>For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16
Today is the beginning of Holy Week, leading us to the celebration of Easter and the celebration of our risen Lord.
Let us observe this sacred holiday by reading the gospel of Serenity, the Christian Manga, all this week.
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So concludes Chapter 1 of the Gospel of Serenity. We have only 9 more chapters to go before Easter.
I will be uploading every issue I story-time to the Holla Forums vola for private reading and reflection And because it's hard as fuck to find now-a-days and classic like this should be remembered for generations.
Of fuck this brings back memories
Legit some of the most depressing shit ive ever read
Who the fuck talks like that?
I want to cum inside Serenity while in the missionary position and gently holding her against me.
Imageboard nostalgia is some weird shit.
art and cringey dialogue aside this is legitimately believable and heartfelt. too bad most people nowadays seem to not even have the benefit of a church or community to fall back on.
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I'm not sure whether it's funny or depressing that Serenity looks like an angel in comparison to the modern woman.
Thanks, OP.
You know, its actually kinda charming in its own exploitative cringy preachy way.
Rereading this now is completely different from when I read it 10 years ago, at 16. I was an atheist then and still am now, back then I thought this was just your typical preachy comic but this time with bad anime inspired art, with an alright messaged combined with an attempt to push Christianity.
But now that I'm older and know how things work better I see it warning people about/shitting on a lot of things that are real modern issues, like retard hippie parents raising their kids into failures, and even the suspiciously jewish looking woman planting the seeds of feminist ideas into Serenity while she's still in high school and at a very vulnerable state.
Completely agree with these posts.
You forgot the last page OP :^)
Will we ever see a digital edition of this? I'm thinking of contacting the author and asking for it.
Considering this was made by an American, he was probably trying to make it sound like a poorly translated manga.
Do it. What are you waiting for?
kinda weird that Kimberly has blue hair too but only Serenity, rightfully mind you, gets shit for it. does it ever come up later?
wait, so did she sleep in the dumpster until the next day or was it only for a few hours until the prayer club? if the former, why is no one asking where she had been and if the latter why is the window not darkened in the later pages?
Nope.
Serenity didn't get shit for it. Imagine if both girls were blond and the guy just said "check out the blond"… It's the same thing here but in a world where blue hair is normal.
She stayed there till morning I think.
The students were asleep and her mom probably didn't give a shit (what more do you expect from the mother of such a misbehaving child?).
tassel is a really old and short-lived way to call someone a whore that no one younger than a middle aged strip club regular would ever use. I imagine they meant for one of the bad kids to be saying it, since they just showed a dialogue bubble with a much less slang attributed to the Christian characters, but it comes off as Derek saying it.
Guess I'll fuck off back to Holla Forums for now
CONFUSION
The worst part about this is how modern girls are actually worse now than the caricatures.
they were already worse even back when this was made, at least where I lived.
Dunno why I am enjoying this, but I am
you're right, first page here says Next Morning, and I assume they're at prayer club then. kinda weird to have a club in the morning but I guess it's even weirder to pray after school instead of before it.
Come on son.
no wonder you got singles.
don't know about you but I really get into young girls struggling to the point where if porn involves some self-harming or depression subplot I'll stop masturbating and just read.
>On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, "Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord." ~ John 12: 12 - 13
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You're quite a slow reader.
Holy shit, stop it
This is getting creepy now
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Good writing
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This concludes our study today. We'll explore the gospel of Serenity further tomorrow. Until then, may God bless and watch over you.
Why did Stan Lee plug this thing? He's a Jew.
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how long have you been here if that's what you consider creepy?
You can download the whole series at Library Genesis.
It's a regular Holla Forums thing, storytiming this around Easter.
it shows she cares more about keeping Derek away from Serenity than anything her dad told her, which is consistent.
Fixed
WITNESSED
That's the one.
I know, but last time we sang epitaph together around the end.
