#((on the agnostic side myself

[princedrewwrites]

the byproduct of having attend a church school for EYFS is that I vastly overestimate people’s baseline familiarity with the details of bible stories

[eeveeprincessxd]

Just reblogging to add that we also shouldn’t confuse Jewish religious text for Christian religious text. Is the Old Testament part of the Bible? Yes, but its stories don’t come from there originally. The Prince of Egypt is a religious film directly adapting a story from the TORAH as accurately as possible. Moses did NOT mean Christians when he said “let my people go,” and I won’t let my Passover movie be disrespected like this.

W.

[spaghettioverdose]

I've never really talked on here about how I figured out my gender, and since this whole egg discourse is going on, I feel like I should.

I'm not one of the trans women who figured out their genders at age 4 and became fully confident of it. Up until around 16 I didn't even begin to consider that I may not be a cis guy and it took me up until almost 19 to fully realise I was a trans woman. Before this, at 18, after feeling particularly shitty for weeks (from what I later learned was definitely dysphoria), I attempted suicide.

I only really started to understand myself once I started hanging out with other trans people on discord servers. My perception of transness was the more mainstream-accepted version (at that time) of "I always confidently knew I was a woman basically from birth and I exhibited x, y and z feminine behaviours at all times etc." which I didn't fit in with, so I always thought "well I can't be a trans woman because that's not me". Being around other trans people, and especially having other trans women point out behaviours I had, and tell me "that's also how I thought before I realised I was trans" helped me immensely.

I didn't get any of the rigid online definitions and examples, nor did I get the perfectly sanitised videos from the handful of trans people who made it on youtube. None of that felt like me at the time. I didn't have any point of reference. I only really understood myself once I related to someone who used to be in the same position. If some trans girl didn't call me an egg, I might still be a completely miserable "cis" guy to this day still, or even dead.

I understand that others have had worse experiences when it comes to this, but we must recognise that the problem in these situations is outing or harassment. The porblem is abuse, and as with all things interpersonal, you can always turn it into abuse. As with all things interpersonal, you have to have some amount of tact and caution.

I don't think we should harass anyone into getting their egg cracked (and this happens vastly less often than people here seem to think but it does happen), but also we shouldn't be constantly agnostic about if someone is trans or not, because in the end not everyone is capable of coming to that conclusion by themselves, and by the time you've "let them figure it out" they might've spent several more years being miserable and not knowing why or they might be dead.

It is also very important to point out that this discourse is only really happening because there is a particular bias against trans women. This isn't a discussion of how to approach the subject, or a handful of people talking about their experiences with it, it's a discourse where one side is trying to problematize another aspect of the transfem community. Notice that people are arguing this when it comes to transfems and not cis gay people or even transmascs. Notice that this website always cycles back to attacking some aspect of the transfem community every couple of weeks.

Do you really think these arguments are being made in good faith? Do you really think it's worth adding to the sea of transmisogyny that is this website and most of the world?

As always, this post is meant for people who are genuinely well-meaning. The dipshits who keep jumping on any excuse they can to harass trans women can go fuck themselves.

[liesinmyeyes]

hey, so I'm a new pagan witch and one who has barely practiced anything yet/ has only like 10 pages filled in their book of shadows

i am seeking advice on what to do with myself and my craft and practices, or just hoping someone has felt/currently feels the same way I do because I'm the only pagan witch I know irl and have no one to tell this to.

practicing witchcraft makes me anxious? I haven't really done anything aside from wearing crystal necklaces and sleeping with an amethyst below my pillow, but i'm lowkey afraid to do much more than that because whenever I do research across the internet (don't worry, I don't only take one pinterest source at face value, I make sure to look at other sources on the internet and always check with multiple witchy forums/threads or just simply history sources if the practice is closed/appropriated or should be done as a beginner) - but here is my issue. There's soooo many sources on the internet that tell you so many differing opinions. Some sources will say "NO WAY DON'T EVER DO THAT" while others will go "it's okay and totally safe". I haven't ever read a book abt witchcraft because I know how much TERF-y and culturally appropriate-y agendas they have and the amount of misinformation in a lot of them. I almost got radicalized once before and I told myself "never again", so i'm too afraid to pick up a book half the witches praise for being so good and accurate and half condemn for including TERF bs. I know I should form my own opinions on magic(k) and how I percieve witchcraft but i just get this BOUT of anxiety whenever I see a post anywhere on the internet saying "DONT EVER DO THAT AS A WITCH" or something along those lines... i can never tell what's just gatekeepy fear-mongering and what's an actual closed/dangerous practice anymore and it makes me too afraid to pursue anything because I fear bad things happening to me more than anything. I think it's a side effect of my neurodivergent self wanting to be told exactly what I can and can't do (considering my ethnic identity) and how and when to do it, what moral code to abide by, which is a tough ask in something like witchcraft.

