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What is Christianity?

My entire life, I had been raised Christian, and while my family (thankfully) wasn't super restrictive (with me mostly as I'm the youngest) but still had its quirks (I was not allowed to read harry potter until I was 15) and my parents apparently thought I was demon-possessed? But they didn't try to exorcise me with brutally insane and abusive tactics. No, they just took me to church, hoping that the music, people, and scripture would be enough. And thankfully, I wasn't too wild; I just really hated church. Why did I hate church? I'm SO glad you asked! I hated the music; It was too loud. (i went to Free Chapel in Gainesville ga look it up) . I hated being around that many people. I hated being around children I didn't know (context, I was bullied in elementary school). I hated being that uncomfortable, and you bet your ass my parents had to bribe me to get me to go to church some days. I was diagnosed with autism at 17 years old after insisting to my parents that I needed therapy and fighting them on the benefits. I did not have a choice in going to church. So what is Christianity? It is a cultural icon with a long history steeped in martyrdom, Manipulation, corruption, ableism, oppression, fascism, colonialism, racism, the list is endless almost. And I know that a lot of these things are just human fuckery. I know pagan cultures were guilty of much the same thing. Everything you see with modern Christianity is not at all new. But where it becomes inexcusable is when you just ignore or deflect from it. And since Christianity took hold with emperor Constantine, I can tell you it's gotten a lot worse. It was like that when it took hold of Rome. But what appealed to these people psychologically to transition from paganism to Christianity? And what's keeping these people in the modern-day in this hellishly oppressive religion? So modern-day cults are an excellent way to look at it because I can tell you it's the same ALL across the board. Some churches are just a lot subtler and not as insane as what you see with Jonestown. They understand that they can get in serious trouble if they get caught. But they're still preaching damnation in the eternal fires of hell and their interpretations of the rules to stay out of hell. Unless they accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior. Now I'm still new to the whole historical research of the religion. Still, I've read one book, 'God against the gods' By Jonathan Kirsch, and he brought up the point that pagans at the beginnings of Christianity joined because they were curious. The old gods were boring, and there was this brand new god. And as Christianity took over, hostilities escalated, and martyrdom was very popular for Christianity. But there is a likely chance these people were being coerced into martyrdom, like the Jonestown massacre and so many other modern Christian-centered cults (and that's basically all of them, actually) that forced their members into committing ... bye-bye mode. Preachers especially are excellent due to the societal perception that they are men of god and thus are to be trusted. And I want terrath to have this similar feel with its villains, this feeling that if you don't obey this guy, you will suffer. There is so much more than "It is gods will." The actual breaking down and into the person's mentality that you're trying to coerce. And to do that, you basically need to be trusted. And that is 100% what Christianity is. It is not forgiveness, compassion, or empathy. It has always been the opposite. It has always been this psychological minefield, and it's fascinating as hell. So that's why I've been holding off on writing the books because I've wanted to do my research. I'm still working on the study because there is a lot to unpack. I also want to have a clear idea of where EXACTLY I want to go with the characters, the mythology, and the series itself. I want it to feel more like Arcane and less like Harry Potter (let's be honest, my dudes, it's not that great, and she did NOT do a great job tying up her plots.)

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Soooo what’s been happening in here?

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Here’s the thing about the air nomads.

I introduced a friend to ATLA a few nights ago, and they had only known two things about the entire show: the cabbage meme, and that Aang apparently wants to ride every large and dangerous animal he can possibly find. We got through the first five or so episodes, and my friend noted that Aang is exactly what a 12-year-old would be like if given godlike powers, and that this is literally just what he could do with airbending. He can’t even wield any of the other elements, and he’s one of the most powerful people on the planet, because he’s an airbender.

And that got me thinking.

This snippet from Bitter Work is one of the few pieces of concrete information we get about the airbenders, at least in ATLA. Iroh is explaining to Zuko how all four of the elements connect to the world and to each other.

