecful and solemn tone, with full confidence in the ominpotent God.

Safe Travel After Dark For protection while traveling alone at night, Psalm 121 ought to be recited reverently seven times.

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. (Psalm 121)

Facing a Crisis

Some advise reverently reciting Psalm 121 when one is facing a crisis.

Safe Crossing Through Water Anyone who must cross swollen streams or wade across wide areas of fresh water should memorize Psalm 124. Before entering the water which may have dangerous snakes or large reptiles, s/he should carefully scan the water and recite this Psalm. Then s/he should choose her/his path wisely.

If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, now may Israel say; If it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124)

Safe Journey Among Enemies

Anyone who travels abroad in dangerous territories should memorize Psalm 125. If someone is compelled to travel in an area in which s/he has known enemies and fears injury which has been threatened to her/him, this simple form of protection only requires ordinary white salt.

Before entering the area, s/he will take two hand fulls of salt. Over this salt, the traveller should recite Psalm 125 seven times. In faith, s/he should then scatter the salt into the air towards the four directions.

They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity. Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity: but peace shall be upon Israel. (Psalm 125)

Protection for Newborns

A traditional protection against the sudden death of infants involved writing Psalm 126 upon four amulets made out of clean paper. Added to the last line of each charm were the names of three angels: "Senoy," "Sansenoy," and "Semangelof." If a married couple is so unfortunate that their young children have been taken from them, when the man's wife again becomes pregnant, he should create these charms. Wherever amulets with these names are set, the spirit will cause no harm to a child. These four charms must be hidden in the four walls of the house, the Word of God will guard against the winged night spirit.

When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126)

Protect Children

If Psalm 127 is written on paper and tied into a mojo bag, it will protect a child. It can be tied onto a cradle of a newborn infant or bed of a young child. A child older than three years of age can wear the mojo bag in her/his clothes.

Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127)

Empowerment Against Oppression

Psalm 129 was recited in the morning against oppression and to block unfair treatment.

Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth, may Israel now say: Many a time have they afflicted me from my youth: yet they have not prevailed against me. The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their furrows. The LORD is righteous: he hath cut asunder the cords of the wicked. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Zion. Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withereth afore it groweth up: Wherewith the mower filleth not his hand; nor he that bindeth sheaves his bosom. Neither do they which go by say, The blessing of the LORD be upon you: we bless you in the name of the LORD. (Psalm 129)

Obtaining Worldly Goods

To acquire "worldly goods" the portion of Psalm 132:12-18, was traditionally recited.

If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud: I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame: but upon himself shall his crown flourish. (Psalm 132:12-18)

Relieving Pain in the Legs, Thighs, and Hips

Traditionally, Psalm 142 was recited to cure pain in the thighs. It is also recited over aching legs and hips. I would guess it would be useful if pronounced over a hot bath, with soothing salts added to the water, as a soak for aching legs, thighs, and hips.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice; with my voice unto the LORD did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. (Psalm 142)

Curing a Wound or Wounds Requiring Surgery

Psalm 146 has been traditionally recited over whoever has been dangerously wounded or injured. This Psalm is recited along with--not instead of--the best modern surgical assistance. It may be recited by others on her/his behalf during surgery. Later, s/he may recite it for her/himself daily while taking medicine, and especially whenever the bandages are being changed. S/he will find reason to rejoice as her/his health is recovered.

Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 146)

Give Praise

Psalm 150 has been traditionally uttered in praise of the LORD by every thankful child of the Almighty for having recieved a favor or grace in answer to a prayer or having escaped a danger.

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 150)

Turning Sadness into Glee

The joyous praise of the LORD in Psalm 150 can also turn sadness into glee.

Other Verses Among other verses from the King James Version, including the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9-19, could be used for many purposes, frequently along with the Psalms or other verses to enhance the effectiveness of the spiritual work.

The Lord's Prayer

After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. (Matthew 6:9-19)

Travel to a New Home Far Away

If you must travel to a new place to create a new home recite the verses Genesis 12:1-4 and 17:1-2 for a blessing that God may keep you and protect you before you begin your journey.

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. (Genesis 17:1-2)

Keep in your mind the holy names El Shaddai (God Almighty) and Jehovah (the LORD). which are found in these verses as you recite them. You may recite the following prayer, or another suitable prayer.

Oh, El Shaddai! Almighty God! Lead us, oh, all-merciful Father, to the place of our destination in safety and in good health, for only with thee is power and might. Praised art thou, Jehovah, thou who bless those who bless. Thou alone canst help, and thou wilt surely help to the honor and glory of thy names. Amen! Selah!

