Please DO NOT send me any solicitations about fanart. I will block/report.

Order of the Never Alone series:

1) Never Alone

2) Renewal

3) Falling

4) Carbon (Can be read directly after Never Alone, but Renewal and Falling provide valuable backstory on how the Ghost crew - and Ezra especially - has changed over time.)

5) Visions

6) Courage (Can be read directly after Carbon, but includes heavy references to Visions.)

So I watched the recent Star Wars: Rebels trailer and I feel like I somehow predicted half the series? 0_o

A good fanfiction author will tell you, “Don’t write for the sake of reviews. If you’re going to post a story, do it because you love writing.”

Lovely advice, but I never follow that rule. If I wrote for the sake of writing, I would spend 100% of my time on my own original stories. Fact is, I usually write for attention. If a site looks promising, I’ll move over until the fans get bored of the series, then find a new site with fresh readers.

Stop the overuse of passive-writing!

Example sentence: "One day I was made aware of a part of my stories that was no longer useful, and so I came to the decision that there must be a change in my style of writing."

No, no, no, no. Reword that sentence: "One day I realized my stories were jammed up with useless words and so I altered my writing style." Yay! Aggressive action! Use it! :D

Hate to jump into messy business that's sure to start a rant war on facebook, but I see this WAY too often around the web and it needs to stop. I see a lot of neat stories (mostly folklore, but some true) that talk about * and encourage people that he is in control. (Example, the footprint story, the girl walking through the alley and protected by angels, etc.) I love these stories. They're sweet and inspiring.

What drives me insane is the line that always follows after these stories. It usually goes something like this: "Did you know that (insert percentage) of people will not stand up for * and repost this?" This is followed immediately by "In the Bible * says, "If you deny me before man, I will deny you before my Father in Heaven..."

This. Is. A. Lie.

Come on, people, gimme a break! I am a *ian. I believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and because of that I try to honor * by being careful about what I write/read on the fanfiction forums. Do you seriously think that * is going to condemn me for not posting a spiritual ditty?

Let me tell you a secret: most of those little stories revolving on websites are fictional. Someone may have experienced that moment of walking in an alley (and I know from testimonies that such a thing is absolutely true), but the story has been around for so long that you could probably find a detailed explanation for its origins on Snoops. It's folklore now. If you want a real, factual story of how * is working miraculously, look for an actual testimony with a signed name. Don't post folklore and use the excuse "You have to repost this or you're going to hell." Seriously?

Egad, now I've stepped onto the soapbox of insanity and I'm about to start shouting on the keyboard. Cool down, Neocolai.

You get the point, though, right? o_o If you read one of those pretty little stories and think "Oh no, I have to post this or else..!" It's a fallacy. It's not true. * will not deny anyone who doesn't feel comfortable posting a wide-spread, pretty stanza on their page. "Denying *" means that you chose to make him your Savior and Lord, and when you're in a tough spot you pretend you aren't a *ian because you don't want to be embarrassed or prove to people that you're still doing the same wrong things that you associate with people who don't follow *. It's a deliberate choice to deny * - not a chance happenstance like ignoring a facebook photo.

So relax. If you are a *ian, ignore the "repost this or else" yadda. Being a *ian means that you have decided to obey * - the Bible does say "If you love me, you will obey me." (John 14:15) It also says "Whoever knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him(her) it is sin." (James 4:17) If you have chosen to follow , you have a lot of responsibility now, because you can't stick your tongue out at * and expect him to pat you on the head and hand you a present.

If you are a *ian, that means you're part of *'s family. Family means love, respect, and the willingness to obey your Father. A lot of people call themselves *ians for that "get into heaven ticket". Uh-uh. Not happening. See, everyone is already outside of *'s family because of sin. When * died and paid for sin with his blood, * wrote up all of the adoption certificates for every person on earth and handed them to *. (Hence, if you're wondering why everyone says * is the only way to heaven - he's the only one who's got your adoption certificate, kay?) :)

So now what? * has all the adoption certificates with the names of every person who is alive now and who will be born. Now salvation becomes a choice. * has given the chance for everyone to be adopted. He wrote every certificate. Some people he seems to follow around, showing that certificate at every corner or coffee shop. Some people he waits a while, shows it, and waits again before asking. The point is, everyone has the chance to sign their name on that dotted line. What happens with adoption? The parent offers the chance for a kid to be part of the family, but if the kid is old enough, he has the right to say "No. I don't want anything to do with you."