i often feel swayed and get these bouts of guilt for NOT being christian. I grew up areligious in a very christian country with an added sprinkle of shaming people for being religious (which i dont agree with obvs). When I was agnostic and not giving any thought to religion at all, it was fine and dandy. But now that I identify myself as a pagan who worships the greek gods, I often feel, idk, ashamed of it? I'm friends with some very devout christian gals and whenever they talk about going to church or getting their sins forgiven I just feel so guilty and kind of like I'm sinning myself. I feel like I shouldn't be believing in the Gods and should be christian instead, even though SO many of my world views don't align with christianity's teachings and frankly, I don't want to be christian? I want the Gods to be real and I want to worship them. But I often doubt my faith in them and feel the guilt of not being christian like everyone else in my country. Is this a faith issue? On some days I won't doubt the Gods existing at all and feel all happy and uplifted and sure in my faith and on other days I'll be sitting around all day, questioning all my morals and beliefs and questioning whether I'm going to hell for praying to the greek gods. Maybe it's because of all my sorroundings (multiple churches in my town, Jesus statues everywhere, very christian friends) that I feel that way, but if anyone could tell me how to stop these thoughts I'd give ANYTHING to do that. (Not that there's anything wrong with christianity or finding comfort in it, its just that whenever I think about it I get anxious because the concept of eternal torture just for enjoying life on earth scares me. On the other hand, I DO find comfort in worshiping the greek gods. I feel more beautiful, inspired to write, so on and so forth...)

[northlight14]

Bible References In The Edens Garden Chapter 1 Titles (Spoilers Ahead)

All of this comes from a quick google search. I was Christian growing up and went to a Catholic high school but I’ll never claim to be an expert on religion and Christianity or Catholicism. I also consider myself agnostic now as opposed to Christian. So basically my bad if I got anything wrong, y’all can correct me but just be nice about it plz😅

First things first, the title of the chapter overall being “Beneath the Veil of Hypocrisy”.

There are so many quotes in the Bible about hypocrisy to the point that when I searched, it literally came up with “25 top Bible verses about hypocrisy” so like realistically there are a lot that this could be referring to. A good portion of them I feel are applicable here though

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Matthew 23:27

So like…I don’t think I need to go into why this feels relevant to Wolfgang and Eva. This idea of looking “beautiful” and “innocent” but in actuality being cunning and manipulative.

“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.” Luke 20:46-47

Again with the references to law (man Wolfgang was fucked from the beginning, huh?😅). This once again making a reference to how Wolfgang was essentially the leader of the group. The description in this quote fits him to a T and again gives the warning about the cunning behind him or this dark side that came out when he was drugged and attacked Diana. Then the “these men will be punished most severely”. You can fully argue that he was punished for what he did and how he went about things. He was punished by Eva for scapegoating her and he payed the ultimate (ha ultimate) price for it

I could go on but a lot of these quotes basically say the same thing. The point is, the title is absolutely a reference to both Eva and especially Wolfgangs fate in this trial

—

Now the fun stuff! The title of the execution, “Fiery Furnace Of Affliction”

For this one, I’m gonna have to give a very quick summary of a Bible story which from what I can tell is literally called “The Fiery Furnace” so just bare with me. If you’re interested, there are YouTube retellings of this which will probably do a better job than me😅

Anyway, the gist is there were these 3 Jewish men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were taken from their home in Isreal and began living in a place called Babylon. There, the king Nebuchadnezzar (thank you autocorrect for somehow predicting that, my dyslexia was about to cry) had a statue of himself made that was 9ft tall and made of gold (as one does ig🤷). He then demanded that everyone had to bow before the statue and worship him when they heard the sound of musical instruments. If they refused, they’d be thrown into a fiery furnace. So everyone did as they were told except for our 3 dudes who didn’t want to bow to anyone except God. The King gave them another chance but they still refused. The King got so mad he demanded that the furnace be heated up 7 times hotter than it was originally before throwing them in, the fire being so hot it killed the soldiers who threw them in. Upon looking inside, however, the king sees not 3 men, but 4. The fourth was Jesus who was protecting them. The king ordered them to leave the furnace and saw the three had left unharmed and he was so taken by it all, he also became a worshipper of God.

Soooo I lot to dissect there and by now I’m sure there are some similarities that have been spotted but let’s get into it anyway

First- the group of 3 turning to 4

(We’re ignoring Kai in this screenshot)

The fact we started off with a group of 3 and then Eva joined later, though naturally not to protect them but instead herself in true twisted Edens Garden fashion

Second! The group being dragged to an unknown place against their will….dont think I need to elaborate on that one

Third! There being the leader who wanted the others to follow in his stead but lead people to be outcast.

Fourth! A more minor reference but the presence of music during Eva’s murder plot via Marks speakers.