Fire is the element of power, of desire and will, of ambition and the ability to see it through. Power is crucial to the world; without it, there’s no drive, no momentum, no push. But fire can easily grow out of control and become dangerous; it can become unpredictable, unless it is nurtured and watched and structured.

Earth is the element of substance, persistence, and enduring. Earth is strong, consistent, and blunt. It can construct things with a sense of permanence; a house, a town, a walled city. But earth is also stubborn; it’s liable to get stuck, dig in, and stay put even when it’s best to move on.

Water is the element of change, of adaptation, of movement. Water is incredibly powerful both as a liquid and a solid; it will flow and redirect. But it also will change, even when you don’t want it to; ice will melt, liquid will evaporate. A life dedicated to change necessarily involves constant movement, never putting down roots, never letting yourself become too comfortable.

We see only a few flashbacks to Aang’s life in the temples, and we get a sense of who he was and what kind of upbringing he had.

This is a preteen with the power to fucking fly. He’s got no fear of falling, and a much reduced fear of death. There’s a reason why the sages avoid telling the new avatar their status until they turn sixteen; could you imagine a firebender, at twelve years old, learning that they were going to be the most powerful person in the whole world? Depending on that child, that could go so badly.

But the thing about Aang, and the thing about the Air Nomads, is that they were part of the world too. They contributed to the balance, and then they were all but wiped out by Sozin. What was lost, there? Was it freedom? Yes, but I think there’s something else too, and it’s just yet another piece of the utter brilliance of the worldbuilding of ATLA.

To recap: we have power to push us forward; we have stability to keep us strong; we have change to keep us moving.

And then we have this guy.

The air nomads brought fun to the world. They brought a very literal sense of lightheartedness.

Sozin saw this as a weakness. I think a lot of the world did, in ATLA. Why do the Air Nomads bother, right? They’re just up there in their temples, playing games, baking pies in order to throw them as a gag. As Iroh said above, they had pretty great senses of humour, and they didn’t take themselves too seriously.

But that’s a huge part of having a world of balance and peace.

It’s not just about power, or might, or the ability to adapt. You can have all of those, but you also need fun. You need the ability to be vulnerable, to have no ambitions beyond just having a good day. You need to be able to embrace silliness, to nurture play, to have that space where a very specific kind of emotional growth can occur. Fun makes a hard life a little easier. Fun makes your own mortality a little less frightening to grasp. Fun is the spaces in between, that can’t be measured by money or military might. Fun is what nurtures imagination, allows you to see a situation in a whole new light, to find new solutions to problems previously considered impossible.

Fun is what makes a stranger into a friend, rather than an enemy.

Fun helps you see past your differences.

Fun is what fuels curiosity and openmindedness.

Fun is the first thing to die in a war.

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Everything i am is a sin

Scarlett stepped between her father and the throne, causing the room to fill with nervous whispering as the courtiers murmured amongst themselves. "Enough," she whispered, a sword appearing in her hands. She felt a strong desire to break down and start crying but knew that would do nothing but give him a reason to mock her. So she stood there holding the black, glittering sword in her hands as Ores stopped and stared at her, his face impassive. "It is a sin to stand against your father, girl," he said softly; tension began to fill the room as the courtiers pressed themselves against the wall. Some ran out of the room through servant's passages or the main entrance. Others stayed and watched, not daring to breathe. And that was how it began; Scarlett saw Jude walking over to the dead woman's body behind Ores, picking up the oak staff with the iron raven topping it. "It is a sin," Scarlett began, her heart thundering in her chest, "for me to wear pants." She let out a low soft chuckle at the thought, her mind quickly comparing her life before she had to come to this god-forsaken place. "It is a sin to be any color other than sunburnt white." "is that what they told you?" Ores said, giving her a pitiful look, "You've seen for yourself that we allow all races to climb our ranks, dear"! He gestured to the crowd of onlookers who were all dressed the same. But she wouldn't back down "so long as they conform to your ideals and no one else's. So long as they behave and are not out of line with the bullshit laws that you created because you could not handle the fact that people are different and unique and flawed." She pointed the sword at him, raising it to the height of her chest growling, "You tortured and raped and killed everyone that didn't conform to your senseless rules because you were too much of a coward to acknowledge anything different. You were willing to burn down the world because the Elder Gods denied you what arrogance and vanity entitled you to." Jude nodded to someone behind her, and Scarlett heard the rustle of cloth as her mother moved to stand behind the throne. Scarlett widened her stance, preparing herself for the hell that was about to be unleashed. "Everything I am is a sin in your eyes," she whispered, tears filling her eyes. "And I choose to be ok with that because if somehow I go to hell? I'm taking you with me"

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also the dark crystal age of resistance is the perfect mix of modern cgi and practical effects.

Marvel movies have completely eliminated the concept of practical effects from the movie-watching public’s consciousness

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What is praying? I'm trying to wrap my head around this concept and how it affected so many. Is it laying your deepest problems and traumas at the feet of your God? Or is it laying your most shallow desires and weakest emotions to hide the shadows inside? Is it to help you overcome a problem in your life by giving you the chance to analyze it with guidance from your patron god/goddess? Or is it to merely drop the issue at the foot of your bed and hope it doesn't rot as you ignore it? Should we be thanking God for a good day or a favorable situation when it could be ourselves whose steps led to that position? Clawed their way out of the pit alone in pain and darkness and hopelessness without a so-called "light" to guide us out of the dark? Could it be both? Or the better question; Can it be both? It is good to analyze your problems and fix them for yourself. God, be him the God of the Christians, Jews, Muslims . or the multiple gods of old whose people never lost hope or faith that they would be able to worship them again. Had given us the tools to fix what was broken, our hands, our bodies, and our minds are all tools to find the solution for ourselves. Gods, if they exist, are our parents, vital for us in our early years, but eventually, we must find our own solutions without help. Ask for help when you need it because they are there for you when you need them. But respect them for their lessons and do not disappoint them. And just as some parents do not deserve the love of their child, neither do some gods. But there are always others that can help and guide you. Some have only good intentions, some have mixed, and some have poor intentions. Balance is the key; you can ask for guidance but do not rely on them too heavily. Because sometimes you should sort out the problem on your own. A god worth worshiping is a god that guides you when you need it but lets you find your own way. And they will NEVER take credit for the achievements you have accomplished with your own mind. They will accept thanks for the guidance, but they will never force it from you. And a God worth worshiping would never send you to the darkest pits of hell merely for walking your own path IF you never hurt another. Or if you have then taken responsibility, accountability, for your actions. Praying to God does not erase your sins of r*pe, unjustifiable murder, violence against the innocent. It does not make you superior to others. And if God cares so much as to let a tiny thing such as skin color determine who goes to heaven? He is every bit the weak and worthless coward that you are for believing in that image. Nothing makes you superior to anything or anyone, and nothing justifies the tortures, rapes, enslavements, and abuse you have dealt others. If I go to hell for my beliefs, Then I'm taking you with me.

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so this is gonna be a thing and im gonna talk about it

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I’m dying

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I am BEYOND excited to post this I hope you guys enjoy it!

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A practice on drawing monsters, Sorthuili is inspired by the eldritch horrors of Lovecraftian lore, Guillermo Del Toros creatures, and brian Froud's art styles. It took me forever to finish him, but I couldn't be happier with how he turned out

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Oh hi this is sorthuili a sea monster wip

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Ok but awwww

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In the beginning there was light and there was dark, nothing existed between them. They were separate and they were eternal.

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I built this :3 it’s cool

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The cabin (back end) of Scarlett Dupree (main character) she shares this cabin with her mother who sleeps on the bottom to be close to the fire. Scarlett sleeps in the loft as she prefers shadow.

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Hey