#that's the kind of doctrine i hold

[aceofroses-queenofstars]

my conservative cousin: I'm worried that being queer will damage your relationship with God

Me, headbanging to the oh hellos: All Glory be to Christ!!! And to the earth be peace!!!! Goodwilll henceforth from God to Man!!!!! Begin and never cease!!!!

#the family christmas album Slaps #reaffirms my faith every time #same with the oh hellos ep #and ttddv and wormwood #the oh hellos #in general really #that's the kind of religion i aspire to have #that's the kind of doctrine i hold #love and joy and peace and nature and truth and kindness and Love #rose rambles

[archiephd]

old pastor's daughter just messaged me on facebook after having me blocked for 7 years lol

#just to let me know that she forgives me! haha isn't that great! #:/ #in all seriousness i do feel bad that all that drama affected us kids the hardest and she was the youngest between both our families #so i do want to respond in kind and i will #but the two biggest rifts that split our families was her parents being weird to my mom about doctrine differences #and their 22 or whatever year old son romantically pursuing me! when i was fucking 13 :) #and their dad gave zero shits like sorry. i don't hold Any ill will toward this girl like she did nothing wrong #and was one of the only ones to remain civil even when it was probably hard to #but her brother and her dad can go to hell idc <3 #anyway. this time on jean lore #j.txt

[apenitentialprayer]

why do anglicans still exist like their entire church is built on the fact that some guy wanted a male heir. or do anglicans believe that this isn't rly why their church came about

Okay, I do love clowning on my Anglican friends, but there are a few angles (da dum tss) that we can look at in terms of why the Anglican Church is a distinctive tradition.

Theologically, the Anglican Church might have started off as "Catholic without the Pope," so to speak; the Anglican Church was essentially Gallican in nature, meaning that the head of the church wasn't the seniormost bishop, but the head of the state. But even if it started off simply being in schism with the Roman Church, it didn't take very long before Reformed theology started entering the Church through the efforts of Anne Bolelyn, Thomas Cromwell, and especially Edward VI. There were preceding documents, but the Thirty-Nine articles passed by Queen Elizabeth I in 1571 helped to solidify a distinctively Anglican identity.

But it's a little more than that, too, because in addition to this Protestantization of the Anglican Church, there have also been movements within to.... "Latinize" might be the wrong word, but to bring back some traditional Catholic elements. We see this, for example, in the Oxford movement of the 1830s; many of its members would end up converting to Catholicism or Eastern Orthodoxy, but those who remained behind started the Anglo-Catholic movement which still has a strong presence. (My girlfriend goes to an Anglo-Catholic parish, and our city has at least three other ones).

This kind of dual accommodation of Reformed and Catholic theological ideas has created a unique situation for the Anglican Church; Bishop J. Neil Alexander tries to articulate this by distinguishing the Anglican Church as a "pragmatic church," in contradistinction with "confessional churches" (Catholic & Lutheran, which focus on creeds and councils) and "experiential churches" (Baptist and other groups whose memberships require a born-again moment):

What, then, does it mean to be pragmatic? It means that within the generous capacity of the Episcopal [American Anglican] Church, we do not always agree on matters of biblical interpretation or theological definition. It means that we have all gotten here by way of hundreds of different and often unique experiences of God's presence in our lives. It means that those things which other churches depend to hold themselves together will never be a central feature of our common life. We find our life together driven by our willingness to stand together at the table of God's gracious hospitality. […] That, I believe, is the pragmatism at the heart of what it means to be an Episcopalian. We are a variegated tapestry of theology and experience, and we are all the richer for it. But no level of theological agreement or experiential commonality will ever be the basis on which Episcopalians will live together well. What is possible is that we will be pragmatic —we will keep our differences in perspective— and we will recognize that ultimately nothing will divide those who are willing to stand together before God's altar to sing, to pray, and to receive the gift of God's eternity.

Now, this is a very fascinating situation, because it means that the Anglican Church has a lot of diversity in religious thought and doctrinal opinion. On an official level, that means you will have bishops aligning with different theological orientations working side by side — and, in theory, the office of Archbishop of Canterbury is supposed to alternate between Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical holders. On a more personal level, I have found that the Episcopal clergy who I interact with have varying spiritualities and theologies; one priest I know has Catholic sympathies that are so strong that he was referred to as "the Papist" in seminary, while another clergymember I know doesn't think Confession is necessary and is ambivalent about her parish's practice of Eucharistic Adoration. And they work at the same church.

Liturgically, they are also distinctive. The current bedrock of Anglican prayer is the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which is clearly inspired by Benedictine spirituality, but with continuing liturgical revision and innovation that kind of fits with the 'pragmatic church' mindset explained above. Some Anglican parishes even preserve pre-Tridentine traditions (remember, they split before the Council of Trent), like the Sarum Use.

The Anglican Church has had a developing liturgical patrimony for the past five centuries; one of the reasons why the Catholic Church created the Anglican Ordinariate was because it recognized that fact, and wanted former members of the Anglican Church to be able to preserve their traditions even after re-entering communion with Rome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, like, the Anglican Church may have started off as a more-or-less Catholic particular church that was in schism with Rome, a schism orchestrated by a king who wanted fuller control over the Church in his country, but the Anglican Church has had five centuries of development. And, as much as I like to clown on my Anglican friends, I can definitely see why the Anglican communion has a deep appeal.

#Christianity #Anglicanism #asks #This Far By Grace #ordinariate #history

[heathersdesk]

When I was investigating the Church, I told the people around me I wanted to get baptized after I'd only been to services a few times. I hadn't read much of the Book of Mormon. There were many things I didn't know or understand. But I had felt the Spirit of God and knew that this was the place where I would find God. I knew I was supposed to be baptized.

What was the response?

"You can't do that."

They didn't have missionaries. They didn't have anyone to teach me the discussions. I was coming to Church in a different place from where I lived because of where my friends, who were members and who had invited me, were living.

It got bad enough that I set a date for myself to get baptized and told them they had that long to figure it out and deal with their scruples. And they did.

Then I found out about patriarchal blessings in one of the lessons I had in Young Women. I wanted mine. I went to my branch president and told him that.

"You can't do that."

I hadn't been to church long enough. Could I wait a year? Six months?

But that's not what the lesson I was taught said. It said that if I felt like I was ready, then I could have one. So I showed up outside of my branch president's office every week for over a month to ask again. Finally, he talked to the stake president, who told him there was no rule or timeline mandated in the Handbook of Instruction that prevented me from receiving my patriarchal blessing. I finally received it 4 months after I was baptized.

Then I went to BYU. I was in one of my favorite wards I've ever attended. Everyone around me was so kind and supportive. They helped me deepen my knowledge of the restored gospel and the scriptures. And when all the young men in my classes started receiving mission calls, I wanted to as well. I felt "called to the work," and the Doctrine and Covenants said that was enough.

"You can't do that."

They didn't let women serve at 19 at the time. I had to wait. Why? Because I might get married instead. The hypothetical possibility of reserving me for a man was more important than the calling I had received from God.

I had the opportunity to serve in the temple regularly for the first time in my life. I was from an area where the temple was two hours away, which meant I got to go only a couple times a year, at most. As the only member in my family, I had many names to do. And as the endowments started piling up, I could feel the weight of my responsibility to get the names done weighing on me. I didn't have a ward full of endowed people to rely on in my student wards. It was just me. And the more I went to the temple, the more I craved that divine closeness, the spiritual support for how much harder it was for me to be a member of the Church than it was for everyone else. I was totally on my own, no support from large extended families like they had. I needed more support to come from somewhere. So I started asking to receive my endowment.

"You can't do that."

I needed to be getting married (preferably, in their minds) or serving a mission to get endowed. That was the rule at the time. It didn't matter that I already wanted to serve a mission. It would be so much more special if I could go with my husband! Didn't I see that? My life was just supposed to stay on hold for him, whoever he was. The idea that I would have a spiritual development and progression separate from his was a totally foreign idea at the time, and wasn't reason enough for me to receive my own endowment. Meanwhile, as the ordinances in my own family backed up higher and higher because I was in student wards with no access to the endowment or other endowed people, I was just stuck and alone.

Then the identity of the mysterious young man I would eventually marry was revealed to me. Hurray! And we both went on missions. We were planning our wedding. And after years of alienating my family with all the milestones of my adult life they didn't get to witness because I was *IN UTAH* thousands of miles away, I wanted to have a ring ceremony so they could at least watch me get married.

"You can't do that."

And every reason I was given, especially the one that it took away from the validity and the sacredness of my temple sealing, was later disavowed when they did away with this rule.

ALL OF THIS TO SAY, I've been in the Church for almost 18 years. I have seen so many changes come into the Church and its culture in that time. The things that were impediments to me as a young believer and convert are no longer there, in part because I left so many bloody knuckle prints on heaven's door, pleading for these things to change. Heaven bore witness to how many times I was told "You can't do that" by my own community—with shallow, indefensible reasons for why my journey needed to be so much harder and lonelier than it needed to be.