A more fun read of this can be the fact that the speakers were being used during the game tournament for music, which was an event Cassidy said she wanted to do in order to build moral and community- Something Wolfgang explicitly sought to do, even if in a manipulative and cunning way. Similar to how the king incorporated music into his own worshipping of himself

Lastly, the furnace with someone who’s meant to be a protector inside. Like those men, for refusing to blindly obey a hypothetical man with power in a society they didn’t choose to live in, she is put into a furnace to die.

This is where it gets interesting. In Eva’s backstory she states she went out of her way to make her teachers happy, even at the cost of her friendships with her peers, not unlike the 3 men continuing to try and serve their God even though it could cost them. And when she is placed into the furnace and who does she see but the ultimate teaching assistant, aka the sort of person who would’ve been the subject of Eva’s “worship”. And like the men did to Jesus, she reaches out to her for help and protection once again.

But, of course, her “god” doesn’t save her and she succumbs to the furnace

—

I’m sure I’ve missed some stuff and sorry if all of this is super obvious, I just wanted to share what I found out and my thoughts

[fort-of-novelty]

I've been playing this free indie RPG called Moonring. In Moonring, the only way to level up is by spending an item called a "Tear of Devotion" and dedicating to one of the five gods of the setting. Each god is associated with one of the main stats, and you only upgrade a stat when you spend those tears to acquire a new ability (called gifts) from that God.

Actually, there is one other way to gain level up points in Moonring! And that's by completing quests that please a specific god. These quests are kind of presented as a pilgrimage of sorts too. The first one is always "visit the God's patron city", for example. In those cases, you don't get to choose which God the points go to, but you still get to choose which ability they unlock.

I think this is a pretty neat way to tie in an rpg's mechanics to the setting.

Very often at rpg tables I see players erring in the side of playing agnostic characters or characters who otherwise don't interact with the religion of the world. And if that's what you're comfortable with that's fine! But I find that much of the reason why players do this is because of their experiences with religion and gods in our world.

But in a fantasy setting where there is tangible proof that the gods are real, this is a kind of ridiculous position for a Character in that world to have. But more importantly, it also deprives that Player from really interacting with that part of the worldbuilding!

So with all of that in mind, I find Moonring's determination to center its story and mechanics around its pantheon of 5 gods very refreshing. As a player, I also find myself motivated to learn about the lore of these gods so I can understand the context behind the gifts that I acquire as I level up!

[bogkeep]

this is very vulnerable of me but i have been doing some Introspection and i think. i identify as a furry agnostic. as in, i believe in their beliefs, i respect the community a lot, but i don't find myself particularly More drawn to anthropomorphic animals than humans - it's about the same for me. i don't seek it out specifically but i am welcoming what comes my way. from what i understand it's also just a very large spectrum with a lot of grey zones and overlap with other communities (such as otherkin, i would assume??). i especially feel like on the weirdo side of the internet (affectionate, familial) it's been more and more common/accepted to explore non-human identities and aesthetics even among non-furries, and it makes the lines between softer and softer. like, i can just Have a fursona without being branded a capital f Furry, because whomst among us doesn't enjoy assigning ourselves an Creature as a little treat for funsies. i don't need to make this post! it's chill! i'm probably in the exact same space as lots and lots of other people and there's nothing special about it! but also i Do need to make this post because i used to be so worried about being misidentified as something i was not, mostly for ocd/autism reasons but Probably Also stigma and shame reasons. and i don't want to be restricted by that.

[baileyblethen]

COMPENDIUM OF A MADMAN

Preface:

Desmos, the Greek name for shackled, is how I have often felt. It is only in writing this tale that I can feel the bonds loosen unto snapping. For, my life has been near to Phaethon’s journey. Emerging from a semi-hedonistic youth entwined with vague Catholic guilt, to eventually arriving on the platform of doubt, a stop before my way to truth. For, as with Iris, the beauty of the rainbow leaves me in wonder, and I can confidently affirm that wonder has given me closure. This tale is the truth, just from one side, mine. I do not attempt to hide any bias, for another’s story is not mine to tell. As with my real life, the story is turbulent, for in the beginning you find a youth disturbed, grasping for what he believes dearest. Pains and joys are found, but from both he does that which Ovid had his cast do, change. To metamorphose as a man is not a quick or easy affair. The trials and tribulations of life often seem to stymie the change, or even more often, sink you back further into your original state. Being twenty-eight at the time of writing this preface may mean that I undergo many more changes in my life, as long as it goes; but while it does I shall strive to align all towards what I truly seek. That is what this tale attempts to tell, a story of grasping beyond the passion driven and intemperate self, to find something sustaining, which not only sustains, but breathes life in return. Yet, ambiguous language is dangerous, so frankly the tale shows Bailey begin to ascertain the truth of life, and realize that there is a worthy life within this sphere. Contrary to Jacques Maritain, I may not have a habitus, and this may detract from the tale and attempt at art, as for especially with the beginning, it tells the story of a life lacking virtue. Yet, as Jacques Maritain, I seek to make perfect that which I create in its own image. And to do so I must be honest. Honesty for me includes creating how I recall my own life into my work, which will riddle or enhance the journey with allusion. However, I seek not to simply give an autobiography, or a dull recounting of my life. For if I were to simply retell it, I, myself would lose attention fast and label myself as an outcast sinner. I do not have the imagination to produce fantasy, but what I lay on these pages satisfies me, for it is as it was, and exacting replications can be left to the naturalists and biographers. It is also vital to emphasize that what is written is not any attempt at a progressive history, or guide in any sort of ethics. No, I believe I would be one of the poorest guides, and what I have poured out in these pages is a plea. A plea to think on the good life, as well as the bad. There is no answer given, only prompts which one may form on his own. I was born into a faith but had never embraced it, and even rebelled in some manner, until I started to become faithful, which to this day I find myself still becoming. This is evident in the writing itself, for answers were waning when I began this novella, yet I still sought to find the best of life. And now at the end of the book, I like to think of myself as a very bad Christian, but I still try. And I do sincerely hope that one day I may in good conscience write a redeeming sequel to this novella, if I am ever held fast by virtue. So Christians, atheists, agnostics, and all, you have every right to find fault with my tale, but I will hold fast to it, for what has been done can not be undone. The uplifting part I find is that what unfolds beyond this page is the chance to reflect, and perhaps there will be others who enjoy, as I do, evaluating actions and beliefs, so as to adopt, or even perfect ones learned. Looking back helps me move forward, and only then am I happy in the present, and perhaps the eternal.

I am now thirty and looking to promote my book. This piece has been for me the most honest introspection I have ever done, which prompts me to wish to share this, and hopefully has some merit to the insights found within.

It is currently free for kindle and the paperback is for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/Compendium-Madman-Bailey-Blethen/dp/B0BT6V58SM/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=54JQN47XBH4Y&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.EixqhUr1p5LCgz7S4bIxPJbiIxd5ox6pLxjG0384pXM.x6U6I6JzYvFo-vkP-C81K3Ae9sriPc52GanSAIhorF4&dib_tag=se&keywords=compendium+of+a+madman&qid=1717697114&sprefix=%2Caps%2C116&sr=8-1

[bibiana112]

I've grown a bit protective over my theist Akane headcanons lately because everyone I've seen dismiss her as definitely making more sense as an atheist after the experiences she had seem to almost.... i dare say whitewash her faith? it's why I only use the word Theist she seems to believe in Some kind of god but that really really doesn't automatically imply a capital G western God that is characterized as fatherly and all powerful and all good it does not even imply values ascribed to western saints, I've been agnostic since elementary school and listen to atheism podcasts all the time I say this cause I'm the last person who will be attached to a character for them being religious but I also live somewhere where one of the better known religious minorities is polytheistic and of african origin and completely outside of the eurocentric conception of spirituality and since I have friends who converted to that and suffered prejudice about it I know very well what it looks like when people are projecting God vs Devil worshipping stuff on a belief that does not frame itself with those binary axes at all

I don't even think Akane would strictly follow the Shinto traditions she grew up surrounded by but it's what would have framed her early life and it's a completely different framework and understanding of spirituality and ok I will probably be a bit reductive here but as I understand it Shintoism has many subdeities yokai many superstitions baked into it that are incredibly varied and specific to each community and place and rituals and perfomances are the main expression of this faith (which the kanji for ceremony/ritual is literally in her name! which could be showing she sees her own nonary game as one big ritual I think the ideas behind the Kurashiki etymology are honestly really fun) so with that basic context plus the fact she literally does have her prayers answered, she literally does pray over her doll while crying in the incinerator and that's what saves her I don't know if she'd be mono or poly theistic but her believing in Something doesn't feel like much of a stretch

Sure, people will say, but it didn't Completely save her she still suffered she was still all alone in there in some realities but for goodness sake there is not anything that could more accurately apply to the meme of teehee I'm god's most specialest suffering soldier than what martyr complex ass mindset Akane developed I think she just made up her own understanding of divine intervention right there right with getting her future sight and morphogenetic powers and shit her prayers were answered and the person she wanted by her side talked to her and saved her even from nine years in the future because the forces at be allowed it on the condition that she played her part because the pain and death was supposed to be all there was to it but she performed this display of faith and it suddenly miraculously wasn't a dead end anymore and she was allowed to live if only with the weight and understanding that fate will work in its own mysterious ways and it's up to her to appease it and do whatever ceremonial bloodshed it demands over and over again to salvage at least one timeline out of many that fall into certain doom without her intervention... or at least that seems to be her perception of it she would probably also get ocd from all that but I don't have much say on the subject myself

Her line in ztd is hypocritical but I still don't think it's internally contradictory for her and I will die on this hill

[evilasiangenius]

Sneak preview of 'Fell'

“There was a while when I was doing gallery hangings," Crowley explained. "Art installations. Video and audio projections…whatever might be needed in a museum or a gallery.”

