#A Billion Years

[pastara-cell]

Jimmy is so Oversized raincoat-core

[the-final-sentence]

If they ever do, unconditional love and a whole new world await them.

Mike Rinder, from A Billion Years

[fooltofancy]

when the healer dcs

[spoopdeedoop]

WYD WHEN MY GANG PULL UP !!!

[hinamie]

new official illust of them with puppies healed something in me

[muppetfreak]

Mr. Riordan, it is truly a pleasure getting to experience your second draft.

[weakzen]

lmao adobe/pantone charging a subscription fee for color palettes & replacing those colors with black on old pieces of artwork if you don’t pay up

[broughtabooktothedance]

The latest book on my done pile is Mike Rinder’s “A Billion Years,” about his life in and out of Scientology. I’m endlessly fascinated by stories from inside the cult and what they can teach us about extremism and fanaticism.

[plaguedocboi]

I don’t want an AI assistant in my browser I don’t want an AI chat bot built into every website I don’t want AI images appearing in searches I don’t want AI to help me write I don’t want AI integrated into every facet of my life in a completely useless and unnecessary way just because it’s trendy and it sounded futuristic to investors. AI has genuinely helpful applications and has the potential to make people’s lives easier and instead it’s being forced upon us in totally absurd ways that no one wants or needs just because tech companies want to increase their stock value and I’m going to fucking scream

[dailycupofcreativitea]

Little comic which is a parody of a scene in Gintama (I completely forgot what episode) 🥹

Also: they were co-parents (oh my god they were co-parents)

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

yea it's a show about nepo babies but Succession really said "20 billion dollars doesn't erase the persistent trauma of childhood abuse, or absolve the abuser" so like. remember that next time your parent tries to uno-reverse-guilt-card you with "but we gave you so much"

[rooolt]

Diversity win! The horrible mirror skeleton mannequin creature created out of an aroace teenagers fear of being different from his friends canonically uses “he/they” pronouns!

[mirrorlabyrinth]

aqua

[darklingichor]

A Billion Years, by Mike Rinder

I've said it before, I am absolutely fascinated by Scientology. Because, it is a pyramid scheme that has been classified a religion in the United States.

I mean if you want to argue the point you can call a lot religions pyramid schemes, in the abstract (I'm not arguing that point and I don't feel that that is true) but Scientology is *literally* a pyramid scheme.

You have to buy stuff to get anywhere, and you are expected to get others to buy stuff and those people are expected to get others to buy stuff. Only instead of selling make up or granola bars or something, they are selling the spiritual. This is evil genius because you have to pay real money to get something intangible, and the end goal keeps moving, you can't reach the end because more is always being promised, or something was wrong with how you did a section you passed, now you have to go ( and pay to) take it again. You are required to devote yourself to it every day because the goal is to save the planet.

And this is just what happens to the everyday or "public" Scientologists. It's the Sea Org or "clergy" of Scientology, that uses what is recognized as cult tactics. Don't get me wrong, all of the people are being manipulated and hurt, but in the Sea Org, people are derived of sleep, and food, subjected to hard labor, and abuse.

I've read a lot of books on Scientology but this one is the first one I have read from someone who was really high up,and goes into detail about their depth of faith and what it took to finally break it.

Mike Rinder was one of the public faces of Scientology, he joined the Sea Org at 18 and was put on a ship.

I don't want to go into a blow by blow of everything, so I will say a few things that struck me most about his stories interacting with the highest level of the organization.

First, I really admire Mr. Rinder for coming forward and apologizing for the things he did when he was a top excec. As the person deployed to handle the media, he often was tasked with spearheading the attack methods that Scientology uses against critics. These tactics are designed to destroy a person. He says again and again, how sorry he is to all the people that he hurt, when he was tasked to protect Scientology. Second, the way his family was torn apart is heartbreaking. That has to be the worst thing that Scientology does, and I'm not even talking about the policy of disconnection when someone leaves.

The Sea Org weakens family bonds to the point that they are easy to snap. Kids are separated from their parents (this was at a time when Sea Org members were allowed to have kids). Parents are far too busy trying to save the planet to actually spend any time with their children, and this is justified because, yeah, this person is your kid in this life, but the Thatan that occupies the body has had thousands of lives and they weren't your kid in all of those. (This logic is applied to all family ties). And besides, your work is going to make a better world, don't you want that for your family?

Husband's ans wives are routinely kept apart most of the time, so that leaves the relationship vulnerable. At the same time, family is used against members. Yeah, your wife is in another city and you've only seen your kids in passing, your parents and siblings haven't seen you in years, but in theory you can go up to them and they will speak with you. If you leave, that goes away. Everyone you love who is still in Scientology, Sea Org or Public, will hate your guts for all eternity if you leave. To have such a tenuous relationship with your loved ones, but it is all you have? I can't even imagine the type of suffering people go through.

Third, when talking about the whims that would get people punished and tormented, I just kept thinking of the mad monarchs of history. It's batshit at the top.

Mr. Rinder really did believe in Scientology, believed that they were doing good, and that for all the suffering that he and others were going through, that the ends justified the means. It took hideous treatment to finally crack the faith he was raised with, and get to the point when he had to run even when he had nowhere to go.

He now works to expose the abuses in Scientology and help others.

I'm glad I read his story

[98chao]

incorrect quotes generator my beloved part 2

[ibblescribbles]

『Roulette Shark』 🎰🎯

An Aventurine glitter shaker charm I designed based off his ult!! Hoping to have these in time for Anime Expo next month ^7^ Speedpaint | Bonus little guy under the cut: