#Christian coping strategies

[thinkingonscripture]

Biblical Strategies for Dealing with a Toxic Supervisor

Some years ago, I suffered under a toxic boss who had a very controlling personality. She meticulously managed her public image, maintaining a polished but fake charm, and used relationships to maintain her power. Despite her initial charm, her character flaws became evident over time. On several occasions, I witnessed her using intimidation tactics with staff, shutting them down in an unjust and…

[sagetsukimura]

GAZA, ISRAEL and PAINTING

So I sat down and brainstormed painting ideas. The things I am struggling with, the things I wish to say, want to be heard. Therapeutic at least, and if I do ever finish, maybe art that will speak to people. Well...

Turns out I have a lot I want to say about what's happening in Gaza. In Israel, the West Bank, and the US.

(Context?) I've been informed I'm very 'moderate'. I try very hard to look into the historical context, to see the motivations from both sides and understand them from each viewpoint before applying my oven life to them. It's put me in some interesting places, irl.

So it's easy for me to look at what's happening and want to scream. Emotions are running high, everything is happening way too fast, and too many people are talking in absolutes. (Less than usual, however. I cannot emphasize this enough. Because of the posts from people on the ground in Gaza, so many people are able to see the conflict from both sides. To see the nuance in the situation. It's harder to dehumanize people when you've been chatting with them on and off on the internet for the last couple of years.)

And what we can see is the same thing history has always told us, and the victorious have always tried to hide. The people who suffer are not the ones giving the orders. All there is, in truth, on either side, is Horror.

(I'm not going to pick apart everything in this post. Tumblr seems pretty educated on the apartheid Palestinians have been under, even if they were only recently made aware. (Propaganda and censorship, gotta love politics) and the Big News has done a good job of showcasing the devastation occurring on the Israeli side. Trying to narrow this conflict down to two sides is absolute bullshit and I think everyone here knows it. People are not their government, and not all members of a population are good. That leaves a minimum of 6 different viewpoints that would need to be considered, and all of it narrows down to innocent people suffering, and they shouldn't be.)

(I'm sorry, it's late, I can't write out the entire balancing act analysis tonight)

Anyway, back to art. A picture is worth a thousand words, but having words for your picture is great before you put paint on canvas.

So, below are the many painting ideas I've had in the last 2 hours. Just, straight from my brain, onto my clipboard, to here.

DISCLAIMER- PLEASE NOTE- I wrote these without basic filtering. I did not police my thoughts. The use of Christian imagery to convey themes and ideas happens. I don't know if that would be considered offensive, it's 2 a.m. My hope at this time (2 a.m.) is that the use of Christian imagery helps convey the message to someone of that background who would not normally pause to consider the work (In this case, part of the target audience, IE those who have so far managed to avoid giving the horror of this situation any of their time or consideration because of propaganda) The use of Christian imagery is not meant to say that one religion is better than another, simply that my mind made connections with past experiences and this is what popped out.

So feel free to inform me of your opinion on the imagery used. In the end, these are ideas, and honestly just brainstorming was very therapeutic)

I encourage others to do this themselves if they think it would help, You don't even have to post, just think of 3 or 4 paintings you would do, no matter how talented an artist you were, and what you would name them. It really helped me today, maybe it can help you.

[calandrinon]

I wasn't raised in any religion but I was raised in Australia and let me tell you the cognitive dissonance is real, there's nothing like listening to mostly dead foreigners singing about how awesome snow is while you're melting in 41° heat (that's well over 100° for you foreigners)

It's irritating sometimes (usually) but life is irritating sometimes (often), I just mentally throw it all in the "it's not about me" box and move on tbh

It's weird enough as an agnostic having a solid month and a half of of nonstop schristmas music a year but what's it like for yall raised in fullon non-christian religions to hear dead 1950s white jazz guys harp on about snow and magic and Jesus in Bethlehem n shit

If i walked into work one day and there was an entire ass playlist full of 1960's funk about Brahma think I'd zone out a lot tbh

Would spend a lot of time googling

[finallyalivecounseling]

Understanding the Difference Between Stress and Anxiety

Understanding the Difference Between Stress and Anxiety

Have you ever used the words “stress��� and “anxiety” interchangeably? Many of us have, but did you know that these words actually have different meanings? Stress and anxiety are two common terms related to our mental health, and it’s important to understand their differences. Knowing the distinction can help us manage these conditions and improve our quality of life. What is Stress? Stress is a…

[marshemillow]

You know what? I'm talking about "phone addiction" again because I'm not done.

Do you know what an addiction is? Addiction isn't "you do it just out of habit because you don't think about it" addiction is "if you stop you will literally be in agony and that's why you keep turning to the thing."

We have this baked-in idea that addiction is a moral failing, that if you have a phone addiction, it really just means you need to get off your phone. Yeah, addicted to alcohol? Just stop! Don't drink it anymore! Withdrawl? What's that? If you drink alcohol, it obviously means you just don't have enough willpower! If you can't stop drinking alcohol, it means you're a bad person. You basically deserve to have liver failure at that point!

Yes some people actually believe this! They don't know that paramedics carry alcohol with them specifically because it saves the lives of people going through alcohol withdrawl, they don't care! It's something they cheer themselves up with because they aren't addicted to alcohol, and that means they're a good person.