Protection from Enemies

The verses Genesis 14:18-20 can be read for protection with use of the holy name El Elyon, Most High God, as this holy name of God is cointained in these verses. The patriarch Abram or Abraham was refered the friend of God in Isaiah 41:8.

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. (Genesis 14:18-20)

Recite this prayer or one similar to it.

Oh, El Elyon, strong and highest God! As thy name was blest by Melchizedek, a king and priest, may it please thee to change the hearts of my enemies that they may do me good instead of evil, as thou didst in the days of Abram, who is also known as Abraham, when he called upon thee by this holy name. Oh, El Elyon, if mine enemy seeks to injure me, may thou deliver him into my hand by the strength of thy holy name, El Elyon. Amen! Selah!

Staunch Bleeding and Bind up a Wound

Anyone who wishes to stop bleeding at any time should place a clean bandage on the wound and hold firmly, while reciting Genesis 2:10-14.

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Genesis 2:10-14)

S/he will write the name of the four principal waters of the whole world, flowing out of Paradise: PISON. GIHON. HIDDEKEL. EUPHRATES. Then, s/he will put it on the bandage over the wound.

Healing Skin Problems For healing skin problems such as ashy or flaking skin or more severe skin irritations, such as cracking, oozing, or bleeding, someone could recite Exodus 4:7 over the treatment.

And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. (Exodus 4:7)

Enhancing Spiritual Power

For use in enhancing a spiritual working, Exodus 4:17 could be recited.

And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs. (Exodus 4:17)

Stopping Too Much Rain

The verse Exodus 9:33 could be used to cause a rain that was water logging the vegetables to dry up. (Moses was revered in some areas of the USA South for his magical and spiritual power.)

And Moses went out of the city from Pharaoh, and spread abroad his hands unto the LORD: and the thunders and hail ceased, and the rain was not poured upon the earth. (Exodus 9:33)

Counteract Sterility and Miscarriage

When a woman desires to be pregnant and carry her fruit to a healthy and safe delivery, she should write Deuteronomy 7:11-14 together with the hidden holy name El and appropriate prayer contained therein, and place it in a small bag made expressly for that purpose, and suspend it by a red string about the neck, so that the bag will rest against her naked body.

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. (Deuteronomy 7:11-14)

These verses are said to be very good for barren women by the use of which and along with the following prayer they may receive favor from God.

May it please thee, Oh El Shaddai, to grant unto this woman, ____ daugh­ter of Rachael, a truly fortunate delivery, and keep her and the fruit of her body in good health. Amen! Selah!

Attract Money

The verses in Deuteronomy 14:25-26 could be used to attract money.

Then shalt thou turn it into money, and bind up the money in thine hand, and shalt go unto the place which the LORD thy God shall choose: And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the LORD thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household (Deuteronomy 14:25-26)

Draw Abundance or Secure a Loan

Likewise, Deuteronomy 15:8 was used to draw abundance. The implication was in giving to others, abundance will be given back.

But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. (Deuteronomy 15:8)

It could also be used to help secure a loan, particularly with a prayer.

May it please thee, Jehovah, to prosper my ways, steps, and doings. Let me find grace, favor, and mercy in the eyes of _______, child of ________, so that he will open his hand wide to me. Grant that my needs may be amply fulfilled and let my wishes be satisfied, even this day, for the sake of thy great and mighty name, Jehovah-jireh. Amen. Selah.

The Lord Will Provide

Genesis 22:14 is recited to call upon the holy name of the LORD who is the Provider and to draw that which is most needed into one's life.

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen. (Genesis 22:14)

Genesis 22:14 is where the name "Jehovah-jireh" is found in scripture. The meaning of this name, Jehovah-jireh, is "the Lord will provide," or more literally, "the LORD will see to it."

Success, Prosperity, Long Life, and Peace

The verse of Numbers 6:24-26 are endued by God with power for success, prosperity, long life, and peace.

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. (Numbers 6:24-26)

General Blessings Deuteronomy 33:3 could be used for general blessings.

Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words. (Deuteronomy 33:3)

Overcome an Enemy

These verses from I Samuel 17 might be useful in a fight to overcome an enemy who seems gigantic in power.

Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands. And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. (I Samuel 17: 45-50)

The power of this holy name is contained in the words Jehovah-Tsaba, who is Lord of the army, or Lord of the Hosts, in verse 45.

