#my celibacy era is over

[gingerteaonthetardis]

the way faith honest to god thought a threesome was going down tonight, like she had no concept of the Intricacies and Complications, she was just thinking with her dick. perfection

[neopuppy]

thlut era (M)

pairing. nerd Jeno x female reader

genre. why did I write this AU, crack, fluff, can this even be considered smut, Jeno uses retainer head gear

wc. 3000

warnings. messy kisses, drool, virgin vibes, frottage, writer knows nothing about retainers💙

“You can’t push it back just one more day?!”

Jeno’s pacing back and forth ripping at wet clumps of freshly shampooed hair. The scowl between his brows deepening the longer he continues to beg for his best friend to reconsider for a new date.

“Dude, no one wants to party on a Sunday night! Can’t you reschedule your appointment?” Jaemin says, annoyed but sympathetic nonetheless.

“Reschedule my appointment and go another week with this contraption in my mouth?!”

“Listen Jeno, everyone’s excited about tomorrow night, and you better come. I won’t forgive you if you miss my Birthday because of your stupid retainer.”

Jeno grunts, pouting and ending the call after shouting “Fine!”

What’s one more day of suffering going to hurt anyway, it’s not as if everyone doesn’t already badger him and call him a freak over something beyond his control.

He nods, pep talking to his reflection while combing through his disheveled hair. It’s going to be his time finally, no more dumb metal distracting everyone from getting to know him better. He flexes, grinning to himself already able to imagine how many girls would throw themselves at his feet soon enough.

With a proud beam Jeno shoots finger guns at himself, tonguing his retainer securely into place. “Thlut era.”

“You guys look so cool.” Jeno’s not necessarily complimenting his friends, he’s annoyed. Why hadn’t anyone informed him to wear all black?

“I mean,” Haechan gives his friend the up and down, whistling air out from the side of his mouth. “It’s a party man, why the hell are you wearing suspenders?!?”

Jeno’s jaw pops open, jutting out his hip with an offended expression. “None of my pants fit me right now! You know I’ve been cutting mass and leaning out!”

“You look great!” Jaemin interrupts, slapping Renjun and Haechan across their chests. “He looks great! DOESN’T HE LOOK GREAT?!”

Haechan groans, rubbing his chest with a wide-eyed childish pout. “You know my nipples are extra sensitive right now!”

“No yeah, you look cool. Suspenders are totally in again, like I saw Tiktoks about how they’re in season just the other day.” Renjun nods, coining up a lie fast enough to seem convincing.

Jaemin’s eyebrow arches up impressed, nodding along with the story. “Oh right! All the rage at New York Fashion week. See dude, you’re good!”

“For sure?!” Jeno slurps saliva gathering at the corners of his lips, a habit after wearing the most ridiculous headgear for years now to prevent his teeth from growing in colliding with each other.

Jaemin sighs, tugging his sleeve down to pat off a trail of drool from his best friend’s chin. “Yeah.. for sure.”

He’d never break Jeno’s heart by telling him the truth. Jaemin’s glow up struck faster, but his friend would get there.. soon, he hopes. Besides, other than the suspenders, the loose fitted somehow still flooded above his ankles wrinkled church pants, and that God awful retainer.. Jeno wasn’t even a bad looking guy.

His jaw had come in nicely, cheekbones prominent, and for some reason he was able to pull off that gelled down dweeby hairstyle.

Jaemin sighs, shoving a can of beer toward his bestie. “Act casual, if you pretend that thing isn’t attached to your head like some sort of celibacy trap, I’m sure no one will notice.”

“It’s time for spin-the-bottle!” A chorus of giggles and girlish shrieks interrupt the four boys' conversation, twisting to catch a group of attractive girls break out from the throng of partygoers.

“Who wants to play?!” The captain of the girls wrestling team shakes an empty bottle of wine above her head like a trophy, shooting Jaemin a wink with her index finger directing him to come closer. “Birthday boy?”

Jaemin grins, blinking rapidly to moisten his eyes. The contacts he’s been trying out haven’t been the best for his allergies, but he kept mentioning something about girls loving his new look..

“Yeah, we’ll play!” He pipes up, motioning to the three guys at his side.

“Ugh, someone’s gonna have to makeout with brace face.”

Jeno’s heart flutters, his eyelids sticking together from looking up too fast. He’d know that voice anywhere, his crush since middle school stood there with a sneer on her face, positioning herself behind a few others to avoid his pathetic obsessive gaze.

“Leave him alone.” You mutter, rolling your eyes.

She scoffs, flicking your chin. “If he lands on me, you’re taking one for the team then. I refuse to touch that thing.”

“You’re such a bitch,” mumbling under your breath, you take in Jeno’s appearance.

He’s hopeless, from his heavy mouth breathing to his visible uneven mismatched socks. Not helping his appeal as he stands there licking into the mouth piece of his retainer. Small chunks of gummy snacks were always stuck between his teeth, the pack of treats in his left pocket everyday never empty. He sat across from you in class for years, popping little candy gummies into his mouth each time he’d successfully answered another question before anyone else could. Not that anyone even bothered to.

He could be worse.. it’s not like Jaemin became the new ‘it boy’ overnight.

Getting trapped in a closet with Jeno wouldn’t be terrible, he’s always been nice. Much too easy to pick on, but not much of a bother. He keeps to himself and his group nerds, interrupts professors when they try to target you to answer pop quiz questions you were clearly not paying attention to.

“Look at you, feeling pity for that nerd.” Your friend jeers, pinching your arm to sit near her.

Jeno’s trying to smooth his eyebrows down with spit on his fingers from across where he sits. Covering his mouth to huff breath in his palm, poorly attempting to be discreet as he gives his underarms a quick sniff.

He’s utterly painful, clearly crossing his fingers in his lap each time the bottle spins and cheers roar around the room as more and more partygoers exit to kiss in different closets around the house. The circle grows smaller and smaller with each spin, many excited to land on anyone while Jeno continues his silent chant before his turn.

“God, why me.” Your friend mumbles under her breath at your side, shifting away to set a space between your bodies. Her stern gaze informing you once again that she means it— if that bottle lands on her, you are taking one for the team.

“Hurry up Jeno!” The prayer he says to himself gets interrupted by Jeno’s booming vocals shouting out. Patting his friends back while giving him a thumbs up.

The wine bottle tingles under the tips of his fingers, calculating just how fast he would have to spin to land on the lips he’s dreamt of kissing for years. Another reassuring nod to himself has him spinning the glass finally, watching as the room stills, his breath evaporates, lost in the slow motion like way the bottle twists over and over again for what feels like hours.

The way it lands almost makes you laugh, sitting on your legs with the bottle's rim pointed directly at you. The enormous sigh of relief at your side too loud to even hear your own thoughts as Jeno’s eyes meet yours.

“You two can use my room since the closets are occupied!” Jaemin pipes up, patting his friend on the back. “You know the way.”

Jeno moves like a zombie to stand, flexing and unflexing his hands without giving you much more than a nod of his chin to follow him.

He’s silent up the stairs, walking to the beat of the music vibrating through the walls; the sound of hoots and hollers coming up from the small group of people left playing.

“We don’t have to do this Jeno, I know I wasn’t your ideal choice.”

The door clicks shut echoing throughout the bedroom you’ve followed him into. Everything tidy and organized as you would imagine for Jaemin’s bedroom to be, wall to wall covered in bookshelves lined with textbooks and non-fictional literature. The pristine atmosphere only adds more tension to your limbs while you glanced about.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Jeno’s voice cracks mid-question. Sweaty palms rub up and down the sides of his pants, gulping as he looks over your figure from the back. The realization setting in that he was about to have his second kiss.. his first had been with his next door neighbor in 8th grade; she bursted into tears shouting ‘gross’ after running off.

“I mean, don’t feel obligated to follow through on this stupid game.” Turning back to face Jeno, you notice how he shifts in place from foot to foot. His throat bobs up and down, the upper row of his teeth continuously visible even under dim street lighting flowing in through Jaemin’s bedroom window. The metal brackets on his teeth gleam, bouncing off droplets of sweat near his hairline, a few pouring down to his high-cut cheekbones.

“I don’t feel obligated!” Jeno sputters, licking his lips that feel endlessly dry for the thousandth time. “Do you feel obligated??”

“Not at all.” You say confidently, crossing your arms over your chest to study the small ways he twitches and fiddles nervously. “I just know you didn’t want to kiss me.”

“I do want to kiss you!” Jeno blurts, clearing his throat to speak up. “I would be lucky to kiss you.”

“Is that so?” A coy smile takes over your lips, taking slow steps forward that have Jeno’s eyes bulging wide open. With each movement closer, he shakily treds back until colliding with a wall. The breath he’s ready to take catches in his throat when you stop before him fixing him with a heavy gaze. “How do you kiss with that thing anyway?”