So, looks like Buzz Dixon (the creator of Serenity) runs a blog of his own at
buzzdixon.com
And his email is
[email protected]/* */
I just sent him an email asking about Serenity. You anons might want to do the same but please keep it presentable.
Pics related are from the old Serenity website before it died page 3 is corrupted. By this I'm sure there's a digital version of the entire comic, hopefully we can see it soon.
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And better known shit like the Rayman Origins Nymphs get barely anything.
Same here. It's probably because Serenity is so different than propaganda today. If book like this would be written by someone from current crop of authors, Serenity would not be shown as troubled, but instead as evil. On top of that, main characters would be sooner to attack her instead of trying to help or at last feel things out. It comes across as clumsy and incompetent, but well intentioned and mostly genuine.
Granted, my last comic before this was America #2, so it might have swayed my judgement.
Probably not. Realbuzz shut down almost a decade ago. However, self publishing through Amazon or something like that could be easy enough if is right and digital copies (still) exist.
no, she'd come off as infallible and fix everyone else's problem. either that or she'd just be a blank slate for someone else to project onto.
this fucking thing has a wiki what the fuck.
serenity-realbuzz.wikia.com
Why didn't we listen?
I forgot to edit my post. Instead "Serenity" I meant "Serenity-like character," with roles being reversed. In that case prayer club would be changed to LGBT alliance or something, and Serenity to kid troubled due to growing up in a Christian family with mother and father.
is this where the christian manga meme came from?
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Yup
This is kinda cringey to pretty much terrible then to how accurate the modern state of Christianity is in America by its enemies, amazing.
how was Derek able to get out of the house if the locked the door?
You know, despite being a teen ex-drug addict skank teen with kleptomania problems, Serenity somehow manages to be adorable in a peculiar way. Dialogue is still cringeworthy, and I am sure the artist probably had a thing for feet given she's either barefoot or wears sandals most of the time. Those toeless stockings are pretty telling as well.
How old is she anyway? Back cover says she is 5 feet tall, so she's either really short or she's still growing up which would make the fact she's probably already taken several dicks up her ass kinda hotter, I guess.
5 feet isn't abnormal for a late teenager, especially one shown to have a poor diet and posture.
Wait a second.
I only just realized now what a womanlet Serenity is.
Womenlet are for tender hugging and cuddling
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Is God a Pajeet?
I knew a ton of girls like that in college. It's pretty short, but not terribly uncommon.
My Life Me, the manga.
>Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ~ Matthew 5 15 - 16
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It gets cringier by the post
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oh shit, is that Archie and Betty as old people?
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May the lord bless and keep you until tomorrow.
Serenity's a fucking saint, much more than her high horsed friends.
"Gluten up" is just such perfect fake slang. I want to somehow make it real.
She's got a beatific halo going on in this page.
Kid probably got raped, fostercare is a pedophile paradise
What did they do that's so evil exactly?
And of course it's the fat kid saying it.
This is why black people have so many heart problems, he's saying gluten up but we all know hes going to be eating burgers and fries.
Just wait. You'll see.
>Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. ~ John 16:32
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May the lord bless you and keep you until tomorrow.
?????
"Yeah yeah, sure sure, whatever"
The real mystery is what they're saying in . Even our best loremasters haven't been able to crack it.
I dont know why but maybe I read this comic to much but this comic is unironically good
Its a story tackling the ideals of children who for all their life have been stuck in christian communities all their life until they meet a bad apple who wants to change her life around. And as a result both of them learn a valuable lessons in growing up.
brings tears to my eyes
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I can never get enough Serenity OC,
What the fuck is that supposed to mean?
I wouldn't call the setting a Christian community given that there's less than 10 people in a voluntary prayer club.
oh god, don't tell me the art changes to that. she looks like a little boy.
I'd make Serenity agape if you know what I mean >:)
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Seems about as /christian/ as twitter.com
Like family. Fam.
BUZZ REPLIED!!!
What did you write to him?
That's private.