Good Fortune Daniel 12:3 may be used for anyone who, despite diligent and heartfelt efforts, has been unlucky.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. (Daniel 12:3)

Protection Against Injury and Bleeding The verses of John 19:34-35 may be recited for protection.

But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. (John 19:34-35)

This prayer or another like it may be recited:

I know this is true and believe by the spear with which that centurion Longinus pierced the side of Jesus, and opened it to the gushing out of blood and water, as truly Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I, ___ child of ___, know and believe that I will be kept from injury--from the sword and knife, as well as all other weapons, as one of the servants of God. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Against Poisoning The verse Mark 16:18 was used against poisoning and for healing in general.

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:18)

Heal Snake Bite

Luke 10:19 was used to heal snake bite.

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

Overcome Surrounding Wickedness

If anyone surrounded by a company of liars, evil-intentioned brutes, and gluttonous, lazy slugards wishes to rise above this disfunctional and wicked behavior, he or she may recite Titus 1:12 and 1:15. Thus, may he or she strive for self-mastery by embracing a just, sober, and Godly life. He or she must likewise pray for courage, strength, and protection.

Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled. Titus 1:15

He or she may also add this prayer, or another like it:

I will rise in the name of the Lord, and will wander in his path by his word and will beseech our Redeemer that he may lend me, three of his angels; for this I pray: the first is courage, the other is strength, the third guard my my flesh and blood from all harm and my soul from all wickeness. Whoever is stronger than Jesus Christ, he may approach and assail my flesh and blood. In the name of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Overcome the Wickedness of Others

A person who wishers to protect him/herself and his/her loved ones may recite Titus 1:12. This verse is thus used to stop someone else from doing harm though word or deed.

copyright 2010 Myth Woodling

i There was also an English version of a book, The Ten Lost Books of the Prophets: Moses, Solomon and Jesus of Nazareth, attributed to Lewis de Claremont, which provides "The Use and Efficacy of The Psalms, and the Many Uses To Which They May Be Applied." This book is still in print and contains the same information on the magical uses of the biblical Psalms, which is found in some versions of the Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses. I'm assuming from Catherine Yronwode article, SECRETS OF THE PSALMS, that the suggestions about the magical uses of the Psalms may orginate with Godfrey Selig.

Disclaimer: The creators of "That Hoodoo..." accept no responsibility for effects or consequences of casting spells or making magical charms found on this website. One should not consider any of these traditional charms, remedies, or folklore a substitute for modern medical care nor a substitute for visits to a licenced medical practioner. Create your own magic responsibly.

Sam Stevens, Bible Magick Psalms For Prosperity, accessed December 16, 2011

Catherine Yronwode, SECRETS OF THE PSALMS, The Kabbalist Influence on Hoodoo, 1995-2010, accessed 10/5/10. King James Version Bible

Roots and Stuff Hoodoo and Color "That Hoodoo..." Home

[biofunmy]

Disney’s Haunted Mansion at 50: The Ghosts Are Still Grinning

One summer visit to Disneyland after another, a young Tom Morris stood outside a mysterious set of locked gates, peering up at a stately, old-fashioned manor sitting just out of reach and wondering what awaited inside.

When those gates in Anaheim, Calif., finally opened in August 1969, Mr. Morris and others entered what became one of the most beloved and long-lasting attractions at any of the Disney theme parks: the Haunted Mansion, a macabre ride filled with mystifying illusions, eerie inhabitants and 999 grim, grinning ghosts, having a delightful time in the afterlife.

For Mr. Morris, who later became an Imagineer (a Disney employee who designs resort attractions), every element of the dark ride was fascinating. There was something about the music — the theme song, “Grim Grinning Ghosts,” plays throughout the ride — the smell of the hydraulics, the “old-fashioned showmanship.” He took a spin through the Mansion twice each trip, a rare sign of dedication back when two rides at Disney required two separate tickets. And he found himself doodling pictures of the ride in class.

Surely, Mr. Morris thought, he was the only one with this level of adoration for the Haunted Mansion. Fifty years later, it’s clear that has never been the case.

The Haunted Mansion, treasured as one of Disney’s quirkier rides, has long maintained a fan-favorite status for its distinct balance of the spooky and the sprightly. Varying iterations of the attraction, including the Dutch Gothic-style Tudor version at Walt Disney World, in Orlando, Fla., have become staples at five Disney resorts around the world.

Other rides over the years have come and gone (and been given face-lifts to reflect recent Disney films). But with remarkably little deviation from the original design, the Mansion has been a constant for five decades.