Jeno’s dark round eyes follow your fingers motioning to his headgear, innocently blinking as he wonders himself. It’s been years since his first kiss, one that didn’t include the contraption currently on his head. The memory of crashing teeth together before accidentally biting too hard on his neighbor's upper lip flashes across his thoughts, shivering to the tips of his fingers recalling the event as if it just happened yesterday.

“Jeno?”

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine!” Jeno squeaks, muttering under his breath to himself to be cool.

“You don’t have to be nervous, it’s just a kiss.” You reassure, only to receive a look of terror in return.

It’s just a kiss, to you, Jeno thinks as he licks the backs of his teeth to gather moisture in his mouth. His brain feels foggy, palms sweaty, pants tighter, stomach twitching at a rapid pace the more he takes in your features; spending more time than he should to admire your glossy coated lips. Lips that look soft, probably feel softer, taste like cherry, something sweet and girly.

“We have five minutes left now.”

Jeno’s eyes flitter up at your voice breaking his daze, quickly nodding to himself with another mental reminder that he can’t fuck this up. He lunges forward too fast, burying bony fingers past your neck to grip your hair. Unintentionally his hips slam into yours rolling your ankles in your heels, losing balance while Jeno attempts to keep you in place by clutching the hair along the back of your scalp.

“Shit! I’m sorry!” Panic fills his tone, jerking your head up, painfully ripping strands of hair out in the process.

“Jeno! God! At least buy me dinner before you start pulling on my hair like this!”

“Sorry! Fuck I’m so so sorry!” Jeno sighs, moreso groans, gently tugging himself free from your tender scalp to fall against the wall once more. Wrinkles cover the corners of his eyes, face turning side to side, emitting miserable sounds of mortification.

“It’s okay, you’re anxious. You really must be excited about this.”

Jeno’s too cute ducking his chin into his shoulder to hide the fierce blush he can feel taking over his cheeks. The redness swelling down to the tip of his nose, inflating his pink lips with blood that still appears tempting despite the way his retainer leaves him with no choice but to leave his lips parted open and breathe out of his mouth.

“Jeno?” Sliding in close, you gasp, pressing against his pelvic bone with your palms sliding up his waist. “Oh my God, you’re already?..”

Hinting with your gaze, you nod toward the top of your thigh nestled against a round bulge near his crotch. Furrowed eyebrows meet your line of sight, patting his pocket with confusion.

“Oh! My gummies!”

The smile on your lips drags down, following Jeno whip out a bag of chewy candy from his pocket. A mouth full of metal lighting up bright as he offers you a piece.

“You want some??”

Trying to not grimace, you let out a sigh, mildly annoyed by how endearing he is despite being the epitome of an awkward fool. “I’ll pass….. now we have two minutes.”

“Oh right, I’m sorry. I’m really dropping the ball here, right?” With a frown he pops a candy, pocketing the rest to weep into later when he tries to erase this moment from his memories.

“It’s kind of..” rolling your eyes, you shrug, squeezing his trim waist firmly. “It’s kind of cute..”

“Did you just call me cute??” Jeno’s lips part comically, blinking furiously in amazement. A small smile tugging at the corners of his lips, leaning back, he grins proudly. “You think I’m cute?? Like really?!”

“Ah, you’re making it weird now.” You can’t help but laugh, covering your mouth shyly because of the close proximity you’re still in. “Yes! You’re cute Jeno!”

Surprised and elated, he’s not sure what overcomes him. Smoothly pushing off the wall, Jeno cups your face, brushing the end of his nose against yours. Soft skin lifts your eyes curiously, eyeing him up close between shared breaths. The combination of your fruity lip gloss and his sugary gummies feels dizzying. It’s syrupy sweet, reminiscent of leaving a candy store with a bag filled to the brim with sour belts and lolli’s that leave your tongue stained for hours.

“Can I kiss you now?” Even his whisper tastes sweet breathily brushing against your lips. The hands cupping your face noticeably tremble, still sweaty where his palms connect to your warm skin. A silent nod is enough to encourage him, leaning close enough just to graze and consume the second you make contact. The lightest of touch and yet still enough to confirm what he already knew. Lips soft like silk match his next move, slotting together slowly, kissing in a way you’ve never experienced before.

Jeno kisses with lack of knowledge, he’s messy, eager to slip his tongue inside to get a taste and feel of every crevice of you. He knocks against your nose, teeth clink, breath’s pass between your mouths too loudly. It’s sloppy, but it’s perfect, egging your need to feel more. The hold on him turns powerful as you slot a leg between his.

The broken whine that rises from the back of his throat upon pressing your thigh on his groin only boosts your confidence, pushing onto your toes to create further friction against his groin. Jeno’s neck bends back, sucking in a deep breath, drool pours from the corners of his lips messily, mouth hung open from the pleasure overtaking his senses. Unable to control himself, his hips roll down to glide the ache between his legs against your thigh.

“Fuck Jeno..” heat swarms between your bodies, licking the path of drool working way down his neck. It’s nasty, but sweet and tangy like his tongue had been lapping against yours. The amount of drool spilling out of his lips only makes his lost gaze more obscene. “You’re so hard already.”

Jeno can’t even respond, letting out muffled moans. His tongue feels too thick, head too heavy, eyelids lowered by the weight of heat and sweat gathering in the slight crease. Even the ceiling spins as his head drops back smacking the wall behind him. The pain feels numb, too absorbed by the fire that's lit up in his gut.

He’s panting like a dog despite the short amount of time, rocking against your thigh desperately. The sensation nearly feels better than a tight fisted palm wrapped around himself, especially when your teeth gnaw at his chin and jaw, trying your best on your toes to kiss the corners of his mouth.

“Ughh, I c—can’t..” Jeno’s voice cracks again, the entirety of his face shriveling as his nose scrunches up. Grinding harder and faster on your thigh, his lips lock with yours once again, losing the shattered cry he lets out between your feverish mouth fighting for dominance.

Dampness on your thigh splits your kiss, breathing harshly while reaching up to sweep away Jeno’s ruined hair from his forehead. A guilty shame hides his gaze, avoiding yours with concentration on the ground as he composes his thoughts.

“Jeno, did you?..”

“Stopppp!” It’s more of a whine than a shout, again breaking off at the end with a crack. His palms lifting to his face to hide the intense heat consuming his cheeks that he knows must look beat red even in the dark.

“Aww, baby it’s okay. You were really excited.” A flush of heat hits your skin upon realizing Jeno really came in his pants off light touching. The bulge protruding from his pants thick and heavy against the now damp area on your thigh. “I’m sure Jaemin has something in here you can change into.”

Jeno nods shamefully, still embarrassed but grateful that you haven’t let out any sign of laughter.

“Want me to wait outside?”

Thanking you for being understanding, Jeno still feels dizzy when you make your way back to the party together. Sharing a look before separating back to your friends. The game led many to hooking up and parting ways with the friends they came with.

Demure glances from across the room become inevitable, even brushing your hair behind your hair when you catch him watching you with eyes as wide as saucers.

The guy with the retainer had to smile to himself before exiting the restroom after talking himself up to ask for your phone number. Licking across the metal adorned with blue strings across his teeth, he clicks his tongue, stiffening his back to broaden his shoulders.

“Thlut era.”

[terrence-silver]

Can you please do Terry (or twig) losing his v card to beloved 💌

Okay, but lets make a little funnier and it's this era of Terry;

And him just flat out lying he's a virgin. He's lying. His justification and explanation for his lack of action is (and I'm making this up as I go along and so is he) that deliberate celibacy and sexual ascetism is good in preserving high levels of chi and chakra energy, that witholding from physical pleasures strenghtens the body's core and makes a person a better, more disciplined fighter due to surpressed aggression and he knows this for a fact, because after learning Tang Soo Do under his Master in Korea and returning from Vietnam, he's also travelled all over Asia and observed the Shaolin monks do it. Yes. Shaolin monks. He strived to emulate the best of the best since. Isn't every man's goal in life to be the next Bodhidharma incarnate?

Might even gift you with a book on the subject.

You know, for references and sources.

You could land yourself with a tome called The Private Lives Inside the Shǎolínsì.

It takes all the willpower in the world not to royally chortle at that one even as he says it. So, he's well into his thirties or even early fourties, it's the 80's, and yes, he's a virgin by choice. Of course, again, he's lying and making things up for the fun of it. Mainly to gage your reaction. See how you'll treat him for it. How you'll act. What you'll do. If you'll be surprised. Disappointed. What your opinions on the matter even are. If you'll even like him after that. If you'll believe him because the man isn't a fool and he's aware of what he looks like and the effect he tends to have on people. There's no particular gender or age limit to virgnity but he also knows he isn't the usual poster child for purity. Maybe it'll add to his mystique in your eyes. Maybe you'll try to dissuade him from maintaing such a strict standard of living and he can act all coy and hard to get about it. Maybe you'll admire him for it and he'll pretend to be humble. He doesn't know, but he wants to discover because it holds so many possibilities and it is also so damn amusing, this little social experiment, and lets admit; the man's very much a troll. Just the entertainment value of it turns him on, and there's always the chance of him roleplaying being despoiled and being on the recieveing end of it without you knowing it is all pretense. Of course he's not a virgin, though. Far from it. Which makes this whole thing even more schemey, sinister and juvenile. He's quite possibly ludicrousily experienced and has apetites to match for every vice under the sun and he's, pardon my language, bullshitting you, for lack of the better word, but does it so convincingly and sweetly one can never tell. Could even be a test he poses for himself; to see what type of misiformantion he can sell to people and get away with.