I am so sick and fucking tired of people pathologizing and moralizing non-moral issues. Addiction, or Substance Abuse Disorder, is an actual physical health condition. It's a disease. You can't stop it with enough willpower, it's something that needs actual medical treatment. Just looking at coping mechanisms or even just things that make you feel good because they release dopamine in your brain and calling that an "addiction" does so much damage to people's understanding of real addiction and makes addicts look like evil weak cowards instead of people with a disease that needs treatment. That's fucking evil. Imagine telling someone with cancer that they just didn't have enough willpower to stop it. Disgusting.

And it's extra ironic coming from these people who think they're addicted to their phone saying "you just need to stop" and then not stopping, meanwhile I have often just forgotten I don't have my phone with me and then get confused when I don't have it. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Why is the person who "knows" it's an "addiction" (in the moral failing way) still not have enough willpower to stop whereas I have to consciously remind myself to go find my phone because I just forget it exists when I don't believe in phone addiction? Literally half the time I take my phone out of my pocket, it's just to check the time.

It's almost like "phone addiction" is just another way to make people feel guilty for doing things they like doing. It doesn't make them stop, they just feel worse about it. They don't think about it as a coping strategy that fades as their life circumstances get better.

And every single time, when you find these people who feel bad for doing things that make them happy, they grew up christian. Every fucking time. "Struggle with addiction" and it's just guilt applied to something normal.

STOP MAKING YOUR CATHOLIC GUILT EVERYONE ELSE'S PROBLEM!!! IF YOU CARED ABOUT "PHONE ADDICTION" YOU WOULD BE TAKING ACTUAL STEPS TO MINIMIZE HARM, NOT THROWING GUILT AT PEOPLE JUST FOR ITS OWN SAKE!!!

[sweetasadaisy]

Glowing up: A journey towards self-improvement

The reason I want to glow up is because I am determined to make positive changes in my life. I want to improve my health, enhance my appearance, and become a better version of myself. For as long as I can remember, I've been lazy, mediocre, self-destructive and unkind. But I refuse to be like that any longer. With hard work and dedication, I know I can transform myself into someone I'm proud of. I know it won't be easy, but I'm ready to take on the challenge and become the best possible version of myself.

Part 1:Physical wellness

Inspiration:Pink Pilates Princess and Green Juice Girl

The physical aspect of glowing up goes beyond aesthetics. Although, I won't deny that the main reason is doing it. It's about feeling strong, energized, and confident in your skin. I struggle with chronic migraines, fatigue and Self-destructive behaviours. My self-destructive behaviours are things I unconsciously do to make myself unattractive like binge eating because I want to be skinny but my brain doesn't want me to be skinny because it knows it will make me happy and unconsciously I don't want to be happy. I also cut my hair short because I love long hair and I cut my hair every time it gets long because I secretly hate myself and don't want to be happy. (This probably belongs in the mental wellness part.)My plan to improve my physical health is to lose weight gained from years of binging and become fit.

Goals

Lose almost 30lbs by

Eating porpotioned healthily balanced meals(<1450kcals)

Taking my vitamins

Exercising at least 3hrs a week

Getting 10k steps a day

Sleep at 11pm at latest and wake up at 5/6 am

Develop a skincare routine

Grow my hair back to waist length

Part 2:Mental, Emotional and social wellness

Inspiration:That girl and Clean girl

Mental health is the cornerstone of glowing up. It involves cultivating a positive mindset, managing stress, and fostering resilience. Emotional health involves understanding and managing our emotions in a healthy way. It's about cultivating self-awareness, practicing self-compassion, and developing coping strategies for life's challenges. Social health involves building and maintaining meaningful relationships, setting boundaries, and fostering a sense of belonging. I have struggled with my mental health for a long time. I am diagnosed with depression and I have dealt with binge eating on and off for years. I have low self-esteem and self-worth. I never liked myself since I was young. (I think I know the reason but I don't want to share.)The hatred I felt for myself got externalised into hatred, envy, jealousy and unkindness towards others. I am going to change that by:

Getting a therapist

Self care

Being positive

Thinking before I speak

Practicing gratitude

Clean my room once a day

Meet with friends outside of school at least once a month

Part 3: Spiritual wellness

Inspiration: That Christian girl

Nurturing spiritual health provides a sense of purpose, connection, and inner peace. I was born catholic and went to catholic school from the age of 5 to 11(ages 7-11 were an only-girl school). I became an atheist at 11 and have been struggling with my relationship with God ever since. I was born and raised catholic but I was never properly Cathechized. That is because my parents(My mom is a cradle catholic and my dad was born catholic but became Pentecostal) are lukewarm and don't teach me and my siblings about God, the Bible and the Catholic Church. My parents have had multiple children and have not married. (I don't want them to get married to be honest because they are not right for each other and they aren't the best example of a healthy relationship.) My mom only started regularly attending church because I asked her that we start going. My parents aren't the best example of good Christians. Also, in catholic school days teach you nothing about the catholic church they just read the bible to you every morning, make you pray 3-4 times a day and bring you to church once a week. Catholic school wasn't that bad because catechizing me wasn't their job it was my parents. My goals to become strengthen my relationship with God are:

Attend mass on all Sundays and days of obligation

Pray at least twice a day and before eating

Read the Bible daily

Learn about the catholic church and catechize myself

Got to confession eventually

Do my confirmation

Become a Proverbs 31 woman

Part 4: Intellectual wellness

Inspiration:Academic weapon

Continuous learning and intellectual stimulation are essential components of glowing up. An Academic Weapon is a student who is perceived as particularly successful in academics as a whole. My grades are mediocre but i can easily fix that if i stop being lazy and study more. I am going to:

Study atleat 3hrs a day un top of homework

Have an 8-hour study session once a week.

