#cw: cults

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - The Sacrifice

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Story Setup Eldritchrune Masterpost

Perhaps the most frightening part for Kris is the realization that whatever is happening, has happened before.

And yay, this comic's all done! A full setup for just how Kris ended up in the Dark World!

[vexwerewolf]

Felicitations, comrade! We had our session 0 for the IGF campaign im running, and one of my players wants to be a moonlighter pirate "infiltrating" Hell's Gate militia. He was initially thinking of being affiliated with the Hell Hounds, which for obvious reasons would present some challenges. Do you have any advice for making this happen, what with the very first mission putting him up against his true boss? I dont know that he'd have enough time to have truly built up camraderie with the rest of the SRT to truly make his character have conflicted loyalties.

I mean, he'd have to have been with the militia a while to build up enough trust to be seriously considered for the SRT.

But moreover, let me tell you what being a Hell Hound is like.

CW: psychological and physical abuse

So one thing I want to make it clear that the Hell Hounds are basically an incel cult without the weird gender-sexual overtones. I imagine there ARE women and enbies who join it but in essence Andros Capella is a creepy weirdo who preys on disaffected, primarily male youth with no prospects and indoctrinates them into his worldview of nihilistic violence.

Andros doesn't really have a philosophy, or at least not one that he could describe in words (and even if he could, he wouldn't), but it could be summed up as "the weak exist solely to create things for the strong to take." You are worthy of having things if you are strong enough to take them, but only so long as you're strong enough to keep them.

The closest political ideology I could ascribe to him would be "stateless fascism." Andros is certainly sadistic, devoid of empathy and believes himself to be supreme, but he's too intellectually lazy to bother engaging in justifying why he's supreme. He makes the most basic of naturalistic arguments (i.e. "this is just the way the world works") but feels it's beneath him to actually justify or provide evidence for his claims.

He hates the minutiae of day-to-day life, and derives no joy from anything that doesn't involve someone else's discomfort or pain. He will steal your food for the sheer thrill of having taken something that you wanted to eat, but he won't enjoy eating it because he despises the physical sensations of chewing and swallowing.

And if you are a Hell Hound who, god forbid, enjoys something, he will bully the shit out of you. He will verbally and physically abuse you until you learn to hate the thing you liked just to make the pain stop.

Lemme tell you what the average night on Fort Cerberus looks like when you're not on a raid: you and a couple hundred other sick fucks lurk around the corridors drinking and gambling but you sure as hell better not actually look like you're having fun because you're all desperately trying to avoid becoming the bossman's next chew toy.

Some poor fuck catches Andros' eye. You're not sure what for, but from the sounds of things he might've been counting his poker winnings too loud. He gets a hand on his shoulder from the big man, who tells him that he's being too selfish - gotta learn to share a bit more, yeah? Now, way Andros sees it, guy's got ten fingernails that he's keeping all to himself, so here's a set of pliers - redistribute.

You jeer along with the rest of the room, loud enough to drown out his screams, because you're so very, very relieved that it isn't you. But you fuck up. You look a little bit too enthusiastic, perhaps, or maybe it's the opposite, maybe you weren't forcing it enough. Either way, the bossman's eyes land on you and your blood turns to ice in your veins.

"You," he says. "C'mere."

The room is dead silent all of a sudden, quiet enough that the pitiful whimpering of the first guy, (currently on his second thumbnail) is the only sound you can hear. You walk over, as a prisoner does to the place of execution.

He takes your hands, inspecting your fingernails, and then your hands, then your arms. "No ink yet? You not pulling your weight? Am I payin' to feed a fuckin' leech?"

You say you're not a leech.

"Those pricks over at the Gate are gettin' too clever. Learning too quick. Gettin' the jump on us too many times. I want someone over there learnin' what they know. You 'avin' no ink makes you a good choice. They'd sniff out any of these boys in a second, they would, but not you. You look soft. Don't he look soft, boys?"