How well he can act certain things out.

Not to mention how much he wants to dangle himself in front of you like the forbidden fruit you can't have because of his, ahem, convictions and beliefs. Convictions and beliefs he doesn't even really have. Quite the contrary. The handomest man you've ever met also being sexually celibate? He wants you to explode with desire and frustration and him having the last laugh.

But, Terry Silver is definitely the type of man who would land himself in bed with you, after much back and forth and pretending celibacy goes hand in hand with his particular style of martial arts, and believably pretend not to know what to do once he gets to that very same bed. Worse (or better) yet. Doing something like this isn't nessecarily a sign of his distaste for a person. Could very much like you and still play a prank on you.

[theemporium]

saw the eras tour movie and now i am back on my college!maxiel taylor swift au bullshit

like i feel like max meets daniel first when he's still in his post student athlete college slut era and figuring out his sexuality. and he's just like "woah, i gotta have u" and there are vibes he thinks but he's not really sure. and he really just spends like a good week pinning like alexa play enchanted plz.

and like maybe he and danny are getting close and max is over here thinking "wow this is going so great !!! any day now." and then danny invites him to like a frat outing to the football game and dan is just casually like "oh yeah my girl will be there too, super excited for you to meet her" and max is just like !! excuse me?! GIRLfriend ???????

anyways they all meet and reader looks so pretty and max is surprisingly not upset ??? his head is spinning, he is baffled, he has no idea what tf is happening but all he knows is that if he cannot have these two carnally WILL drop out of school and take a vow of celibacy because no one else will measure up, he has to have THEM

cue the mastermind montage

meanwhile danny and reader are like sizing up this lil business bro nerd himbo and going like do u think he would ? nah, wellllll maybe. and they just let him string them along through his whole plane all while taking late at night about what they would do with him and just how perfectly he would slot into their life

-🌠

(also i might have sent a poly couples ask a couple of days ago, did tumblr eat it? i only vaguely remember writing it so i could also be making it up bc it is also very late and i am eepy)

OBSESSED OBSESSED OBSESSED WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!

wee max being a mastermind is just so him and the way you and daniel are just like, “we want him! let’s fuck him!” instead of coming up with a whole ass plan for it😭

what taylor song do we think fits college maxiel the best???👀

[8000000cherries]

anyways thinking of starting my celibacy era because men dont respect me or see me as human and also i dont trust any of them also because women ive been with have only used me to get validation and then choose a man over me in the end so im done basically ...

[spiteless-xo]

reader needs to enter a celibacy era she cant keep avoiding serious conversations and confrontation by j having sex i love her but its true

my heart also broke for eren this chapter !! i do think reader did the right thing by going w jean bc he's literally drunk and knocked out lol.... like was she j supposed to toss him in the taxi and hope things get worked out ?? so i dont understand why some ppl in the comments and eren were upset by that. i just think they all need to sit in a circle and have a mediator and a talking stick ao they can all take turns speaking and airing their grievances and then after words they can have a fire and hold hands while still in the circle and sing songs and be happy and maybe somebody bring a guitar or ukulele or aomething and there wont be any left over hard feeling and everything will be okay and everybody will be happy and theyll all hold hands and and and

yes! actually from personal experience, most taxi drivers won't let you just throw in a passed-out person w/o an escort so she kinda had to go with him.

💀💀 dying at the mental image of these three sitting together and talking out their issues. that'd be nice, eh?

[firstumcschenectady]

“Hallelujah, It Is Finished!” based in theory on John 21:1-14 as a story of resurrection

Dear ones, it is official. The era of institutional discrimination against queer and trans people in the United Methodist church has ended.

The phrase that said that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” is gone, and our new statement on Human sexuality reads:

We affirm human sexuality as a sacred gift and acknowledge that sexual intimacy contributes to fostering the emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being of individuals and to nurturing healthy sexual relationships that are grounded in love, care and respect.

Human sexuality is a healthy and natural part of life that is expressed in wonderfully diverse ways from birth to death. It is shaped by a combination of nature and nurture: heredity and genetic factors on the one hand and childhood development and environment on the other. We further honor the diversity of choices and vocations in relation to sexuality such as celibacy, marriage and singleness.

We support the rights of all people to exercise personal consent in sexual

relationships, to make decisions about their own bodies and be supported in those decisions, to receive comprehensive sexual education, to be free from sexual exploitation and violence, and to have access to adequate sexual health care.

The “funding ban” is gone – church support at levels can be extended to organizations doing ministry with LGBTQIA+ folx.

We don't call anyone “self-proclaimed practicing homosexuals” anymore (PHEW), and now we affirm that queer clergy can be ordained and appointed in The United Methodist Church AND that if they can't be safely appointed at home they can be appointed across conference lines.

We now allow clergy to preside over and UM churches to host same-gender weddings.

There are no longer chargeable offenses for ones' sexual orientation or for doing same-gender weddings.

AND we've created a process to RESTORE CREDENTIALS of those who lost them because of their sexuality, gender identity, or presiding over a wedding. (It remains to be seen if anyone will use this.)

AND we've put in place a regionalization plan that allows for areas around the world to do ministry in ways that work for them, THANK GOD, and also means we can move from these NEUTRAL stances to POSTITIVE statements in the near future.

Friends, that first one, the “incompatibility clause” was added in 1972 and we've been fighting to remove it every since. 52 years.

The era of harm to God's beloved queer and trans people through The United Methodist Church is OVER.

HALLELUJAH.

I have a memory of being in junior high Sunday school and learning that The United Methodist Church was bigoted against queer people and being simply horrified that they didn't know better yet. I thought back then that it was just a matter of time for the church to catch up.

I remember going to General Conference in 2004 and learning how intentional and organized the homophobic movement was. It blew me away. It wasn't simply that the church forgot to notice they had this justice issue to fix. It was that people were working hard, with great intentionality, to do harm to God's beloveds.

I have done my part, to change the church. So have you. So have tens or hundreds of thousands of people. Maybe more. I can't quite process how many people have worked so hard to bring this day. The laborers have been many, and until this past two weeks the fruits have been few. But here we are.

THIS is the First Sunday of a fully inclusive United Methodist Church.

And, I thought it would feel better.

It is like I forgot about how pain works. I forgot that when the active harm stops coming, that's when you finally get to really feel it all. That's when the grief hits. That's when the anger is finally able to be let out.

Until this week the harms kept coming, and all we could do was survive.

And now we have to heal.

Darn it.

IT IS FINISHED, HALLELUJAH.

And.

And we lost beloveds to suicide. And we lost those called to other churches or professions. And we lost the full authenticity of those called and serving. And we lost members who were told they were incompatible, or they couldn't get married, or they couldn't have their kid baptized. And we lost those who just couldn't stay anymore. And those who have been WAITING have lost so many years.

52 years.

AND, sorry, I know I'm Debbie Downer, but we know we closed the Central Jurisdictions in 1968 to create a beautifully diverse fully shared body of Christ and racism is still alive and well anyway. And we also know that women have had full ordination rights since 1954 but don't have pay equity or any other kind of equity. So removing formal discrimination doesn't solve the whole problem.

You already knew that too.

Ever since the rules changed to allow all of our siblings their ordination rights, I've been humming Mark Miller's song “The Journey Isn't Over.” God's call in my life to bring justice in the church and the world for God's beloveds who are trans and queer hasn't changed. I'm so grateful, so very, very grateful not to be ashamed of my denomination more. But the journey isn't over:

From Seneca Falls,

from Selma to Stonewall

we've come a long way,

we've come a long way.

From Seneca Falls,

from Selma to Stonewall

we've come a long way,

but the journey isn't over.

Friends, THIS journey will be over when God's beloveds who are trans and queer, God's beloveds who are women and non-binary people, God's beloveds who are BIPOC, God's beloveds with disabilities, AND ALL of God's beloveds are able to live in fullness and abundance in the kindom of God.

From now until then, we're called to make it so.

Hallelujah, THIS STAGE is finished, AND the journey isn't over. Amen

[billietheancientowl]

By ßillieØwl The importance of celibacy

It is vital to abstain from sex due to the severity of perilous entities . Right now we are in a mid life crisis; there are many people who are at this time inhibiting inner demons that they are either aware or unaware of this Is a danger zone. I want to stress the fact that many people are not even aware of the demonic entities that they are either channeling or under. It is important, and crucial to educate yourself on transferring of energy. Energy is a ball of psi which is easily manipulated do to the interference of other energies.

