#healing from fundamentalism

[hillbillyoracle]

I meet a lot of people who are adamantly opposed participating in Christian rituals from a cultural or traditional perspective - going to services or doing traditions they grew up with. I fully respect it.

It did remind me recently of growing up with hearing about how terrible Cheaster Christians were (Christians who only go to church on Christmas and Easter) and the absolute disgust leveled toward anyone who wasn't a "true believer".

It makes me wonder how much of that emotional reaction to holidays, services, and traditions is rooted in the idea that it's only for "true believers"; that to participate in it would automatically connotate an agreement with hardliners.

I spent part of today updating the holidays in my calendar for the year and I included several Christian holidays that either my partner or I are just partial to - even though Buddhism and paganism forms the widest base of our practice.

There is something delightfully taboo about participating in lent or advent simply because it's a thought provoking tradition and not as a performative act of faith designed to keep me in good with a given church community. Which is just to say - it's an option worth considering.

[scintillyyy]

i actually think so much about how drake manor meant *so* much to tim. a solid home after years of feeling adrift at boarding school. reconnection with his dad. family. warmth. love. at the same time, it helped tim hide his secrets from his dad. the purchase of the first real home he ever had with his dad was also the place doomed to cement the wall between them, never allowing them to be truly open with each other. the secret door in the basement of this same home leading to the batcave and tim's life as robin. drake manor was so *special* to tim and was so emblematic of his character in a way--the solid, steady family home tim had always dreamed but also its hiding the secret of his double life deep within its underbelly. and fanon turned it into a cold and awful prison bereft of love that tim must escape from. screaming into the void.

[incorrect-ikevamp-quotes]

I need to scream about this event (Friends Like These) because I truly was just. Not expecting the impact it would have--I don't remember if I read this one in Japanese???

I've only gotten the first two stories so far but I just.

Jeanne and Mozart are of course, as adorable as ever; there's no question about that. But Jeanne dropping this line:

"It galls me to sound so much like le Comte, but I am grateful to God that I met you."

I. [prolonged error 404 sounds]. I'm not sure there are words to convey the simultaneous endless wheezing laughter but also AWWWWWWWW energy that consumed me in milliseconds. Wildly oscillating between "LMFAO ah yes, sentimentality? Disgusting I'll drink to that (blasts Bring Me To Life)" and "BECAUSE YOU LOVE HIM DEEP DOWN AND HE LOVES YOU WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH."

I just can't get over how Jeanne says exactly one thing about liking another person and he's like, 'ew dad gave me cooties >:///// how dare he subject me to the mortifying ordeal of hope.' Jeanne I love you. Jeanne I would die for you. Middle schooler with well-meaning stepfather who begrudgingly accepts his kindness and grows for the better, but would rather perish than admit it. I never knew I needed this found family dynamic so freaking bad until I started playing this game. 11/10 I could watch this forever

More Shenanigans below the cut, + the Shakespeare and Comte Event Story:

Also a sidebar because I just can't help myself, I know I've talked about it before but: Mozart and Jeanne's friendship is so endlessly precious to me????? I love how Mozart is so NO I'M NOT NICE REEEEE (turtles) and Jeanne is like :> bestie. It's so damn cute watching Mozart squirm at being exposed for being sweet and Jeanne just truly grateful someone cares about him?????? How much Jeanne and MC dote on Mozart despite being together, how it only strengthens their friendship? Literally I'm over the moon, nobody touch me I'm tender!!! Jeanne deserves to live peacefully without being a tool of the state/bad actors!!!! Mozart deserves to be loved and happy without being defined by his musical success!!!!!

LIKE. Not to be dramatic but I could watch an entire saga of these two being friends and being adorable. Fresh serotonin every single time. Did I know Jeanne was going to share his food? Absolutely. Did I expect MC to think ahead and pack two lunches? Absolutely not. Was I delighted both times? Beyond what you can imagine!!!!!!!

I'm going to stop here at the risk of repeating myself over and over but wow. Jeanne's capacity to see to the very core of people, for better and worse, and how it lets Mozart be meaningfully seen. Mozart's recognition that Jeanne can mean well to a fault, worried that he might be taken advantage of--and how Jeanne can build trust with someone for the first time without being afraid. Can you hear me wailing and bawling

Naturally, I acquired the Comte and Shakespeare one next. Now, I'm gonna be honest, I saw their names together and went "oh dear God. What am I walking into. Why do I hear boss music????" But I gathered my courage (more like I'm just too feral not to gather info abt Comte, but I digress) and experienced something that left me literally on the floor because I just. Did Not Remotely Expect This Series of Events.