But I can post the part that matters:
Thinking of tracking down this "publisher" Buzz is talking about (most probably gonna be Harbour) and contacting it about re-releasing the comic.
Man, I still have that picture saved from when it was first made 5 years ago Time really flies.
Oh, wait, never mind, yours is different. Have the one from 5 years ago then.
Good job Andrew.
gay is more like it
where's the next fucking volume?
Mind the language…
lel, I read that in a black man's voice.
Anime goes on /a/.
>>Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. ~ Luke 7:47
Sorry, I almost forgot.
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what did she mean by this?
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Away, ignoramus, for this is neither anime nor manga.
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the art's getting a lot worse this batch.
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Wow, that first page is actually pretty funny.
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May the Lord bless you and keep you until tomorrow.
I feel weird, I'm both Ironically and Unironically enjoying this… is that even possible?
the art and dialogue is laughable but the overall plot and character interaction is legitimately interesting, or at least way better than I was expecting.
I'm feeling it too.
There's something about it that just feels genuine even with bad art. Something about the plot and character feels realer more than any comic I've read in a very long time.
It's heavily flawed, but but you can see that they were trying to do something legitimately heartfelt. And because of that, the flaws almost add to the experience. The flaws show that even though they were insanely out of touch with the dialogue, and the artistic skill is sub deviantart, they still tried to do something meaningful. It doesn't seem like this is exploitative, church sanctioned propaganda,even though it looks like it is. Rather it's a bunch of passionate individuals, of "varying" degrees of "talent" trying to do some good in the world. It's like when a kindergartner draws some shit, and it looks like some eldritch abomination, but you can just tell they tried so hard that you end up putting it on the fridge anyway.
IDK, maybe it's just my upbringing, but beneath the crap stuff it just seems like this is a legitimately heartfelt attempt to reach out to people…
Yea pretty much it
It honestly oozes out passion.
If we saw this on deviant art or tumblr first instead of it being a book series I wonder how their communities would have reacted.
(They would probably not feel the honesty/passion behind it because of it's art, it's message, and because its not some fanart of some shitty show).
I agree with this post, especially the "trying to do something legitimately heartfelt" part. I believe they were just trying to help out young teenagers by trying (in vain) to appeal to what they though was hip at the time. It gives me that innocent feeling of childhood, before I was constantly hounded by thoughts of how shit everything really is.
Having read this now, I'm kind of bothered that this has the reputation that it has. I guess it's just that it came out back when chan-culture was dominated by semi-militant atheists who just saw it as some cringy christian comic (though they're not totally wrong). Also, mid-2000s, so the whole world was on an anti-conservative, anti-religious kick thanks to Bush. It's a shame, especially given that it's practically more socially relevant now than it was back then.
Anons, I think the reason this is actually an enjoyable read, is because it is believable. Speaking as a Christian myself, far too often Christian writings of most kinds, there are exceptions, pain Christians as the perfect patron saints. Never struggling, always calm, always at peace. It's not human. That's what this comic does, it actually makes Christians what they are, humans. Flaws and all. No Christian is perfect, no Christian ever will be perfect, all we do is strive for the perfection we see in Christ.
I think that's why this comic is so good. It's actually something that's human.
Something to keep in mind, back in the day this really was one of the cringiest things around, those were the days when our dankest memes were Cock Mongler, happy negro, longcat, and the most popular macro was "No U".
We're just jaded with how much worse shit we've seen now. Thanks to the internet being filled with so much awful shit nowadays, and the comic being right about a lot of things, this actually aged well.
YES!
Even the cringe attempts to appeal to the youth, it feels like this was written by PEOPLE, for PEOPLE. The characters have weird quirks (mostly failed attempts to be hip), but it's very human.
Dude, same.