The room jeers at you just as you jeered at the first guy (he's on his ninth nail, now, and his throat is so hoarse he can't make sounds anymore). You try your best to remain composed.

"Normally soft'd be fuckin' worthless. But soft'll let you blend right in with the Gaters."

So, to avoid whatever horrific torture he's currently ideating, you agree. The next time they go out on a raid, they pick a ship full of people who don't know each other and slip you in with the passengers when nobody's looking. You don't go to Hell's Gate directly - you do a couple of hops through the Thousand Habs, just to throw off suspicion.

You sue for residency on the station as a refugee from a failed habitat. They give you your own cabin, and they make sure you're fed and clothed. You smirk to yourself - they really are as soft as Andros said they'd be; they have food and water and clothes and they're just giving them away!

You don't have all that many marketable skills, so after a few rotations scrubbing air filters, you apply to take the militia aptitude test. You try to play it down so they don't get suspicious, but if nothing else you're a damn good pilot, so you get fast-tracked. These fucking idiots just give you a mech! God, it's gonna be so easy to tear them apart from the inside.

They put you in a team. You train together, building up hours in the simulators. Then something weird happens. They... trust you? They want to... spend time with you, outside the simulators. They want to drink with you, play games with you, hear about your life. Well, is it more suspicious if you say no? You have to maintain your cover.

You don't always fit in well. Sometimes you crack jokes that are... a little unpleasant, a little off, a little worrying, and you learn to bite those down because it's bad for your cover. You also have this odd air about you, like you're constantly on guard, like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop (like somebody's gonna make you rip your fingernails out if you're too happy). People figure you must've gone through some trauma and are kind stupid enough not to pry.

You feed information about the militia back to Andros - carefully, so as not to blow your cover. Some members of your team get hurt - nobody dies, but they get hurt. You feel... bad. Why do you feel bad? They're soft, they're weak, they don't mean anything. They're not your real friends. You don't have any friends.

Months pass. Jerry says he wants to tap your team for a long-standing project he's working on. This is your chance. Sabotaging this will prove to Andros that you're strong, that you're not weak, that you're not a leech, that you can pull your weight.

Sure, a bunch of your team will have to die. The only people who've ever put their trust in you, the only people who've ever believed in you. But that's fine, right? They don't mean anything, they're not real people, right? They're idiots for trusting you, right? They deserve it, right?

Right?

... right?

[monstrouscrew]

the entire talk about main (possible) meaning of Atlantic makes us think...

(mentions of what's the cws in the tags below the cut. proceed at your own risk)

...about su!cide as the only way to reclaim one's own life as their own, not belonging to someone else. the experimental system of belief i built 8 years ago has been based on this principle, too, and, surprisingly, prevented even trying in the world of physical objects. however, i had to redirect the ideations somewhere. and i wrote an a few chapters story about the future where all religions are banned because wars and hatred grow from them - and about a man who joins a cult, is resurrected after the first su!cide attempt, his body altered and alien, is constantly shamed for being unable to think for himself and for interacting with a former cult leader who actually likes him (the most fucking aro thing i've ever written we think). i doubt anyone here will try to read it, because it's in russian, so let's just say i used the plots of my own dreams when i wrote the story, and the end was what i wanted to do and couldn't let myself do it in the material world. because... what if i failed, woke up surrounded by those who would've locked me up for being mentally ill - without music, drawing, books, and alone. i didn't try. i simply didn't, had been either too scared to be shamed for an attempt and to be left alone, or just had been a loser with a lack of spine. then i discovered quite a few new favourite bands, finally learnt about Heaven's Gate (hello the dreams of 11 years old me) and realised i was meant to stay alive. we were meant to stay alive and travel far. and here we are, gills and claws and teeth growing back, heard by whatever and whoever we carry and reflect aboard.

can one count a fictional su!cide attempt and dreams about dying, disappearing forever as something real? can one recognise something in a song which has vern, presumably, written about a failed one? the fuck i know. Koe says i can, because pain, whatever way someone experiences it, is always real. if i believe her - and i do - i can relate to this song. still having the problem with "do i have a right to relate to a human thing if we perceive ourselves as something else wearing a human shell", though. and this word sequence, this train of thought is going nowhere.

we've learnt the song. and it stays here. it stays.

