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dancing-crystals · 9 days

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The innkeeper and his wife, the coachman, they were expecting a middle-aged businessman, too arrogant to listen, too cynical to even believe the warnings are well-meant, too confident in his own science and religion to listen to anyone else. Someone with enough worldly experience that he might recognize Dracula as a threat even if he doesn't understand the nature of the threat. Someone important and well-connected enough that he's too risky to kill, old and dull enough not to be interesting enough to toy with.

It was a comfort, to know there was no way to save him. Another comfort, that he would be useful and boring enough to be spared, and canny enough to spot the danger.

Then Jonathon Harker shows up, young and earnest and innocent. He praises the food and asks for recipes for his young bride-to-be back home, and they can see in his face how in love he is. They see too his enthusiasm, his fascination. He blushes when he looks at the women and averts his eyes, he consults his phrase book so he can better give compliments.

He's young enough to be their son. Maybe the innkeeper has a child close to Jonathon's age--a son just starting his own life, a daughter a little younger peeking through the door and sighing at the handsome traveler. Or maybe their child would have been Jonathon's age, if only--but no, they must not think that.

But they do think it, and so the innkeeper's wife begs him to take the rosary "for your mother's sake" and it's not really Jonathon she's talking to. The innkeeper whispers to his friends and customers and old gossips, and they pass it to the passengers on the coach. The coachman is taken back too, the money the Count sent weighing heavily in his pocket. To refuse to drive him means death, to warn him is pointless.

Everyone on the couch is older than Jonathon, old enough to know what the devil in the castle does to the young and earnest and innocent. They all carry their own protections, and one by one they offer them to this poor fool who doesn't understand and wouldn't believe, but he's too polite to refuse and kind enough to see their concern and be touched by it.

The coachman drives his horses like he is fleeing from the devil instead of to him, and they all hope, pray, it will be enough.

#Dracula #jonathon harker #dracula daily

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roll-for-gaslight · 2 months

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While I think Sklonda is right to be critical of the Bad Kids and specifically Kristen, I think that a lot of the reason she did so is that she was missing a lot of context the other parents were given. We see in Freshman Year that she’s often given the information about their quests from Riz, several hours after the fact, and he shares clues with her rather than personal things. He doesn’t think the personal bits are what she cares about because, for him, that’s not the problem being solved. He’s happy with his friends and she only really would hear if one of them caused a problem. Her apartment isn’t a hangout like Seacaster Manor, Mordred Manor, the Thistlespring Tree, or even Gilear’s season one apartment were. By the nature of her being a single working mother in a difficult financial situation, she often was left out of extracurricular activities.

For example, Mordred is obviously a place filled with a lot of activity, and plenty of kids to give updates on said activity if something slips through the cracks of someone’s retelling. If Adaine leaves out a personal moment because she’s focused on the case, Fig or Kristen or even Ragh could fill in that blank, plus the fact that the other BKs spend a lot of time there means that Sandralynn, Jawbone, and Lydia are usually getting every side of every story. The Thistlespring Tree is where the Bad Kids go not just because it’s a nice place to spend time, but because it’s often directly tied into a plot or subplot! The power source in season one, the satellite in season two, and Gorgug’s artificer journey + the whole Frosty Faire thing going on now! Besides that, the Thistlesprings have raised Gorgug in a way that encourages open channels of communication about his emotions above all else, so he tells them what’s going on! Fabian’s parents over at Seacaster Manor haven’t been involved so much this season, but Bill Seacaster saw their bond from the start and taught them how to take care of each other and fight as a group, and Gilear has always been heavily involved in their adventures because all of the BKs have been emotionally invested in him as well!

Aside from that, she’s missing the context of actually being able to attend their quests like some other parents/guardians were able to in Sophomore Year! Gilear and Cathilda and Sandralynn all know things like the fact that everyone was worried about Riz and called him their little angel when he was gone and that Kristen saved him almost at the expense of her own life in the Nightmare King’s forest. She never sees them together, the way they’ll risk everything for each other when the chips are down, the way they all show they care in little ways all the time ( like Fig giving him the card or Fabian’s gifts in Freshman Year). She doesn’t understand that while “the Ball” may have come from a bully on the first day of school, it turned into a term of endearment! She doesn’t see how hard they’ve been trying this year to pass their classes and such, not because it matters to them, but because they know it’s important to Riz. He never even explained the whole needing scholarships thing to them! He showed up with folders on the first day, stressed out of his mind about all of them passing together, and basically decided to get their shit together! Sure, it took Kristen and Fig a little while to do it, but that’s because they were struggling to build better habits!

I also understand how she could think Riz does all of the heavy lifting: when he presents the clues to her and he’s their lead investigator, do you think she assumed other people did the finding? Absolutely not! She doesn’t see the way they put things together by focusing on their individual strengths; she only sees Riz trying to put it all together and find the connections. Why would she know that a lot of the investigative work was done by Adaine and Kristen in sophomore year because so much of it had to do with religion? She wouldn’t!

All this to say: Sklonda is a good mom for checking in with Riz, but she also has a narrow view of things that no one else has. If she were to be exposed to the BKs more often and actually pay attention to how things work between them, I think she would be much more understanding.

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tiramisuwithmascarpone · 20 days

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Hello! I'm a 15-year-old devotee of both Lord Hermes and Lady Aphrodite who is raised in an extremely Orthodox Christian household, and I would like to share my story with you ⋆˚ʚɞ

Hi! for safety reasons I will not use the name I usually use online for this account, but you can call me Jellyfish. I live in Eastern Europe, more exactly Romania, a country whose population is 98% devoted to Christianity at the time of speaking. My mother is a perfect example. She wholeheartedly believes in God, I grew up with pictures of him and the Holy Mary all over the walls, which I wouldn't escape even at my grandparent's houses. My house always smelled of myrrh, I would carry a picture of God everywhere I went, I would pray to him before bed, go to church on every holiday, but I never felt fulfilled or connected to him in any way. I didn't truly know what I believed in. My mother was telling me all about how should I praise God, but I don't think I ever did it because I wanted to or felt connected to what she was telling me or felt like it was the life I wanted to live. When she would fight with my father, even now, she would threaten that she would run away to a monastery and become a nun. She thinks you cannot change your religion and you can not be Christian if you were born with Christian parents and raised in that environment. I did not have faith in God because I wanted to and felt connected to his message and wanted to worship his divine being, I did it because my mother felt that way. And that destroyed me.

As I grew older, I started believing less and less in God. I was struggling with going through teenagehood, fighting my own inner battles, and dealing with friendship that slowly felt like they were taking away my lifespan, and it wasn't just that I didn't have faith in a divine being (which is completely alright. Please do not believe this monologue is Anti-Christian, I believe everyone is allowed to believe and worship the one who they feel most connected and inclined towards.) I didn't have faith in anything anymore. When my brother reached 15, he hated my parents for their beliefs. I will not get much I detail since his story is not mine to tell, but he had battled with alcohol and substance abuse. And I was his only shoulder for him and my parents to lean and cry on. My mother told me to pray for our family, she would pray to god every day, light up myrrh, take me to churches, and I would feel miserable. I felt like an imposter in that church. I truly wanted to have faith in a god, anyone, but I felt like my only choice was God since that's what my mother taught me. Both my parents trust God so I cannot be different, can I?

How foolish I was. I can only look back to my past self and wish to embrace and hold her till she cries all her sorrow out. She was so confused.

Back in 2022, I had first heard of Aphrodite. My brother was sent to a mental hospital for his substance abuse when they caught him on the verge of overdosing. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder after a suicide attempt, autism and ADHD, but my father (who already couldn't accept the fact that my brother has ADHD) fought with them saying they ,,don't know me well enough" and,,there's nothing wrong with me". And he's right, there's nothing wrong with me. Not even If I am neurodivergent. I was at my lowest, I felt disgusting, I fought with my parents and was their therapist every single day, I stopped going to school, I was a mess. But, I was heavily active on social media because I had tons of online friends. While scrolling on tiktok, I found a video of an Aphrodite devotee. My interest was piqued. I heard about Greek Mythology before but never actually researched it. I liked the video and commented, talking about how gorgeous their faith sounds, and that's when it all started. I started getting more info about Aphrodite, the swans swum by me every time I would go to the lake with my family so we could ,,get some fresh air". I started getting lots of pins on Pinterest with her. I always had a desire for water and the beach was my safe place, where I felt fulfilled and free from all I'm feeling. I had a Dove make itself a nest on a tree next to the window of my classroom which I would always sit by while having lunch (on the rare occasions I would drop by to school). I started researching more about Lady Aphrodite, loving her story, beliefs, ways of worshipping, how it felt like silence was washing over me when I would make a non-physical offering to her. Her tales. The way it felt like she was always there to give me a warm hug and squeeze me while I was crying. I also felt a boost in my confidence! I started loving my features, taking care of myself again, etc. It wasn't always just sun and rainbows, I would still have breakdowns and wish it would all just end and all that, but it was more bearable with her. She made my life more bearable. I love, worship, and adore Lady Aphrodite for that. I worshipped her till this year when I officially felt strong enough to devote myself to her.

This year, actually, I started noticing my strong connection to Hermes. I was always attracted to the kind-hearted, mischievous, kind-hearted, highly intelligent and funny thieves. I always idolized them and wished to be like them. That's how I feel about Lord Hermes. I feel like he was reaching out to me all my life. Everything he is associated with I had an inexplicable obsession with for pretty much all my life. Turtles, golden or silver, travel, learning new languages, astronomy, astrology, everything you could think of. I have been devoted to him since last month, that's when I officially started labeling myself as a Hellenic Pagan, but I am still a beginner, and I need to hide all of this from my mother since I am afraid of what she would do if she were to find out I have another belief since she reacted super badly back when I was an atheist :( I set up the first altar for Lady Aphrodite, and the second one for Lord Hermes. I always had been an artistic soul and loved making my room all pretty randomly so I told my mother this is one of those cases and she believed it. She does not know english and is not at all cultured about any beliefs besides Christians, Muslims, and Jews. They are both hidden in my closet. I feel very bad for not being able to make them a bigger and more obvious altar, I hope I'll have that chance when I move out from my parent's house..

I wanted to ask if Lord Hermes would be mad if my mom kept setting random things on his altar? she even put a picture of the Holy Mary. I moved it to the other side of the closet and made a DIY necklace for him out of orange garnet or beads to apologize to him, and he didn't seem mad, but I'm not sure...I sketched drawings of both of them and rested them on their altars. Everything you see are either offerings I heard they may like or things that reminded me of them! the little notebook on Hermes's altar is specifically made for learning new languages and thought he would enjoy it. Do you guys think any of my offerings are disrespectful? or should be removed? I'm open to any advice! Thank you for listening to my story <3

#aphrodite #aphrodite devotee #hermes devotee #hellenic pagan #hellenic #pagan #newbie

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aeonknight · 27 days

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People keep talking about Fantasy High Senior Year and what it might be. Here's my hot take. I don't think we need or should have a Senior Year. The bad kids are at the ends of their arcs, they don't have anywhere to go, really. Everything that's been set up has payed off. There's nothing to do in Senior Year.

Fabian is living up to his father's legacy and is an amazing sword fighter and is living up to his mother's by being a bard, plus he's accepted Gilear as his step dad. Whats his arc for season four? Having younger siblings? That's not a strong enough foundation for a season arc.

What about Fig? She's found love, she's found something she REALLY enjoys doing in life and a fulfilling existence, to the point where she doesn't even want to go to Agueforth anymore and Emily has expressed a ton of interest in retiring the character.

Riz's arc is all about learning to let go and to let himself drift away from the rest of the party, and he's done that by now. He's realized that always trying to be the best is not good for him via seeing himself in Kipperlilly. He needs a break, not another season of hard adventuring.

Kristen is all about recruiting people to the church fo Cassandra. When they inevitably defeat Ankarna and she's restored, the two religions are very likely to merge. At that point she'll have converted Fig and she's well on her way to recruiting Bucky and maybe even Buddy by the end of the season, and she knows now that a church with only a few dedicated members is possible, and she's seen in Wolfsong that expanding it is not always for the best.

Adaine's arc was about breaking away and living independently from her parents, learning to be an adult. She's fully done that. She's employed as the Elven Oracle full time, she's reconnected with her sister, and she's found a new family to love. Forcing her to go through another season when she's already grown up makes no sense.

Finally, Gorgug. Gorgug's arc has been about learning how to handle his rage since the very beginning, season one episode one. He's done that. He is the first person in history to be able to concentrate on spells while raging. He's learned to harness his rage and turn it towards protection instead of harm, and he's recently made the connection with his parents even stronger.

None of the Bad Kids have anywhere to go. Even though they have futures, stories to tell, those stories aren't going to happen in high school, and they're probably not going to happen together. There is no world in which the Bad Kids need a senior year, and I suspect that the ending of Junior Year will see them all either quitting school, graduating early, or graduating normally and going to college in an epilogue. They'll stay friends for life, maybe. Or they'll grow apart because who you are in high school doesn't define you. But they'll all live fulfilling and joyous and happy lives, finally free and self actualized.

#fantasy high junior year #dimension 20 #fantasy high #fantasy high spoilers #fantasy high junior year spoilers #fantasy high senior year #i guess

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writingforatwistedworld · 2 years

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Uh h, happy birthday to me fjkekebrvjf-- u ye u said I could request so I will bfoenebbf,, thank u once again for that oml ilysm u the best <3<3<3<3

Anyway, what about Malleus, Azul and Vil reacting to the mc's birthday??? How would they celebrate it? Would they do anything special?? I've personally never had a birthday party dedicated to me myself n my friends tell me it's really sad- would they hold one for the MC on their birthday?? Would they give gifts?? (Self aware au btw pleas--)

To maybe summarise it, uhm, would the characters do a birthday party or anything else special to the MC if it was their bday?? Please I'm 18 now I want a birthday party dedicated to myself for once... thank u once again u made my day Veil fblenevfv--

Happy birthday! I wish you the best for the coming year! I'm sure that one day you can celebrate your birthday properly. Never give up on hope!

Self-aware au

I do not take any responsibility for you reading this no matter which age group you are from!

WARNINGS: Yandere themes, obsession, possessiveness, unhealthy relationship, death, murder, religion

Azul Ashengrotto/Vil Schoenheit/Malleus Draconia-Players birthday

No matter where you look the Overseers birthday was a worldwide event

And believe it or not but *gasp* he doesn't use this to earn money

Azul always loved it. Even when he was a child

The palace would always prepare a huge concert with a lot of good and way too expensive food people usually couldn't afford on a normal basis (which led to his early love for the day)

His mother, father and he would always bake a cake for you, putting it on the window still

Sadly they had to take it down since... well cake is made out of material which deteriorates you know...

Did he stop though when he was in Night Raven College?