Mysterious From the Start

Built in the early 1960s to resemble an old New Orleans estate, the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland sat vacant for years — its exterior finished, its insides a mystery. The longer it sat, the more the mystique built. An advertisement at the gate for “post-lifetime leases” hinted at the type of ride future visitors might expect: Inquiring spirits were directed to contact Disneyland’s “Ghost Relations” department.

There were rumors among visitors about what had rendered the house off-limits for park guests. Maybe Disney had already tried to open it as an attraction, but the ride had been too terrifying. Perhaps Walt Disney himself was planning to move in, and the house would never open as an attraction.

In the end, the delays boiled down to something more mundane: Between creating other future favorite rides like Pirates of the Caribbean, breaking ground on a new park in Orlando and getting ready for the 1964-65 World’s Fair, Disney’s Imagineers were simply swamped. After Disney died in 1966, finishing the Mansion became a focus.

A creative debate between the project’s two driving Imagineers, Marc Davis and Claude Coats, inspired the Mansion’s complementary moods. Davis was in favor of a lighter, humorous approach to a haunted house. Coats wanted the opposite.

“The beginning of the attraction is more Claude Coats,” his son Alan Coats said. “It’s scarier, it’s more moody, it’s darker, it’s ominous. You think, ‘Uh oh, this is going to be scary,’ and it does really frighten a lot of people when you enter those doors.”

But as the ride’s vehicles, called “doom buggies,” whisk visitors along, the mood starts to brighten — Davis’s influence. Spirits dance through the ballroom, and the journey culminates in an upbeat graveyard party. For many fans, it’s that combination of fun and frightful that has made the ride a favorite.

“I think the Mansion taps into our wanting to be scared and realizing that we made it through safely, that we were able to overcome our fears and deal with them and come out O.K.,” Mr. Coats said.

Susan Thompson, who lives in Lakeland, Fla., spent her first ride through Disney World’s Mansion in Orlando, as a 5-year-old, crying with her head buried in her mother’s side. When she went back a year later, determined to keep her eyes open, she fell in love with watching the Mansion come alive.

Ms. Thompson, now 51, has since acquired her fair share of Haunted Mansion souvenirs: a dress reminiscent of those worn by Mansion staff and a backpack patterned with the manor’s signature wallpaper, among other items. On her twice-a-month visits to Disney World, she always returns to the ride.

For R.J. Crowther Jr., a bookseller in San Diego, the Mansion is the first attraction he has a vivid memory of riding at Disneyland. He’s since been on it more than 200 times, earning him a certificate from Disney staff that declares him an honorary citizen of the park. Mr. Crowther has also collected an “embarrassing amount” of Mansion merchandise, primarily sculptures inspired by art within the ride.

“When you’re younger, it’s just all real and magical,” Mr. Crowther said. “There’s just something wonderfully otherworldly about it that just captures people’s imaginations.”

Alyssa Ottum, another superfan, is planning a tattoo sleeve composed entirely of Mansion-related images: The exterior of the Disneyland manor is already finished, and pieces with the Mansion’s gothic wallpaper and some of the ride’s most famous characters are in the works.

For the 50th anniversary, Ms. Ottum attended an overnight event at Disneyland, complete with ghoulishly named snacks and photo ops with Mansion characters. Tickets went for nearly $300.

Haunted Memories

The Haunted Mansion’s fans extend beyond the ride’s regulars; it’s a favorite among Disney Parks employees, who are called cast members.

“Everybody that says they want to work for Disney?” said Robert Brauchler, who was a cast member for 16 years at Walt Disney World in Orlando. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, they say they want to work at the Haunted Mansion.”

The work itself isn’t extraordinary. Like those at any other attraction, cast members (clad here in green polyester tuxedos and dresses) still spend hours parking strollers in the Florida heat or loading guests into ride vehicles. What sets this attraction apart is how workers, acting as the Mansion’s eerie butlers and maids, can melt into their somber, creepy characters as part of the ride’s ghoulish aesthetic.

“If you’re having a bad day, that’s a great place to be working,” Mr. Brauchler said. “I would just stare at people and just not smile. It’d be like, ‘Hey! You work at Disney; you’re supposed to smile!’ No, I’m not. I would just walk away from them, and it’s all part of the theming.”

Mansion cast members still find time for more upbeat moments: Mr. Brauchler and another employee would sometimes sneak black-and-white photos of themselves into the picture frames in the ride’s ballroom scene. And when employees at the attraction complete their training, they crawl underneath the “doom buggy” tracks — flashlights in tow — to sign their names alongside hundreds of others on a wall beneath the ride.