You must make it a issue to not surround yourself around opposing energies; have you ever been around an atmosphere that seems so comforting, but you experience this uncomfortable energy once your in the circumference of this environment that you would’ve deemed as electrifying? This often happens because of some of us homosapiens aren’t cognitively privy to, or rather receptive to the entities that are not for our best interest; for the better use of words I would preferably consider entities of such magnitude more so negative spirits.

It is with urgency that you practice celibacy, or you will eventually either hinder your own health spiritually, mentally, or physically or become hypnotically under a trance from a perhaps demonic/destructive spirit. Allow me to reiterate ; this current era of people that are orbiting earths surface is divided into sections. These sections are separated by a divisible line majority of the population of people are driven by lust, desire, and mere emotions. Which will all make sense in a few minutes lust is merely driven off of desire the desire to want something for its looks or values. There is no logic in a lustful situation which is quite terrifying.

Lust is an inadequate way to find what you want and will ultimately lead you to devastation. I urge all to eliminate lust from your moral way of living. Emotion is important but when we talk about energy it is more beneficial to eliminate that as well from your encounters when interacting with certain entities. Master manipulators will pick up on this emotional weakness of yours and weasel their way into the crevice of your soft heartened spirit, and that is a easy way to access you and control you; essentially you would be under their command.

- [ ] Limit the interaction with entities from an emotional standpoint. It is extremely important to resting bitch face every encounter body language most likely will detour a contagiously negative energy from entering your force field.

- [ ] Desire is a very good trait to have although it depends on your desire. A lot of woman today desire the ordinary typical king von killer mass criminal persona. Whether or not you involve yourself with people like this isn’t a factor right now I will provide my theory on this in an excerpt primarily just generalized around that. I mentioned that to provide you with the perception most woman lack as well as men the typical man obsesses over the lackadaisical, it girl /instagram baddie or the less educated but miraculously attractive woman.

I want to bring a all around understanding two all people who are partaking in sex to understand that their aren’t just sexual diseases to be cautious of there are also spiritual disease that we must be weary of. I want to bring awareness to the collective of people that are sexual active that it is very important to not find a partner to satisfy you because if you are truly centered in your energy no one should be able to please you more than you anyway. See that is key; if you need someone to help you feel sexually pleased that just solidifies my point even more sexual desire / temptation shouldn’t be hard to avoid if you know your self and value your spirit like you value the material you spend hundreds of dollars on. I will never value my clothes than myself I wear high end designer all the time and get it dirty and don’t think twice to clean it if it gets scuffed because its just material and I will always be more valuable than it.

Im not casting a stone at anyone but I am being honest ; the truth can’t be rude but it might hurt. I have to much jumbled up in my brain and love to get it out to the world so everyone internationally can access it. I want everyone to leave with this something to make you think critically because lets be honest the number of critical thinkers are dwindling more and more but back to there topic at hand ;when you have sex with someone remember that energies latch, and expand. For instance you have sex with someone today or tomorrow whomever they had sex with before that spirit is latched and most importantly if he or she didn’t get rid of the spirit they were with before you then you two have sex that spirit is now in your spirit disrupting your piece until you the ties.

[xavierkhalil]

i enjoy being the villain bc i temporarily enjoy toxicity w/o remorse, but my consciousness forced me back to my true self. this may have multiple parts...

after breaking my celibacy, i re-entered my phase of promiscuity. i was done with over romanticizing celibacy, done with being disgusted by every man, done with being sexually dissatisfied, and once i had that thrill i recanted to who i was ashamed of it felt good, for a very short while.

i met this guy and we had sex but i enjoyed him as a person so i really wanted to be his friend. the sex was probably the best! but, i still had some moral compass especially committing to an idea of being just a friend. i was introduced to his friends, who mutually became mine, but one of them took a liking to me.

after the one who took a liking to me let it known, i rejected him because of the fact i had been with our friend and didn't want to cause further awkwardness. well, i failed to continue rejection. and he ate me out. i have 0 complaints, but there was no feeling of romance which he made known to me he for me - not for a relationship but for a "vibe" - you know?

anay way, having my cake and eating it too without guilt has been cool. it was a moment, but it's not me. it's not what i want. and, i know hookup culture is not for me, so practicing this feels like self-sabotage, and i felt a devalue im my self-worth. not how i view but myself, but how i'm treating me.

during celibacy, i realized that i am so much more than my body, and that my body is mine. after being peer-pressured out of my celibacy, i realized i can say no if i want to. while hooking up, i realized i can say yes if i want to. but now in this villain era, i realized there has to be a sense of self-control.

i can't allow myself to get sucked back into old habits, no matter how hard they are. i can't allow myself to live carelessly bc i'll just hurt myself again, and i shouldn't be sacrificing what i really want (genuine love when im ready) for cheap thrills. im a work in progress still.

im still a work in progress...

[careerboyfriend]

i'm fully inoculated today so i can finally annoy hot guys again

[sapphorarelyreads]

Indian WLW/NBLW movies/series

Let's start with the oldest wlw indian movie (i know of)

1. FIRE (Movie - 1996) : By Deepa Mehta; Sita and Radha are young Indian women whose husbands choose celibacy or mistresses over their wives. This leads them to form an intimate, passionate relationship amidst a close-minded society.

2. The Married Woman (Series - 2021- Zee5 and AltBalaji) : Astha sets out on a journey of self-discovery and meets Peeplika on the route. Astha sets herself free from the society pressures and boundaries when she finds an intense connection with Peeplika, something that she always longed for.

3. Ajeeb Daastaans (Short Film - 2021 - Netflix) : Geeli Puchi; The short film on Netflix anthology ‘Ajeeb Dastaan’ talks about caste, sexuality, privilege and patriarchy in a powerful way.

4. Sheer Qorma (Short Film - 2021) : This film by a Non - Binary director, Faraz Arif Ansari and starring a Non-binary character as a lead, is a romantic drama that showcases how love is judged in society based on gender and how people have preconceived notions about sexuality. It has Swara playing the role of a Pakistani-Canadian citizen who travels to India with her lover (Divya Dutta). But Dutta’s mother, played by Shabana Azmi, finds it difficult to come to terms with her daughter’s choices.

5. Margarita with a straw (Film - JioCinema - 2014) : A rebellious young woman with cerebral palsy leaves India to study in New York. On her journey of self-discovery, she unexpectedly falls in love.

6. Ek Ladkhi Ko Dekha Tho Aisa Laga (Movie - Netflix- 2019) : Sweety hides a secret about her true love and decides to marry a writer to please her father, Balbir Chaudhary. However, chaos ensues when she decides to fight her family and society to win her love.

7. Firsts Season 3 (FilterCopy - YouTube- 2020) : Ritu and Lavanya are two women in their twenties who start living together after their second date, finding themselves in a series of firsts as they navigate life, love and more during the lockdown.

8. The Other Love Story (Web series - 12 episodes - YouTube - 2016) : The plot, set in the late 1990s/early 2000s, revolves around the relationship between two girls in an era when there were no cell phones or internet.

9. Mismatched (Netflix - Series - 2020) : Has a plotline with a wlw character. Set in a college/university summer coding program.

10. Feels like Ishq - She loves me She loves me not (Netflix - 1 episode - 2021) : A closeted advertising associate falls for an out-and-proud colleague, but her subtle efforts to confess her feelings don't go quite as planned.

note : I copied the descriptions cause i was too tired and embarrassed to write my own, sorry.

@sapphicgems @absolutebl @shorthairedbrownqueer @sapphic-in @wlwmovieclub @raiko101 @desbianherstory @moonlightsapphic @crudesco @lesbianpetekao

[qqueenofhades]

Having just sent you a message the other day about how much I love your historical asks, I realized I have a question myself that you might know the answer to. I’m a Christian and I have never been able to figure out why Christianity has historically viewed non-procreative sex for pleasure as bad. (And none of my family, including my clergy father, have figured it out either. I think my dad has a bone to pick with Augustine? And I feel like Aquinas also has something to do with this.) But given that Jesus had a body and gives a speech about “the Son of Man came eating and drinking” as though he enjoyed it, how did this whole “the body is sinful especially the sex part” thing happen? I have been thinking about this a lot recently for Old Guard reasons, which should surprise no one.

Oof. So, a short and simple question, then. (Sidenote: did they expand ask limits? Because I’ve definitely gotten a couple asks today, including this one, that are longer than usual, rather than forced to space out and hope that Tumblr doesn’t eat them.)