So like. It starts off by being pretty normal and cute and I'm like awwww baby boy (oh he's a little fked up actually) giving gifts to dad. I'm sensing an ulterior motive but right now just let me have this. Also adorable that Comte is struck dumb by it, that's really cute I'm taking notes. And then. I was hit with the veritable ANVIL that was these next few lines:

deep breath Okay. Where to begin.

I LOST IT at the implication that Will was like. Holding back from ending Comte's entire life with mere words. WILL????? WILL P L S??????? (lowkey wanted to hear the roast snickers) Why am I sensing a pattern that Comte loves spicy people??? Love this for me

I also started losing my shit the second MC was mentioned and you could just hear the record scratch/kill bill sirens. Comte really out here like "son say WHAT about MC." I can't get over how he's always so ready to throw down for both MC and Sebas at any moment. Anywho, naturally I come to the conclusion that Will was just trying to one-up Comte to mess with him by giving MC gifts. It was the one thing I did anticipate--and, fool that I was--thought it rendered me safe from what happens next.

DEAR READER. DEAR READER I WAS SO WRONG. I WAS SO TERRIBLY WRONG.

BABY GIRL. BABY GIRL ON WHAT LEVEL IS THIS NORMAL BEHAVIOR. I'M LITERALLY CRYING RN?????? THE FACT THAT I CAN'T TELL IF HE'S JUST BEING SILLY GOOFY OR HE LEGITIMATELY MEANS IT OR SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO????????

Mans out here like "I lost everything in the war (literally) let me spoil my girlboss dream gf in peace. Vlad took everything in the divorce let me have this pls." I just. The mental image of him chasing Will around the house. The potential implications of him doing this to protect them both (I love you Will but you have. Problems). The HILARIOUS AND DUBIOUS qualifier when he says "dressing up MC is nearly my entire reason for living." Comte I love you more than life itself but that does not make this any more normal. What are you doing my beloved vampire jkhlhalfdhjfg 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Also an honorable mention moment, because it was endearing:

Just the img of him wandering around with sparkly eyes and toting home little trinkets for everyone??????? He's so cute, that's the most grandpa behavior I've ever seen. I was chortling when Will was like "sir you made me sit in that cluttered carriage followed by another carriage full of stuff all the way home IT'S TIME FOR REVENGE (affectionate)."

I also love how Comte is like "Do I have a problem? Maybe. Will that stop me? Only when the sun cataclysmically swallows the earth."

Literally half of the members of the house are like "why are you like this" and he just heeheehoos his way out of it. How does he keep getting away with it. Can you tell I love him. Dazai isn't the only clown in this house honks Comte's nose

[bonetrousledbones]

just once i would like to see a fic where it’s acknowledged that flowey isn’t asriel anymore but that isn’t a bad thing

[rooolt]

Guy who wandered outside their relatively insular fandom composed of mainly beloved mutuals into a sea of people they’ve never seen before with the apparent reading comprehension of a 12 year old, comes back horrified at what they have seen

[cringefaildiaz]

I feel like the reason Buck feels so different after he died is tied to how hard it is for him to accept that he's loved and wanted. Like what's actually changed in him since the lightning strike? He had to face that his life is good and full of people who wouldn't want to live without him, and that even with all that, he's still unhappy.

Natalia is the first person who's interacted with the idea of Buck dying lightly. Everyone else, in varying degrees, has been somber and serious, because they lived in a world without him, and they hated it. So how comforting, for a man who's comfortable with the discomfort of being unloved, still squirms at the idea of being wanted just because he's him, to run straight into the arms of someone who see's him as a miracle (the miracle he couldn't be as a baby), as a fascination. A tool to better understand something. Because being seen, known, loved so deeply is foreign to him.

It ties into the sperm donor decision, it ties into the will conversation, it ties into the goddamn lawsuit, it ties into everything about Buck. He's uncomfortable being loved. And until he gets comfortable with the idea that he alone is enough, he's going to keep making the same mistakes.