Some riders, though, have a different way of leaving a mark. Every once in a while, a cast member discovers gray powder on the floor — the ashes of deceased park-goers who had a particular affinity for the ride, spread by loved ones hoping to add another spirit to the Mansion’s collection of happy haunts.

“It was like, ‘Ugh, somebody spread Grandma on the carpet again,’” Mr. Brauchler said. “We’d have to shut the ride down and go investigate it.”

He added: “All these people that think that their loved ones are going to be in the Haunted Mansion forever? Well, Grandma’s getting vacuumed up into a vacuum and getting sent out to the landfill somewhere.”

But there are plenty of other park-approved memorials at the Mansion. Many Imagineers who worked on the attraction were honored in a mock cemetery at Disneyland bordering the ride queue, its gravestones etched with rhyming epitaphs. (The cemetery was removed to make room for longer lines, but a similar one remains in Orlando.)

“At peaceful rest lies Brother Claude, planted here beneath this sod,” Coats’s reads.

It was a bit too dark for Coats’s wife, their son Alan said. She was not a fan.

Voices From the Beyond

Another Disney employee was immortalized in the ride itself. Madame Leota, the Mansion’s floating head who summons ghosts from inside her crystal ball, is the face of Leota Toombs, one of Disney’s first female Imagineers.

Her daughter Kim Irvine, Disneyland’s art director, was a teenager when her mother was practicing for the role. Toombs was the face of Madame Leota, but not the voice, and Ms. Irvine remembers her mother lip syncing the incantation in front of a mirror downstairs for days.

“One day my friends and I came home, and she was down there doing, ‘Witches and goblins and ghoulies!’” Ms. Irvine said. “They were like, ‘What’s wrong with your mom?’”

Toombs did, however, lend her voice to the end of the ride at the California park, where a small spirit — lovingly called Little Leota by fans — ominously bids visitors adieu. When Toombs died, in 1991, Ms. Irvine’s visits to the ride with her own daughters gave them a chance to hear their grandmother’s voice again.

“I always had to laugh when we would be going up the exit escalator and seeing Little Leota over there going, ‘Hurry back,’” Ms. Irvine said. “And I’d go, ‘Girls, say hi to Grandma, there’s Grandma!’ and I’d hear people around me go, ‘What a weirdo.’”

When Disney decided to create an annual holiday-themed makeover for the Mansion, Imagineers needed to record a new incantation for Madame Leota in order to match the overlay. When they approached Ms. Irvine for the part, she was initially unsure — but she knew she didn’t want anyone else to do it either.

Now, every winter, she and her mother are both a part of the ride.

“I go out in the park in the morning before guests come in to check things out and look things over, and it’s so quiet out there in New Orleans before they turn on the music,” Ms. Irvine said. “But Little Leota never turns off. So to walk by the exit there and hear her little voice just talking away to me makes me smile.”

Sahred From Source link Arts

from WordPress http://bit.ly/31HcCAn via IFTTT

[huskersaj12]

I believe, I'll see You do it again

I was challenged recently by a voice of wisdom in my life to write down times where God has been faithful to me. I’m not much for writing in a journal, honestly I don’t like the time it takes and I think the hand cramps from writing essay finals in bluebooks for years in college has deterred me from writing anything more than a check by hand anymore. And honestly, who even writes checks anymore? Except for the lady in front of you at the grocery store when you’re in a hurry. Ain’t no body got time foh dat. I digress. Journaling. Not my thing. Writing? Kindof is. I enjoy it, I just don’t do it often. Sometimes it takes a moment that sparks something in me that I feel like I could stand to process a bit deeper and perhaps share with listening ears who might have something to gain.  Other times, it takes prodding from people in my life who challenge me to take the time to do so. Either way, it usually turns out to be a healthy thing for me, and hopefully encourages someone else along the way.

So I moved to Lincoln.

It only took me 10 months to write that line out. Not because I was denying it, but I honestly feel like I haven’t stopped much since I got here. Except for when I first moved here, my retirement as I like to call it. It was great. I would sleep in, go to the pool and lay out, maybe read a book, didn’t have to if I didn’t want to. Mostly Netflix, the pool and sun were my life for a few weeks. Also some fishing. But I’m not a big fan of sitting idle for long, so I quickly found myself volunteering at church and camps in a variety of ways and that helped pass the time as I was eager to come out of retirement. I too, like Michael Jordan, realized I still had a little life in me and wanted to get back in the game so to speak. Only, I didn’t have to go play Major League Baseball in between to go find that out… And if I did it would’ve been the Royals, not the White Sox. Go Bulls.  I digress.

So I moved to Lincoln. And that, in itself, is where God’s faithfulness and guidance in my life recently really began to comfort and guide me.  

For anyone who knows me, I LOVE Lincoln. I went to college here, grew up here part of my life, and was excited and expectant for the day that I would be able to return one day. I just hadn’t yet reached the day where I thought that was a reality, until about this time last year. I was finishing up my 6th year in campus ministry at Christian Student Fellowship at the University of Nebraska- Kearney, and I had sensed for some time that God was doing a new thing in me. I felt for a while like He had laid the local church on my heart more, and I don’t know how to describe it much other than that? I just felt it. I couldn’t go to a church service, conference, event without wondering who produced it, who was in charge of what, how I would fit in if I were a part of it, how they were going to transition and on and on and on. It’s exhausting, really. But it’s also part of who I am.

I loved my time in campus ministry, and there were also things that were incredibly challenging for me along the way. For instance, I’m a people person, I need people to energize me, and at times campus ministry can be a bit isolating. You don’t see other staff a ton, you organize your own days, students cancel, days don’t fill up, the office is quiet. It just happens sometimes. That was hard. I’m also a huge task person. I’m Type A. WHAT?! I know, guys. It’s shocking. And for my family it really probably is, because I’m the least organized in my fambam. But it’s because if I’m Type A, they’re like Type A++. They’re just organized. And I mostly am. Sometimes. When I remember.  Which is more than I don’t. But, I felt like for a year or two I was really processing through where God wanted me in the future, and I felt like what I was learning was really playing into that. I did a lot of self-evaluating in that time, as well as reaching out to people in my life that I trusted and respected in ministry and asked them to speak wisdom and direction into my life. Through that I learned that I needed to be in more of a team-player environment, and I needed more structure. More guidelines within which to work. I just operate best in that. And that’s ok.

So I began having some conversations with people I trusted greatly in churches around the state. Wondering what God might have for me, and where.  I spent a lot of time in Lincoln/Omaha over my last year or two in Kearney, it was kindof my break and retreat away from ministry. And also happened to be where several of my closest friends lived, with whom I processed a lot. In that time I started going to Christ Place on a more regular basis, then I’d chew on those messages as I drove back to Kearney. I’d listen to the podcasts. I just liked the excitement, the message, the atmosphere there and it really became a huge part of my learning and processing I was doing as it challenged me along my journey. So how did I end up working here you ask? Oh, you didn’t? I’ll still tell ya.

As of April of last year I really thought like God was leading me elsewhere, or so I thought. I didn’t think I’d be in Lincoln, so much so that when one of my best friends was signing her lease to live the next year in Lincoln, I was with her, watched her sign it, and didn’t think much of it. It was a Friday. I found out on that Monday (so one business day later) that what I thought might be my next step, wasn’t my next step after all, and Lincoln was back on the map. Which was terrifying, but also a huge blessing. (Thanks God, You’re faithful), because I didn’t have anything figured out in Lincoln other than I liked it, and felt like it might finally be time for me to go back. Which was dumb. Or felt dumb. I’d had opportunity in the past to move to Lincoln with full-time employment in front of me, and passed it up because I didn’t’ feel it was right. So here I was, finally feeling like it was right, but with no full-time employment lined up. Thanks for THAT one, God. You know how much I like not knowing what’s coming up next and when. Smh. (That means shaking my head. I have hip high school teachers and also people named Mel who keep me up on the lingo).  So yea. I was gonna move to Lincoln. I didn’t have a job. And I lost the chance at living with my best friend by a day. Everything was shaping up JUST as I’d hoped.

I sat on this for a few weeks. Wondering what God was doing. Hoping something would come up that would make saying my decision out loud easier. “I’m done with CSF but HERE’S WHAT’S NEXT…” I went to Mexico with CSF in May, helping lead some students down there knowing it was probably my last trip I’d take as a staff member. Knowing there were conversations to be had about my next steps not involving CSF for the first time in a decade. I had already committed to living in Lincoln at this point. Hadn’t officially resigned, or retired if you will, but had conversations and had started the ball rolling. So when I was offered the possibility of something else in the meantime, a position involving kids ministry in another town, it wasn’t hard for me to walk away from it because A) It wasn’t Lincoln and B) God would NOT want me in Kid’s Ministry! Right?! RIGHT?! Smh. (see above for help deciphering this.)