Nope. Nu-uh. I would even dare to say that it's even more grand

Baking isn't exactly what he is best at but cooking... I think his food is better than anything the gods of Olympus could have whipped up

Well, from a darker perspective it is a lot of food waste but hey! Your birthday is only once a year so screw that

Jade and Floyd know that they should, no, have to make a wide circle around the desk those delicacies are standing on

Why? Well, there was once that first-year snatching something. It wasn't even much but... you remember those transformed merpeople in Urulas cave? Mhm and the rest is up to your imagination

And also a small hope is connected to this

He is doing so much for you. Doesn't that mean that he is worthy of you? Doesn't that mean he could have a chance? Please tell him!

When you logged in on your birthday he was saying his line calmly but on the inside he wanted to grasp through the threats which held him in place and hold you properly, tell you properly how happy he was

Members of the Octavinelle dorm know to get a present for you even if they have to sell a kidney

Wouldn't want to end up like the brother of the fool who snatched some of the food

Mhm Ursulas cave again but at least they have each other so that the neverending pain and taunting voice of their oh-so-generous dorm leader isn't too bad. Just bad enough to drive them insane of course

And if you were already in TWST then please, indulge a bit in what he prepared

Otherwise even I don't know what he would do

I think Snow White and the Fairest Queen have switched roles

Why? Well the sun rises, the birds are singing and Vil is opening the windows like some Disney princess, saying in a elated voice that today is the day of perfection

Vils morning routine is already taking (in my opinion) way too long and is way too polishing even for a model like him

But today? Ohboyohboyohboy....

All I am saying is that he went to bed the day before and woke up up three hours earlier than he usually would

The whole dorm looks like it's a mirror, that's how intense they scrubbed it to prepare for this day

Vil even paid Epel and allowed him to be a bit laxer in his skincare routine in exchange if the first year would use his apple carving skills for decorative purposes (jokes on us Epel still looks like he is ready to compete with a beginners model because this is the day and he wants to be good for you as well)

But what has he planned for the day?

Of course a celebration and when I say that those are real diamonds on that present over there's as mere decoration for the wrapping then I'm serious

The entire day Pomfiore is doing nothing else but praising your perfection and how wonderful you are that you allow them to celebrate this day as well

Not so low-key offended when he sees someone not celebrating your birthday

Well, suddenly he is using his special magic to make sure that they are celebrating or the poison will... shorten their life at midnight

But this isn't about him

This is about the perfect being from another world who was even capable of making the Fairest Queen bow in front of their perfection

Rook knows not to hunt today or rather not animals

You see Vil can poison as much as he wants but even a dorm leader runs out of juice for their magic sooner or later

And this is where Rook enters under the order of his Faires Queen

Now let's say you are already in their world

You are rich (if you weren't from Malleus before) is all I'm saying

This man has money and he will make sure to use it wisely (aka bury you in a mountain of stuff which would cost a normal person two hears of their payment)

But please don't deny him the joy of celebrating your birthday or greeting you on your birthday!

Otherwise he might think you have been dirtied somewhere and need some... polishing...

It's the Overseer birthday! Offer the presents to the church, pray so that they feel your well wishes and burn all the traitors!!!

And this, my dear friends, is how the Valley of Thorns celebrates your birthday

Malleus started to love this day very early in his life which leads to him putting it over his very own birthday

It was one of the few days he was able to have a proper meeting with his grandmother (even though they only ate dinner together and chatted about how great you are)

This was also the day he would hold a grand speech about your wisdom, your perfection and most of all how mighty you were

So, a hundred years later and they are sitting as students in a place filled with little children (in their eyes at least)

Well now they have a way smaller budget and also they are far away from home so they need to tome do-no

Malleus would rather stab himself in the heart with a sword than making any cuts on this day

Even though he can't just waltz up to a church here but that doesn't mean you will be any less praised

Finest silk, jewelry made from gold and much, much more are being bought by him only to be sent back home to the church

And the dorm? Well the dorm is... how do I say this without disturbing you?

Well they are... celebrating... not like the other dorm though...

You see, the other ones were already extra but this is Diasomnia we are talking about

Even if there would have been school on that day (which isn't because it's a holiday)they wouldn't have gone to class

Heck, they would have probably ripped of the Headmages head if that would have been the case

And when he was done saying his well wishes on his day he fell over like a Disney princess in those dramatic scenes

So now that we know how special they are let's talk about you being in their world on that certain day

If you really, really need to see what they have prepared for you then do it in a bush whilst watching from the distance

That's because they would take you and send you straight to the Valley because the celebration over there is, in their words, “more fitting for you”

Safe to say you won't return after that happened

Just enjoy the other dorms, smell the flowers and stay away from the green

Malleus isn't even angry because it's your wish not to participate in their celebration

“Lilia, is that Overseer in the bush? It is, right? Maybe they are just too shy to come to us. We could show them Briar Valley after making sure that they haven't been scratched from the twigs, right?”

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theteablogger · 3 months

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Why do you think that Andy specifically uses fandom to build cults/manipulate people, rather than more conventional religious or spiritual ideas?

This post is pretty long, but well worth a read, and gives a number of reasons why fandom has been the most convenient avenue for Andy to abuse people. Here are a few excerpted points:

Fandom has an unending, always-increasing, EXTREMELY OPEN supply of victims. [...] In real life, people are very unlikely to come up to you, sobbing, stumbling, and generally in extreme distress, and open up to you about their extensive emotional damage, their deepest, darkest secrets and fantasies, the subjects that are central to their passions, their enjoyment of life, and (in extremity) their willingness to keep breathing for another day - yes here’s the complete list - and their extreme sensitivity to certain stimuli that will quite possibly leave them shaking, their heads spinning, and their minds wide open to all sorts of fuckery - yes, here’s the other complete list. Because that would be giving a predator the keys to the kingdom, and people are distrusting enough in the offline world that they’re hardly going to leave that open for every stranger to examine, digest, and consider at length. On Tumblr, that’s sometimes contained just in the blog header. [...] An abundance of vulnerable teenage girls and naive twentysomethings. [...] A lack of parental supervision. A lot of people in fandom are HIDING from their parents. Excellent! It means the ONLY authority figures are authoritative, wise, kindly BNFs… ones who are so concerned for socially-isolated, mentally-ill teens…

As I noted in my reblog of that post, Andy did add elements of various religions into his cults, especially as a means of explaining how "channeling" worked and why it was a legitimate practice:

Remember, when he was first getting his claws into Abbey, how he went on and on about how a “pagan priestess” told him that elves, hobbits, etc. were real? This was the person who allegedly told him that he was a “Rare Lesbian Paladin” and that these spirits were reaching out and communicating through him. Supposedly the “Great Mother” was connecting to Abbey through Pippin, which makes no sense, and occasionally he would throw in the names of a god or two that was actually worshiped by some past culture. Apparently this evolved into an actual religious…thing. I hesitate to say “practice” because it doesn’t seem to have been organized at all, but in her AMA, Abbey elaborated a little on the Tolkien-influenced “pagan” thing he was doing with her, Diamond, and Little Sam. She also said that toward the end of their involvement, he was trying to get her into Catholicism.

#andythanfiction #thanfiction #andrew blake #andy blake #religion

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laurelsofhighever · 1 year

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Sometimes I just think about how dicey the relationship must be between the Chantry and Ferelden.

On the one hand, Ferelden was the birthplace of Andrastianism - the saviour of southern Thedas was an Alamarri barbarian too stubborn to fall under the yoke of her Tevinter masters, the only one worthy of getting the Maker to turn his gaze back to His children - but on the other hand, the Chantry has done so much to distance itself from those roots, from centring the faith in Val Royeaux’s Grand Cathedral to dismissing folk songs like “Andraste’s Mabari” as borderline heresy.

More than that, it had an active role in the subjugation of the Fereldan people. During the events of The Stolen Throne, the mages in Kinlock Hold are shown to be afraid of getting involved in the politics of the rebellion by harbouring Maric even for a single night because Circles are meant to remain neutral. AND YET mages from Orlais are brought specifically to Gwaren to help the Orlesians squash the rebels. Mother Bronach is there throughout Meghren’s reign legitimising his oppression as “the will of the Maker” and extracting tithes from the Fereldan people for the Chantry, while it’s strongly implied that Fereldans themselves are barred from serving any meaningful role in its hierarchy, if you pay attention to what Sister Ailis says.

So we have a source of national pride in Andrastianism itself, and we have a source of suspicion with how closely tied the Chantry as an institution is tied to Orlais, and possible resentment for the Chantry’s encouragement of indifference to the Orlesian Occupation. You can’t tell me the Rebel Queen Moira didn’t play into the imagery of Andraste the Liberator, fighting back against the tyranny of an unjust empire. You can’t tell me she didn’t use the people’s faith as a weapon to refute the idea of the Occupation being the Maker’s will. At the very least, you can’t tell me that after the war was done, nobody made that connection, given that she, too, met her end through betrayal.

And then we get to the Inquisition. There’s going to be a bit of a difference depending on who ends up on the throne after the Blight, because Alistair is far more outspoken than Anora both on his opinion of mage rights and his disdain for the Chantry in general (but he’s also an ex-templar so I’m sure there are headaches about how to square that away), but no matter who rules Ferelden, the actions of the Inquisition are the same. For the second time in living memory, a foreign power is giving itself free rein to tramp over Fereldan soil, seize its castles, and make decisions for its people. A foreign power with pretty strong ties to the Chantry (declared heretical or not), justifying their occupation through religion.

Just saying, Fereldans must have a complicated relationship with their majority religion.

And don’t get me started on my theory that the Chantry sanctioned the original invasion of Ferelden as a way to have an exalted march without spending money or effort or making other Andrastian nations nervous

#dragon age meta #dragon age #ansrastianism #the chantry #fuck the chantry #mage rights #orlais #ferelden

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greensaplinggrace · 9 months

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🔥 Aleksander's mommy issues and if that plays a role in his relationships

I will say until I die that aleksander's relationships with others are defined by his relationship with immortality and thus with his mother - who not only taught him everything about it, but who has also been the only consistent presence in his life for over four hundred years. this is the woman that developed an emotionally codependent and incestuous relationship with him as well as groomed him into the type of man she would wish to have a partnership with, which further defines the ways he views himself, the world, other people, and his connections to them.

all of this correlates to his many relationships, but especially his romantic one with alina. he mirrors his traumas with his mother and therefore with eternity in his dynamic with her. he is simultaneously the perpetrator and the victim. where he spent hundreds of years forgiving his mother for her abuse of him because the alternative is eternal loneliness, he expects of alina the same level of forgiveness for his actions based on that same latent despair - because he was taught at a fundamental age that a dichotomy exists in the universe, and the only way to find anything good at all - safety or happiness or connection - is to center all needs around the threat of inevitable punishment. not punishment in any physical sense, but punishment at a transcendental level.

the reason baghra did this was to groom him. the reason any parent does this (and it is especially prevalent with religion and cults) is to control their children and guide them toward the ideal path (which is always the path they themselves are on).

like most abusive relationships, baghra relies on cult tactics to develop a dynamic with her son that erodes all boundaries and erases any attempt at creating them further down the line - effectively taking ownership of his personhood and growth. she redefines his emotional associations to link them all to herself, and she even takes possession of his body in a variety of ways, until she has molded the perfect partner. one who shares all of her values and so will never leave her side - and who is entirely and completely isolated through both a lack of consistently stable connections and the lack of ability to create them.

baghra has always, after all, had her control threatened most by two things when it comes to her son: his idealism - which drives his moral compass away from her - and his desire for other connections. which means that to truly have him as a partner, she must take control of these narratives herself. so, she must destroy his ability to connect, and she must mold his morals to fit alongside her own. meaning constant and consistent contact with him and every part of his life.

similarly, we see even this reflected in aleksander's dynamic with alina. aleksander attempts to relate to her in the only way he knows how: by exerting control and by guiding her down the path he is on - by claiming to know what is best for her. in the exact same way baghra has continually tried to repossess him throughout the years by leading him down the 'best path for him' - one that she defines as redemption through inaction. one that she knows could allow her to control him again through reestablishing his existential relationship with punishment, loss, loneliness, and fear.

she seeks to do this because she needs him walking beside her again, easily pliable. because while time has furthered him from her, she is at least still in his life holding some of the reins, but nothing has threatened her grasp on her son as much as another prospective partner. one that won't harm him the way she has and one that could easily reveal exactly how much of himself he has lost to his mother in her claims about living eternally. one that could prove to be a real, stable relationship for him - unraveling all of the threads she so carefully wound.

like baghra did with him, aleksander fosters a codependent relationship with alina, because he was taught that such a relationship is the only way to survive immortality (and that this is how relationships work at all). he desires alina to be his immortal companion, in the same way his mother desired him, because he longs - probably without realizing - for a relationship that is not defined by constant abuse. but he has none of the resources to break free of the cycle of abuse, because he cannot even conceptualize that the things baghra taught him are abusive.

everything baghra taught him, he repeats to alina. every lesson about immortality, he repeats to alina. the possessiveness which defines his relationship with his mother - the ways she controls his interactions with others and isolates him completely - this he mirrors also with alina. because the only framework he possesses for a long-lasting connection is his relationship with his mother, and he is so starved for real connection that he craves it.

he craves it because baghra made him crave it. because she starved him of affection and made him reliant upon her as his sole provider for it. then she destroyed any other source he might find. she did this because she wanted to ensure he would always come back to her and forgive her. additionally, they are in the position of being entirely unique, which only further provides another tool for abuse. it is so so easy to neatly isolate someone when they are already othered completely and have no reliable means of long-term connection but you. it is so so easy to starve someone and lead them to believe they are gorging themselves when there is no other source of sustenance.

but then comes alina. who is also immortal. and who is quite capable of not only walking down aleksander's path, but having aleksander walk down hers. and alina will give aleksander the sustenance he needs. alina will give a long-lasting relationship with real happiness and affection and touch and love. alina will make him realize that the ways he tries to fulfill his cravings - the ways baghra taught him - are wrong.

which brings the situation to the plot.

alina's moral conflict is falsely dichotomized into two things:

a) kill the 'monster' and believe the true social issues that caused it can be solved through inaction.

or b) give in to the latent 'evil' that comes with being grisha, reveling in power, greed, and selfishness.

baghra as the author's mouthpiece supports the former, which means alina's 'enlightenment' must eventually follow this path - for the true moral message to be conveyed. and this path leads her away from the darkling. thus, it is inevitable within such a narrative that she would have to do so.

however, contextually, baghra's actions when putting alina on this path are those of an abuser losing control of their victim. while she operates within a narrative role, she acts in a way that is easily identifiable. the very specific way in which baghra confronts aleksander's relationships with others in both the books and the show (especially his relationship with alina) is that of someone who wishes to remove outside influences from the perfectly tailored environment of their victim. if alina begins to trust aleksander and start a relationship with him, then this environment will be disrupted - possibly destroyed - and he will be removed from baghra's influence forever. baghra, as an eternally lonely person, cannot let this happen.