That why I initially said > maybe it's just my upbringing
I was raised in a devoutly Catholic family, since my mom turned to religion after she finally divorced my dad (DV). I grew up on stuff like this, that's why this intrigued me in the first place. I speak from a place of having seen a ton of things like this, for better or for worse, and I have to say this series stands out from what I've seen before. I think the fact that it's aimed at an "older" audience helps, since it can tackle actual issues instead of euphemisms for issues. It's sadly kind of rare for evangelist writing to address serious problems like drug abuse and family issues in a direct, semi-real manner to a younger audience but this pulls it off surprisingly well (i know from experience).
Roman Catholic myself, and I agree. It does really well to humanize it's fictional characters and it actually has dark moments too, without it going too edgy for shock or anything.
I think this one about the alcohol problem is a good example. It's a pretty relatable story as we've all heard stories or seen people like this. And it didn't need to show the kid dying or have an insane event of drug abuse for shock.
And there's something about the arguing in these books that actually feels real. No roundabout ways of trying to feel complex, no shouting about nothing important. But it's a slow build that just piles on, not needing big hurtful words. But the look and the face of the mother is all that we need to actually know the depths of pain of what she thinks her daughter thinks about her is poignant as all hell.
Sorry is this is being spergy Anons but there's something really genuine about these books that you just don't see at all anymore, in books, television, comics, or games.
Truly a blessing on our Holla Forums - Christian Imageboard
The failure of the dialogue is what reminds us of our own attempts to be hip or say things that didn't come out right. And sometimes it's that Cringe that makes this book….human.
holy shit this chink stereotype.
Also, having drifted in and out of a few CYOs, I can tell you that kids who really are deep into this are actually this socially awkward. Like they do actually talk this way… and it's just as hard not to laugh in real life as it is while reading this. pic unrelated (just got done praying ironically)
I knew this one, I assume, hardcore Christian girl a long time ago who always compared everything to Garfield and Star Wars. She was a social basket case.
Yeah, I've met those kind too. I'm so glad I didn't have that kind of upbringing. If go far enough into religion, and forcibly cut your kids off from society, it's basically like giving them autism.
Her mom, dad and sister were completely normal though so maybe she just had the tism.
It's hard to tell though…
I want to put my penis into Serenity.
just remember the rules…
catechism.cc
i think that's in the good book somewhere.
It's also because you have women written as actual women, which I think is an even bigger shocker.
Not only that, we have flawed women as well in this comic.
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Dad swears like a sailor, because he is one, mom is a South Park junkie and the sister is a massive skank, so really I doubt she's a product of her environment.
no seriously, what the fuck does this mean? urban dictionary only shows results for cop cars, drugs and testicles.
a tragically out of touch way of saying money. also,
From context it obviously means the cash.
To be fair, urban dictionary doesn't know much about slang either. You are just as likely to find a word/definition that someone just made up for shits and giggles once, as you are a word/definition that is actually used in dialogue.
>And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. ~ Matthew 26:26-29
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was the borderline fetishism really necessary?
I can't get past the art. It's like twelve year old how to draw manga and then post it to deviantartier.
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It's my first time reading this, and it's quite enjoyable even with the terrible artwork. I have to ask, however, how many more issues are there and are there any more dilemmas for the cast to go through? Serenity is already improving her life, and I doubt there is more that could go wrong for her, besides the love triangle.
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>>And while he yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss? Luke 22:47-48
May the Lord watch over you, until tomorrow.
it wouldn't be a manga if it wasn't littered with endless meandering drama.
Wait, they just casually mention Kim was adopted in some after text?
And Asian… because, ya know… we could tell…
Well, I'll be damned. It's a proto-Big Red.
They go through a bunch of meandering movie scripts first but it's definitely going somewhere.
Sadly Lori's lesbian subtext, like Tim's issues at the rave, don't actually get explored in the manga. Hopefully in the novels Buzz mentions in .
Both her parents are blonde, so you could already guess.
Fuck I love this comic and I'm a full blown fedoratipping atheist.