So basically, I knew I was going to Lincoln, I knew I was retiring, I just didn’t know when exactly. I was planning to do it in the middle of summer, to give me some time to come back and figure things out a little bit. Because that would be nice and restful. But what ACTUALLY happened is I was challenged by a friend that I probably wasn’t going to have the next step figured out before God would ask me to step out into it. And that it might be wiser for me to move sooner rather than later if I was wanting to plug in with a new ministry and be considered for any sort of hiring they might be doing soon. So I looked at a 1-bedroom apartment, put in an application and deposit fee and decided I’d move in a few weeks instead. Phew, moving it up a few weeks was crazy, but still manageable. I got this. STILL WRONG. You see, that same friend that challenged me in saying she thought I’d have to step out in faith without knowing what was next had also challenged me previously to be praying BOLDLY, and SPECIFICALLY. Don’t just pray for a job, pray for a ministry and passion, don’t just pray for a place to live, pray for a place to do ministry and call a home, don’t just pray for friends, pray for a community - and to, in all of this, be praying that there was still some way that we could be roommates, even though leases were already binding.  And so I accepted the challenge and began praying boldly, and specifically.

I was in and out of Lincoln during this time, filming some video stuff on the side, wondering what life would hold next, looking into apartments etc… In this time I ended up having a conversation with the lead pastor at Christ Place as I happened to be at his house with a friend for something. I was able to share my heart with him about what I felt God was doing and calling me to, and I walked out of their house after a few minutes with this feeling of – that was significant, and I was thankful for the opportunity to share my heart with such a passionate and busy man. Thanks, God - You’re faithful. I also, like I mentioned, had put money down on a 1-bedroom apartment where my friend Ash1 was planning to move out of in order to live with my friend, Ash2. Yes, both Ash’s. Yes, it’s confusing. Still is. But God was at work in all of our lives and actually put it on the Ash’s hearts to see if there was I way that I, Kell (much better than Ash3 am I right?) could take the place of Ash1 on the lease. Ash1 would stay in her 1-bedroom with her devil cat (sorry, it’s true) and the possibility of being married soon (which hey, you get married this month, so we were right!), and then I, Kell, would move in with Ash2, instead. The apartment lady agreed, even though I didn’t have a job. She said I seemed very employable. I said GREAT, are you hiring? She laughed. I wondered why she thought I was kidding… BUT, moral of THIS part of the story is that I was now set to live with one of my best friends (Thanks, God - You’re faithful), and we were set to move in a week later. Only I was set to spend the next 3 days out of the state helping my sister’s family move. So I got back to Kearney that following Sunday. Packed all day Monday. Loaded the U-Haul Tuesday evening and left Kearney Wednesday morning. It was that unexpected, and it was a whirlwind, and I’m thankful. It was a band aid that was better ripped off than pulled slowly. And I bawled as I drove down I-80. Partially because of what I was leaving behind. Partially because of what was unknown in the future. And partially because I REALLY wanted the job at the apartment complex and she had just LAUGHED AT ME. Ok, kidding at that last part, but I tend to use humor to lighten the mood when I get too emotional. And BOY was I emotional in that U-Haul. Everything I owned, in one place. Everything I’d known, in the rearview mirror. Everything unknown lay in front of me. And yet, I had all the peace in the world. Or should I say not from this world!? Thanks, God - You’re faithful.

When I was preparing to move to Kearney after college, the song by Tenth Avenue North “What Faith Can Do” had given me a lot of comfort. “Everybody’s scared to death when they decide to take that step out on the water but it’ll be alright. Life is so much more than what your eyes are seeing, you will find your way if you keep believing…” You see why it comforted me. Well, I was driving down I-80 almost to Lincoln and guess what song came on the radio? YUP! You could say I cried some more. Because you would be right. But it was another reminder to me that He was faithful and He knew what He was doing, even if I didn’t. And so I drove. To an apartment I hadn’t even seen the inside of yet. And unloaded my stuff, closed the U-Haul and went straight to church to start serving in CP Youth, hadn’t even unpacked. Didn’t need to yet. I knew I was home.