Changes like these do not come about simply by waiting. They come because the faithful, especially those who are most affected by the lack of change, keep praying and pleading with heaven for change. The hurt goes on the altar because it never should've been mine to carry. Let God witness it. Let him see, feel, and know the burdens I bore in his name, solely at the behest of my community whose reasoning for it was poor and indefensible, because it all came down to a single failure: they couldn't begin to imagine the impacts of their choices were having on me. And until they could begin to understand it, they could never conceive of why their status quo needed to change. Their ignorance and desire to remain in what was familiar and comfortable was a form of bondage to me. That was true.

But what was equally true was that there was nothing wrong or evil in pushing back against all of that, with all the strength I possessed. I would live to see so many of these stumbling blocks I encountered change for those who came behind me. Young people in my church community today don't have to make many of the same choices I did anymore—and thank God for that! I called down the powers of heaven to me to witness these burdens so no one else would ever have to carry them again! I have been witness to the power that these prayers—my prayers—have had to build the kingdom of God on the earth by affecting these changes.

And we're not done. There are many more such changes that need to come to fruition , including (but not limited to) making the Church fully accessible to everyone in our community. Our LGBTQIA+ and disabled people, our women and single Saints, our marginalized, abused, and forgotten in communities of color all over this world.

The kingdom of Heaven is not built, our work is not finished, until ALL are safely gathered in. That is, until they all CAN be safely gathered in. Until all that resists unity, diversity, equity, and inclusion that will define Heaven are removed by the Saints, whose job it is to build that kingdom. To never say again to someone who is trying to come to Christ "You can't do that."

Because with enough time, and effort from the Saints, you'll find they can, in fact, do that.

#mormon #mormonism #lds #tumblrstake #the church of jesus christ of latter day saints #religion #faith #queerstake

[monsterfactoryfanfic]

Youtube Essays Shill Post

I'm getting close to 1000 subscribers so I'm gonna make a shill post for my channel. I make videos on independent RPGs (no D&D/Pathfinder etc), highlighting narrative moves, the intersection of mechanics and themes, and analyzing them in parallel with books, movies, and game theory. I've had a really great crop of essays this year, and I bet at least one of them will do it for you:

###

Spire RPG & Babel: The Monstrosity of Empire, the Necessity of Violence (52 min)

I read Spire: The City Must Fall in parallel with RF Kuang's Babel: An Arcane History, and try to make the connection between Spire's worldbuilding and the British Empire's historical methods of extracting labor and resources from its colonized subjects. I'm especially proud of how I work through the ways in which Spire's Drow are treated as commodities, emulating how Britain's most valuable resource was human beings, and discuss why there's not an alternative available to the Drow except for violent uprising.

Heart RPG, Annihilation, and Sangfielle: Brainworms all the Way Down (38 min)

I follow the themes of compulsion, infection, and dissemination of a supernatural intelligence that I found both in Heart : The City Beneath and in Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation. It's kind of gross, but if you like reading about parasites, strange urges, and transformations that destroy the self, you'll probably be into this. I also make a few references to Friends at the Table's Sangfielle season, if you're a FATT fan.

Apocalypse Keys and Desperation to Belong (15 min)

Apocalypse Keys is a really interesting game, but it's also the most emotional game I read this year? It's all about heartbreak, longing, and trying to hold on to the people you love, even though you know you'll lose them in the end. The essay is also very much tied up in my feelings on diaspora, faith, and what it's like to be excluded, except for the home you make for yourself. It's also like, undeniably queer in a way I think a lot of folks will relate to.

The Endings of Hellwhalers and the Fewness of the Saved (28 min)

Okay I actually talk about being an ex-Catholic a lot, but this is my most explicitly religiously-inspired essay. I compare the text of Hellwhalers and its interpretations of Christian hell to the actual Catholic doctrines of hell, including the sermon that eventually made me break away from the Church altogether. If you like whales and religious trauma, please check this out.

###

Please consider taking a look at my channel! I hate having to beg for viewers, but there's just no other way to build an audience, and I'm really proud of the work I've done this year!

#long post #ttrpg #indie rpgs #Youtube

[raine-kai]

How Much Ace Loved Luffy (and so does Sabo, but this is mostly about Ace)

I have been suffering from the worst One Piece brainrot. Seriously, I cannot think about anything else without bring it back to One Piece, which is particularly unfortunate this month when my schedule is completely nuts.

(A few days ago, I was reading a scientific paper and I saw the word "doctrine" and went "omg Dr. Kureha??? Why is this paper mentioning One Piece?"—it's that bad.)

The thing I have been thinking about the most is Luffy's relationship with his brothers.

First off, I would like to say that I vehemently disagree with the take that Sabo is just Ace 2.0. While the relay of their stories can make them feel that way on an emotional level, exacerbated by Sabo succeeding Ace with the flame-flame fruit powers, I think Oda has done an excellent job showing that they are very distinct not only in personality, but in their relationships with Luffy.

Ace was always the first brother.

He's the one who knows Garp just as well as Luffy. He's the one introduced to Luffy through Garp. He's the one Luffy initially attaches himself to. He's the one who was there all through Luffy's childhood and adolescence, who can do a handstand on Luffy's head with no explanation, knowing that Luffy can hold him and knowing that Luffy will understand exactly what he is telling Luffy to do.

Ace was also always the most self-deprecating brother. When he was arrested, his first and only request was that nobody tell Luffy about it. When talking to Jinbei, he tells him that he would have worried Luffy couldn't live without him, but having seen his crew, he knows that Luffy will be okay.

When Luffy hears that Ace is in trouble, his first reaction is that Ace has his own adventures, and that Ace will be angry if he drops everything to chase after Ace. But when he is told that Ace is in Impel Down and his execution day is already scheduled, he drops everything, including reuniting with his crew, to sneak into the highest security prison in the world to try to break out his brother.

Meanwhile, Sabo is the kind brother.

If Ace was aware of how codependent Luffy was with him and tried to utilize tough love to push Luffy away, he's also always been the most inclined to bicker and trade mockery and insults with Luffy. Meanwhile, Sabo has always been more inclined to be concerned for Luffy, and use positive reinforcement to help Luffy improve. When Ace and Luffy were at odds, Sabo was often the mediator.

Sabo and Ace have known each other longer than either of them has known Luffy, but their relationship as brothers exists because of Luffy. As Sabo pointed out in his farewell letter to Ace, they never even defined what kind of brother they were (a thing that has more significance in Japanese, where big brother/younger brother are terms far more common than the neutral "kyoudai", which translates to elder-brother-younger-brother, and can often denote a non-blood relationship).

Luffy is their crybaby weakling baby brother, and they are both willing to throw everything aside if they are worried that Luffy might be in trouble. Not once in the story have Ace or Sabo showed up without stepping in to rescue Luffy somehow.

But today, the rescue that sticks in my brain is the most painful one of all: the death of Portgas D. Ace.

In a world full of people who exposit about the honor and dignity of a death with a back unmarked by scars, Ace dies with his back to Akainu, whose fist goes right through the tattoo proclaiming Ace's loyalty to Whitebeard.

Whitebeard's significance in Ace's life was huge.

With Ace's anger issues rooted in a childhood of being told he should never have existed, his arc is about learning that yes, he deserved to exist—he deserved to live.

And while Luffy's love, Luffy declaring how much he needed Ace, provided something of a salvation, some kind of purpose, it was not enough. Because Ace was trying to teach Luffy to be self-sufficient—was trying to help him to grow up into a man who wouldn't need Ace. Even at the very end, as he thanks Luffy for loving him, he describes himself with self-deprecation.

Being needed wasn't enough. Ace needed Whitebeard, because he needed a parent figure whom he could believe loved him, for whom he was enough. His relationship with Dadan was too utilitarian: he brought her food, and she let him stick around. His relationship with Garp was too marked with the conflict born of Garp's stated wish for Ace and Luffy to become marines. Whitebeard was the first person to embrace Ace exactly as he was and call him his son, and never expect him to be or do anything else.

Ace is genuinely surprised at the war that is waged to save his life.

Not only does he not expect Luffy to show up, he doesn't even expect Whitebeard to show up.

Regarding Whitebeard, Ace sees his actions as his own failure. He did not listen when Whitebeard told him to let Blackbeard go. His own failure to heed his father's cautionary words should not be cause for his father to wage war on the marine headquarters, he thinks.

But when Luffy turns up, Ace shouts at him—exactly as Luffy had predicted. He demands to know what Luffy thinks he's doing, weakling that he is. That Ace has his own adventures and his own pirate crew, and he doesn't need Luffy to come too.

"I'm your little brother," says Luffy in response, and I always start tearing up at that line, in manga or anime.

As far as Luffy is concerned, losing Ace is not an option.

And that one line is all it takes to make Ace back off. To remember that yes—Luffy is still his little brother, though they each have their own crews now.

The Marineford War is so full of moments where Luffy shows himself to be capable of so much more than anybody expected was possible.

But of course we all know how it ends. Luffy is the one to free Ace, but he's also the one who doesn't notice how vulnerable he is to the charging Akainu.

And Ace takes the blow intended for Luffy with his back—right in the tattoo declaring his alliance to Whitebeard.

I can't stop thinking about the significance of this.

All Ace had ever been searching for—family, belonging, purpose, acknowledgement that he was wanted—he got from Whitebeard, who was his parent in a way that nobody ever was, breaking through his insecurities about his parentage in a way that surely only got through to Ace because Whitebeard is someone who personally knew Roger. In a world without Luffy, Whitebeard and his crew would have been Ace's salvation.

But we don't live in that world. We don't know if Ace would have made it long enough to join Whitebeard in a world without Luffy.

What Ace tells us in the way that he shielded Luffy from Akainu was that Luffy was worth more to him than everything he got from Whitebeard and everyone on that crew. That he loved Luffy above and beyond all others.

And he thanked Luffy (and Whitebeard and his crew) for loving him.

I'm sure there has been ample discourse on the significance of these things. I'm pretty sure I've read, if not participated in it. But having circled back here recently, I feel like I'm discovering the significance all anew.

Ace said thank you for loving me and not I love you because he saw more value in being loved than his own love. Surely it would have been more comforting to Luffy to hear that he was loved—but Ace is caught up in the idea that he is demonspawn, not worth existing, much less being loved.

With how much he talks about Luffy to everyone he meets, surely in a world where he did not have cause to question his existence, where he did not grow up knowing that the world wished him dead, he would have been happy to just exist with the brothers he loved. He would not have felt he needed to prove that he deserved to exist.

Meanwhile, though Luffy idealizes pirates from an earlier point in the story, their backstory shows us that Luffy's desire to grow stronger originates in learning how Sabo "died". And Ace supports this narrative that Luffy ought to grow stronger, more self-sufficient.

At Luffy's core is simply love: a desire to hold his loved ones close, to be strong enough to never lose them again.

But he lost Ace anyway.

And Ace just wanted Luffy to be safe—to go on without him. His only regret, he said, was that he wouldn't be around to see the end of Luffy's dream.

Ace, at his core, just wanted to be loved. And he had that, but was not able to accept it, to believe that he deserved it, until the very end.

And isn't that just heartbreaking?

I believe that it was Ace's spirit, realizing Sabo was still alive, who knocked the memory back into him, screaming at him what the hell has he been doing, go protect and support their baby brother.

I believe Ace still lives on in Luffy, who will never stop loving the brother who all but raised him.

But I need to cry about it anyway. Again.

#one piece #portgas d. ace #monkey d. luffy #asl brothers #sabo #marineford

[onigiriico]

Amane audio drama (t2) - English TL

[ links: Spotify | Youtube ]

So much religion talk in this one. So much. I typed so much stuff into DeepL my JP keyboard app crashed at some point, but! it is done at last! 🎉 As always, if you've got any questions or find a mistranslated line, you can find me on Twitter or send me an ask (and in case you've got some money to spare & feel like supporting me extra, you can also find me over on Ko-fi)! But, without further ado:

⬇️ translation under the cut ⬇️

(Es enters)

E: Prisoner no.8, Amane. It’s time for your interrogation. Let’s talk for the first time in a while.

A: Warden.

E: What is it, Prisoner?

A: We've been disappointed by you.

E: Hah?

A: Even though we could sense the possibility of the new world we desire here in Milgram… and in you.

E: I don’t care how much you look down on me. I told you that won’t work.

A: Furthermore, you may say incomprehensible things, such as us “not being forgiven”...

E: Oi.

A: But we are generous. For now, let us make some time for a conversation with you. After all, our history is one that is built on dialogue.

E: Oi. Listen to what I’m saying.

A: What is it?

E: Amane. Don’t think you’ll be able to lead the conversation with that total change in attitude. Is it the result of the judgment that you’ve ended up like this?

A: “Like this”?

E: The dazed look in your eyes. The atmosphere around you. The way you speak. In comparison to the first trial, it’s like you’re a different person.

A: Hm.

E: Everyone who was unforgiven told me they heard voices judging their sins. They’re experiencing a lot of emotional stress as a result. Were your changes influenced by that as well?

A: Hah? Those stupid voices, huh? Yeah. I have heard them as well. However, such things do not pose a major problem.

E: What?

A: We have firm teachings. We have a clear and noble faith. No matter what kinds of things other people might say, these things cannot be shaken.

E: Faith… That would be referring to the religion you believe in, right?

A: Yes. It seems like the power Milgram holds is real. Did you have a look as well? At our faith.

E: Yeah. Though it was a depiction of a fairly small group of people… I’ve judged that your murder was the result of religion – of faith.

A: It wasn’t murder. It was merely a punishment in line with our doctrine.

E: So it’s not a sin, you mean?

A: Is faith a sin?

E: Faith itself is free. I’m not religious myself, but I understand that some people might be saved by it.

A: Hm. Is that so? Are the prisoners who weren’t forgiven feeling lost right now? Maybe they need our faith as well.

E: I’d rather you spare me the missionary work inside the prison.

A: Faith is free. It exists for people who are feeling lost.

E: … We’ve digressed. So – just what are you right now? You’ve been saying “we” this whole time. Does that mean you are not Amane Momose right now?

A: Right now, I am both Amane Momose and I am not. I am speaking on behalf of our faith. I am speaking as “we”, who believe that dialogue and warnings are in order since you made the misjudgment to not forgive us.

E: So you’re saying I’m talking to the very concept of your faith right now?

A: We don’t mind you thinking of it that way.

E: Huh.

A: Well then. Let us warn you once again. Warden. You judged that Milgram couldn’t forgive us, correct?

E: Yeah, that’s right.

A: As stated previously, our actions were in line with our doctrine, and thus cannot count as sins. Thus, Milgram is in the wrong.

E: You’ve killed a person.

A: In line with our doctrine.

E: You understand that you’ve broken the law, right?

A: We’ve talked about this before. There are things more important than the law. That would be our teachings.

E: I won’t acknowledge you turning such selfish rules into a standard of judgment. I won’t allow it. End of story.

A: …

E: Both religion and faith are free. However, a doctrine can’t become a universal standard of judgment.

A: You fool. Isn’t Milgram trying to enforce a new standard of judgment precisely because laws cannot guide this world onto the right path? Are you still being weighed down by the law?

E: As someone who’s just the warden, it’s not exactly my ambition to know about Milgram’s philosophy. It’s not because it’s against the law – but as Milgram, your murder can’t be forgiven. I judged it that way. That’s all.

A: …

E: Milgram… denies your doctrine.

A: If you do not adjust your way of thinking… we, too, will never be able to forgive you.

E: Heh.

A: What’s so funny?

E: What do you mean, “we”? You’re making me laugh. What you’re doing is just plain murder – no matter whether we’re talking in general or according to religion. It’s murder.

A: …!

E: Understand that. Amane Momose. It’s not “you” (plural) who killed someone – it’s you (singular). Don’t look away from your own actions by playing pretend!

A: … Ha…haha…! - You’ve insulted us… [You’ve insulted] God…!

E: So what?

A: This is unforgivable! I won’t forgive you! (screams)

(Amane tries to strike Es, but gets stopped by the barrier)

E: I’m telling you it’s impossible for prisoners to attack the warden.

A: I won’t forgive you…! I won’t forgive you!

E: Did you get those scissors from the storage room? Were you never taught that you’re not supposed to use those on people?

A: In light of our doctrine, your insult to us is more than enough to warrant a punishment! I won’t forgive you! I won’t forgive you!

(she tries and fails to attack them again)

E: Well… it’s in vain, so you might as well just listen to me like this.

A: I won’t forgive you! I won’t forgive you!

E: Prisoners can’t attack the warden. This is one of Milgram’s core rules, though a certain guy with multiple personalities slipped past it.

A: I won’t forgive you! I won’t forgive you!

E: Which means that Milgram doesn’t decide who the prisoners are based on their body, but based on their mind. If the mind is a different one, the rule doesn’t apply. It bothers me that it has a loophole, but…

A: I’ll kill you…! I’ll kill you!!

E: Thanks to this defective rule, we’ve now confirmed this: the you holding those scissors right now isn’t a god or a concept. It’s Amane Momose herself.

A: … I’ll…!

E: So, what you’re doing right now really is just a game of pretend. This is stupid.

A: …

E: This is the head-on battle with Milgram that you wanted.

A: Shut up…!

E: What’s wrong? Have you ended up wanting to be treated like a child after all?

A: Shut up!!

E: In fact, if you ask me, the fact that you are a child has a lot to do with this matter.

A: …!

E: No matter what you do, no matter how grown-up you behave – you’re a child. That’s an unchangeable truth.

A: You’re a child, too!

E: Wrong. I’m fifteen, so I’m an adult in Puerto Rico and Haiti. You’re twelve, so you’re a child no matter the country.

A: …!!

E: Hehe. You look angry.

A: I don’t.

E: You do.

A: I don’t!

E: Well, either way is fine. In the end, there’s two main reasons as to why children get reduced sentences under the law – the possibility of reformation and the influence of the environment, I believe.