HAHAHAHA
gaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
This comic is surprisingly very clear sighted on the nature of everyone, the dialogue is unrealistic but the people are frighteningly real.
That Serenity in costume is surprisingly well drawn, you can even tell she's a womanlet, which you can't most of the time in the actual comic.
So the artist can draw, he probably just needs a really fucking long time to do it.
Or is that thing traced? That wouldn't be a very christian thing to do.
third page here makes a bit more sense now.
Oh wow.
Deepest lore.
could Christ be still alive?
Honestly, other than the cheese, the only thing I dislike about Serenity is the ending. I got the feeling she didn't become a Christian because she really believed, but instead because she had no other friends. I hope the writer can continue it someday, though.
maybe it's a different artist
also I doubt they required the artist be a christian
Jesus isn't coming back soon enough to end it all.
Only makes sense if she's better not worse
Sorry lad, mistyped, meant worse. Girls need Jesus like that cunt who went to live with the Amish for a couple weeks and turned out non-degenerate.
Got sauce on this story?
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I'm not sure how I feel about this whole thing. It's oddly good especially for a christian manga. I went in thinking it was gonna be stupid but got legit invested
Chapter 6 was relatively weak. Basically just a FAQ of Christian recruitment propaganda that handwaives any arguments against it.
I get that they have to throw it in at some point, but the character development is the better part of the comic.
Reminds me of Blue Monday, but with shit art.
Happy Good Friday, thanks for keeping the tradition alive.
Is blue monday even good?
It was cute, kind of like Archie with a lot of smoking.
This was surprisingly good. Its pretty accurate to the current political climate and human behavior, but the art style keeps me a bit distanced. Although to be frank I wonder if I would enjoy the art more if it wasn't in color like an actual manga?
>Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. ~ John 19:1-7
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the bad art makes it seem more genuine to me. it's just good enough that it's consistent but not so good that it comes off as overproduced. I guess it's the difference between a child drawing of a big robot and a 30 million dollar render.
The art actually looks a bit better here.
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I'm liking this more than I thought I would. I usually hate most lip designs but they're doing a nice job with them here.
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>When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar. >John 19:13-15
WEW
Best Mom Eva
>Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha: Where they crucified him, and two other with him, on either side one, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS. This title then read many of the Jews: for the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin. Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews. Pilate answered, What I have written I have written. ~ John 19:16-22
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>After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. ~ John 19:28-30
I forgot about that page. Fuckin' brutal.
Lori THROWING herself on Serenity. She wants it.
Glad to see you guys haven't forgotten about the movie arc.
Art-wise it improved on the original arc, but the story is now geared more towards "the life of a bunch of kids" rather than "a girl getting to know Christ". The Christian influences are barely there.
way to reel in the foot fetishists.
you're not from around here are you
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He's ethnically Jewish but not religious one way or the other, despite coming up with pic related. Someone asked him if there's a God and he said:
avclub.com
He is the guy who came up with Stripperella after all, and also filmed a stripclub scene in Deadpool which he apparently enjoyed.
My best guess on why he gave the kind words about this is the creators sent it to him and he responded to be nice.
Okay, we're supposed to take it that she masturbated in the bath, right? I'm not just a dirty perv for coming to that conclusion?
she likes it so much now that she never intends to remove it
do you even childhoot?
childhood
"I'm so fucked up…"
The very next page she's not wearing it any more though. So I still have my suspicions.
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how much more is there?
checking to see if this thread is bumplocked or not.
post limit is 300
so should we make a new thread?
not at page 4, let it go a little longer
judging from that paper there I get the feeling Kim knows she's adopted and takes her frustrations out on her brothers.
has OP abandoned us?
Eli Eli lama sabachthani?!
I'm dump some crops I made while waiting for a new thread.
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And that's all
Wait, Christian stories really do that?
I've always liked the idea of a knight who is in constant internal struggle against sin while on some sort of Crusade, meets some Saracen who he turns Christian and they quest together.
And now I'm an atheist…