[rin-enjoyer]

When Kaguya first wakes up, all the world bends to her will for one, glorious moment. The stars stand breathless, and humanity's collective breath hitches, and the waters of the planet curl towards her. For a fraction of a second, everything is as it should be.

It all falls apart rather quickly, of course. Humans are exactly as she remembers them- stubborn, haughty creatures. There are five of them still awake when Kaguya arrives. They fight and they fight and they fight, and it is pointless, of course, but it is still... irritating.

Well. Four of them fight. As Kaguya deflects a punch from a pink one and dodges a bolt of lighting from an Uchiha, the fifth human stands back, still enraptured by Kaguya.

Her face hangs- not slack, not unwilling- it is no forceful awe that overtakes the human. She gazes at Kaguya with adoration on purpose- she takes a slow step in the direction of the fight, eyes fixed on Kaguya, and-

She can use this.

"If you wish to join me," Kaguya says, her voice echoing over packed dirt and scorched sky. "You must be willing to fight my battles."

A small smirk graces the corner of the human's lips. "As you wish."

"What?" the other Uchiha says, whipping his head around to stare at the fifth human in disbelief. "Rin, no, she's trying to take over the world- she's going to kill everyone Rin, you won't achieve your dream like this!"

"Didn't you ever stop to wonder for one moment what my dream was?" Rin snarls, her red eye spinning into its Mangekyō form. "Obito, I may as well be in the genjutsu with everyone else right now. This is what I've always wanted."

Obito's singular sharingan narrows in either grief or anger- Kaguya doesn't have the chance to discern which it is before Rin leaps at him, water dancing at her fingertips. It aids her movements, flows with her hits, and as she dances in and out of reality she pulls the water within Obito's veins. He chokes, over and over and over, trying to fight two enemies at once, neither tangible, and Rin finishes the fight.

Kaguya kills two of the human children- the yellow one makes his escape before she can catch him.

"He'll be heading to Konoha," Rin tells her, stepping away from Obito's body. "If he can wake up the people there... it'd be annoying for you."

"Noted," Kaguya says. "We will peruse him immediately."

Rin looks up at her like she's the sun and the stars and the rest of the sky all wrapped up together. She looks at Kaguya like she's more than just an invader from the moon. She does not respect Kaguya because she fears her. She loves Kaguya because, for some ineffable reason, she chooses to.

Kaguya will use that.

-

Rin looks beautiful when her hands are stained in blood.

The thought surprises Kaguya, for a split second, but she pushes the feeling down, because of course it is beautiful. The blood represents another step taken towards her goals. When she sees the glistening red coat Rin's fists, highlighting every vein and scar, her heart beats faster. Rin turns to Kaguya, thick muscle evident in the motion, and meets her eyes. The mismatched scarlet and brown-

Kaguya turns away, and to her horror, feels a slight blush creeping across her face. The blood is beautiful, and her conquest is beautiful, but... From the corner of her eye, she sees Rin's face crinkle happily, and she has a sudden urge to grab it.

"Are you done?" Kaguya says, doing her best to swallow the... sudden realizations she has made.

"He doesn't have any blood left to bleed," Rin says, grinning like a shark.

"Good," Kaguya says. "Good."

Rin rolls her shoulders, and then lets her sharingan fade back to its base state. Kaguya cannot help but record every detail of the half-shrug to her perfect memory. All of a sudden, she is as enraptured with Rin as Rin is with her. Well- not suddenly. The more Kaguya reflects over the past weeks she has spent with her, the more she realizes that this affection has been building for a very, very long time.

"...you love me," Kaguya says, just as Rin is turning to leave, to hunt down the next of the scant individuals who managed to escape the infinite tsukuyomi. Her voice does not echo over the land like it usually does. She cannot bare to let it. The moment is too intimate to be used for intimidation.

"I do," Rin says. Her eyes search Kaguya's face.

"And I believe that I have come to love you," Kaguya whispers.

"Well, of course," Rin says, like she knew this would happen from the very moment she laid eyes on Kaguya. "I am the moth to your moon."

"My moth..." Kaguya says.

Rin tenderly moves to her, embraces her, and their lips meet, and-

-

Kaguya glances at her moth. Rin is holding her head high, eyes alight with the reflection of distant fire.