A: …

E: In this case, it’s mainly the latter. I’ve said this before – during childhood, the things that the parents teach a child have a great impact on them, and the environment one grows up in has immense influence as well. A child who is born into a very religious environment will grow up believing that those are the rules of the world.

A: What are you trying to say?

E: In other words, they will turn their faith into their entire life – feeling as if their doctrine is the whole world.

A: …

E: Previously, you objected to being considered [mentally] underdeveloped based on your age. I suppose you were right about that. Your self really is fully developed. However, that self is one that was built in a particular environment, isolated from society.

A: …

E: That’s exactly why… We have also speculated whether this really was your crime, or that of your parents – of your surroundings.

A: …!

E: But as I said before, there’s different ways these components could have worked together—

A: “We”? What’s “we”? Are you not just “I”?

E: … I…?

A: Aren’t we the same? Me and Warden-san. You know, I’m aware that I’m out of the ordinary. That my environment was peculiar, and that everyone [else] is normal.

E: Amane…

A: In fact, there have been people who said that to me. I’ve been told things like, “You’re being deceived.” “You can still make it right now.” “You’re crazy.”

E: …

A: You are treating me as a child after all. Because I’m a child, you believe that I must have been brainwashed. It’s not like that. I, too— children, too, understand everything! Please don’t just decide that people must be unhappy.

E: …

A: I’m happy that I was born to my parents! It was a bit difficult, and it could feel restrictive sometimes, but I’m really happy that I could grow up on such beautiful teachings! I want to live this way!

E: Is that so…

A: You call that brainwashing, don’t you? From my perspective, you also generally oppose religion based on your personal values. Why can that be blindly trusted just because you’re more people?

E: I got what you’re trying to say.

A: It’s only natural that we, who weren’t acknowledged as a society just because we’re fewer in numbers, would view the possibility of a new world through Milgram as a dream.

E: Yeah, I’ve got it! Still, I won’t recognize your doctrine. By my standards, a doctrine that approves murder cannot be forgiven!

A: Yes. I’ve understood that.

E: Milgram is a three-trial system, though. I’ll be watching and listening to the footage from your mind for now, going into deeper depths this time… and if I feel something there, I plan on firmly accepting that.

A: Facing me head-on, is that right?

E: Yeah. That’s it.

A: If you end up deciding not to forgive me – not to forgive us –, then I will not forgive you, either.

E: Yeah.

A: Ah… no, that’s wrong. I will not forgive you (plural).

E: Wha—

(machinery whirrs, bell rings)

A: “Don’t look away from your own actions by playing pretend” – that’s my line. Warden-san, it’s not just you; it’s all of you. You all said you wouldn’t forgive us. We’re meeting each other on eye level. You all won’t be allowed to not get your hands dirty.

E: … What are you saying…?

A: What could it be? Warden-san, you were the one who said “we”, so…

E: (falls to their knees) … My head… Huh…?

A: Oh? Do you have a headache? Are you alright, Warden-san?

E: …

A: Do get back up by yourself, alright? That’s a trial given to you by God.

E: (heavy breathing)

A: Both pain and illness are trials. According to our teachings, those who run from them are the worst evil there is. That’s one of the four great principles. No matter who you are, that cannot be forgiven.

E: What are you…?

A: Oh – speaking of which, there is one among the prisoners right now. An evil existence that’s trying to steal people’s trials away from them.

E: …!

A: Shidou Kirisaki… His actions violate our rules. I have given him a warning. If he continues, I suppose it will be inevitable for me to intervene.

E: …!

A: Or… could it already be too late?

E: Shut up!! (hits her) … You’re getting ahead of yourself…!

A: Using one-sided violence… that’s unfair of you.

E: Shut your mouth…! I am the one casting the judgements here!

A: Hehehe. And how does that set you apart from us?

E: … I told you to shut up… Listen to what I’m telling you.

A: Hehe… This is nice. If the world you’re striving for is admirable in my eyes… That is to say…

E: Prisoner no.8, Amane… Sing your sins…!

#translation #fan translation #milgram #milgram music videos #amane momose #milgram amane #milgram es #y-yippee! (lays down face first on the floor) #how are we feeling folks #(i swear i'm not gonna plug my kofi every time but i was feeling a little silly) #(also shoutout to everyone who was being supportive on my uni puratory post. ue. bless y'all fr)

[2024-grimoire-challenge]

March Week 3 - Traditions, Associations, Tools and Symbols

This week we will have several new pages. One for a personal look at your practice given the above prompts, one for a family/ ancestral look at the prompts, and one for your community, no matter how big that community is. Whether that is just you and your immediate friends, or something wider like a coven or group you regularly talk to your about your practice.

This will be another week with a lot of stuff in the prompts!

Monday - Traditions

First lets define tradition.

noun: tradition

the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another.

an artistic or literary method or style established by an artist, writer, or movement, and subsequently followed by others.

a doctrine believed to have divine authority though not in the scriptures.

Personal page - Take a look inward at yourself and your traditions, inside and outside of your witchcraft practice. What things do you do regularly, to keep your life and your habits on track? Your practice? How do you celebrate things both large and small? What are the traditions you hold personally in your life?

Family/ Ancestor page - Ask your family about these, beyond the ones you know. What are some of your family traditions? How does your family celebrate certain things, large and small? What meals are traditional to your family? Are there any prayers or actions of any kind that are passed down? Look deep and ask about your family further back than just the ones you've met.

Community page - Look at your community at large. Friend groups, a coven or other people who practice like you or with you, and the community you live in. What are some traditions that are held and passed down through generations within that larger community? Everything from celebrations to regularly held events and so on! How does it all relate to your practice or how has it become a part of it?

Tuesday -Associations/ Symbols

Personal page - What are some things you personally associate with yourself and your craft? Everything from foods, to plants, gems, animals, everything you associate with any part of your identity.

Family/ Ancestor page - What are some things from the list above that you associate with your family and your ancestors?

Community page - Same goes for your community. What associations do you hold for your community? We all feel a certain kind of way, and think about certain things when we think about our hometowns or the area in which we live. An example, I live in Ohio, so not so jokingly, there's a lot of corn here, a lot of farmland. That's something I associate with my community.

Wednesday - Tools

Personal page - What are some of the tools you personally use in your craft? It can be anything at all. An example from my practice is a small tin i keep on my altar, decorated with paint and symbols that I use as a sort of money offering tin. I put money in it regularly when I practice at my altar and use it to buy new things for my altar. Another is a round cylindrical tin I use to hold the small pages I've written my devotional poetry on. Anything that is specific to you and your practice.

Family/ Ancestor page - Same kind of deal as above, but on a broader scale, focused on your family and ancestry. What are some of the tools your family uses (both in and out of the traditions you've learned about). An example is my grandmother's piano. We use it as a focal point for a great many things. We come together at it to sing songs that remind us of our family.

Community page - Again, like the above, but focused on your community. A local fountain, or park, or place, a thing people in your community use for some sort of reason. There is a local park with a fountain that holds an important place in our community.

Thursday - A Little Treat

So for today, we're gonna have a bit of an offshoot. We're gonna get in the kitchen and cook! You don't have to do this one, but there's been a lot of stuff for the prompts this week, so let's treat ourselves while adding to our grimoires! Find some recipes!

Personal page - What's a recipe that you came up with on your own, pertaining to or not pertaining to your practice? If there is a certain food you like to cook before/ after spells or rituals, record it on your personal page. Then, go cook it! And enjoy!

Family/ Ancestor page - Ask your family if you want, and discover the recipe for something that has been passed down in your family. I will forever swear by my grandmother's potato soup recipe. Record it on this page, then make it!

Community page - Is there a local favorite spot? Is there a restaurant or place locally that you could visit and eat at? Or is there some sort of cuisine that is made locally and not really anywhere else? Record it if its something you can cook, and make it! If it is a place to visit, go there! And enjoy!

Friday - Back to the norm

Let's finish off the week with our regular research prompts!

New Page/ Research - Herbal research- Pick another herb from your list and learn all you can about it! Record it on a new page!

New Page/ Research - Gemstone/ other - Pick another gemstone or type of magic or tool, make a page or add the info to an existing page!

Whew! That was a lot! Feel free to share your recipes or pictures of what you cook, either by submissions on this page or by tagging me either here or at @thehazeldruid and I'll share what you've made!

Good luck and happy crafting witches!!

-Mod Hazel

#2024 grimoire challenge #grimoire #grimoire challenge #paganism #witchcraft #witchblr #book of shadows #2024 gc #dark academia #occultism #2024 grimoire challenge march #march week 3 #2024 gc march week 3 #grimoire stuff #grimspiration #grimoire inpsiration #witchy #witchcraft inspo #witchy challenge

[strangersteddierthings]

What's Eight Plus Seven?

Part One🦇Part Two🦇Part Three🦇Part Four🦇Part Five

"Did you ask about my sandwich?" is the first thing Robin asks him when he falls through her window. Only after the question has been asked does Robin turn on the lamp beside her bed.

"Ow," he replies, because he's landed on her shoes. One is digging into the center of his back and the other his buttcheek.