The entire history of sexuality in the West and its relationship with Christianity throughout the centuries is obviously a topic that far, far exceeds anything I could possibly cram into this ask, but let’s see if I can hit on some of the highlights. First off, one could remark that some aspects of Jesus’s teaching managed to disappear from the official doctrine of Christianity almost immediately, and for a variety of theological, cultural, and social reasons. As anyone who has a passing knowledge of the late Roman Empire is aware, they were known for being sexually liberate (at least if you were a nobleman, as the freedom certainly did NOT apply to women), and the notorious run of emperors who were having orgies and sleeping with boys and their sisters and hosting nonstop sex parties did a lot to sour early Christianity’s relationship with it. Because pre-Constantine/Theodosian Code Rome was Christianity’s enemy (since Christians refused to perform the traditional civic sacrifices to the Roman gods, which was all that Rome required alongside permitting its citizens to practice whatever other religion they wanted), and because the emperors were such a high-profile example of sexual excess, that became an easy point of critique. Obviously, the Roman polemicists, like every other historian, should not be trusted on EVERYTHING they say about the emperors, but the general pattern is there and well-established. So Christianity, trying to establish its religious and moral bona fides, can easily go, “Well, Caligula/Nero obviously sucks, come join us and live a purer and more moral life!”

Constantine converted in the early fourth century and the Theodosian Code was issued at the end of the fourth century, which made Rome officially Catholic and represented a huge reversal of fortune for fledgling Christianity, helping it expand like crazy now that it was officially sanctioned. However, the Roman Empire was splitting into two halves, west and east, and the development of Greek Christianity in the eastern empire was strongly influenced by ascetic and austere traditions (if you’ve heard of the Stylites, i.e. the guys who liked to sit atop poles out in the Syrian desert to prove how holy they were, those are them). The cultural context of denial of the flesh and the renouncing of bodily pleasures also played intensely into the third/fourth/fifth century debates over heresy and orthodoxy. Some of the most vicious arguments came over whether Jesus Christ could have actually had an embodied (and therefore possibly inherently sinful) human body, or it was just a complicated illusion, the “shell” of a body that his entirely divine nature then inhabited without actually being part of. This involved huge theological arguments over the redemptive nature of the Eucharist and even Christ’s sacrifice: was it real/effective/genuine if he didn’t REALLY die and suffer the pain of being crucified, and was just assured that he’d be fine ahead of time? So yeah, the question of whether Christ had a real body (because then that might be sinful) was the knock-down, drag-out theological disagreement of the early centuries C.E., and left a lot of hard feelings and entrenched positions in its wake.

Likewise, your dad is correct in having a bone to pick with Augustine, at least in terms of his impact on views of sexuality in the late antique and early medieval Christian church. Augustine is obviously famous for agonizing endlessly over his sexuality/sexual urges in Confessions, his time as a Manichaean, his relationship with a woman and the birth of his son out of wedlock (and if you want a lot of repressed homoeroticism: well, Augustine’s got that too) and how his conversion to Christianity was intensely tied with his renunciation of himself as a sexual being. Augustine also pioneered the nature of the inheritance of Original Sin: therefore, every human who was born was sinful by virtue of sharing in humanity’s legacy from Eve’s transgression in the Garden of Eden. (And yes, obviously, this led to the beginnings of the embedding of clerical and social misogyny. Oh Augustine, I kind of hate you anyway because I had to read the entire goddamn 1000-page City of God during my master’s degree, but bro, you got a lot to answer for.) This involved EVEN MORE obscure speculations about whether original sin was passed down in male semen, and therefore Jesus was free of it because he was supposedly born divinely to a woman without a male father, but yeah, the idea that sexuality itself was already a suspect thing was fairly well correlated and then cemented by Augustine’s HUGE influence over the early church. Everything post-Augustine incorporated his ideas somehow, and so the idea of bodily pleasures as separating you from divine purpose got even more established.

Then we had the Carolingians in the eighth and ninth centuries, who were the first “empire” per se in Western Europe post-Rome, and who were also intensely concerned with legislating moral purity, policing the sexual behavior especially of its queens, and correlating moments of political or military defeat with insufficiently virtuous private behavior. The Carolingians likewise passed these ideas onto their successor kingdoms, especially the medieval kingdom of France (which would eventually become the pre-eminent secular power in Western Europe). Then the eleventh century arrived with the Cluniac and Gregorian Reforms (which were interrelated). One of their big goals was for a celibate and unmarried clergy on all levels of holy orders, from humble village priests to bishops and archbishops. Prior to this, clergymen had often been married, and there wasn’t a definite sense that it was bad. But because of this, and the idea that a married clergyman wasn’t pure enough to provide the Eucharist and would be distracted from his commitment to the church by a wife and family, the Cluniac and papal reformers intensely attacked sex and sexuality as evil. Priests didn’t (or rather, were not supposed to) do it, and if you weren’t in a heterosexual church-performed marriage and didn’t want children, you shouldn’t be doing it either. (Did this stop people, and priests, from doing it? Absolutely not, but that was the rhetoric.) This was about when celibacy began to be constructed as the top of the heap in terms of holy lifestyles, for men and women alike and laypeople as well as those in holy orders. NOT having sex was the most virtuous choice for anyone, even if sex was a necessary evil for having heirs and the next generation and so on. (Which is interesting considering that our hypersexualized present attaches so much value to having sex of one sort or another, and the asexual-exclusion types, but yeah, that’s a different topic for now.)

Of course, when the Cathars (a schismatic Catholic heresy in France and Italy) in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries began attacking ALL materiality and sexuality as irredeemably evil, the Catholic church went a bit like “whoa whoa that’s a little too far, hold on now, SOME sex is good, sex can be nice, we’re not actually like those guys” (even though they had been about a hundred years before). Because Cathar spirituality taught that any kind of attention or indulgence to the body was sinful, that included any kind of sex at all, even married heterosexual intercourse. (Of course, the Cathars themselves didn’t always live up to it either; see Beatrice de Planissoles and her Cathar priest lover.) The Catholic church obviously didn’t want to go THAT far, so they began rowing back some of their earlier blanket statements about the evilness of sexuality and taught that husband and wife both had a responsibility to offer each other sexual pleasure and fulfillment. I’ve answered many asks about sexual behavior and unions in the medieval era, the arguments over the definition of marriage, and how that changed over time in response to social needs and pressures, so yes. We know what the IDEALS were, and what people were legally supposed to do, but the fact that church writers were complaining about bad behavior, sexual and otherwise, literally the whole time means that, obviously, this did not always match up with reality.

The theories of the Roman physician Galen, which prescribed that female orgasm was necessary to conceive, were also well known and prevalent in the medieval world, which meant that ordinary married couples trying to have children would have had some awareness that female pleasure was supposedly necessary to do it. (This ties into my “it wasn’t an unrestrained extravaganza of violent painful rape for women all the time YOU GODDAMN MORONS JESUS CHRIST” rant, but we will recognize that I have Many Rants. So yes.) Obviously, we can’t know what the sex life of individual married couples behind closed doors was actually like, but there were a variety of teachings and official stances on sex and how it was supposed to be done, and as noted in other posts, just because the church thought it is zero guarantee that ordinary people thought that way too. People are people. They (usually) like having sex. They had sex, both gay and straight, married and unmarried, so on and so forth, even if the church had Opinions. Circle of life, etcetera.

Anyway, then the Renaissance arrived (and we just had the “why the Renaissance sucked for women” ask the other day), which prescribed a reversal of all the comparative sexual and political and social latitude that women had gradually acquired over the medieval era. It very much wanted to see women returned to their silent, domestic, maternal, objet d’arte roles that they had occupied in antiquity, and attacked the actions of women in their public and private lives as one of the major causes of the crises of the late medieval era. (Because you know, misogyny is always a useful scapegoat rather than blaming the powerful men who have fucked everything up, as we’re seeing again right now.) Because the Renaissance is regarded, fairly or unfairly, as the start of the early modern Western world, it’s where a lot of modern gender attitudes and views of sexuality became more explicitly codified and distributed faster than at any point in history before, to a more extensive audience, thanks to the invention of the printing press. We’ve obviously had moves toward sexual liberation and agency in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the emergence of the modern feminist and gay rights movements, but now in some ways, we’re back in oddly Puritan attitudes in the twenty-first century. And since America was founded by Puritans, their social attitudes are still embedded in the culture, fanned today by hyper-conservative Protestant evangelicalism. Even though Puritans themselves ALSO, shock surprise, didn’t always live up to the stringent standards they preached.

...whoof. I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but hopefully that gives you the broad-strokes development.

[doomedandstoned]

Italian Doomers BRETUS Tell Ghostly Tales on New LP, ‘Magharia’

~Doomed & Stoned Debuts~

By Billy Goate

Artwork by DamianaMerante

Hailing from the City of the Two Seas, Italian doomers BRETUS return with a new album of ghost stories. Longtimers know that Bretus and Doomed & Stoned practically grew up together. Though the band has been active since the turn of the century, our first exposure came with their debut full-length 'In Onirica' (2012) and subsequently we formed a friendship with the Catanzaro doomers that continues to this very day. It's hard to believe they're already over two decades old (okay, 20 years young, if you like). And what do they have to show for it? A handful of LPs, an EP, and a split with fellow Italianos Black Capricorn.