“Oh?”

“Have you been to the modern art museum? Not the university one, the city one, across town.”

“Yes?”

“Back when I was younger, a student intern, I hung the stars for an exhibit by…” And Crowley paused, shrugging it off. “A major contemporary artist, but apparently not major enough. I don’t remember the name.”

“I don’t know much about modern art,” Mr. Fell said apologetically. “For me, modern is anything in the Common Era.”

“A great excuse, Mr. Fell,” Crowley smiled a bit to herself beneath her dark sunglasses. “No more exhibits for me though. He doesn’t like me doing that kind of work; well, his family doesn’t. I think he’s agnostic about what I do as long as I don’t do too much of it and overstrain myself.”

“Families can be difficult,” Mr. Fell said absently, as if it meant nothing.

“His would rather be on the other side of the gallery, away from the painters and the artists, with the sponsors and donors. But I think that’s the most fun part, working with the artists.”

“Is there something that you’ve always wanted to hang but never did?”

“When the Heavens Meet the Earth by Nnenna Okore,” Crowley said, without hesitation, and she opened her phone to show him a picture, though she closed many an open app window that suggested hints of conversations with others, or what she was reading.

“Why this one?” Mr. Fell said, admiring the gauzy fabric-centric work from the pictures on Crowley’s phone.

“Because of the materials. And because it’s honest.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because. Because it’s all a tangle, isn’t it? When the Heavens meet the Earth.”

Fell

[annamariehamilton-unofficial]

Random Ghoulposting: Christianity and Tokyo Ghoul (I promise there's a very tenuous connection)

OK so am I the only person who noticed some weirdly specific parallels between the first arc of Tokyo Ghoul with Anteiku, Kaneki, and Yoshimura, and the books of Acts and Corinthians in the Bible?

Like, there's a guy who absolutely hates a different group and devotes his life to persecuting them, and then ends up having a change of heart and becoming said group's greatest champion (St. Paul; Yoshimura, Kaneki, and Amon).

There's some very specific moral instructions on eating THIS meat, not THAT meat (debate over eating meat sacrificed to idols in Corinthians; Anteiku ghouls trying to subsist on humans who were already dead rather than taking lives).

Said persecutor-turned-champion is trying to get a bunch of angry murderhoboes to stop lying, stealing, killing, cheating, sexing, and otherwise being a moral mess for just ONE SECOND so he can teach them how to live a holy and pure life (the Corinthian church; the Anteiku ghouls).

Also persecutor-turned-champion has a "half-breed" assistant who struggles with his identity but is actually ideally situated to bring together both sides, and will ultimately become his successor (Timothy, who was mixed-race Gentile/Jewish; Kaneki, a half-ghoul).

A lot of flesh vs. spirit angst

"There is no one righteous, not one ... all have sinned, all have fallen short." - Paul of Tarsus, Romans 3:10-11 // "I think if this world is wrong, what's distorting it is everything that is in this world" - Ken Kaneki, Tokyo Ghoul chapter 79

Also fun fact part of the reason the ancient Romans persecuted the Christian church is because they heard all the talk of eating the flesh and drinking the blood of Christ and took it literally and thought the Christians were some sort of weird doomsday cannibal cult.

Granted, I just tend to read way too much Christian symbolism into everything because I am Like That, but the author of Tokyo Ghoul, Sui Ishida-sensei, actually did grow up in a Christian household, which is very unusual in Japan, as stated in an interview here: https://kenkamishiro.tumblr.com/post/177107232612/ishidas-interview-with-yomiuri-shimbun

... so those parallels popping up actually makes a lot of sense. I get the impression based on the storyline of Tokyo Ghoul and his interview remarks that Ishida-sensei suffered some sort of crisis of faith and is more of an agnostic at this point, but it is interesting to think about. He also seemed to imply that the situation of the ghouls in TG and TG:re is somewhat inspired by the historical persecutions or non-acceptance of the Christian minority in Japan.

I know this is going to sound really weird but as a Christian myself, I feel like Tokyo Ghoul has probably helped me think about and even grow in my faith more than most of the Christian fiction I've read. Even though TG's worldview is a lot more morally gray than what I personally try to hold to, and the violence is pretty extreme in places, I think it raises a lot of really interesting questions. And the ultimate message of learning to love your enemies, and live with one's own darker nature in a peaceful way, really resonates with me. Also I just really unreasonably love the story and characters. So ... yeah.