"I'll take that as a no," she swings her legs off the side of the bed, sitting up to look down at him. "You know, with the amount of noise you just made, you might as well have used the front door."

"We both know your parent's know I'm here, anyway. The use of your window is to avoid conversation with your mom. She always asks if I'm planning to propose before you go to college, or after you graduate."

Robin gags. "Don't remind me. Now get off the floor and tell me when I'm to expect lunch delivered by Eddie to Family Video?"

Steve does haul himself off the floor, then, because the shoes are painful. He joins Robin on the bed, shoulder to shoulder, and leans against her. "Sorry. I forgot to ask about your sandwich."

"I forgive you. Now, to the secondary issue of the night. Show me your knuckles."

"What!?" Steve usually prides himself at being able to keep up with Robin and her random thoughts, but this is so out of left field.

Robin just grabs the hand closest to her for inspection. It doesn't take her long to drop it and reach across him to grab his other hand. "Hmm. No signs of physical damage. Did you smother him to death with a pillow instead?"

Ah. "Har har. No. There was no violence of any kind. There was some yelling, at first, and I got the last word in-" "the most important part of any argument." "-because I screamed fuck you and then ran to my room but then... then he looked so sad about it. I even tried to a pick a fight, twice!-" "Yes, yes, your self-destructive tendencies." "-but Eddie really seemed upset by it all, which, he should. If he hadn't been a dick then I wouldn't be holding a grudge. But..."

"But you were also a dick back the rest of high school, so maybe the hurts can like... even out and go away?"

"Well, we didn't word it like that but that was the, like, ending we came to, yeah. Dustin was right. He's a dick, but like, in the same way I am, I guess."

Robin leans away from him so she can sway her body back, bumping her shoulder against his. "So, to summarize...?"

Steve shrugs. "We talked it out, I told him about Christopher and like, glossed over my parents leaving me alone all the time but I think he picked up on it. Especially after I told him your theory about why I was so attached to a cousin I saw for three to four weeks once a year."

"Hey, don't do that. Don't downplay how you're feeling or smack talk your own emotions. Those are my jobs and I'll not have you leaving me unemployed. Now come on. Let's lay down, and you can be the little spoon, and tell me all about it."

"You just don't want to see my ugly cry face."

"I don't want to see your ugly cry face," Robin parrots back as she clicks off the lamp before they lay down and do exactly as promised. Steve retells the whole night in as much detail as he can remember and Robin does spoon him, patting at his head and giving his stomach a little squeeze every time his voice goes watery.

Eddie left Steve's house with his entire worldview shifted. He hasn't felt this rocked about events since learning monsters were real. And the thing that has rocked him the most isn't learning that Steve had essentially been abandoned by his parents when he was fourteen, or even learning about the tangled web inside Steve that consists of his love for fantasy, curiosity for DnD, and grief for the loss of his cousin.

No, what has rocked Eddie, what worldview has shifted, is his perception of himself and how he has been viewing the world. Him and his fucking Munson Doctrine.

It had served him well, back when he'd first learned the word 'doctrine' in sixth grade and made his own then and there. It let him draw clean and clear lines between what hurts and what doesn't, what keeps him safe and what didn't. Befriend the lost sheep, avoid the jocks. Flight was the superior fight or flight response.

And he had made changes over the years; as a rule, don't tell the cops shit about anything, ever. Make yourself the target to help the little guy (if you're the weirdest kid in school, the others might get overlooked). Slash the tires of everyone who dunks your head in a toilet.

Those kinds of changes.

Around junior year, Eddie started selling because they needed a second income. He'd put in application around town, first, but hadn't received a single call back. Hell, four the places he applied straight up told him they wouldn't hire him so he could quit checking in on his application. He knew Reefer Rick wouldn't turn him away. Not when Eddie could get to the high-schoolers Rick knew would pay too much for too little a hell of a lot easier than Rick could.

It came with the added bonus of bullying ending for him, when the same people who used to shove him around or knock things out of his hands ended up wanting to buy some drug or another, and instead of finding Reefer Rick waiting at the picnic table in the trees out of view, they found Eddie.

This added a new point to the doctrine: charge jocks double. He'd held to that until Chrissy, who had seemed so much more like one of his sheep than a jock.

And, well, everything after Chrissy should have ended the Munson Doctrine completely. Because he'd used it to put people in nice, little boxes that made sense in his mind and that was fucking blown to pieces.

Nancy Wheeler, badass gun-owner who he watched make a sawed-off shotgun? She'd in a box labeled 'Priss, Prim, and Proper' and wasn't that a fucking lie.

Robin Buckley, who he knew withstood Russian torture and willing walked into Hell to save the world? He hadn't ever even given her a second thought. She wasn't a jock, a nerd, or a customer, so she just didn't really exist. Which is so shitty of him to realize.

And Steve. Steve fucking Harrington, who ripped a goddamn giant bat demon apart with his bare hands after biting it and then spit the blood out like every horror movie fans wet dream? Like Eddie's wet dream. Well, he'd been a real dick most of high school. That was a fair box to place him in, at the time.

But because of that goddamned Munson Doctrine, he'd been a dick to Steve first. He'd ruined any chance at even being Steve's friend.

Or he had, before tonight.

It's a really fucking humbling thing, to have your own biases thrown in your face. Don't get him wrong, at first it absolutely made him livid. It hurt, and made him defensive, when Steve didn't just accept his apology. He'd instead shot back, something about him not being wrong about who Steve turned out to be and then Steve... Steve had said 'lashing out at me first, at my reading ability, and mocking me for not being quick at math' and Eddie had felt his stomach drop.

He hadn't remembered that day, not nearly as clearly as Steve did, but Steve's words had brought the moment back to him. He couldn't recall exactly what he'd said but he remembered the feeling of satisfaction at humiliating Steve some random jock that day. Satisfaction at flipping the script and getting to be the one who wasn't hurt. He'd laughed at Steve with the other people who had gathered to watch Steve struggle to do simple addition. He'd retold the story to everyone in Hellfire after school and they'd all cheered about it, told Eddie he was right to do what he'd done.

What he remembers even more, though, is coming home to Wayne and bragging about it. Thinking of the responses he got from his friends. But Wayne didn't congratulate him. Wayne had nodded softly along with the story and then said, 'you can't be the one to hit first, Edward. You throw one to many punches and soon enough yer knuckles don't feel the pain anymore.'

Eddie had puffed up, defended himself, yelled at his uncle for defending a jock and Wayne had interrupted him there.

"He mighta been the jock, but you were the bully."

That had hurt almost as much as every punch his father had ever thrown at him. And did Eddie even learn from it?

No. He doesn't think so.

Eddie had a shit life until his Uncle stepped in, stepped up, and showed him that love was unconditional.

And he's just spent the whole evening learning about Steve, and how the love of his parents had always been conditional. (And never in a way Steve could achieve. Not that Steve had said their love was conditional, but you don't abandon a kid you love at fourteen.)

Steve's every decision until the Upside Down had happened was based on what his parents would think or want. Trying to earn his dad's respect or some shit.

Steve's dad might not have hit him, but Eddie knows an unloving father.

Jesus, all this thinking makes Eddie want a cigarette. He drags himself off his bed and to the window, which he yanks open and leans half out to smoke because this is a new trailer and Wayne asked him to smoke outside when they moved into it.

He left Steve's house feeling like they could be friends, which is great. Way more than Eddie expected. It was just also... a lot to process. A lot to take in.

Jesus. He'd never expected Steve to really be willing to play 20 questions to get to know him, either; that he was willing to set his grudge aside and try, even with his anger at Eddie wrapped up in grief for Christopher. Eddie wouldn't have been able to do it.

Not with his Doctrine in the way.

He doesn't need to change everything about himself, but he definitely needs a deep dive into who he is verses who he wants to be, or has thought himself to be. Steve admitted to bettering himself and Eddie wants to be a person worthy of being around Steve.

And being honest with himself in the quiet of his room, Eddie wants be a person worthy of being with Steve.

He's allowed to be a little delusional about it all, he thinks.

#steddie #my fic #what's eight plus seven? #a little pov flip so we can get some insight on Eddie

[chlorinewriter]

I would love a Mishanks One Piece AU where devils and demons exist and the Christian Church is a hugely powerful force, a la the World Government, bent on tracking down and exterminating them. Their priests, or certain kinds of priests, are warriors as well as preachers and Mihawk is one of the best. (The cross necklace? The sword that's all but a crucifix that he's bound to??? It paints itself!) Dedicated, his religious fervor knowing no bounds as long as that fervor is directed at slaying demons. He's pretty mid when it comes to anything else in the Church, and there's a reason he's sent out so frequently on solo missions. His image is widely used in church propaganda as a protector of the Lambs of God, but he can't really be trusted to care about the nuance of theology or make converts through anything but fear and blood.

Enter Shanks, unrepentant sinner. The man has been a thorn in the side of the Church for years, challenging doctrine, encouraging independent thought and largely weakening their hold on the various islands and communities. There are even rumors he's not a man, but a devil in human clothes, wolf among the flock. How else could someone be so convincing and powerful, without being on the side of God?

To that end, Mihawk is sent to "investigate the problem" - which is a pretty way of saying "kill this heathen". He goes, and actually does end up in a fight with Shanks, and the man is brilliant. Mihawk hasn't met his equal in years. But stranger, and more troubling, there are zero signs of demonic possession or the presence of a devil.

Zero signs, that is, until the local priest starts acting... odd. Cue Shanks and Mihawk having to work together, and that work opening far more doors than it closes in Mihawk's mind. He starts to wonder - about the Church, their morals, his life's purpose... about the man with the red hair and the devilish smile who is no devil at all.

#mishanks #one piece #mihawk x shanks #mihawk #shanks #one piece au

[aviesnapkindoodles]

Ways (that I have tried) to try to make a church/religious community more inclusive:

(This is more my religion/Christian centered, but can be applied to any kind of organization really)

Refer to to all presidents of organizations as president regardless of gender (Relief Society President, Young Women's President, etc.)

Use all inclusive language in scripture / doctrine/talk reading (even if you have to replace a word) (replace son or daughter or gendered language with child, people, or all. 'Children of God vs Sons and Daughters of God).

Don't be afraid to speak up for and add perspective of marginalized people in church community. This doesn't just have to be ethnic or queer minorities, it can extend to divorced, widowed, childless, disabled or converted members.

Recognize biases in self and religious thinking, and try to self-correct in words and deeds.

Reframe conversations that may be hurtful in a 'Love One Another' and Christ and/or God centered way.

(feel free to add on!!)

Edit: Realized in church that making sure we are clarifying all "churchy" language, whenever possible. Like not just saying 'MTC' (Missionary Training Center, to prepare to serve missions), or 'deacon' (young men who hold the first level of the Priesthood).

#personal #tumblrstake #queerstake #Mormon #lds church #religion #tw religion #queer religion

[farfaras]

Steddie week. Day 3: First kiss. 1.4k words. Ao3 link.

@steddie-week

~

Yeah, they’re absolutely, 100 percent, morons. Like, who even is this stupid? Steve thinks that ever since facing off an evil wizard with interdimensional powers, they do not have a sense of preservation or survival when it comes to actual normal human beings.

They just wanted to have dinner! Honestly Eddie hasn’t had much trouble with people, the story that was put out made him look like a hero (which Steve is glad for, because he is) and the town believed it like they’ve believed everything since 1983.

But these fucking jocks will not leave Eddie alone. Steve is tired of this, he can’t even imagine the exhaustion that Eddie feels.

When they approached them Steve knew that it was going to be a little bit harder to get out of than the other times. There were 5 of them, and just Steve and Eddie. When it’s just one or two, Steve can usually just scare them off with a glare and a name drop.

And Eddie.

He’s an idiot.

An idiot!

Since the whole thing he pulled in the upside down, they’ve had talks. About how he’s not a coward. He’s brave and he doesn’t need to prove anything. Sometimes running is okay. Sometimes running is the only option.

But he still has trouble believing it sometimes.

Steve is patient and understanding. Robin has said many times how people have a process.

He just wishes Eddie didn’t have to live his process right at moments like these!

He loves Eddie (wait, hold on, what?), but he can be somewhat impulsive and unpredictable. Steve was hoping that while he was defusing and excusing themselves, Eddie would follow his lead. Well, wrong.

He doesn’t even know what happened! One moment he was talking and the next they’re running away from some soda splashed jocks. Oh come on, Eddie.

Robin sometimes jokes about him and Eddie being the kids’ co-parents. The kids find it funny, for some reason. Dustin calls them both dad and Mike likes to call Steve mom as if that would bother him.

But right now, Eddie doesn’t feel like a co-parent as much as he feels like another goddamn kid. Always the babysitter.

So now, they’re running from 5 guys who are pissed. And sticky.

“Why the hell did you do that?!” Steve is almost hysterical.

“I panicked! They’re so many!” Eddie is panting, and he doesn’t know how much more he’s gonna be able to keep running.

“So throwing drinks at them was your solution?!” Steve is talking a big game, but in an alternative universe, he’s probably the one who threw the drinks.

“Better than what you were doing!” Eddie argues.

“I was doing just fine!” He was! Steve was gonna get them out of there. Unscathed. He had to. That’s what he’s for.

“Words weren’t gonna stop ‘em.” True, but at least they could’ve walked out or ran, before they were pissed.

“Well I hardly see anything that could stop them now!” They take a turn so they have some time to think of something while the jocks catch up. But like Steve said there’s nothing that can help them here.

There’s some stores. And an alley in the middle of a clothing and a pet store. Eddie grabs his hand and guides them towards the clothing store. “Come on, follow my lead.”

There’s some mannequins in front of the store, Eddie takes a long dark coat off the mannequin. “What are you doing?” Steve asks.

“Shh.” Eddie just shushes him. He shushes him! What is he on?

“Wha- don’t you shush me!” He whisper yells with not a very convincing anger in his voice.

“Stop asking questions and just do what I say!” Eddie requests. Which is kind of a lot to ask considering he’s the one who worsened the situation. “I got us into this and I’ll get us out.” Huh. Steve thinks that’s fair, but he’s still hesitant.

“But I don’t know what we’re doing.” Steve doesn’t like that.

“Me neither. But it’s better than nothing.” Steve thinks Eddie kinda lives by that philosophy. Does he have that one on that doctrine he came up with?

What’s the difference between philosophy and doctrine? Huh. Wait, no sidetracking. Steve, focus! You’re both in danger.

Eddie puts the coat on, it’s so long it covers most of his legs. He also grabs the beanie and jacket that were on the other mannequin and puts it on Steve. “What’s this even gonna do?”

“I told you to stop asking questions!” Eddie’s eyes look wild.

“Sorry.” Steve’s sure Eddie is scared right now, but he does a good job of hiding it.

Eddie takes his hand and they run to the alley. Who has a dead end. Shit. They hear the voices turning the corner. Fuck, they’re gonna come across the alley anytime now.

Eddie turns to him and backs him into a corner. “Kiss me.”

Well. Steve couldn’t have heard that right. He shakes his head. “What?”

Eddie turns his back on the entrance of the alley. It’s kinda dark and they’re all the way to the back. “Now! They’re coming!” Eddie demands.

Eddie doesn’t give him much time to answer or even come up with something to say. Suddenly there are lips pressed to his. Eddie swallows any sound of surprise he might’ve been about to make. Eddie’s hands are on his chest and Steve finds himself putting his hands on Eddie’s waist and pulling him closer, as if he’s acting on instinct. There’s footsteps, voices, they seem to stop in front of the entrance. Steve doesn’t exactly know what they’re doing because he’s closed his eyes. They mutter something, god knows what, and then they go on their way. Looking for them somewhere else.

However, they don’t stop kissing when they’re gone. In fact, Steve hugs Eddie’s waist now, pulling them chest to chest while Eddie’s hands move to his face. They pull apart just to catch a single breath before going back in. Huh, now they’re just making out. Steve can call it what it is. He doesn’t know what Eddie is doing with his tongue, but he’s not complaining at all.

“I- um.” Eddie tries to step back but his embrace is strong. “My long hair.”

“Your…?” Steve’s brain isn’t computing much right now.

“From their point of view, it-“ Eddie inhales deeply. “It probably looked like a girl and a guy kissing.” Oh. Oh, Steve is so stupid. “Plus this coat almost looks like a dress.”

“Yeah, no, that’s- you-“ God, can he not even form sentences anymore? “Good thinking.” If he could, Steve would facepalm right now.

“They’re gone now.” Eddie nods.

“They sure are.” Steve confirms. Doesn’t really know what else to do.

Eddie looks around, and then directly at his eyes. That’s intense. “You can let me go now.”

He can let him go now. Eddie’s hands have moved to his shoulders, probably not knowing where else to put them.

He could let him go, now. They could go back to their respective places. And move on like this was another normal day for them.

He could do that.

Or.

Or he could confront this. Confront this thing that’s been going on between them for, in Steve’s humble opinion, far too long. He was scared before. He still is, but it doesn’t feel like something he can’t conquer, now. So he makes the decision. He’s not running away from this anymore. Even if sometimes that’s all you can do, that’s not the case here. He could be doing so much more. They could be doing so much more.

“No.” Steve says. And it’s said with finality.

Eddie looks confused. “What? What do you mean?”

“I won’t let you go.” He shrugs. They’re still holding on to each other. “I like you too much for that.”

“What are you saying?”

“Exactly what you heard. I like you.” He leans in. He waits for Eddie to back off, show any type of discomfort or rejection on his face. But there’s nothing like that. “Can I kiss you again?”

A gasp comes out. Eddie nods. “Yes.” It’s whispered and if they weren’t so close he might’ve never heard it.

This one is more gentle. Slow and soft. Almost lazy, like they don’t need to rush because they know they’re gonna get to this again. And again.

“I like you too.” Eddie rests his forehead to his.