Read one book a month

Join more clubs

Take every opportunity to learn

Conclusion

Glowing up is not a destination but a lifelong journey of self-discovery and personal growth. By nurturing physical, mental, spiritual, social, emotional, and intellectual health, we can become the best versions of ourselves. Whether you're striving to be that Christian girl, a pink Pilates princess, a green juice girl, clean girl or an academic weapon, remember that the most beautiful glow comes from within.

[clinically-obssessed]

Remus' Purpose

So far in Sanders Sides, we have seen that two of "dark sides" - Virgil and Janus - are just as essential to Thomas as the "light sides." Without Virgil, Thomas has no motivation, and Janus introduces an element of self-preservation that would otherwise be absent. But what about Remus? So far, all we know is that he represents intrusive thougts, but we have not yet seen in what way he helps Thomas. And it's not immediately obvious that he does at all: the two episodes in which he appears as a major character portray him as pathological, focusing on strategies to help Thomas cope with and avoid intrusive thoughts. But I think, given the show's increasing attention to Patton's overly strict ethical rules, Remus will play a key role in helping Thomas accept himself and change his attitude toward morality

In his introductory song, Remus sings a number of lines that relate to morality. He begins with a Biblical allusion, drawing a parallel between Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit and Thomas learning about Remus. He says, "Adam and Eve bought knowledge for the small price of a little sin," framing Thomas' own pursuit of self-knowledge as a transaction that requires him to break his moral rules. Later in the song, he states that "Good and bad are all made up nonsense" and that "everybody cheats, everybody lies, so why deny yourself knowledge?" which attempts to justify Thomas' descent into sin. This is further reinforced by Remus' assertion that "these kinds of things are only thought in the mind of a man whose soul is truly rotten," which is intended to dispel Thomas' self-image as morally righteous. In Remus' view, what is holding Thomas back from understanding himself and reaching his full creative potential is that he is too caught up in false notions of morality, and it is only by dropping these pretenses that he can truly achieve his goals.

At this point, you should be screaming, "Whoa! That sounds exactly like the philosophy of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900)!" That is precisely because I've described it in a way that is intentionally similar to the philosophy of Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844-1900). I think that drawing this parallel will allow us to understand the character's direction. Nietzsche was a highly influential philosopher because of his rejection of most things everyone else - even philosophers - took for granted. His writing is complex and difficult to interpret - likely intentionally so - but one of his most famous ideas is that morality is subjective. He criticized Christian morality as "slave morality", claiming that it celebrates weakness and keeps people from achieving their true potential. Additionally, he believed that the metaphysical claims of Christianity were becoming less and less believable in the face of advancements in science and philosophy, so Christian ethics no longer had any grounding either. Instead, he says, it is up to every individual person to give their life meaning. To him, there is no objective truth, only each person's will to power. In this new world that can no longer find answers in God, everyone must strive toward an ideal known as the ubermensch, or "overman," a person who is able to overcome their own weaknesses, create new things, and affirm all aspects of life.

The similarities between Nietzsche and Remus are clear. Both embrace self-understanding, value creativity, and reject moral systems as barriers to achieving one's goals. Furthermore, they share a particular orientation toward controversy. Nietzsche's work is filled with contradictions, and his style is exaggerated and extreme, suggesting that his writings do not form a logically coherent philosophical system or even necessarily reflect his own beliefs but are rather intended to challenge societal norms and promote critical thinking. In the same way, Remus intentionally gives Thomas uncomfortable and disgusting thoughts which he knows will contradict Thomas' morality in order to force him to question his values and assumptions about himself.

With this in mind, it seems likely that Remus will play a major role in the finale. The arc of the show has been focused heavily on the idea of morality, and as "Putting Others First" revealed, Patton's standards are only hurting Thomas' mental health. Janus made the case for the importance of self-care using psychology, but his argument is not fully convincing. As Roman pointed out, it is necessary to find a balance between selfishness and selflessness, and Janus does not answer his question of "When is it enough?" Therefore, it may be necessary for Remus to come in and force Thomas to confront the fact that Patton's morality is not only hurting him but it is based on false premises to begin with. By bringing ugly realities to the surface, Remus will challenge Thomas to stop passively accepting the moral codes that have been handed down to him by society and to create his own meaning and values that serve him.

[ktempestbradford]

Jumping off of what I said in this post about having to dismantle certain toxic ideas about myself, I realized that folks might not know how deeply not being a straight, white, cishet, able-bodied, Christianized male (aka the Dominant Paradigm) in the West messes you up mentally. It's a huge mental health problem that isn't always addressed.

When I started up my latest round of therapy I began to acquire labels for some of the ways I acted or reacted to situations. One day in session I was like: Was that a trauma response? It was, wasn't it? And my therapist confirmed. What confused me is that I didn't think I'd experienced trauma.