If you're as much a fan of vintage horror movies, H.P. Lovecraft lore, mysticism, and the occult as Zagarus (vox), Ghenes (guitar), Janos (bass), and Striges (drums), there's a whole world of story and sound awaiting your deep dive into the Bretus catalog. Adding to their already excellent discography, a fifth album now reveals itself: 'Magharia' (2021).

I won't spoil my interview with the band (see below) if I tell you that the album concerns, shall we say, several tales of the supernatural variety. An ominous gong is struck to the backdrop of monastic chant as Magharia opens in epic fashion "Celebration of Gloom," a song characterized by a chugging proto-trash tempo, trve metal stylings, and Gothic vocals appropriate to it's subject. It's a rather grim account of a certain sacrilegious priest and his daliences with young women of the church. As a preacher's kid, I've seen this kind of thing play out a hundred times and can assure you these sweeping romances between clergy and laity never end well. In this case, it winds up with a ghoulish rite and a victim's vengeance.

"In the sky lightning strikes...wicked laments rise from the ground." Welcome to "Cursed Island." True to the spirit of the lyrics, this track really let's it all hang out, with quasi operatic vocals that occasionally erupt in maniacal laughter (reminding me vintage Reagers-era Saint Vitus, with its lusty swagger). And why not? This is after all about the mystery that surrounds one of the most haunted islands on earth.

Thus far, the record's been sporting a pretty up-beat pulse, so surely you're ready for some good old fashion doom? "Moonchild's Scream" concerns a albino girl accused of being possessed by the devil for her appearance. One day, she disappears in the dungeons of a castle and legend has it that her cries can still be heard every five years during the Summer Solstice. Doesn't get more doom than that, folks!

After a brief interlude ("Necropass"), we arrive at my favorite track of Magharia. "Nuraghe" concerns the spirit of a woman judged and condemned for a crime she was innocent of still roams among the ancient stones. Boy, the ancients sure did have a hang-up with free-spirited, independent women, didn't they? The song itself is possessed by the spirit of Pentagram in its biting guitar work and rhythmic attack. Love the riffage on this one! Some of it could have been played out just a little more for my taste, like the all-too-brief Soundgardenesque motif at the two-minute mark. It returns a minute later, again in brief. C'mon Ghenes, let your inner Kim Thayil loose! Maybe we can convince them to improv at this point with a bitchin' guitar solo at their next festival appearance. Then again, perhaps this fits artistically with the song, which speaks of obscure "grim dancing bats" and a ghost that haunts through swift shadows passing over glimmers of light. Once again, Zagrus expressive song style comes through to distinguish this as a gem of the genre. I shall be revisiting it on my personal playlist often.

"Headless Ghost" strikes graceful Goatsnake groove as the yarn is spun about the restless and tormented soul of an ancient Roman warrior who has risen from his place of rest. All he wants is the skull that was looted from his place of burial. Give it back to him! "No one will be spared tonight," the lyrics warn, as the song shifts down to a dire doom dirge as the night unveils a strange moon and the wanderings of a cursed soul, seeking his head and not more. "He is living again in this hell."

"The Bridge of Damnation" is one of the creepiest of the record, said to be about "a bridge, a young boy, and his three torturers." The mood is quite dark, with esoteric atmosphere, reverberating vocalizations, guitar and bass trading off notes. Oh, and did I mention this tale from the crypt involves death and resurrection, as well? The riffmaking and drumming are absolutely on point, as is the singing -- which by now in the record I'm not only am accustomed to, but have grown to admire. Another keeper!

"Sinful Nun" winds and grinds as Zagarus croons about the inner torment of a Sister who has never gotten over her beloved, who died under such unspeakably tragic circumstances that she decided to consecrate herself to God in celibacy. However, her vows are in vain as she still pines for her long lost lover. The verses are sung to the accompaniment of a galloping tempo, which seems to represent the fevered anguish of a soul forever stricken by grief and the haunted memories of lost love. This is juxtaposed in the chorus by a cursed riff that seems to speak as the Hand of Fate itself. "Farewell to this life," are the Sinful Nun's final words.

At last, we reach the album's namesake and though "Magharia" is entirely instrumental, it would be a mistake to assume you know what it's going to do. Around the four-minute mark, I had to check and make sure I was listening to the same album, as dark synth busted out a metronomic rhythm, leading to a declamatory section of keyboards to accompany the math-like guitar play and an improvisation of almost creepy seventies-sounding prog, which after its playful fit dissipates suddenly in a bluesy collapse.

Bretus have cooked up a remarkable horror soundtrack that, though it speaks of ancient lore, is very much a fitting backdrop to the unreality of our own times. Fitting somewhere on the stylistic spectrum between Candlemass and Paul Chain, Reverend Bizarre and Cardinals Folly, Margharia may be the band's finest effort to date. Certainly, it rewards repeated listens, and will haunt you for many years to come. Look for the record to drop this weekend (pre-order here), with multiple physical formats releasing via The Swamp Records (compact disc), Burning Coffin Records (cassette), and Overdrive Records (vinyl). Until then, you can stream it all, right now, right here!

Give ear...

Magharia by BRETUS

An Interview with Bretus

What is the concept behind the new album and what themes do you explore?

Musically the new record is most "in your face" than the previous album. Also our approach to the recording was different. We rehearsed and arranged together more than before. The result is an album more raw to us. It is a concept album born around different italian old ghost tales. Some of these is supposed to be legend or myth, who knows.

When did you write it? Was it during the pandemic lockdowns?

We had more ideas about new stuff long before the pandemia arrived. We spent this time working on the pre-production of the tracks.

Can you give us a track-by-track explanation of each song on the album?

For sure!

"Celebration of Gloom" is a strange song because there are many influences in it. Including a solo flute in the middle of the track. However is a very loud and gloomy song.

"Cursed Island" probably is the most rock 'n' roll song of the album. If you know what I mean. Rock in the attitude. Also the first video of the album.

"Moonchild's Scream" is 100% pure Doom with a heavy mid-section.

"Necropass" is like Caronte travelling the damned souls across the Stige River.

"Nuraghe" is a heavy oriented track with a very dark feeling.

"Headless Ghost" has a more stoner trend than the others and in the end there is a psycho riffing.

"The Bridge of Damnation" includes our '80s dark influences into our sound, probably the most haunted track of the album. The story is based upon an old weird story that happened in our native city, Catanzaro.

"Sinful Nun" is like an experiment and neither of us can explain really what it is... ah ah aha! For sure the most heavy track of all.

Finally "Magharia." You cannot believe it but the idea comes from a Who's album, Quadrophenia. Either of us wrote a part of the song. The result is a kind of horror soundtrack.

Magharia by BRETUS

How do you feel that your basic style or approach to song composition has changed since you first started writing songs in the early days?

You already know a lot of things about us, we know you from so long ago! Please don't ask how old we are. (laughs) Basically our approach is the same from the beginning. Of course we listen to a lot of new stuff during these years so every album brings different "colors."

Where are you most looking forward to playing live once pandemic restrictions are eased?

Everywhere! We are angry for live gigs or simply to drink beers with friends.

Follow The Band

Get Their Music

[suntara]

Your echoes pile up

To piles as thick as scriptures

Written by ancient poets

About lustrous heartache

Your voice lurches

As you hide behind shipwrecks deep under the sea

With ash and turmoil wrapping it in a present

You laughed boisterously

With a soul like embers

That have fallen

From the flame of Vesta

that erupted with determination and

you were a mermaid so beautiful

With fins that glimmer under the

Rays of hope

That humans call sunshine

But I was just a lone siren

That sat near a blaring lighthouse

That bantered with the grumbling of the skies

For when I sang,

Lies would seep under rocks

In fear and agony

Over my shrill voice

The sky would be spilled ink

Over your perfect fantasy

I'd trace my fingers over the clouds

And birth thunder and bad omen

I was Medusa

An old witch cursed to turn all to stone

But Medusa was no villain, just a victim

Who broke her celibacy

For a scandalous, twisted fairly tale

I was the one in your darkest of dreams

You were the one in bedtime stories

But we still fell together

And fell apart

.

You were the sun and I was the moon. We one day collided and that my friend, marked the beginning of a new era

.

-Aureatemoonshine

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Aniplex Fugou Keiji Livestream | Fugou Keiji 2 | Kitsutsuki 2 - 4 | Arte 3 - 12 (FINAL) | Fruits Basket 27 - 32

During the Millionaire Detective: Unmissable livestream (part of FunimationCon and Aniplex Online Fest), I watched and took notes, so you might find these handy upon retrospect. To be honest, this is how I do the posts for magicalgirlsandcerulean’s livestreams as well, but there hasn’t been one of those in a while...

Otherwise, these are all normal notes.