[vagorsol]

with regards to amane’s baton in magic, while i agree that that lightning bolt symbol points to a taser being one of the murder weapons, i want to suggest that the lighting bolt is symbolic of how amane's murder was done to punish her mother for breaking the cult's doctrine of not interfering with life (whether through medicine or murder), as electrocution (which lighting is associated with) is the punishment for breaking this doctrine.

[rogueddie]

I'm afraid this will make you uncomfortable, but you're one of the bigger stranger things blogs I see around and I'd like for people to read what I have to say

As someone who escaped an actual doomsday cult I really don't appreciate all the cult jokes in the fandom. I haven't seen you make any so this isn't a meant to call you out or anything, but I'm getting pretty frustrated and needed to talk about it somewhere, preferably somewhere people might see it

A cult-a REAL cult, not the occult-is a group of people who are brainwashed to follow a system which causes everyone in it to perpetuate the smothering of personality within each other for the financial benefit of it's leader(s)

I understand that most cults that people see in media are fictional cults that deal with fictional concepts or are sometimes grounded in reality involving failed connection with the occult. This is why the idea seems funny to people, because the notion seems ridiculous. We see Jason claiming that Eddie is running a cult because he saw occult-ish occurrences and we see that and think he looks ridiculous attributing that to Eddie. And now the fandom thinks the idea of eddie running a cult is just so funny, but can we please stop

Seeing people make jokes about eddie having a cult is very disturbing to me. His character is such an advocate for self expression and individuality. His character feels so safe to me and I hate that people are making jokes about this.

And honestly I can't imagine if Eddie were real, he'd appreciate it either. Not even necessarily for the same reasons, but just because he was unjustifiably accused of running one. I feel like he'd feel icky claiming to run one if only for THOSE reasons, even if he doesn't know how damaging cults are. I understand most don't, making jokes about worshiping any given object or whatever, but cults aren't just a group of people believing in some new mythology

I'd make a post about it on my own account but I don't want to get super personal on there and reveal my tragic backstory there

Tl;dr cults are super damaging and eddie would fucking never. People should, for the love of god, stop making jokes about it

(Sorry if this did make you uncomfortable trauma, but I think it's important. Still, don't feel pressured to answer if it does. Please include cult trigger tags if you answer)

I am fortunate enough to have no personal experience with cults so you don't need to worry, this hasn't made me uncomfortable. I do know enough, second hand, to know that escaping a cult is no easy feat. I'm really happy you were able to get out. I hope you're doing well.

I'm sorry you've had to see these jokes that have disturbed you so much. I'm not surprised that there's people crossing lines, there's some very stupid people running around this fandom. Don't hesitate to block them, even if you usually like their stuff or even if you're friends. Your own comfort should be the priority.

I should say though, if it's in a story context and they're things that the characters would actually say, I would defend that.

But, then again, I can't imagine them making any jokes about Eddie having a cult that isn't so over-the-top and sarcastic that it's clear that the joke is "isn't the idea of Eddie having a cult the stupidest thing you've ever heard?" the joke would be that Jason is an idiot for thinking so.

I don't really know how put content/trigger warnings so if I'm missing the important ones or tagging wrong, please let me know.

[cypress-punk]

It remains hilarious to me that Shinzo Abe's assassin explicitly went after Abe not due to any particular hatred for the man, but because he was the most powerful and most public ally of the Moonie Cult and the assassin's real goal was to do something that would destroy that cult. And then when this came out basically the consensus was "wow the Moonie Cult really is fucked up we should do something about that" and now they're potentially getting dissolved as a legal entity in Japan.