[idontmindifuforgetme]

both your parents are iraqi immigrants and arent religious? what was that like? my parents are immigrants from a muslim majority country too and i dont know a single person with the same background who didnt grow up in at least a somewhat religious family 😅

My mom just never forced me to do anything 🤷‍♀️ She’s just not the type to micromanage me like that. She’s religious yes, but also educated, classy, and open-minded (these things can coexist). She never made me pray growing up, she never made me wear certain clothes growing up (if anything she’d always support me exploring my style & even buy me things the average Muslim parent might consider inappropriate), she never made me do anything religious against my will. The most I did was fast during Ramadan w my sister, but it’s more just bc we were kids who thought it was a fun concept (and we’d almost always never make it the whole day). I was too young to rly understand what religion even was, and by the time I was like a preteen I had branded myself an atheist (cringe atheist phase). Now I’d say I’m agnostic, but not religious by any stretch of the imagination.

My mom’s overprotective of me in other ways, but they’re not directly linked to religion so much as she just wants me to be safe and has high expectations for me. She probably doesn’t love that I’m 100% non-religious, but it’s not a topic she brings up at all. She just knows I’ll do what I wanna do and she can’t change my mind basically, she raised me to be that way haha. I genuinely think she’s just happy knowing I’m studying hard, taking care of myself, and have good morals—anything any parent would want of their child.

A big part of it is probably that my mom’s side is pretty liberal/lax w how they practice religion, but I also just think that she loves me to the moon and back & wouldn’t want to make me do anything that causes me to be unhappy. I think it really is that simple

Make no mistake tho, I’m veryyyy much protective of Islam. It’s my family’s faith, it’s integral to Arab culture, and it’s sickening watching the way it’s been defaced by people who don’t know nearly enough to comment on it. Just bc I’m not religious doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go in on someone who badmouths it in blind hate and ignorance.

[vaspider]

Yo, so this is less so a specific ask and more me having the need to verbalize some stuff with the option of getting input from someone with a more knowledgable perspective. I have been thinking a fair bit about Judaism and dabbling with the idea of converting to it. I don’t think it’s something for me, but I am tentatively thinking about the option.

The thing is. I assume you’re familiar with the difference between hard magic and soft magic systems in writing. (If not, the tldr is hard magic is defined with hard rules and limitations and soft magic is more ambiguous and fluid.) And I think my basic thing is that I am very open to what you could call soft spirituality and faith, but unable to jell with any hard beliefs.

For example I can never get myself to really entertain the idea of an afterlife being set up in a very specific way with specific rules and where you know what is happening and why. But I saw that tweet that went around a while ago that was like “I hope that death is like being a child at a party and falling asleep, so somebody carries you to bed and I hope when I die I can still hear the laughter from the other room” and that fucked me up beyond words.

I have gone through a couple religions and beliefs over my life and never found a framework that really fit with me, but in the past couple of years I have developed a lot and realized I have a yearning for spiritual things. My current view could probably best be described as a pantheist leaning agnostic enamored with the idea of belief and experience shaping purpose and giving structure… sort of. As well as the power of belief and to change the way you see the world for the better. It’s hard to explain specifically the angle I like.

The reason I am caught up on Judaism rn is that in a lot of ways it seems to be based around a lot of soft spirituality. I am absolutely in love with the idea that god, or the divine, or spirit, whatever one may call it is not something concrete, not one existence, but more of a force like the laws of physics, or the rules of math. I adore the idea of little rituals and rules to bring god into your life and through that connecting you to culture and history and people and community and spirituality. I love the idea you talked about some time in the past of the four kinds of jews, based on studying the scriptures and following the rules, and that even those who do neither are still a vital part of the jewish people and are needed for it to be whole. There’s so many little details that appeal to me so strongly, because they’re exactly the kind of stuff I am yearning for.

But I feel like the hard aspects keep me away. I love the idea of rules and rituals to shape your life, but I don’t think I could follow the rules of Judaism, because having a preset set of rules feels too hard for me. Similarly I love the idea of studying the texts and the never ending pursuit of decifering the meaning and arguing about it, but I don’t think I could get interested in ever doing it, because having a specific text to do it with is too hard.

So I feel very conflicted, because the way Judaism feels to me from the outside, it shows me both the soft aspects of spirituality I absolutely adore and yearn for, and at the same time the hard aspects that keep me away from religion. And they feel very connected and interwoven.

And it feels like especially as a convert being a part of it is connected with a huge amount of the hard aspects and a lot of work that goes into those. I’d have to first figure out if there is even any jewish denominations (is that the right word?) near where I live that don’t do circumcision and that aren’t on the conservative side (I have no idea how the situation is where I live) and then do all the studies and the entire process involved in converting (which I admittedly don’t know very much about either, so I might be overstating this) to be part of something I would immediately take a half step away from because I’m only really interested in the ideas behind the actual elements of it and not as much the elements themselves if that makes sense?