Say the parents have a wealthy inheritance and billions of dollars in their will. Everyone wants a bit of that wealth, right? People can try to wheedle it out of the parents, or do good service in their community, or help the adopted kids (of all ages) and hope to win the parents' good graces, or write a letter explaining why they deserve that wealth. But the last will and testimony states that only the kids get the inheritance.

What happens if those kids refuse to sign the adoption papers?

They can run up later, when the inheritance has already been distributed, and say "Wait! I want to be adopted, too!"

But the parents are gone. The will has been established and signed by the attorney. Any unsigned adoption papers were sent through the paper shredder and then burned so that no one could fake their application. The chance is gone.

So many people say "If * loves people, why does he send them to hell?" The answer: * doesn't send them to hell. Hell is for Satan and his demons, who rebelled against *. When Adam and Eve sinned, * gave humanity a choice - to be part of his family or stay under Satan's control. That's why * says, "If * were your Father, you would love me, because I came from * and am now here. ... Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire." (John 8:34-35)

Egad, I just hit the crescendo of hate speech, didn't I? The Pharisees that * was talking to in that passage were outraged! Who would want to hear that they're sons/daughters of Satan (not counting Satanists)? That is THE worst thing to hear in a church sermon.

Fact is, no one stresses on it because no one wants to believe it. But without an adoption certificate, everyone on earth is automatically doing what Satan does - rebelling against *. Deliberately disobeying * = not loving * = ergo, are you sure you're really part of *'s family? Or are you just saying "I'm so-and-so's son/daughter" for the sake of attention?

Those who aren't part of *'s family are unwittingly (or willingly) following Satan and guess where Satan's going? If following * = being led to heaven, then what happens when you run away from *?

The adoption papers are offered to every person. They can choose whether or not to sign and accept * as their Father. No signature = no sealed deal. It's not a "maybe I'm a *ian" effort. It's yes or no.

Conclusion:

If you do call yourself a *ian, check your signature sometime. Did you sign with pencil, using the excuse "I know * but I don't really obey him"? You are signing yourself in service to a King. This isn't a charity case - you are asking to be part of his family, and family doesn't mean wishy-washy goldfish who speak the right stuff just to get a gold medal at the end of a 3-yard-dash. You are signing up to be a child of the only parent who is fair, honest, loyal, and trustworthy in every aspect. (And don't use the excuse "If * loved people then yada yada" - life isn't fair to anyone, kay? Heaven is going to be fair. Earth is sponged up in disaster and that is why * will make a new heaven and earth without sin one day. But that's an entirely different lecture.)

If you aren't a *ian, you don't have to worry about this. Since * isn't your father, you don't have to obey him. You can do what you want. It is true, no one should "judge you". But when the adoption papers are called in and the will is read, your name won't be called unless you decided to sign. * has already given you the adoption papers. From hereon it's your choice whether or not you want to be part of his family. Whether or not that's important enough for you to say "I want to respect you, obey you, and prove that I am part of your family", that's your choice. It's a big deal, so don't expect a bitty prayer and an ordinary, carefree life will = heaven's golden ticket. This is the absolute decision between one family or another. There are two sides and no middle ground. You're already on a team, whether you believe it exists or not. You are the only one who can sign off for a change.

(On a latter (important) note, I have heard the question sometimes "What about little kids and the mentally disabled?" Truthfully, I can only argue from my own perspective. When a baby is adopted, does the baby sign the adoption papers? When a mentally handicapped kid is adopted, does he/she know what they are doing or why someone has put a pen in their hands? I think that when the mind can't choose for itself, * will make the decision to adopt them straightaway. I trust his mercy. If someone has never had the chance to say "yes or no" to * and are absolutely incapable of that option, I do not believe they would be ostracized from *'s family. That is my belief.)

We done here? :) You still breathing? Breeeeathe! (Ragged inhale and slow exhale) Breathe. I'm not here to shout at people. My witnessing soapbox has been packed away, you can all head down to the storyline now (provided you didn't scroll through the text already, which is perfectly understandable.)

You sure you're breathing properly? Here's some happy faces to help you relax. :) :) :) :D ;D XD 8D 8) X) (Okay, skip the dead happy face.) ;) You breathing yet?

Just think of the Polar Express quote: "The thing about trains... it doesn't matter where they're going. What matters is deciding to get on."