Aniplex Fugou Keiji Livestream

Look out for the dancer from the OP

Onuki was the model for the dancing for the anime – he was told to do it out of the blue

Episode 11 might have one of these^ be relevant

Daisuke’s cup ramen has shark fin in it and he made the packaging from scratch – that’s why it’s so expensive!

The director Tomohiko Ito omits important information, allowing people to decide for themselves what happened. (Miyano) – This might be why the series is stylish. (MC)

Attractiveness of character design is important! (for adapting Fugou Keiji to modern day)

I’ve never watched a livestream where the stars were so conscious of their English and Chinese audiences! This was interesting, especially because Onuki is not normally known as a VA!

“We still have a little bit of recording to do.”

Fugou Keiji 2

I keep misunderstanding my own instructions…this starts again in July after ep 2.

Todai = Tokyo Daigaku (Uni).

I believe this is the 2nd time I’ve seen a rich person like commoner’s instant noodles, although I forget where I saw the 1stinstance.

Kambe switched to the back seat now, huh?

Ah! Now I remember! The first time was seeing spoilers for this episode on Twitter! (LOL)

I see Suzue has a sensible naming scheme for her data.

Hmm…judging by the Google hits, the name visible in the background (Betbeto bin Abura) is the Arabic prince from last time.

SYN-ACK. I see these guys did their work – that’s the final stage of the 3 stage handshake required for things like internet sockets (used to send “packets” of data).

Way to crash a party, Kambe siblings…(LOL)

I really wanna see someone draw Kato slapping (Daisuke) Kambe in the face with a wad of cash…or a “shut up and take my money” meme with Kambe in it.

I like how “special cup ramen” is on the purchases list and it costs 100000 yen. I also like how the reporter Mita was bought out for 5000000 yen (bigger than all the other individual costs except for buying out the Tower)…that’s how he showed up.

Kitsutsuki 2

I gotta finish this show and then pause it…3 shows in my normal lineup are safe.

Did Kindaichi take the bones of the fish out for Ishikawa…? Like a child would have had done for them?

Why is Ishikawa being referred to as “Hajime”…?

Draw this prostitute like one of your French girls…(LOL?)

Ishikawa clearly dropped those coins into that book earlier.

Way to diss the potential asexuality/celibacy in the house. I mean, it’s the 1800s – early 1900s, so there was less LGBTIQ+ stuff then and certainly the further back you go, the more sexual prowess becomes a sign of masculinity, but still, if the guy doesn’t want to go through with it, don’t force him.

Notice how the borders were pink for Ishikawa’s version and blue for Kindaichi’s.

Notably, Otaki didn’t seem to have that hairpin…but maybe that’s because we saw things from Ishikawa’s perspective.

Ooh…who are these bois? Also, crab.

Kitsutsuki 3

…cat? Now there’s a new perspective. That’s like saying the butler did it.

Yay! Hagiwara is Ume!

Notice Hagiwara’s version has a purple frame, while Yoshii (?) has yellow and another person has dark blue.

I think “consumption” was tuberculosis, once upon a time.

I love how the crowd is fed up with Ishikawa’s bulls***.

Ooh, chuuni Akutagawa…

In a Grove is the Rashomon story.

Tarou Hirai = Rampo Edogawa.

You stalker, future Rampo!

I kinda suspected Otaki when I thought through the possibilities…Ishikawa, Kindaichi, an outsider, Otaki (and as of this ep, Rampo too).

Gaiheikan? Is that Ishikawa and co.’s lodging?

Did they have pencils back in that day?

Kitsutsuki 4

Humouresques.

Kabayaki.

I think it was in Detective Conan that I learnt (one of) the only way(s) a man can get his nails done is by his wife doing it for him, possibly as a prank or to indicate he’s “taken”. Note this was early Detective Conan, so it’s very much a 90s attitude…considering the widespread acceptance of drag queens and the LGBTIQ+ movement these days.

Kozukata.

Lace flower.

Maichou seems to be a hybrid of Asahi Shinbun and Mainichi Shinbun.

[Monkfish/dictionary/going home] - Is this how Ishikawa shows consideration…?

The purple letterrboxing is back but this time with Ishikawa…meaning that’s just an aesthetic thing for all flashbacks after all.

Just from vaguely hearing it (I’ve got the volume on low), the words are nodo tsuki/nodo zuki. “Throat moon/throat wound” works just as well, if not better.

Balsam flower.

Update: Since enough anime fulfilled the special COVID-19 criteria, Kitsutsuki was put on hold after this.

Fruits Basket 2 2 (27)

I’ve read Another, remember?…so I kind of know what happens.

Uo’s got purple nails…that’s surprisingly cute of her.

Aw, Kureno! Another Ume role!

Why is “shisho” (master) not translated…? A weird Tokyopop-era translation quirk?

Aw, Shisho cut his hair…? Bummer.

Who was that? Shigure…?(!) Update: We find out his name later in this ep.

“If you continue to change, I’ll continue to protect you.” – Another quote for the archive.

Great…I feel personally called out by this ep.

Fruits Basket 2 3 (28)

It seems all male designers wear their designs if they have no one else to wear them…at least, that’s what I’ve gathered from Hajime (Runway de Waratte) and Ayame.

I remember Ayame stood in for Yuki’s parents in the manga at one point. This must be it.

(Spoilers for later!) I also remember Mine and Ayame get married at the end…This is the prelude to that.

Dang, Ayame, you moment-ruiner!

Fruits Basket 2 4 (29)

Did anyone in the doorway hear about Hatsuharu turning into an ox?

To quote Sailor Mercury, “Douse yourself in water and repent!”

Ooh, window splitting Yuki and Haru. Nice cinematography going on here.

I bet all people think they only think about themselves, in one way or another.

Arashiyama tofu.

Yatsuhashi are great. They’re these sweet triangle things like samosas that come in various flavours. Mitarashi dango are sticky brown skewered balls of glutinous rice…which I’ve never had, but I’ve seen them in enough anime to know what they are.

I only just realised this, but Yuki’s hairstyle isn’t even on both sides, like Atsushi from BSD’s.

Huh…you can see a copy of Mogeta and Ari (as it turns out, “Ari” is the name of a character and not “ant” at all in this case) on Haru’s bed. There’s also an article in one of the magazines discussing how denim is the popular thing now and which types are in right now.

Fruits Basket 2 5 (30)

I realised Yuki isn’t calling Tohru by her first name – he’s going against Haru’s advice.

Hmm? Why should anyone ask a rabbit to hold their horses…? (LOL)

CGI cars…*sigh*

Tororo is grated yam, IIRC.

I learnt recently that nanban means “savage” or “uncivilised”…for a potato and chicken dish, the name and the contents don’t really match…Update: Nanban means “savage” (noun) or “barbarian”. Close enough.

17-26…age gap 9 years…yikes…

The words “(a happy, yet) caged bird” come to mind when Kureno describes himself. Also, Kureno is an Ume role! Yippee!

Ahh…young love…even if it has a bit of an awkward edge to it. Mind the (age) gap!

Me being the Ume stan, of course I want to hear those sweet nothings in his voice, even if it has to be via a proxy like Uotani…I wouldn’t be an Ume stan if I didn’t.

…Ah, I see. Uotani reminds me of Minare from Wave and vice versa.

Oh, I just remembered Akito is 20 or thereabouts. Kureno/Akito is only a bit more legal than Uotani and Kureno.

Arte 3

Notice Leo never once uses Arte’s name in the lady’s presence. Her name does have some infamy to it, after all.

“She’s got some guts.” – You say that at a live dissection…LOL.

Is this love~? What’s the age gap between Leo and Arte, anyway? Update: We know for sure Arte is older than 13…that’s it.

Make the things you want prominent with perspective and such. I thought that much was obvious, but for someone straightforward like Arte, I guess it ain’t so. (Maybe it’s because I’m self-taught to some degree when it comes to art.)

*sketching by candlelight* - You’re gonna ruin your eyes, Arte!

Arte, ma girl! You’re getting’ a raise! Good job!

Arte 4

Anime makes this courtesan stuff sound like a host club…(?)

I thought Leo was saying “Aria” for a second instead of Arte, LOL. I’m getting too used to that being my alias…

Arte 5

The speech bubble said “so annoying I could die”.

Arte 6

The video’s gone all pixelated…at least, the subs have…

I bet she’s going to fall over…Update: Nup, she didn’t.

Arte 7

I thought Yuri was a Russian name…or a Japanese one.

This is basically Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine all over again! (LOL)

I thought Yuri would be pushy…like, “Here’s an offer you can’t refuse.” That kind of thing. Likewise, I didn’t think Arte would refuse.

Leo? *dun-dun-DUN!*

Siena is apparently in Tuscany. Also, I did see the Silent Manga Audition page had a chapter on a pregnant woman, so this is ch. 17 or thereabouts.

Is Ruthanna not getting the money because she’s pregnant…?

Epidemic? The Black Death?...Speaking of which, Arte is very much of that ganbaru spirit. By being progressive for her time, she becomes ordinary in our time.