I guess this is pretty rambly, but maybe you have some input, or something smart to say and if not I hope I’m not coming across as this guy right now:

I think that in the process of writing this ask, you seem to have figured out that this isn't for you right now. If you get to a point where all of those things aren't standing in your way but are a to-do list, that will be when you know it's for you.

And they're generally called movements, not denominations.

[ominous-faechild]

I have a Problem in that I love to over-explain things even when I don't need to.

Especially when I don't need to. 😭

On that note! I'm working on my introduction post again (take a guess how many times I've gone to work on it and then stopped) and I went too in-depth when I should really be focusing on making it shorter, haha.

Except... I don't want to get rid of what I've written, and still want to share it.

SOLUTION!

My Obsessions:

✦ Fantasy, horror, mystery, action, and exploration of realistic characters' reactions to the things they go through.

What I write tends to be a reflection of this. My main works are high fantasies placed in what I feel is a more realistic setting--not as in grimdark "realistic", but places that are very used to the existence of magic. Someone who's grown up in a place with magical basically-electricity shouldn't spend five pages fawning over the existence of teleporters. Maybe they'll be surprised. Maybe they'll even be impressed. But unless they have some kind of a special interest in the subject, they'll probably spend more time thinking about how convenient it'll be for them rather than how it works, what it means, and the long, long history of magic... which has been around them for their whole life.

✦ Fairy tales, mythology, and folklore

I called myself "ominous-feychild" for a reason, haha. I like horror, I love fantasy, I adore faeries, and dear god--am I in LOVE with putting them all together! In folklore, faeries weren't cute little pixies that helped everyone around them... or even tiny little pixies that annoyed everyone around them (most of the time). They were the things that went "bump" in the night, that you huddled in close with your loved ones when you thought you might've caught their attention... Or, they made you question if your sister's eyes were always that far apart. Wait, was your bedroom there before? Did... did you even have a sister??? Well, you do now. And you might want to start running.

✦ "Ye Olde History" and language

"Ye Olde" meaning "the further away from modern day, the better." I can appreciate steampunk and actually often implement it into my own writing, but I do not consider Victorian England to be old. Civilization has been tracked back to as early as 4000 BCE, and it's way too easy to google that to think history actually started when Jesus was put on the cross. (Note: I am a merciless agnostic and hate what Christianity did to our world's history. So much was erased just because some bigots thought "stupid people don't think and act exactly like me, they're clearly barbaric! Time to erase their entire culture, massacre their people, and/or destroy their creations! Empathy be damned!!!" Fuck Christianity. To any Christians reading this, I don't mean you--just your religion. But you have to admit, it really sucks.)

✦ DIVERSITY!!!

As I just alluded to, I love learning about things that are unlike me. And, even more than that, I love people feeling like they have a place they belong. I've gone most of my life feeling ostracized, I'm not just going to perpetrate that cycle myself. Besides! It gets exhausting being in echo chambers with the same-old white cishet stories all the time.

✦ Explorations of "evil-coded" characters and abilities--aka, not just showing them as evil. Show them as people (for characters) and tools (for abilities)!

This is actually kind of personal to me. Autism and other disabilities have historically most often been relegated to villains because we're somehow "worse" than everyone else. Even I fell into that trap in the past, accidentally making a villain autistic-coded before I got my diagnosis. Now, I love putting people with questionable traits, powers, and backstories on the good side while the typically "good" things end up as villains. Something something, humans want freedom and freedom is chaos, something something, order is forcing things into boxes they might not particularly fit in because "otherwise, where else would they go???"

✦ Learning!!!

This might be weird, but I have a genuine love for just learning! (Not school, just learning.) I go down rabbit holes researching things all the time--and not just for writing! Obviously two of my favorite subjects are history and language, but I also love earth science and the ways our planet regulates itself to try to maintain balance! (And then we humans screw it up but.) Even in general, I love learning about random things, so if you ever have a weird infodump you really want to share, feel free to tag me in it and I'll check it out!!!

Yeah, by the way, this is linked to my actual intro post!

Divider by @cafekitsune

[stiffyck]

Hey Stiff,

@scittiesenjoyer here (why won’t Tumblr let me ask from a side blog)

I kinda went off in the tags of two anonymous asks you got implying you were racist for giving Scar a big nose in your art

I’m here to double down

Because I love your art and seeing you in the community and it makes my blood boil to think that some dickhead accusing you of something you didn’t do will make you feel less welcome here (honestly I wanna be a lot meaner to that anon, but I’m choosing to believe that they were coming from a good place and are just ignorant rather than malicious)

Anon has taken a very real issue and over applied it to the point of almost parody. I would like to make it clear that I am white myself and was raised Christian (agnostic now not that it really matters), so by no means an expert on the issues faced by others. But I do listen to Jewish people and have read into the topic of harmful Jewish stereotypes seemingly more than anon. Prepare for me to give you two whole sources more than that anon

Yes overly large noses (often also hooked) are used in caricatures of Jewish people, but never in complete isolation. Here’s a post on Jew-coding, the practice of applying character traits that make you think of Jewish people. Which can be good or bad, depending on what is making you think of Jewish people

https://www.tumblr.com/roach-works/703234602671751168/on-jew-coding

It doesn’t touch on large noses, though it is often brought up in discussions around art and animation. Especially as villains are often negatively Jew-coded. Think big hooked noses, curly hair, bankers/moneylenders (or otherwise tight with money), and of course stealing or harming blond haired, blue eyed children. Here’s an article that goes more into that for Disney especially

https://www.heyalma.com/why-do-so-many-disney-villains-look-like-me/

I think something important about most of what you will read on this topic is that it’s never a single trait in isolation. It’s the layering of bad Jew-coding that makes something racist. A college student being frugal is not a racist stereotype. But if that college student also had curly hair, was cowardly, antagonised others, and had a thick New York accent then we’d need to be concerned

You giving a character with no illusions to being Jewish a big nose is not racist. You’re not making him the villain, or greedy, or part of some shadow council or otherwise applying any negative (or positive for that matter) Jew-coding to him. You are just drawing a guy and having fun with your art style

I know nothing I can say will take away how you’ve been feeling about that initial anon, it feels horrible to be accused of something like this. Especially when it comes out of nowhere, and in this case is quite unfounded. I know I would have been scrambling trying to figure out where I went wrong. I hope knowing some of the context helps alleviate any distress you’ve been feeling

Please keep playing with proportions and your art style. There is nothing wrong with exaggerating only select features while leaving the rest proportional, the implication that there could be baffles me. I totally understand you wanting to take a break from posting art for a bit. This would be a massive blow to anyone’s confidence. But I think it’s important that you not let this steal away your joy in creating the art you want to

I’m happy to talk more on this or anything else if you wanna reach out, sending love and artistic inspiration

Hi, thanks for the ask!

I think I can see where the anon is coming from when it comes to some of the stuff I drew but I genuinely never thought it would come off as anything bad? Like to me my design just sorta looks like a character you'd see in a cartoon, which is why the ask took me so off guard.

I also feel that since I'm white and I can't really talk about this because I'm not really well educated when it comes to this sorta stuff? Like I don't want to argue with someone or try to defend myself when I don't know enough.

I've been meaning to read up on some stuff but adhd has been making it hard to do literally anything tbh. I need to get medicated so I can read non-fandom related stuff and in general actually do more productive stuff (more art, other stuff i enjoy I haven't been able to do because executive dysfunction) but I'm getting off track here dkvfkdjge

Ive been real anxious lately and that ask really got to me so I don't know about any art for now. I just need some time I guess for the anxiety to ease up idk.

Basically. What I'm trying to say.

I dont know enough about this and in no way would I ever want to do something that's bad or comes off as a racist stereotype or something.

Thanks for the sources and thanks for the nice words

[justalittlesolarpunk]

You mentioned that you are pagan? Or interested in that side of things? How so, if I may? :)

I'm pagan (non denominational goddess worship) and I'm growing more interested in ecology and everything encompassed in solar punk, so I'm interested to hear how your interest coincides with being/interest in paganism

Hi! Yes. I’m still very much just dipping my toe into paganism, so I use the term loosely as I don’t feel informed enough yet to be more specific. I’m interested by neo-Druidry and drawn to Celtic Polytheism, but mainly because it’s most compatible with my heritage, not because it seems more right or true than any other pagan belief system I’ve come across.

I call myself a pagan because I believe that the matter of the earth itself is what is sacred, that the world is full of gods older than any of the names we have given them, inhabiting the water and the rocks, the trees and the soil, the animals and the herbs. I guess you could say ecology is my religion in some senses - the way everything fits together in harmony, from the Wood Wide Web to the salmon run, never fails to make me feel close to the divine.

For me personally, my paganism is very close to solarpunk. I’m a solarpunk because I think living in harmony with the earth is sacred. I’m a pagan because I think saving the planet requires all aspects of our lives and selves. And vice versa, if that makes sense. Now of course, I’m sure there are many deeply committed, principled and hardworking solarpunks who are atheists, agnostic, humanists, Christians, Jewish, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Baha’is and Zoroastrians, or who follow indigenous spiritualities, and I think all these belief systems are compatible in their own way with solarpunk (which actually has a lot in common with an apocatastatic religion but don’t get my theology nerd brain started on that). But for me, I couldn’t conceive of being a pagan and not a solarpunk too, or a solarpunk and not some sort of nature worshipper. But religion is very personal.

Hope this explains ok - my feelings around faith are very blobby and hard to verbalise 😅😆