[inthezoyne]

I stand by my stance that fandom groups calling themselves “cults” as a “hahaha funny thing” is unhealthy and can turn into a bad thing very quickly. Same thing with calling your friend groups “cults” it’s not as funny as you think it may be.

[bamsara]

Hungover Lamb + Scythe privileges

little snip for what may happen after the 'drunken gods' chapter in TROD and the other drunken shenangians ive doodled

[aveloka-draws]

That guy ruined a couple of my runs get him kits

[lynxgriffin]

Eldritchrune - A Gathering

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Story Setup Eldritchrune Masterpost

With Asriel away for his studies, Kris is invited to a secret gathering! Not as a guest, though.

Phew, finally got to finishing this comic! Second half will be up tomorrow!...

[rampantram]

When the consequences of your actions come to haunt you..

Got the idea for this after seeing this video on TikTok, which immediately made me think "This looks like a nightmare one of the Bishops would have."

[alisonandhope]

Still alive! Exams and holidays didn't give me a chance to get to my graphics tablet. But now I'm here :)

[unwri-ten]

CW: Suggestive

I'm sorry for my depravity

[ninjasmudge]

For that one shit poopoo color pallet thing you could do the wife left me for narilamb divorce arc

i like to imagine this is the meeting before nari asked them to sacrifice themself

[rogueddie]

Same anon

You said a lot of the jokes is that it's ridiculous that Eddie would have a cult and, yeah, that's a lot of the issue. That's most cult jokes because people aren't thinking of cults as what they are. When they say that, they're definitely thinking "the idea that eddie is playing with supernatural forces is ridiculous" because they aren't thinking about it with the right perspective

It's the same joke as when, back when I was in school, my class was like "we're all gonna worship this mountain dew can now. Isn't that funny. We're a cult now. Isn't that so funny." Because people are thinking of them as completely unrealistic and that's the damaging part.

Especially because people who are actually in cults because real cults don't advertise that that's what they are and seeing people make these over the top jokes about it skews their perspective on what a cult is and makes it harder to identify that they're being abused by everyone they trust. There's this thought of "I'm obviously not in a cult, that would be ridiculous"

I'll see a lot of eddie being like "alright, I have to go. I have a cult to run lol" talking about doing a campaign or whatever. It would be more at the expense of the people who believe he would if he were to say something like "yeah, I'm not allowed at [x establishment] because ApPaReNtLy I run a cult"

The thing that pushed me to make that first ask though was a post saying that Eddie would totally lean into the cult leader thing for his image and I just felt super icky about that one

I'm sorry that I wasn't very clear in the response- this is why I shouldn't start posting as soon as I wake up, I get worms in the brain.

I don't really see many cult jokes, it's why I'm not speaking on what you've seen. Just that I don't doubt you (I've seen some of the nasty shit people say, it's gross and I wouldn't put anything past some of the people in this fandom) and I'm sorry you had to see it.

I do think there are probably ways of making those cult jokes, but they would need to be in such a careful and specific way that I do think, honestly, is beyond some people.

Trying to slip "Eddie is ignorant of how cults work and none of what he's saying accurately reflects the nightmare that is the reality of actual cults" is a lot easier than people think, just that some people are either ignorant or lazy... or both.

Sorry to possibly get heavy or triggering but, for those reading this who might be thinking we're taking a joke far too serious;

I think I should point out that it wouldn't matter if you were even fully aware of all the trappings of a cult. Or the signs. They really are that dangerous and easy to get trapped in. Cults can trap anyone and people making those jokes often think they're too smart for that- but cults can trap lawyers and doctors and teachers.

There's no level of education or intelligence that can truly protect you from manipulation and that is what is truly terrifying about cults. You wouldn't know.

[maybmila]

They can dish it, but they can't take it