Ohhhhhhh! It’s a reverse harem in progress here!...This would be a good otome game, come to think of it. It’s framed the same way.

Leo can be surprisingly childish at times, don’t you think?

Arte 8

…Really? She fell overboard? *raises eyebrow*

Ooh, china (with and without capitalisation).

Is this another sarcastic child…? Oh, bother. Still, I can see why Hamefura crossed over with Arte now…Katarina vs. Catarina!

Arte 9

Bigoli is a type of pasta, as can be guessed from context.

The kanji for the episode title literally translate to “bad child”! Like the Tones and I song, LOL!

Mikata (ally).

Arte 10

This episode is giving off a Katarina x Gimo ship vibe…but with how young they are, I’m not sure I should ship it. They’re 6, aren’t they…?

Oh, you can see Katarina and Sofia’s hug in one of the ED frames.

Arte 11

Arte’s let her hair grow out…

An Italian man…bowed. In Renaissance Italy. Now I understand what all the ANN complaints are for.

What’s up with that kid’s face…? *grumbles*

Leo’s just being Leo, I see.

That’s right, Angelo and Leo never met.

Instead of a father or a brother overly cherishing his daughter, it’s the uncle…I never thought I’d see the day I saw something like that.

Arte 12 (FINAL)

Is this like Orientalism, but with gender…? (What would you call that?)

Lemme guess…Leo is working on the church mural and so he’s away?

Was that Leo, in the middle of the mural somewhere…?

Another Japanese bow in this anime, which is set in Italy.

But where is Arte herself in that mural?

Fine = end.

Fruits Basket 31

The word Momiji is using is “hisso” or something like that. Hissho is secretary, so the translator made it “secret getaway” to make it work.

That hat! *laser stare*

*one of the textbooks has “high school chemistry” on it* Tohru can do chemistry?! I suck at chemistry!

The episode title is translated as “Are you really this stupid?” It seems the real line for that was “Are you an idiot?”

Something about high school girls appeared in my head when Haru mentioned Shigure wanting to see Tohru in her tight swimsuit…*mumbles grumpily about pervs*

Kyo’s not wet, even though he got in the water! Amazing!

I think it’s sad that Tohru responds to “stupid girl” like it’s her own name.

“…that makes you suspect me?” seems better.

The Akito and Shigure age gap is somewhere between 6 and 8 years, IIRC.

Fruits Basket 32

Tohru switched from okaasan (mother) to okattekita (a formal past tense verb meaning either “bought”, “lent” or “won” based on the characters…which I don’t have a reference for). I assume because it was so off the mark, the subbers chose a similarly off the mark word.

“When I was a kid, I thought watermelons would sprout in my stomach if I ate the seeds.”

We only know about Kyo’s dad so far…hmm…what about the mother? Update: (TW: suicide) I think it was at this point we already knew that Kyo’s mother didn’t love him and committed suicide, but it’s not certain until later.

Why do doctors always use scalpels and syringes as weapons…? I mean, even Jakurai’s symbol in ARB is a syringe!

I’ve been wondering…how big is the Sohma family? Is it diluted enough that Haru and Rin can love each other without genetic problems for their child/ren? (From Another, I would say the answer is “yes”, but shoujo normally doesn’t care about this sort of thing, which is why I ask in the first place.)

Shigure seems like the type to say, “U mad, bro?”

The mansion looks like the one in Haruhi Suzumiya, if I remember the appearance of that one correctly.

[nerdygaymormon]

I’m having a really hard time with Institute this semester talking about the eternal family because my current family and my sexuality and don’t know what to do.

Institute anon. To elaborate on my previous ask, my parents are sealed but getting a divorce (not a temple divorce I think?) and I’m ace but don’t really want to get married very much and talking about being queer in the Church is hard no matter what your identity is, I think, especially since so much doctrine revolves around the family and marriage, and it hurts and I don’t want to be there.  But I don’t want to lose the Spirit.  But I also don’t feel the Spirit when I’m hurting so much.            

Still Institute anon 😅 That was like.  An overview of what’s so difficult but there are also a lot of more nuanced things in our individual lessons and it’s HARD.

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I’m sorry you’re having a rough time.

I imagine these are some of the things you’re learning in Institute:

*  It is not good for man (humans) to be alone.

*  Sex drive is a gift from God.

*  Law of Chastity is to have no sexual relations except with a person you’re legally married to

*  The greatest happiness in life comes from having a spouse, a companion for your life

*  This earthly life is when we start an eternal family

*  The covenant path is the way to be exalted & live with God

–UNLESS you’re queer, then none of this applies to you. We’re in a class apart. The greatest blessings aren’t for us.

To exclude queer people is to violate the idea that God doesn’t play favorites, that all are alike to God.

I think about Mark 2:27 when Jesus said, “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.”I think it’s fair to say “Marriage was made for people, not people for marriage.” 

Over the millenia, what marriage looks like and the rules & laws that govern it have changed many times. Even just in our modern era, I’ve observed big difference between the marriages of my grandparents, my parents & my siblings as expectations and roles have shifted.

—————————  

Given that you’re ace, check out 1 Corinthians 7. It’s a very different lesson about marriage than the one you’ll get in Institute. Being single is the preferred option and marriage is for those who aren’t strong enough to go without sex. 

Paul is not into sex & romance. If he were alive today he might describe himself as ace/aro. Paul wishes more people were like him because they’d be free to give more energy and service to God. 

But for the people who aren’t blessed with the gift of celibacy, for those people who have sexual desires & needs, Paul encourages marriage. He speaks of it as a secondary choice.

I think it’s interesting in this chapter he never mentions having children as the purpose for sex. Rather sex is something that will bring two people together as they make sure their partner’s needs are met.

Also in this chapter, Paul is adamant that celibacy should NOT be forced on people. To not allow marriage, to require celibacy of people is to drive most of them to fornication (aka, sex outside of marriage). Is there a better argument than Paul’s for why Christians should accept and celebrate same-sex marriage? 

—————————    

Oh, one more scriptural lesson for ace people.

Jesus’ ministry took place when he was ages 30-33. He was not married. We have no indication He sought romantic relationships. He had very close relationships with men & women. This is the example the Savior set for us. 

And when asked about divorce, Jesus gave a lesson on marriage that our modern-day church sets aside.

1) It’s good for a man and a woman to marry

2) An exception to this would be if this person is divorced, in that case they shouldn’t marry (unless they got divorce because their spouse was having sex with someone else). If they marry, they are adulterers and so is the person who marries them.

3) Another exception to this rule about a man marrying a woman–eunuchs. Jesus describes different types of “eunuchs,” and He doesn’t limit it to men who have been castrated, He includes people who choose to not have sex. With that in mind, it very much sounds like Jesus is including gay people and ace/aro folks in His “eunuch” exception to a man-should-marry-a-woman statement 

—————————  

Even if not explicitly stated, I find that what gets said about marriage & families often has a negative side to it.

For example, on Father’s Day a speaker said that God sends his spirit children to people he trusts the most. While it’s a nice sentiment and made that dad feel good about himself, the message it sends me is, “God doesn’t trust you enough. There’s a lot of idiots out there who have kids, and God trusts them all more than you.”

I know the speaker didn’t consider what his words meant to people who aren’t like him. This happens a lot at church, especially around the topics of marriage & family. Wonderful things are said about people who fit a certain mold, which queer people do not, and so the negative implications of those messages apparently belongs to us. 

One thing I’ve learned is to push back against those negative messages. If you’re in a position to raise your hand and vocalize it, great. If you’re not, then at least tell yourself positive messages to replace the ones you’re hearing.

You are not less worthy than others. You’re not wrong or lesser. You are a child of God who is loved dearly and your Heavenly Parents are rooting for you. They trust you and will help you craft a life that is meaningful and full of blessings. 

President Nelson recently said that You may know for yourself what is true and what is not.  If you’re not feeling the Spirit at Institute when those lessons are presented, that’s a sign. Try asking about your path. If you’re getting an education or working, you can pray for confirmation you’re on the right path.  

—————————  

Your parents getting divorced really puts a big crack in the “families can be forever” ideal. I often wonder about the Primary kids we have sing about having a mother & father and an eternal family, but they are in a single-parent home, or part-member family. There’s a dissonance there that people who fit the mold don’t stop to think about.

I recognize the church has it’s principles and ideals, and I’m not saying it shouldn’t teach those things, but what about the rest of us who don’t fit into the Family Proclamation?

In the April 2019 General Conference, Elder Anderson recognized there are a LOT of us who don’t “fit neatly inside the Proclamation.” His answer was that perhaps he doesn’t understand their situations, but the Savior does, to turn to Jesus.

The Savior knows you and your situation and offers you love.

Elder Anderson promised that “He (Jesus) will bless you and lift the burdens too heavy to bear alone. He will give you eternal friends and opportunities to serve. More important, He will fill you with the powerful Spirit of the Holy Ghost and shine His heavenly approval upon you.”