Rin stares and stares and stares, her eyes empty behind the carnage. Sometimes, Kaguya wonders if there is anything behind Rin's easy air of romance and violence.

All they have left is quiet moments together. The world has burned and bled, and she and her moth sit atop the ashes of it all, together.

In these quiet moments, Kaguya has come to appreciate how empty Rin is. She wears a mask of a moth, and Kaguya doesn't think she even knows who she is underneath the mask.

Oddly, Kaguya finds herself drawn to the Rin she has not seen. She wants to gently peel the masks off until she finds the wraith of Rin who doesn't pretend to be anyone. It's an odd feeling, but not more unfamiliar than any of the attraction Kaguya has been experiencing lately.

Rin turns to Kaguya, and something slides over her eyes, and her face sharpens into something hard and beautiful- like carved, painted wood, she smiles. That's beautiful, too, but there's something intrinsically wrong with it. Kaguya almost likes the blank stares better.

"Does something trouble you, my moon?" Rin asks softly.

The pet name sends shivers up Kaguya's spine. "...nothing that needs to be addressed now."

Rin raises an eyebrow, but Kaguya shakes her head gently. "We have all the time in the world, now. Let's just watch the fields burn, for now."

Rin relaxes, and the mask comes off, and Kaguya stares at every curve of her impassive face, her hooded eyes, and slightly parted lips, and burns it into her perfect memory.

[iamthescalesofjustice]

idk if anyone has done this before but da2 au where you think at first its a both twins lived au and then find out bethany died and thats actually non-warden amell posing as her. something something escaped with jowan maybe, found her relatives in lothering, sought refuge with them and when bethany ended up dying it was way lower profile for amell to take the place of her cousin than try to get in to kirkwall with them as a non-immediate family member (especially given that leandra is publicly coming in as an amell and theres a resemblance and its known revka had mage kids taken to the circle and im sure theres a bulletin out or whatever for an escaped apostate matching amells description). points if people comment on how ‘bethany’ clearly takes after her mother. leandra is not normal about it. aveline knew the real bethany at least in passing bc of living in the same town and treats this as a reason for her distrust of hawke and co and one of the reason she sabotages carvers application with the guard. 

[neverendingford]

I have made my peace with being forgotten

and yet you think of me.

I have made my peace with being unloved

and yet you continue to try.

I have made my peace with this silence

and yet your knuckles rap at my door.

I have made my peace with letting go

but you continue to hold on.

what do you think of me?

what do you love?

who do you speak to?

what are you holding onto?

is it me you perceive?

or a shape of something you thought was real

created from dreams and wishes and the promise of a thousand people before you.

[faith--in-the-future]

I have a lot of thoughts on why louis doesn't do certain things but they're all tangled in my head

[ziracona]

Obsessed with the way Two-Face talks about Harvey in the Arkham games like do I like all the choices? Not at all. Is the “Harvey might feel bad about this Batman, but we'll bring him around,” line alone rotating in my head since I saw it and one of the pillars of how I see and write Two-Face? Ye baby.

[milflewis]

why do you talk about god so much?

bc my life fucks itself up in ways that are So Comedic that there must be a higher power making sure i’m as committed to the bit as possible

[peachpitss]

me in 2015: chara and frisk use they/them only!! napstablook and monster kid use they/them!!! i’m really passionate about this for no reason in particular!!

me in 2023: oh, lol

[keyboard-cowgirl]

True justice is:

Supporting Victims (community involvement, professional help, financial assistance)

Crime Prevention

Public Education

Rehabilitation

True justice is not:

Punishing Offenders

In this essay, I will

[skirwitte]

Re-listening to capacity at 2am and deleting tiktok because I’m salty that other people know about MY band that only I understand.

[syncopation53]

Actually yknow what. BIG fan of characters who look like sad pathetic wet little meow meows who are Traumatized but like in an edgy aesthetical way and when you dig deeper into their character they look like someone who just needs help to Heal from the Trauma with the power of Friendship and Love and THEN you dig even deeper and realize that what they’ve gone through is knit into their very bones and there is nothing else to be found beneath that. characters who are defined by their trauma not in an “I can take away everything that makes them a bad person in my eyes fix them” way but in an “despite everything, you have always had to live with this it’s still you” way