Then comes retirement. I served in tech at church, auditioned and was scheduled to start playing for CP Worship, served at I Heart LNK and Royal Family Kids Camps. It was a busy retirement. And I had given myself until July to worry about finding a job. I lined up some wedding videos on the side (which btw thanks, self, I’m still editing those videos to this day), and was with CSF for a little while yet so it eased the burden. Then July 1 hit. And I lost all chill. All chill was gone. It was D-Day. Time to find a job and figure out my life. Time to get it all together. I had spent some time the night before looking up some possible job opportunities in Lincoln, one even sounded promising. I worked on updating some stuff, making myself sound uber accomplished. The adjective, not the car company. And I went to bed that night wondering if God had brought me all the way to Lincoln to learn church ministry only to have me working NOT in a church. I went to bed that night praying that God would show me, help me, guide me, give me peace so I could stop trying to have all the answers if I wasn’t supposed to have them yet.

The next morning I woke up, July 1st, to a text from someone that I honestly NEVER text, nor do they text me (not a bad thing, just honest), and her text was a picture that said “God didn’t bring you this far to only bring you this far.” And I went, oh hey God. Ok then. And I asked this person why she had sent it. Crickets. Didn’t hear for several days actually, and when I did hear she said she was going through her contact list and just felt like she needed to share it with me. Thanks, God - You’re faithful. So I let that other job opportunity go from my mind, I didn’t worry about it that day. But gosh was I still wondering what was next. So much so, that I was GOING to go into the church with Ash while she worked so I could just hang out with her, because everybody knows she spends her Friday evenings there sometimes so I had to go there if I wanted to be her friend. But, I just had this urge to stay home and cry and talk to God instead. So I stayed home and the second she shut the door I started crying and having a come to Jesus moment with, well, Jesus. I prayed and spilled my heart and my fears and my frustrations and my hopes and really began to ask God to show me. To guide me. To give me SOMETHING that helped me to hang on when I didn’t know what was coming. Throw me a bone. Hear my cry. Help me to… and boom. God texted me. Well, actually it was Ash, but it was totally God through Ash.  The very moment I asked God to show me a sign, Ash texted and said she had run into the lead pastor at church that evening, and he had asked about whether I’d found a job yet (remember that convo I had with him in his living room? Yea, so did he). Ash told him I hadn’t yet, and he told her he wanted me to apply for a job opening at the church. Thanks, God - You’re faithful. AND You text?! Cool!!!

And so LOOOONG story getting a little closer to being done, I ended up being asked to apply for a position, came in and interviewed and was then asked if I had met the children’s pastor before. I laughed, and realized they were serious. I had, but why? Why me? Why kids? I came in and met with her, told her, and several other important powers to be, that I was honored, but Kids was NOT where I thought I should be. I had turned down the possibility of that kind of job not long before, and I had done it for a reason. They listened to me. But they listened to God more, and they offered me a job in Kids Ministry.  Thanks, God - You’re, oh gosh this is a hard one, faithful. But it’s true. You are. I didn’t want that job. But You asked me, by way of the church, to step into it and to pour my heart into making it better. And so I did. Kicking and screaming sometimes along the way, just ask Ash, but I did it. And I learned a ton. And I see why He put me there. While it’s not my forever, it was a good fit for my giftings meeting a need in His Kingdom. And, I met a ton of really cool people who are some of the most faithful people I’ve ever met. I also get more hugs from people 3 feet and under than I ever have in my life. Which is kinda fun! When there’s not snot involved. But there’s almost ALWAYS snot involved.

So I moved to Lincoln. And now I’ve been in Lincoln 10 months. I prayed for ministry, not just a job, and I’m at a church that is asking me who I want to be and how they can help me get there. I prayed for a home, and I genuinely like where I live and have seen it be used for ministry, both personally, and corporately, multiple times. I prayed for community, and I have had more dinners, card games, volleyball matches, nights in and nights out with some incredible people who I can learn from, and get to call my community. And they’re my age, or close, which just didn’t happen in campus ministry for me very much. And I prayed that I could be roommates with Ash somehow, and we are- she actually just interrupted this writing process to come home, eat an apple and ask about my day. Ugh, she’s the worst. 

That was 4/4 on Bold Move Prayer Requests there. Not saying that God will ALWAYS answer them. But He WILL always hear them. And I’m thankful for  a God that hears us, and gives to us according to our need, not just our wants. What I wanted was to know what was next before I stepped into it, but what I needed was to challenge my own faith and step out in boldness trusting that God knew what was next. And that was enough for me. And as I sit in this season of some change coming yet again, I don’t fully know what is next, yet again, but I know that I know that I know, that He is faithful. So I come back to that. When it’s hard, when it’s scary, when it’s unknown, when it’s good, when it’s tiring, when it’s frustrating: Thanks, God - You’re faithful. And I’m still waiting for my apartment complex to realize they made a mistake passing me up...