but she has a new way of living, now. one that her son rejects, because he is finally trying to become his own person and create his own path. so, she molds alina into exactly what she is and ties alina to her completely, effectively ruining her son's chances for any connection outside of her ever again. not only that, but she severs any future attempts at connection between them by taking control of the narrative about aleksander. meaning alina will defer to baghra about him, about morals, about what paths to walk and what actions to take. she will defer to her about anything that leads in aleksander's direction, because she must 1) do so for narrative purposes (and baghra is first and foremost the narrative compass) and 2) reject all associations with his character completely.

so aleksander is now trapped in an abusive cycle with both women, and the options are either alina, who is not only his abuser’s mouthpiece, but someone who has been cut off from any attempt at a connection with him completely. or his mother, who is in many ways relying on alina's treatment of him to drive him back into her arms.

aleksander, who cannot conceivably understand why he longs for another partner, must focus on alina. but as someone who was brutally stripped of any ability to connect healthily, he can only communicate with her one way - through possession, control, fear, and manipulation. and because she now erects the same barriers baghra does and walks the same path as her- well. the pattern of abuse continues.

so yeah. I think he mimics his relationship with baghra in his other relationships. he attempts to connect in the only ways he knows how, and when he tries to move outside of the box and connect in his own way, baghra intervenes. he is a centuries old abuse victim that will literally never gain the resources or outside connections required to develop healthy relationships. and sab is lauded as a narrative on the side of abuse survivors. lmfao.

send me a 🔥 for an unpopular opinion (x)

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as83rrzz · 4 months

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Very odd questions, but I need some information!

Do you know anything to do with;

Occultism in Nazi Germany

Witchcraft (if they even practiced those sorts of things) In Nazi Germany

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relation to the mentioned above

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relationship/how they behaved and acted.

I completely apologise if these questions are odd or too complicated! I have an understanding of some of the questions, but still confused.

Thanks a lot for reaching out, Anon. I really appreciate that you wanted me to help you with this information. I myself do not have a high understanding of these questions, but along with a lot of research, I was able to answer them to the best of my ability. I apologise if they are inaccurate or not explained fully.

Occultism in Nazi Germany

The theory of the association between Nazism and occultism has been a speculated topic since the early 1940s and gaining renewed popularity in the 1960s, ideas that the Nazis had a relationship with possible occult traditions and practices. A thought arose that the Nazi party recognized the use and practices of Hermetic Qabalah [a Western esoteric tradition revolving around mysticism and the occult], applying its knowledge into advancing their aims.

An example to back up this theory is the SS symbol, The 'Black Sun', constructed from esoteric and occult values and representing a preternatural source of energy and power.

The SS symbol, The 'Black Sun'

Historian Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke [15 Jan 1953 - 29 Aug 2012] studied this topic in his 1985 book, 'The Occult Roots of Nazism', where Goodrick-Clarke claimed that there were clear links between specific ideas of Ariosophy [An esoteric ideological belief translating to 'wisdom of the Aryans'] and the Nazi ideology.

Goodrick-Clarke quoted, The Ariosophist "ideas and symbols filtered through to several anti-semitic and Nationalist groups in late Wilhelmian Germany, from which the early Nazi Party emerged in Munich after the First World War."

'The Occult Roots of Nazism', by Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

Witchcraft in Nazi Germany

The topic of witchcraft in Nazism was the product of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's delusions, spending his spare time attempting to find the lost city of Atlantis, overseeing Nazi-themed interior decorating arrangements and commanding the act of digging up the coffins of famous people. Himmler's delusions only escalated when he was gifted a cookie embosser in the shape of a deer, arranging a publicly funded research project into the meaning of deer symbols.

'...Other members of the Nazi elite were well aware that the murderous Himmler, who opened the graves of famous people and searched for the Holy Grail, was a weirdo in a class by himself...'

Himmler's hyperfixation with witches was connected to his aspiration to create and open his own Nazi-style religion. Himmler aimed to perform in rituals that included solstices, torches, shadows, bonfires and drums. Himmler was influenced by German fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm, convinced there was a deeper meaning behind the evil witch in 'Hansel and Gretel' than anyone else had perceived.

Himmler concluded that witches were, as a matter of fact, Germanic Aryan seeresses, also claiming that millions of witches were the victims of an anti-German genocide.

'...We see how the funeral pyres blazed, on which the battered and torn bodies of our mothers and girls, of our people, burned to ashes in the witch trials!' - Heinrich Himmler's 1935 speech to a Nazi farming organization.

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relation to the mentioned above

Himmler

↳ Himmler's relationship to Witchcraft in Nazi Germany has been explained in the question above

↳ Himmler's relationship to Occultism in Nazi Germany is not specific, but Himmler remodelled the 'Black Sun' SS symbol and it is possible that he did this with the intention to represent esoteric and occult values

Heydrich

↳ Heydrich's relationship to Witchcraft in Nazi Germany, under Himmler's orders, Heydrich dug up the body of Margarathe Himbler [who was executed for accused witchcraft, April 4 1629 in Mergentheim]. Heydrich's theory was that 'Himbler' sounded like 'Himmler' and that his boss Himmler and Margarathe Himbler must have some spiritual relation, although there is no historical evidence proving this theory.

↳ Heydrich's relationship to Occultism in Nazi Germany is not specific and unfortunately there is not much written historical evidence [that I could find] that he had a significant relationship to Occultism.

Reinhard and Heinrich’s relationship/how they behaved and acted

Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich had a close professional relationship, that was good working with mutual respect. While they were colleagues, Heydrich's ambition and intelligence played a significant role in their dynamic. Their closeness never went past any boundaries, as their relationship was primarily within the context of Nazi leadership and policies.

THIS POST DOES NOT SUPPORT THE NAZI IDEOLOGY, IT IS PURELY EDUCATIONAL

#reichblr #ww2 germany #ww2 history #world war 2 #heinrich himmler #reinhard heydrich

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catholic-character-tournament · 1 year

Text

Round 1 - Side A

Propaganda below ⬇️

Abuelita Alma Madrigal Propaganda:

There's a church in the Encanto as well as a priest and given how strong her grip is and how much of a control freak she is, I would very much doubt she'd allow people to believe in other miracles than Pedro's if she wasn't, herself catholic. Also I mean south american turn of the century family they're probably catholic.

Listen at least Alma is!!! The candle!! The importance of the church!!! The vibes are just there!!!! The idea of being a savior by sacrificing yourself (or at least your personality/grief) for your people? That’s SO catholic coded PLEASE

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler Propaganda:

good lord where do i start. in the animated series he converts logan to catholisism and then fucks off basically thats the main thing he did there. i think one time they tried to make him a demon to explain how he looked but everyone hated that. he sold his soul one time to help his friends out after he died. he and logan have a weird little gay thing. he was a priest one time but he was made a priest by a fake bishop from a religion that hates mutants iirc so he just wasnt a priest. like 3 people have written him in a way i like and one of those is my friend just talking about how they view him.

wow marvel loves making catholic characters dress/look like demons

Kurt is a mutant who was born to mystique who looks a LOT like a devil (technically is half one but that cannon truth isn't real go back to bed), his mother dropped him off a cliff when he was born and he was picked up by a Romani group/circus (fuck old comics man) however he then narrowly escaped being sold to a freak show and found himself in a small German town. There he met a kind priest, who showed him God, and he quickly grew attached to the idea- However, it wasn't long before people began labeling him a demon and soon the whole town was against him with pitchforks and fire. Cornered and injured, Kurt thought this might be the end for him- maybe he would see heaven so long after finding it- but he was then saved by Charles Xavier who invited him to the X-Men. AND ITS BEEN SO MANY YEARS AND HE HAS BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH THERE. SO MUCH. SO GOD DAMN MUCH. BUT THE MOST AAAA THING TO ME CONCERNING HIS FAITH HE WHEN HE LITERALLY DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN BUT THEN BECAUSE OF DRAMA WITH HIS FATHER HAD TO BRING HIS FRIENDS IN WITH HIM FROM THE BEYOND. THEN WITH ALOT OF TROUBLE THEY FOUGHT HIS FATHER AND THE ONLY WAY KURT SAW TO STOP HIM WAS IN A MOVE THAT STRIPPED THEM BOTH OF THEIR SOULS AND PUT THEM BACK ON EARTH. SO KURT CANONICALLY HAS NOW LOST HIS ABILITY FOR ETERNAL PEACE, LOST HIS VERY SOUL, TO SAVE PEOPLE- AND ALSO TOLD NO ONE NOT EVEN HIS GAY LOVER WOLVERINE.

Nightcrawler is a mutant vigilante who looks like a classical demon. He can't even go to church without people panicking and trying to exorcize him. Despite it all, he's so full of faith and hope and compassion, and he wants to believe the best of everyone. Also, he's bffs with an extremely angry Jewish sword lesbian. That has nothing to do with anything, but it's important to me that you all know that.

What if you were a devout christian and literally looked like the devil? He nearly became the pope, which was a plot by some supervillains that also involved faking a rapture? There is nothing like comics I swear to god.

A catholic who is half demon I don’t think I can better explain a struggle than that. But his character is so relatable to people who feel unwelcome with their congregation because of something that is a part of them but still feeling a connection to the faith. Kurt actively engaged in his faith and shares how his faith helps him through all the things he has faced in life and how he found a home with those of the church who leave the judging to God.

so they made kurt a priest briefly before deciding to retcon it, resulting in nightcrawler actually being part of a plan by villains to promote him to pope then reveal to the world that the pope is a demon. wild.

I have a side blog and a tattoo about him and i really really want him to win

Wisecracking devil-appearing devout Catholic with the Best superpower (teleportation)? HECK YES

German Catholic circus acrobat who looks like a demon & can teleport through a hellish alternate dimension with a puff of sulfur. Character of all time.

hes catholic and his dad is the devil. what could be funnier than that. also hes my silly little guy.

Nightcrawler is the world’s most fun catholic priest. I first was introduced to this kindhearted teleporting acrobat while he saved a boat full of stowaway refugees from inter dimensional pirates with swashbuckling gusto!

#encanto #alma madrigal #abuela madrigal #x men #kurt wagner #nightcrawler #marvel #cct polls #tumblr tournament #tumblr polls #tumblr bracket

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yonemurishiroku · 4 months

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Child of Aphrodite Nico au in which Will is put through trails like Psyche in order to prove his dedication to Nico. Thoughts?

Will and Apollo bonding over having to overcome trials. Will fighting for his love whereas Apollo fighting his exes. Brilliant. He is really his father's son.

Anw this reminds me of that one Child of Aphrodite! Nico fanfic wherein Cupid calls him "Mother's favorite" or brother or st like that.... It's fun. It gets me thinking, where do Cupid and Psyche stand in all of this? Are they supportive? I think they would be, even though their support doesn't always promise good things...

On another note. Idk if you notice but like. Will is a child of Apollo. And Apollo and Cupid might have... beef? In the myth, I mean. It's about Daphne and the origin of the laurel tree, you know? That time Apollo looks down on Eros' archery and in retort, Eros shoots a gold arrow at Apollo and a bronze one at Daphne, which then leads to the whole... tragic love chase or whatever.

Sorry. The whole thing is also the inspiration for a Solangelo fanfic of mine so I can't help but bring that up LMAO. What I'm trying to say is that this can shine a new light on this scenario. Does it make Cupid/Eros more bitter or lenient?

Onto the story itself. Now this is an exciting part. In the original myth, Psyche has to go through four trials, three of which are finished with the help of outside forces, the last of which is -I just looked it up- retrieving Persephone's cream. I can alr see many references, really.

The first thing that popped into my head was that we could put other characters into the roles of Will/Psyche's helpers, which then translates into all the connections either Will or Nico possibly have made in all those years of demigod life.

For instance, in the 3rd task of the original myth, an eagle helped Psyche fill a crystal vessel with the water of the spring that feeds the Styx and Cocytus. Who does it remind you of? Who has access to the Underworld and has connections to an eagle symbol?

Hazel. That's who. And I really don't know how you intend to mortify their dynamics now that Nico isn't a child of Hades, but Imma assume they are sibling-like still bc fuck it, they are my religion. The point is Hazel might help Will, if only for her brother.

I suppose I don't have to talk much about how Will's gonna fetch Persephone's cream bc Rick makes it pretty obviously LMAO. They are chilling in the Underworld garden sunbathing (Will being the sun) covered in Persephone's suncream or st Idk. Will has this so much easier than Psyche.

In the end, Cupid rescues Psyche from the deep sleep of the underworld cream. This can be translated into Nico realizing that someone is truly fighting to be with him, and he wants to make an effort to meet them in the middle, but that's just me running into a dead-end bc idk how Will's gonna fall asleep if Persephone is alr so kind lending him the cream and that kid def doesn't dream about getting more beautiful like Psyche did or whatsoever. So. Idk. Maybe Cupid messes it up? I would if I were him, ngl. But that's just me.

Thoughts are jumbling around in my mind but life doesn't always give what we want so I guess this is all I can offer atm LMAO. this is a good foundation for a long-chaptered Solangelo child of Aphrodite!Nico fanfic if you ask me, ngl.

#nico di angelo #pjo #hoo #toa #yone rambling #heroes of olympus #trials of apollo #percy jackson and the olympians #will solace #solangelo #cupid (pjo)#psyche #aphrodite (pjo)#child of aphrodite #child of aphrodite nico #child of aphrodite au #son of aphrodite nico #son of aphrodite au

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former-leftist-jew · 4 months

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i’m a little anxious to send this not on anon but i saw one of your posts where a comment mentioned jewish conversion and you seemed to support it. my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism but a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion. i know everyone has different beliefs about this but i worry i won’t be accepted

Hello tyblackthornsheadphones, welcome!

"my boyfriend is jewish and i would like to convert to judaism"

Oooh! Mozel tov! I'm always so happy to meet new people who want to join the Jewish community! <3

"a lot of the research i’ve done says that you can’t convert, you have to be born into it since it’s an ethno-religion"

Oh dear, I'm so sorry to hear that! D: There's so much misinformation being passed around online. :( Thankfully, I'm happy to report that those sources are incorrect: It IS possible to convert to Judaism. ^_^

Like any group, though, how friendly any given Jew is to potential Jewish converts depends on the individual and/or the group they belong in. Just as there's elitism and gatekeeping in every group of people ever (like high school cliques and video game circles--"you're not a REAL gamer unless X"), unfortunately you'll also find some snobbery, elitism, and gatekeeping in Judaism. :(

Though I think Rabbi Friedman has a very loving and accepting view of Jews by conversion. ^_^

youtube

The way I see it, the differing experiences of a "Jew-by-birth vs a Jew-by-conversion" can be comparable to an American citizen who was just born on American soil vs an American immigrant who had to go through a long and rigorous bureaucratic process to become an American citizen--they have to learn everything there is to know about American history, presidents, laws, customs, the legal system; spend a "probational period" living in America to become a naturalized citizen, etc.

(The Jewish religion used to be very conversion friendly, but that came to an end when Christianity and Islam became huge world powers who outlawed the Jewish community "tempting" good Christians or Muslims away from the One True Faith.

Jewish identity also used to be passed down from father to children in ancient times--as you'll see in the Torah--but that was changed by Hillel the Elder during the tyrannical reign of King Herod--yes, THAT King Herod! Hillel did this partly to give the children of Jewish mothers who were abandoned by their non-Jewish fathers a place in Jewish society, and he did this partly as a big old political "fuck you!" to King Herod, whose father was only nominally Jewish and his mother was a foreign gentile woman.)

Chabad is an Orthodox Jewish organization.

And here's a link from a Reform Judaism POV. ^_^

In my experience, Reform Jewish synagogues and organizations tend to be more accepting of and friendly to Jewish converts. (Though it's not universal! Sadly, there are snobs everywhere. D:)

So if I were you, I would just start with checking out some books on Judaism from your local library, attend Friday night or Saturday morning Shabbat services with your boyfriend (that's usually a time when non-Jewish guests attend).

If your local college has a Hillel or Chabad Jewish student organization, I would visit that too! They usually host fun events that are free and open to to all, especially students who're just interested in connecting with other Jewish students, and learning about Jewish identity. ^_^

In the meantime, I'd just take time to study and learn about Jewish history and culture just for fun.

I think Sam Aranow's "Jewish History" Youtube series is a very entertaining way to learn about Jewish history, from ancient to modern.

youtube

Unfortunately I have to go to work now, but if you have ANY other questions, please reach out to me! I LOVE sharing knowledge and resources about Judaism, especially to potential converts who show a genuine interest and curiosity.

(Jewish culture can be, in my opinion, not as accepting and welcoming of potential Jewish converts as they should be, and I want to make up the difference. ^_^ )

#jumblr #judaism #jewblr #jewish #jewish convert #jewish conversion #welcome to judaism!#we're happy to have you ^_^#jewish history #jewish culture #jewish positivity #jewish joy #jewish tumblr #am yisrael chai

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luxu1230 · 2 months

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Aweesome but this is a very specific request so feel free to ignore if you cant do it🙏Would you do headcanons or something about Ice being Muslim? Its just that i never saw anything like that and i would love especialy now that were in Ramadan thanks a lot❤🙏🙏no pressure🙏

(Okay I've had to do a tiny bit of research so I hope I'm right with some things. I also don't know how the USA military deals with Ramadan as I live in the UK but here we go).

Not many people knew that Iceman's mother was Muslim and that while she loved her Religion she also loved her husband and son. So in a way he (Iceman) also grew up knowing about his mother's religion and he grew a love of it too and while his father didn't fully celebrate their religious holidays he had always been supportive.

While he was younger he had always asked his mother why father didn't pray or celebrate fully. She sat him down and explained that while she loves her husband more than anything she wasn't going to force him into doing something he doesn't want to do and that she's perfectly happy that she found someone who supports her fully in wanting to keep her religious beliefs rather than having to give them up.

It's not until he's six and his mother has died of cancer and he's forced to move halfway round the globe so his father can continue his Admiral duties that he realises he couldn't bear to celebrate without his mother there and so his religion slips through his fingers.

It's not until years later where friends have been shot down and relationships have been built, some broke but some stayed especially a certain shot stack of a maniac. That one day he passes by a mosque and he doesn't know what compels his to go inside but he does and he feels the connection he lost with his mother returning and he can't help but join the prayers.

It feels like home.

He later returns home and tells everything to Maverick and he can't help but break down when Mav asks him if he wants to continue going to the mosque and celebrate his religion and how while he understands practically nothing of it having been bounced around in foster care as a child he'll support him in any way.

He now understands why his mother loved his father so much to not understand but still be supportive of them is like a true breath of air.

So he returns to his roots and while the Quran exempts him from Ramadan due to being a soldier he can't help but do it each year and even laughs when Mav says he'll try only to walk in on him halfway through the day snacking on a biscuit which makes them both laugh.

He can't help but love Eid Al Fitr and make plenty of food to give out to the local mosques to help out as many people as he can.

He loves his roots and he's so glad he finally understands why his mother was happy with his father.

(I hope you enjoyed that. I also hope it meets your request it was also fun doing a bit of research for it.)

#top gun maverick #top gun #request #luxu1230 #icemav #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #muslim #fanfiction prompts #headcanon

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staringdownabarrel · 1 year

Text

I know Worf gets a lot of flack for being a bad parent, and in some ways he really is, but honestly, I find it easy to be sympathetic to him as well.

When Worf first becomes a single father, he clearly recognises that he isn't in an ideal spot to be a parent, and that he doesn't have the right temperament for it. That's the real reason why Alexander is sent to live with Worf's adoptive parents on Earth initially. While this often gets read as Worf dumping an unwanted child, it's also just as much a recognition that he isn't cut out to be a parent.

Worf's initial recognition that he isn't cut out to be a parent is vindicated in TNG, too. In New Ground, when Worf first starts taking care of Alexander full time for real, it isn't just a matter of him not having the right temperament for it. It's also a matter of him straight up not having the time for it, either. A lot of the early issues he has with Alexander stem from him being on duty when Alexander is causing issues.

Alexander is also presented as being an extremely difficult child in canon. Consider the other Star Trek kids in the TNG era. Wesley, Naomi, Jake, and Nog all have their issues, are being raised by single (and in the case of Wesley and Jake specifically, widowed) parents in the communal starship/space station environment, but still manage to get along okay. Alexander on the other hand is presented as having behavioural and defiance issues.

This does make a lot of intuitive sense. He was there when his mother was killed and he's still too young to have developed any effective coping skills for it. The other children introduced tend to have been in this position for a while and have had time to develop those skills. Of course Alexander is going to be a difficult child by comparison.

But still, this isn't exactly a good recipe for Worf. He's in a position he isn't really cut out for, raising a child he never really wanted, who also has deep behavioural issues he's unequipped to handle. This was always going to lead to him being a deeply frustrated parent and considerably worse at it than the other Star Trek parents.

Plus, you know, we never get a phase where Alexander is the sweet little kid. TNG just skips straight to Alexander the brat. This is only compounded by the fact that the Berman era writers weren't very good at writing child characters, so even the less bratty Alexander scenes still end up being grating.

At least in real life when kids are going through their more difficult phases, parents have the memories of them being sweet kids to fall back on. They can still go, "Okay, this is just a phase and eventually they're gonna come out and be the good kids with good values like I remember." Worf never really gets that. He only ever gets Alexander the difficult child, not Alexander the good kid.

It's not like Worf doesn't try to connect with Alexander. A lot of him trying to get Alexander to be more interested in his Klingon heritage is read as Worf essentially trying to force his religion on Alexander, but I don't see it that way. I think it's more Worf trying to bridge the gap between him and his son. Most parents want their kids to have some knowledge of their heritage anyway, so Worf isn't being inherently unreasonable on this point.

He also seems to be ultimately okay with Alexander embracing his human side, if somewhat uncomfortable at times. This is a large part of Worf's character arc in Firstborn. So reading Worf's attempts at trying to get Alexander to be more interested in his Klingon heritage as being an attempt at connecting more deeply does make overall sense.

Really, the big thing Worf gets right in the TNG era is that he is actively getting therapy for it with Troi. This is something Worf did better even compared to real parents today, thirty years later. Loads of parents would never consider this kind of dynamic, but for Worf, it's something he accepts as necessary given his lack of parental abilities and Alexander's ongoing issues. I feel like this is an aspect that doesn't get focused on enough when people talk about Worf's parenting.

This is also one of the points where DS9 really derails Worf's character. Even when Alexander comes back into Worf's life as a member of the Klingon Defense Forces, there's never any new therapy sessions for the two. They have the ongoing father and son conflict, but none of the attempts at resolution that existed in TNG. So we go from a positive example of someone trying to resolve a conflict to a less positive one, and I really feel like this colours a lot of people's views on Worf's parenting more than it should.

#star trek #star trek tng #star trek the next generation #tng #the next generation #worf #rant

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optical-vagueness · 14 days

Text

Ok so while my compooter is being repaired, let's put some thoughts about Lauren aka mommy Mother Lauren.

As some of you have said before, it appears that Lauren was the owner of Strexcorp. Kevin was the founder of the Joyous Congregation of the Smiling God. It is unclear when did Kevin changed into what he is now. On It Devours! it's implied that Kevin went to the DOW before the Strex arc on WTNV, met the Centipede, and founded the Congregation. I personally think that from then on, he was kind of like Jekyll and Hyde and he both wanted to keep his radio show and to dominate Desert Bluffs with a religious capitalist corporation so everyone would share his beliefs.

If that is the case, then Lauren helped him. And, when Strexcorp took over, they apparently co-managed it, along with all of Desert Bluffs. They struggled with power but still, Lauren was above Kevin.

After Night Vale made a revolution and both Kevin and Lauren got sent into the DOW, Kevin made his own town out of nothing. Or, well, he did after Carlos left. So it makes sense he would be above Lauren. And, being Lauren superior to him before, it makes sense that it was more tense between them.

Until all that Thing happened and Lauren got the frown tatoo and got banished from Desert Bluffs Too.

Imagine being first, the owner of a big company, then, of an entire city. Then that city conquered another and you were, legally, the owner of that city, too. Then it all is snitched from your hands. You lose it all and you're in a desert where you don't feel hunger or thirst, and there's this fucking lighthouse you can't get away from. You spend some time in that goddamned awful place until you notice that your former employee who you shared ownership of your company and everything you had before with, has founded a new town, but he won't share it with you. He's your boss now.

It would suck.

And then, from an order you received from him, you get mocked and hated by this new community. And while that bastard is happy building his adoration pit and being happy with his boyfriend, you're being tattooed a permanent frown on your face, losing whatever little power you got to recover and being banished from the new town.

I believe that, after all the traumatizing Experience of being thrown into the DOW, Lauren just wanted to be loved. To feel the sense of community she thought she felt before. But she wasn't loved. She then was hated and rejected. So, being that new society a religious one, a way of being loved could be through religion.

And so she became Mother Lauren. First, being the High Priestess — probably the equivalent of the Pope. She would have had to ascend slowly through different ranks to get to that point. So she built that image by herself, and she did that so other people would love her. To connect with others.

But now? Now it seems like Mother Lauren, apparently the counterpart of Huntokar, has possessed her like Huntokar did with Susan Willman.

And, it looks like Mother Lauren is the og Smiling God.

It's like. Huntokar said that while Night Vale used bloodstones to adore her, they didn't know it was she who they were adoring. In the same way, people from Desert Bluffs adored the Centipede without knowing it was Mother Lauren who they were really worshipping. And it makes sense. Total sense in fact. Because, after reading It Devours!, there was something that I couldn't sit with. Darryl & Co. continued worshipping the Smiling God, even after Carlos killed what they thought was the Smiling God, the Centipede. It made a bit of sense, because religion is about community and faith. That's why I also thought that you can't kill a god. Because belief in a deity is about faith. And, if the group shares the belief that it's not dead, then it's still alive.

The only ones that witnessed the burning of the Centipede were Nilanjana, Darryl & Co, so it wouldn't make sense that other worshipping sites believed in the death of their god: it should still be alive. Science can't kill a god. The only thing able to "kill" a god is another god, or another belief.

The Centipede was the manifestation of the Smiling God. Kind of like Jesus was the manifestation of God. In the last episode, I think I heard something about there being more existing centipedes (in It Devours!, the characters haven't seen another centipede). Again, kind of like Jesus was also a man, and there exist other human men.

All this to say that, based on the descriptions of the last episode, we know Lauren has lost control of herself. She's no longer Lauren Mallard. She's Mother Lauren. And, based on the descriptions of the last episode, Mother Lauren is becoming her manifestation. She's turning into a Centipede.

#wtnv #welcome to night vale #HOW did i write THIS MUCH??#lauren mallard #kevin wtnv #it devours!#long post

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minecraftbookshelf · 1 year

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Religion in the Empires: Fae Squad Edition

General disclaimer that, for the most part, the religions in the empires are not analogous to Christianity at all, beyond the general inevitable flavors that come from both the ccs and myself originating in culturally Christian environments.

The exception to this is a little bit the Rivendell siblings, as the way that was set up in canon and grown in the fandom does lend itself to some very Christianity-oriented looks at religion and religious trauma and, at least to an extent, that will be playing out. It will not be a major theme in anything most likely, but it’s there.

And reminder that the modern western approach to religion is historically unusual.

Katherine:

As Guardian of the Overgrown who is able to communicate with the Spring, Katherine culturally functions as a sort of priestess/conduit for Nature. Its actually a similar role to the one Pix holds in Pixandria in some ways, while being distinct because the Spring is less of a god in a pantheon (like the goddess of death that Pix is connected to) and is instead The Overgrown itself.

House Blossom is only one of the Fae Courts but all of them are more animistic than their more mortally-aligned neighbors.

Smajor:

The reform method of dealing with religious trauma. Is genuinely very religious on a personal level and so is kind of the default royal for presiding at religious events that Xornoth is technically ineligible for (elaborated on below)

On a more general level, Aeor’s church is one of Scott’s favorite places. It was the one place he could hide from his parents during the worst years and even the priests generally didn’t bother him there. When he’s mad at Xornoth it’s where he goes because he knows he won’t be followed. So aside from any religious aspects the church building is a Safe Space for him.

That being said does have some deep-running trauma from the fundamentalist practices and ideals that ruled during his parent’s reign and his childhood.

Xornoth:

“I will face god and walk backwards into hell.” Has a literal god living in their head and refuses to do what any god wants ever. Especially the one in their head.

Their relationship with Aeor is extremely complicated, mostly because they (Xornoth and Aeor) are in a weird sort of stasis where they can’t be openly hostile to each other because that would make Exor happy and Scott sad, which they’ve sort of reluctantly concluded are both things neither of them want to happen, to varying degrees. Xornoth avoids Aeor’s church, Aeor leaves Scott alone and continues to bless Rivendell with the usual level of protection and prosperity and they sort of continue through life ignoring each other.

Xornoth was officially labeled as a blasphemer by the high priest of Aeor under their parents’ rule, technically that was never rescinded but the current high priest doesn’t enforce or draw attention to it. (The main reason it hasn’t been rescinded is equal parts it is technically theologically accurate and Xornoth finds it funny/is very proud of it)

Shrub Berry:

As an inter-dimensional refugee they spent some time existing in a sort of religious limbo. The gnomes were very much about casual worship of the local patrons and she doesn’t know who protects the Undergrove for quite some time. Meeting the Mother Wolf is a huge relief for her, though the close connection that the Mother Wolf initiated was a bit of a shock.

Ocean Alliance

Wither Rose Alliance

#empires smp #empires s1 #xornoth #shrub berry the gnome #shubble #there is so much nuance to how I am including religion in this AU #that these short posts just can’t properly convey #religion #religious trauma #rain rambles #smajor1995 #marriage of state au #katherineelizabeth #mos: worlbuilding #mos: scott #mos: xornoth #mos: katherine #mos: shrub

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