The idea I had of trauma was some Major Incident in which something Very Bad had happened to me or near me. Or it was about being in abusive situations, usually at home. The kind of ways trauma is depicted in the media.

Then I came across a Twitter thread in which the person said that everyone needs therapy, especially marginalized people, because the way Western society works, anyone who is not the Dominant Paradigm or doesn't hew closely to it is constantly being harmed by society.

Are you BIPOC? Racism is almost everywhere, and where it is, it's constant. It's also not always KKK-level in your face racism; it's more often wave after wave of microagressions on top of whatever challenging condition you're in due to historical racism. In other words: Chronic.

Are you neurodiverse? Good luck not being overstimulated by allegedly benign activities like going to the grocery store. Good luck not being criticized on a daily basis because you can't act "normal". Try holding down a job that expects you to sit at a desk for 8 hours yet you can't even sit in a quiet environment because the asshole CEO read that open office plans make employees more productive.

Are you anywhere under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella? Welcome to the constant barrage of invasive questions from strangers, invasive laws, invasive religiosity... Once again, an allegedly benign activity (going to the bathroom in public) can be a damn crucible if you don't look like the "right" kind of woman or man. Have fun navigating the medical system when you want affirming health care.

I could go on. Disabled people, poor or working class people, fat people, any people who have been historically marginalized and oppressed all experience this. It is trauma. It is harm. It does affect us. But it's Chronic and Systemic. That's the crux.

Because we have to keep on going even with all this. It's every day and it's not easy to escape. So we "deal with it." Some of us have good coping strategies and or supportive family (bio or found) and that really helps. It doesn't alleviate the overall problem. Thus, we all need therapy (so the OP of that Twitter thread concluded).

I don't know that we ALL need it. And I for sure know that some mental health practitioners and therapy frameworks are quite harmful to marginalized people. I'm very lucky in that I have a great therapist and the treatment I'm getting is informed by my identity and background, not ignorant of it. Not everyone has that or has access to it.

What I do know is that we all need Community. True community offers true support, which is necessary for healing.

We also all need to know that our mental health struggles and our trauma are real and valid, even if they don't look or manifest the way we've been conditioned to recognize them. Don't let anyone invalidate your experience or mental health struggles because you don't fit into a specific, wrongly-labeled box.

And don't let anyone tell you that this society isn't out here traumatizing you, because it is. Society doesn't need to be this way. But here in The (European Colonizer Created) West, that's what those with more power have chosen for the rest of us. And it sucks.

I have nothing but hugs and empathy for all the other people out there experiencing this. The only piece of advice I have is: Find community, hold on tight to each other, be that oasis of Okay that others need and they'll be that same oasis for you. <3

[beatingtheouijaboardallegations]

do think we have some important perspective to say about the ‘all nonspeaking / nonverbal people can read minds & literal send secret message to each other across time & space. and access so much spiritual better connect to g-d in ways speaking people can’t ever’ bullshit. thta becoming so so so popular even among people we respect in nonspeaking space cause that fucking podcast being promoted everyone un escapable if in S2C etc center space. but so scared of responses because is one of my most needed communities , already thin ice don’t want to completely make people hate me who could be only bridge to connect people like me.

as dissociative person / collective , who different alters have gone through diffrent stages of thinking can read minds. and who thought could all read minds and talk to people not there before realize there is people in my brain. thinking of that one girl in head. formed because trauma from growing up thought of not human treated as worse than alien worse than object as nonthinking nonfeeling. believes will return to “ her world” where we are powerful and understood and don’t have body that needs this much care can exist as a self not need others so sheerly. believes is telepathic with that world a d also that can hear thoughts of all other nonspeakers and talk back n forth.

we dont have good enough communication for me to. ‘interview’ her for an article or do back and forth discussion debate. but she has been dormant and then sudden took over while listening to That Fucking podcast ( for ‘research’ purpose) because of course she would. and now has so much more ‘evidence’ for the trauma beliefs (is whole web of belief have barely scratch surface here) act so smug about it so annoying, know is a part of me but hate what she does to us

and think that even though many nonspeakers who have these beliefs (and their parents and professionals around them also do) not plural and not have DID OSDD ect. 1. so few of us given language understand experience of selfves experience of dissociation & multipleness & substitute beliefs & fear and trauma. so few of us get any type therapy at all good or bad , or just therapy that follows parent religion , or just behavior and ‘ skill build’ therapy and maybe psych meds and few coping strategies taught but no pne to actually explore depths of how we feel, cause not seen as able feel only able to act. i mean only reason selfves found out language of DID exists is because being on tumblr , have access to internet and informatijom not pre approve by authority & the motor plans n cognitive ease of looking through information freely was something that cultivated and early supported after learning to type. and also immersed in queer trans communities through partner and local places , where have met some other systems who willing compare notes on experience. which most nonspeaking nonverbal people dont get.

and 2. any traumatized people especially people face specifc kind trauma of grow up full life nonspeaking presume incompetent. more likely build up all kinds ideas necessary to surviving and can see exactly how when you spend life just as fly on the wall observinf the world not affecting it, no one is teaching you how to communicate in the most full most easy way possible for body mind , being abused in the big and small ways in special ed and by staff and doctors and talked about in most awful ways while you are right there. “i am telepathic” can be belief that so so so needed to survive that hell. so can “i can talk to everyone else going through this and we can fight together with just our minds from miles away.” and do relate so deeply to nonspeakers who talk about these things.

the problem lies when peope who are not us. parents or doctors or spiritual healing bio med podcaster people. take those trauma beliefs and make them so very literal, as part of their ( usually fundamental Christian or heavy based on that) beliefs that they want nonspeakers to also hold. will turn us into these prophetic creatures when we are very young instead if just letting us be people. which is terrible for thos of us who actually hold these beliefs and experience. we not getting chance to explore what means for us, in all the depths in all the ways we need to. just taken as “holy shit my kid can read my mind” broadcast everywhere like party trick treated like something other than human. which is same place trauma lies in first place, is two sides of same coin. it is all so anger making and not what any of us deserve.

[dreamerandthedarkhalf]

Just in case it gets lost or put behind a paywall or something, here's the full article. 1 When someone tells you who they are, believe them. Last week Donald Trump appointed a director of intelligence who spouts Russian propaganda, a Christian nationalist crusader as secretary of defence, and a secretary of health who is a vaccine sceptic. If Trump was seeking to destroy American democracy, the American state and American values, this is how he’d do it.

2 Journalists are first, but everyone else is next. Trump has announced multibillion-dollar lawsuits against “the enemy camp”: newspapers and publishers. His proposed FBI director is on record as wanting to prosecute certain journalists. Journalists, publishers, writers, academics are always in the first wave. Doctors, teachers, accountants will be next. Authoritarianism is as predictable as a Swiss train. It’s already later than you think.

3 To name is to understand. This is McMuskism: it’s McCarthyism on steroids, political persecution + Trump + Musk + Silicon Valley surveillance tools. It’s the dawn of a new age of political witch-hunts, where burning at the stake meets data harvesting and online mobs.

4 If that sounds scary, it’s because that’s the plan.  Trump’s administration will be incompetent and reckless but individuals will be targeted, institutions will cower, organisations will crumble. Fast. The chilling will be real and immediate.

5 You have more power than you think. We’re supposed to feel powerless. That’s the strategy. But we’re not. If you’re a US institution or organisation, form an emergency committee. Bring in experts. Learn from people who have lived under authoritarianism. Ask advice.

6 Do not kiss the ring. Do not bend to power. Power will come to you, anyway. Don’t make it easy. Not everyone can stand and fight. But nobody needs to bend the knee until there’s an actual memo to that effect. WAIT FOR THE MEMO.

7 Know who you are. This list is a homage to Yale historian, Timothy Snyder. His On Tyranny, published in 2017, is the essential guide to the age of authoritarianism. His first command, “Do not obey in advance”, is what has been ringing, like tinnitus, in my ears ever since the Washington Post refused to endorse Kamala Harris. In some weird celestial stroke of luck, he calls me as I’m writing this and I ask for his updated advice: “Know what you stand for and what you think is good.”

8 Protect your private life. The broligarchy doesn’t want you to have one. Read Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: they need to know exactly who you are to sell you more shit. We’re now beyond that. Surveillance Authoritarianism is next. Watch The Lives of Others, the beautifully told film about surveillance in 80s east Berlin. Act as if you are now living in East Germany and Meta/Facebook/Instagram/WhatsApp is the Stasi. It is.

9 Throw up the Kool-Aid. You drank it. That’s OK. We all did. But now is the time to stick your fingers down your throat and get that sick tech bro poison out of your system. Phones were – still are – a magic portal into a psychedelic fun house of possibility. They’re also tracking and surveilling you even as you sleep while a Silicon Valley edgelord plots ways to tear up the federal government.

10 Listen to women of colour. Everything bad that happened on the internet happened to them first. The history of technology is that it is only when it affects white men that it’s considered a problem. Look at how technology is already being used to profile and target immigrants. Know that you’re next. 11 Think of your personal data as nude selfies. A veteran technology journalist told me this in 2017 and it’s never left me. My experience of “discovery” – handing over 40,000 emails, messages, documents to the legal team of the Brexit donor I’d investigated – left me paralysed and terrified. Think what a hostile legal team would make of your message history. This can and will happen.

12 Don’t buy the bullshit. A Securities and Exchange judgment found Facebook had lied to two journalists – one of them was me – and Facebook agreed to pay a $100m penalty. If you are a journalist, refuse off the record briefings. Don’t chat on the phone; email. Refuse access interviews. Bullshit exclusives from Goebbels 2.0 will be a stain on your publication for ever.

13 Even dickheads love their dogs. Find a way to connect to those you disagree with. “The obvious mistakes of those who find themselves in opposition are to break off relations with those who disagree with you,” texts Vera Krichevskaya, the co-founder of TV Rain, Russia’s last independent TV station. “You cannot allow anger and narrow your circle.”

14 Pay in cash. Ask yourself what an international drug trafficker would do, and do that. They’re not going to the dead drop by Uber or putting 20kg of crack cocaine on a credit card. In the broligarchy, every data point is a weapon. Download Signal, the encrypted messaging app. Turn on disappearing messages. 15 Remember. Writer Rebecca Solnit, an essential US liberal voice, emails: “If they try to normalize, let us try to denormalize. Let us hold on to facts, truths, values, norms, arrangements that are going to be under siege. Let us not forget what happened and why.”

16 Find allies in unlikely places. One of my most surprising sources of support during my trial(s) was hard-right Brexiter David Davis. Find threads of connection and work from there.

17 There is such a thing as truth. There are facts and we can know them. From Tamsin Shaw, professor in philosophy at New York University: “‘Can the sceptic resist the tyrant?’ is one of the oldest questions in political philosophy. We can’t even fully recognise what tyranny is if we let the ruling powers get away with lying to us all.”

18 Plan. Silicon Valley doesn’t think in four-year election cycles. Elon Musk isn’t worrying about the midterms. He’s thinking about flying a SpaceX rocket to Mars and raping and pillaging its rare earth minerals before anyone else can get there. We need a 30-year road map out of this.

19 Take the piss. Humour is a weapon. Any man who feels the need to build a rocket is not overconfident about his masculinity. Work with that.

20 They are not gods. Tech billionaires are over-entitled nerds with the extraordinary historical luck of being born at the exact right moment in history. Treat them accordingly.

[remyfire]

U write like a repressed christian housewife who has unfulfilled sex

Hey there!

I'm really sorry I haven't been giving you the attention you've been lusting for over the past three months of you attempting to harass me under, what are we up to now, four different accounts? Five? More than that? But frankly nothing you've tried to insult me with has been very interesting—including the other ask you sent four hours ago almost on the dot.

I understand how upsetting it can be when the person you're trying to make angry is neither affected by your words or giving you the time of day, so I'd like to recommend that you pick up a new hobby instead of trying to get a rise out of people. Cross-stitching is a really satisfying endeavor. There's some incredible small businesses you can support if you take up something like watercolor painting. Volunteering at an animal shelter might give you a degree of personal fulfillment.

But at the end of the day, I know you're lonely. I know you're upset because you feel like your writing is underappreciated. I know you're sad due to a lack of community. But at some point, I really hope you can begin to understand that the only way you're going to form a community of people who love, support, and cherish you is by exhibiting kindness and interest in their lives, passions, and work rather than sending asks ranging from childish insults to violent suicide bait.

I'm hoping things improve for you. When you're ready to get started on working through the things you've said and done to people, it's gonna suck initially. There's nothing particularly fun about looking at your face in the mirror and accepting that you've enthusiastically, gleefully decided to be the villain in the lives of many, many people rather than taking those uncomfortable feelings of envy and depression and anger and learning appropriate coping strategies to help them pass through you instead of letting them become a weapon in your hand. But I do hope that when that day comes, you will have found someone who wants to let you lean on them rather than letting your own behavior continue to alienate you from not only your fandoms but also the entire world around you.

[shallowseeker]

Lucifer + war

I know that no one wants Lucifer takes, but...

I keep thinking about that funky, exhilarated smile Lucifer dons when Amara attacks Heaven.

For this brief time in season 11, Lucifer feels like Lucifer again.

He has a purpose. He's the impossible hope against The Great Evil, gearing up for the prize fight. He's not even alone. He's with a brother who gray-rock-tolerates him as comrade instead of actively trying to kill him.

For a second, he even starts becoming so used to being part of a team that he forgets who he is. But he's Lucifer, and that means he doesn't have to spare Sam. Hell, why should he want to? He ain't got no feelings! So, he keeps living up to the idea of Lucifer. He's evil, he's cunning, he's strong, he's a warrior...

He even gets to go back to Heaven, where they uneasily accept him as he tries to ape the charisma expected of God's finest. But he learns he's not so good at that part. So, he calls on his brother, Castiel (the more natural leader), to do the soldiering part. (From SPN 11x22 -> LUCIFER: And here I thought I had made real inroads with you guys. Welp, I came here to ask a good-faith favor of you folks, but as you are clearly less than kindly disposed, perhaps you'll, uh, lend an ear to my very own Jiminy Cricket. Hmm? CASTIEL: Hello, brothers. Sisters.)

And then, on the eve of battle, after doing everything they asked of him, Amara rips him away from his brother and his father, and he's brutally untethered after his first bout of security for eons. (Say what you will, I still stand by that Lucifer begrudgingly likes as much as he resents Cas and the security/safety he provides for his loved ones. He likes Gabriel, too.)

And he despairs.

///

In season 12, he seems to have been waiting for Castiel specifically:

Vince Vincente: Castiel. Took you long enough. Did you bring the rest of the Little Rascals?

Lucifer doesn't even wanna be Lucifer anymore. Playing him last season sucked. He went to war, was hated for it, and then he got horrifically tortured by Amara, and nobody cared.

Lucifer (Vince Vincente): Because it's fun. Because I can. And because being Lucifer? So much Judeo-Christian baggage. But Vince? He's famous. Everybody loves him. And I need love. I had a really jacked childhood.

And Lucifer is frustrated with Cas. As he fights him, his voice is unusually heavy with emotion:

Castiel: You think this is fun? Lucifer (Vince Vincente): Oh, I wouldn't expect you to understand. I was inside you. I know what a weak, duty-bound… Castiel attempts to attack again but he is swiftly knocked aside by Lucifer Lucifer (Vince Vincente): ...pleasureless dullard you are.

This whole scene, Lucifer is appealing to (and usually speaking directly to) Castiel, doing things to try and get a rise out of him and get his attention (killing innocents, beating up Crowley). Like many of the emotionally unhinged characters (Rowena, Crowley, pretty much all the demons), Lucifer is frustrated by Castiel's coping strategy, which is to withdraw and gray-rock him (i.e. "become as uninteresting and unengaged as possible so that the other person loses interest"). Getting a rise out of Cas is its own kind of Holy Grail.

But just like when they were roomies, Castiel won't grace Lucifer with a reaction, which triggers him pretty hard. This scene reads as incredibly emotionally charged, especially for Lucifer. That's because Lucifer wants Castiel to react...just like he wants Chuck to react.

(Everybody loves Cas, and he won't even bask in it. No one loves Lucifer.)

///

Lucifer doesn't even kill him. His last hit tosses Cas onto a couch, for Christ's sake. Lucifer chooses to take the majority of his violence out on the human and the demon. He says to Cas: "Stick around for the afterparty." He wants to see him hurt post-Sam and Dean deaths, most likely. (That'll surely get a reaction.)

///

Sam: You and God made up. You forgave him. What would he think? Lucifer (Vince Vincente): I'm not especially interested in his opinion. Dear old dad, he finally apologized for abandoning me. And what's the very next thing he does? [Voice breaks] He ditches me. [Laughs, openly crying] And you, too, by the way. His words, your words, they mean nothing. Don't you get it? This is all meaningless. Heaven, Hell, this world. If it ever meant anything, that moment is past. Nothing down here but a bunch of hopeless distraction addicts, so filled with emptiness, so desperate to fill up the void… they don't mind being served another stale rerun of a rerun of a rerun. You know what my plan is? I don't have one. 

For a half-second, he loved them and wanted their love, too. He had war companions in Sam and Dean. He had a brother in Cas. But Lucifer has gone from being too faithful in The Cause to having no plan at all. And with that, he, too, has fallen to the ultimate SPN bad guy: NIHILISM.

Thus, Jack.

He doesn't go to kill Cas until after Jack is secured. It's as he tells Sam, "I don't need you anymore!" (Because now he has Jack. The thing that will make his life "meaningful.")

[milliemakesmagic]

So, I have such a huge urge to talk about this. Trigger warning: unhealthy online relationships, and mentions of sexual harassment.

In 2020 during the height of quarantine, my friend (and Pinterest lol) introduced me to this film called, "Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs." I was immediately interested because it was the first time I saw myself as an animated character. I'm a pale, brunette, with brown eyes and a slim figure. (Yes I know, basic, and most girls in fiction look like that, but I actually DO look incredibly similar to how they animated her.) I grew extremely attached to the gifs and pictures I'd find of Red Shoes because

OH MY WORD IT'S ME BUT ANIMATED

It's quarantine. What else am I gonna do.

When I finally saw the movie I absolutely loved the quirky retelling of Snow White, with the absolutely STELLAR women of all sizes empowerment, AND THE KID FRIENDLY WAY OF SAYING DON'T OBJECTIFY WOMEN. 👏👏👏👏👏

But around that same time, I was talking to a boy online who eventually became my online boyfriend. And even though he claimed to be Christian and respectful, he had a LOT of issues with objectifying women...and by extension, me. He claimed to be respectful of boundaries. But he wasn't. My rose colored glasses were so thick that I didn't see it all until after I had loved ones step in to separate me from this guy before things became dangerous. But I truly thought he was the Merlin to my Red Shoes. And in a way, he was. Merlin is a difficult character for me. I LOVE his character arch and charm. But I sometimes can't get over just how much he did for Red Shoes only for her looks. There was a lot that my relationship with this guy. I was stuck with a Merlin that wasn't going to change his ways. His eyes would always stray to prettier things.

After the hellish breakup, I started therapy, and developed a lot of unhealthy coping strategies. When you fall in love during the "end of the world" you kind of assume he's all you have. So when I lost that and then realized that he'd been sexually harassing me and I was too smitten to notice, it was a LOT to take in. "If I'd given up their magic you wouldn't have helped me find my father would you?....Would you? I thought we were both under the same spell. But now I see that, I was wrong."

My ex used to refer to me as Red Shoes, he understood how much I loved that I felt like I was her. And when he and I split, the pain that movie gave me was unbearable. My Merlin never loved me for who I was inside. I was only pretty.

I even had sent him photos of my in my Red Shoes cosplay that I did for my birthday. I was so excited to show him. Next thing I knew he was blocked, and my costume, my own pair of red shoes, were boxed into the closet where they couldn't hurt me anymore.

And I thought that was the end. I wasn't the princess Snow White. I was some twisted version of Red Shoes that got a crappy ending and a pervert for my "prince."

I dated one or two people a few years later. But it was all surface dating. Nothing emotionally invested. And then my friend introduced me to this guy. And you want to know what one of the first things we did together was?

We sat down together and watched Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs. And he held my hand, and squeezed it when he could tell I was getting emotional.

Months later I have a ring on my finger to be his. And tonight as I laid here listening to the Red Shoes soundtrack that no longer hurts like hell, I realized that my love and connection for this movie wasn't ever between me and my online abuser. It was meant to be a stepping stone for me and my now fiancé. That boy wasn't my Merlin. This man, who respects me, loves me, encourages me and builds me up to be all that I can be, HE'S my Merlin, my prince.

We agreed that I'd wear red pumps on our wedding day. To me, it's a reminder of how far I've come and that God never gave up on me.

And with a loving, secure, and healing heart I can finally truly say,

"I got Merlin'd."

[sparkylurkdragon]

Finished reading The Story of Pain: From Prayer to Painkillers by Joanna Bourke today. My review is here, (tl;dr I liked it - would've liked a wider net but I see why the author narrowed her study area down) but, it got me to thinking...

Okay, so, live-and-let atheist disclaimer, don't let me tell you how to religion, but the sense I got from some of the history here was that the Christian conception of What Pain Was For was that it was a message of some kind. Often the message was "you are being Bad, stop it" - whether that was by sinning and making God unhappy or, uh, just ticking off your betters by, say, offering your left hand to shake when your right one just underwent major surgery. (Real example from the book. The doctor flipped the fuck out and the patient really did just go 'ah well it was justified that he wrenched me up by the injured arm because I was after all a pauper and he was A Gentleman'.)

Or it could be a more generalized divine message about Something. What that Something was tended to vary depending on time, place, race, class, and so on, but it was often seen as a positive thing. A thing that brings one closer to the divine. Which was why painkillers were seen as A Problem when they were first invented, because people were (a) not being Punished and/or (b) weren't experiencing The Message.

And from where I'm standing it sounds a hell of a lot like a coping strategy that made sense for the time it arose but became maladaptive as the world changed. You know, like when you become a people pleaser or highly aggressive to avoid or ward off the wrath of abusive parents but it turns out that can fuck up your relationships very badly as an adult.

Before painkillers, shit, man, you might as well take it as a divine message and maybe even a positive one because what else are you going to do?

But, like. We do have painkillers now. We're not living with our abusive parents anymore.

...Maladaptive coping strategy.

[unrepentantcheeseaddict]

God-Touched Character Intro: Gabriel

@sarandipitywrites this is more about Gabriel. I'm not trying to spam you I swear. No replies necessary unless you're actually up for it.

Gabriel is Azrea's love interest, uses he/they pronouns like myself and bucket loads of snark. He also happens to be an archangel, although he's missing a lot of his powers right now.

Looks like this, they're tall and lanky but in an elegant way, like a cat. The Picrew I used for everyone else didn't have a purple skin tone option 😭😭😭

He was in love with Jesus, the last major God-Touched human. It was mutual, but then Jesus died (partially by choice) in spite of Gabriel explaining what was really going on and trying to talk some sense into him.

Then Gabriel got kicked out of heaven and banished for trying to save the man they loved. They spent the last several thousand years bitter, angry and alone, which kind of faded into a vague snarky resentment and some very unhealthy coping strategies. They didn't return to space until humans got the hang of it, spending most of their time stuck on Earth as a variety of alter-ego eccentric actors. Viggo Mortenson included.

(This is also how Christianity on Earth started in my verse btw, with Mary writing down a version of Gabriel's leaked information along with her son's life story to remember him by after he died.)

Character Inspo chart!!!

Gabriel is flirty, snarky, and kind of a charming asshole. He doesn't let you see any other side of him unless he REALLY trusts you. He's used to being the smartest and hottest person in any given room, but is open to being proven wrong on that. He likes a complex challenge, both for it's own sake and as a chance to show off.

[papirouge]

Yeah whatever. You claim to be a Christian but you shit all over Christian morals. And uh you know there's a difference between murdering an innocent little baby and defending yourself against some tranny groomer right? The baby is innocent and hasn't done anything wrong :)

Not you lecturing me about Christians morals just because you're cranky someone reminded you that murder is a sin 💀. Bestie YOU are the one who needs a reminder about Christian morals 101.

Oh and stop this stupid moral relativism. Stop parading the trans menace boogeyman to cope out of your own evilness. This strategy of self aggrandizing yourself by dunking on the lowest hanging fruits is manipulative & disgusting.

Do you think when you'll be facing God White Throne you'll be able to be like "yeah I advocated all my life against your commandments of not killing, but I'm not that bad as those tranny groomers, right?? :DD".

Both you and the groomer (if they didn't repent and turned their life to Christ) will end up in HELL, genius. Because a sin is a sin.

Oh and so NOW you care about little innocent babies? Stop lying. You gunsexuals don't care the slightest about protecting innocent beings if that goes on the way of defending those to killing machine. Freaking Sandy Hooks wasn't enough for you to stop your pro gun caping despite those"innocent" kids from dying of gun violence.

People like you pretend to caring about "babies" only to dunk on pro choicers and trans people (as if the biggest sexual offenders & groomers weren't CIS MALES����), otherwise you don't give a shit about protecting kids and will always pick your demonic gun culture even if they put them at risk.

If humans had to be put to death because of their sins than neither you or me would be alive because God would've never allowed any of us to exist at all.

It's insane how delusional Christians like you are, acting like some people (like you, obvi) were somehow more deserving of God's mercy than others. The same mercy allowing ANYONE to repent and access to eternal life that allowed your delusional self to live another day to write those idiocies online. You really should be grateful.

Work on yourself before judging people who don't even know God. Heathens wickedness doesn't dismiss yours the slightest.