Steve smiles at him, and when Eddie smiles back he knows. He knows that he’s gonna fall so hard. He kinda already has.

#it’s still the 24th here folks #i am NOT late #steddie #eddie munson #steve harrington #eddie x steve #steve x eddie #steve harrington x eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things 4 #mer writes sometimes #ficlet #steddieweek2023 #steddieweekprompts

[isalisewrites]

Listen, it's that time of the year again! The biannual bullshit in the form of 10 hours over the course of two days called the Mormon General Conference has begun and I'm forced to watch since I'm a PIMO Mormon (physically in, mentally out). This means a bit of an interruption to my usual writing, fandom, Tomarry, Legend of Zelda, and general gay shenanigans.

However, this is the first time where I'm emotionally and spiritually in a powerful, stable place and I'm officially unaffected by these talks. (I still like to bitch about them, tho, haha) They don't wound me like they have done before. They hold no power over me now. I remember how deeply affected and spiritually wounded I felt in April 2022, weeks before my "shelf" would break and my faith finally deconstructed to its end. But even General Conferences afterwards, I would still feel sickened by the talks.

I'm free of their spiritual shackles on my heart and soul.

I'm sorry, but it's become glaringly obvious that these men have nothing truly good to say. When you're in it, you don't see just how vapid and empty their words are. There's nothing of substance. There are no solutions. No. Reading scriptures and praying and "following the covenant path" are NOT solutions.

These men have no power and no authority. They are too old to make true change, just like the politicians in our government. We're taught they have the power of god, but they don't. Sorry, gentlemen, but you're nothing in comparison to my own uterus, which ACTIVELY wants to kill me. I don't fear you. I have no fears. You are weak in the face of my unwavering strength and peace as an unbeliever, who has no absolute answers about the nature of life and death.

I have peace you can't comprehend.

After all, if there is an afterlife where we must face our actions with our fellow humankind, I'm confident in my personal integrity. I am filled with sass, but I am kind and loving. Those who know me know this.

You... however... there is need for concern.

After all...

Where is your integrity when you protect and hide the vast variety of abusers?

Where is your integrity when you actively suppress women, demoting their status to ONLY wives and mothers?

Where is your integrity when you hate and turn on your LGBTQ+ siblings and deny them access to your heaven?

Where is your integrity when you lie and hide the dark truths of the origins of Mormonism?

Where is your integrity when you point blank lie about the wealth accumulated, to the point the American government FINED you for it?

Where is your integrity when you use that wealth to buy commercial properties?

Where is your integrity in the lack of building homeless shelters, schools, parks, or whatever could enrich and protect the local communities?

Where is your integrity when you spend millions of dollars on gilded temples in favor of the dead when the living sit homeless, exposed to the elements and without food, in the streets a block from those doors?

True integrity is a strength of self. My integrity demands of me to call out the bullshit and the lies; it tells me to remain calm in face of those who refuse to see my true heart, who claim that I am the one without light. I remain unaffected when those I love lash out at me because I no longer align with their thoughts and beliefs.

If you cannot see my heart, then it's clear you're the blind one.

"Christian kindness is not a substitute for integrity."

This is a contradicting statement. True integrity cannot be without kindness and love. No kindness? No integrity. No exceptions.

True integrity is NOT where you avoid "criticizing the doctrine or the culture" or the leadership in Mormonism.

What hypocrisy.

#exmo #exmormon #ex mormon #fucking religion #ex religious #mormon #Mormonism #lds #lds church #mormon church #ex christian #general conference #pimo #exmo stuff #ex lds #religious trauma

[adragonsfriend]

"The Jedi are slaves to their doctrine..."

...yeah. Just like how boarding school is the same thing as prison.

**Also with a side of reasoning about why Jedi and Amavikka culture are different.

I haven't seen this opinion expressed in its full form too often, but I see it semi-regularly in diluted forms, and I honestly think it's dangerous as hell. It makes an equivalence between adhering to some admittedly high rules and expectations and literal actual slavery, where one person owns other people and spends their lives and labor without regard for their personhood.

I went to a boarding school for secondry school, and there was a little joke that went something along the lines of, "They give us a bed to sleep in, three meals a day, and you have to be back in your dorm at a specific time... sounds really similar to prison to me." And just between students, it was funny, it's still worth a chuckle occasionally.

Make that same joke to someone whose been to prison or worked in a prison, and they'll probably look at you like you're an idiot, and maybe if you're lucky they'll even tell you all the reasons you're dead wrong.

Comparing a Jedi's duties to slavery follows the same logic as the joke. It takes the superficial elements of two things, and says 'see? these things are the same, therefore everything else must be as well.'

Boarding School & Prison:

Both provide beds, meals, and restricts where you can be at certain times.

Jedi duty & Slavery:

Both involve rules you don't get to decide yourself, are sometimes dangerous, don't allow owning property.

I could write a longer sentence that could hypothetically describe either duty or slavery, but I think this gets the point across well enough:

Superficial similarities do not make two things the the same, and pretending they do is, I think, tied to the deeper issue of making judgements about the expectations and rules of cultures outside our own without first examining their causes and effects. With that idea in mind, let's go through a couple of Jedi rules and expectations and look at some reasons why they have developed the way they did, why they're very reasonable for the Jedi, and a little about what we can take from them. Then, because I think a comparison is helpful here, let's do the same for Amavikka culture.

Jedi Cultural Rules/Expectations

The Jedi are a culture of Force sensitives, people with the power to help or to harm literally in their blood. What rules and expectations does this give rise to?

No romance-- Love and lust are powerful forces. Not necessarily always good or always bad, but definitely powerful. There's a reason people have been writing stories about lovers who screw up their own and others lives over getting to be together since the dawn of time. There's a reason lovers have been screwing up their own and others lives over getting to be together since the dawn of time. There's a reason queer people being punished for be open about who they love is damaging. There's a reason banning interracial marriages is pretty damn evil (i mean that one's more complicated then just love being powerful but i digress). But all this said, when the expectation is followed out of genuine devotion to a way of life, it's very possible to live a fulfilling life without a romantic partner; there are lots of monastic communities where people willingly choose not to marry or do romance because they are entirely committed to other pursuits. Love and lust are powerful things, and Jedi hold a lot of power. They cannot afford to be driven screw over themselves or others, because they really could hurt a lot of people, so they refrain from engaging with romantic pursuits at all.

Don't get attached to material things-- Jedi live communally without a sense of ownership over most things, aside from their lightsabers. They don't need that kind protective instinct because they work together to provide for each others needs. Jedi do collect personal items and have hobbies that require physical things, but they wouldn't be devastated if they lost those things, they would move on rather than go to lengths to reclaim them.

Practice controlling yourself-- You have an ability other people don't have, and it gives you the power to kill/otherwise take advantage of lots of people. Not doing that is important is incredibly important, so you need to practice knowing and controlling yourself so that if you end up in the situation where you want to hurt someone, you can stop.

You carry a weapon, think before you draw it, think harder before you kill with it-- Jedi go out in the world and seek to do good, sometimes that means willingly encountering violence, and sometimes encountering violence means fighting, so Jedi carry weapons. But the weapons they use are not casually mastered ones, like a blaster; the lightsaber is a precise and deadly weapon--you can do a lot of damage being just knowing how to fire a gun, but a sword is a different story. The lightsaber forms require constant practice and consideration as to when they should be used, and so it's natural that Jedi have a lot of philosophy and work that is tied to not just how but when they use their weapons. Interestingly, we often see lightsabers drawn, they are being used as a tool, to cut through doors or light up an area, not just as weapons.

You can leave-- If there's something else you are more committed to--you fell in love with someone, you want a traditional family, there's some other philosophical/cultural/religious path you consider more important than or not compatible with Jedi way, you think you could do more good elsewhere, etc--you're allowed to leave. You won't be a Jedi anymore, but you should absolutely come back and visit the Temple sometimes.

There are plenty of useful lessons to be learned from Jedi culture, because there are power imbalances all over the place in our lives whether they come from privilege, wealth, physicality, or emotional leverage over our loved ones, which we must navigate without being cruel when we are more powerful than others. We don't all live like Jedi though, because we don't all carry weapons, and most of us don't have the means/potential to become mass murderers if we lose control of ourselves for awhile, and most of us aren't trained to be diplomats going on missions with possibly immense consequences for millions of people.

Amavikka Rules/Expectations

Amavikka culture developed directly in response to slavery. What strategies and expectations does that give rise to?

Secret marriages-- Love is powerful and meaningful because no matter what happens Depur cannot take it from you, it lasts beyond just sharing space with the same person, and even beyond death.

Japur snippets-- Small, apparently inconsequential items are more easily held on to, and even if they are lost, they can be recreated and have the same meaning, because what your family means to you is more important than any physical representation. Still, physical reminders of that love are very helpful in dark times.

Absolutely nothing is owed to Depur-- The people in power have never done anything for you, and if they ever appeared to, it was done in the spirit of keeping you imprisoned.

False flattery to lie to Depur-- Works really well to trick a vain, powerful person who has power over you because it can get you what you need while avoiding negative reactions from them (not a super healthy thing to do outside of dangerous, power imbalanced relationships).

You'll always be one of the Mother's children-- No matter how far you go, even if you are sold on, even if you mess up massively or become chain blind, even if you leave Tatooine, you're still one of the Mother's children. Cruel situations provide lots of opportunities for pain to twist its victims into being cruel themselves, but someone can always tell you a story, and if you listen, you can always come back to that family.

There are plenty of useful lessons to be learned from Amavikka culture, because there are power imbalances all over the place in our lives, be they parent-child relationships, employer-employee, wealthy-poor, customer-retail worker, or the very real forms of slavery exist today, that we must navigate without without getting hurt when we are less powerful than others. We don't all live like Amavikka people though, because the power imbalances in many of our lives are not nearly as absolute or without recourse as people who are explicitly property as sanctioned by the government.

Sith Rules/Expectations

Just for kicks, let's look (very briefly) at the Sith as well. Sith recruits tend, with the major exception of Palpatine, to be people who have witnessed or been the victim to a lot of pain. The exception, Palaptine, was someone who enjoyed inflicting pain on others even before he became involved with the Sith. What expectations does recruiting vulnerable people with really intense, untempered relationships to pain create?

If you are weak, hurt people to get them to stop hurting you-- In fact, feel as much pain as possible yourself, so that you don't forget why it's important that you continue hurting other people.

If you are powerful, hurt whoever you want-- In fact, just hurt people, all the time. They would do they same as you if they weren't such pitiful weaklings.

The are plenty of useful lessons to be learned from the Sith about what not to do, because there are power imbalances all over the place in our lives, and whether we are powerful or weak in those relationships, carelessly inflicting pain on ourselves or others typically just adds to the pain in the world.

Conclusion

this has been my TED talk. it's excessively long. it took an excessively long time to write. go away and be nice to people or something, idk.

#star wars #SW rant #jedi philosophy #tatooine slave culture #sith philosophy #doing philosophy on tumblr #what a mood #socrates would be proud tho #star wars yeeteth

[cheemscakecat]

Invincible Spoilers

It actually makes a lot of sense that the Viltrumites latched on to family and changed their worldview because of it.

So for thousands of years, the dominant violent faction that killed the peace-loving Viltrumites sat unchallenged because the old peaceful ways were lost. They believed they were superior to the weaker species around them, and saw them as mere animals. Very few weapons could even hurt them, much less kill.

Under those circumstances, the killing of weak Viltrumites children made a twisted kind of sense. After all, there would always be more Viltrumites having children and the strong would live. They didn’t die often, so in their perspective, children were not such a precious resource as they are to humans.

Someone engineered a virus that could kill them. And it very nearly destroyed the entire species. There were only 50 full-blooded Viltrumites left in the wake of the pandemic.

Like Nolan said, they’re on the brink of extinction.

Nolan wrote books based on his missions to destroy threats to the dying Viltrumites species. He was the guy they sent to deal with threats and see how dangerous they really were.

So he was probably also the first Viltrumite to be tasked with having a hybrid child.

Before the virus, they wouldn’t have had offspring with “lesser beings”, but they couldn’t afford to be so picky with so few in their ranks. So why not send your danger guy to make sure it won’t give you another life threatening disease or result in a deformed child? To see if the rest can follow suit and repopulate with other species.

That’s why they sent him to live with humans, they’re the most compatible species that they could find.

Death shouldn’t be a concern under Viltrumite doctrine. And it wasn’t until the virus. But now that the remaining soldiers have watched their Viltrumite friends and family die, death holds new weight.

Nolan wouldn’t use death as a point to convince Mark if he didn’t somewhat understand the weight of it. And it’s also a point against himself, because he’s arguing out loud with himself at the same time. Why would you fight for Earth and let your people go extinct?

Viltrumite doctrine commands you to kill weak offspring. That’s how things have been done for thousands of years.

But how can a tactical minded-person see the value in doing that?! When the species is nearly extinct and you’ve gone through all the effort of getting attached and trying to raise that child? Old Viltrumite doctrine and the current situation are not compatible.

Nolan is torn between the two ideologies that are telling him how to show loyalty and care. One is telling him that he needs to kill Mark to uphold the holy doctrines of his people. The other is telling him that killing your child is stupid, wasteful, and a disservice to what he’s trying to achieve.

Mark telling him that even if the humans die, they’ll still be together has put more weight on the second, correct ideology. The whole reason you’re even here is to build your species back up and keep it from fading into myth. You care about other Viltrumites. It’s self-sabotaging to destroy the very offspring that you are having to repopulate. And if being half-Viltrumite is enough to make them valuable, shouldn’t the offspring’s life be preserved?

Let’s just get Anissa out of the way first. I’m not defending what she did. She didn’t even want to have kids in the first place, which I think is something the show should expand on. We don’t get to know why, but given the fact they’re meant to have hybrid children, I’m assuming part of it is feeling that the child may be a waste.

It would suck to be pregnant for 9 months only to have something wrong with the baby, especially if in their culture that offspring would be killed at some point. I think she decided to target Mark because he’s already part Viltrumite, and her child would get their powers faster so she could start testing the strength of the child. Wastes less time putting effort into the kid if he or she is not going to grow up Viltrumite material.

The show could also expand on the fact that she has an actual relationship with the father of her second child, and had her of her own volition, not because she was commanded to. It’s implied in the comic, but she needs more development this time around. Anyways, at some point she found actual value in her children, beyond their strength.

Kregg was so down for the cause that he had multiple families at once. And he makes a very good point to Thragg; why shouldn’t we protect our families if we’re repopulating?

He’s got like 10 families, that’s at least 10 Viltrumite kids if everything goes to plan. You really wanna forfeit going from 50 to 60 Viltrumites? Mans just has the natural and sane instinct to protect his loved ones and give his kids the chance to grow up. Thragg doesn’t.

Lucan is one of 50 remaining Viltrumites, and we don’t know the ratio of men to women. But even if there were 25 of each, both genders are a precious resource for repopulating. Should we really be surprised that a man who has had 25 women to choose from at most is unwilling to soil a relationship?

Yes, there’s billions of Earth women, but you don’t go from starving to finding yourself in a supermarket and magically stop being affected by the time you were starving. Kregg stocked up on as many families as possible: Lucan was so used to rationing that he decided to be the best he could to one family, which is still precious even in a sea of options.

Thragg doesn’t understand that. He’s the embodiment of their flawed purging ideology.

Everyone else’s natural nurturing instincts were dormant under the surface, and started sprouting up when they had Earth kids. Thragg’s nurturing instincts are in the Nether for the whole series. He seems dumb because the whole Violent Fascist Viltrumite ideology he lives by is dumb.

It goes against nature and it’s a bad survival strategy. We just get to see it spelled out because the virus has already happened and he isn’t adapting like everyone else. And what’s crazy is that his surviving kids adapted even after all his brainwashing. He could have changed, but he refused and stayed embedded in his ideology his entire life.

I didn’t know where to put Thula, but she’s cool now too. [Cool as in not evil, I mean. She was never lame.]

#invincible #viltrumite #character analysis #Thragg’s wild for real. Shout out to Ursaal though.

[not-terezi-pyrope]

Your daring statement that "people should probably believe things that are true" seems to have been met with controversy in the Believing Things That Are False community.

congrats on the job btw

Thank you! And, yeeeeah, lol

I mean as a blanket statement that gets dicey with things like spiritual or religious beliefs, which I'm aware this wasn't about, but, as an aside (sorry if this is a bit obnoxious)...

The standard I set for myself a while ago was one of going like, I won't rudely try to intercede in someone Believing A Thing That Is Wrong if they are not using said belief to cause harm to/negatively impact others. This seems to be the best policy to avoid causing a lot of pain needlessly for everyone, because it's not like people actually change their mind about deeply held beliefs when questioned on them.

But on the other end of that double-edged sword, when people demonstrate that they are casually and often without realizing deploying false judgements in a way that does affect how they interact with the rest of the world, then I do think that that's probably something that they should work on.

And again I'm not a dick about it, but I do think I'm more than within my rights to be like "it makes me uncomfortable to realize that people are making decisions and judgements in a poor and possibly dangerous way, possibly at scale". And if people want to come after me for saying that, then I can and will call them on it lmao. They want to have an argument then I'll more than give them one, I don't think a lot of people realize how much restraint you have to learn and internalize early on to hold a model of reality that you are reasonably certain is accurate but which runs contrary to the prevailing cultural zeitgeist.

It annoys me for instance how often religious people who will talk on their own philosophy will lambast a spectre of "annoying atheists trying to lecture them" when they won't think twice before trying to assert some absolutely asinine doctrine to someone who says something in passing, not even to them specifically, that contradicts it. They don't realize that they are far worse for deploying that kind of aggressive lecturing than most of the atheists they complain about, but are more concerned and annoyed by atheists specifically because they have realized they can't actually win an argument when they're arguing something that inherently lacks proof or any reasonable claim to be the null assumption.

#not-terezi-speaks #asks #religion #swordandscytheandpen